Kateracks: Here's the next chapter finally. We have no excuse, just that we haven't really been inspired to write anything.
KissyNae: And that we've both been really lazy. At least I have a reason because I've been working. (Glares at Kat)
Kateracks: (Shrugs) On with the story.
Disclaimer: We own nothing.
Some people say that everything happens for a reason and although sometimes we may not know what that reason is but we shouldn't question the power that placed the event in our midst. Neither should we question when it makes the solution as our companion.
We, as Maidens of the World, understand this and strive to keep the balance of evil and good between the worlds. We are the young keepers of light and are required to bind with ones holding darkness to maintain this balance.
Chapter Fourteen
–Third Person POV/Some Time Later–
Not far from Rogue's log was a stone arch over a stretch of ocean. On this arch sat two glowing figures–one male and one female. While Rogue slept, the two figures watched another pair of friends relaxing on the beach–a boy with silver hair and another with spiky brunette hair.
"How long have they been here?" asked the female, tossing her golden hair from her face and lying down on the stone arch, her silver eyes finding the log.
"Not long at all–they just arrived," replied the male.
"Not the boys," said the female, looking to her snow haired companion. "Our young maidens."
"Ah." The male's golden eyes looked to the hut down the beach. "Near to a year now."
"And they haven't noticed the passage of time?"
"They were asleep for the majority of it–the cleansing period–and time does not pass at the same rate here as in the other worlds."
"Of course. I sometimes forget the reasoning of the High Council." Turning her attention to the beach, she now spoke of the friends. "How will these two escape?"
"They have the ability to open The Door to Light; now they need only open their hearts to the idea. They have come to the conclusion that they will remain here in darkness."
"Darkness? Really?" Her eyes again found the log of the one she was responsible for and a thought crossed her mind. A balance? "And what about our maidens?"
"They must also open The Door to Light."
There was a bright flash as the two boys succeeded in their unknown objective and opened their route back home. They rekindled the solid trust in their friendship.
The male frowned toward the hut. "They could still be here for quite some time. Perhaps we should help them."
–Rogue's Dream–
Pain. It started at my shoulder and spread downward to my hip where a new origin bloomed and made its way down to my toes. I tried to curl in on myself, but I was restrained.
An old voice ordered, "Oh, stop it. You'll only cause yourself more pain."
But then the bonds suddenly lessened and a younger voice said, "Stay with us, you're doing great!"
My eyes pried open and I realized that my arm was straining to hold onto something–dark power. My mind was groggy but I could plainly see a dark hole of some kind that contorted unsteadily. The thought of Kitchen was running repeatedly in my mind.
"Whoa, easy," a redhead contradicted the words of the other. He laid a gloved hand over mine that had begun to sprout bulging veins and gently pushed it down. "We don't want to lose you."
"I thought we brought her to the dark realm so it would be easier for her to immerse herself," the other–a spiky haired blonde–wondered.
"Right." The redhead smirked at the blonde and then brought his eyes back to me. "But never submit completely. And never stop moving. Got it memorized?"
The reassuring grip faded as did the words. I looked in shock to my hand and when I looked back to his face, it was frozen in that smirk but his form was dissipating, being blown away like sand in a strong wind.
I unexpectedly felt sad even though I couldn't remember who he or his blonde friend were. I sank to the ground and then everything morphed into a beautiful daytime beach scene, the only thing seeming out of place being the figure in a black cloak before me.
"Things aren't always as they seem," he told me comfortingly, but also as words of wisdom. "With you or I or anyone else. Remember that."
It all fell to darkness again with only a golden glow right in front of me. It was a woman, I knew it somehow, but I couldn't make out any features. Wordlessly, she put a band on my upper arm with a jingling pendant that I couldn't identify. Then she vanished and I was left alone.
The light from the never changing atmosphere finally shone through a hole in my log long enough that I figured it was time to get up. I crawled from the hollowed tree that had so long been my home and greeted the day with a smile to the water lapping at the beach.
I threw a look to Storm's hut and spied her already up and patching a hole that had been worn into her roof by the ocean breeze. It seemed like she may need some help (even if she wouldn't admit it) so before I offered her my assistance, I worked the kinks out of my back and stretched my arms above my head.
A strange tinkling sound caught my attention and I lowered my left upper arm to eye level. A band was there; strange carvings wound their way around the metal and in the middle was welded a ring holding a dragon pendant. In the dragon's claws was a sphere that changed colors depending on what light it was in. The band from my dream.
Puzzled but brushing it off for the time being, I made my way to Storm's hut but along the way, I noticed something else peculiar. There were two sets of footprints leading down to the water and they were both too big to be mine or Storm's. In fact, one of the sets of footprints looked like the person had been half-dragged and neither of us had dragged the other recently.
I followed these prints for a couple feet and then found something that I knew neither of us had. There was a glass bottle partially buried in the sand. After examining it, though, I discovered no clues inside (the only good thing about finding it being that there was a reassurance that we could get out of here since there were no footprints leading away from the spot).
After dropping the bottle back to the sand, I finished my walk to Storm's hut. However, she was too preoccupied with tying a palm branch onto her roof to recognize my presence.
"Do you need help?" I eventually asked.
"No, but if you want to do something and can climb up here, feel free," she said.
I grinned as I climbed up a nearby tree to the roof, knowing that was her way of saying that she really did need help. I held one end of the branch while she tied the other down with a piece of bark. Then we switched places and tied down the other end. When it was secure, we sat back on the roof and looked out onto the landscape.
"Hey Storm, do you ever think that some dreams aren't really dreams at all?"
"I didn't use to," she answered. "But with the dreams I've been having lately, well, I just don't know anymore." She looked at me and saw me finger the arm band. "Why? Where did you get that?"
I smiled. "My dreams."
I jumped from the roof and trotted down the beach to sit at the water's edge. If the arm band really did come from my dream then everything else must be true, right? Did I still have those powers?
"Rogue," Storm spoke when she caught up to me and sat beside me. "What's going on? What do you mean you got that from your dream?"
"Is it really that hard to understand? I had a dream about it and when I woke, it was on my arm."
"What happened in the dream? Aside from getting the arm band."
"A lot of things. I didn't understand most of it."
"What did you understand?"
I paused in my answer and remembered what the redhead had said. Immerse myself in darkness, but not completely. This is a dark place.
"That I can get us out of here."
"What?" She frowned. "You tell me that after I bother to fix my house?"
I stood up and held my hand out in front of me the same way I had seen in my dream. "No telling how long it will take."
It's a good thing that I was prepared for a long day because it was late afternoon by the time that I started to make progress. The first step had to be that I overcome the strange fear I had of darkness. I kept my eyes closed the whole time and envisioned the darkness behind my eyelids spreading and wrapping around me along with other similar images, but this seemed the most productive. However, when I remembered the redhead's words about not immersing completely, I kept my head free in all the images I created for myself.
Once I wasn't afraid of letting myself be taken in by darkness, the next step was to shape whatever dark power I had accumulated into a void capable of transporting us to where we wanted to go.
Storm stayed nearby, observing most of this process and only leaving for meals and short walks when her body began to cramp up. Around the time she had finished fixing supper was when a purple and black swirling oval grew up from the sand, but it looked unsteady like the one in my dream.
"What is that?" Storm asked, taking a bite from the fish we had leftover from the night before.
"Our way out of here. Hurry, put that fire out and get ready to leave. I don't know how long I can hold it."
She shoved the rest of her meal into her mouth and packed up what was left for later before dumping water on the fire.
"All set, let's go!"
"You first, I have to hold it open."
She looked at the oval and then to my face to see if I was serious. All she saw was an expression of intense concentration so she hesitantly stepped toward it and then turned back to me.
"If you lose me in there, I'm seriously gonna find my way back and kill you."
"If you don't die first," I added.
She waved that off as if it wasn't even a possibility and walked into the swirling void. I followed quickly behind so it wouldn't actually have a chance to close without me.
"Where are we?" Storm asked once we had a chance to look around.
"I don't know," I replied and, recalling the redhead's words once more, began walking in an unknown direction. "C'mon, we can't stop moving."
"Where are we going?" she asked now.
I opted for not answering her since I, myself, didn't know. Once I get us here, how do I get us out? I replayed the dream in my head several times as we walked until the thought that I had been repeating once again entered into my mind.
Kitchen. I had been focusing on a destination. Now what destination should I choose? I can't remember anything of my life before the beach. The beach. The one in my dream! We could go there and ask for help in finding answers! Halting, I tried to recall what the beach had looked like while instructing Storm, "Keep moving but stay close so you can see when I get that void open again."
Shrugging, she started walking in a wide circle as I closed my eyes and focused on the bright beach, building every detail so that it would be the correct location. The palm trees, the golden sand, the clear blue waters, the wooden ship, and the island in the distance were all arranged in my mind...and then I felt my feet beginning to sink beneath me. The bright scene was clouded with black and I became afraid.
No! Don't be afraid! I encouraged, reminding myself that Storm was counting on me. Remember, the darkness is not to be feared as long as you don't let it swallow you. The beach, think of the beach. What colors were there? Vibrant greens, lively yellows, refreshing blues...
A breath of fresh air caressed my face and I knew I had done it. Only one place could have a calming effect like that and it was the place I was picturing.
"Storm, go!" I called. She saw the scene on the other side and ran toward it excitedly until she saw that I was up to my shins in darkness. She slid to a stop in front of me.
"Rogue!" she cried, horrified.
"Go! It's going to close!"
"But..." She looked from me to the beach. Her distraction was enough time to shove her through and then I concentrated on the losing battle of trying to free myself.
–Third Person POV–
The sun was setting on Paopu Island and all was calm as everything prepared for sleep. Three teens were sitting on the beach, allowing the waves to lap at their feet and taking in the last of the beautiful view before it became dark and they had to head for home. The tallest of the three, Riku, had just stood up to stretch when a portal tore open a ways down the beach.
In shock, he merely stared, but behind him, Kairi asked, "Is that–?"
Then Sora jumped up. "No, it can't be!"
He was about to draw his Keyblade when a violet haired girl suddenly stumbled out from the dark depths.
She sputtered on the sand for a minute and then leapt up and spun back to the portal shouting, "Rogue! Rogue!" The panic in her voice told the three that she was not a threat and they jogged over to see what the problem was.
"What's wrong?" Kairi asked.
The girl jumped and then whirled on the three babbling, "My friend's still in there! She's being swallowed by the darkness!"
Sora, Kairi, and Riku looked to each other, deciding which of the boys would go in. No words were exchanged before Sora decided he would be the best person for the job and charged into the portal. He didn't have to enter too far since only a couple feet away was a pair of arms waving wildly, trying to fend off the darkness that was rapidly devouring her. Heartless were also beginning to surround her.
Slashing at the yellow eyed creatures, he shouted, "You can't have her!" They hissed and slipped into the ground, scrambling away from his Keyblade until a more opportune time.
Sora was contemplating how to get her out of the darkness sucking her in, but as he stepped closer, the black wisps parted at his feet, retreating from the light radiating from his heart. The redheaded girl was left shivering in a fetal position on the shadowy floor. He noticed the black substance beginning to mold with her form and scooped her up.
"Sora!" Kairi yelled and when he turned around, the portal was rapidly closing. Running the few feet in between, he sprang through just as the portal closed and landed on his back on the other side, the girl beginning to stir next to him.
–Rogue's POV–
"Fae?" Who's Fae? But that voice sounds familiar. I opened my eyes but cried out when I could only see black. At least...I tried to cry out, but there was a bubble in my throat and when it burst, I began coughing uncontrollably until I threw up, the taste of that wretched darkness oozing from my mouth.
Arms picked me up again and began carrying me closer to the sound of rushing water. "Storm?"
"It's okay, he's helping," her voice came from behind me.
"Sora, stand there–Kairi, you too–it'll help clear the darkness away." That voice again. It was smooth and alto–very pleasant to listen to.
"Fae, open your eyes," he commanded as he stood me under the water I had heard.
"What?" What did he call me?
"Open your eyes."
I did as told and then recoiled into his body at the blinding light that scorched my sight.
"Keep them open," he said while steadying me.
"It hurts," I whimpered, rubbing at my eyes.
"It'll help. Keep your eyes open."
I obeyed again and forced my eyes to remain open as the light continued to blind me and the water washed the blackness from my sight. Once I could clearly make out a spiky haired brunette boy standing next to a redheaded girl in a pink dress and Storm, I turned to the person who had helped me to find a tall silver haired boy peering down at me concernedly with aquamarine eyes.
"Do I know you?" I asked.
"That did not go as planned," the male told his female companion as they stood on a cliff overlooking the maidens.
"We must report to the High Council," she spoke and then disappeared in a flash of light and an explosion of golden sparkles.
KissyNae: The ending seems a little rushed but it was all we had so we ran with it.
Kateracks: Really, it was all we had. We are officially out of ideas so if you guys have any plot suggestions or things you would like to see, send 'em in. Otherwise, this story is going on hiatus, maybe permanently.
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Laters!!
K&K