Hooray! Ten chapters! (Blows into a party noise maker)
I kind of wish I had cake to celebrate.
... Maybe I'll go bake one.
Disclaimer: It's getting repetitive. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Black Cat or batteries for my tv remote which just died on me. Awesome.
Enjoy!
EDIT: Dates have officially been added to clear up potential confusion and keep the timeline in order without any discrepancies.
Chapter Ten: Wielder of Shadows
Wednesday, June 2nd 4794 P.C.
Sora threw himself to the side as an orb of Darkness burst forth from the woman's Keyblade. The Darkness exploded against a tree, which withered and died in a matter of seconds. Sora stared in complete shock at the tree. The woman laughed at him.
"Never faced the true strength of Darkness before, oh great Chosen One?" she mocked. She snapped her fingers. Two thin strands of Darkness rose from Sora's shadow and wrapped themselves around his ankles. Sora's eyes darted down in shock as the strands rose further from the ground, yanking Sora off his feet and leaving him dangling twenty feet in the air. "Or the power of shadow?" The woman lowered her Keyblade and slowly approached Sora as he dangled.
"Firaga!" Sora shouted, aiming the Oblivion at the strands of shadow. Two fireballs burst from the obsidian blade. The shadow strands that suspended Sora in the air grew additional strands and lashed out at the fireballs. Before the fire had time to leave the Oblivions tip, it was extinguished by shadow. The woman laughed.
"Magnificent, isn't it?" she asked breathlessly. "Nothing compares to the power of shadow. There is almost nothing that can't be accomplished by simply commanding the shadows to do your bidding." She glanced up at Sora and let out a snort of laughter. "You look ridiculous." Sora felt the air knocked from his lungs as the shadows that bound him spun him around in a wide circle.
Below him, the woman jerked her head towards the barrier that surrounded Kairi and Yuffie as they battled the Heartless. The shadows obeyed her unspoken command and released Sora mid spin, hurling him into the barrier. Sora let out a cry of pain as he struck the barrier and fell to the concrete waiting him below. The woman laughed as Sora slowly pushed himself back up.
LD
"Looks like it's just you and me, Kairi," Yuffie said as the barrier of light finished forming around them. "You ever had to fight this many Heartless before, Princess?" Kairi grinned in response.
"I took down a Darkside in a single blow a few days ago," Kairi said proudly. "These weaker Heartless seem laughably easy compared to that." Yuffie let out a chuckle.
"That's the spirit!" She hurled her shuriken and sent it flying, reducing several Neoshadows to nothing more than black mist in a matter of seconds. Kairi dashed between the Neoshadows, dodging their claws and hacking her way through their outstretched limbs.
Both females froze as Naminé's scream of surprise echoed to them across the square. Kairi sliced the head off of a Shadow and spun to look at Naminé. The blonde was surrounded by Novashadows. Kairi looked around for Sora, wondering why he wasn't protecting Naminé. She spotted him in the middle of the square, facing off against a woman in a black hooded cape who was wielding a-
"Keyblade?" Kairi exclaimed in shock. Yuffie sliced another Neoshadow in two and spun to look. Sure enough, the woman Sora was facing had a Keyblade clenched in her right hand. Yuffie glanced at Kairi. Kairi seemed frozen in place as she watched Sora lifted off his feet, spun around and hurled against the barrier. Kairi cried out as Sora crumpled to the ground. Yuffie let out a growl of frustration. On top of Naminé needing to be protected, now Sora was having his ass handed to him. She turned back to face the remaining ten or so Heartless.
"Kairi!" Yuffie shouted. The auburn-haired teen turned to look at her, worry filling her eyes. "The only way the barrier will drop is if we defeat all of these Heartless! So let's take them out and then we can go save Sora and Naminé!" Kairi stared at her for a second before nodding and turning to face the Heartless again.
"Then what are we waiting for?" she said with a grin. The two girls let out a battle cry and charged at the remaining Heartless.
LD
Sora coughed, slowly regaining his breath as he forced himself to his feet. The woman continued to laugh at him. Sora growled and rushed towards the woman. She stopped smiling and flicked her Keyblade in an upwards direction. Sora felt something collide painfully with his legs, knocking him high into the air. He glanced down at the ground and saw a pillar made of shadow rising up from where he had stepped right before he was made airborne.
The pillar quickly shifted shape, becoming a large, clawed hand on a thin wisp of an arm. The hand shot up and snatched Sora up midair. He let out a cry of pain as the claws dug into his skin.
"And down you go!" the woman said, pointing her Keyblade at the ground. The shadow hand pulled Sora down and slammed him into the ground. Sora let out another cry of pain. The woman continued to laugh at him. "Oh this is so much fun!" She exclaimed. "Wouldn't you agree, Master Sora?"
"Coward!" Sora coughed. The woman stopped laughing and glared at him.
"What did you call me?" she said through clenched teeth.
"I called you a coward," Sora said as he stood up. "You call yourself a Keyblade Wielder and yet you hide behind your magic. That makes you a coward." The woman let out what sounded like a growl.
"And you want proof that you can't be the Keyblade's Chosen One?" Sora continued, slowly advancing towards the woman while egging her on. "You're a coward. I'm not. You fight because you want power and you feel cheated because you don't get the power you want." The woman let out a snort.
"Please, you act like you know me from atom," she said. She raised the Inverse Kingdom Key so it was level with Sora's face as he continued his slow advance towards her. "It's not so much that I want to be the Keyblade's Chosen One, it's more the fact that I want to prove to myself that I'm better than the Chosen One." She lunged at Sora and swung at his waist.
Sora rolled to the side, easily dodging the woman's attack. He stabbed the Oblivion at her knees as he passed and jumped to his feet. The woman spun away from Sora and threw her Keyblade at him. Sora grinned as the Inverse Kingdom Key spun towards his head and tilted his neck so the blade missed him by inches. The woman growled in frustration and ran at Sora as her Keyblade flashed back to her hand.
Sora held his ground and parried the strike she aimed at his right shoulder with ease. She twisted her body and flipped backwards. Her booted foot connected with Sora's jaw, knocking his head back violently. Sora gasped in surprise. The woman's flip continued and she brought her other foot down on Sora's left shoulder, knocking him off his center of gravity and causing him to fall to one knee. Sora quickly got to his feet and brought the Oblivion back up in a defensive stance as the woman struck at Sora's knees.
He flipped up and over her attack and landed behind her. The woman spun and stabbed at Sora, who easily parried the blow and knocked her blade to the side. The woman let out a small gasp of surprise as she realized that Sora now had an opening. Sora did a full circle spin, continuing through with his parry and turning it into an offensive strike in the blink of an eye.
The woman leaned back, bending her waist as far back as she physically could as Sora's blade swept over her. She felt a shiver of brief terror as she felt the edge of the Oblivion barely sweep across the midnight blue corset she wore underneath the black cape. She flipped herself backwards, placing several feet of space between her and Sora. Sora's mouth fell open as the woman's hood slipped off her head.
She had large, indigo colored eyes, ruby red lips and caramel colored hair that was tied into a ponytail with the loose bangs framing her face. The woman's brow furrowed in confusion as Sora stared at her. Sora couldn't help himself, it was almost like looking in a mirror, if his reflection had a different hairstyle and was female. Her hair was the exact same caramel color his was and her eyes were a perfect reflection of his.
"What? Never seen a girl before in your life?" the woman asked. Sora quickly snapped out of it.
I'm imagining things.
Holy shit! That chick is like your female clone dude! Roxas said suddenly.
Roxas, no offense but please butt out for now! We'll talk about it later but I'm busy trying not to be killed by this girl! Roxas immediately fell silent.
"Of course I've seen girls before!" Sora shouted. He gestured at Kairi and Yuffie then at Naminé. The woman shrugged.
"Details, details," she said as she charged at Sora.
LD
Naminé carefully watched as the Novashadows circled her.
I need a weapon. She thought to herself. Anything to fight these bastards off! She glanced around herself. There was nothing in her reach that would help her fight a group of Heartless. She raised her fists, preparing to take the Heartless on in hand to hand combat.
I'm going to get myself killed or I'm going to lose my brand new heart. This sucks. She shot a glance at Sora's battled with the woman in the hooded cape and watched as a black pillar rose from the ground and knocked Sora into the air only to suddenly become a giant clawed hand that seized Sora and slammed him into the ground.
Why can't I have a Keyblade? Naminé lamented to herself. Then I wouldn't have to worry about the others protecting me.
Have you even considered trying to summon a Keyblade, you silly girl?
Naminé froze in place. The voice that had echoed through her mind sounded familiar but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.
Of course not. She replied. If I had one, wouldn't it have appeared when these Heartless showed up?
A Wielder has to summon the Keyblade or be handed a Keyblade for the first time in order for it to appear in times of danger. So why not try now?
Naminé swallowed hard and extended her right hand in front of herself. She felt silly holding her arm out there.
See? Noth-
A bright flash of light emanated from her palm for a brief moment. The Heartless surrounding her took a few steps back. In her hand was a four and a half foot, silver and black Keyblade. The handle was a sea-green color and shorter than most other Keyblades Naminé had seen before. The guard was as black as midnight and curved around the handle but didn't connect with the pommel. The blade was silver in color and had two semi-circular indentations in the middle. The "teeth" of the blade were comprised of two jet-black, triangular blades that slanted downward and slightly overlapped each other. Each triangle had slanted, heart-shaped gap in the center.
You were saying?
Naminé let out a low whistle. To her, this Keyblade looked more lethal than any of Sora's she had seen. And it definitely looked more lethal than Kairi's Destiny's Embrace Keyblade. Naminé smirked slightly.
I wonder what this one is named? She considered for a second.
This is the Rejection of Fate Keyblade. I think it's suiting seeing as how you were probably going to spend eternity in that Princess of Hearts' mind. In a way, you defied Fate and forged your own destiny; one that you and you alone have control over.
Okay, well I have just one more question; what good does it do to have a Keyblade to fight with if I've never fought anything before?
The Princess over there had never fought anything before in her life either. But she inherited her skills with the Keyblade through having her heart protected within The Chosen One. The Key of Destiny, Roxas, also inherited Sora's Keyblade skills when he came into existence.
Because you were created from Kairi's heart, you inherited everything she did which means you inherited all of Sora's fighting abilities from his first journey up until he released Kairi's heart. So go kick some Heartless ass! Naminé grinned widely and shifted her stance, placing her left leg behind her right, her left arm behind her back and raising the Rejection of Fate in a normal fencing stance.
Thanks, disembodied voice inside my head. Naminé said, she noticed the Heartless around her suddenly adjust their stances. Instinctively she knew they were preparing to attack. But who are you? In response, the voice chuckled.
I am no one in particular; just the shepherd to those who truly need me. Good luck, Naminé, Wielder of the Keyblade.
Naminé had the sudden feeling as though someone was walking away from the inside her mind. One of the Novashadows leapt at her, brown claws outstretched. Naminé sidestepped the Heartless and brought her Keyblade's pointed tip down through its back. As the Novashadow exploded into black mist, Naminé let out a wild laugh. For the first time since she had come into existence, she felt truly alive.
LD
Sora held his ground and widened his stance as the woman charged. He was mildly taken aback by her speed as he went to block the attack. Sparks flew as the Keyblades clashed against each other. The woman grinned mischievously at Sora and brought her foot up to the fork of his legs. Sora's mouth opened in a silent cry of pain. Sora fell to one knee and the woman stepped back.
She raised her Keyblade above her head and swung down. Sora brought the Oblivion up above his head, using both hands to support it as the two Keyblades struck each other. The woman grunted in irritation as her attack was stopped short. Sora grinned up at her.
"Wind," he called out. The wind began to circle around them at a high velocity. The woman looked up from Sora in surprise as a small tornado surrounded the pair of them. The wind lifted the woman and threw her across the square into a street lamp. Sora straightened up as the winds died down.
The woman sat up at the base of the lamp she had just struck, holding a hand to her head in an attempt to stop the excessive bleeding coming from a nasty cut above her left eye. Sora slowly limped towards her, wincing as every step caused pain to shoot through his body.
"Cheap shot," the woman groaned as Sora approached her. Sora glared down at her and raised the Oblivion so its obsidian tip was placed right between her eyes.
"Who are you?" Sora asked, a threatening tone dominating his voice. The woman smiled up at him with a sinister grin. She vanished suddenly, only faint wisps of shadow floating towards the ground in her place. Sora's eyes widened in shock for a moment. He heard the sound of gravel being crunched by a footstep just inches behind him. He spun around, swinging the Oblivion in a wide arc.
The woman let out a cry of shock and leapt back to avoid the Oblivion. Sora shot her a nasty grin. The woman flipped him off and thrust her palm out towards him. An orb of shadow burst from her and rocketed towards Sora. Sora aimed the tip of the Oblivion at the shadow and fired off a beam of brilliant white light which struck the center of the shadow. The two attacks exploded violently upon contact. The resulting shockwave crashed into Sora and the woman, sending both of them sprawling across the pavement.
Sora quickly recovered and pushed himself to his feet. Across the square, the woman was doing the same. Sora called the Oblivion back to his hand and charged at the woman. The woman glared up at Sora and let out a cry of rage. Shadows swirled around her feet and she darted towards him. The Oblivion's edge became bathed in light as Sora rushed across the square and the Inverse Kingdom Key became cloaked in shadows as the two neared each other again. The two Keyblades clashed against each other. Black and white sparks flew between the two Wielders as each applied all of the strength they could muster into breaking past their opponent and striking them down.
"Give up!" The woman shouted in Sora's face. "You can't hope to defeat the darkness! Darkness is everything! It was all that there was in the beginning and it's all that will be left in the end! Your feeble light is nothing compared to my almighty darkness!" Sora shook his head sadly at her.
"You're wrong," he said. "No matter how deep the darkness, there is always a light that shines bright enough to overcome it." The Oblivion glowed brightly, forcing Sora and the woman to look away from each other to avoid being blinded. Then Sora got an idea on how to end the fight. He thrust his empty hand towards the ground at their feet.
"Firaga!" A fireball burst from his hand and exploded immediately, sending both Sora and the woman flying away from one another. Both Keyblades went spinning up into the air and came back down , embedding themselves in the ground where Sora and the woman had been locked in combat a moment before. The woman let out a cry of pain as she smashed into a wooden bench. Sora simply grinned as he rolled with the explosion, which had had the desired effect. The woman attempted to get to her feet but instead collapsed, groaning with pain.
Sora got to his feet and limped over to her. She glared up at him as he stopped short of her. He summoned the Oblivion back to his hand and lightly pressed the obsidian tipped Keyblade to the woman's throat.
"I'll ask you again," he said. "Who are you?"
LD
Naminé let out a cheerful peal of laughter as she sliced her way through a pair of Novashadows. The first wave of Novashadows that had surrounded her before she learned she could wield a Keyblade had been more difficult to take on by herself than she had expected. The second wave had been somewhat easier so far, despite the fact that she had been surrounded by about forty Novashadows.
None of the Novashadows claws ever came close to cutting her. It took her less than a minute to decimate more than half of the Heartless. As she hacked her way through another, she realized that the more enemies there were, the easier it was to destroy them because they lumped themselves close together, making it easier to land hits and defeat them quickly.
It only took her a couple more minutes to completely take out the remaining Novashadows. Naminé stood panting, the Rejection of Fate hanging loosely in her hand as she finally allowed herself to relax. That had been more tiring than she had expected. She felt completely worn out. She took a deep breath and examined her shaking hands.
I really am worn out. I'm shaking terribly. That, or I was scared. Maybe both. She looked around the square. Kairi and Yuffie had eliminated most of the Neoshadows they had been trapped with, leaving them with only three left. The barrier around them was starting to fade.
Naminé looked over to see how Sora was faring and saw standing over his opponent. The Rejection of Fate vanished from her hand as she walked over to the pair.
LD
Kairi had to admit, it was rather amusing to duck under a Heartless' attack and come up behind it while the Heartless would pause to look for her before realizing she was behind it. So far, she had been tricking the same Neoshadow for the better part of three minutes and was finding it hard to breathe now. Yuffie rolled her eyes at the auburn-haired teen.
"Would you stop messing around and just finish that thing off?" the "Great Ninja" asked as she stabbed a Neoshadow in its face with one of the points of her giant shuriken. Kairi gave her a sheepish grin.
"But it's so much fun!" she exclaimed as she flipped up and over the Heartless she had been toying with. Yuffie chuckled as she ripped the shuriken from the vanishing Heartless' head.
"I know! But Naminé's in danger and Sora's getting his butt kicked!" she said as she spun around to face Kairi.
Oh crap, Kairi thought, mentally kicking herself for forgetting. The Neoshadow she had been avoiding for her amusement lashed out at her. Kairi let out a brief cry of pain as the black claws sliced open her exposed shoulder. Kairi stared at the wound on her shoulder for a moment.
"Cure," she said. The pain quickly went away and the bleeding stopped as the wounds slowly began to close. Kairi turned her gaze on the Neoshadow and with two swift strokes of Destiny's Embrace, reduced it to nothing. She spun on her heel and sent her Keyblade spinning towards the remaining Neoshadow.
Destiny's Embrace pierced the Heartless' side as Yuffie's shuriken decapitated it. The shuriken spun back to Yuffie like a boomerang as Kairi called her Keyblade back to her. Around them, the barrier of light shattered. The two girls immediately turned towards where they had seen Naminé surrounded by Heartless. There were no Heartless. Naminé looked exhausted but fine. Kairi let out a sigh of relief knowing that Naminé was alright. She looked around for Sora and saw him, Oblivion in hand; standing over the woman he had been fighting. She glanced at Yuffie and the raven-haired teen nodded. The pair of them went to join Sora and Naminé.
"I'll ask you again," Sora was saying as they got nearer. "Who are you and why did you attack me?" He had the Oblivion pressed against the woman's throat. The woman simply laughed.
"Okay, fine, since you so desperately want to know who I am," she held her hand out towards Sora. "My name's Keila, Dark Wielder of the Keyblade and expert in shadow magic." She snapped her fingers and the shadows on the ground at her feet twisted and spelled out Keila, future Keyblade Master and better than you'll ever hope to be! Sora stared at the shadow writing and applied a little more pressure against her throat.
"And why did you attack me?" he said. Kairi walked up and placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. Sora smiled at her for a brief second before glaring back down at Keila as Kairi pointed Destiny's embrace at her throat. Keila sneered up at Kairi before looking at Sora.
"Didn't I already answer that question?" she said. "I wanted to see if I was better than the Keyblade's Chosen One. As we can all see, I'm not." She paused for a moment and glanced at something behind Sora. "Not yet anyway. Give it time." Sora let out a snort of disbelief.
"I dare you to try," he said. Keila grinned and waved up at him.
"Ciao, Master Sora," she said cheerily. Shadows rose from the ground and quickly wrapped themselves around her.
"Wait!" Sora and Kairi cried out, both rushing forward to stop her. The shadows receded back to the ground, leaving no trace of Keila. Sora kicked the ground angrily.
"Well that was exciting," Naminé said sarcastically. The others all looked over at her. Naminé stared back at them. "What?"
"How did you escape all of those Heartless?" Kairi asked. "I don't see anyone else that could have helped you out." Naminé smiled and held out her hand. There was a bright flash of light and the Rejection of Fate appeared. Kairi's and Sora's mouths dropped in surprise. Yuffie didn't seem fazed by it.
"And what makes you think I need someone to help me take on Heartless?" Naminé said smugly.
"Since when did you start wielding a Keyblade?" Kairi asked in disbelief, staring down at the Rejection of Fate.
"Since about ten minutes ago," Naminé explained. "I was surrounded by Heartless and this voice suddenly spoke in my mind and it suggested that I try to summon the Keyblade and bam! It's suddenly in my hand and I take out the Heartless that had me surrounded and that basically sums it up." The other three stared at her like she was crazy.
"Uh-huh," Yuffie said. "You know Naminé, battles can be really stressful. Let's go have you lie down in some shade."
"I'm not crazy!" Naminé snapped at her.
"Naminé, do you hear the mysterious voice right now? Is it here with us?"
"Don't psychoanalyze me."
"I'd like to talk to the voice for a minute, Naminé."
"Shut up."
Kairi let out a snort of laughter at the banter between Naminé and Yuffie as the four of them began to make their way back to Merlin's house.
LD
The former number II of Organization XIII watched as the three Keyblade Wielders and their ninja friend walked from the square through the telescopic sight on his rifle. People were slowly starting to emerge from their hiding places and quickly repopulated the square. Xigbar lowered his combined arrowguns, and separated them into their normal twin gun form.
"Well that was certainly interesting," he muttered to himself. "Never thought I'd see that blonde chick again, let alone with her wielding a Keyblade." He let out a sigh. "Just what I need in my life, another Keyblade wielding brat."
"I heard that," a voice behind him said. Xigbar glanced behind him and watched as the shadows took the shape of a young woman briefly before vanishing from around Keila as she stepped out onto the roof he had been hiding on.
"I'm not the one who was about to defeat spiky only to have him turn around and completely kick my ass," Xigbar said with a wide grin. How he loved the way he enjoyed her defeat without having to fake the feeling. It was good to be a Somebody again. Keila glared at him before grinning nastily.
"So the fact that he destroyed you as a Nobody doesn't count?" she asked. Xigbar's face fell and he growled menacingly at her. Keila laughed. "Cat got your tongue there, one-eye?" Xigbar bared his teeth at her.
"Go to hell, bitch," he snapped at her. Keila rolled her eyes.
"Is that really the best comeback you've got for me?" she taunted. "I thought you used to be Xehanort's second in command; always scheming with him and plotting to take over the worlds?"
"Do you want me to shoot you?"Xigbar said. "Because you're really starting to get on my nerves." Keila ignored him and watched Sora's back as he and his female friends vanished into the crowd.
Next time, Sora. Next time.
LD
Leon was waiting for them outside of Merlin's house. He gave them a half smile as they drew nearer.
"You four okay?" he asked, slowly walking towards them. "Had an easy time with the Heartless I take it?" Yuffie smacked him on the shoulder.
"Why the hell didn't the Claymores activate?" She shouted at him. "There were a shit-ton of Heartless, some chick wielding a Keyblade who's not on our side, even more Heartless on top of that and the freaking Claymores didn't help out!" Leon took a step back as Yuffie took another swing.
"Someone took out our security up at the castle and hacked into the city's security system. Tron had a difficult time getting through the blocks they set up to keep him out," Leon explained. Yuffie slowly lowered her fist.
"Do you think it was Maleficent?" she asked. Leon shook his head slowly.
"No, I don't think so. Maleficent wouldn't knock out our security system for such a small scale attack. She'd wait until she has her Heartless army invade," he said. Sora, Kairi and Naminé all looked at each other in shock.
"Did you just say Maleficent has an army of Heartless?" Naminé asked. Both Leon and Yuffie nodded solemnly.
"Follow me," Leon said. He walked past the others and led them towards the wall that encircled the city. They followed Leon across the top of the wall until they arrived at a stone tower. Leon led them up the tower to the open roof where several telescopes were aimed out over the Great Maw at the city's edge.
"Look out past the Maw," Leon said, gesturing at the telescopes. Sora, Kairi and Naminé all did as they were told and peered through the telescope. The first thing Sora saw was the ruins of an ancient castle, Villain's Vale, before he saw what Leon wanted him to see.
Behind Villain's Vale, covering the first few hillsides and an entire mountain were thousands upon thousands of Heartless. Sora felt his mouth drop and heard Kairi's and Naminé s gasps of surprise at the sight in front of them. There were far more Heartless now than there had been when Sora had taken on a thousand Heartless single-handedly. Sora backed away from the telescope and looked at Leon, still feeling mildly shocked at the sheer size of the army gathering just a few miles away.
"Is that the thing you wanted me to see that you mentioned in your letter?" Sora asked, even though he already knew the answer. Leon nodded.
"How are we supposed to fight that many Heartless?" Kairi asked as she stepped away from the telescope. She stepped closer to Sora feeling slightly shaken. Leon hung his head.
"I honestly don't know," he said gravely. "That army's been growing steadily for the past couple of weeks and I don't know how much longer we have until Maleficent decides to attack."
"Then we need to start getting ready!" Sora said. "We need to be able to fight all of those Heartless, which means Kairi and Naminé are going to need me to train them every day." He looked up at Leon. "Hey Leon, where can I train these two out in the open without a lot of people around?" Leon glanced at Yuffie, who gave him a get-on-with-it look, and sighed.
"I need to ask you to do me a favor, Sora," he said, staring down at the teen. Sora was taken aback for a moment before nodding his head.
"Anything I can," he said. Leon smiled softly.
"I need you to do everything you can to stop this army from growing. Which means you have to travel to as many worlds as you can and seal their Keyholes so they won't fall to Darkness," Sora, Kairi and Naminé all stared at Leon.
"You don't want us to stay and get ready to fight that army?" Kairi said in disbelief. Leon shook his head.
"It's not that at all," he said. Leon pointed a finger at the sky. "I know you heard about Traverse Town. The stars have been going out again." The trio of teens gasped. "Maleficent is casting world after world into Darkness, and for every world that falls, her army grows. I need you three to stop that from happening on as many worlds as you possibly can.
"It's the only thing we can do right now to fight against Maleficent because that's her only move so far. We have no idea where she is or what she's up to; and until we do, we have to try to stop her forces from growing the only way we can, by preventing as many worlds as we can from falling into Darkness." He placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "I know it's asking a lot of you, but you're the best person for the job. So will you please do this for me, Master Sora?" Sora nodded.
"Of course," he said. "Anything to stop Maleficent before she can ruin anymore lives. Besides," he turned to face Kairi and Naminé, "I can show these two to other worlds. It's a win-win situation!" Kairi and Naminé both nodded earnestly in agreement. Leon smiled.
"Then the three of you should get going." He pulled out at small blue box from his pocket and pressed a button in its center. A bright white light surrounded the five of them for a brief moment, obscuring their surroundings from view. When the light faded, they found themselves in the middle of Hangar Forty-two. Cid, Aerith and Jenos were all standing by the Kingdom.
"We came to wish you three a safe trip," Aerith explained as the five of them walked over. She gave all three of them hugs. Merlin cleared his throat loudly and stepped forward.
"I happen to have a gift for the three of you," he said. He snapped his fingers twice and a scroll of parchment appeared in the air in front of Naminé, who eyed the scroll warily. "Take it my dear, go on. It doesn't bite, uh, I think. I don't think I gave you the biting scroll by accident. The damn things all look the same you know." Naminé carefully gripped the scroll with the tips of her index finger and thumb.
"That scroll contains a list of spells and various ways to use them in combat situations," the old wizard explained. "It was written by two Keyblade Wielders during the time just before the Keyblade War." The trio of teens all looked at the scroll enthusiastically at the mention of the Keyblade War. "Master Ambrus and his favorite apprentice, Xanthos, were the authors if I remember correctly." Sora, Kairi and Naminé all glanced at each other. "I'm sure you will find it enlightening."
"I bet we will," Kairi said softly. "Thank you, Merlin." The old wizard nodded and stepped to the side as Jenos stepped forward.
"I have to admit, I'm a little jealous of you three," he said. "I wish I could go with you but duty calls. I just received orders from my superiors to remain here a few minutes ago." He and Sora shook hands. "Maybe next time." He took Kairi and Naminé each by the hand, gently placing a kiss on the back of each hand in a chivalrous gesture. "See you three around." And on that note, Jenos turned around and left the hangar.
"I had all of your weapons and shields upgraded while you all were out in the city," Cid said, gesturing proudly at the shiny new guns that were attached to the hull. "And I've included a cloaking device that will make your ship literally invisible to both the naked eye and radar. You're food stores have been stocked with more than enough food to get the three of you through the next five or six weeks, and Aerith here made sure you guys have plenty of toiletries."
"Thanks Cid," Sora said.
"You did all that in just a couple of hours?" Kairi asked in disbelief. Cid snorted in indignation.
"Of course!" He said proudly. "Hell, I've built entire ships in less time than that!"
"What about the security codes?" Naminé interjectied. "I'd rather not get blasted into oblivion next time we come back just because we don't have the codes." Sora and Kairi both nodded along in agreement. Cid let out a small chuckle.
"Way ahead of you, blondie," he said. Naminé fumed at being called blondie. "Anytime you guys enter Radiant Garden Airspace, your ship will automatically start broadcasting your security codes. So there's nothing for you three to worry about." The trio sighed with relief.
"I guess we'll be off then," Sora said. "See you guys!" He waved at Leon and the others before heading off towards the Kingdom's boarding ramp. Kairi and Naminé turned to face Yuffie.
"Could we get our bags back from you?" Kairi asked. Yuffie nodded and snapped her fingers.
"Of course," she said as the two girls bags appeared at their feet in a puff of gray smoke. "They're not my bags, after all." Kairi and Naminé both expressed their thanks to Yuffie as they gathered up their bags into their arms and headed off to the Kingdom. They bid the others one final farewell as they climbed the ramp and raised it behind them. The two girls immediately went to put their bags into their respective bedrooms before heading up to the bridge to keep Sora company. Sora looked back from the pilot's chair as Kairi and Naminé made their way onto the bridge and buckled themselves in.
"You two ready to go?" Sora asked. Kairi and Naminé both nodded. Sora grinned widely and pressed several buttons on the control panel in front of him. The Kingdom's engines roared to life and the ship shook slightly as the repulsor-lifts came on, lifting the Kingdom several feet off the ground. Sora's hand hovered above the throttle as the bay doors of the Hangar slowly opened. Cid's voice crackled over the COMM system.
"This is Cid to the Kingdom," he said as the bay doors locked into place. "You are clear for takeoff. Go kick some Heartless ass for us." Sora, Kairi and Naminé all laughed as Sora slammed the throttle down. The Kingdom burst from the hangar and into the sky. In a matter of minutes, they had broken free from Radiant Garden's atmosphere and were headed out into open space. Sora turned to Naminé.
"Naminé, could you bring up the coordinates for the nearest world?" he asked her. Naminé nodded and pressed a button on the console in front of her. A series of numbers quickly filled the console's screen for a few brief moments before fading away to display an image of three golden ziggurats against a beautiful, multi-colored sunset and a series of coordinates.
"Um, we have coordinates but we don't have a name for the world," Naminé said as she examined the screen. Sora nodded in understanding.
"Most worlds are like that," he said. "We get a picture and coordinates but no name. Let's set a course for there." He pressed a couple of buttons that were in front of him. Naminé's screen immediately turned black except for the green words that said Course for unknown world set. Autopilot is now enabled. Estimated travel time: Twenty-seven hours and four minutes.
"That's more like it," Sora said as he undid his seat belt and got to his feet. "I'm gonna go get something to eat. Would either of you two like me to make you something?" Naminé shook her head. Sora shrugged and looked at Kairi, who seemed to be thinking really hard. "Kairi?"
"Lasagna," the auburn-haired teen said simply. Sora and Naminé stared at her. "What? I'm in the mood for lasagna. Is there a problem with that?" Sora smiled and shook his head.
"No problem at all, Kairi," he said with a chuckle. "I'd better go get started since I'm making lasagna." Kairi and Naminé both laughed as Sora headed down the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight, Naminé spun her chair around so she was facing Kairi.
"So tell me, what was it like for you to visit home?" she asked eagerly. Kairi gave her a half smile.
"That's not my home," she answered. "I was born there, but I grew up on Destiny Islands with Sora. Radiant Garden can't ever be home to me." Naminé nodded in understanding and glanced at the stairs.
"So, I take it your home is wherever Sora is?" she teased. Kairi's face flushed a little and she turned her head so Naminé wouldn't see the sappy grin that was appearing on her face.
"So what if it is?" she mumbled. Naminé laughed at her former Somebody.
"That sounds like something out of a cheesy romance novel or chick-flick," she teased. Kairi laughed along with her.
"It's true though. People always say that home is where the heart is and all that. Which means that my home is wherever Sora is," Kairi said as her face blushed an even brighter pink than it had been.
"I know, sis," Naminé said. "I feel the same way about Roxas." Naminé's expression fell slightly.
"Is it hard?" Kairi asked her former Nobody in a quiet tone. Naminé raised an eyebrow at her.
"Is what hard?"
"You having a body, being able to be your own person while Roxas is stuck living inside Sora's mind," Kairi said. Naminé nodded sadly.
"Yeah, it is," she replied. "Even though he's always around because he's always with Sora, I still miss him a lot. I just have to stay positive and hope we find a way to get him his own body soon, right?" Kairi nodded.
"Right," she said comfortingly. "And do you think we're sisters?" Naminé looked at her confusedly.
"What brought that up?" she asked. Kairi shrugged.
"Just wondering. It's mostly because you called me 'sis'," she said. Naminé quickly replayed their conversation in her head.
"I did, didn't I," she realized. Kairi nodded. "I guess we could be sisters. I was your Nobody after all. Does that mean we're technically twins then?" Kairi thought about it for a minute or so.
"I guess so," she said, still lost in thought. "Not identical twins though."
"Definitely fraternal twins, then," Naminé said. Both she and Kairi nodded their heads in unison and broke out into a brief fit of laughter.
"Alright, I'm going to go redecorate my room," Kairi said as she wiped a tear of mirth from her eyes. "What're you going to do?" For an answer, Naminé held up the scroll Merlin had given them.
"I'm going to head down to the training simulator and learn some magic," she said as she got to her feet. "Give me a shout when Sora's done making that lasagna because I could go for a slice." Kairi nodded and followed the blonde out of the bridge. They parted ways in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. Naminé proceeded through a door marked More Stairs while Kairi headed off to her room.
Once she was inside her room, she reached into the small bag that hung off her belt and pulled out a small instruction book on remodeling a bedroom in a Gummi-ship and laid it out on her bed. Thirty minutes later, after reading the instructions a dozen times, moving furniture around, stubbing her toes and piling Gummi blocks that weren't needed any more out in the hallway, Kairi's room was now to her liking.
The walls and carpet were now deep shades of purple. The old blue sheets and towels were now out in the hallway (along with the Gummi blocks she had removed from the wall to make herself a walk-in closet complete with shoe rack) and had been replaced with violet sheets and crimson towels. She let out a sigh of contentment. Now it was her room. She hummed softly to herself as she walked into her closet and began to put her new clothes away.
LD
Naminé closed the door to the training simulator and took a look around her. When powered off, the simulator looked like a small room covered in white tiles and tiny green dots; but Naminé didn't feel like learning magic in a boring room like that. So she had gone to the computer that controlled the simulations and had spent several minutes deciding where she wanted to train before finally settling for a forest clearing in the middle of the day.
Naminé watched in fascination as the door slowly disappeared as she closed it. She glanced around the clearing. The trees surrounding her grew thick and close together, obscuring her view into the forest beyond. The sun hung directly above her, casting warm rays of light all around the clearing.
She was very impressed with how realistic the simulator was. She could smell the forest, hear the sounds of a river somewhere in the distance, see the occasional bird fly over head or hop from tree to tree and she could even feel a slight breeze that ran through the clearing. She walked over to an old log that sat in the clearing's center, perfect for sitting and reading. She sat down and slowly unraveled the scroll.
The spells were listed out into two categories: destructive and pure. The destructive spells included spells along the lines of fire, thunder and gravity, while the pure spells included spells like cure, light, and wind. Each spell described various uses for it and even included detailed illustrations. Naminé quickly found herself absorbed in the scroll. She kept unraveling it until the text finally stopped.
She let out a disappointed sigh. The text only seemed to take up half of the scroll while the other half just appeared blank. She let the scroll finish unraveling itself as she began to read about using thunder magic. She spent several minutes studying the paragraph on thunder before deciding to give it a try herself. The Rejection of Fate appeared in her hand and she slowly raised it above her head so the tip was pointed at the sky. She took a deep breath to calm herself and focused on the crackling boom of a thunder-clap, the bright flash of lightning, the destructive force of a storm.
"Thunder!" Naminé cried out. Her eyes snapped open as a bright yellow bolt of lightning descended from the heavens. She let out a shout of joy, which turned into a cry of horror as the lightning struck the scroll. Naminé stared, inwardly cursing her bad luck as the scroll was blasted from the ground. She watched as the scroll spun up into the air.
Sora and Kairi are going to kill me. She thought. She stared up at the scroll which remained hanging in the air. Her jaw dropped. Electricity was coursing through the scroll. Tiny sparks danced on its edges. The blank half of the scroll quickly filled with text. Naminé walked up to it and read the first new set of lines.
If you are reading this that means you've discovered how to unlock the powerful spells hidden on this scroll. Well, either that or you're just learning magic and you don't have any control whatsoever yet and zapped the scroll with a thunder spell. Naminé's face flushed in embarrassment. Either way, congratulations. My master and I wrote the spells above barely a week before the Keyblade War began. As I write this now, the War is over here in the Sunset Forest.
Tomorrow, the other Chasers and I will be headed back to the Kingdom of Keys, the original home to all Keyblade Wielders and the birthplace of the Keyblade. There is a very good chance I might not survive the coming battles. I have decided to write down spells of mine that only I know, and I do so without my Master's permission. I hope these spells benefit you, Wielder of the Keyblade. I know that you and I will most likely never meet. Naminé fought back the urge to laugh sarcastically. But I wish you the best of luck. May the Light guide you.
Naminé checked the signature at the bottom of the message. –Xanthos, Chaser of the Keyblade. She glanced down at the first spell listed that, according to the message, only Xanthos had known. An eager grin broke out across Naminé's face as she read the name of the spell, Invisibility.
LD
"Someone to see you, Maleficent," Pete said as he strode into The Place Where Nothing Gathers. Maleficent turned from the stone basin filled with a glowing green liquid and faced Pete.
"And you just let them in?" Maleficent said menacingly. "You incompetent buffoon! You are by far the worst guard in existence!"
"B-bu-but," Pete stammered nervously. "She said she has an offer for you that she thinks you can't refuse." Maleficent stared down at Pete.
"Very well," she said, striding away from him to sit at her thorn covered throne. "Send her in."
"I think I can let myself in, thank you very much," said Keila as she entered. Maleficent's eyes widened in anger. This girl looked nearly identical to the boy she hated the most in all of the worlds. "By the way, I think you need to hire an interior decorator. This room is very depressing." Maleficent glared at her.
"This inarticulate bumble says you have an offer I can't refuse," she said, gesturing at Pete, who looked put out. "Tell me girl, what is it you offer me?" Keila knelt to one knee and bowed her head.
"I offer you my loyalty," she said. "Maleficent, Mistress of all Evil. Queen of Darkness. My Master." Maleficent stared down at the kneeling girl with interest.
"Show me why I should allow you to serve me," the Queen of Darkness said. Keila held out her hand. The Inverse Kingdom Key flashed into existence. Both Maleficent and Pete gasped in surprise. A malicious grin spread across Maleficent's face as her evil mind instantly concocted a plan to ruin Sora and make Kingdom Hearts hers.
"I may have a use for you after all, girl."
LD
Hmmm, a double-agent? Just who is this Keila?
I would very much like to hear theories.
Reviews are greatly welcomed!
Shadow Horizons