Chapter 11: Up To You

I've won, but yet, I've lost...

I've lost my freedom from myself.

I'm in shackles, because of my ability to fight with my friends as my strength, now I have to fight alone. Alone in this crawling hell-hole. Why can't I do anything right?

Ignitus had kept close look on Aqua from his hourglass, the energy slowly gazing upon her unconcious body; severe cuts and a stab wound had covered her in scars and blood, but soon dispersed as if it was nothing, then reappeared on her body again. She was clinging onto life, but not by much. Death was giving a tug to her in this game of life and death.

"Naminé, I need you to do me a favor," He said, looking over at the girl not far from his location. She had recently finished a drawing of Sora and Ventus with the same purple dragon she kept drawing in her sketchbook that seemed to have endless blank pages, needy of color, and of life.

"What's wrong?" She asked, getting up from her seating position near Ventus, and making her way towards The Chronicler with little to worry about.

"Aqua seems to be straying off of her path, I've learned from your past endeavors that you could rearrange the patterns of memories, and even talk to others through their subconcious. Could you fit her back onto the path she's meant to travel on?"

"I'll try my best Ignitus."

Seems like I've been walking for ages...

It's been so long... I almost forgot how to smile...

There's always a way...

Why did I have to listen to myself back then? When I exactly knew I would be betrayed by myself?

I can't fight the darkness back anymore... Ven, Terra, Ignitus... What am I going to do?

"Use the Keyblade! Use the Keyblade and fight back the darkness!"

K-Kairi?

"I may look in many ways like her, but I've been looking over you with Ignitus."

N-Naminé

"Yes, it's me. Ignitus says you've strayed off the path of light, and slowly, but surely, you are falling into darkness, maybe for all eternity. We all need you to fight back the darkness, instead of following it to nothing but death."

You too?

"We all believe you can fight back, it may take a while, but know that your friends will give you all the strength you need. You can beat the darkness, with your friends to guide you, and teach you."

Am I left with a choice?

"As of now, I'm sorry to say, but yes, you are. Either way you look at this situation, you will stay alive, and keep traveling. Master Xehanort will probably know that you are being trailed off into the darkness, and he'll stop at nothing to keep you on that path. I can hold him back from doing so, but it's solely up to you to go back on the right path, or not. I can give you two days to think about this, and I will be back to guide you on the path you choose."

Two days... I think it'll be enough to find Liana, if at all possible, I can try to stay on the path, but it'll be you who has to help me in any way possible.

"I completely understand. Also, the situation you're in, is very critical, so... For you, I give you this..."

Aqua was arisen from her concious-induced coma to the simple word Naminé had spoke to her; Cure. Staring at her surroundings, she could see that she was far away from the cave, and far away from Cylinia, the being that nearly annihilated her in the caves. A waterfall splashed softly behind her, the soothing sound of water rushing down sent her nerves, and her mind into a peaceful bliss. Being in the light was perfect, but the light wouldn't be complete without the darkness. She had been trapped for awhile now, after fighting Cylinia left her at this fork in her journey: traveling down the road to light would bring her back to her friends, but traveling down the road of darkness would lead her to betrayal.

Yet she was alive, and that was all that mattered.

"Cynder? What's wrong?" Spyro asked his love, who had cuddled ever so closer to him.

"I'm scared," Cynder answered, her fear running her veins cold as ice.

"Scared about what?" Kairi asked, kneeling down to look Cynder straight in the eyes. It was unfortunate for her to ask, because a roar could be immediately heard from their location. With their attention averted to the sky, they could see the graceful figure of a dragoness; snow white scales to shine in the pure essence of the moonlight, and six deathly horns covered her head in graceful order.

"That thing... It looked just like Cynder!" Sora fearfully said, assuming the worst for the black dragoness herself. The black dragoness looked on at the counterpart above her, and to her surprise: it was much taller than her!

"Where are they heading?" The grown brunette asked Hunter and Meadow, curious to know of their answer to this situation.

"If I'm not mistaken, they should be heading towards Warfang," Meadow answered, looking on at the white dragoness who indeed, was heading on towards Warfang.

"How long will it take us to get there?" Kairi asked Meadow; if he knew, then it would be easier to follow the directions he would give them, and move on.

"The shortest route will take you to Warfang right away, but will cost you time that you don't have," Meadow answered.

"Meaning?" Terra asked, confused stricken about the whole situation.

"We will arrive in Warfang at least a day from now," Hunter answered the confused keyblade wielder. Sora, also surprised about this situation let out a moan of grief for the long walk they'll have to take.

"But by then it would probably be too late!" Sora said, standing out in front of everyone to let the two cheetahs know of their situation.

"Maybe not," Terra answered, summoning up a dark portal that could possibly lead them to Warfang, if at all possible. Terra was the first to enter, and soon was followed by the others, all afraid of what would happen next.

Warfang was at peace; everyone was either asleep or guarding the entrance from other attacks. Since the attack on Warfang happened no less than a month from the present time, everyone was fearful of the whole situation, and that meant more guards would be watching out over their peaceful city. No sign of Malefor was in sight, and not an intruder in sight for that matter, but to their surprise, a shine of white was slowly looming onto the city, a small orb of darkness hanging under the shine. The guards immediately noticed this sight, and were feared of a seige on the city. They took to their positions for an attack like this, and were ready to fight back with what they had.

Unfortunately for them, the shine turned out to be a dragoness carrying a giant dark bomb, and the bomb was meant to attack them.

"Prepare to fire cannons!" One of the moles called out to the others, ready to defend their homes from this seige. A sudden crash from one of the bombs was more than enough to start the fighting.

The group arrived inside the main gates of Warfang, but unluckily arrived as everyone was retreating from their homes, and elsewhere into the city to stay protected.

"We're too late!" Spyro echoed, looking around to see everything in rubble, in flames, and in fragments. Suddenly, Heartless appeared from out of the ground, and were ready to attack.

"Meadow, you need to get away from here," Spyro told him, warning him of future dangers with his tone. Meadow agreed, and retreated with all the other moles into the city. Now with their minds clear of danger, they were ready to fight. When one Heartless was ready to strike, they were ready for it.

Knowing of this new threat, Terra was able to easily slice through them with his strength and vigor, even Spyro, Cynder, and Hunter were able to cut down their sizes with their battle styles. Sora and Kairi, on the other hand, had immediately touched the sky in a flurry of strikes to many of the other Heartless, making their battle easier for them.

"Show-offs," Terra briefly whispered before making another strike at his enemy, which seemed to be endless.

A sudden strike from above to the ground was more than enough to stop the growth of Heartless from the darkness. Smoke and dust covered the "battlefield", and as soon as the dust dispersed, a grown green dragon appeared with a Heartless in his mouth. Making a quick snap of his jaw, the being was destroyed.

"Terrador!" Spyro called out to him, running head-on towards the Guardian that taught him to control his abilities of wielding the power of Earth.

"Spyro, Cynder, you two are alive! That's good to know, but we need to retreat further away from the city, it'll be our only chance to keep these things away from the citizens," Terrador explained, the situation growing more dire by the second.

"That's not the plan, these things as you call them are called Heartless, and they feed on the hearts of others, it's in our responsibility to stop them at the source, and keep these people safe," Sora responded, confusing the green dragon.

"Then what do you suppose we do?" The grown dragon asked, causing Sora to let off a slight smirk.

"I've been fighting off these things for a long time now, I'll be able to lure them away, and destroy them all," Sora answered, a smirk still growing on his face. Terrador nodded, and averted his attention to the dragons and cheetah, ready to listen.

"We need all the support we can get in the upper section of the city, we need you up there," Terrador said, the three nodding in respect for the offer.

"I'll come too, if these Heartless need to find hearts, its up to us to stop them from reaching their goal," Kairi said, running along with the others to the upper quarter.

"Good, that leaves just us Terra, come on!" Sora bravely said, running on.

"No Sora, its just you now," Terra said, opening up a dark portal again. The spiky brunette stopped as soon as the words left Terra's mouth.

"What?" Sora asked.

"I have to leave, the rest I leave to you," Terra said, taking a step inside the portal.

"You said you wanted to find Ven more than the rest of us!" Sora mentioned, stopping Terra from taking another step inside.

"I'm taking another path to find him, we'll meet again. I'm sorry but this is goodbye," Terra said, closing the portal behind him to prevent Sora from chasing after him. The brunette looked on at the night sky, and began to run on to grasp the Heartless' attention.

Kairi and the others arrived at a large gate, beyond it were the voices of all the evacuatees, especially Meadow.

"Should we go in?" Kairi asked, looking behind her every now and then to check for any signs of Heartless.

"The only problem with getting in is that these gates only open on the inside," Spyro answered.

"The bright side is that Spyro and me can fit through the hole up there," Cynder said, using her tail to point up towards the small hole only large enough for the two, as the black dragoness said.

"Do so, we have little time to spare," Hunter said, also looking behind him for any unwanted visitors. The two nodded and made their way inside the tunnels, opening the gates immediately. Kairi let off a slight jolt, but not nearly enough to send her back; it was surprising to see the architecture like this since it was all consisted of rock instead of marble.

"Here we are; the Ruins of Warfang," Hunter said, looking all around him to see endless caves, where moles and cheetahs along with their families were hiding out.

This place was consisted of darkness though. Not much light was here, and if there wasn't much light, Heartless would be around the corner.

Terra has left, but is he really speaking the truth of taking another path to find Ven, or is he beginning a search for Aqua? Can the city be saved from destruction again? Will the heroes be able to triumph over the darkness of the swarming Heartless?