Kairi stood on the shore facing the island, her shoulder length red hair blowing in the wind. She sighed, "Maybe… waiting isn't good enough."
"My thoughts exactly! If you have a dream, don't wait. Act. One of life's little rules. Got it memorized?" Axel appeared before her through the Dark Portal he controlled, confusing her.
"Who are you?" She asked, wary of this fiery haired stranger.
"Axel," He said simply, "I happen to be an acquaintance of Sora's. Why don't we go see him?" He offered his hand to her, and she asked quietly, "…Sora?"
While she thought hard about the decision to see the one she loved, several barks called behind her, Pluto running up to her. Riku laughed from a distance, watching the scene in front of him as the dog chased its tail. He was glad he had thought of using the dog to pull Kairi away from Axel.
"He is such a spastic little dog…" He muttered, amused.
Just as the dog was wagging its tail, several Dusks surrounded them, and Riku panicked. How was his plan going to work now? Kairi! He thought, not sure of what to do. Then, he backed into his portal again and opened another one behind them, whistling for the dog. They both heard it, and Pluto barked for Kairi to go through.
"We've got something in common, Kairi. You and I both miss someone we care about. Hey… I feel like we're friends already." Pluto immediately jumped through, unaware that he had left Kairi behind.
Riku grabbed the dog and knelt beside him, "No, go get Kairi. Darn it, that's why you were sent there! Go back and get her for me! Keep her away from Axel."
Pluto just barked and wagged his tail, chasing it after Riku let him go. He shooed him towards the portal, "No! Go get her!"
But then Kairi yelled, "You're not acting very friendly!" And ran through the portal, barely giving Riku time to hide himself. She looked around while Riku closed the portal, making sure she didn't see him.
"Hey, what is this place?"
A sudden whistle from another opening now filled with light, attracted Kairi and Pluto's attention. I didn't do that… so, who did? Saiyoku? Riku thought, still standing behind them. He came out more in the open as they neared it, Pluto jumping right through. But before Kairi went all the way through, she paused and looked around. She saw him, but the portal closed before she had time to ask who he was.
"Hmph." Saiyoku said, standing next to Riku, motioning with her hand to close the portal. Riku was surprised to see her there. He hadn't told her where he had gone. In fact, he had just up and left.
"When did you get here?"
"So, this is where you went? To take Kairi away from Destiny Islands?"
"No, not me. Axel attempted to kidnap her and take her to wherever it was he was headed. You know as well as I do he wouldn't take her to the Organization… not after what happened between him and Saïx."
"I see…" She stepped through the portal she had opened behind her silently, arriving in Twilight Town. He followed her, sighing. Great… Kairi's here and she's in a bad mood. Not a good combination…
"Where did you send her? …Not to the Organization yourself, did you? I know you would do that." Riku said, wary of what she did with Kairi.
She shook her head, "No, she's in the Usual Spot. I figured that it'd be best if she went somewhere where there're people we can trust."
"Look at you, looking out for Kairi. I think the worlds will end soon…" He said jokingly, but she just turned and walked down the hill out of Station Heights into the Sandlot.
"Hrrhn…" Riku moaned, realizing her mood was fouler than he had thought.
Saiyoku stood in the middle of the giant square of the Sandlot. What is it about Kairi that gets the guys to always seem to be entranced by her?
"Hey, Saiyoku! C'mon, I'm sorry about this, but we honestly need to make sure she's alright, okay?" He stood by her side, but she glared at him, muttering, "I'll catch up…"
"Oh—okay…" He said, and trotted up the stairs by the Usual Spot. How am I supposed to get him to stop thinking about Kairi? She pondered, wondering what she could do, but a most devious thought entered her head. We both have the power of Darkness… since we're both able to use the Portals. That also means, we can summon Heartless… Maybe…?
She placed her hand out and summoned as much Darkness as she could, trying to summon some sort of huge Heartless to attract his attention. But something went terribly wrong. Instead of summoning the surrounding Darkness, she was actually summoning the Darkness inside her own heart by accident. A huge Darkside Heartless erupted from her chest, and stepped out into the open.
Riku came running down the stairs, seeing the Heartless above the buildings. He saw her clutching her chest in pain, unable to move from the Heartless above her. It seemed to have her locked in place, stopping her from doing anything.
Her head was pounding, the blood rushing to her skull. Her heart felt as if it was ready to burst, and her Heart was trying to escape, the Heartless trying to pull it from her. She grabbed at the spot where her heart was, trying to keep it inside. What had she done?
"Saiyoku!" Riku charged at the Heartless, Keyblade drawn. He slashed either of its shoulders, a few times on its head, and pierced through its skull within minutes, sending it toppling over and dissipating into Darkness. He ran to her side, where she was still clutching her chest, gritting her teeth to hold back cries of pain.
"Saiyoku! What… happened?" He asked, flipping her over after she collapsed face first. He held her in his arms, while she struggled to stay conscious. She shook her head and moaned, "I'm… sorry, Riku."
"Sorry? For what? What… what did you do? Why was the Heartless…?" He looked at the spot where the horrible monster had fallen, confused. She looked away, not sure what to tell him. I… really messed up… big time…
"I… I summoned him… I didn't want you to think about Kairi… I was jealous again. I'm sorry… I…"
"YOU summoned the Heartless? Are you insane? What were you thinking!? You endangered the lives of all the people here, and especially yourself! These people don't know how to handle Heartless or Nobodies!" Anger welled up in his voice, harsh and unwelcome.
"I…" She didn't know what to say.
"Saiyoku, you let your jealousy control your actions! You went too far this time!" He told her setting her down on the ground again. She managed to sit up, her eyes asking forgiveness. His face was twisted with anger; she'd never seen him this angry with her before. He turned and started walking away, but stopped to look back at her, "…You can be devoured by Heartless for all I care…" He stalked off, pulling up his hood and heading up the stairs.
"Ri—Riku! Wait!" She called after him, but he ignored her, leaving her alone in the middle of the Sandlot. She tried to stand, but fell back down from the dizzy feeling in her head. Saiyoku crouched over, punching the dusty ground in frustration, "DANG IT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and sat down on her knees. What… have I… done? How could I be so stupid?
"Hey, you!" A familiar voice called to her from behind, and she turned around slowly, afraid of whom it might be.
"What… do you want?" She growled, really not in the mood to talk to anyone from Twilight Town.
Seifer laughed, "Well well, look who we have here. That trespasser from before. You don't have your friend with you either, and it looks like you're in pain. So, what happened?" He sounded uninterested, so she stayed quiet.
"Well?"
"…"
"Hey, you'd oughta listen to Seifer, y'know!" Rai said, throwing a fist in the air, while Fuu simply said, "Obey."
"Hmph, what are you doing here anyway?" Seifer tried again, but Saiyoku glared at him, "Just go the heck away."
"Oh, someone's in a bad mood. Guess you're in a mood to fight, huh?" He drew his Struggle bat, but Saiyoku stared him down, teeth bared, "Just leave me alone!"
"I don't think so. You don't tell me what to do, trespasser."
Saiyoku groaned in annoyance, but the groan instantly became a moan when her head felt as if someone had shocked her. She gripped her head, memories that weren't hers swarming her head.
Terra talking to a bald man and a white goatee, Ventus watching Terra ride off into a portal, Terra in a strange world that for some reason Saiyoku recognized as Enchanted Dominion, Ventus in a world called Dwarf Woodlands… another world Saiyoku somehow recognized. More and more memories came, until it showed just one: Terra, Aqua, and Ventus all gathered in a huge hall, laughing together.
Saiyoku fell to her side, writhing in pain and moaning, unable to make the memories stop. Seifer watched on in uncertainty, not sure what to do. Rai and Fuu waited for their leader's instruction, but he simply turned and left, a bewildered expression plastered on his face.
The Sandlot began to darken in Saiyoku's vision, blurring and disappearing all together. The three friends stood before her, one by one vanishing, when another figure stood there, a boy with a mask. The mask melted, and the boy's face became visible. He had glowing yellow eyes and black hair in the same style as Sora's. He smiled creepily, and then faded away like the others. The last figure was of what Aqua had said was her. She smiled and twisted into darkness, disappearing.
What did all this mean? What was happening to Saiyoku? She needed to find out. But before she could even start there, she fainted. A bloodcurdling scream was the last thing that came out of her mouth before she slept.
--
The first thing she felt was the brush of something across her forehead. She struggled to open her eyes, but was greeted with a not so forgiving sunset. Riku was looking down at her, the anger gone from his face. Instead, worry replaced it.
"W-what… happened?" She asked, ashamed that he had to come rescue her… again in the same day too. She shifted in his arms, not exactly happy to be there.
He sighed, saying, "I can't leave you alone for one minute without you fainting…"
"What happened to the 'you've gone too far this time' stuff? Aren't you still mad at me? Why'd you come back?"
"It was to prove a point. You always let your emotions run wild. It's about time you got them under control, or things like that will happen."
"That wasn't very nice…"
"That's beside the point. What is going on with you Saiyoku? Those dreams and now this? What's happening to you? Are you ever going to tell me?"
Saiyoku looked away, still feeling slightly awkward. How was she supposed to tell him what Aqua and the others had told him?
"I… I honestly don't know myself. The dreams… they're always different. And the memories flashing through my head… they were all of Ventus and Terra. I don't get it…"
"Memories? Was there a guy named Vanitas in it?"
"Vanitas? Hm… he could be that guy in the mask who looked like a crazed black haired Sora… why?"
"You kept muttering his name when I got here."
"Oh," She sat up and shook her head, trying to clear away the dizziness. She stood up and shrugged, showing she was fine.
"You're avoiding the question," Riku said as he stood up, brushing the dirt off his coat, "What is it that they told you?"
"Well… They told me that… that I was a Nobody. And a Heartless."
Riku began to say something, but froze, his mind blank. Nobody… and a Heartless? How is that even possible?
"How…?"
"I don't know…" She sighed.
"So, that's it? That's all they've told you, and they haven't even explained?"
"I'm just as lost as you are…" Saiyoku said, "Hey, since we're here, how about we stay in that hotel again?"
Riku sighed, unsure, but decided to agree, "Fine."
"Yay!" She yelled, trotting off towards one of her favorite places in the entire world at this point.
Her energy never depletes for more than an hour… Riku followed her, groaning about how much she'll complain afterward if they're in another world.
Heartless and a Nobody… What do they mean by that? And, how could she be both? She exists, so how…?
--
Ventus, Terra, and Aqua stood together amongst a vast field of Keyblades, rusty and dust worn. A man stood ahead of them with the same boy in the mask from Saiyoku's vision. Their names echoed in Saiyoku's head. Master Xehanort… Vanitas… They all three pressed the armor on the side of their arms and were instantly covered in armor, helmets on all three of them.
They summoned their Keyblades, and Ventus began to run toward them, but Terra pushed him back, running straight at their enemies instead. Master Xehanort lifted his hands, and the earth lifted, catching Terra in the front and dragging him up with it. The land that the enemies were on, however, went higher, Vanitas jumping down and throwing a shower of sparks down on Terra.
He looked up and attempted to jump up the side of the cliff face. Master Xehanort made a hand gesture, commanding the millions of Keyblades to be sucked up into a vortex, attacking not only Terra, but Aqua and Ventus as well.
Meanwhile, Vanitas had turned his attention to both Aqua and Ventus, when the huge vortex of Keyblades came hurling down into the ravine they were in. Aqua ran to try and avoid it, but Vanitas was after her, jumping nimbly up onto one of the Keyblades in the vortex, using it to his advantage. He shot bursts of ice at his prey, but Ventus jumped over the vortex to avoid them, Aqua dodging them by her speed.
Vanitas fell off the Keyblades, but kept attacking them with ice. Ventus made an attempt to catch him from behind, but his enemy was too quick. Aqua quickly sent a shower of sparks onto the masked boy, sending him flying onto the Keyblades again, passing Terra, who was still trying to reach Master Xehanort. He fell off the rock and slid down the cliff, using his Keyblade as a pick to slow him down. The rock fell away and hit the rock across from it, Terra still attached.
The vortex turned to Aqua and pelted her from above, sending her crashing into the rock below, a crater forming around her from the impact. Terra fell off and was thrust into the Keyblade vortex again while Ventus made sure Aqua was okay. Her helmet was destroyed, but it didn't bother her. She lifted her Keyblade and shot a Reflega spell to Terra, which covered him, stopping the vortex from attacking him.
It didn't last long until more shot up from underneath him, exploding the spell and backfiring on Terra. He fell onto the cliff where Master Xehanort was, while Ventus tried to get up there as well. Terra lifted his heavy Keyblade and attacked the Master, who had his own Keyblade. He froze Terra's arm not long after and sent him backward, but Ventus had made it up in time. He jumped up for a lethal attack from behind, but it didn't fool Master Xehanort.
He disappeared, but was suddenly behind Ventus as he grabbed him by the helmet, cracking it in his tight grip. Terra could do nothing as the Keyblade vortex caught him again, sending him down into the ravine. Vanitas returned to his master's side watching as pieces of Ventus' helmet fell, revealing one of his eyes. They were so sad as he was frozen externally by Master Xehanort, who merely dropped him over the edge, as if he were trash. The frozen boy's Keyblade broke on the way down, as did the rest of his helmet.
Aqua managed to catch him before he completely shattered when he hit the ground. He looked up at her, pleading for some way out of his frozen prison. Their enemy suddenly shot a ball of energy into the sky, the clouds parting away to show Kingdom Hearts, completed and in full bloom. Terra watched, pulling his helmet off as if in defeat.
"No! Ventus!" Saiyoku yelled, sitting up in her bed. She flipped on the light and put her head in her hand, What just happened there? What was going on?
She groaned, flipped the light back off and rolled over, hoping to finally get some sleep.