Thirteen lost souls are lead by a deceiver,
And one has paid the price,
Now, another will share their fate,
And get the punishment they deserve for their treachery
Chapter 10: Ren
I couldn't believe what I was doing. Normally, I'd be following Leader's exact orders, but I had to help Mckenna, she was my friend. I knew what she was trying to do from the very start, but you wouldn't expect the quiet, obediant flute-player to figure these kind of things. Unless of course, you're Akira or Mckenna. They always believed in me, so, this was the least I could do.
We arrived at the city in the World Of Forgotten Memories, and the first thing out of Demyx's mouth was,"Pretty colors!".
"You idiot, these are the memories that are lost, or forgotten. They come here when they are forgotten, and are trapped until their rightful owner remembers them", Mckenna groaned, smacking him in the back of the head.
"Ouch!, why am I always getting hit?", he whined.
"You're not", Mckenna said. She then smacked Axel on the back of the head, of course, she had to get on the tips of her toes to reach.
"Ow, what was that for!", he hissed, rubbing the back of his head.
"To prove my point", she said simply.
"Can we please stop fighting, I don't want to be the next thing caught on Aura's spears thank you very much!", I hissed.
"Alright, alright, Axel and I will take the Courtyard, Ren and Demyx will take the Garden, Akira and Xion will take the first floor, and Roxas and Riku will take the second. From there, when we have secured our areas, you can use these stones to signal that you've secured your area, they glow really bright", Mckenna explained, giving us each a different colored stone.
"Ooh, shiny!", I giggled.
"Ren, stay with me bud", she said snapping her fingers in my face, causing me to flinch a little. But, I got back on track. Yeah, I will admit, I can be a little... flighty.
"After we've all secured our areas, we'll move up as a group, alright?", Mckenna continued.
"Roger!", I laughed, saluting.
"Ren, c'mon Kid, stay focused", she said, snapping her fingers in front of my face again.
"Alright, ready?", Mckenna asked. We all nodded, except for Demyx, he was more of a shudder of the neck.
"Okay, let's move out", she ordered. They all quickly dispersed, leaving only Demyx and I.
"Well, let's get moving", I said to him.
"We're not seriously going to die, right?", he asked as we began to walk to the Garden.
"Well, Mckenna doesn't like to lose fights, and since we're going against the Syndicate, I think it's safe to say she's not going to go down without a really good fight", I replied as we walked quietly.
"That's comforting", he squeaked, his voice about a octave higher.
"Relax Dem, I got your back, no need to worry, we're stronger when we're together!", I laughed, patting him on the arm.
"R-right", he said, nodding. We soon came to the Garden, and I checked for any signs of Ayame.
"Alright, Ayame's not here, let's look over by the archway", I told him quietly, pointing to the rose-covered archway. We quietly crept over, and looked for any traces of Ayame.
"Hmm, that's strange, she's usually here", I said to myself as I began to walk through the archway. Suddenly, when I was in the archway, vines wrapped around me, and I couldn't move.
"Dammit!", I hissed as I began to pull on the vines.
"Wait a second, I'll get you out of there in no time!", Demyx assured, jogging over and unwrapping some of the vines.
"I totally forgot this was a defense mechanism Ayame placed to keep Mckenna, Sophie and I out, 'cause we'd go in, and have a challenge to see who could get the most plants killed before Ayame found us", I laughed.
"Hmm, why does that sound so familiar?", Demyx hummed as he unwrapped the last vine.
"Since we are just mirrors of yourselves, we tend to have some of the same behaviors", I explained, stretching and cracking my back a little.
"I see, we should signal the others", Demyx replied, taking out his Sky Blue stone. I took out my Ruby Red one, and we held them up at the same time. The stones suddenly started glowing, and the began to float. They then shot up in the air, and exploded, turning into some sort of fireworks.
"Well, that's a good signal at least", I laughed, putting my hands on my hips.
"Yeah, let's get going, maybe we should go meet up with Mckenna and Axel in the Courtyard, it's not very far after all", Demyx ushered, beginning to walk out of the Garden. That's when I felt that something was going horribly wrong.
Break...
We were pretty much silent. We'd say something here and there, but other than that, not a word was spoken. Just as we were about to enter the Courtyard, there was a giant explosion of fire and electricity.
"Kuro", I hissed, running to the Courtyard. We ran around the corner to see Kuro on a perch, Axel holding his arm, and Mckenna laying on her side a little ways off.
"Ssh, back up", I whispered, hiding our bodies behind the corner.
"Shouldn't we help then?", Demyx asked quietly.
"We will help when we are needed, but this is Mckenna's fight, even if Axel might be fighting her the time being", I replied, watching.
"And here I thought you'd be more of a challenge than that stupid Birdy", Kuro laughed. Mckenna growled, and began to get up.
"You idiot, why don't you see that you're going to die as well?", Kuro chuckled, throwing a Kaiken at Mckenna.
"Mckenna, watch out!", Axel shouted, trying to get to his feet. The blade shot at her, but in a flash, she caught, and stood up.
"You know something Kuro?", she started, her hair now in her face.
"You really piss me off!", she screamed. She then threw the Kaiken back, and shot bone-breaking streams of water at him. Kuro just barely dodged the water, and jumped off the perch, and landed a few feet away from the two.
"You know, I could just kill him, it would be easier, it'll get rid of you both, killing to birds with one stone", Kuro laughed, two unusually long-bladed Kaiken appearing in his hands. Mckenna then slowly walked up and in front of Axel.
"You will not lay so much as another finger on him", she growled darkly. I saw Kuro faintly flinch at Mckenna's sudden threat.
"What are you gonna do about it?, last time I checked, everytime we sparred, I always won", he questioned, spinning a Kaiken gently.
"Yeah, but you always cheated", she shot back, her hoops appearing.
"Well, this time, there's no rules, I'm gonna put you in your place, and I'll move up four ranks in the process", he said, smiling evilly as he pointed a Kaiken at Mckenna.
"What's he talking about?", Axel asked.
"Whenever someone of the Syndicate defeats another of higher rank, they switch ranks, if he defeats me, and kills me since I am a traitor, he will take my place as the eighth member", Mckenna explained.
"So that's why I gotta beat the snot outta him, then kill 'em", Mckenna laughed, tossing a hoop in the air. She then caught it, span, and stretched her left leg and arm forward, and kept her right arm close to her, and her right leg behind the left.
"You're certainly fired up", Kuro laughed.
"Well, you're gonna be cold here in a second", Mckenna growled, her hoops glowing.
"Water!", she shouted. Water then engulfed Kuro, and she slammed the orb of water into the wall, and Kuro smashed against it as well. He slid down to the ground, then shook his hair dry.
"Refreshing", he coughed, supporting himself with the wall as he began to stand up.
"But you're gonna to have to do much more than a measly water slide to get me", he laughed, picking up his Kaiken. He then shot at her, and in a flash was in front of her. She didn't move.
"I know you feel it, the pain, you know I struck you", he laughed in her ear. He then jumped back, and another Kaiken appeared in his left hand, the original gone. I turned, and the original Kaiken in Mckenna's side.
"Why didn't she intercept the blow?", I whispered to myself. She slowly looked at the Kaiken, then back a Kuro.
"Oh, you might feel a little shock", he laughed. She paled a little. Blue lightning then surged from the handle of the Kaiken into her body. She screamed, and tried to pull the Kaiken out, but for some reason, she kept missing the Kaiken.
"We have to help her, now", Demyx hissed.
"Why?", I asked.
"Because, electricity and water do not mix", he growled, pulling me up.
He grabbed his Sitar from off the wall, strummed it and yelled,"Dance water dance!". Water clones appeared, and crashed into Kuro, who being surprised, lost concentration, and the electricity stopped flowing through the Kaiken.
"Axel, help Mckenna", I called to the red-head, my flute appearing. I stood beside Demyx, and put my flute to my lips.
"Try and dodge this", I murmured. I then began playing a slow melody. Fire balls began to appear around Kuro in a dome shape. The melody got faster, and the balls began to multiply. Suddenly, the melody picked up lots up tempo, and the frieballs closed the space between them and Kuro, who was trying to escape. They kept swiping past him, until with one high note, the dome formation was created again, ans they all exploded.
"How was that?", I laughed to Demyx, turning to him and smiling.
"R-really good, I mean, really good", he laughed, looking like I would blow him up next. I laughed, until something whizzed by me, and I that a few Kaiken were on the ground around me in a circle formation.
"Let's see if fire is greater than electricity, shall we?", Kuro laughed. Suddenly, electricty wrapped around me like ribbons, and the next thing I knew, I was seeing stars I was in so pain. I think I screamed, I don't really remember. But I remember Kuro getting smacked in the head with a book, and Akira holding him against the wall with some vines, a menacing look on her face.
"Ren, Ren, stay with me kid, c'mon!", I heard Mckenna call. I suddenly found that I was on the ground, and my head was resting on Mckenna's lap.
"I feel numb, is that normal?", I laughed, my vision a little blurry.
"Oh thank god you're alright", she gasped, letting out a breath she had held. She helped me up, and looked for injuries.
"Xion and I heard screaming, we came as fast as we could", Akira explained in the background.
"You did good, now where is Riku and Roxas?", Mckenna asked.
"You called".
"I swear to god Riku, do that one more time, and I will make you explode with the water molecules inside your body!", Mckenna hissed.
"Sorry..", he trailed off.
"Alright, Ren looks fine, just has a bunch of bruises black marks, and will probably be dizzy, so, someone needs to carry her", Mckenna explained, helping me stand straight.
"I'll do it", Demyx said quietly.
"Demyx, you can't even lift a good-sized stone", Axel snorted.
Demyx glared at Axel, and said,"Watch me". He then slowly walked over to me, and picked me up bridal style.
"She's as light as a feather", Demyx said to Axel, glaring at him as I hung on for dear life.
"Mckenna we saw you get hit by that Kaiken, are you alright?", Akira questioned.
"It's just a little crack", Mckenna replied.
"That's what you said about your arm", Akira replied, walking over to Mckenna, her vines still holding up Kuro. She grabbed Mckenna's arm, and pulled it up, and glared angrily at her.
"Little crack my ass", Akira hissed. She then forced Mckenna's cloak off, and it revealed a large, gaping hole in Mckenna's side. No blood, just a whole.
"You're hollow", Xion whispered, covering her mouth. Mckenna kept her gaze to the ground.
"Yeah, we're hollow, we've got nothing, we're truly just shells of glass", Mckenna said quiet, but bitterly.
"Uh oh, Mckenna, you're dissolving again", I said worriedly, trynig to reach her. The hole on her side was slowly getting bigger, and the shards of glass sank into Axel's skin again.
"You are too", she said softly. I looked at my extended hand, and I was truly dissolving.
"Akira, why are you dissolving too?", Mckenna asked, looking at Akira, whose hands were also dissolving.
"It must mean... my other has been following us", she said, turning around. There, leaning against the wall, was a boy with flipped silvery-blue hair, and a book similar to Akira's.
"What are you doing here, Zexion?", Axel asked, standing up again, because for some reason, he had sprawled himself out on the ground.
"Superior sent Xigbar and I as back-up, but I lost Xigbar along the way, he said something about walking on a new ceiling for once", Zexion explained, closing his book and walking over to us.
He turned to Akira, and said,"You are hurt, all three of you, Vexen gave me this vile, take a sip and it will slow the dissolve process". He then handed Akira a vile of color-changing liquid, and turned to Kuro.
"I'll take care of him, you people get inside the castle, whatever it takes", Zexion commanded. He then grabbed Kuro by the collar of his coat, and dragged him off.
"He shouldn't underestimate Kuro", Akira said softly, taking a sip of the strange liquid, then handing it to Mckenna.
"You shouldn't underestimate Zexion", Demyx shot back just as softly. Mckenna took a sip of the liquid, then handed it to me. Akira was already repairing herself, so it must've worked. I downed the rest of the liquid. I felt my hands tingling, and the shards began to repair themselves.
"How is your wound?", I asked Mckenna.
"It's healing", she replied. She then put on her coat, and sighed.
"Alright, from this point on, we move as a group, no goes ahead, no one stays behind, and no one gets left behind", Mckenna said firmly.
"We should try to find Xigbar along the way, he might know where the others are", Xion suggested, pointing to the upper parts of the castles.
"Good thinking XIon", Mckenna grinned.
"What am I gonna do?, if I can't walk, how can I fight?", I asked as we all began walking... except for me, of course, I was being carried.
"All we have to do, is set you down somewhere, provide you with protection, and you can play away on your flute, it's simple", Demyx replied, not seeming the least bit tired.
"Oh, I didn't think of that", I replied happily.
"Way too flighty", I heard Axel murmer. I snapped my fingers, and his hair caught on fire.
"ACK, PUT IT OUT!", he shouted, trying to pat it out. Mckenna gave me a stern look, then put the fire out with a splash of water. She then took all the water out of his hair, and splashed it on my face.
"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior while on this mission, understand?", Mckenna demanded, eying us all.
"Yes, Ma'am", I replied cheerily, saluting to her, then clinging back on to Demyx when I felt like I was falling.
"Don't worry, I got ya", he laughed, holding me up a little higher.
"Wow Demyx, you can actually carry something, I'm very impressed", Axel laughed. Mckenna gave him a good whack upside the head.
"Ow!", he shouted.
"Stop it", Mckenna ordered, turning around and leading the way once more. Suddenly, I felt it. Kuro's energy, was gone. It vanished.
"Mckenna", I called.
"Yeah?", she answered.
"Kuro's energy, it's gone, can you not feel it?", I questioned.
"Yeah, I noticed, Zexion must've gotten him", Mckenna replied, opening the gate, looking around, then letting us in.
"Well, so far so good", Roxas said quietly.
"That's as far as you will go", a voice called.
"L...Lucy?".