Chapter 10 – Catching Up
"Sora? C'mon, wake up!"
He fluttered his eyes several times until he woke up to see her…Kairi. Once she saw that he was awake, she threw herself into his chest and simply held him with tears in her eyes.
"Whoever attacked you Sora, be glad you're not dead!" Riku smirked.
After Riku's remark, Kairi let him go and took her place at the edge of the bed that Sora was in. He took this chance to look around him to find that he was at the Tower again in Twilight Town; the same room where he met the three fairies and got his new clothes. Everything, like Merlin's house, was exactly the same. He tried to sit up, but as he began to rise, a sharp pain coursed through his torso.
"AHH!!" Sora cried in pain, throwing himself back on the bed, eyes squeezed tight. Kairi immediately shot up from the edge of the bed to keep him down. Riku's eyes slightly widened but as he was about to go to help, Kairi already took the job.
"Sora, don't move!" Kairi pressed, "You're hurt remember?"
"Wha?" he breathed. He glanced down on himself. His black pants were still on but he had no shirt. Instead, his whole bottom torso was covered by a thick cloth bandage that was clearly stained in blood. He tried to remember what the happened until he remembered.
FlashbackTheir kiss was affectionate as well as passionate. None of them wanted it to end-
"There you are my child."
Surprised, they quickly sealed their kiss and looked towards the exit of their secret place to find the prophets. Not just one like before but all of the Prophets: Faith, Destiny, Balance, Light and Darkness…with a larger army of more powerful looking Sentinels behind them
End of Flashback"Myra…" he muttered under his breath, his eyes widening.
"What?" Riku asked. "Myra, Who's Myra?"
"The girl I was with…where is she?" Sora groaned in pain.
"A girl? But he couldn't have…he would never…would he?"
"Sora…when we found you, there was no one there. You were alone when we found you." Kairi answered slowly.
"We have to find her!" he said loudly, silencing everyone in the room, "Myra…that "girl"…she's the Last Exile!"
Everyone's expressions froze in disbelief, silently asking him to continue.
"What I'm going to tell you guys is no lie. I won't leave anything out." looking at Kairi as he spoke.
CREAK--!
Everyone spun around to see Mickey, Yen Sid, the three fairies: Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, Donald and Goofy at the door. (I don't even know how the hell I knew that… ' Anyway, on with the suspense) In silence, they walked across the room to where Sora lay when Yen Sid finally spoke.
"So you have both found and lost the Exile Sora…" Yen Sid began, "Truly unfortunate."
"I'm sorry Yen Sid. The Prophets took her…I don't know where but they took her... You gotta listen to me! Just hear me out!"
"Calm down Sora." Mickey said gently, stepping closer to him and sat next to him. "Tell us everything."
"A couple weeks ago, at the time, we still had no vibration from the Keyblade." Sora explained, "It wasn't until we passed by Radiant Garden that we got this insane signal coming from there so we landed and searched."
Sora truthfully told every detail that he could possibly remember: his first encounter with the Last Exile, what she looked like and the attacks she cast on them, the mysterious disappearance of the Exile and the appearance of Myra. He hesitated when he was ready to talk about his growing feelings for Myra but, with Kairi there, he just couldn't. Instead, he skipped to the part when Myra took him to the cliff where she revealed herself. From that point on, everyone seemed more attentive to him and drank in his every word.
Flashback
"There you are my child."
Once they laid their eyes on the prophets and their army, Sora immediately swung Myra behind him and went into his battle stance; summoning his Keyblade once more.
"Sora no!" Myra whispered loudly, "You're gonna get yourself killed!"
He remained silent for several seconds then turned his head her way.
"Remember what I said Myra? I won't let you face their wrath alone. Besides, I can handle these punks." He smiled with his signature grin.
"Then I won't let you either." Myra said, stepping by his side with her hands on the hilts of her swords. With swiftness, she spun her swords out of their cases into several feet in the air. As they continued to spin, she hurriedly did hand movements and said an incantation.
"Espadas Lunas" (Moon blades)
She laid her hands in front of her and with precise timing, the swords landed in her hands. When she caught them, they instantly became engulfed in a white mythical "flame" as she went into her battle stance. Sora was about ready to start after the battle in front of them when-
"Wait! Remember your last battle with the Sentinels and how when it seemed like you hit them but didn't and instead, they went to the back of the pack? That was an illusion technique." Myra explained, "Charge in now, you'll end up fooling yourself again. I know an incantation so that the next time you face a Sentinel, you'll be fighting the real thing. Hold still."
She did some hand gestures, placed her hands on her chest causing him to blush and said, "Kiakute yurimo de kyou itsumo kareda. Irumo saigo deraketo kyou mo." He an insane chill down his spine when she was done.
"With that incantation, you'll be immune to any kind of illusion technique for about a month. Are you ready?" Myra said.
"After you." Sora insisted.
Without a word, Myra sprinted once more towards a horde of Sentinels, knocking down one with every blow. Sora took a minute to watch her movements then joined her on her killing spree. After about 15 minutes, Myra and Sora were able to take down every last one of them. All that was left were the Prophets who were watching from behind the whole time.
There was a deep silence as they stood several feet from one another just looking at eachother on the other side. Myra told herself that this time, she'll maintain her self- control as she rings that prophet's neck. She snapped out of it as the Prophet of Faith stepped forward a couple of steps.
"My dear Exile, this time, I will not run…and neither will my brothers…I promise Myra."
Myra's eyes widened.
"Don't talk as if you know me!" she growled under her breath, "You don't know shit about me.
"Is it really true what you say Myra?" The Prophet of Balance asked, Myra flinched at the very question. "There is much that we know about you, Exile."
End of Flashback
"There is plenty to know about Myra and her culture. Her people." Yen Sid claimed, "Allow me to explain."
They were all in Yen Sid's office. Everyone was seated in a chair in front of his desk while Sora was in the back of the room in a bed that was moved into the room for the occasion.
"As I said before, Myra comes from an ancient but powerful race known as the Elementals but almost no one ever used that term and instead called them Exiles since they had no foreign allies…" Yen Sid paused for a moment; then he rose from his wooden throne and crossed the room to gaze through the window pane. With everyone's eyes glued to him, he took a deep breath, and continued.
"There was a reason, why they had no allies…why they were so mysterious… The Exiles, had in their possession, a weapon. Every 1000 years, a "chosen one" would be born from one of the five noble clans – in Xylum culture, there are 4 "base elements": water, earth, fire, and air. And from those elements, dozens more branched from it such as lightning, psychic, ice, and transformation, giving those elements the title of "branch elements". The five noble clans were those who possessed the abilities of either of the four base elements."
"But I don't understand." Kairi interrupted, "If there are five noble clans but four base elements, then what's the fifth one?"
"I was getting to that. Several years before Xylum's destruction, it's apparent that this was when Myra was born. Normally, shortly after a Elemental child is born, they undergo a religious ceremony that determines which elemental clan the child belongs to by placing the child under a beam of the purest light- Kairi's light, so to speak, since she is after all, the a princess of a pure heart. Usually, they can tell which element the infant possesses by when they put the child under the light, they begin to glow in whatever color they may be. Redfire, yellowlightning, brownearth but once Myra was placed under that light, like the Last Exiles before her, she glowed a silver-blue with a black outlining and white spheres of light orbited around her. It was right then when they knew she was different and that meant only one thing…"
"…they discovered a new element." Sora finished slowly. Yen Sid shook his head.
"It's not that her element was discovered Sora; it was found…again. The Last Exile and all who came before her are bound to the same mystical element. Only Last Exiles have the soul power to wield that force.
"Sora, you told us that she transformed into a different form when the sun sets and returns to normal when the sun rises. To me it looks like her powers have to do with the sun or the moon… But that would mean –" Mickey gasped."
"Myra's element is the ability over the cosmos. (stars and space)"
Flashback
"You don't know shit about me." Myra sneered.
"Is it really true what you say Myra?" She flinched at the very question. "There is much that we know about you Exile."
"Myra what are they talking about?" Sora whispered quickly.
Myra said nothing. Her gaze didn't wander and remained fixed on the Prophets.
"It appears that even the Keyblade Master, whom you love so dearly, has yet to know the whole truth." The Prophet of Balance stated, Myra shot a glare at him, "Rather disappointing don't you think?" turning towards the Prophet of Destiny.
"Indeed my brother."
"Allow us to explain then." The Prophet of Light began.
As he explained, every painful moment was coming back to her…
--Myra's memory flashback--
(not gonna bother w/ the foreign language here cuz it's too damn long! XD but read anyway!!)
" Reiji! Aoki! Get Myra out of here!" father said loudly; leading me and my brothers out of the palace hall down an underground tunnel that connected our palace to the hangar. We walked with great haste and hurry until a palace guard ran to us
"We're outnumbered my lord! The palace is lost!"
"You hold them back for as long as you can now GO!" father commanded. "You three, follow me!" urging us farther.
We followed the passageway until we reached the hanger where our gummi ship was. Another palace guard ran to us in a hurried fashion when he stopped abruptly, "My liege, the ship is fueled and ready for immediate takeoff. If you leave now, you'll be able to sneak past their armada and escape safely."
"Alright. Thank you. Put the ship onto standby and wait for my signal"
"Yes sir!" He saluted to my father and left.
He turned towards me and my brothers, went down on his knees and put a hand on my brother's shoulders with me in the middle.
"Reiji, Aoki, Myra……. This is as far as I can take you."
"But father, what about us?" Aoki asked loudly, "You don't have to do this!"
"Just listen to me." He snapped. Aoki fell silent. Father calmed himself again with a firm but loving face before speaking.
"As a leader, I can't leave my people behind. Right now, I'm needed here. But as for you three…right now, your duty is away from here so that you may live on and give us all a future. Reiji, Aoki, protect yourselves and Myra with your lives. You stay together and no one gets left behind."
"Father…" I said, with tears in my eyes.
He turned to me with soft loving eyes. "Myra…one day your time will come to show what you truly are and do what is right. People will say things. They'll try to stop you. But in the end, you'll know what to do. Stay strong and continue to be like I know you are. Never forget who you are. You're the Last Exile. And no one can take that away."
BOOM!!
A tremor shot through the whole room nearly knocking us all off our feet.
Father simultaneously embraced all of us. While still in his arms, he whispered, "This place is no longer safe."
"My lord! Their coming!" The guard shouted from across the room.
"Reiji! Aoki! Get on the ship now!" Without question, they scurried into the cockpit of the ship and began to start the engine. I was about to get on when father grabbed onto my hand. I turned around and looked at the hand he was holding. It was the necklace he wore all the time for as long as I could remember. A simple white/beige stone necklace shaped like a ceramic pot.
"I want you to have this Myra. The Light of Kiryuu. Xylum's most prized possession and star. When in need, call to it and it will guide you and give you strength. This has been passed down to every Last Exile before you and now…it falls to you. You know the ritual. I love you. Hurry get on!"
Before I could say anything else, he shoved me into the cockpit with my brothers and sealed the door. Reiji began our takeoff immediately and as we began to ascend, we all looked down to see our father looking back at us. For just one moment before turning around and charging alone at the horde of Sentinels that just broke into the hangar.
In minutes, we were out of the planet and heading into space. As we left, we saw Sentinel ships leave Xylum.
"I can't believe it. We won! They're retreating!" Reiji said ecstatically. Right after he said that, Xylum started to glow bit by bit and seconds later…
BOOM!!
It exploded. Just like that.
"NNNOOOOO!!" I shrieked.
End of Myra's Memory Flashback
"We know who you are, where your from, and what you've been doing after all these years instead of carrying out your god-given tasks."
"That may be true…" Myra whispered.
"Myra, -" Sora began.
"BUT NO THANKS TO YOU!!" she roared.
"All I've ever wanted was to live in peace! Is that so wrong?! Is that so wrong to the point you up and destroy everything I've ever known into nothing?!"
"That is where you're wrong Exile." The Prophet of Darkness started darkly. "As nothing more but a mere tool at the world's disposal, you have no real life to live unlike us and your friend. Meaning, not only you, which is meaningless, but we have lives we wish to fufill."
"Shut up!" Sora shouted, stepping between the Prophets and Myra. Myra's eyes widened.
"Stop labeling her as nothing when she looks, acts, and feels like a damn human! You might as well say that you guys were the damn bibles that we could burn for all we cared!"
"Think what you want Keyblade weilder, but what we are changes nothing of Myra's past and how she has lived the last 1000 years in our care." Destiny admitted firmly.(the prophet) I'll just call them Faith, Balance and whatever so keep that in mind from now on ok? Thanks!
Sora froze and everyone fell silent. Silence never seemed so loud. He slowly turned to Myra to find that her eyes were not of the angry, but eyes of the overwhelmed. Her widened eyes were soon followed by tears.
Myra's Memory Flashback--
A few days later…
After Xylum was gone, My brothers and myself barely spoke as we wandered through space. Finding somewhere to call home again. But we already knew that even if we found one…it wouldn't be the same.
We were almost out of fuel until we finally found a planet. After spending days without food or water, we made no hesitation as we made our descent towards the surface. When we landed, we took notice that the place was a tropical one. Clear, sunny skies, turquoise oceans that seemed to go on forever, white sandy beaches, but it was foggy where we were. An island of mist among the other shiny, clear islands was where we found ourselves.
Days went by. One night I was sleeping when I heard something. I got up silently to find that both my brothers were gone. I panicked for a bit, then poked my head outside to see my brothers with their swords; fighting eachother. But as I kept watch, I noticed that they weren't fighting to hurt…but to practice. Were they trying to train so they can protect me? At the time, I didn't want to leave them alone to fight for me when the time came. I wanted to help. I went back inside the hut we made together, grabbed my dual swords, and crept back out. My brothers paused and turned when they saw me with my swords withdrawn. I smiled at them then went into my battle stance ready to start. They looked at eachother and smiled warmly back at me. From that night on, we practiced together every night. As time went by, Reiji and Aoki started smiling again… and so did I. For the first time in weeks, we were happy again; because we had eachother. Maybe that was what father was talking about.
One month later…
Another day was done. I slept in by mistake that night. It was probably around midnight when I finally woke up to find my brothers already gone. Since it happened so many times before, I didn't find it weird at all. Figuring that they probably started early, I leisurely took my swords, went outside and stopped. My eyes widened.
Aoki was face up on the floor dead right in front of me with pools of blood splattered everywhere. His sword was staked to the ground. I can never forget how his cold, lifeless eyes stared back up at me as I was taking everything in. I immediately jumped to the other side of his body and withdrew my swords.
"Dare da?!" (Who's there?!) I shouted, my mind spinning. I started to slowly walk down the beach not letting my guard down for a second. Aoki was dead, but there was a chance that Reiji could still be alive. "Reiji!" No reply. "Reiji! Doko ni irun desuka?" I called. (Reiji! Where are you?)
I heard a rustle of leaves nearby. I ran towards the sound and thank god! Reiji was there alive! He was stabbed at the arm but alive. "Reiji! Yokata! Nani ga anatano?" (Thank god! What happened?)
"Myra…Niigero!" He croaked. " Los prophetos estan aqui. Detete!" (Myra..run! The prophets are here. Get out of here while you still can.)
"Yada. No sin ti. Vas conmigo. Saa…ikouyo-" (No. Not without you. You're coming with me. Come on…let's go-)
"Chitanda omyra." (I've finally found you)
I spun full-circle and there they were. The Prophets that destroyed Xylum…with Sentinels too.
"Reiji, mamotte ageru yo." (Reiji,I'll protect you ) I stepped in front of him and went into my battle stance. Without a moment to lose, I stabbed both my swords into the ground on both sides of me, got down on my knees and started to perform Xahyaku fushka abenifus (Bomb Drifter). The Sentinels were killed by the blast. Refer to what happened the last time she did this on chapter 5-hit and run I picked up my swords again and looked behind me to check on Reiji to find him dumbstruck in the face at what I did. As if he never really knew what kind of power I had until now.
All of a sudden, his eyes shot open and shouted, "Myra! Abunai!" ( Myra! Look out!) Before I could do anything, Faith seized me in his grasp, rendering me of my swords with his death-like grip on my wrists. Light teleported in front of me and started placing a binding spell on me.
"Daijoubu onna-san. Shita koro nante ageru, sorede ii omyrai." Light whispered (It's alright girl. Where you'll be going, you'll be just fine.) I struggled to break free but as a child, Faith was too strong for me. As they did this, Reiji took his sword on his good arm, got up slowly and tried to sneak up on Light until Darkness poofed in front of him and pinned him to the ground brutally with his foot.
"Reiji!" I cried, with tears pouring out of my eyes. Injured and unable to move, he was helpless as Darkness began to concure a spell.
"Yada…" (No) I whispered. Before Darkness did it, Reiji looked up at me, "Yada" I repeated louder, and he whispered, "Vive libre Myra" (Live free Myra.).
"YADA!!" I suddenly started to glow, my body was engulfed in intense white light. My power has never done that before except for whenever I transformed as usual…but it was a lot stronger this time. The light around me continued to grow brighter and brighter as I started to hover off the ground. Eventually, Faith, Light and Darkness had to let go of me and take some cover. Seconds later, the binding spell that held me broke as I continued to rise up. I had no control of that much power at the time. Simply put, I made a huge crater out of nearly the whole island. That's all I can remember about that day…
End of Myra's Memory Flashback --
As she continued to remember, everyone was still silent until all of a sudden, she rose into the sky. Her body began to glow. She was again enveloped in the pure white veil. Symbols appeared in three bands of silver blue light that formed around her as if she were in a sphere. Her eyes became pure white too.
"Myra…" Sora began.
"Mamotte ageru yo Sora." She interrupted in a echo-like voice. She began to walk in mid-air towards the Prophets. Destiny stepped forward in challenge, snapped his fingers, and out of nowhere cue holy music another posse of Sentinels appeared.
Myra was emotionless in the face.
"Seize her" Destiny commanded. The Sentinels began marching towards her but without lifting a finger, two tentacles of light on both sides of the sphere appeared and without moment's warning, they fiercely swiped them out of her way and soon she was within several feet of Destiny. There was a brief silence between them before it was finally broken.
"You wanna know where your destiny lies Prophet?" Myra growled.
Silence.
"You'll know soon enough." Her tentacles of light shot up in the air for one final strike but right before they made contact, Destiny teleported out and somehow put Sora in his place. Too late.
End of Flashback
"I think I know now why Myra was so important to the Prophets now." Riku declared, "If they had control of Myra's powers somehow, then they could do whatever they wanted with the universe. Everything would be at their command."
"Which is why we must get her back as soon as possible." Mickey finished seriously.
"But Sora's still hurt!," Kairi protested, "He can't even do so much as to stand in the condition he's in!
" Don't worry guys I'm fine." Sora insisted, slowly trying to sit up, " Don't worry about me – AHHH!!"
Sora threw himself back on the bed in severe pain. Riku and Kairi rushed to his side.
"It should seem quite clear to you that are unable to continue the tasks that were set before you…not now anyway. Sora…are you still willing to help Myra?"
Memories and emotions rushed through his mind..
I know who you are… but I don't know you. Myra..my name is Myra..
Don't listen to this man! He speaks lies!!...his goal will only you lead to hell…
Sora glanced at Kairi…
Unbelievable…am I starting to fall for Myra now?..when I've already fallen for Kairi?
You could go back to your family! All your friends! To Kairi…
I'm offering you a chance to keep that privilege…
Finally, he looked over his shoulder to Yen Sid… when he remembered…
He'd want you to see it through to the end…and ask you to stay.
"I'll go."