Disclaimer: I in no way own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VIII. Don't sue; I'm simply an E5 in the USN, therefore I have no money. Ha.
A/N: Each chapter is written from a different POV. The identity of the 'speaker' is located with the chapter's name. Just trying to avoid confusion here. :) For review replies, please see the bottom of the chapter. And that, as they say, is that.
-BEGIN FIC-
Chapter 12
The Keyblade Master – Morning
Kairi….
I saw her standing on the beach on Destiny Islands, her hands lightly clasped behind her back, her eyes facing towards the sea. She was watching the crystalline waves slowly roll in and out, her soft indigo eyes catching the light of the sun; her full pink lips curled into a gentle and appreciative smile. Her feet shuffled in the glistening white sand. Her skirt whipped delicately about her shapely, pale legs as the zephyrs that coasted in from the ocean raced around her and teased her skin. Her dark red hair played cheerfully around her heart-shaped face, strands catching on her cheeks and brushing over her eyebrows.
Kairi…!
It suddenly became all the more real, all the more genuine. I could hear the waves pummeling the shore, the sound soft yet omnipresent. The wind rustled the thick leaves of the palm trees and the sprawling bushes. The distant seagulls crying to one another as they circled on the lazy ocean breezes. I could feel the heat of the high sun beating down on me, the grains of sand underneath my lounging body and in my spiked hair, the soft hiss of misted water sliding over me each time a wave crashed unceremoniously against the shore.
"Kairi!" I cried out as I bolted upright, my hands instantly springing behind myself to brace my upper body upright. I stared at her with wide eyes.
Was it possible? Was I somehow home?
Of course not.
I blinked a few times as realization washed over me. I must have fallen asleep after that long night of searching for Heartless and overhearing that odd, wicked Doctor's plans to butcher the gentle dragon Elliott. I was probably by the shore.
Still my dream responded to my actions, Kairi turning and smiling happily at me. "Sora!" she cried out. "You lazy bum. Always sleeping instead of doing what you promised."
I furrowed my brow. "Hey, I've been trying to get back. I promised that I'd come back to you."
"You still have to give me back my lucky charm, after all, " she prettily quipped, her eyes closed and her nose wrinkling as she grinned.
"Yeah!" I proclaimed, flashing my trademark grin back at her.
Even though it was a dream, everything seemed so real, so very right.
"Heh. Guess I don't fit in here anymore, do I?"
I started, my jaw dropping slightly as my eyes sprang wide open. That smooth voice didn't belong to Kairi at all. It was masculine. It was sleek. It was….
"Riku?"
Looking around wildly, I tried to catch a glimpse of him. Some sort of vision of him in the dream I was indulging in. Some glance of him before he'd run out of the woods and tackle me in front of Kairi, embarrassing me before her like usual preceding the part of my dream, reminiscent of reality, where he'd start his outrageous flirting, leaving me to eat sand and pout.
The harder I looked, the mort desperate I became. He had to be here….
The island beach slowly faded away.
My eyes refused to shrink in size. Rather, they grew in immensity as I watched that radiant sand fade into nothing, that crystal water become part of that black pallet, those trees slowly vanish altogether. The sounds that had assaulted my senses, the heat that had graced my skin, the gentle scents of fish and sea and sand and sweat faded from my atmosphere, being replaced with nothing.
I was sitting in a void, a soundless vat of nothing. Patting below me, I started as I discovered that there wasn't any tangible flooring.
"Kairi!" I cried out, turning back to where I remembered her being.
Her eyes were large as she reached towards me, her voice panicked as she called my name. "Sora! Come back!" she cried.
I tried to lunge for her.
My hand passed straight through hers even as she became nothing as all else had.
I shivered violently, wrapping my arms around myself. It was so cold… so still… so silent….
The memories I had of this place were too real for me to escape them. Falling, falling, falling endlessly into darkness, feeling my memories, my mind, my very soul and heart being eclipsed. Bearing witness to the slow degradation of the light of my heart, feeling my body move eerily under my beckons, disjointed and unfamiliar.
It was a horrible nightmare I continually tried to forget but couldn't. And my dream had thrown me back into that dreaded situation.
My voice was meek. "Why…?" I whispered, rubbing my arms with my bare fingers and gloved palms.
Soft, warm breath lightly brushed over my neck. I instantly froze.
"You want to go back home. Why don't you?"
That voice…!
"Riku!" I exclaimed happily as I turned, trying to catch a glimpse of him, to touch him at last.
I saw and touched nothing.
However, his voice was still present at my side, his very essence supportive and strong behind me. "Didn't you promise her that you'd go back to her?"
"But-"
"And you promised me that you'd look after her."
I froze, my breath catching in my throat.
His voice was surprisingly desolate, its substantial presence fading slightly. "Why are you out here, Sora? Why do you seek the darkness?"
"I'm looking for you," I meekly replied.
"I'm not with the King anymore. We were separated when the doors slammed shut. Your friends' mission doesn't involve me in its folds anymore."
I cringed, squeezing my eyes shut against the foreboding darkness that loomed around me. "All the more reason for me to find you, if you're without him by your side. If you're in this horrible, cold place."
"Don't."
My eyes opened once again, desperately seeking him despite the knowledge that I would forever be unable to do so in this dreamscape. "Why do you say that? You're without protection, Riku! I've got to find you!"
The tone was heavy, quiet, sullen. It was hardly my Riku at all – the smug arrogance and cynical teasing bite was completely gone. The voice speaking was the child I remember meeting in the evenings and searching for adventure with, the quiet and oddly meek boy whose incredible bravery seemed almost forced upon him by some cruel situation I couldn't being to understand.
"It's already too late, Sora. Turn back while you can. Don't let the darkness consume you any more than it already has. You've already lost so much that is precious to you without even truly realizing it. Already the path is lacking what could truly be known as 'you'."
I puzzled over what he was saying. "Riku…?"
"Give up."
The defeat in that tone made me snarl. "Riku, you idiot! What makes you think I'm going to give up? Especially when I can hear you now! I must be close, right? There really IS a door here! You're close, right?"
"No, Sora."
I paused my rant. "But… then… why?"
"Because this is your dream. This is your consciousness, looking for answers while you slumber. And I am your answer."
"So you're saying that you're my true desire? That…." I frowned, getting more and more angry about every statement that came from his sinfully smooth voice. "You're saying that I want to give up? Well, here's some news for you, Riku! I'm not giving up! Ever! If I have to search to the ends of the worlds, if I have to walk through Kingdom Hearts itself, I WILL find you! And I'm not going back to Destiny Islands until I'm dragging you with me!"
The darkness burst into light.
I was staring at blue skies above, soft white clouds slowly inching their way towards the land.
Blinking, I rubbed my eyes. I immediately regretted the action, whimpering as I'd just ground sand into my face. "Darn it!" I simpered even as I sat up.
I yawned heftily. Apparently I'd woken up.
Looking around, I quickly got my bearings. I'd fallen asleep on the beech right outside of the cave system the gummi was parked in. The lighthouse was glistening beautifully in the light of the newly crested sun's brilliant orange rays.
As I hauled myself to my feet, I grumbled as I reflected on my dream. Was that really my heart speaking to me? Could my spirit already be telling me to give up?
Hmph. Impossible. It's only been a couple months since we were separated.
A small part of my mind nagged that a couple months was more than enough time for Riku to meet his untimely end, for Kairi to get bored waiting for me back home. I snarled and shoved those thoughts away.
Stretching my fingers towards the heavens, I let my mouth sling open in yet another mighty yawn. Smacking my lips, grimacing as my stomach growled angrily at me, I rubbed my abdomen and stared blearily at the slight sliver of yellow that was peaking over the ripples that were the ocean's morning waves. The sun was rising.
I blinked, turning towards the lighthouse again. I thought I'd heard the door open and slam shut.
Moments later, I was grinning as I saw Pete waving at me and jogging easily down the sandy path towards the caves, his feet bare and his coveralls-clad body still wet from the bath he'd apparently taken. "Morning!" he called out brightly.
"Morning to you, too," I greeted with a wide and pleasant grin.
"I looked for you last night. I thought that maybe you'd want some dinner, especially if you're staying in the caves with your boat."
I stared at him. "Eh…" I tried to begin, rubbing the back of my head rather sheepishly, "you know about that?"
Pete smiled pleasantly and nodded, his red locks flopping about his eyes. "Yep. Elliott told me last night."
"Oh! He came back?"
"So you really DID meet him!" Pete exclaimed, his face lighting up with joy.
"Yeah, sure did. He's impressive," I said with an easy smile.
"And what he said is true? That you're here to help with the fishing grounds' problem, and he's going to help you out?"
Still rubbing the back of my head, I looked at my sneakers. Well, there was enough truth behind that, especially if the Heartless were involved as I suspected they were. "Sure enough," I said after a slight delay, nodding firmly. "I think I might have an idea as to what's going on. Elliott'll be a great help if he decides to do so," I added.
"Really? So what's going on?" Pete innocently inquired.
"It's… complicated," I attempted to whimper, trying my best to avoid a direct answer. "Let's just say that I think something rather rotten is going on in town."
He looked rather confused for a few minutes.
"Let me just say this. I think there's a real threat here to Elliott, you and Passamaquoddy," I quietly stated, my voice becoming solid and serious. "Just be on the lookout, alright?"
"You mean… the Gogans?" he whispered, his innocent blue eyes widening considerably.
I hadn't seen the hillbillies he'd described so animatedly in his tale concerning his initial meeting with his draconic guardian, but what the heck? "Maybe them too. And someone much worse."
"Well, Elliott'll take care of them," he said with a firm nod.
I smiled at his conviction. "I'm certain he will. I just want to make sure that my suspicions are right, though, you know?"
"Oh, I understand completely," he said in a happy, breathy voice. "Sometimes Elliott can get a bit carried away."
"I can see how that would be a problem," I chirped.
"So anyway! I came down here because I was wondering if you'd had-"
My stomach grumbled. Flushing, I immediately clenched my jumper in front of the offending area of my body.
Pete just laughed, his freckled cheeks dimpled with the intensity of his smile. "I guess you haven't had breakfast, after all. I told Nora that Elliott told me you were down here. She said it'd be fine to have you up for breakfast!"
I blinked a few times before what he was saying finally impacted fully on my sleep-dredged brain. "Breakfast? In the lighthouse?"
"Yeah! We're having pancakes."
My mouth was instantly watering.
Pancakes…. Mmmmmmm.
"I'm there!" I happily replied, running along with him as he bolted towards the lighthouse with a laugh.
It was during the morning meal that I got to finally meet the woman in white that had been escorting Pete to school. Nora was a nice lady – a dreamer, a caretaker, and a best friend all rolled into one surprisingly earth-bound package. Lampie, her father, was an interesting character to say the least – he was what I imagined Cid would be like in about twenty years without the profanity and a few extra beers in his gut to make him plump like the pleasant lighthouse keeper.
After stuffing my face with pancakes Pete arbitrarily headed outside. Inside of the lighthouse's comfortable interior, I leaned back in my chair and pleasantly patted my content tummy. "Thank you so much for the great breakfast, Ms. Nora. Lampie." I grinned brightly.
"Oh, no need to thank us, Sora. You're a friend of Pete's, aren't you?" Nora said, one of her eyebrows arching slightly and her lips curling into a trusting smile.
"Yep. Guess I am," I said pleasantly.
"Then you wouldn't mind telling us a bit about his past," she stated, her voice suddenly so deadpan and matter-of-fact that I almost fell right out of my chair.
"A-actually, it's a recent acquaintance," I admitted, my grin sheepish. "I didn't know him before school."
She arched the other brow, leaning forward a bit. "School? I don't remember seeing you in his class."
"Eh… neh," I stated, turning my gaze from Nora's serious face to the window, looking over towards the foghorn and Pete. "What's going on over there? Isn't that the Doctor and his assistant from town?"
Nora turned on her heel, looking out. "Now what's going on?" she lightly bit as she left the area.
Shaking my head, I looked back at Lampie. "She's quite a girl, sir."
Lampie smirked at me and shook his head even as he nursed a flask of something I could smell from even where I was sitting. How he managed to sit up straight from what Nora had told us over breakfast about his nighttime condition was a miracle I couldn't begin to fathom. And he was warding off that inevitable hangover with more alcohol, it seemed. "That she is. Stubborn all around, my Nora. Keeps her feet on the ground, even though her head's so far up in the clouds she can't see reality around her."
"What do you mean by that?"
"We all know Paul's not coming back," Lampie quietly said.
"Paul…?"
"Well, you see-" he'd begun. The moment he'd started his statement, though, his voice was barreled over by the horrendously loud blare of the lighthouse's enormous foghorn.
"Fog!" he instantly blurted, bolted out of the front door of the lighthouse without bothering to look through the small porthole-like windows at the crystalline conditions that actually made up the serene coastline.
I shook my head at the silliness of it all even as I noted the stalwart Doctor and his brown-suited assistant from the wagon back in Passamaquoddy's center staggering away.
Rising from my seat, I wiped my hands off on a napkin and hastily cleaned up as much as I was capable – I got the dishes to the sink, the extra food set near the counter and the table straightened with its chairs pushed in. Really, I didn't know where anything else goes. Satisfied to my contribution to help repay a smidgen of their kindness for the morning meal, I made to leave.
Even as I stepped outside, I was almost slapped in the face with a paintbrush full of white paint. "What the…?" I started.
"Oh! Sorry!" Pete exclaimed before turning back to the lighthouse's wall.
Oooooohhhhhhh. Whitewashing. I was more than familiar with this work. Necessary to preserve buildings at the oceanfront.
As much as I would have liked to have stayed to help, the matter of the lack of Heartless the night before was still nagging heavily on my mind. I wanted to get back to the gummi and check up with Donald on any changes that he noted, and possibly give the radar system another trial run by scanning the town again.
After all, either it was malfunctioning or the Heartless managed to escape me.
"Well, I'd love to say, but I've got… work to do on my boat," I said.
Well, it was true enough!
"I understand," Pete said with a grin. "It's alright. I like this anyway! Have fun with whatever you're doing in the caves!"
"Sure will," I said, attempting to smile pleasantly. The world I had to do was nowhere near fun. It was necessary for the survival of the peoples' peaceful world.
With a series of waves, I bid Pete, Nora and Lampie a good day and hastily made my way down the shoreline to the cave system with our gummi.
Donald and I had a lot of work to do.
-tbc-
Review replies:
littlekittykat: Well, the fast updates are destined to slow soon enough, most unfortunately. I've only got 5 more chapters completed for editing – then it's back to writing raw stuff, and stuff for other stories I've been working on. But this story's destined to get a lot of attention due to the amount of reviews it's gotten! And as for that Heartless, he is an odd little character – makes it challenging and fun to write at the same time. :) Thanks for the review!
andromeda90: Aw, I'm loved now? I'm happy! (gush) Yeah, cliffhangers have the same effect on me too. Glad they aren't pissing you off. (laugh) Thanks for continuing to read and review – it's greatly appreciated! And expect more Squally-boy. After all, I love him to bits, even though I torment him like crazy. (smirk)
DarkStarPhoenix: Yep, the bat-wing sword's called Soul Eater, and it's Riku's primary weapon for, like, ever. He also uses it in the cut scene when he first meets up with Sora. Silly people like me who gush over Riku because he reduces the overall wank factor of Kingdom Hearts have those suckers saved on dedicated memory cards. (laughs, flushes) And having Mickey in the main battle against the darkball, I think, would be an improvement. As said, that's just my bias. To answer your question, the robed man was one of the guys we get the pleasure of facing in KH:CoM – a member of Organization XIII, Vexen. He's an annoying twerp who laughs wayyyy too often, and is responsible for the creation of Riku Replica, the only boss that laid the smack-down on my Sora with 8-billion dark aura attacks that I hadn't been prepared to break. Grrr. Needless to say, I hate Vexen. And fighting a guy who likes freezing the ground so you slide around and can't attack effectively is a royal pain. Blue Mountains? Nope, don't know where they are. (sheepish grin) But then again, I'd have to go on a West-Pac to visit your country, and I'm on the east coast right now – only west coasters get to go there. Wish I'd gotten stationed in my home state of California instead of freaking Virginia. (shakes fist at Virginia)
polynesia: New reviewer? Cool! Thanks for taking the time to R&R, first off. Secondly, mind telling the name of the 'bubbly blondie' fic so I can avoid it like a plague? Gah! Horrifying! Actually, my lack of 'cutesifying' and my excessive longing for intelligent plot is what's gotten a whole lot of lack of attention to my Gundam works. It makes me happy to see that the same isn't really being repeated here! And thank you SO much for your comments about this being correct. That makes me incredibly happy – trying to keep a story feeling like the game is, in my opinion, one of the hardest things to accomplish. Sure I can keep the characters feeling like the characters by throwing them into a 'real world' alternate universe fic, but actually keeping the game dynamics is another story. And more of KH2, eh? Well, I can see that. (rubs back of her head) I guess Chain of Memories scarred my wee little brain and I bent more towards the feel of that than KH1. (laughs) BTW, Riku mode of CoM kicks so much ass it's unbelievable. (fingers twitch) And I'm glad you're following and enjoying this, even with your… eh… lack of experience as to the material I'm using! Hopefully I can pull the same feat in the next area Sora visits, as only old-timers like me will probably know the movie I'll be using there. (sweatdrop) Ansem plushie! Steal the picture if you like. It's on my profile page. (laughs) I swear I'm going to figure out how to sew one and make that thing one day! (considers dissecting her Kamui plushie to learn)
Complaints? Compliments? (smack wit' da plushie, which barks out 'SUBMIT!') Yeah. What he said.
