The next three days passed by extremely slow. Most of us sat around and did nothing. Mel actually began to write in a blank paged book she called a 'journal'. She said she had a lot of those empty journals and had never found a use for them until now. When I had asked her what she was writing about, she would only smile and say, 'you'll just have to wait until you read it.' It never got old…just to sit and watch her write…or read. I also got into the habit of watching her sleep.
One night though, turned out bad. She tossed and turned relentlessly in her sleep. Tears streamed down her as she cried out my name and whimpered 'no' multiple times. It took all my strength not to wake her up. I could hardly stand to here her cry my name. Finally she had fell quiet and the next morning she woke up perfectly fine. She had not even remembered the dream.
I knew…from then on…that something was going to happen to me before the adventure ended. I never told anyone about Mel's frantic cries through the night. I was almost scared to. It wasn't that I was afraid of getting hurt or killed. I was afraid of Melody getting hurt. I was afraid to leave her alone. She needed me just as much as I needed her. We had spent our whole lives trying to find each other. Our Hearts have needed each other's and I'm afraid that one without the other…one will go insane. I know that if something was to happen to Mel again, I would break apart and probably fall back to Darkness.
I wasn't sure what Mel would do if she was without me…but obviously the dreams portrayed something just as awful.
MEL
We finally warped to the Olympus Coliseum Gates, without Kairi, Axel, Larxene, Ciro and Keekie to back us up. From the last game, Sora had left the place in ruin…now…everything was ever more spectacular than before. I even had the music from the game play through my head and I couldn't help but let out a giggle. The sun's rays were beginning to disappear as Sora pushed the gates open. Sora invited us in as we walked into the huge arena. Beautiful Megara stood on the side lines cheering as Hercules wrestled around with Pegasus.
"Hiya, Meg!" Sora cried.
Meg turned around and smiled.
"Sora…Donald…Goofy…it's wonderful to see you…and who's your friends?"
"This is Melody…and this is.."
"Riku, I presume? So…you've found him at last…" She smiled kindly.
Hercules and Pegasus laughed and Phil ran out to greet him with a high five.
"Hey, Wonder Boy….Sora is back. " Meg called out.
Hercules and Phil both turned around and looked at us. A huge smile crawled over their faces as they jogged over to us. Pegasus flew and landed behind me, nuzzling me. Sora and Hercules cracked knuckles and laughed.
"Sora! Donald! Goofy! How have the true heroes been??" He laughed.
Riku raised an eyebrow at me as I grinned.
"Oh…hello…you must be Riku…and uh.."
"Hello, Herc. My name is Melody." I smiled.
Herc took my hand and shook it carefully.
"So…you must be the new hero…"
"The what?"
Phil and Meg nodded at each other as Herc pointed to the stars that shined above us. There was a star formation that looked like me.
"B-but how?" I began.
"Mel…" Sora laughed. "It doesn't matter what world you are in as long as you do something that no one else would dare to do. Being a hero means you're a hero in every world…not just one…and you've been a hero for a long time."
"Yes. A true hero isn't measured by his strength of his body…but by the strength and courage of his Heart." Herc agreed.
Riku nodded and smiled as he watched the stars above.
"Yes…that must have happened when you gave your Heart to save all of ours." Riku said softly.
Donald and Goofy nodded as they too, lifted their eyes to the heavens. I saw Sora, Donald, and Goofy's formation still shining brightly in the sky. Beside my formation, I was surprised to see someone else's.
"Riku…" I whispered.
He followed my gaze and looked at his own formation.
"I'm no hero…why am I up there?"
"Because…you would risk anything to keep me, Sora, or anyone else safe. Your Heart is just as strong and courageous as mine." I smiled. "I know that you think accepting Darkness is not very heroic…but by doing so…you were able to fight your way out of it…"
"No, Mel. You were the one to fight me out of it. You were my inspiration…you and Sora both. I wanted to follow my Heart…just like the both of you."
"But.." Sora began but I cut him short.
"There are times that following your Heart is the right answer…in fact that is the right answer in most cases…but there will be at least one choice in your life where you might have to follow your mind."
"Too true…too true…" Phil agreed.
After Riku lowered his head to ponder about what I had said, and awkward silence followed.
"So…" Herc said breaking the silence, "How does it feel to know that you are a true hero?"
"Wonderful….actually…" I said with a sigh.
Sora watched me for a second then looked back at Herc and Meg.
"I'm sorry guys… but we've got to run. We just thought we would drop by and see how things were going."
"Got other worlds to save, huh?" Phil asked.
"Yup!" Goofy said.
"Well…don't forget that you're always welcome here." Meg said with a smile.
"Before you go though…" Herc said with a serious tone. "Hades has been complaining about a creature beyond his control….something about it being a creature of the night and it angers him of why he can't control it…"
"Hades?!" Sora, Goofy, and Donald all cried.
"Alright…we'll go take a look…" I said with a smile as I shoved them towards the door.
"Goodbye Herc, Meg, Phil, and Pegasus!" Sora called out.
Donald and Goofy called out their good-byes as well. Riku and I just waved. We left the Olympus coliseum and walked down an unusually long flight of stairs down towards the Underworld.
"I can't believe Hades is alive!" Sora exclaimed.
"Why? He is the God of the Underworld. God of the Undead…." I said.
"Yeah….I guess…" Sora said as we finally made it to the center of the underworld.
The Underdome was in ruins and I noticed Auron was not there.
He must have found his way off this world……well good…good for him…he needs to write his own life story..
"Hmm…this place has changed…" Sora said.
"Hey!! Get Back Here NOW!!!!" Screamed a voice.
I turned around to see Hades coming right at me, his hair was fiery red. I felt something touch my leg and noticed a dark purple Nightstalker at my feet. Hades stopped and looked at me and smiled, showing his filed teeth.
"Are…uh…you gonna take her with you…?" He asked with a small hopeful tone.
"I don't think so…why?" I asked as I crossed my arms.
Sora and the others looked at me in surprise.
"Oh, please! Please get that devil creature away from me! It's sorta ironic how I called it a 'devil creature' when I rule the Underworld…" He rambled then his hair grew sparks, "BUT STILL!!! All this creature does is mimic me!!!" he cried in annoyance.
The Nightstalker morph into an exact replica of Hades and began to dance around Hades.
"No…I don't think I'll take her…" I said.
Hades grew angry and formed a ball of fire in his hands as I pulled out my Keyblade.
"Hmph…." Hades began as his hair turned back to blue flames and his fire ball disappeared. "Okay…let's strike a deal…you take that thing with you so we won't have to get into a big argument and so we won't have to fight…there…see? Everyone wins…"
"Hmm……"
"No strings attached.." He said as he made a little figure of me with strings in his hands. "No catches…nothing…nada…zip."
"Alright…I'll take her…"
"Great….see? I knew we would be good friends…"
"On one condition…"
"Ehh…what?"
"You have to swear an oath that you won't ever bother Auron again…"
"Wait…how do you know about Auron??"
"I know a lot of things…now swear!" I said.
"Alright…alright…alright! I swear not to interfere with Auron again. He won't ever see my face… or anything else that belongs to the Underworld…there…yah happy??"
I looked at the others then eventually nodded as I put away the Keyblade. A smile spread across Hades.
"Thanks, thanks a lot Melody."
I looked at him crossly as the Nightstalker turned into herself.
"Yep….that's right…I know your name…but I guess that doesn't matter does it?" Hades looked at the other's then recognized Riku.
"Heh-hey! You're the one who did the bidding of Maleficent's bidding weren't you…um…Riku? Yeah! Riku!…that's it!"
Riku lowered his eyes as Hades snapped his fingers and appeared right next to Riku with a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't tell me you feel sore about all that stuff…" He snickered.
"Hades…" I growled. "Leave…NOW…"
"Okay, okay…jeez…whatever…people among the dead are a lot more fun than you people…and they're DEAD! Hah! Get it? They're de…oh forget it!" The with a snap of his fingers, he disappeared.
Sora shrugged and warped back to the gummi ship, along with Donald and Goofy. I walked to Riku and lifted his chin.
"Don't think on it, Riku. You have no reason to feel responsible for anything. You're a hero…not villain, and you have the most courageous Heart of all…'
"I don't feel courageous…" He muttered.
I stood up on my tippy toes and gently put my lips to his cheek. His cheeks turned a small tint of red as I smiled up at him.
"How about now?" I grinned.
A small smile came over his face.
"Yeah…a little bit."
"Okay…we gotta name her…" I said as I looked back at the Nightstalker.
She suddenly took the form of my Keyblade then she turned into Riku.
"Wow…she can morph into anything…"
A smile grew over her face as I laughed.
"Alright…let's get back to the ship…" I said as I scooped the Nightstalker into my arms and touched Riku's shoulder, warping back to the gummi ship.
"What took you so long??" Sora grinned.
I put the Nightstalker down and smiled back.
"Just giving Riku one of my speeches…"
"Oh, no! Not one of your, 'you-should-stop-dwelling-over-that-otherwise-you'll-give-yourself-an-alcer', speeches." Axel said in a mocking tone.
Riku stuck out his bottom lip and pouted as he nodded. I playfully punched him in the arm.
"Shut up Riku! You too, Axel." I cried as they both snickered at me.
I turned my attention to the Nightstalker, watching me through glassy pink eyes.
"Hmm…let's see…" I said as I brought my finger to my chin.
She morphed into me also put her fingers against her chin. Kairi and Larxene giggled as Axel looked at Riku.
"Hey…it's almost like you're dating two of her…"
"We're not dating…" He said coolly.
"Uh-huh…sure…"
"Let's name you Niettah….what do you think?"
She closed her eyes for a moment, and then they flashed open as she excitedly nodded her head. My eyes…well at least her eyes…were a beautiful color of ice blue. I had never realized that my eyes were so…seducing I guess would be the word. No wonder there are times when Riku can't control himself. Niettah turned back into her normal form and followed Riku and I down the spiral stairs into our room.
When I opened the door, Keekie immediately leaped into my arms and rubbed against my head. He trilled excitedly as he jumped down to greet Niettah, also calling Ciro to them.
"Keekie…Cirocco…this is Niettah." I introduced as Ciro casually made his was to us. "She can morph in anything she wants." I smiled.
Over a period of time, the three Nightstalkers grew very fond of each other. They were almost a complete family. The gummi ship began to move and everyone got ready for the end of the journey.
Only two more days…
I sat down in a chair off to the corner of the room and cracked open a second blank journal and continues my story. It was a story about love and friendship, much like the story I am living now. I was writing it for a specific someone. Riku. Maybe, I thought that writing the words 'I love you' in a story would release the urge for me to say them to Riku. I knew I loved him…but I thought that without those three words…we might be a happier couple…even though we aren't technically a couple yet. We love each other…but maybe…maybe it would feel nice to hear those words…for once… from someone other than family.
It grew late, and I stood up to put the book on the table when I stumbled around. Riku, who was sitting on his bed watching me, stood up immediately. I lost my balance again and slammed into him.
"W-whoa…are the Heartless attacking…?" I asked.
"No, Mel…You're dizzy…" He said softly.
"Oh…" I said sheepishly.
Riku seemed to have a soft yet sympathetic look on his face, as if he wished this wouldn't happen to me. As if I were sick or something. Then everything faded.