Okay, I no longer need more song votes for Atlantica. I have picked one of your songs, but I won't tell you who gave the song to me until that chapter, so you'll just have to guess.
You guys are going to hate me for this chapter, the title says enough. And beware, this is my first chapter with actual obscene language. Naminé's outburst earlier doesn't count.
I REALLY hate this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
The Beginning
Chapter XIV: Maleficent's Revenge
"You have disobeyed me Pete," Maleficent addressed a cowering Pete. Maleficent and her allies, including the unknown spy, were all situated in their meeting room in the castle that formerly belonged to Organization XIII. PJ and a cloaked man with spiked silver hair were sniggering while Cossex smiled wickedly. "I told you not to engage Sora should you encounter him!" the witch continued, not at all pleased. "Still, you aren't a total failure."
"Huh?" Pete asked, surprised by his master's sudden lack of aggression.
"By using that army of heartless to confront the keyblade heroes," Maleficent explained, "you made them give a donation of thousands of hearts towards Kingdom Hearts. Such a charitable offer will increase in great darkness that will flood from the keyhole in that moon after we have all the princesses here. Which reminds me," Maleficent turned to PJ. "Why are you not guarding Alice, Aurora, and Cinderella?"
"You told me to come here for the meeting," PJ answered, a little flustered.
"Then who is guarding them?" the sorceress asked.
"I walked by after you had summoned PJ here," Cossex spoke up. "So I ordered four berserkers to guard them." Maleficent nodded at the Nobody.
"Very good Cossex, we need them guarded at all times. Who knows when they might try anything funny?"
"So," the silver-haired man next to PJ began. "What are we going to do to get the Sora and the last princess here?"
"It would be useless to get them now," Cossex said. "They both wield keyblades, we need them to build up our army for when the keyhole is complete."
"Our army is already massive," Maleficent stated. "When Sora last closed that keyhole and Kingdom Hearts he prevented an army of heartless larger than any force the worlds have ever seen from entering the realm of light. As soon as we open that keyhole," Maleficent closed her fist and began cackling, "I'll be able to extract that army and use it to conquer all!"
"So what are we going to do about the keyblade brat then?" the man asked. Pete thumped his chest.
"Haven't ya been paying attention at the meetings? We're going to turn him into a heartless and give him what for!" The man with silver hair pounded the table as he rose.
"But how man, how?!"
"Patience Nixion," Maleficent spoke as she raised a hand. "We will toy a little with the boy's emotions for sport first. He is a perfect plaything that we can manipulate to our will. He will come to us in the end. Yet we still need the rest of the princesses. You and Pete will go and kidnap the remaining ones, minus Kairi. Cossex will probably need your help to capture her and Sora." Nixion and Pete nodded and vanished through a portal of darkness. Maleficent then turned to Cossex, who raised her eyebrows. PJ shifted nervously.
"What sort of thing," he asked, "do you have in mind to do to Sora?" Maleficent laughed at him.
"My dear PJ," she answered. "We will simply destroy his home and kill his friends and family. Cossex, kill his poor mother personally. And throw in his beloved princess's parents as well for good measure."
"What of Riku and the King's lackeys?" Cossex asked.
"Let them live," Maleficent ordered. "It will hurt Sora and Kairi's feelings even more if the found out that their best friends could only stand by idly while you killed their beloved family. Destroy everything by any means necessary; use as many resources as you will. Just make sure Sora will be thrown into a senseless rage." Cossex smiled at her master before opening another portal.
"I'll draw them into a false sense of security first," she stated, backing away. "Then, I'll crush them." The portal closed after her and Maleficent dismissed PJ so he could resume his duties.
Oh, this is bad, PJ thought as he walked down the white corridors towards the Castle's dungeon. They hadn't changed much since the Organization left. The only real additions and renovations that had been made to the whole castle were thousands of black thorns that wrapped around the exterior and decorated the dungeons, and a small guardhouse built for PJ next to the large, and only, cell in the dungeons. This is very bad, and there's nothing I can do to stop it! PJ stopped in front of the cell's bars and dismissed the Nobodies Cossex had summoned to guard the princesses. He sat down and placed his head in his hands with a long sigh.
"Whatever is the matter PJ?" Alice asked as she, Aurora, and Cinderella came to rest near the cell entrance. The three in the cell had long since learned that PJ was a spy for King Mickey, and so they had all become friends quite quickly.
"Yes," Aurora asked, "what happened in the meeting?" PJ sighed and began to explain.
"Well, it started with Maleficent chastising my dad about fighting Sora when he shouldn't have," he started with a smirk, the three girls behind him giggling. "Then she explained that because of Pete's blunder Sora and Kairi had contributed towards the great darkness that would come from the keyhole," PJ's face slowly fell as he recalled the events," and she asked why I wasn't guarding you. Then it went on to ordering Nixion and my father to capture the rest of the princesses of heart, except for Kairi. And now," he heaved out, "she's just ordered Cossex to go to the Destiny Islands and completely trash them while personally killing Sora's mother and Kairi's parents." The three princesses gasped and displayed looks of sheer terror.
"That's horrible!" Alice exclaimed.
"Shush," Cinderella said hurriedly, looking around. "Maleficent may be nearby." PJ snorted.
"No she won't," he said. "She'll be too busy devising schemes of what to do when Sora comes rushing in here to get revenge on her." PJ sighed again and slumped further down. "And there's nothing I can do about it!" he exclaimed, pounding the ground with his fist. A silence developed between the four of them as they thought up ways out of this predicament.
"Well," Aurora began after a time. "We could warn them that Cossex is going to attack." PJ looked up.
"You're right," he said in amazement. "I just remembered that Cossex said that she'd draw them into a false sense of security. So she probably won't attack for a few days, which will give them some time to ready themselves." PJ got up and turned to Aurora. Despite the fact that she was behind bars, he took her hand and kissed it.
"Thanks Aurora," he said before turning his back on them and heading towards the guardhouse made for him. Before he stepped in he called at them over his shoulder. "Can you three ladies guard yourselves for a moment while I warn our friends?" PJ chuckled as he saw their smiling faces and stepped into the guardhouse. It wasn't much, just a couple of square white rooms. PJ walked up to a bookcase and pulled out a yellow book titled 'The History of Cheese'. The bookcase flipped around to reveal a secret passageway that led down into PJ's communications room. Sitting down at a table with the electronic setup, PJ turned on the transmitter and set it to video, already inputting the desired receivers.
"This is PJ calling King Mickey aboard the Avenger and Axel on the Destiny Islands. Message, over."
Riku was sitting quietly with Yuffie and Axel in the house the two teachers had gotten. It seemed normal from the outside, but the inside was a different story. It was normal in most aspects, but there was a pinball machine in the rec room that went to a hidden basement that held all of their monitoring equipment. There was a transmitter that allowed messages to be sent between worlds, and a RADAR detector that allowed them to map out the locations of heartless throughout the town. Yuffie had already told Riku that its range was limited and it couldn't scan further than three kilometers outside of town. And there was also a direct phone line to the mayor.
Riku was sitting back with his eyes closed; relaxing on the chair he was sitting on. He hadn't had a very though day. Slaying only about fifty heartless was nowhere near as bad as the Biology essay he had had to write. The topic had been "Describe and explain the functions of a working heart." Having been schooled by Ansem the Wise while he was working on bringing Sora's memories back together, Riku had learned a lot about the workings of the heart, yet his teachers at school did not seem to acknowledge the work of Ansem and Riku had to spend an hour defending and arguing his position in class to them. Now that was hard work!
Riku sighed as he remembered trumping Mr. Anderson's argument and Yuffie looked over at him.
"Tough day?" she asked pleasantly, coming over to sit next to him. Riku cracked open an eyelid and gazed at her.
"Not too tough for a wielder of the keyblade," he joked. Yuffie and Axel chuckled and Riku laughed with them. The sight of Yuffie's black hair swaying with her head as she laughed sent a warm feeling to Riku's heart and he smiled, to hide his confusion. What is going on? He thought to himself. Before he could probe deeper into his mind a warning siren came on and they heard a voice blare through the speakers on the communications equipment.
"This is PJ calling King Mickey aboard the Avenger and Axel on the Destiny Islands. Message, over." Immediately Axel sprang to life and put the transmitter on video. Riku grabbed his water bottle and took a swig, not phased by the sudden noise.
"This is Axel," Axel said, going through proper radio etiquette, "calling PJ. Go ahead, over." They saw on the screen PJ sitting in his room in the guardhouse. He looked kind of like Pete, except he was smaller than his dad and wore a red shirt over a pair of blue jeans. A moment later after the King had completed his greeting, the screen split into two and an image of King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy aboard the bridge of their ship also appeared.
"What's going on PJ?" King Mickey asked gravely. "And why did you include Axel in your transmission?"
"What?" Axel asked, offended. "Am I not good enough to be included in these powwows your Majesty?" Riku inclined his head towards Yuffie.
"This kind of thing happen often?" he whispered. Yuffie grinned and nodded her head.
"Yep," she said brightly. "And it's always fun to watch." Riku nodded and offered her a swig of water.
"Well your Majesty," PJ answered quickly, in order to avoid a certain pyro's demise. "This information concerns the Islands as well." Riku saw Mickey give Axel a stern glare before turning towards his informant.
"Get on with it PJ." The boy sighed sadly as he turned away from his king and looked at the Islands group. Riku raised his eyebrows and took another swig from his water bottle.
"Maleficent sent Cossex to destroy you guys," he said bluntly. Riku spat out the water he was drinking, spraying it all over Axel's back.
"Say what?" Riku exclaimed. Axel swiveled his chair around and glared at Riku.
"You did that on purpose," he taunted, fire engulfing him and drying his clothes off. Suddenly he registered what PJ had said and quickly swiveled back. "Say what?" he yelped, repeating Riku. Yuffie appeared quite distressed as she teetered on the edge of her seat.
"Why does she want to destroy us?" she asked.
"It's all to get at Sora and Kairi," PJ said sadly. "Maleficent doesn't want to destroy you three, just practically everything and everyone else. She even ordered Cossex to personally kill their parents. She believes that when they find out, they'll through caution to the winds and rush to the castle, seeking vengeance. Then she'll be able to capture them and turn Sora into a heartless." Donald quaked in indignation.
"We can't let her do that!" he squawked.
"But how?" Goofy asked, scratching his head. "We're days away from the Islands. We'd never make it in time."
"Well actually," PJ started. "Cossex said right before she left that she'd draw the Islands into a false sense of security first. So you probably have a few days."
"I doubt you'd be of much help your Majesty, even if you did make it in time," Yuffie said. "We saw what Cossex can do at the party we threw for Sora and Kairi. Even after they had left she continued to use her powers on the crowd. It seems as if only the princesses of heart can withstand her mental breaking powers or whatever it is." PJ nodded and turned to 'look' at King Mickey.
"She speaks the truth you highness," he said. "When Cossex came back that night, she was raving about how Kairi and Naminé were immune to her powers. Then Maleficent explained that the light in their hearts protects them. Anyone with darkness, no matter how small, would be affected."
"Then we'll just have to stop her before she can do such a dastardly deed!" Axel roared, slamming a fist into his hand. "We'll place a guard on Anne, Seymour, and Janet just in case."
"No!" King Mickey ordered. "They must not know that their lives are threatened. We must keep this between us and you three have to keep a constant watch. If any of the heartless that she's gathering show up, gather all of those on the Islands who can fight and meet her. You have to stop her by a show of force before she can reach their parents." Riku folded his arms and looked at the mouse king.
"And should she break through and-" Riku began to choke on his words, "-kill Sora and Kairi's parents and destroy the Islands?" King Mickey looked grimly at them.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Riku looked down sadly and began thinking of what would happen if she won.
"Aw, cheer up Riku," Goofy said in a comforting tone.
"Yeah," Donald piped up. "Like we told Sora, nobody can beat you!" Riku gave a half-hearted chuckle.
"Sora and Roxas can," he said glumly. "And if Cossex can beat them then she can beat…" Yuffie smacked him on the head. "Ow!" Riku exclaimed as he rubbed his silver-clad head.
"Stop thinking like that!" Yuffie sternly ordered. "We'll get through this. We have to, otherwise Sora and Kairi will get so angry with us!"
"That's kind of part of the plan too," PJ said slowly, rubbing his head. "That's why Maleficent ordered that you three are not to be killed." Axel groaned and threw his arms up into the air.
"Could today get any better?" he asked vainly.
"Well," PJ began again.
"Don't tell me there actually is more?" Axel asked in shock. PJ smiled half-heartedly at him.
"She's also sent Nixion and Pete out to capture the rest of the princesses," PJ said. "Except for Kairi and Sora. Cossex and Nixion are to get them after all the others are here." A small beeping began to sound from the king's dashboard and he looked down.
"We'll have to cut this off," he said. "We're approaching the next world. I'll leave it to you three to sort this out. Good luck." On that note, half of the screen that displayed the King and his companions flickered out. PJ logged off as well and a new look appeared on Riku's face.
"If we fail," he said slowly, glumly hanging his head, his water bottle forgotten. "Sora's going to be so pissed."
A little later Sora landed the Highwind back in the Radiant Garden. He had already reasoned with Kairi the previous night while they toasted to victory and Rufio's memory that a hero needed to be comfortable to save the worlds. Or at least, his clothes needed to be comfortable.
"So why are we here again?" Max asked as they strode down the landing ramp. Kairi shook her head in exasperation.
"We told you before Max," she said. "We're here so that Sora and I can learn a few spells and magic from Merlin. On Sora's last adventures Donald had always cleaned their clothes of all the blood and mud and gunk that got stuck on them. And Donald learned everything he knows from Merlin, so since we don't know where Donald is exactly we're going to see Merlin." Max sighed as Kairi and Sora walked further away through the Marketplace.
"You guys do that," he called, turning his back on them. "I'll just train in the simulator and hang out here." Sora turned his head and stared at Max while he walked away with Kairi.
Chicken Wuss, Roxas said. Sora shook his head as they strolled through the Marketplace.
He just feels left out, Sora muted. We need to think of something to do that we can all do together instead of just Kairi and me. Roxas responded with some kind of remark, but Sora wasn't listening. An object in one of the stalls had just caught his eye. It was a silver pendant, and it was shaped just like his crown one. There were two main differences though. One, there was a pink tinge to it, and two, there was a small heart embossed in the center the right size for a small engraving. I should get that as a sweet sixteen present for Kairi, he thought. He quickly strode up to the stall while Kairi was off heading towards the Borough.
"How much is the crown pendant?" Sora asked hurriedly. The shopkeeper, whose tag said her name was Jessie, smiled at him.
"Got someone in mind for it?" she asked. Sora nodded hastily and glanced over his shoulder to check that Kairi wasn't approaching. "Well, the base itself is 600 munny, but an engraving costs extra."
"How much does the engraving cost?" Sora asked. Jessie shrugged.
"Depends on the length of the engraving."
"Well," Sora said quietly as he leaned in, "could you put 'Kairi' on the front in the heart, and on the back put down 'Have a sweet sixteen, Love Sora'?" Jessie wrote it all down on a piece of paper and looked it over.
"Okay," she said as she made calculations in her head. "The pendant is 600 munny, engraving 500 munny, plus tax. Your total comes to 1 232 munny." The girl then smiled knowingly at Sora. "Is she worth it?" Sora pulled out the moneybag Max had filled for him in Neverland.
"Even if it cost me all the munny in the worlds," he responded as he placed the bag on the counter, "I'd still gladly pay it. Here you are, 1 232 munny on the button. When will it be ready?" She took the money and placed it as well as the pendant under the counter.
"Tomorrow afternoon," she said pleasantly. Sora thanked her and promised he'd be by tomorrow to pick it up before dashing off after Kairi.
"What were you doing Sora?" Kairi asked as soon as he caught up with her outside of Merlin's house. Sora instantly began sweating bullets and he turned Kairi away.
"Oh, nothing," he said quickly and in a shaky voice. Kairi sighed as Sora led her in. Obviously she wasn't about to find out what he had been doing. The place looked exactly the same as they had left it, except only Merlin was inside this time. He looked around when he heard them enter.
"Back so soon eh Sora?" Merlin said motioning for them to sit in a couple of chairs he conjured out of nowhere. They took their proffered seats and helped themselves to some tea that Merlin's magic cutlery was making.
"We need your help Merlin," Sora began, sipping his tea after the sugar had but two scoops in. The wizard raised his eyebrows at Sora and looked between him and Kairi.
"Really?" he asked humorously, "what with?"
"Well," Kairi said. "We need some magic training." Merlin looked splendidly excited at the prospect of having pupils again.
"Excellent," the wizard said, instantly hoping up onto his feet and grabbing his bag of holding. "Well, let's not waste time. You two need to get back on your quest pretty soon, I'm sure." He stopped and turned back to the two teens. "The quest is on hold for the moment isn't it?" Sora smiled at him as he began to follow Merlin with Kairi.
"We're pretty sure we could take a few days off," he said brightly, stepping out into the sunlight. "The King is out there with Donald and Goofy after all."
"Yeah," Kairi added. "The worlds will be fine for a couple of days." Merlin nodded his head.
"Yes, yes," he said, stroking his beard as the walked towards the castle postern. "You're both quite right." The strolled in silence into a courtyard that was beginning to bloom with flowers and Sora raised his eyebrows.
"This place truly has changed a lot," he said eyeing the postern's new look. It had been a circular platform, but now it had walkways of cobblestones between lawns of grass and bustling flowerbeds. Kairi knelt down to smell some of the flowers and Sora's heart melted as he smelled her sweet vanilla perfume again. She sure is one of a kind, he thought to himself. He was suddenly brought back to the here and now when Merlin spoke.
"Now," the wizard began, stroking his beard. "What sort of magic had you planned on learning?" Sora started rubbing the back of his head while Kairi turned her head to look at him. It was his idea after all.
"Well," Sora began, unsure of how Merlin would take it. "I was thinking of some kind of cleaning spell, and anything else you'd like to throw in." Merlin chuckled heartily at Sora.
"Something as simple as that?" he roared. "My lad, I hardly expected such a spell request from you!"
"Hey!" Sora retorted, plucking on his vest. "That's not fair! I don't have Donald with me anymore, and do you know just how dirty and stained our clothes got on all our adventures?" Merlin wiped a tear of mirth out of his eye.
"I'm sorry my boy," he said weakly. "I had forgotten that you didn't have the court magician with you." Merlin swiftly recovered and pulled out a brown wand. "Now, I assume you can both cast magic without a wand or keyblade out, correct?" Sora and Kairi nodded their heads. Kairi hadn't used much magic without her keyblade, yet she still used her light without it. "Very good," Merlin continued, "then it will be easier when I teach you how to cast magic soundlessly. That way your opponent won't be able to tell which spell you're casting, unless you want them to know of course. But the charm I shall teach you now," Merlin said with a flourish as he saw their interest peak when he mentioned mutely casting spells, "is an all around cleaning spell. Just will whatever you want to be clean and fresh, and maybe have a soft fragrance, say the spell, and it will be clean."
"Great!" Sora exclaimed, eager to get the clothes he was wearing clean for once. "What's the incantation?" As an answer, Merlin pointed his wand at a pile of dirt that was sitting on the cobblestones nearby.
"Scurgify!" he said. A light blue orb formed on the tip of his wand and shot at the dirt. It instantaneously disappeared and Sora looked on in amazement as Merlin turned to his pupils. "Now you try it." Sora nodded and placed his hand over his chest, deeply feeling the want for his clothes to become as clean as when Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather had made them, but with the slight smell of cinnamon, and mint.
"Scurgify," he whispered with his eyes closed. He could tell the magic had worked when a soft blue light filtered in through his eyelids and he breathed in the desired scent that now adorned his clothes. Sora stood in silence for a minute, breathing in the air about him like a calming drink and appreciating the newfound softness the fabric had now taken. He slowly opened his eyes when he felt someone's breath on his face and a tug on his vest. Kairi was standing in front of him, almost hanging onto his clothes as she gulped in the scent and rested her head against his soft shoulder.
"Sora," she asked light-heartedly. "How do you smell so good?" Sora chuckled at her and raised her head to kiss her waiting lips.
"Because," he whispered, bending his forehead onto hers, "Your perfume is the nicest fragrance I've ever smelled, and I want to be the best thing you ever smell." Kairi giggled at him and briefly kissed his lips again.
"You're cute when you're all gushy Sora," she whispered. Merlin cleared his throat behind them and they broke up suddenly.
"Now I know you two are in love," he said sternly, but not as sternly as when he talks to Cid, "but if you two are going to learn the advanced magic that I'm about to teach you, you can't break up for a cuddle every five minutes." Sora smiled bashfully at Merlin and rubbed the back of his head while Kairi stepped a few paces away from him and shuffled her boots, beige-green ones similar to Yuffie's that went a quarter of the way up her legs.
"Sorry Merlin," Kairi said. "It's my fault." Merlin nodded his head at her.
"It's quite alright Kairi," he said. "I'll allow it this time because that was a simple spell and when I mentioned that bit about smells it probably would have encouraged either of you." The two teens blushed slightly and glanced at each other. "Now then, are you ready to continue?" Merlin asked. Sora and Kairi looked away from each other and nodded their heads.
"We're ready," Sora declared.
"Excellent," the wizard said and looked up at the sky. "You two did pick a rather inconvenient time to drop by, it's almost dusk." He dropped his gaze and looked back at his pupils. "Now, I'm going to try and teach you two about vanishing and appearing spells before the sun goes down…"
The day ended quickly as Merlin taught them the magic. Sora and Kairi didn't master the vanishing spell at first and were instructed by Merlin to keep practicing, as they couldn't learn to make an object reappear if they hadn't vanished it in the first place. They strode wearily through the town, searching for a nice place to sup for the night, as Sora wasn't feeling up to cooking. They stopped in front of a café with a striped red and white overhang on the building and a quaint outdoor section. Sora pressed his finger to his ear to contact Max.
"Hey Max," he began.
"Yeah Sora?" came the reply.
"You want to eat out with me and Kairi tonight?" Sora asked pleasantly, the static of the device buzzing in his ear.
"Sure thing, where are you guys?" Kairi placed her finger on her ear to join in.
"We're at the Seventh Heaven," she said.
"Sure thing, I'll be right over." They waited outside on a bench for Max and began talking about the vanishing spell they were supposed to practice for Merlin.
"So, how well did your ruby vanish Kairi?" Sora asked. Kairi shook her head as she brought it out. The ruby was still there, but it was half transparent.
"Not so well," she said with a slight giggle. "I didn't know this magic was going to be so difficult."
"Neither did I," Sora said, protruding his own ruby. It was more significant than Kairi's, but it still had a small degree of transparency.
"Hey Sora?" Kairi asked after a pause. "Why did you pick the Seventh Heaven anyway?" The boy placed his arms behind his head just as they began to make out the figure of Max coming towards them.
"I wanted to introduce you guys to Tifa," he said standing up. "This is her place." Max joined them as Kairi stood up as well and the three of them walked into the Seventh Heaven. There were parlors in front of them in a rectangular fashion, and tables adorning the wings with purple cushions on the chairs and benches. At the back was a bar/kitchen and directly in front of the trio was a pedestal where a girl with brown hair held back by a few pink ribbons was standing.
"Table for three?" the girl asked. The trio nodded. "Do you have a reservation?"
"They don't need a reservation Marlene," they heard someone call. "They're our friends." Sora turned his head to see a girl around twenty with long black hair and wearing a shirt and long skirt, both black, waving at them from the bar. "Welcome Sora," she said as the three of them walked up to the bar and took seats on the barstools.
"How's it going Tifa?" Sora asked as Tifa got him a water. "Found Cloud yet?" Tifa sighed and shook her head.
"Not yet," she said brightly. "I'm heading out soon though to look again, but who are these two?" Tifa turned her attention between Max and Kairi and then looked back at Sora. "He looks like Goofy, but I haven't seen her before."
"Oh right!" Sora said after he took a sip of his water. "This is Max, Goofy's son," Max and Tifa shook hands and Sora wrapped his arm around Kairi, who giggled a little as her water spilled a little on the bar. "And this," Sora continued, gazing into her eyes, "is my girlfriend Kairi." Tifa smiled at them and shook Kairi's hand.
"You're breaking a lot of hearts Sora," Tifa said with her arms crossed. Sora chuckled at her and he squeezed Kairi a little tighter.
"We already did that when we were here a day or two ago," he said, remembering that they had really only spent about three minutes in Neverland. Tifa raised an eyebrow at them and Kairi giggled.
"We kissed in front of a mob of rabid fangirls," she said, giving Sora a quick peck on the cheek. Tifa shook her head at them although she smiled warmly.
"That would do it," she sighed before addressing Kairi herself. "So you're fighting too?"
"Yep," Kairi answered brightly, drawing the Oathkeeper. "I've got my own keyblade." Tifa giggled slightly.
"We can't leave it up to the boys all the time can we?" she asked and Kairi nodded. "I mean, you have your keyblade, Yuffie wields her giant shuriken, Aerith has a quarterstaff, and I use my fists…"
They spent hours in the Seventh Heaven, just talking with Tifa and eating whatever she offered on the house. Tifa seemed to think that it was a great idea for them to open a restaurant after their adventures are over, just as long as it didn't take business away from the Seventh Heaven. After a time, Leon and the whole gang showed up and joined in, and a crowd also drew around them as Sora recounted his tales. He and Kairi had come to the understanding that even though they did not know the situation on the islands, they would be safe because Riku was there.
"And now," he concluded. "We're studying with Merlin for a few days before we continue our journey."
"Remember Sora," Merlin advised, taking a sip of his milkshake. "You and Kairi need to keep practicing that vanishing spell."
"Yeah, yeah," Sora said as he protruded his ruby again and began to concentrate. "Evanesco," he said. Miraculously, the ruby vanished. Kairi beamed at him in admiration, she had already managed to vanish hers while they had been talking to Tifa.
"Look's like things are looking up," she said.
Riku awoke the next morning with a pang as he remembered the conversation they had had with PJ the previous day and the ensuing planning session the three of them held immediately after. The current plan was not to tell anyone about what was going on, but post watches near the edge of town as a warning system.
I pity the poor souls who'll be the first line, he thought as he left early for school, disregarding his parents' remarks about how he should eat breakfast first. Stepping outside of his house, Riku summoned forth Way to the Dawn, its red blade shimmering in the early morning light as the Heartless emblem key-chain dangled from the end. He walked swiftly, barely pausing to exterminate the very few soldier heartless that had appeared to block his way. Soon, a small trickle of students began leaving their homes to get to school, many of them wielding some form of object that could be used as a weapon. Two soldiers suddenly appeared in front of Riku, clacking about in their overlarge iron helmets and boots. Riku smirked as he deftly sliced his keyblade through them faster than an eye can blink. The few followers he had stood stunned as the soldiers disappeared in puffs of darkness, two pink hearts rising into the sky.
PJ was right, Riku thought sadly, Cossex does seem to be lightening the pressure. A small boy suddenly ran up to Riku.
"Hey!" he said, his face beaming. "That was amazing!" The boy suddenly became rather shy and scuffed his shoes on the cobblestones. "Do you think," he asked shyly, "I could hold your sword, sir?" Riku chuckled at him and knelt down, offering his keyblade to the boy.
Poor kid, he thought in shame, though his smile displayed it not, I only took down two of some of the weakest heartless and he's fawning over me. Whatever she has in store is going to be a million times worse. Riku told the boy that he had to leave for school and summoned Way to the Dawn back into his hand. The boy didn't seem disappointed though, and he ran off to tell all of his little friends what he had just seen. Riku noticed that those students who had come out of their homes were congregating around him, knowing that they would be safe around him. He sighed and shook his head, heading off for the school again.
Riku arrived without further incident, arriving at the front doors to find Yuffie waiting for him. Together they ushered in the teens that had been following Riku, and as soon as all of them were safely indoors they turned to each other.
"So how was your trip to the school this morning?" Yuffie asked.
"Too easy," Riku replied. "If those guys," he said, meaning the students who had just entered the building, "flock to me for protection when the heartless are this weak, then we're screwed when Cossex finally attacks us."
"Don't think like that!" Yuffie scolded. "We can't let her kill their parents, we just can't." An uncomfortable silence passed between them. "Do you always think like this?" Yuffie asked as she broke the silence. Riku barked a laugh.
"Ever since that summer," he replied. "Maybe Sora's right. Maybe I have been hanging out in darkness for too long." Yuffie strode up to him and poked him in the chest.
"Then it's high time you started living in the realm of light," she ordered. "C'mon," she said cheerily, "let's go inside. I have a class to teach and you have one to go to."
"Yeah, sure," Riku said unsteadily as he rubbed the spot where she poked him. He didn't immediately follow her, as the spot where she had touched felt strange. It didn't hurt, but it felt…weird. As if butterflies were flitting about inside. And what she said was sticking in his mind; he wasn't living in the realm of light, not really. He was used to the darkness, and was unsure about the light. Light revealed things the darkness kept hidden, like emotions that were unknown or whoever might be lurking inside it. Someone like Xehanort's heartless that was still inside him, buried deep down. But one might live in both, in the twilight between light and darkness. Then Riku suddenly remembered something Sora had said that someone else had said to him.
"But who," Riku asked in vain, "carries the light to balance my darkness?" He lifted his head and looked through the main door's windows at the waving figure of Yuffie. Riku strode forward and opened the doors to follow her.
Maybe…
The day passed by quickly on both the Radiant Garden and the Destiny Islands. Sora and Kairi had mastered vanishing and reappearing spells, summoning charms, conjuring (which culminated in Kairi and Merlin arguing for fifteen minutes about the most fundamental law of the universe that matter cannot be created nor destroyed with Merlin winning by correcting Kairi that it was energy that could not be created or destroyed, and matter could be created through using energy. Indeed, that that was how the universe itself was created.), how to cast spells without uttering a single word (which took longer to master than either of them had expected), and the duo had also created a Limit for themselves.
"Excellent!" Merlin said as he clapped his hands after they demonstrated it.
"You two really put a lot of effort into it didn't you?" Tifa asked, as she and the whole gang had stopped by to watch their training. Sora and Kairi nodded heartily, grinning at each other.
"Well," Merlin said. "I think that will be enough for now. You two should be prepared to face anything on your journey." Sora and Kairi bowed.
"Thanks Merlin," Kairi said. Merlin waved her praise off with a flick of his wrist.
"No trouble at all my dear." Leon began rubbing his chin.
"So where are you two planning on heading?" he asked.
"I was thinking of Twilight Town first," Sora announced. "We can see Hayner, Pence, and Olette again. Then Land of Dragons or the Coliseum."
"You might want to add Beast's Castle into the early part of that list," Leon advised. "The king called and said that Maleficent is sending her henchmen out to capture the princesses." Sora, Kairi, and Max nodded their heads.
"Okay," Kairi relented. "We'll go to Twilight Town first, then the Beast's Castle." Leon nodded at them as they walked away after giving their farewells.
"So tell me Mr. Prime Minister," Cid asked after they had vanished from the postern, "why didn't you tell them about the plot on their home Islands?"
"King Mickey said not to tell them," Leon answered. Cid huffed at this news as Merlin stroked his long white beard.
"The King is being very secretive of late," he observed. Sora and company strolled through the town until they eventually found themselves in the marketplace, nearby the place where they had landed the Highwind.
"Uh, just a second guys," Sora said hurriedly as he fell back. "I just remembered I have to do something, I'll be right back." Kairi and Max exchanged glances and shrugged before heading up the landing ramp into the ship. Sora ran back through the marketplace until he reached the stall where he bought Kairi's birthday present. He could see that Jessie was still working today.
"Jessie!" Sora called in haste, and she turned her head to see him running flat out to reach her. Sora approached the stall, not even panting for breath. "Is it ready?" As an answer Jessie reached under the counter and pulled the pendant out and placed it in Sora's hand.
"Does it look ready?" Jessie asked humourously. Sora turned the pendant over in his hand. The engravings in the slightly pink metal were perfectly crafted, the words in sharp contrast to the smooth exterior. Jessie smiled at him. "She must be a very lucky girl to have someone like you," she commented. Sora shook his head and briefly muttered 'evanesco' under his breath. Jessie's eyes grew wide as she saw the pendant disappear in a white shimmer.
"No," Sora said as he brought his head up to look at Jessie before he walked off. "I'm a very lucky guy to have a girl like her."
Riku had another tiring day. It wasn't tough, just boring. He had aced a math test, actually gotten high marks on the Biology essay, beat everyone in a track race while stopping to take out a few heartless that had made an appearance on the track, and floored everybody in his weapons training class, which was now being taught by Yuffie and Axel as all the other teachers of that course had been called out by Seymour to patrol the streets. The mayor still had no idea that his daughter's enemy was gathering on his doorstep as the King had requested, and nearly everybody else was beginning to think that the crisis was abating as fewer and fewer heartless appeared throughout the day.
"I'll give it one more day," Axel told to Riku in his block two class. "One more day of calm, then she'll hit us with everything at night." Riku had looked skeptically at him.
"What makes you say that?" he asked. Axel barked a laugh at him.
"I was a Nobody and I was under Xemnas, I know how they think. Got it memorized?" Yuffie, though she hid the fact that she was worried very easily from her pupils, was of similar mind.
"She'll attack us soon," she whispered to Riku after the class was over. "And they aren't ready to take it." Riku grabbed her upper arm and forced her to look at him.
"Look at me," he ordered. "We already have me thinking this way, we don't need another me." Yuffie suddenly nestled herself in the crook of his shoulder and Riku was surprised at how well she fit there. He stood startled for a few moments before he began stroking her back comfortingly. "Shush," he shushed quietly. "We'll get through this, we aren't going to die, and neither are Sora and Kairi's parents."
"That's not what I'm afraid of," Yuffie said quietly, her brown eyes full of worry. "I'm not afraid of us dying, I'm just afraid of seeing someone else young like us die."
The next afternoon the Highwind landed by the train station in Twilight Town and the three teens inside walked out into the perpetual twilight. The place was exactly as Sora had remembered it, the brickwork of the buildings, the giant clock tower on the station, and the great sun stuck in dusk, despite it being the middle of the day. The three walked swiftly through Market Street towards the Back Alley, where a hanging red carpet concealed the entrance to the Usual Spot where the Twilight Town gang hung out. Sora pulled back the curtain and walked in to see a spiky blonde, blue-eyed boy wearing camo jeans and a gray shirt sitting up on a radiator, a girl with short brown hair, green eyes and wearing a white flower patterned orange shirt and gray shorts sitting on a red loveseat, and a boy with yellow eyes, black hair held above his head by a black headband, and wearing a red jersey and blue jeans relaxing on a blue armchair. The Usual Spot itself was a golden colour, with posters stuck up here and there and a dartboard stuck up on the wall and a couple of wooden swords also rested in the corner. The three teens inside looked up and smiled excitedly as Sora entered, closely followed by Kairi.
"You guys made it back," the one wearing a jersey said as the girl leapt up and embraced Kairi.
"Of course we did Pence," Sora said as the girl released Kairi and gave Sora a hug as well.
"We were worried about you," the girl said after she let go of Sora as Max was walking in. "Especially after that guy with spiky red hair took you away Kairi."
"Don't worry Olette," Kairi said. "I'm perfectly fine now." Sora looked at his girlfriend and they both grinned at each other. The blonde one raised an eyebrow as he looked between their faces.
"Is there anything that happened between the two of you that we should know about?" he asked. Kairi smirked as she slowly paced towards Sora.
"Now that you mention it Hayner," she said delicately. Kairi nestled herself into the crook in Sora's shoulder, and despite the fact that they were the same height she fit in perfectly and Kairi pecked his cheek. "What does this tell you happened?" she finished her sentence as she looked at the three she had briefly met. Olette's emerald eyes melted as she cupped her hands together and placed them by her cheek.
"I knew you two would get together after you told us your story Kairi," she sighed dreamily. Max cleared his throat to clarify his presence.
"Hello," he said in a humourously annoyed tone, he had learned to live with Sora and Kairi's behaviour after a while, "third wheel here, and waiting to be introduced." Sora smiled apologetically and Kairi blushed a little, they had both forgotten to introduce him.
"Sorry Max," Sora said. "Hayner, Pence, Olette," Sora said indicating each of them respectively, "this is our friend Max." Max stepped forward and shook hands with the three teens from Twilight Town.
"And before you ask," Max said quickly. "Yes Goofy is my father."
"So Max," Hayner asked suddenly, "you ever struggled before?" Max looked inquiringly at him, as if silently saying 'struggled?' Hayner chuckled at him. "It's a fighting sport we have here in town…" Hayner explained as he dragged Max off towards the sandlot.
"Hey there's a tournament today," Pence said. "Maybe you should sign up Sora." Sora mulled it over for a second and looked at Pence.
"Alright," he said. "On one condition," he then turned to look at Kairi, "Kairi joins in too." She smiled at him and took his arm.
"I'd be happy to."
Seymour, Janet, and Anne were all in the mayor's office. Half celebrating the apparent withdraw of heartless, half wondering where their children were.
"I think I should change my position's name," Seymour announced.
"And why would you do that?" Anne asked with a chuckle.
"When was the last time a mayor governed the defense of his town?" He returned smugly. Seeing Janet's smiling face he continued. "I think, that instead of Mayor Seymour, I should be Maestor Seymour. Sounds more impressive I think." Suddenly the dedicated line that went to Axel and Yuffie's command center rang.
"Maestor Seymour speaking, what is it?" Seymour said as he answered it. Anne and Janet looked on in inquiry as Seymour nodded his head and muttered 'uh-huh' several times. "Right, get on with it." He set the receiver down and looked at the two women in his office.
"What is it?" Janet asked, concerned.
"Heartless have been spotted on the RADAR, just outside of town."
Riku was running through the streets, Way to the Dawn drawn as the afternoon sun beat down on him and the fifteen boys he had at his back. Rounding a corner, Riku found himself near the outskirts where Yuffie and Axel were waiting with fifty some odd around them.
"What's the plan Yuffie?" he asked as he dashed up to them, those who were following joining the ranks. Yuffie scooted over a little to show him the screen she and Axel were hovering over.
"This computer has a direct uplink to our screen in the control room," Axel stated as Riku looked at it. "Right now we're looking here, at the northern section of town, where the heartless are marching towards us." Indeed, on the screen there were hundreds of little red dots, almost a solid mass of red, about two klicks away to the north, with them were two orange dots. And where they stood there was a very small mass of green that resembled them, and three blue dots all huddled in one spot. Riku zoomed out to view the whole map and saw that there were at least twenty more green dots hastening towards their location, and three yellow ones in the mayor's office.
"Green is for ally," Yuffie explained. "Blue is us three, yellow are our VIPs, red is enemy, duh, orange are enemy bosses, and a purple dot will be Cossex, but she hasn't shown up yet." Riku gritted his teeth as he watched the heartless slowly come closer and a few more green dots arrive and join the mass.
"She'll wait until we're exhausted," Riku growled. "There's going to be no end to this."
"Oh there'll be an end," Axel said with a maniac gleam in his teal eyes. Fire erupted around his palms and his two flaming red, spiky chakrams appeared in his hands. "The end will come when we've destroyed them all!"
"Hey Riku, Miss Yuffie, Mr. Axel!" Tidus yelled as he ran up with Wakka, the Blitz team, and the rest of his W.T. class. "What do you want us to do?" Everyone else leaned in and began paying attention, this was going to be the fight of their lives and they needed to know what they had to do.
"Alright," Axel said quickly as he partially zoomed the screen back in on the northern section of town. The heartless were approaching, fast. They were only a kilometer and a half away and nobody was defending the northern flank! "Yuffie and Riku will take the front up here," he said, pointing at the most northern section of town, closest to the approaching red mass. "I'll lay back here to try and determine which way the battle is going and join in if necessary. Tidus, you and your group will hold this section…" Yuffie grabbed Riku's arm and pulled him away from the scheming Axel.
"C'mon," she said, shouldering her shuriken, "we're the front line." Riku nodded and swiftly followed her figure, weaving through the buildings as they hastened to their position. Sliding his back against the side of a store that was the last building facing north Riku glanced out at the oncoming army of heartless and his eyes widened.
Not all of them were heartless.
There were standard heartless varieties: armoured knights, soldiers, shadows, large bodies, lance soldiers, bronze figures that wielded cursed lances that poked fun at the individual soldier, and guard dogs. But there were also stronger ones Riku hadn't seen in a long time such as Invisibles, tall hulking black heartless that floated above the ground and wielded large swords, and at least two Behemoths, the giant purple rhino-like heartless with a horn atop their heads. This enough would have been enough cause for concern, but there were Nobodies as well. Dancers flitted about in the front ranks, with dusks making their strange walk behind them and berserkers were intermixed within the whole army.
Riku took all of this in within a few seconds and he withdrew his head and cursed.
"Shit," he breathed. "We're all going to die." Yuffie looked over at him from the building she was hiding behind having observed the army herself.
"Riku," she said shakily. "Despite Cossex's orders not to kill us, if this is our last day alive," Yuffie's voice suddenly caught and she became unsure if she was going to continue. Riku raised an eyebrow and pressed her onwards. "If this is our last day alive," Yuffie repeated and she raised her head to meet his eyes, "I'm glad to have known you." Riku was stunned as he stared at the suddenly cute girl before him. He had wrestled within himself about how he felt about her and he realized that she felt the same way. Riku suddenly found his feet disobeying conscious thought and moving across the road towards Yuffie. She backed away, slightly nervous as Riku suddenly grabbed her hands with his.
"I," Riku said, suddenly finding his tongue extremely dry. "I feel the same." Both their faces slowly came together and their lips touched, creating magic between them. Riku deepened into to moment as Yuffie began kissing him back while their lips were locked. After what seemed like an eternity they broke the kiss.
"Wow," Yuffie breathed quietly as she smiled up at Riku. "I had no idea you felt," she suddenly stopped as her emotions took over and she threw her arms around his neck and began kissing him again. Another eternity passed as they kissed until they finally came apart.
"Yuffie," Riku asked quietly, taking her hand, "will you be my girlfriend?" Yuffie giggled at him.
"I will, oh pie lover." Riku grinned and suddenly swung around and blocked a lance soldier's lance from skewering him with his reappearing keyblade. Riku kicked the lance's shaft away and stabbed the heartless right through the center and it vanished in a puff of smoke and a fiery pink heart. A dancer approached him and Riku jumped up to avoid it grabbing him by the ankles. He twirled through the air and sliced his keyblade right through its head, taking out the armoured knight that was behind it as well in flashes of white and black.
"Hey Yuffie," he called after he landed and began to vanquish foes left and right. "What was that you said about dying?" Yuffie snarled as she threw several regular sized shuriken right into the bodies of several dusks and soldiers.
"Fuck death," she steamed. "I'm going to live." Riku grinned as he watched Yuffie throw her trademark shuriken around like a boomerang, slicing the heads off of Nobodies and Heartless alike only for them to disappear in flashes of white and black. But he didn't have time to watch for long as a lone berserker came up in front of him and tried to smack him with its claymore. Riku rolled around on the ground to get behind it and leapt up, cleaving through it with Way to the Dawn's blade. As soon as it disappeared Riku felt his knees buckle from a shockwave as one of the two behemoths approached to squash them like bugs. It lowered its head to skewer them with its large black horn that was covered in a blue mist.
"Yuffie!" Riku ordered. "Attack the horn! That's its weak point!" Yuffie nodded as she blocked a blow an Invisible was making at her with its long blue sword with her shuriken. As it recoiled she pulled a dagger out of her belt and leapt up, running the blade through its head. As the Invisible faded Yuffie sheathed the dagger and threw her shuriken at the behemoth's horn. It circled around, constantly whacking the barrier away from the horn until there was nothing left. The heartless fell onto its knees, stunned.
"Hope that helped," Yuffie said as she grabbed her weapon back and began melee fighting with it and her dagger. Riku leapt right up at the horn and sliced it clean off with a great slash from his keyblade. The behemoth roared as it exploded in darkness, a giant heart rising into the sky. Riku turned around to see some of the heartless escaping past them and heading into the town. He raised his palm and sent black and blue fireballs out of his fingertips towards them, incinerating the heartless.
"Yuffie?" he asked as he turned his attention back to the foes in front. "How do you like your heartless, skewered or sliced?" She giggled at him as she stabbed her dagger right through an armoured knight's head, twirled it around in her palm and stabbed in through a soldier's helmet that was behind her.
"I prefer minced," she joked as she sent her shuriken flying again, ripping anything in its path to shreds.
It was going to be one hell of an afternoon.
"The rules of the tournament are as follows," the struggle promoter in the Sandlot of Twilight Town said. "Each combatant will have one hundred orbs, totaling two hundred for the match. All you have to do is hit your opponent with your weapon and they will drop orbs. The one with the most orbs at the end of the one-minute time limit is the winner, or if either combatant can gather all two hundred orbs they automatically win. If either combatant falls out of the ring, they are automatically disqualified." Everyone in the Sandlot nodded in understanding and the struggle promoter handed each of the eight contestants a blue bat with a golden grip, and wished them luck.
"So," Sora said as he turned to Kairi and Max, "who are you fighting in the first round?"
"I'm fighting some guy named Rai," she said confidently. Sora grinned.
"Rai's kinda slow," he said. "It should be an easy fight."
"I've got some guy named Setzer," Max spoke. Sora nodded at him.
"Setzer is an okay opponent," he commented. "But he's no match for you Max."
"Hey, chicken wuss," someone taunted behind them. Sora, Kairi, and Max turned around to see a boy wearing a black toque, blue jeans, and white vest holding an ornate blue trophy with four crystals, blue, red, green, and yellow on it. "Remember this?" he asked. "I gave it to you last time you were here, but I'm winning it back."
"In your dreams Seifer," Sora challenged. Two people came up from behind Seifer and posed before Sora and Kairi. One was a tanned boy with black hair wearing a red shirt, and the other was a girl with violet-white hair wearing a lilac shirt and short beige jeans.
"Do you know them Sora?" Kairi asked, looking at the three. He nodded his head at her.
"Remember when I was telling everyone about Seifer, Rai, and Fuu?" he asked as he raised his hand towards them. "These are them."
"Yeah! You don't mess with us y'know?" Rai said, baring his fist in front of her. "And I'm going to beat you in the first round y'know?" Kairi glared Rai down.
"No," she replied icily. "I don't know. And for the record, you won't have any balls left to count when I'm through with you." Olette gasped as Kairi stalked away from Seifer and his gang, who were thoroughly stunned. Despite the fact that Sora and Hayner weren't Axel, they still took the moment to say something people all across the worlds say whenever someone counters with a line like that.
"BURN!"
"All right folks," the struggle announcer and weapon shop proprietor said. "Welcome to this weekend's struggle tournament. Remember everyone; this is the last chance of the year to vie for the coveted Four Crystal Trophy before the big Struggle tournament in the summer. The winner of this tournament wins the trophy, that's bragging rights for almost a whole year folks." He then turned his blonde head to the combatants. "Now let's meet today's entrants. The eight worthy strugglers who will face each other in the ring. For our first match we have the beautiful Kairi, now don't kill anyone Sora," he paused for laughs as Sora waved it off, receiving a friendly punch on the shoulder from Hayner and a quick smile from Kairi, "gracefully facing off against the hulking Rai. (I'm gonna own it, y'know?). In the second match we have defending champion Seifer fighting one of his own boys, let's give it up for Vivi!" Sora began clapping as Vivi, a very small boy who wore a blue trench coat and a large brown hat that enveloped his face in shadow, began happily waving at everyone as Seifer scowled. "In our third round we have outsider Max going up against the former champion Setzer." Max looked nervously at a man with silver hair in a purple cloak showing off for waving fangirls when the announcer's voice drew his attention again. "And our final match in the first round will be adventurer and Master of the Keyblade Sora facing underground favourite and local attitude problem, Hayner!" Sora and Hayner faced each other and pounded the other's outstretched fists.
"Good luck man," Hayner said and Sora nodded.
"Yeah," said he, "you too."
"Would Kairi and Rai please come up to the ring?" the announcer asked. "As the first match is about to begin." Kairi stepped forward and leapt up onto the square platform as Rai mounted the steps. She turned to see Sora blowing her a kiss and she caught it, placing it on her lips. They both grinned at each other and Kairi saw Sora whisper 'good luck'. She nodded at him and turned to face Rai.
This is so weird, Sora heard in his head as Kairi and Rai faced off.
What's weird Roxas?
Just, being back in Twilight Town, he said telepathically as Kairi flew forward at Rai, striking him right in the gut with a crosswise blow which sent him staggering as yellow orbs began flying about. I mean, Roxas continued, while Naminé was putting your memories back I felt as if I was living my life out here. And now no one here even knows me.
Everyone knows you Roxas, Sora thought as Kairi whacked Rai on the back with her struggle bat, sending the last of Rai's orbs flying and Rai reeling to the ground. Well, Sora compromised, not everyone here. But everyone in the virtual Twilight Town knows you.
Could we go there? Roxas asked in wonder.
If we have time, Sora thought. I'd actually like to get introduced to the Hayner, Pence, and Olette that you know. But if we don't have time this time here, I promise you that you will get there before the end of this journey.
It's okay if we don't go now, Roxas said. But as long as we get there sometime soon. I'd like to introduce them to Naminé. Sora chuckled at his Nobody's response as he watched Kairi place her bat at Rai's chin in victory.
I bet you would Roxas, he thought.
Vivi lost the next round by a score of one hundred seventy-three to fifteen, as there were still some orbs lying on the ground. And Max conquered his initial fear of Setzer, whose taunt of 'My life is a chip I your pile, time to ante up' shook Max, but he came back in an effective comeback to collect all two hundred orbs. The announcer then called Sora and Hayner into the ring and they squared each other off before flying into the fray. Sora Quick Ran straight for Hayner and lunged at his figure, throwing in an upper slash for good measure to send Hayner flying into the air as red orbs scattered on the ground. Sora leapt up and continually slashed Hayner in the air, sending him flying back into the center of the ring. Hayner landed in a daze and Sora ran about, grabbing the orbs up as fast as he could. Hayner recovered and came after Sora, his struggle bat moving in a blinding fury. Sora met his bat with his own, but his was faster and after four circling parries Sora hit Hayner again on the ribs and the last of the red orbs came off and stuck themselves to Sora, making him the winner. The crowd cheered and Kairi whistled as Sora raised his bat into the air.
"Good match man," Hayner said, not at all surprised that he had lost. "I knew there was no way I could take you."
"Hey," Sora said comfortingly as he placed a hand on Hayner's shoulder. "You improved a lot since the last time we struggled."
"How would you know?" Hayner asked skeptically as he crossed his arms. "You knocked me off in only fifteen seconds."
"Trust me Hayner," Sora replied. "I know you did. Next struggle match between you and Seifer, you're taking the cake."
"Well," Hayner said as he rubbed his chin while they descended the platform and stood amongst their friends, "I do love cake."
"You were amazing Sora," Pence said.
"And now commences the semifinal round," the announcer began. "Would Kairi and Seifer please step into the ring?" Kairi stepped forward and climbed up into the square again, going up the stairs is just too time consuming after all. Seifer was already waiting for her, his bat poised in front of him like the barrel of a pistol.
"Kneel loser!" he taunted. Kairi's blue eyes suddenly blazed and she gave Seifer a death-glare, which he surprisingly resisted.
"Nobody calls me a loser!" Kairi snapped, a snarl curling on her upper lip. Without warning she shot forwards and threw all her power into a slash at Seifer's bat. It contacted with a resounding crack as it not only took it out of Seifer's hand, but broke the bat in half as well. Before he could even be put in shock Kairi kicked him in the gut, hard. Seifer staggered back as a few green orbs dropped off and he suddenly found himself on the ground outside of the ring.
"I," the announcer stuttered, "I'm not quite sure what just happened. But the winner is Kairi! Would Sora and Max now like to step into the ring?" Max suddenly looked at Sora as Kairi leapt down to their level.
"Do you fight as well as Roxas?" Max asked. Sora nodded.
"We're one and the same," he responded.
"Right," Max said, nodding his head. "I forfeit," Max abruptly said. Sora and the gang were stunned.
"You sure?" Hayner asked. Max nodded his head.
"There is no possible way anyone here in this tournament could beat either Sora or Kairi," he said before shrugging his shoulders and grinning evilly. "So if I forfeit, that just speeds everything up to the climactic battle between the two lovers."
"He's right you know," Kairi said to Sora. "You would win, hands down."
"Well then," the announcer, who had been listening in to their conversation said. "Would you two like to step into the ring then?" Sora and Kairi nodded and walked forward together. The struggle promoter came up to them and presented them with two new bats.
"You two play fair now," he said. "You're at the top of the bracket." Sora and Kairi took the bats, glanced at each other, and tossed them over their heads. The Oathkeeper appeared in Kairi's hand the same time the Oblivion appeared in Sora's and they squared off, the promoter getting the heck out of the way.
"Just like on the islands eh Kairi?" Sora asked as he gripped the Oblivion. She nodded her head.
"Remember our training Sora?" she asked with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "I won't hold back." Sora nodded and braced himself as she flew forward with the Oathkeeper. He raised his keyblade upwards to parry her downward slash and struck at her side, Kairi twirling around to dodge and swinging her blade up near his neck, which Sora twitched to avoid and he brought his own blade in a horizontal slash at her side. Kairi's keyblade struck his own and both blades recoiled. The two back-flipped over to gain some distance and Sora wordlessly released a volley of ice shards at Kairi, who countered by raising a fire shield around herself. While he was partially blocked by the flames, Sora leapt up into the air and landed on Kairi's other side, and struck at her leather armour through the shield when his blade met steel with a clang. Kairi grinned at him as she dropped the encircling flames.
"I know you far better than for that to work Sora," she said as she threw his keyblade off of hers and struck at his midriff. Sora went flat onto the ground before the blow could be struck and aimed an attack against Kairi's booted ankles. She leapt back to dodge the strike and sent a thunderbolt down from the sky towards Sora. He looked up and rolled in the nick of time to dodge it. Sora looked up again and instinctively used a reflega spell to ground the charge from another bolt into the platform. Before either could do more, the buzzer sounded indicating that the time limit had been reached.
"Well that was quite a show!" the announcer said. "I guess for the first time ever we have two champions. Give them both the trophy!" Sora and Kairi grinned as Hayner and the gang grabbed the four crystal trophy and ran up to present it to them, as well as lifting the two up onto their shoulders. The crowd cheered as they lifted their keyblades into the air and kissed briefly, off to celebrate their taking the cup by storm.
"So what is this?" Sora asked her. "Three draws and no wins for either of us?"
Riku panted and wiped sweat from his brow after he swiped Way to the Dawn through yet another armoured knight. He and Yuffie had been fighting alone in the north for hours as it had now grown into the night, never hearing a word from any other person on their side, never seeing a sign if the tide was relenting, and never gaining any rest or reinforcements.
It was hell.
Riku panted again and heaved his blade right through an invisible, before swinging it around and striking a berserker in the back before it could attack Yuffie. She muttered hurried thanks before she hacked a shadow to pieces with her dagger. Riku suddenly felt pain on his shoulder as a guard dog bit him. He turned on the dog and ran his blade through its mouth and out the top of its blue head before wearily blocking an armoured knight's sword from slicing open his ribs and defeating it too.
There's no end to this, he though glumly. Fire suddenly erupted in front of him and created a wall that protected him and Yuffie from the rest of the heartless and nobodies.
"Nice job you guys," Axel said as he stepped out from behind the building they had initially started the battle from.
"It better have been a nice job," Yuffie panted as Riku sprayed both of their accumulated wounds with potions.
"Well, let's see here," Axel said as the flames that momentarily separated them from the horde crackled. "You two held off the heartless from reaching anyone else for fifteen minutes. Then they just circled around you two and became a mass enveloping the town. We've lost at least thirty to the heartless, at least ten are actually straight dead, and Cossex hasn't even bothered to attack you two yet. She just went right by you guys and hit Tidus, the Blitz team, and our block four class." Riku and Yuffie gasped at this horrendous news.
"Has she hit our VIPs yet?" Riku asked. Axel shook his head.
"Not yet," he said glumly. "She killed John and Brittany, and then she used her powers to make the rest writhe in agony for ten minutes as heartless swept by them, stealing hearts from Fred, George, and two others on the team. Right now she's having fun destroying the town with a few behemoths and an honor guard of invisibles and berserkers." Yuffie leaked out a tear.
"But wait!" she exclaimed. "I thought Riku and I took out the behemoths!"
"How many did you destroy?" Axel asked.
"Well," Riku answered. "Two, but we've only seen two." Axel shook his head sadly.
"There are sixteen in total. Got it memorized?" This news left the two teens standing in a state of shock. Riku looked out towards the town. He suddenly became aware of the sounds of screams, explosions, fires and alarms. Parts of the city were burning and explosions kept peppering the place, even as far out as the small island. He could barely see Cossex standing atop a shoulder of one of the behemoths that was breaking the city, her blue hair waving in the wind as she laughed, a strained sound coming from her lips like she was forcing herself to laugh, while causing the explosions and many of the screams. She lifted her arms and suddenly the mountain upon the small island exploded, sending shockwaves throughout the province. The buildings they were standing next to suddenly cracked and the three of them threw themselves out of the way just in time to avoid being flattened.
"How?" Yuffie spluttered, tears choking her words. "How did she get so many heartless?"
"They gather hearts from every living creature," Riku growled as he helped her up. "And multiply. If she was breeding them outside of town she had plenty of bugs to donate hearts to the cause."
"Come on!" Axel roared as he leapt to his feet. "We need to get to the maestor's office pronto! We're the only hope for them now." On that note the three of them sprinted through the wreckage, stopping now and then to gather any of their surviving warriors to follow them and eliminate the heartless that ran rampant through the broken streets. They ran up to a teen carrying a crystal blue sword who had a disheartened following behind him, one of them wielding a blitzball.
"Tidus!" Riku yelled as he recognized the teen. Tidus turned around at Riku's voice and his face filled with hope.
"Riku," he breathed. "And Miss Yuffie! We thought you were dead."
"It's going to take more than heartless and nobodies to stop us Tidus," Yuffie said. "Come with us," she ordered. "We're heading for the maestor's office. It's imperative we stop Cossex!"
"What, you mean the bitch who killed John and Brittany and caused us to lose half the team to those heartless?" Wakka roared. "Let's make her a goner!"
"Aye!" his party agreed, and the whole group was running flat out towards where the office stood. Thankfully they arrived before Cossex, who was still out destroying for sport, and set up a perimeter with their twelve troops around the office to hopefully hold out against an attack. Riku turned as he heard the door open, and contorted his face into one of disbelief as he saw Seymour, Janet, and Anne striding out.
"Get back inside!" he ordered sternly. "It isn't safe for you out here!"
"Riku," Anne said slowly as her gaze dropped. "We just saw one of those things' feet crush your house. Your parents were still inside." Riku felt as if his heart stopped as he just stood stunned, staring at the three parents of his best friends. He could feel Yuffie's hand on his shoulder, but didn't hear her condolences.
"How," he choked out. "How do you know?" Janet lifted her bowed head to reveal shining tears.
"We were talking on the phone with them," she said shakily. "When all of a sudden we heard a crashing sound and the phone…" she became too emotional to continue and she made a motion instead with her finger across her neck. Riku suddenly felt wetness across his cheeks and placed a hand to his aqua eyes to find that he was crying.
He didn't care anymore, and he let the tears fall as he wept freely.
"Oh, how emotional." Riku whipped around, wiping the tears from his eyes to see a blue haired woman wearing a black coat with silver chains hanging from it standing in front of them.
"Cossex!" he spat. Everyone who hadn't seen her suddenly ran forward and surrounded her, poised to strike. Cossex laughed at their feeble attempt to appear imposing to her.
"Why, I can't think I've ever had a better reception," she said sarcastically. "Good thing I've brought people with me." She snapped her fingers and eight invisibles appeared around her, holding their long blue swords out in front of them. The teachers and teenage warriors began to back away in concern, but Riku, Yuffie, and Axel held their ground. "Fight," Cossex proposed, "and all of you except you three," she pointed out the three warriors of light, "will die, orders you know. Surrender, and unfortunately only most of your lives will be spared," she then looked emotionlessly at Seymour, Janet, and Anne. "Orders you know."
"What are you going to do?" Seymour asked, trying his best to sound courageous. Cossex laughed quietly at him.
"It's something you don't need to be concerned much about," she said as her invisible guard slowly advanced. "I'm just going to kill you. Now would you like the slow, painful death, or the quick and easy kind? Your soul will dwell with Grenth either way."
"You won't lay a finger on them!" Riku threatened menacingly, brandishing Way to the Dawn in front of him. Cossex sighed and shook her head.
"Well," she said to herself. "I tried." Riku raised his eyebrow inquiringly at Cossex. Something about the way she said that had him wondering. She then slowly raised her arms and pointed them at Riku and Yuffie, who were guarding Seymour, Janet, and Anne. "Mind Crush!"
Riku howled in agony as he fell to the ground, Way to the Dawn vanishing and Yuffie falling beside him. It was worse than the worst migraine he'd ever had, like a hundred times worse. It was all he could do to register that the three he was supposed to be protecting and that the girl he liked were all cowering on the ground with him. Suddenly things began to flash through his mind. They didn't cause any physical pain, but they hurt worse. He saw the crushed and mangled bodies of his parents, Sora and Kairi lying on bloodstained grass, dismembered, and Yuffie, so hacked up that could barely tell that it was Yuffie. The only clues being the red headband, and bloodstained flower pattern on the lower half of a black shirt. He tried to forcibly remind himself not to imagine that, that it wasn't real. He forcibly opened his eyes, looking up at the Thought Crusher in pain and anger. Cossex quickly waved her arms around in a circle, causing everyone else present to drop to the ground in agony. She strode up to Michael as he lay on the ground, drawing from nowhere a gleaming silver axe with a red haft and golden pommel. From the tip of the haft a spike protruded near to the blade. Cossex kept her smirk as she forcefully grabbed Michael and lifted him to his feet, his fearful face greeting her.
"Do you fear death?" she asked him. Michael nodded fiercely, staring into her unblinking eyes. He found no mercy in them. "Take comfort in where you're going, it's better than losing your heart." She sliced off his right arm with her axe, forcing him to lose his sword in the process. His shriek of pain echoed grimly through Riku's mind.
"Son of a bitch!" he yelled in agony and shock. "She just cut off my arm!"
"Next is your head," Cossex growled as she slashed her axe at his neck. Michael snapped his head back and the axe was only able to slit his throat, but death still came to the boy.
"Holy Shit!" a random boy who happened to be walking by with two friends yelled in a highly muffled voice. Cossex turned on him and threw her axe with a roar. The axe embedded in his skull as the kid fell down dead.
"Oh my God!" one of them yelled. "She killed Kenny!"
"You bastard!" the other one insulted. Cossex stiffened as she retrieved her axe.
"Shut up," she said as she slew the two of them. She then turned around and strode past the writhing figures of Yuffie, Axel and their band to stop in front of the keyblade heroes' parents. Riku's eyes followed her as he forced one of his knees up so he was crouched with one foot flat against the ground. "And now you must be killed," Cossex said, directing her voice at the three parents. She moved in front of Anne first and stopped for a moment to taunt her.
"Mother of Sora," she began. "You have a stout heart, much like your son." She then plunged the spike of her axe into Anne's right side and Anne let out a blood-curdling scream. Cossex removed her axe and stuck the spike back into Anne's body, this time right into her heart. "But he has a princess to protect him," she continued, wrenching her tip back out. Anne jerked spastically for another second before she sighed out her last breath. Cossex turned and stood before Janet's weeping and cringing figure.
"Foster mother of Kairi," she began, before swinging her axe blade and cutting into Janet's back and heart. "Just die quickly." Cossex left Janet and turned to Seymour. "Foster father of Kairi," she said, preparing to swing her axe to decapitate him.
"NO!" Riku yelled in horror as he threw his keyblade at Cossex. Cossex turned and the blade passed her by, clattering on the bloodstained cobblestones. Seymour flipped onto his back and began to scuttle away, making a bid for freedom. Cossex heard him movements though and turned back. Her face curled into a snarl and she ran Seymour through with the spike. He looked up at her in shock before collapsing on the ground, gasping for breath. Cossex turned and looked at Riku, Axel, and Yuffie.
"Nice job defending them," she said sarcastically before opening a portal and withdrawing. Once inside the portal she let it close behind her. Confident that none could see or hear her, Cossex let her axe go and bent down, looking at her bloodstained hands in pain.
"It should not have been this way," she stuttered out, sickened. "My heart isn't worth this much pain."
Riku and the others barely noticed that all the heartless and nobodies began to fade away. All Riku could tell was that his head no longer hurt, and with that in mind ran forward to Seymour's side. He looked like a fish out of water, opening and closing his mouth in a vain attempt for air, and the wound Cossex had given him went deep into his gut.
"Ri- Ri-ku," he breathed out, looking at the silver-haired teenager with his last moments of life.
"Yes, what is it?" Riku choked out, tears streaming from his aqua eyes. Seymour began crying tears of sympathy for him.
"Tell them to look after each other," Seymour said with his last breaths. "They're all they have now. And tell Kairi," Seymour began to make a death rattle and he knew his time was nigh, "tell Kairi I love her…" Seymour's head slumped back and Riku wept and retched as the howling sounds of mourning and grief rose into the night.
They were beaten, they had lost.
Sora and Kairi were going to kill them.
And let the flaming commence. I'm sorry everyone, I had to kill them, just as J.K. Rowling had to kill off Sirius Black and Albus Percival Wulfric Brain Dumbledore. And the best part is, Sora and Kairi are completely oblivious.
I hate this one. I just hate it. Go read the re-written one! There are some characters in that one that weren't created during the original writing, but that doesn't matter. I wrote the Destiny Islands scenes a thousand times better in that one.
Please leave a review, and if you have the heart to continue, please read and review my next chapters as well.
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk