A/N: Well you guys it's been a while... a really long time, but somehow I'm getting over my writer's block and well I wanted to do this before the anniversary of when ASAS was completed.
It's divided into two parts so here's part one!
Chapter 9: Ingressus obviam verum (One step to the truth)
"Friends, allow me to introduce you to Jade, our new agent. I was hoping you'd make it. Come closer. This is Meï, editing and distribution of our newspaper, Iris." The man in the orange turtleneck, Hahn directed Jade's attention to an anthropomorphic cat with blue fur. The feminine humanoid cat looked up, letting Jade know she acknowledged her. Jade greeted her with kind eyes.
"Nino, radio operator of transmission, and tireless poster sticker…" Nino looked at up Hahn addressed him.
"Hey…" he greeted Jade with a small flick of the wrist and a simple smile. He looked to be roughly a bit older than Jade, with short jet black hair, it was pushed back to due to the thick red headband that he wore.
"On these screens you can see the majority of our correspondence. They operate all the over the universe from more than 13 different systems." Hahn directed Jade's attention to the several screens in front of her. "You already know Peepers, it was his idea to offer you the job. He knew you would complete it successfully." Hahn said looking from the corner of his eyes. The man by the name of Peepers appeared leaning against the railings, holding a cigarette in his hand, he wore his sunglasses even in the dim lit room of the Iris Network.
"The kid's bursting with talent, you've got to be blind not to see it…" old man Peepers said chuckling for a moment.
"Now listen up Jade the events are gaining momentum. A Domz bomb has exploded in the canal. Obviously the Alpha Sections have sealed off the sector. They've embarked everyone there…" Hahn said looking at the holographic images that appeared on the large table in front of them.
"To take care of them, right?" Jade asked. Hahn's looked up down at her with a serious face.
"No hospital has received any victims, Jade." Hahn responded noticing the look of confusion on Jade's expression. Meï and Nino watched as Hahn began to speak once more. "The governor," the image of the female dark skinned chief of Hyllis appeared on the hologram. "She's willing to help us, but her HQ is under surveillance." He paused for a moment and closed his eyes lost in thought for a second:
"You could help us to save these people, Jade." It caught her attention. "Nino, give us a brief on the situation."
"Here's what we know… the victims are kidnapped by Alpha Section agents." He said point the screen as it displayed their recent information on the subject. "They are then taken to the Neutrapills factory. Shuttles are then used to take them to the old slaughterhouse, and from there they are loaded onto military cruisers headed to the moon." With Nino's final words Jade noticed that the image of the moon appeared before her eyes on the holographs.
"We don't know what they're forced to suffer…" the man in the orange turtleneck said. "None of our agents have ever returned from those cursed places. Four days ago we lost contact with Double H in the Neutrapills factory. He was our best agent, and good friend." Jade noticed the sad expression etched in Meï's features, and Nino simply looked away remembering the loss of his good friend. "Double H was supposed to have brought back proof of the Domz traffic. His last photos are terrifying…"
Up on the screen was a strange looking creature built with terrifying muscles, and was slightly taller than two people. The silhouette gave a sinister appearance and it made Jade rethink the whole Iris Network. Still something in her wanted to find out the truth and help the people of her home.
"A spirit eater?" Peepers asked raising his head up to look at the screen better. He hadn't seen a spirit eater recently.
"We need someone to finish the mission Jade. You can refuse…"
"Continue…" Jade responded to Hahn's statement without missing a beat.
"We need proof. One, you get inside the Neutrapills factory. Two, you take pictures of the Alpha Sections and their victims. You'll be in consent contact with Meï, she'll broadcast your photos as quickly as she receives them. People must know the truth…"
"Yeah I'd like to know too…" Jade said honestly. "Like who's telling the truth in all this." She watched as Hahn's pulled something out of his pocket.
"Here's an official city pass. Thanks to the governor. It will open certain doors for you. Good luck…" Jade noticed that all eyes were on her now as he finished his small speech. Jade took the item and looked back at the others. Nino was working on something.
"Jade, I've got an M-disk for you, if you want it. I put it right over there…" he said instructing her where the item was located. "It explains everything in detail…"
Jade walked over to where Nino stood and picked up the M-Disk. 'Wait…The Iris Network has a newspaper, I should probably check it out…' she thought. 'But that'll wait…' she thought as she watched the M-Disk reflect some light. She looked up and noticed that Peepers was gone. Jade walked up from where she came out of, taking the M-Disk without saying any goodbyes.
"Jade… You'll need a codename for the articles you publish…" Hahn's voice caught up with her.
"Shauni…" she responded, stopping for a moment, and then disappear within the rotating closet door.
With Amaterasu and Sora
"Don't turn your back on him…" Sora responded placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Roxas was back to his physical, not chained by Sora now, and the young Keyblade Master was all right with that. Roxas looked at Amaterasu with a confused expression and shook his head. Right now Sora wasn't all that paranoid as he was when he saw Xejicka, the good thing was that she didn't recognize their new forms. Amaterasu looked back at the two individuals and gave a sad smiled. 'What do I do now…?' she thought. 'Should I expose myself… or could I just act as a figment of his memory?'
"The question you should be asking is how…" Roxas said looking at the startled face Amaterasu gave. Roxas looked at her with a serious expression and she looked away. "Fix your mistake Amaterasu, don't try and run away…"
"I'm not running away…"
"Yes, you are!" both Sora and Roxas said, Roxas anger took over for Sora's tone of voice. The dark skinned girl growled, showing the premature fangs that were beginning to form due to her exposure to the darkness. Her eyes flashed menacingly, but her mind quickly regained control and she apologized.
"You can't just let this go…" Roxas said looking at her once more. In a couple of years he could see her path as plain as day, wandering the night with the last shard of light she had left in her heart. 'That's the path you decided to follow…' the young little Nobody thought and shook his head. "I'm not one to make decisions, but do it." He said in a strict tone getting the girl to flinch a bit.
"Roxas," Sora scolded him, but the dark skinned girl brushed her brother's voice aside taking a moment to let Roxas' words sink in. "Ammi…?" he whispered her nickname and she looked up, Sora was glad to see her yellow eyes turn into gentle remorseful expressions of her soul. "Are you going to…?"
"He's all that I got…"
"You got us…" Roxas pointed up, and Amaterasu smiled, but he understood what she meant.
"So then, how are you going to do this?"
"Well, Sindihan…" she looked at Sora and smiled. "We need go and find Riku…" she said outstretching her hand, watching a dark pillar rise up from the green grass.
Something was moving inside the darkness, and Sora leaned in a bit to try and see what was going to emerge from the pillar of darkness. Roxas watched with curious eyes, Amaterasu was getting better and better at summoning Heartless, such was the power of the being known as 'Dark' from the realm of Kingdom Hearts. A clawed looking manifestation started to make its presence known by grasping the outer edge of the dark portal.
"Beautiful…" Both Sora and Roxas looked at Amaterasu as if she were crazy for saying something dishonest about a Heartless. The head poked out, and the antennae moved about scanning the area in which it was summoned. Amaterasu outstretched her hand, and Heartless felt her palm with the two black antennae, and another clawed hand moved out through the darkness firmly grasping her outstretched hand. She giggled at the soft flesh of the Heartless and the slight cold grasp.
"A Shadow?" Roxas couldn't help but ask. Amaterasu was preoccupied with hugging the small Shadow with all her might. The Heartless didn't object to being held like that, it could smell the darkness in her, and the Heartless felt a little at ease. It didn't take to kindly to the other two individuals. It hissed at Sora as he tried to approach it, and the young Keyblade Master moved back a step and laughed nervously.
"I know what to call you…" Amaterasu cooed, poking the stomach of the small Heartless. "Such a cute name too…" she giggled. It was rare when she did, and the looks plastered on Sora and the Nobody's face said it all. Sora was waiting for her to say the creature's pet name but she never released it. Roxas, the blonde Nobody was waiting patiently and tapped his foot for a moment.
"So what'cha gonna call him?" Sora asked looking at the beady eyed Heartless. The Shadow hissed trying to swipe the grin off of Sora's face. Roxas couldn't help but laugh as his Other was being threatened by a small Heartless.
"I'm going to name him Fooby." She said bluntly and held him out to Sora. "Doesn't he look like a Fooby?"
"What the heck does a Fooby look like?" Sora asked backing away from the Heartless.
"She just made it up…" Roxas said frowning for a moment. "Why couldn't you give it a Latin name or something? That's the gayest name I've ever heard, and for something as scary as a Heartless."
"…Screw you." Amaterasu said sticking out her tongue to the blonde male. "At least it doesn't have an 'X' in its name."
"What?!" Roxas growled and tried to summon a Keyblade from Sora's possession. Fooby leapt out of his master's arm and hissed showing that it was something to be reckoned with. "Say it again!"
"Your…" Amaterasu felt a grin fall on her lips. "Your name sucks…" Sora tried his best to hold Roxas back.
"Stop protecting her you jerk! She…" the blonde growled, knocking his original self backwards. The brown skinned girl stepped in front of Fooby, her pet, and smiled, putting her fists up. 'If he wants to vent… fine with me, I've needed to vent for a while…' Sora heard that from within his thoughts, he heard her voice, she wanted to get her anger out of the way. Roxas yelled and brought his right fist forward without hesitating. Amaterasu jumped back and watched as Roxas raised his upper lip into a curl of some sort.
"Aw, what's wrong, little Roxie doesn't want to lose to a girl?" she was taunting him.
"I just don't want Sora mad at me when I kick his adopted sister's ass!"
Amaterasu felt a presence behind her, and ducked down narrowly avoiding a spinning kick from the blonde Nobody. Fooby and Sora watched as their two most beloved friends fought over something stupid as a name.
"She's your creator…" Sora said looking down at the Heartless. The two of them watched as Amaterasu fell to the ground. The ex-thirteenth member of Organization XIII had made the young girl draw up blood on her lip. Amaterasu grinned, she was glad to get her anger out of her system. 'No doubt Roxas his having the time of his life…' she thought picking herself up. Roxas shifted his left leg; he was going to pick it up any second to kick her. She brought up her left arm, and braced herself as the sole of the shoe from the blonde's foot connected with her arm. Amaterasu winced and staggered back looking up at the blue eyes of the Nobody.
She started to laugh and shook her head, Roxas dropped his guard and noticed she had stopped attacking and laughed slightly. The dark skinned girl pulled her left arm back and cradled it for a bit, the pain was starting to catch up with her. Roxas apologized and Amaterasu shook her head, going on to say that it was her fault and she paid the price for doing something so childish.
"I wanted you to snap…" she responded looking up at her Nobody 'brother'. "It's not healthy for Sora to harbor your anger within his body; he's too nice for his own good…"
"It'd be nice if once in a while Sora would use some of that hate…" Roxas responded looking at Amaterasu. 'Slowly she won't be able to hide the truth of what she's become…' the young Nobody thought looking at the small patches of dark brown that remained within the girl's irises. The darkness would soon spread over, giving her the same yellow eyes as the Heartless. 'But that's the path you walk…' he thought and looked back at Sora.
The newly created Heartless felt its body grow a bit, developing into a Neo Shadow, a larger type of the Shadow Heartless. Amaterasu smiled watching her creation grow in size, and she in turn spread out her hand to welcome it. The Neo Shadow flinched a bit, sensing that its creator harbored the power of wielding Keyblades. It looked up at Roxas and at Sora; it could smell the weak scent of a distinguished Nobody and figured it was the boy with blonde hair. It feared Sora, sensing the pure light within him, how he disliked that light greatly. Amaterasu could sense the uneasiness that the Heartless felt and smiled slightly. The Heartless didn't take kindly to this at all.
"It's all right…" she responded stepping towards the Neo Shadow with her outstretched hand. It gazed into the faint yellow orbs that the young girl almost had. The young girl's eyes were seeking out something, and before the dark creature knew it gripped the girl's hand. A strange but alarming sensation began to slowly enter it as it felt itss fingertips grazed against the skin of its master, and it pulled away in pain as memories began to flood its mind.
"Fooby…?" she called out in alarm.
It was then and there that this Heartless, dubbed 'Fooby' by its master, began to have memories of different emotions it never experienced in its very short life. Some sweet, some bitter, some made it feel confused, it began to understand how his creator felt, he shared her pain now, he was an extension of her soul now.
"I'll help you, Mother…" the Heartless said softly in a gentle tone, despite the menacing features it carried.
With Ames and King Mickey
"He'll be fine…" Ames and King Mickey heard those words several times now from the replica known as Abedo. Donald and Max just looked at the two individuals; both of them were lost in thought, and worried about their good friend known as Terra. Max looked up at Abedo, as if telling him to try and rest for a bit. Terra had been unconscious for a while now, and all he could do was mutter the same words:
"Master Xehanort…"
'It's my fault he's like this… if I didn't ask him to come and help me escape…' she thought about the events the second time Sora decided to go to Castle Oblivion. 'And he let his rage fuel his drive to go…' she thought looking down at her hands. The hands of the young female artist created so much destruction with the walls of Castle Oblivion. 'I never should've looked into that artifact…' she thought looking back to face the worried expression that King Mickey held on his tired face.
"I'm…" she began to choke up, memories of her original self began to interfere with that of her own. "I'm sorry King Mickey, I didn't mean for any of this to-" she just sobbed, forgetting to from words now. "I know how badly you wanted to see Terra, and it's my fault he's like this!" she said causing everyone in the room to jump at the sound of her voice.
All King Mickey could do for her right now, was place a gentle hand on her shoulder, her emotions finally caught up with her, she just couldn't help it. For the young replica it pained him to see her like that, but Max pulled him back from expressing any comforting actions for now, and it pained him deeply in his heart.
"Sometimes, the best thing is to let them just cry it all out…" Max said softly looking at Abedo eyes, he was angry with him for right now. "That's the best thing you can do right now, besides you can't forgive her, she needs to be forgiven by King Mickey, not you."
"I know that…" Abedo said angrily as the two of them walked out from the living room. "But I mean, it just hurts knowing that she's in that kind of pain…" he said looking away from Goofy's son. He thought of something else to talk about:
"Why are you fighting?"
"Because…" Max tried his best to not embarrass himself. "I'm protecting my girlfriend, and my family, and I want to help. So why are you fighting?" he asked.
"I don't really know why…" Abedo said looking away from the carpet, staring off into the window. "I guess it's because… I just want to stay by her side." Terra's replica said softly.
With Jade and the others
The small silver hound watched as his master slept, he knew that he wouldn't wake up though, he didn't know when, and it was aching him to known that the person who created him was in so much agony within the confinement of his own mind, he was a prisoner just like how the silver hound had been some time ago. He heard several bed springs creak, and he looked straight into the dark room, he could smell the scent of the islands. 'Kairi…' the little hound thought and relaxed for a moment. She was speaking to him in gentle whispers.
"Hey Riku… do you remember a couple of days ago, when you asked me if my heart was aching because he was gone? And I asked you the same thing about her? Do you remember? Well Riku, it does hurt, and I know it aches for you too, it feels like you're messing half of yours, like if someone just came up and snatched it from you." The young female Keyblade wielder said, on the verge of tears. "I really wish Sora was here Riku, maybe he could figure out what to do…"
Vieh closed his eyes, she was unaware that he was there curled up on a wooden chair. They were within the southern lighthouse shelter, where all the other children, the ones Jade took care of, were living in. Ven and Aqua were downstairs going over amongst themselves what Jade had said about the Iris Network, and the job they wanted them to do. Pey'j at this point didn't seem all that happy about it, but he wanted to protect Jade, she was after all his niece in the political sense.
"I'm sure they would've come here…"
Vieh heard Ven voice as Aqua was no doubt coming up to the second level of the lighthouse. The floorboards creaked, and Kairi jumped a bit in the dark, afraid to have the others find her crying, she didn't want the others to think she was weak. Vieh's ears perked up in the darkness as it caught voices to soft to be heard with that of a human's.
"You think they went back then?" Aqua's voice was holding some fear. "What if they got caught and…!"
"They're two of the strongest fighters we know Aqua, I doubt they could kill them or something like that." Ven said chuckling. "But still I've been hearing rumors…"
"You too?" she sounded relieved. "Supposedly the only things left from both of them were shredded pieces of their clothing back in the Realm of Darkness."
"That doesn't really mean anything…" Ven said, hearing Aqua sigh in relief once more. "We'll just have to wait and see."
"We can't do anything right now, Riku's our top priority…" Aqua said cutting him off before her had something else to say.
To Vieh, things were silent now, and that meant that they had probably stopped talking, or that they had moved to the top part, which was the top part of the lighthouse itself. He wanted to hear more of the conversation, but they were out of his range, there was too much noise around him now. Something caught his attention, a small light radiated from a familiar object, and Vieh growled protectively. Kairi flinched, almost dropping the little rectangular object in her grasp.
"Vieh…" Kairi began trying to figure out where the growling sound came from, all she knew that in the darkness he was sleeping somewhere to the right side of the room. "I didn't know you were…" she heard him advance on the wooden floor and felt something jump up on the bed.
"Don't touch that, please, put it back where you found it…" Vieh said softly, watching Kairi's right hand move through the darkness, placing the blue object back on the night table. He relaxed for a moment and looked up at the blue eyes of the Princess of Heart; she seemed to be in some sort of emotional suffering. The silver beast knew why and decided not to say anything relating to that matter. He sighed:
"I'm sorry if I startled you." He began to speak.
"Oh, no it's okay Vieh. I shouldn't have snooped around." Kairi said laughing nervously. "You know Vieh…" she began to whisper, just low enough for his ears to pick up. "I can feel them…" Kairi said placing a hand over her heart. "They're here somewhere; I know they are I can feel them…"
At that moment they both felt something stir within them, and their eyes were placed on the sleeping silver haired figure by the name of Riku. He was muttering things in his sleep, as if he was having a conversation with someone.
"She'll come…" that was the only thing audible coming out from his lips.
With Xichellem and her group
"Come on…" one group member groaned, watching the young Keyblade wielder look back inside the area. "We're done we have to go back and-!"
There was a loud bang and all the individuals turned around drawing out their Keyblades in unison. The reaper didn't seem too happy about being coaxed out of its hiding place, and it wanted to know what, or rather who, woke it up from its sleep. The first Keyblade wielder to fall was of the one wielding the blade by the name of Spellbinder. A small keychain appeared to be in the grasp of another wielder, as the wielder yelled out a 'Stopra' spell, but the reaper seemed to be too much of a hassle for the young wielder.
With Sora and Amaterasu
"Are you sure?" Roxas asked looking up at the white lighthouse. He had the feeling something bad was going to happen, considering nothing good happened at night as far as he was concerned. Sora shrugged his shoulders and watched as Amaterasu created a dark matter around her hands, she was getting ready to scale the wall using the darkness in her. Her Neo Shadow stood beside her looking up at a particular window. He could sniff out the heart that his master was seeking, and he was glad to be of help to his master, Amaterasu, and her 'brother' Sora.
"Be careful Ammi…" both the young Nobody and the original said with a caring voice, and she nodded, giving them a thumbs up. "Keep your link open, just in case, all right?" again she nodded hearing Sora's voice as she started to climb the wall. She was amazed at how the darkness let her hands go through the wall, she was able to grasp something in the dark portals, a strange type of matter, it was solid, almost like a pole. 'I wonder if this is how the Heartless move when they don't hold their form…'
The Neo Shadow was right beside her, as it disappeared into the wall, letting its eyes become the only visible part, while the rest of the body was a black blob of some sort of goo. Roxas started to advance forward towards the wall, noticing that Amaterasu was having some trouble, her foot slipped on a piece of brick, she had broken concentration on her right hand, and was only kept off the ground by her left hand, and the claw of the Heartless by the name of Fooby.
"Be careful…" the Heartless said growling as it was concentrating on climbing the wall. It brought her right arm back up to the wall, and the dark matter took over her hand once more. They started advancing slowly, trying hard not to make too much noise as they reached the rooms of several people, which meant they were already on the second floor of the lighthouse.
"Yes!" she whispered watching the open window. She could smell a faint scent, similar to sea-salt. 'Vieh…' she thought gleefully and brought her left hand towards the windowsill, gripping it tightly for dear life. The Neo Shadow moved across the area with ease and looked back at its master as she struggled to climb through the window that was left ajar. The Heartless shook its head watching the dark skinned girl, Amaterasu, land on her knees upon climbing through the window.
She stood up and dusted herself off, rubbing her knees then rubbing her right wrist, using that type of method was slightly painful for those inexperienced with using the darkness. 'Stupid Hojo, he couldn't even teach an experiment right…' she mentally cursed at the scientist hoping that he was having a horrible time in hell.
"This is him?" Fooby asked hovering over the limp body of Riku Fonovi. She felt her heart beat like a drum as she walked forward, it was getting hard to breathe, pressure was building over her chest. 'Why?' she asked herself hearing the floorboard creak for a moment. She flinched and looked in the distance, she could see the beast Vieh, sleeping peacefully by a chair. Her eyes scanned the dark room, and she felt her face grow numb for a moment. 'My mp3 player…' she thought finding herself in front of the wooden night table. Her fingers gently caressed her musical device, and she fought hard to hold back a small giggle.
"…Riku…" she said softly letting the darkness be her legs, she moved through the area without making any sound, and she placed a gentle hand on the cheek of the boy she came to love. Her heart was aching, for the darkness in her was in pain at the fact she was in contact with person she called her 'light'. She finally spoke after what seemed like seconds:
"I want to help, if you'll let me." She whispered, bending down as the two of them were nose to nose. The young girl breathed in his scent, she missed the islands very much, for they had been her second home after all. Her eyes flickered to the side, noticing that the Neo Shadow was moving discreetly towards the sleeping beast. "No." she whispered as the Neo Shadow made eye contact with her.
"…as you wish…" the Heartless muttered and returned to her side once more. It watched Riku with interest, memories were flowing through its mind, they were from its master. It felt something, like a sharp pain in the gut. 'Guilt?' it asked itself in its mind, and looked into the yellow eyes of Amaterasu. She lost her 'soul' in a sense, this made the young girl part of the Heartless, part of the same darkness they all shared.
"Singulus carmen suscipio…" Amaterasu said softly, into Riku's ear, gentle pushing away single strands of silver hair from his face. At that point her eyes began to glow under the cover of darkness, giving off a faint trace of gold, her Heartless like eyes were fixed on the heart of the sleeping figure.
The young girl found herself in a strange land, covered in dirt, and in ruin, with sand as far as the eye could see. 'His mind?' she thought looking around. In the distance the sky was beginning to grow dark, a storm was approaching a couple of miles away from what she could tell. She looked at the outfit on her, noticing a long dark robe, with silver markings of some design, just like the one known as Dark wore some time ago. She pushed back her dark brown hair and felt the wind against her skin, she was amazed at the fact that things felt so real within the world. She looked up at the sky, watching a crow soar through the sky. She squinted as the sun began to shine as a cloud moved out of the way of the rays emitting from the sun.
"Follow…" a voice called out, and she turned around in a frenzy, trying to find a body that belonged to the voice. She heard the voice again, but she couldn't seem to pick up a pulse from the body that produced the voice. She closed her eyes, hearing the wind move through the area, and the voice spoke once more in a soft tone, Amaterasu realized this was her voice. "Follow…"
Amaterasu began to move through the area, she noticed that in the distance towards the east and west that patches of snow had not melted yet, the sun wasn't that strong enough to melt the snow in those two areas. As she walked she noticed the crow was following her, and at some points she wondered if she was following the crow. She started to run as the crows cawed once more and she looked off into the distance. 'Where are you?' she thought looking around as she ran straight ahead through the ruins and the desert looking area. She could hear thunder boom in the distance.
The crow went lower and lower as if showing her the way to the person she sought after. To her these birds were signals of luck, but to others these were signals of death. 'Stop thinking like that…' she cursed at herself as she followed the black feathered bird, it was a perfect guide. The scenery changed right before her eyes, as she breathed in as she still ran. The first image in her mind, an older looking man was holding a young teenager by the throat, while another man was busy fighting a black suited soldier.
The crow disappeared in an array of feathers as the wind scattered it away. The older man looked to the side watching the feathers dance in the wind. 'It's her…' he thought bitterly tightening his grip on the young boy. He looked to the side, watching the dark skinned girl. His amber eyes caught her attention and give a menacing grin. He looked at the brown skinned girl, she looked very much like the original element by the name of 'Dark'.
"You decided to show up after all, Dark." The man said, not being bothered with the sudden jerks that the teenager made. "He's dying, because of…"
"Leave him alone!" she yelled pulling out Oblivion. She didn't want to make Way to Night visible at all, something in her own mind told her not too. As Amaterasu pulled out her Keyblade, the black suited soldier stopped his assault on the dark brown haired individual. The one with the strange looking Keyblade manipulated the form his weapon and caught the black suited soldier by surprise, knocking him back a couple of feet away. "What do you want with him?" she asked keeping her eyes locked onto those of the old man.
"I'm not telling you," the old man replied softly.
She shuddered for a moment as she noticed that the boy with silver hair was losing his grip on his own Keyblade. Amaterasu walked forward holding Oblivion tightly in her grasp as to try and overwhelm the older individual to step down. The old man wearing a rather familiar attire let his grip on the boy's throat ease up a bit and Amaterasu took that chance to move quickly. The man launched the silver haired boy towards her, but she purposely moved away not wanting to touch him for the moment.
"Damn you, Xehanort!" Amaterasu yelled out bringing Oblivion forward. The old man, known as Xehanort chuckled at the fact that she remembered his name. With that he brought his own Keyblade forward. A wicked horned lion was at the center of the blade, it was one that Amaterasu could never forget. She pushed it back with as much strength as she could muster and something else caught her attention. "What?"
The older individual with dark brown hair had pierced the dark suited soldier on the shoulder. Such a spectacle was enough to let the figure who called herself 'Dark' to be thrown off guard, and Xehanort took advantage bring his preferred weapon down on her left shoulder. She clutched her shoulder for a moment and dismissed her weapon. She moved her right hand away from her shoulder and felt something snap in her mind. Xehanort jumped back avoiding a lethal claw from his line of view. She had changed now, her appearance that of a Heartless. Things at that point in time seemed to stand still, the air around her began to feel heavier, but the man in front of her felt none of the effects, or so it seemed.
The wind began to pick up a bit and the fragments of dirt began to cloud their vision for a moment, a perfect opportunity for the girl in the dark robes to lunge forward, but her opponent found her out. Not even using that much speed his right hand gripped her left wrist tightly to the point where it would shatter, and he grinned menacingly into the eyes of the heartless like human. The girl in the dark colored robes let out a howl in pain as electricity began to course through her body. That simple howl alerted the dark brown haired individual, and he brought back his rather large Keyblade and felt upon instinct to run forward and help the individual. The old man let the girl go and disappeared from sight.
Something in the back of the older teen's mind began to urge him to keep fighting and it sounded oddly familiar to him. He looked around and noticed that something in the distance was starting to appear through the dark dust that picked up. Amaterasu growled and felt a snarl etch onto her face. She ran forward despite the other individual's plea for her to wait. The old man known as Xehanort grasped the Keyblade in his hand and watched the angered expression on the girl's face.
"Well Dark, so this is how you look in this new day and age. You still want this back, am I right?"
In the Realm of Kingdom Hearts
"Sister, what are you doing?" a pale individual asked. He noticed the dark skinned sibling sitting there motionlessly. Her eyes were closed as her breathing was shallow for a moment.
"Helping her…" she responded rather groggily as if she had been sleeping. "Xehanort was able to get in…"
"You're not suppose to interfere!" the twin answered angrily. "We have better things to do than--…"
"He has something I want, something I lost a long time ago." The figure in the dark robe responded with authority. "Don't lecture me little brother."
The figure in the white robes growled and watched his sibling go into a deep like trance. He noticed a projection form around the strange rotating compass and watched the battle for the remainder of the time.
"Just be careful Big Sister…" he muttered softly. On the screen Amaterasu had stopped in her tracks before charging after Xehanort.
With Terra and Amaterasu
'Let me help?' she asked herself and noticed something that coursed through her body, whatever it was it seemed rather powerful, but that was only a fraction, or so the young girl sensed.
The figure known as Terra watched for a moment, there were several black butterflies around the young girl, and time seemed to stop all around them. He hadn't not seen Master Xehanort move in a while. The male Keyblade wielder relaxed for a moment, but something in the air was causing pressure, and he could feel the light in his heart start to feel dull, as if it were possible within this strange realm of reality and dream. The dark brown haired figure moved forward and noticed the amber colored eyes of the young girl.
'She's gone…' Terra thought bracing himself for what he thought was a random attack, but the girl stayed motionless. Time picked up where it left off and the battle started once more. Xehanort paused for a moment and dismissed his Keyblade noticing the colored eyes of the girl before him. He seemed afraid for some reason, and that was something that even the older teen enjoyed. Terra and the girl moved forward and watched as Master Xehanort flinched a bit, but still his strength did not waiver as he struck the ground with brute force.
Amaterasu jumped back avoiding the flames that came, and noticed that Terra had disappeared from sight. The dark brown haired wielder was in the air attacking the old man with his weapon of choice. Each attack that was blocked created sparks, and no doubt that the aged man was trying to hit the younger wielder with a Thunder based attack. The girl jumped into the air hearing a voice direct her as to what to do, and before long Oblivion connected with the age old Keyblade, and Terra's weapon took another swing at the old man. For right now the blade managed to hit his shoulder.
"We'll do this again some other time…" the man said retreating back. Both Amaterasu and Terra followed after him but after taking several steps the vision of the old man faded away.
"Xehanort…" both of them said with just as much hate.
The pressure around them seemed to change and before long Amaterasu felt something in her heart begin to fade. She blinked for a moment and dropped Oblivion onto the ground. There the Keyblade disappeared back to where ever it came from. Terra noticed the action and looked back at her with a confused look etched onto his face.
"For an illusion of the heart, it's strong…" she said tying to recover from her little episode for a moment and shook her head. The scenery had started to change a bit, and snow began to fall against the desert like battlefield. Her body started to go back to its original state at this point, with the illusion having left the heart of the other two. She could breathe at ease for a while and remembered something. "Riku…"
The silver haired figure had collided with the desert ground a while ago, it seemed that no permanent damage had been done, at least from what the girl could see as she walked towards him. The other dark haired male watched for a moment, pulling his Keyblade out from the earth. 'It's her…' he thought and looked up to the sky for a moment, as if thanking some unseen figure.
"Terra…" the girl said looking behind her. "Can you come here and help, please?"
The figure known as Terra did as he was told; he knew where he had seen this girl back at Amber Pacific where things had taken root some time ago. 'Our hearts pushed away the illusion because she was able to interrupt his thoughts for a moment,' he thought walking towards the girl known as Amaterasu and to Riku. He dismissed his weapon and decided to help the young girl with the silver haired teen. Riku felt a pair of hands on his face and he strained to open his eyes for a moment. After what seemed like minutes he found himself staring into the yellow tinged eyes of a young teen.
"She wanted me to come help you, Riku…" Amaterasu said feeling tears run down her cheeks. Riku strained his vision a bit, it was still a bit blurry for him.
"Who…?" was all he could end up saying.
"Amaterasu, your light, who else?" she felt more tears spill down her face.
"Then… why are you crying? Did something happen to her?" something in his mind clicked and he sat upright. "What happened to Ammi? Tell me, what happened to her?!" the teen demanded to know. He winced at such a rash action and clutched his side, he had been dealt heavy blows.
"I can't…" she shook her head. Her heart ached greatly as she clutched her chest with both hands, ignoring the pain from her left shoulder. "She made me promise not to tell you…"
Terra looked away feeling something sting his own heart. With that he seemed to fade away from their sight, he was being called back to reality, as he could hear the distant voices of a male and female person. He gave one last glance; Amaterasu's pained face was the only thing he could remember as he slipped away.
With King Mickey and the others
Abedo, the replica of Terra, had moved a bit letting Ames rest against his shoulder. Night had fallen sometime ago and things seemed to be calm, with the exception of their unconscious friend Terra. He watched Terra's sleeping body for a moment and noticed something, a flicker from his eyes, he felt his finger twitch a bit and he wondered whether or not to wake Ames. Of course he wanted to see her smiling face and with that gently woke her up. Terra sat up, gasping for a moment as if he had just had a bad dream and looked around, his vision was hazy for a while.
He flinched a bit, feeling added warmth to his body and felt a pair of hands on his back. It was an embrace from a crying figure. His blue eyes looked back in the distance and looked at his replica, he seemed happy. Terra turned his attention to the crying Soulless and patted her gently on the head, hugging her back for a moment. He tried to calm her down but she wasn't listening, joy had overwhelmed her and that made her embrace a little to close for comfort. Abedo at this point decided that enough was enough and Terra managed to laugh noticing the look of discomfort it had placed on the replica.
The event caused quite a commotion and before long all the other members of the small party had arrived in that one room. Terra's eyes lit up for a moment noticing a familiar figure standing right by his bed. Ames moved away letting Terra get out of bed. His blue eyes were fixed on the figure, the shortest one among them all and before long he found himself hugging the mouse king.
"Your Majesty!" Terra managed to finally say. King Mickey seemed pleased and hugged the familiar figure as well.
Goofy, Donald, and Goofy's son Max seemed relieved noticing the event that was unfolding right before their eyes. Ames was smiling and laughing watching the mouse king and Terra converse about things that seemed as old as time itself. The replica watched them, taking into account the happiness the memory witch displayed at this joyous occasion.
With Sora and the others
"You think she was able to do it?" Roxas asked looking at his other for a moment.
Sora stayed quiet for some time, his eyes were closed as he felt the wind that danced across him, the scent was very different, it wasn't him home but he felt like it was. Where ever he had gone he felt as though he left a piece of his heart with the others, and somehow despite that he was on the other side of the playing field, he felt as though he would leave his mark here as well. The thought of Amaterasu crossed into his mind and he opened his eyes, somehow something in his heart said that she was all right.
"Yeah… she's strong Roxas," Sora said softly and gave him a small grin. "Come on let's see what's taking them so long."
The two teens looked up at the lighthouse and gulped for a moment, the drop seemed worse than the climb from what the two of them saw. They wondered for a moment how their sister had even scaled the wall, the Heartless didn't seem that all afraid. Maybe, that was their nature, since the Heartless were those without hearts they didn't fear such things like that. The grass underneath them made a small crunching sound as they stepped back, probably trying to gain speed so they could climb the wall as well.
"You want to try an Aero spell?" Roxas asked looking back at the young Keyblade wielder.
"Yeah, ready when you are." He responded and grinned.
Vieh's ears perked up as he watched the figure who had recently called herself 'Buia' and noticed that Riku's hand moved a bit, he was regaining consciousness, slowly but surely. There was a sound far below them, that much he knew and growled for a moment realizing that something landed on the ground that was near his Master. The Heartless that was there hissed for a moment looking at the entrance of the window.
From what the Keyblade's Chosen One could see his adopted sister was still in a trance of some sort, and things seemed to be taking a small detour. The blonde haired Nobody could see slight tears running down the girl's face and he sighed for a moment and walked towards them. He had a feeling that getting Riku back was going to take a while.
A/N: You know what to do one review please!
