EDITED 7/4/2010
Author's Comments: Please leave a review to let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I own Imani and Aden.
Axel lets out a low whistle, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his dark jacket. "The place sure is a lot brighter than the last time I came."
"The spell was broken," Donald explains while crossing his arms smugly. "Now everyone is human again!"
The sun rises and sets endlessly. I've been lying on the ground for six days straight. The conclusions that have risen in my head seem to have frozen my muscles and stolen my will to do anything. I can't think of anything else I could do, anyway. So long as I'm alone...
He steps off the portal tentatively with one paw in front of the other. Glancing down at himself for a fleeting curious moment, Cloud breathes in the warm air before approaching the humming baboon standing in front of a mural of animals—mostly lions.
The baboon, Rafiki, suddenly stops humming and whips around to look at Cloud, searching his eyes carefully and gripping his staff.
Memories of my searching friends play subconsciously like background music except more vividly. Both the dry air of the savanna and the musty air of the castle towers tickles my nose.
His footsteps echo against the stone floor as he draws nearer to the large, circular mirror hanging on the wall. Quietly he stops when he sees his own face in the glass, but all too soon his reflection scorches amidst flames and a headless mask ripples into being.
"A new face," the mask drawls. "How refreshing."
The tiniest wave of relief zips through my veins. They've all come to dead-ends…
Wait.
"You just missed her!" Lumiere cries, leading the group to up the stairs and down the halls. "She fought a strange blue monster and then disappeared!"
All glance at each other. "A Heartless?" Goofy guesses.
"If it was a Heartless, it was quite different than any that's ever come to the castle," the prince says.
"Did she say where she went?" Sora asks hopefully and hopelessly.
"No," the prince shakes his head as he bursts through the door and strides for a small table by the window, "but I have something that might help you find her."
My forehead wrinkles as my eyebrows draw together. What is he talking about?
"You are in search of something," Rafiki says with a smile, the stones and shells clacking in his other hand as he tosses them loosely. "You seek someone very powerful…someone who is driven by her fears."
He doesn't respond. Answering would be a waste of time the shaman could use to tell him what Cloud hopes he knows.
I sit up abruptly, the breath I'd been holding rushing out of me instantly and my heart dropping.
"Merlin tells me you can show me anything I want to see," Leon says.
"Upon command by my queen," it clarifies. "She is no longer. I have no purpose."
He arches an eyebrow beneath his dark bangs. "I can change that."
They couldn't be…
He snatches the handle, holding it away from him so that everyone crowding around can see. "Show us where Imani has run to," the prince demands.
A greenish glow throws itself onto the dark walls of the west wing as the mirror glass reflects an image of a castle covered from top to bottom in thorns.
A fiber of the little peace I'd gathered in my heart snaps.
"She has come to rest in a great stone tree with hollow limbs that stretch for the sky," he goes on, closing his eyes and swaying on his feet. The clacking grows louder as he juggles the objects faster. "Many years ago, in that very tree, a black winged, fire-breathing creature weaved lies around the hearts of three warriors who wielded strange weapons."
And another.
"I'm looking for a girl who has the power to write destiny."
"Maxiin," the mask nods knowingly, a smirk curling its lips. "The Kismet Scribe."
"It's Imani," Leon corrects. "Where is she?"
No.
Both mirrors show the same image: a dark-haired girl sitting on a grimy stone floor, her eyes wide with fear.
"The castle of an evil witch named…" Rafiki's eyes fly open, "Maleficent."
No no no no no no no—
"Hurry!" Sora shouts as the seven of them race back to the light portal—
Cloud ignores the baboon's warnings against wasting time, turning on his hind legs and diving—
In moments Leon lunges—
Despairing wails echo in my head but my muscles refuse to budge. My panicking heart beats rapidly, threatening to explode out of my chest.
One after the other they dash away from the pool of light, feet pounding the ground in their pursuit.
WhatdoIdowhatdoIdotheycan'tfindmewhatdoIdo—
"IMANI!"
The shout seems to switch my common sense back on. A jolt sears up my spine and I gasp for my breath. I scramble to stand up and wind my arm back and thrust my hand forward to call a Dark Corri—
Long fingers curl around my wrist and squeeze tightly, stopping the ripple of energy. Loud clangs boom near my ears. Something nudges me in the back, in my stomach, and in my cheeks. The air buzzes with magic looming over my head.
My ability to breathe jams up again. Three keyblades graze the skin of my neck in a close triangle. A chakram spike roughly pokes each cheek. The barrel of a Gunblade stabs at my back while the tip of a Buster sword jabs my front. Nine pairs of eyes glare at me from all angles.
A scream builds up in my chest, but I can't remember how to let it out.
"Imani."
My heart slows down as the reality of the situation sets in. I hardly comprehend what I'm saying when I whisper, "You're holding it just like him. Reversed."
Time stands still as blades and points and magic and his hand keep me frozen in place. The keyblade behind me hesitantly lowers from my neck. The Gunblade barrel shifts to the side, away from my back.
"Sora," Riku growls warningly.
His grip loosens but he doesn't let go. "Where've you been?" he asks sadly. "We were really worried about you."
A stab at my conscience. I know.
"You know what's going on," Sora goes on, "and why Xemnas is after you. You're the only one who does."
A twist of the knife. I know that.
He sighs. "But there's something you don't know…and it's scaring you into hiding more than Xemnas himself is."
He fires red bullets all around him as he spins in the throne room. Walls cave in and pillars collapse. Just as a piece of the ceiling dislodges above him, dark smoke clouds around Xemnas and swallows him into safety.
"So…why didn't you tell us anything? Don't you trust us?"
The killing thrust. I don't trust myself.
Fingers tighten and he gives a slight shake. "Imani, please say something."
I bow my head as much as I can with two keyblades near my neck. "Please let go of me."
"No."
The spikes digging into my cheeks suddenly heat up. "This stupid hide-and-seek game of yours ends now."
"Let me go," I say again, a quiver sneaking into my voice.
"No."
"No matter how much stronger you've become, you won't be strong enough to fight me."
"Is that a threat?"
Swallowing thickly, I shut my eyes against the sting building up. "What if it is?"
Harsh laughter slices through the thick tension in the musty air. "You cried the last time you had to fight your friends. The whole reason you've been telling us to stay away from Xemnas was to protect us, right? You're willing to turn your back on all that and fight us just so you can get the hell away?"
"Just let me go," I beg.
"Since when have you been this desperate?"
"I can't protect you any other way. I don't know how."
"So you're running away because you don't know what else to do? You're giving up?"
My comeback dies on my tongue.
"You told me you were the kind of friend who refuses to settle for a second-best solution," he growls. "You told me you had what it took to face the odds...to defy them. The Imani I knew lived up to those words with everything she had. She fought for us. What makes this shitty situation any different than that compromise crap? We all thought it was impossible but you never gave in. You proved every single one of us wrong. "
Everything he says sinks into my skin and courses through my veins, burning every inch of my body as it circulates. A familiar warmth crawls through my chest and behind my eyes.
The spikes poking my cheeks pull away. Axel sighs. "What the hell happened to you?"
The warmth explodes within me and I cry. I cry for the mess I've become and the mess I've dragged these friends into.
Blue sparks lick my neck as Riku's keyblade vanishes. He kneels down next to me and his hand firmly grabs hold of my free one. "We never asked to be protected, Imani. If we wanted that, we wouldn't be here."
My fingers tremble between his.
"Stop trying to be the overprotective parent and let us be your friends." He squeezes tighter, his skin absorbing all the trembling. "You're only invincible physically. I bet your mind and your heart is suffering under all this weight you refuse to hand off to us."
Behind me, Sora sheathes his keyblade and falls to his knees, sliding his hand into my extended one. "You're like our little sister, Imani. It really kills an older brother's pride when he can't help his little sister."
"IMANI BRISCE IS MY SISTER!"
A gasp racks my lungs as images of Aden standing before me with his arms spread protectively flood my vision. For every punch and kick and throw he takes a sob escapes my lips. "I know," I whisper.
"Then don't give up on us." A warm hand rests on my head. "We haven't given up on you."
Author's Afterthought: Drama. Whoo. Thanks for reading! Please review!