Author's Note: Trying to figure out wireless internet is a pain in the ass. I've been finished with this chapter for awhile, but my parents' net access hates me ever so much. I've thought about combining related chapters to make them longer, but I don't really want to suddenly have them be twenty pages long when they were pretty short before. Anyway, sitting at a computer and scrolling forever is more frustrating than flipping though pages of a book.
Disclaimer: The world is full of things that I would own, but can't. It doesn't stop me from writing about them.
Chapter Nine
The world was darkness, shrouded in a dense mist that hinted of a sickly, greenish glow. Riku's vision faltered the length of maybe three strides ahead of him, fading into a wall of the swirling haze. But he didn't need his sight to tell him where he was. Even without the card – one that depicted a dismal mausoleum – he would have known this place. Of all the worlds he'd seen, this one struck him as the most preposterous, but that did little to brighten the morbidity. A land where holiday traditions and fancies came to life, but of all holidays, this town held the most twisted.
Riku hadn't had the opportunity to acquaint himself with the inhabitants of Halloweentown, save for one unsavory individual, whom he would surely encounter again. He couldn't begin to imagine what sort of disturbed beings would live in such a place. Yet the grip of the Darkness had been surprisingly weak here, and it had astonished Riku to hear that Sora had taken well to several of its people. Back then, held in the grasp of the Darkness, the news had fueled his jealousy, heightening his sense of betrayal – even the rotted came before Sora's two best friends. Now, he supposed that even a moving corpse could possess a good heart, and unfounded contempt could be more revolting than living death.
His mood dampened by the sickly vapor, Riku picked his way along the weathered path slowly, only half noticing the knotted roots and brambles as he stepped over them. He knew the Heartless were lurking in the fog, and the slightest misstep would alert them to his presence. One more scratch was one more chance at infection, not to mention more time to use up the precious few supplies that Castle Oblivion provided them.
Riku halted as one knee struck hard on the corner of a crumbling tombstone, a tingling sensation running down his leg, and bit off an oath. An eerie light cut through the haze, skimming over the graves – the seeking eye of a more ghoulish breed of Heartless.
Crouching behind the offending grave marker, Riku scanned the cemetery. More of the searching beams of light filtered through the mists, and a quick count revealed that there were at least six, including the one that he had avoided only by chance. A few yards to the right had made all the difference.
He all but crawled among the graves, sheltering himself from the eyes behind the tombstones whenever he could. The paranoia it induced was maddening. The space between his shoulder blades itched unbearably as if invisible eyes beat down upon him. His heart thudded in his ears, and the Darkness inside roiled and hissed. The seconds dragged on like years, and he wanted more than anything to break free of his hiding and run, to race across the cemetery, to fly passed his pursuers – to most likely crack both his shinbones on a grave marker and tumble headlong into the iron gate at the other side. The suspense was torture, but he wasn't looking to add insults to his own injuries.
Patience paid off as the bare, metal bars of the fence rose out of the fog. Riku squinted through the spaces between the planks at what lie beyond. As he suspected, he could detect nothing but more of the glowing mist. Just can't catch a break.
Crawling along the edge of the fence, he finally located the gate. There were more of the lights now; he counted nine of them, fading in and out and closer every moment. Gritting his teeth, Riku sprung to his feet, dragging the door open. It grated against the rocky path with a screech that made him want to bite through his own jaw.
Lights flashed behind him, the ghoulish seekers locating their target at long last, and the singing of metal claws raking against one another assaulted his ears. Instinct alone saved the islander as he darted to the left and tucked his head to roll. He felt the bladelike fingers snag in his hair as he tumbled through the narrow opening, his shoulders catching the edge of the gate.
Landing heavily on his side, Riku swung about, kicking at the gate. A clawed hand grasped at him, long silver strands wrapped about the rusted fingers. He slammed his feet against the door again and again, growling back at the grating shriek of rage from his most persistent assailant. He gritted his teeth, wishing the ache in his jaw could drown out the inhuman screech.
The gate slammed shut on the spindly arm with an audible crack, and the ragged appendage contorted and fell limp. Riku stared at the dead limb, waiting for it to evaporate into the Darkness. But this assurance didn't come, and he realized with a shudder that the branch was still attached to the yet-living Heartless on the other side. The islander, of course, cared not at all about the unnatural beasts, but his bones ached with empathy all the same. Regardless, he loathed the idea of touching anything belonging to the creature, and nothing short of the threat of death would convince him to open that door again.
A glance about as he rose to his feet revealed that he was in the town square. This mist was thinner here, lingering about the fence to block the graveyard from his view, and he could see the vacant, forbidding buildings that rose up all about him. Each one stood in a permanent state of disrepair. The whole place held an air of abandoning all that was living, but inside he knew that this had less to do with its ghostly inhabitants than the Darkness that permeated even the stones beneath his feet.
But, setting that invasive power aside, something far more immediately important caught Riku's eye. Straight across from him, a large fountain rose up in the middle of the square. The figure in the center was a grotesque, goblin-like being that grasped out with rusted and claws and reminded too much of a Heartless, but the greater interest was the water that spurted from its mouth. Thirst was a stronger survival instinct than fear – not that much normal and sane frightened the islander anymore.
Yet, a closer look was less encouraging. The water that spouted from the impish statue held a greenish tint, and a faintly sulfurous odor drifted from the liquid. A little bit of sulfur was neither uncommon nor particularly harmful, but it did have a habit of leaving a terrible aftertaste, and Riku hesitated to even handle any substance that he strongly suspected resembled absinthe.
Reluctantly, he extended a delicate finger, praying the unknown substance wasn't acidic. No pain registered, and a quick inspection revealed tat the digit remained intact. More comfortingly, the greenish coloration appeared to have more to do with the faint lights that dotted the fountain than with the water itself. Maybe these guys aren't as freakish as I thought, he admitted silently.
A strange sensation halted his musings, and Riku froze as a heavy wind blew through him, carrying an intoxicating scent of Darkness – one of rain on the islands. He could taste the sea in the back of his throat, and the allure of familiarity made it all the more dangerous. A rush of footsteps followed the breeze, light and quick, and he could very nearly feel a small form brush by him. "Tai?" he called in puzzlement.
The padding continued, moving decisively across the town square toward one of the darkened houses. No one else had that smell. The steps sounded just like hers. It must have been Tai, but Tai couldn't possibly be here. These were his memories, and he'd seen her pass through into her own.
But she still was on the same floor as he was. Were the rooms still physical enough that they could connect to one another? Could they help one another? More importantly, could hurt one another without knowing?
"Tai!" Riku tore after the footsteps, hoping she could sense him as well – and that it would be news to her. "Tai, can you hear me?"
The sound quickened. Was she running away from him? Or was something that he couldn't see chasing her? The footsteps continued, moving rapidly up the steps of a rundown, abandoned dwelling. Each one landed with a heavy thunk. As they reached the top, a creaking sounded, followed shortly by the slam of a door. But no such movement registered in the shadow of Halloweentown.
Riku swore, bounding up the steps two at a time. If he was right, Tai's door would lead to a room connected with the one on the other side of his. If not, he'd just have to catch his breath and think up a different theory.
A loud crack tore through the relative silence, and Riku's ankle twisted as the wooden step buckled beneath him. He felt his stomach drop, and the world spun in circles. He was falling, he knew, grasping for a railing or support he already knew wasn't there.
There was no solid ground beneath the steps, and the expected sudden stop was out of reach. This revelation struck Riku just as a wooden beam did the same, catching him just above the ear. He didn't even see the world go black.