Disclaimer: Blah Blah Blah I don't own Kingdom Hearts I wish I did.
Chapter 11
When Sora arrived at Hollow Bastion, the first thing he did was…
Avoid Jin.
Quietly slipping through the new hallways, Sora randomly slunk along the walls, jumping at the smallest sound, avoiding Heartless as well.
'May I ask why you are avoiding anything breathing?'
Sora froze in his tracks when Ansem's deep voice rang through his head, halting him instantly.
'Ever knock?' He scowled.
'No need for it. I've been here for some time.' Ansem replied dismally. Sora could almost picture the man smirking at him while he shrugged imperturbably.
'Can I help you?' Sora growled, looking wary again. His neck was starting to hurt from so much head-turning… ness.
'No. But I can assist you.'
'How so?'
'Go through the large double doors; take the left stairs and slip through the door behind the pillars.'
'Why?'
'You're seeking refuge, yes? The library would probably be the wisest option. Jin is just beyond the sealed doors in the back of the room beyond the fountain.'
Despite his disliking for the man that was occupying his head now, but not wanting to face the green haired teen at the moment, Sora obediently walked through the double doors and into a large circular room with a crystalline chandelier hanging above a wall based fountain.
Quietly dashing up the stairs, Sora turned to the left and opened the doors, wincing when it gave a rather loud creek that seemed to echo to throughout the entire castle. 'Hopefully no one heard that...' Sora flinched, eyeing the door behind the fountain.
'You're senses are heightened by adrenaline, so your perception of sound is greater than what another would hear.' Ansem replied dully.
'Didn't ask for your consent.' Sora growled. 'Now… go away.'
'Temper, temper.'
Gently closing the door behind him, Sora sighed and sunk to his knees, his back sliding against the oak doors smoothly.
What was wrong with him?
Sora clenched his eyes shut and brought his hands up to scratch at his cinnamon locks, trying to scratch away the burning sensation in the back of his skull.
As the burn died down, Sora took a deep breath and sighed; letting his hands fall around his knees in the same position Riku had found him in earlier.
Riku.
Riku loved him.
Loved him.
LOVED!
"I always will."
"What the hell?" Sora groaned, letting the back of his head hit the door. "Why? Why me?" He mumbled.
He heard Ansem chuckle in the back of his mind and decided to set something straight.
"What the hell are you doing in my head?" He growled, glaring at the bookcase in front of him.
'You accepted the darkness after you accepted Jin and his body. '
"What!" Sora blushed.
Ansem ignored this.
'You accepted me. I am the darkness. I am a part of you.'
Sora growled again.
There was no way he was going to let some psychotic, loophole-talking bastard in his mind.
'Is there any way to get rid of you? '
'No… not that I know of… you may as well accept this news then. I'm a part of you and there's nothing you can do about this.'
The asshole was laughing at him again; Sora knew it…
'If you do anything to mess with my head, I swear, I'll kill you.'
'May I label you suicidal then?'
Sora thought about retorting, but thought about the wiser, and let the matter drop. Anything he said was thrown back anyways…
Ansem chuckled.
OoOoOoOoOoO
Riku scowled and stared at the blond man before him.
"Listen gramps. How long are the fucking repairs gonna take?" Riku snarled, his fingers curling around air in anger.
"About five hours." The man replied, wiping some of the ship's oil on his jeans. "At best." He added, putting a hand to his bony chin and stroking it thoughtfully.
"I don't have TIME! I need to find Kairi and finally knock some sense into Sora!" Riku all but screamed, an abruptly appearing Leon the only thing holding him back from killing the blond male.
"You're only adding to the time it will take Cid to repair the ship. You may as well make yourself useful and stock up on supplies. No doubt that the kid won't go down without a fight." He said, removing his hand from Riku's tense shoulder.
Riku shot Leon's boots a nasty look before storming off.
The brunet was right.
He may as well face Sora prepared…
Still…
Riku was beyond angered.
He had tried reasoning with Sora. He had even confessed his feelings, but Sora had turned them away.
At least now he knew how Sora had felt.
Now Kairi's life was on the line. There was something more to this than Jin and the Cheshire cat had been letting on. The redhead was defiantly part of something bigger…
But, he'd promise, he'd get both of them back.
"I promise."
OoOoOoOoOoO
Finally, he could protect Sora like he wanted to.
Finally, he could destroy what anguish Sora felt.
Now that they had the seventh princess, they could open the Keyhole and find Kingdom Hearts. The source of all darkness.
The room Jin stood in, with bronze pipes making the walls, along with twisted metal and scraps of glass caused the room to look almost ghostly and beautiful at the same time. It almost looked like the rusting pipes of an old church. Long forgotten and rusting without proper care.
And six of the seven princesses, now seven, lay comatose in shells of blue glass.
"Where is the boy?"
The only flaw in the room was the witch.
He knew her only as a puppet; he could feel the darkness leaking from the woman's heart, consuming it inch-by-inch as it slowly grew. Sooner or later, the flower would bloom, casting the heart into eternal darkness and its beauty.
"He should be returning from Traverse Town soon." He said passively, though he desperately wished to find Sora.
"Would you mind if I had… but a nice chat with the boy?" She smiled, her lips thinning back into almost a sneer.
"Go ahead." Jin shrugged, as though he had no interest in his young lover.
Lover.
Could he still call Sora that?
After he had failed to protect him.
Yes he could.
With the opening of Kingdom Hearts close at hand, he could protect him fully and destroy anything that angered his love.
Anything.
OoOoOoOoO
"So… you used to be the ruler here?" Sora questioned, running his hand along the book spines.
'Yes. I researched the Heartless for many years before, I, myself; fell prey to their claws.'
"What happened?" Sora asked beguilingly, wanting to know more. Despite his looming dislike for the man, Ansem would probably be with him for a while…
What was that saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?
Then what was Riku…
'Frankly… I'm not sure myself.'
'Quit…' He paused. '…mind-dropping.'
'Nice vocabulary my friend.'
'You gonna tell me what happened or not?'
'The Heartless came and infested themselves in the chambers below, where the Keyhole is. I sent… 'subjects' down and studied their reactions. When I ran short of subjects, I went down myself. Once, I even tried to extract the darkness from a heart. In the end, the heart collapsed and the subject's body disappeared at the extreme exposure to the light within.'
Sora shuddered at the way Ansem described his experiments and his… 'subjects'. Sora had no doubt that the 'subjects' were probably humans.
Living and breathing.
"What about Jin?"
"What about that Heartless?"
Sora nearly jumped a foot in the air when Maleficent strode into the room, her gaze questioning with a light mocking tone behind it.
Everybody had some sort of mystery behind them, behind their darkening eyes.
The darkness did such strange things to people…
"What do you want?" Sora and Ansem both hissed.
"My dear boy… there is so much power sleeping within you…" Maleficent purred, circling around the boy lazily.
Sora shuddered.
"You must awaken the power of the Keyblade."
Sora paused and looked up at the witch.
"I'm not the Keyblade master. Riku is." He scowled, giving the witch a look.
"My dear child," She blinked rapidly and put a hand to her chest, like someone had told her something quite surprising (though Sora doubted that this was real), "-you don't know?"
"Know what?"
She grinned.
"There is more than one Keyblade master."
'Of course.' Ansem agreed.
OoOoOoOoOoO
'There he is… All you have to do is call the Keyblade.' Ansem instructed.
Sora looked down from the ledges, a sad expression crossing his boyish face, watching as Riku and the animals scurried up the lifts, before disappearing into a frown. He strode to the lifts, stepping onto the uneasy looking rock and being greeted by a massive beast.
"Where is Belle?"
'Belle?'
'A princess.'
"I know she's here… my heart tells me so." The beast gasped. He seemed to be out of breath?
"How did you make it here? Without a vessel?"
'What the hell? Did you just talk through me!' Sora snapped. As a matter a fact… he had done that earlier…
'Yes and no. The same question was on your mind.'
The gruff tone from the animal brought them back to the situation at hand.
"I… I just believed that she was here. My heart knew." He said, sadness showing in his deep tone and shining through to emotions behind his atrocious form.
"You're heart?" Sora asked in a disbelieving tone.
"I just… want Belle back. Please?"
Sora was taken aback by the pleading nature in the beast's tone, holding such sincerity and longing to see this 'Belle'.
"Sora!"
"Damn."
Riku jumped up to the ledge, Goofy and Donald not too far behind, and brandished his Keyblade. Ready to beat Sora in the fight they had promised.
"You arrived sooner than I thought…" Sora said casually, a small sneer tugging at his lips. "That desperate to find the princess?"
'What the hell…' Riku eyed the brunet carefully, surprised at his detached tone. 'Sounds like he's going through puberty.' "Sora, listen, we can forget about all of this and just try and defeat Jin. I know he's been controlling you!"
"Is that so?"
Sora started laughing, doubling over in the same detached tone.
Sora shook his head, wiping away stray tears of laughter, his laughter and even movement detached.
"You've always been the best at everything." Sora sneered, a sick smile pasted to his lips. "Racing. Sparring. Swimming. And let's not forget, YOU'RE the one who's going to save the world." He jeered, crossing his arms.
"What are you getting at?"
Uncrossing his arms, Sora reached forward, closing his fingers on something invisible, calling the Keyblade to his hand.
"You won't be the best at everything. Not anymore."
Riku blinked rapidly when the blade disappeared from his grip, leaving him to grasp at air as Sora inspected the blade.
Donald and Goofy gaped.
"How'd he-?"
"There's more than one Keyblade master." Sora scowled, turning around and heading to the lift.
"What the hell, Sora! I fought with it. I brought it here. I defeated those Heartless!" Riku roared. What the hell was he supposed to fight Sora with now!
"You were delivering it." He said simply. "Here." Sora tossed something wooden to the silver-haired boy. "Use this. May as well not to leave you completely defenseless." He snorted, a crude smile on his face. "See you inside."
Riku fell to his knees, eyeing the wooden sword in front of him. It was the same Sora had used on the islands, his name carved into the handle cruelly.
This couldn't be happening.
"…"
"Uh… Donald? Sora has the key now…"
"…" The duck paused, looking away from Sora's retreating form to Riku, regretfully. "Let's go Goofy."
Riku didn't raise his head. He didn't even register the fact that they had said their goodbyes. He already knew they were leaving.
He was alone and weaponless.
This could NOT be happening.
Sora was against him.
Donald and Goofy, though annoying as they could be, were gone.
Kairi was gone too.
And, now, he had no weapon.
What was the point of facing Sora now?
He was so close to leaving, just turning around finding some way off this planet, but heavy panting caught his attention.
The monster beside him was attempting to rise, trying to follow the trio into the castle.
"You know… he'll only kick your ass." Riku said, standing.
"I made a promise. To keep her safe." The beast hesitated. "I may not be doing it now, but I won't give up."
Riku looked at the creature, his aquamarine eyes shining in a moment of rejuvenation.
He had made a promise too.
Bending over, he picked up the toy, holding it tightly.
"I'm going with you then."
'I've made a promise too…' OoOoOoOoOoO
Riku entered a large circular room, his eyes focusing on everything before finally letting his arm go slack, the tension in his form only dropping a level, Beast lumbering behind him.
They had been all over the castle, looking for anyway into the large double doors, and finally finding the switch downstairs guarded by wave after wave of Heartless.
While Riku walked toward the center of the room, Beast turned at the whisper of a sound behind them, his eyes focusing on a yellow dressed figure.
"Belle?" He breathed disbelievingly.
The princess's figure soon gave way to a small Shadow; its lithe form dancing sadly while it's yellow eyes stared at him passively.
The once prince gave a loud growl, alerting Riku, who couldn't restrain the beast before he sprung at the Shadow, the doors slamming shut behind him.
"Wha-!"
"I thought you'd never get here."
Riku turned around, his aquamarine eyes resting on a scowling Sora, a hesitant Donald and Goofy standing behind him.
Sora's attire was quite different from the old red jumpsuit it had been.
It was almost similar to Jin's outfit.
Long, black sleeves reaching down to his fingers and the resting edges passing to his boot's ankles, Sora stood tall and rigid, quite different from his past posture on the islands, his once innocent eyes full of hate that had hardened the beautiful orbs to a look of utmost loathing.
"Sora, I don't want to do this, but you've gone too far." Riku said firmly, standing his ground and holding up his wooden sword defensively.
He wasn't going down without a fight.
Not yet.
Sora gave a snort of laughter and gestured to the toy in the older boy's grip.
"You're weapon is useless and you know it, Riku."
"I don't need it then." Riku spat, throwing it to the side.
Sora looked at him doubtfully, Donald and Goofy gaping.
"Then what chance do you have?"
"I have… a chance as long as I have my heart."
"Your heart?" Sora snorted again, his cerulean orbs looking at Riku in mocking skepticism. "What good will that puny thing do you?"
"I've traveled to different worlds. I've made friends. And with their help, I made it here. So I could find you. I've done all of this for you, Sora. My determination and my friend's help has made me stronger."
"How sentimental." Sora scowled, raising a hand to the silver-haired teen. "Then let's see what good your heart is!" He shouted, energy blasting from his hand and careening toward Riku.
Riku stood there, waiting for the blast to hit him, but the loud clang of metal the issued forth stopped and surprised him.
Goofy stood in front of him, his shield raising up and protecting him the best he could.
"He's right." The dog agreed, nodding his head.
"You'd betray your King?" Sora growled.
"I'm not gonna… disobey his majesty… but I'm not going to betray Riku either." Goofy said firmly, gripping his shield tighter. "See ya later, Donald. Can you tell the King I'm sorry?"
"Hold on Goofy!" He quickly waddled away from Sora standing in front of Riku in a form of protection from the brunet. "We'll tell him together!" He nodded, giving Goofy the thumbs up.
Riku stared.
For a while, Riku felt that he was really glad the two were still with him.
He hadn't lost all his friends.
"Fine." Sora snarled, gripping the Keyblade tighter. "I don't need either of you. I have the Keyblade and the darkness."
It was, as if on cue, the Keyblade disappeared from Sora's grip, returning to Riku.
"It ends now, Sora!" Riku yelled, charging toward his friend.
Sora panicked.
Now, he was the defenseless one. Without anyone to protect him or a weapon to defend himself with.
Shit.
"Sora!"
Looking up, Sora spotted Jin standing on the platform above them, a sword shaped like a dragon's wing in his hand.
He tossed the blade down to Sora, who caught it just in time to block Riku's blade, using his strength to push the boy off of him, the scratching of metal following.
Sora pulled his blade away and jumped back, lunging back in and was about to strike down on Riku's head, but a sudden freeze went through his body, holding him still for a minute before he turned on Donald who was looking very scared with Sora's flashing eyes on him.
Rushing forward, Sora landed blow upon blow on the duck, causing him to fall to the ground, stars swimming before the duck's eyes.
A tornado of hits; however, stopped Sora from going after Riku again, when Goofy attacked him by spinning around with his arms outstretched and holding his shield out.
Dammit. They aren't making this easy.
Again, Sora attacked, sending a blast of power through the dog and causing him to collapse beside the duck.
And, once more, Sora forgot about his other opponent.
Riku had come up behind him and hooked his arms behind Sora, holding his arms behind him while his other hand held his chin up, just beneath his jaw, and, so long as Sora made no sudden movements, his supply of oxygen wouldn't stop.
Letting his body go slack, Riku's hold eased in the slightest in fear of having actually choked Sora.
The brunet, on the other hand, let out a low snarl, Sora turned and slashed horizontally, hoping he'd hit Riku.
Unfortunately, for Sora, Riku had moved backwards and brought his own blade down, hitting Sora along the shoulder blade.
"Argh!" Sora cried, his head thrown back. It stung like hell! It felt like the times Riku had grabbed him and he had felt the same burning sensation.
It's the light from the Keyblade. Ansem hissed, breathing heavily. Even… when you hadn't accepted the darkness, it still burned because he is pure light.
Sweeping under, Sora tried to swipe at Riku's feet, but the silver-haired boy jumped and avoided the slash by inches.
With his guard dropped however, he was left open when Sora twisted around him and brought the blade to his neck, raising the Keyblade before Sora could effectively take his head off.
Jin's brow furrowed at the fight, wanting nothing more than to help his lover, but he was under strict orders not to help and to stay above them and watch… why Ansem had instructed him to watch, he'd never know.
Jin dwelled on that subject.
Ansem.
He had known this was going to happen, and yet, Jin had been blind to this the whole time. He had been so wrapped up in Sora he hadn't noticed.
Ansem knew so much and seemed to put trust in Jin, but he still had the sense that his master would never trust him fully…
Sora let out a long hiss of pain when the blade dug into his side.
This time, Riku was attacking relentlessly.
'Probably determined to get Kairi back…' Sora scowled, his temper showing again, crying out when Riku landed a blow to his prying arm.
'I can help…' Ansem said absently, his voice caressing Sora's mind gently, though Sora could feel the man trying to keep his own voice steady.
'How?'
'Let me take over.'
'No.' Sora retorted sharply, blocking a blow from Riku again.
'Let the darkness to control your body and you'll win…' He pressed.
'I'm not letting you take over.' He said firmly, jabbing forward, only to miss Riku again when the aquamarine-eyed boy jabbed him from beneath.
'Allow me to assist you then.'
'Tell me how?'
'What has the boy done to you? Think of you anger, your hate, and your love for Jin. Let your emotions guide what you want and allow the darkness to grant your deepest desires.'
It didn't take long for Sora to gather his memories and emotions.
He thought about how Riku had thrown him aside.
How he and Kairi had left him out.
How much Jin loved him.
And he allowed his emotions to take control of his wishes. Letting the darkness fill him, concentrate his senses on the fight at hand.
On the core of his hate.
Riku.
Riku's step faltered when he felt the shift of power within his friend, his grip on the Keyblade loosening, his jaw clenching absently when it suddenly became hard to breathe.
"Wha-what?" He gasped, clenching a hand to his chest when an invisible hand grasped his chest tightly, cutting off his oxygen. "What the hell!" He panted, falling to his knees.
But the pain wasn't in his lungs… it was in his heart.
"Hurts doesn't it?"
Riku raised himself up slightly, reclining his head to watch Sora slowly walk toward him, a cruel smile set.
"The darkness in your heart is calling to the darkness that flows freely about this castle. It wants to be released." Sora's smile became even more twisted, his eyes flashing to amber before fading into their familiar blue. "Should we release it Riku?"
"No."
"You still have the strength to fight, huh?" Sora grimaced.
"I won't give up." Riku panted, raising himself up slowly, staggering. "I'll get you back!" He dashed forward, intent on ending this with one blow, blinded by his depleting strength and his blurring vision.
Sora's eyes widened when Riku jumped up, Keyblade raised and poised to strike the final blow.
Everything slowed and Sora quickly turned away and clenching his eyes shut, shielding himself with his arms, pathetically, and awaiting his fate.
It never came.
Something warm hit his face and he felt a warm body cover his own.
Slowly opening an eye, Sora gasped.
"J-Jin…?"
In an attempt to save him, Jin had shielded Sora from Riku's blow.
And now, a long vertical cut, rippling at the edges of both skin and cloth like snakes, began from Jin's shoulder to his chest, the black blood shining in the pale light.
But… he was a Heartless… he didn't have blood in him. Only darkness.
Riku stood in shock, his blade still embedded in Jin's chest, beads of sweat on his brow.
He hadn't expected the blow to be so great… he… he would have done that to Sora?
Jin suddenly gave a shuddery cough, heaving a large amount of what could be considered Heartless' blood onto the brunet below him.
Sora was splashed with more of the inky black ooze, dripping from the corners of Jin's lips and running in a thin line onto Sora's shoulder, soaking his long clothes.
'Oh, God... No!'
Sora couldn't move.
He couldn't breathe.
He could only stare at Jin's eyes as they looked at him sadly.
"I-" Jin began, but started coughing again. When his coughing fit stopped he began again, slower this time. "I'm… I'm… sorry, Sora…"
He slowly fell to his knees; his fall slowed as he slid of the end of the Keyblade, and landed in Sora's arms, while the brunet slowly lowered him toward the carpet, his eyes still locked with Jin's.
Sora cradled Jin's head next to his, burring it in his shoulder, Jin's breath labored.
"…I couldn't protect you like I promised." He gave a small smile and closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Sora."
Riku watched passively, emotions whirling around inside of him.
He was angry that Jin had interfered. He was angry because Jin was the cause of Sora's much hatred toward him, but at the same time, he was…
Thankful.
If Jin hadn't jumped between them, it would be Sora on the ground, the life slowly leaking out of him, instead.
Both of the boy's eyes widened when Jin started to fade, his eyes becoming glazed.
"I'm sorry."
With those last words, Jin faded into oblivion, the home of all 'deceased' Heartless resided, nothing remaining of the green-haired Heartless.
"J-Jin…" Sora stared in shock, still frozen in the same spot.
He was gone.
'This can't be happening…'
Nothing could bring back a Heartless.
'Bring him back.'
'I'm… sorry. I can't.' For once, Ansem sounded sincere.
BRING HIM BACK! Sora screamed, his eyes filling with tears, his hands clenching tightly.
He broke down, sobbing and wrapping his arms around himself, rocking back and forth slowly.
"No… no… no…" He chanted, repeating himself while tears spilled from his eyes. "He… he can't be gone. Can't. No… no…"
This COULD NOT be happening.
Riku hesitated, slowly walking toward Sora and crouching down in front of him.
He reached out to touch the brunet and let his gloved hand rest on Sora's shoulder.
Sora raised his head dully, his eyes vacant with tears still at the brims and running down his cheeks.
Riku couldn't stand seeing him like this.
Pulling him into his embrace, Riku cradled Sora close, rocking him like he had done on his own, and stroking his hair.
"Sora…"
His voice seemed to have broken whatever spell had been on the brunet, and he suddenly found himself on his back, ten feet from the fleeing brunet.
OoOoOoOoOoO
How could he have lost?
He had been so close.
"No, no, no, no… NO!" Sora screamed, falling to his knees, tears shining in his cerulean orbs.
It was ruined. Even with the darkness' aid, he had lost.
Lost to Riku.
Lost Jin to Oblivion.
His heart clenched painfully. He had lost the closest person he had ever cared for…
And now… he had to return to Riku.
He wouldn't do it.
Never.
"I can help you…"
"I thought you helped enough." Sora snarled, glaring at the cold tiles beneath him, his fingers scratching at its solid surface.
"I said I could make it easier. But you didn't use your full potential. You ignored it and ended up losing the Keyblade and your bet."
Slowly, Sora began to realize the voice wasn't in his head but was in front of him. Raising his head, Sora looked up to a tall figure wrapped in a brown cloth, small belts hooked in an 'X' across the chest.
"Wha-? I thought… I thought you couldn't-"
"This is temporary…" He said; waving around a sleeve in a gesture Ansem would have used if the long overlapping sleeves didn't hide his hands. "Allow me to control your body, and you can defeat him…"
"What about the Keyhole?" Sora questioned, slowly rising to his feet.
"There are other means. Make your decision. It is now or never, Sora."
Reluctantly, Sora raised his hand and took hold of Ansem's cloak, the tall figure pulling itself within Sora.
End Chapter
xL14x: So how was it? I liked it. I updated faster this time. :) Please review I love reviews haha :)
