Author's Note: I. Am. So. Sorry. I'm sorry I didn't even put up an Author's Note, because I believed that would clutter the chapter listings and would, well, disappoint everyone. It really wasn't a matter of writer's block, or it could be and I could be just denying it. It was more of a hectic schedule and other stories that I had to work on as well, including the cause of Rain of Sorrow, which happens to be Our Last Memories. A lot of changes have taken place by the time this chapter was to be writ, therefore you may or may not be confused. Unfortunately some people have taken the liberty of attempting to spoil the story of Kingdom Hearts 2 for me, and I encourage you not to, because the information would spoil my original storylines and that's really not a good thing. I have taken all I knew and know and think I know, and put it together to begin two separate journeys. Once again, I'm sorry for the incredibly long wait of about two months. Apologies.
Copyrights: All characters belong to Square-Enix and Disney, with the exceptions of the only characters I can think of now: Lyath, Adrian, Kori, and Sunami. The storyline is mine or the devil take you! (that is a joke)
Warning: This is an M-rated fanfiction, so this chapter is somewhat of a warm-up. If you don't know what that means, ignore what I just said and begin reading. Thanks.
Rain of Sorrow
Chapter 13: The Last Quest
" Paradoxes," Cid growled as he set down his cup of tea. " How I hate them."
" But how terribly useful," Auron countered, shifting slightly on the couch. " Don't 'tell this to Riku, but I did prefer Tetsu to be the one guarding the Seventh Princess, given his lack of doubt in his own power."
" This Tetsu," Cid mused, " he sounds quite familiar."
Auron snorted. " You're not the only one to say that. Last night Tifa said sometimes Tetsu reminds her of Sora, but at other times he seems more like that other damn kid Lyath. Of course I don't know where the hell this kid gets his attitude but I sure am glad as hell I won't be hanging around with him anymore!"
" Heh, pestered the old man?" Cid cackled.
" I'm thirty-seven; I'm not old," the warrior countered.
" I say that same crap every day but do you think those rascals care? I'm just damn glad I didn't have to move back in with them."
" You should be. Death still stalks Hollow Bastion."
Cid stared at him. " What's that?"
Auron nodded silently, was closing his eyes. " The defense system guard Rupert was burnt to crisp. A few days ago a fourth of the passengers on the now non-existent Highwind Express were slaughtered by the Heartless and Nobodies. And, of course, there's Cloud…"
The air turned somber as Cid sighed, looked away. " She was a good girl…never did cry like the other two brats I had to watch over. If only Axel…"
He smacked the palm of his left hand with his right fist. Auron only nodded, then said, " The destruction as returned. The Universe is no longer safe."
Cid whirled on the other man. " What's that now?"
" Wonderland was destroyed. Not a lot of worlds end up demolished like that. And everything that happened, the deaths on the Highwind Express, the traitor who killed Rupert and destroyed the defense system…it's all coming back. What began long ago…has only been stalled, never stopped."
The blond man nodded in acceptance, chewed on his cigarette. " Then the Organization…is going to follow through with the Gathering, isn't it?"
Auron confirmed it with another nod. " Unfortunately. When the Heartless appeared on Destiny Islands, I had an idea as to why. At Hollow Bastion, Axel confirmed it. They want Kairi…and once they do get their hands on her, we're all in trouble-"
" Oh my god, I can't believe you did that!" a voice outside the shop exclaimed.
" We had to," three very familiar voices chimed in unison. " You three were getting your butts kicked-"
Cid stormed to the doors and flung them open. " Louie, Huey, Dewey, what in the name of Jenova did you do!"
The three ducklings looked up at him and laughed nervously. " Nothing, nothing at all-"
" Boys," an authoritarian voice dragged out. " What did you do to him?"
Cid whirled on the speaker. " Donald! How-how'd-why-when-where…where's Goofy?"
All was quiet. Then, " We lost the ship, Cid."
" You lost the ship?" Cid demanded, totally flabbergasted. " H-how-"
" What matters is that he's here," Auron spoke quietly, stepping into view. " Huey, Louie, Dewey, go back to your store. Riku, Naminé, and Donald, inside. We need to discuss our course of action."
He vanished back into Cid's store. Cid followed, making sure someone caught the door before letting it go. Three pairs of feet shuffled in behind him, then they dispersed to the couches.
Riku sprawled over one of the larger couches, while Naminé sat primly on the couch across from him. Donald sat on the other end of the couch, looking rather bruised and burnt. Auron slowly sat down on the only real incliner in the shop, leaving Cid to go behind the counter and begin closing down the store for the night.
" You think Goofy survived that explosion, Donald?" Riku asked aloud when nobody seemed willing to talk.
" If I could make it, he could make it," Donald huffed.
" What happened?" Auron asked slowly, bringing attention to the strange situation.
" Goofy and I, we were headed for Traverse Town just like before," Donald replied, while fiddling with his staff and staring at the coffee table in front of him. " Something must've struck the ship from the outside, because the engines started failing on us. We tried to get the backup engines to work but those were out, too. Our only hope was an emergency landing on an asteroid."
The others nodded, hemmed, and hawed. Then Cid, who was the gummi ship expert, questioned, " How can both the main engines and the backup engines be down? That's impossible."
" Really?" Riku demanded, suddenly interested. " How so?"
" The backup engines are found inside the ship," Auron answered. He looked at Cid through his sunglasses. " Sabotage?"
Naminé gasped. " What? How!"
" And why," Auron finished.
Now it was all quiet, as everyone immersed in their own thoughts and theories. It was apparent, though, that none of them had anything new to say considering that baffling problem, besides Riku.
" Maybe the ship just malfunctioned," he blurted out.
" The readings were all fine, though," Donald protested. " I saw them!"
" Well, maybe the readings seemed fine but the ship wasn't," Riku countered.
" What! Are you suggesting Chip and Dale didn't do their job?" Donald demanded furiously.
' No, I'm suggesting they made a mistake!" Riku snapped.
The two of them were now on their feet, leaning across the table and glaring at each other eye-to-eye.
" Oh knock it off, both of you!" Naminé sighed. " We're getting nowhere. Besides, I'm tired. And I think better with a clearer head. Cid, is the Hotel available?"
" The Blue Room and the Red Room are," he answered. " The Green Room's occupied, though."
" Really?" Auron questioned, interested. " I thought people stayed home nowadays, unless a world went off like Wo-"
" That, too," the blond pilot interjected quickly. " Interesting case, this boarder's got. Talk to him tomorrow; he's all talk but the talk may be useful if you guys are out looking for Sora. See what you can get out of him."
" I'll do that," Auron nodded. He then rose to his feet. "Let's go."
One by one they filed out of the store. Riku purposely lagged behind so he could bring up the rear and deal with his own issues without interference and questions from others.
So, what's your purpose, besides occupying my mind and wanting your body back?
' Revenge. What would you expect from someone who lost her body to two miserable boys who still roam the world out there?'
What? You're gonna turn on me!
' You? I don't plan on turning on you yet. Without you I would cease to exist. When you unlocked my heart and unleashed my inner darkness, a part of me remained with you, the last vestiges of my soul. As for the other boy, well, I leave it for you to find out. You may know his name, but none of us know of his whereabouts.'
Okay, what the fuck are you talking about, Maleficent? That's bullshit you're blabbering there.
' I beg to defer. Being in this state I can sense forces others cannot. But I won't share that information with you. You don't need to know.'
What! Hey-
" Riku? Are you okay?" Donald called out as Naminé watched from the doors of the Hotel. He looked at her worried face, then at Donald. Since when did Donald care if he was okay or not? " Hurry up or else I get the dibs on the bed!"
Riku scowled, then walked briskly towards them. Auron, he guessed, was already inside.
Maleficent's so confusing…all of this is confusing. This whole mess…dammit, what's the point of this? What the hell?
A voice whispered from the darkest depths of his mind.
Soon, the time will come...and I shall be free.
Riku grit his teeth, then quickly hid the grimace as he followed Naminé and Donald into the Hotel. The duck waddled onward but Naminé stayed behind. She turned to him and smiled.
" Good night."
She entered the Red Room as Riku smiled faintly in return. Then his face returned to its stern visage as he turned to the Blue Room.
Fuck you, Ansem…
""
" Lyath," the girl called Sunami began slowly, " was a close friend of mine. He lived here, with my other friends Adrian and Kori, but he wasn't from Twilight Town. He just…came here one day."
Both Zidane and Goofy nodded.
" He always wondered what his purpose in life was," Sunami sighed, her finger picking at the stray fibers on the couch. She then stood up and began pacing around the coffee table. " Adrian said his purpose in life was to win as many Struggle Tournaments as possible, though Lyath was the better player. Kori wanted to win as many friends as possible; he's the nice sort, you know. Me? I wanted world peace, especially when we started hearing whispers of war. And I also wanted life here at Twilight Town to be peaceful and simple. But after what…after what Lyath revealed to us, life changed for all of us. All our…all our dreams just fell by the wayside."
" Why?" Goofy asked curiously while Zidane continued to scarf down as many sandwiches on the platter as possible.
Sunami looked straight at the Knight Captain. " Because of who he was."
Goofy stopped looking so curiously; he instead bowed his head and turned away.
" Who was he?" Tetsu asked quietly. He studied Sunami from under his bangs, watching her flush and look away. He then shifted slightly on his feet and looked elsewhere as well.
" A Keybearer," she murmured. " An anomaly of a Keybearer but one of three. He revealed his power to us the day Seifer led a mysterious man to him. Seifer was in charge of the unofficial street police, and he hated Lyath with a passion. When they first saw each other, they stared arguing over something stupid. Then the mysterious man stepped in…and then Seifer and his friends Rai, Fuu, and Vivi ran away."
" The man had red hair?" Zidane demanded suddenly, looking up and spraying crumbs everywhere. " Axel?"
Sunami shrugged. " Maybe. I don't know much about that, but Lyath and the man started shouting things at each other. Then Lyath pulled out this huge silver key. He pointed it at the man and started yelling. The man pulled out weapons of his own, some weird wheels with spikes all around them. They fought…oh it was such a horrible fight. They kept yelling at each other…and then the man said something that stopped Lyath in his tracks. I-I don't remember what he said exactly but it had something to do…something to do with the fact Lyath never smiled. He knew something…that Lyath never told us before. And then he said that Lyath only existed because somebody needed him in order to acquire something. Lyath grew angry, and then threw the key at the man's feet. He stormed off. We didn't see him for weeks.
" It was around that time we met Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora had a key, the same key Lyath used to fight the man. We told him so…but he didn't believe us for a minute. He did tell us his story, though, about his life on a world called Destiny Islands and his search for a friend and a king. Adrian told him that we saw neither of them…but we did suggest them to go to other worlds around Twilight Town and ask around. Not long after they left, Lyath came back. But he wasn't himself anymore. He was so terribly upset about something, but he never told us why. I still don't quite understand why…"
Goofy suddenly cleared his throat. " Der…I never understood either, Sunami. But the only other time I met him, he…he seemed normal…"
" That was in the beginning," Sunami explained. " For a while he acted like nothing happened…then he started to fight with Adrian. We didn't know what his problem was but every little thing seemed to tick him off. And then there were the nightmares…he never told us about them either. But then, a few months later, we got invited to Disney Castle for some meeting. That was two years ago…but it was then that everything changed."
She knelt down on the floor and ran a finger down the grain of the wood flooring.
" What happened?" Zidane asked curiously. " I mean, you keep saying he changed this way and that way and that way and this way, so what happened now to make a difference-"
" Kairi."
Zidane, Goofy, and Sunami all turned to Tetsu, who seemed to be staring off into space.
" What is this, a mating call?" Zidane cracked but Tetsu ignored him completely. He didn't even attempt to strangle the thief. Instead he turned to Sunami, who had gone oddly pale.
" This is about Kairi, isn't it?"
" W-what makes you say that?" she stammered.
" She's not even here, to begin with," Tetsu explained, bringing to everyone's attention her absence. " As soon as you said that…name, she went white and disappeared."
" Good point," Zidane agreed, jumping to his feet. Crumbs fell to the floor. " But she never said anything about Lyath. Why-"
" They met at Disney Castle," Sunami interrupted. She sighed, then looked at each one of them slowly. Goofy was the only one amongst them who seemed to understand what was going on; he nodded slowly and sadly. " They met…and they fell in love."
" Whoa, whoa, whoa, what!" Zidane yelled. " Say that again!"
" They fell in love," Tetsu murmured, repeated for him. Zidane stared at him, then at Sunami, then at a guilty-looking Goofy, then back to Sunami.
" Then what about Sora!"
" There was somebody else," Sunami answered, her voice beginning to waver. " A witch."
" Naminé," Goofy said. " I knew about the relationship between Sora and Naminé, but Lyath and Kairi? Well…I dunno, things are starting to get confusitioning…oh yeah, those two were always with each other. Riku was angry…angry because those two were together, angry because of what Sora had…had done to Kairi. Kairi was angry at them both…because we did things she couldn't do much of and we didn't say…der…things and tried to hide things from her. Sora got real angry, though…when Lyath came."
" Why?" Tetsu asked quietly. " What happened?"
" Chaos," Sunami replied reluctantly. " Some strange stuff got revealed during the first day of the big meeting, including who Lyath was. I guess that really hurt him, because he disappeared right afterwards. He was with Kairi the next day…and they haven't been apart since. I never understood that, you know. What did he see in her that…that he didn't see in me, in Adrian, in Kori, in other people here? Maybe it had something to do with her being a Princess and all, but whatever happened, they were in love. Maybe it was just that they needed each other…like they were made for each other."
" Oh no…not that, anything but that…" Zidane heard Tetsu mutter under his breath. The blond man eyed him strangely but didn't pursue the matter when nobody else seemed to hear him.
" Der…"
" Halfway through the huge meeting, something changed between them," Sunami then sighed. She opened her mouth, took a deep breath, let it out, then closed her mouth. She licked her lips, then seemed to decide to continue. " One night…one night he didn't go back to his room. For three days he never went back to his room…and that was part of what changed everything."
She fell silent, then let out a wistful sigh. Nobody else seemed to want to speak, as they all tried to understand what it was Sunami was trying to tell them. Then Zidane, who was shifting his weight on his feet continuously, decided to break the silence.
" Damn, there goes my changes with her."
Goofy looked dazed. " Der…maybe I shouldn't try and get it anymore…"
Tetsu was frowning. There was a dark, intense look on his face.
Sunami then decided the story must end. " When the meeting ended and we had to go, Lyath took Kairi aside, and started talking to her. He was gone for a while, then came to Adrian, Kori, and me in a hurry. He said we had to go…but he was crying. I never saw him cry before, you know? When he cried...I don't know, it's just so painful. But when we were leaving…I saw her staring out the window of one of the big halls, watching him. She was crying, too. He never told us what happened…but he was so sad. He never talked about Kairi, didn't talk at all, really. This went on for weeks, him brooding and stalking around the tower. Adrian was mad when he quit going to the Struggle Tournaments. The prizes we get from the tournaments help pay for everything we need but Lyath was the only one who could really compete. Even Adrian knew that…which was big of him, since he always thought he was the best. But Lyath wouldn't do anything at all. It was like he didn't want to exist anymore.
" Lyath then disappeared. One day he was sitting on his chair, staring at his hands, and the next day he was gone. It's been like this for two years. But you know, it was the strangest two years; everything was a blur…and it was only when you three came here that I started remembering everything again. Now I really know why I was waiting, always waiting. I was waiting for him and until he comes back, I always will."
Her story was over. Then…
" Did he look anything like Sora?" Tetsu abruptly demanded, fearing the answer.
Sunami smiled. " A bit…come to think of it, they did look alike…but he never smiled, just like you. He's really pale, too, with blond hair and all. But his eyes…"
Tetsu immediately turned away and she dropped the subject. Zidane rocked back and forth on the heels of his boots, while Goofy's eyelids drooped and he threatened to snore. Tetsu then sighed, chewed on his tongue for a bit, then walked away. Sunami watched him walk to the door that led outside, then turned to Zidane and a dozing Goofy,
" But how'd you guys get here?"
''
He found her sitting on the edge, watching the twilit skies of Twilight Town. He leaned against the wall of the Bell Tower, studied her silently. Her long red hair seemed to glow under the sky as well as her white shirt; a slow breeze tossed her hair about in a vibrant red curtain dyed in the hues of the setting sun. His eyes never left the colors, as a strange feeling went rocketing through his body. Tetsu felt his throat go dry and swallowed to try and rid himself of the feeling.
Then suddenly, for a moment, he imagined – or was it imagination? – himself sitting on that edge, talking to other people. He was holding something, was picking things off of it and passing them around. Then the illusion was gone and he found himself still staring at Kairi. To his disgust he found his body reacting to her in a way he'd rather not even attempt to describe.
Damn it!
He shifted on his feet again, then softly said, " How close were you two?"
Kairi didn't move, continued to watch Twilight Town's skyline. He heard her whisper, though. " Very close…even closer…than…"
She didn't finish. He heard a slight noise emit from her, then realized she was trying to hold back her tears, was trying not to cry.
Not again!
" Why didn't you tell us about him? Were you trying to hide him from us? Or was it something else-"
" I forgot him"
" Excuse me?"
" I said I forgot him."
He fell silent. Forgot him? I'm pretty sure you slept with him so how the hell can you forget him? That's just wrong.
" After he…after…Lyath left, I thought the world was going to end. I never…I never felt despair like that time. Then one day I woke up…and just started living as though he never existed. I couldn't tell the difference and nobody ever mentioned him, never called him by name. He was a nameless entity referred to only as 'the other one', and I thought none of it. It was like he was never there. Never."
" So you forgot him for like two years and ended up falling in love with Sora again?"
" I guess…but when Sunami said his name…it all just started…started to come b-back." Now her voice was filled with tears as she shifted in her seat, pulled up her knees, and hugged them tightly. She sighed, tried to regain her composure. " Until she spoke his name, I couldn't remember him at all. When I look at you…sometimes…sometimes I'd see him, but for the most part…I couldn't even recall his voice. Like Sora, I lost him. But this time, it was like an empty hole...a gap in my heart…that I couldn't fix, because I didn't know why it was there."
Her voice dropped to a whisper and whatever else she seemed to be murmuring was lost in the wind that blew almost constantly high above the city.
There was something nagging him, though, something Sunami had said with incredible ambiguity and clarity. Half-hoping and half-fearing the answer, he asked, " So…, assuming I heard rightly, you forgot having sex when you were fifteen? Hardly becoming of a Princess of Heart, I'm sure."
Tetsu didn't really think he was a blockhead; he had preferred to think of himself as somewhat too stubborn to comprehend or understand most things. But something within him broke open and he began to realize how coldhearted he was when Kairi turned around and glared at him.
Her blue eyes were shimmering with hot tears that streamed down her face. Her bottom lip was trembling; she shook as she choked back her tears. Then she was crying.
A cold steel sword rammed through him, left Tetsu shaking, too, as he quailed under her sorrowful gaze. Suddenly he felt shame, guilt at causing her more pain than he could even begin to imagine. Starting from the moment he woke up in her house on that bed, he had been told of his resemblance to the boy she loved so much. Throughout their journey she had cried to him about how much she loved him, how much she wanted him to come home. But…after what Sunami called him, he finally began to comprehend the kind of emotional power he held over her. He was the source of her hope…and her despair.
Then an even stranger emotion swept through Tetsu as he remained frozen, watching her as she watched him. There was something in her face, something that was practically screaming at him, telling him it was all there, all out in the open. He couldn't understand it, understand it at all but he found his eyes slowly shifting from her eyes to her lips. And then a slight breeze picked up again, tossing her hair. She was haunting, an angel of misery and sorrow. She was…beautiful.
But these…these feelings…they're so…foreign…where are they coming from?
" I…I can't believe you…" she whispered. Ice laced her words. " How…how could you say something like that?"
" I'd rather not travel in the dark, Princess," he found himself saying and winced. " Secrets are no friend of mine. You're not at all who I thought you'd to be."
" What do you know?" she retorted, her voice stronger and with anger. " Leave me alone."
She then took a deep breath and he watched her blue eyes go icy and frozen.
" I hate you."
That was it. Tetsu's face went slack with shock, then hardened as the three words echoed continuously around them. He stood up straight and glared at her, as every last bit of tolerance he had for her shattered and blew away in the night wind.
" I hate you, too."
He turned around sharply and strode to the door. As he disappeared, he heard Kairi crying. A part of his soul reached out to her but his heart lost all its humanity and he left her there. He didn't look back.
It's over.
""
" I don't see him…" Riku muttered as he sat fidgeting in his seat. He busily watched Donald as the wizard tried to douse the candle on the café table; it didn't need to be lit but not even a simple Water spell would turn it off. Riku suggested a full-blown Waterga but those sitting at the table immediately decided it wasn't the best method. No need to get on Cid's – or Auron's, whichever was worse – nerves this early in the day.
" Maybe he's not human, " Naminé suggested quietly as she sketched into her drawing pd. " I mean, if Donald could be a duck, who knows what the boarder would look like."
" That's very reassuring, thanks," Riku replied darkly.
Naminé shrugged, swirled around the contents in the half-empty mug with a small coffee spoon. She was bothered, extremely bothered.
" Riku…?" she whispered, could barely be heard.
" What?" he asked as he tapped a finger on the café table. When she didn't continue, he tilted his head in her direction. " Naminé?"
She blinked, then quickly averted her eyes. " Remember…way back…you know, at Disney Castle?"
He frowned slightly. Donald stopped fiddling with the candle immediately and looked at the witch. " Why?"
" Um…I…uh…I don't know how to say this, but…" She fell silent and looked elsewhere again.
" Naminé, what's wrong?" Riku asked, thoroughly troubled. Why is she bringing this up?
" Um…" she emitted as she picked at the ends of the very pale blue dress she was wearing. " You know how…how there was that 'council', that meeting? That meeting King Mickey called?"
" Yeah, what about it?" Donald asked crossly. His memories of them obviously weren't fond. Neither were Riku's.
" I can't exactly forget the Council," Riku stated rather harshly. " Especially with all the infighting…and the crisis."
" What crisis, Riku? What was the problem?"
Riku froze, stared at her. Why was she questioning this? She was there, wasn't she? Wasn't she the one who triggered the crisis? Or was there something she didn't know? Or was it he who was left in the dark?
" The one involving Sora-" her eyes flashed as he spoke "-because he can't control the Keyblade. He lost control. Why do you ask? Naminé?"
Her face was deeply troubled as she averted her eyes to the candle on the café table. Donald looked between the two, unsure of what to do.
" Do you remember…anything else?" she whispered.
The young man and the duck stared at her. Then they looked at each other and exchanged baffled glances. What was there to remember? The Council was so full of fighting over the next best course of action, and those strange magical portraits in the room around them weren't helping, either, especially that one mouse with a kilt. He was always blithering nonsense, inciting the anger and fury of the mouse in the gown and with a laced handkerchief. And then there was the world of Tron, gone forever.
Forever…
" No, I don't," Riku admitted. Donald nodded, then posed the question. " Naminé, what are you getting at?"
She took a deep breath. " Perhaps I should bring something up. There's so much I found out…so much I wish I didn't know. The Organization is full of deceit. What we discussed back at the castle weeks ago may not be true at all. And Ansem…well, I don't know much about him at all given that he's not exactly alive right now, but if I know anything about the man, it is that he will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. I don't know what Vincent Valentine is up to given what was told to us about him by Cloud and Leon but he's definitely up to something. You never know what's on the man's mind but he does things his own way and you can't question that.
" If you remember clearly we were talking about the heart and the soul. For so long we always thought the heart was the most important part of a person. But ever since the Organization and the Nobodies made themselves fully known, it became apparent that the soul was important as well. One cannot exist without the other…except in special cases. That would include me. Don't you remember? The reason why I was able to manipulate people through memory as told before I was ordered to do the same to Sora was because I was missing a heart. But once my magic came into contact with Sora, everything changed…because I found one of the most powerful hearts in existence.
" But during his yearlong sleep, I found out something about him. He may be all heart but his soul was gone. Well, not all of it or else he would have been destroyed long ago, but only a small piece of it remained within him. As he grew older that began to affect him. Don't you remember, Donald, when Sora began to complain about how his emotions seemed unable to show or he couldn't express them as well as he could? His soul was missing and it was beginning to screw up his mentality and his ability to wield the Keyblade.
" But why was he missing most of his soul? While you three were gone stopping both Heartless and Nobodies in their tracks, I looked deep into the mysteries I grew up around. A part of Sora's heart was missing. It was a strange, precarious imbalance; he was missing most of his soul and part of his heart. I came to the conclusion that maybe there was someone out there who was missing most of his or her heart and a piece of his or her soul. So…I began my own searching."
" And why didn't you mention this earlier?" Riku demanded. " Why didn't you mention this AT ALL two years ago! Naminé, what's gotten into you?"
Donald's jaw dropped. " You're joking, right? That could explain a lot but if you mentioned it way back when, it would've made sense with all the other stuff thrown around the room! Naminé, why did you hide that from us?"
Naminé shook her head furiously. " That's the point! I didn't hide it from you! I-"
" You…you did not!" It dawned on Riku what Naminé might have done. " You hid this from us by erasing all trace of it from our memories?"
" WHAT!" Donald squalled.
" NO! I didn't!" she cried out, on the verge of tears. " Why do you accuse me of that? Riku, you know I forswore doing something like that long ago-"
" THEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, WOMAN!" Riku roared. The few townspeople sitting at the café tables or walking nearby froze and one woman dropped her bag of groceries. A cigar fell from a man's mouth.
" I-I-I-I," Naminé stuttered. " I…d-do you remember someone…someone else at the meeting?"
Riku and Donald stared at her. " What!"
She repeated the question.
" No, except Tron wasn't there because his world got obliterated," Riku snapped scathingly. " Why? Who else was there?"
The witch wiped her eyes quickly with a napkin at the café table before continuing. " There was someone else. Donald should know, because King Mickey has started to talk about it. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about, Donald?"
" Maybe. I remember overhearing a conversation His Majesty had with Auron about where his Keyblade had gone. I didn't get it, though. Why?"
" Because-"
" The last quest is to figure out the rest, of this silly mystery. Before you go, just let me know, if I can come along!"
The three people at the table froze. Then Naminé became very aware of a huge grin sitting on Riku's head. A gleaming full set of teeth shone in the night of Traverse Town.
" Riku, there's a smile on top of your head."
Riku stared at her. " What are you talking about?"
" There is a smile on top of your head. I'm pretty serious it was the one talking-"
The smile moved. Now it was a mouth.
" A duo becomes a trio because a circle of four returns to a trio becomes a duo and is surging towards a trio. But never, oh never, will it return to four because the fourth shall never walk the earth again! She knows, he knows, they know, all know, yet the chain remains snapped. I wonder, I wonder, at this horrid sin. So onward, heroes and heroines, to the last quest, and open the door!"
Riku went white. " Why is it talking on top of my head?"
Donald was the first to recognize the mouth. " Cheshire Cat, what are you doing here?"
Purple stripes and links materialized around the grin and then the cat was there before their very eyes, sitting on Riku's head, It looked around, smiling all the while. Its long tail whipped about restlessly, slapping against Riku's face.
" Ho-hum, this town's life is more glum than fun. So I want to come and help you if I may. After all, Wonderland and Tron are destroyed, and Beast's Castle and the surrounding Fabled Countryside are cut off from all access, leaving far fewer worlds in which to search for Sora. And a secret I shall reveal if you will let me come. Jumbles may pour from my mouth but with my mind much will be undone. As it should. Too much has been said and done so now it is time to unravel the lies from the truths and set all to tale."
" And why are you on my head?"
" I like your hair. It's very soft. And silver is a very nice color, you know."
" And what do you mean by lies and truths and stuff being done and undone?" Donald demanded. " Cheshire Cat, what does that mean?"
The cat grinned, though his eyes never left Naminé, who was looking like a ghost now.
" Let me come and I will help. The Organization seeks to be reborn, because they believe Kingdom Hearts will restore their hearts and they will become all-powerful. Axel had tried to unleash the pure power of the heart that was hidden under the castle but if he had succeeded, all would have been lost. The heart and the soul in their respective pure forms are much too powerful to exist in their state in this world."
" And your point is?"
" With all hearts of the Princesses, they will find a way to remake themselves. There is more than one way to do that, so if they cannot reach Kingdom Hearts, they will simply go about it another way. She knows, for there were more spells than one."
Riku and Donald turned to Naminé, who was staring at the Cheshire Cat – no, glaring at him, her pale eyes flashing. She looked very angry. And very un-Naminé-like.
" Either way it would destroy him. You know this as well as I. The Non-Existent shall remain non-existent; their accidental existence will eventually be erased. Including mine. But I had no choice. You know it."
" Yes, Naminé dear, but that's not why I'm wheedling you," Cheshire Cat smiled, now doing a handstand on Riku's head. He didn't like it but the young man really had no choice. Given the way the Cheshire Cat talked, he could have a lot of power. Or he could be all talk and Riku would simply be humiliating himself. " You know this as well as I. You know about the existence of religions here in this Universe, do you not?"
Donald stared at the exchange oddly. " Religion? What about it?"
" Of course, Cheshire Cat."
" Good! Because it goes like this: forgiveness is glory, sure, as it is the surest way of redemption. But you have gone too far to ever ask for forgiveness. One would never forgive you. You know it. As for the other two…well…they'll never talk again, you know this. But…I could help you find…a way….to end the suffering, and the sin."
" Sin?" Riku looked at Naminé, who suddenly looked shameful.
" Yes. Sin. I have committed such sin that I will never wash it away from me. I'm sorry."
Riku stared at her, suddenly felt the need to help her. He understood her perfectly; after all, wasn't he in her position before? He had done such unspeakable things, too, but Sora helped him out of the Darkness, and back into the Light. What was holding her back? What was she hiding?"
" But I will say this," the Cheshire Cat said solemnly. " If I come, I will help you find Sora and help him open the Door of Light. But beware: it has been two years now and if we do find Sora, he will not be himself. You all must understand that. So much has happened since then, including the faux alliance between the two warring factions of this costly war. For many of our allies, these past two years have been a strange and unusual blur, and I will myself get down to the bottom of this. And you, Naminé, hear me on this: I will help you wash yourself of your sins. But either you will become clean…or you yourself will be destroyed. You said you were Non-Existent, and that those few people who are like that in this world would eventually fade away. If you don't find a heart or if you lose the soul in you, you will never walk in this lifetime again. Oh, hello, Auron! Love to see me?"
Everybody whirled around to see Auron. Cid Highwind, and the triplets Louie, Huey, and Dewey were standing near the center of the town square, staring at them. Cheshire Cat balanced on his left front paw and waved with his right. Naminé was completely porcelain, so pale it was shocking. Both Riku and Donald looked completely drained.
" We're not traveling with that thing, are we?" Auron demanded.
" Unfortunately, we are," Naminé said hurriedly before Riku could agree with Auron about the cat.
The man glared at the cat for a long time. " Hmmmf! C'mon, we're leaving. Need to pay Hades a time-honored visit and start on this damn journey."
He whirled around, and with Cid and the triplets, headed for the main doors. The others slowly rose to their feet and quietly followed them, Donald continuously slapping his hand with his staff and watching the others nervously. Naminé was busy twirling her pencil in her hand, looking quite lost in thought. The Cheshire Cat kept humming as it sat on Riku's head. Riku, though, kept staring at Naminé, wondering if he really did hear those things that were just mentioned seconds ago.
Naminé's Non-Existent? Then how did she exist like this for so long? I don't understand. None of this makes sense, including the so-called 'sins' of hers. What is she hiding from us? What's she hiding from me? But if the Cheshire Cat was right, we might lose her forever. That can't happen! I won't let that happen!
He kept staring at her as they headed out to one of the gummi ships Cid had built at his gummi garage. She noticed his gaze and tilted her head slightly to smile at him.
" I'm alright, Riku. I really am."
He sighed, then nodded.
I didn't ask for this last journey. Too late now. I only hope this really is the last one…please let it be the very last journey we will all take. Please…
""
"…der…why are you coming with us, Sunami?" Goofy asked curiously as the young woman followed him, Zidane, and Kairi down the stairs.
" I have nothing more to do," Sunami replied. " Being around those boys for most of your life gets to you once in a while. Once I came to Disney Castle, nothing really was the same again. And besides, I can fight now. The past two years Kori and I have been going over books of magic. Both of us can do some magic now. Adrian prefers street fighting though; he thinks magic is for sissies."
She made a face and Zidane, who happened to see it, laughed. Kairi remained silent and intent on walking down the stairs at a brisk pace.
Sunami had found some clothes for her, finally, but they weren't much help. In exchange for her school uniform she donned an orange-pink dress with white bordering and black straps. Zippers ran down the middle of the skirt to the very bottom; underneath she was wearing a thin short white dress with spaghetti straps so the zipper was pulled down halfway to her waist. Sunami had a rather stylish red belt, too, so she cinched that around her waist. She was still wearing her black shoes, though, and they made some very loud and rude sounds as she walked down the stairs.
Kairi knew Zidane had some strange attraction to her but she had gotten so used to his stares by now that she ignored him completely. She was doing that just now; after all, she was the one in front.
What she didn't know was the history behind her clothes. Sunami had found them in one of the dressers in the boys' room two years ago. One would have to be puzzled at the clothes and for a moment she wondered if one of the three boys was a cross-dresser. It took her a good half-hour to finish laughing off the idea of Adrian wearing the pink dress, then she found the price tag and the receipt buried underneath it. The whole set was of a decent price, since the quad never had that much money in the first place – Sunami had always wished for a set of pearls but it was Kori who finally managed to knock some financial and common sense into her – but she found a second receipt that tied it to the first. This was while she was pulling out other clothes to do the laundry; a thin piece of paper fell out of Lyath's pants and she studied it. It was made out on the same day the clothes were bought, a delivery charge to the tower. She had studied the date for a moment, before it dawned on her. That day Lyath had stayed behind while the other three went off to a Struggle Tournament Adrian had entered.
And these clothes were for Kairi.
But why did he never give them to her?
That night Adrian was ecstatic. He had won the Struggle Competition against Rai, who had entered at the insistence of Seifer and his other two friends. He had been chanting that this was payback for all the things Seifer's gang had done to them, especially Lyath. Kori was saying repeatedly that it was just a tournament and it wasn't a life-or-death struggle while trying to finishing his popsicle as it melted and ran down his fingers. Sunami was giggling at the antics of the two while biting into her own popsicle. That was when she became aware of the stony silence radiating from Lyath; the blond teenager had been unusually silent and moody for some time now but now there was something else hanging over him, some tragic air. He was staring at his hands, the popsicle tilted out of the way so that it didn't touch him as it melted. He hadn't even touched it.
" Lyath?" she asked worriedly. " Why aren't you eating the popsicle? What's wrong?"
He kept staring at his hands, then shook his head and rose to his feet.
" Nothing."
He walked away to the room he shared with Adrian and Kori, leaving her rather hurt because he was still refusing to open up to her.
That was the last time she would ever see him. The next morning, the boys found he had gone. His bed had been made and he had taken nothing with him. They thought he had simply gone out for a walk but as the day dragged on, they began to worry. A whole week passed before Sunami found the clothes and he had not returned. But a week later, his name vanished from her mind with a hot unnatural wind that blew through the whole city. And for the next two years, as the days went by in a strange blur, they found themselves talking about 'that boy' less and less often, until he was nearly non-existent.
Until Tetsu, that is.
And Sunami believed, deep within her heart, that Lyath would have wanted Kairi to wear the clothes he bought all those years ago. She had kept the clothes hidden from Adrian and Kori, laundering them occasionally to keep them clean and never daring to even try them on. She really couldn't believe it when Kairi had come to her early in the morning, asking if she had anything to wear, and she found herself reaching, automatically, for the neatly-folded clothes in her own dresser. And as she handed them to the grateful red-haired girl, Sunami felt something slide off her shoulders. She had never noticed it before but all of a sudden she found herself breathing easier, able to stand even straighter than she was aware of. A great weight had slid away.
And that was the only time Sunami ever believed in ghosts. For just one minute.
''
Tetsu was pacing around the front of the clock tower, hearing but not paying much attention to Adrian and Kori as they bickered over what Sunami was trying to do – find Lyath as the others searched for Sora. His mind was far, far away from Twilight Town, even. He was thinking about that secret cave on Destiny Islands, and the message Sora had left behind for Kairi.
I love you, too. Remember me.
What could Sora mean? If there was one thing Tetsu knew, it was that Kairi would never forget Sora. But then again, she had forgotten Lyath…and if what she said really was true, they were even closer than she was to Sora. Was she playing mind games…or had something happened to her memories?
Memories…
" I hate you."
" I hate you, too."
It's over.
" Bug off, why don't ya? I've had it with you!"
" Well, I haven't! I just broke my latest punching bag, and I think you'll do for the time being."
" Come off it, Seifer! So we beat Rai at the Struggle Tournament; it's not the end of the world!"
" No, but it doesn't do any good for our image, does it Kori? I thought so. So c'mon, Adrian, come and get it!"
Tetsu whirled around, lowering himself instinctively as he focused on the two young men and the people they were arguing with.
One of them had a suave nature, wearing some really weird, flowing clothes. If he was trying to come off as a warlord, it was a poor attempt. He had a pretty serious, arrogant face, with a long diagonal scar across his face and over his nose. It kind of reminded him of Leon.
Leon as the same scar…except it's going in the opposite direction…
There was a slim young woman with bluish silver hair and brown eyes tinted deeply red. Her clothes were simple and practical, and in muted blues and browns. She was standing with a tall, very muscular man with dark hair, slight sideburns, and red and black clothes. Tetsu immediately guessed that this guy loved to show off his body; he was wearing a muscle shirt with no sleeves and black sweats.
Then there was that odd little thing, with a pointy hat, a heavy coat, and pants. For a moment, Tetsu imagined it as human-sized, then his hand coming in over its head and scrunching it into the ground, leaving it look like a runt. Then he froze as it turned its head his way and he found himself watched by glowing yellow eyes.
The scar-faced man was yelling at Adrian. Both had their fists up and just seconds from blows. Kori was panicking and incredibly helpless in the face of the impending fight. Tetsu scowled at his ineptness; if he had heard rightly from him late last night, the guy could cast magic. Obviously he had forgotten that.
Then the little thing with glowing yellow eyes spoke quietly.
" Fight."
He didn't even flinch as Adrian and the one he guessed to be Seifer started scuffling. Instead Tetsu found himself sighing; he had also heard enough of the hatred between the two young men to not expect this. But of course, if things did get serious, then he would step in.
Unfortunately, they did.
The thing raised a hand and a fireball formed. Adrian saw this but that distracted him; Seifer socked him in the face, which threw him off his feet, then the fireball went sailing.
Kori yelped. " Wind!"
The Aero spell did little to stop the apparent Fira as it exploded through the mild wind shield and impacted with Adrian. He was thrown several feet and lay still face-down. Then his arms moved and he pushed himself up off the ground, his nose and mouth bloody. He held his fists up again and ran at Seifer. The other two people still did nothing, content to let Seifer and that thing fight Adrian and Kori.
Then he heard Sunami scream. He turned his head, as did the two other people, Kori, and the thing, to the doors at the bottom of the tower. The others had finally emerged after what seemed like hours of preparation; Tetsu had gone downstairs early with Adrian and Kori to buy train tickets and had tried to avoid as much of the preparations as possible. With two women traveling, such things could take years.
Goofy had his shield up immediately, while Zidane had bounded forward like a cat, dagger in hand. Tetsu then noticed the blond man reach into a pouch on his belt that he had not noticed before; apprehension rushed through him as Zidane flipped back the flap on the pouch and carefully fingered the handle of what could only be a pistol. Where did Zidane get his hands on such a weapon?
And then he felt his heart race as he saw Kairi standing there with Sunami, her left hand on Sunami's forearm and her right hand held out, obviously ready to summon her staff, wherever in hell that was. She was finally wearing something different, but there was something vaguely strange in what she was wearing, an orange-pink pick knocking at the heavy black wall that he knew hid away whatever memories he had of his far past. All it did was knock off a tiny chip but he was left with a flash, a blur of a human body falling headfirst into darkness.
Seifer had frozen with the scream and was busy staring at the intruders. Then his jaws went slack. The other two people were eying Seifer strangely while Adrian hovered between gaining the advantage and losing his focus if he turned around to see who had appeared. Then Seifer snapped his jaws shut and something dark, menacing, and possessive flashed in his gaze. Tetsu was sure he had seen that look before.
On Axel.
Instantly something roared within him, a fiery beast waking from its slumber to shout in fury. A dragon uncurled itself deep within him, its head arched back in a position of power and authority as it glared at the man with the scar. The man had eyed its possession, its treasure, and that offender won't get away with it.
Wait – what!
Trying to suppress this uncoiling creature inside him, Tetsu looked up only to see Seifer sock Adrian full in the face. The blond man fell backwards, while Kori and Sunami shouted and ran towards him. Then the thing started sending off fireballs from its finger, preventing them from helping Adrian, who was still somewhat conscious and climbing back to his feet. Then he saw Kairi break through and run to help the bloodied man, her staff materializing in her hand.
Tetsu needed to step in. Now.
He bolted, running straight for Seifer, who held out his right hand. His eyes widened considerably as a weapon flashed into the scar-faced man's hand, a great sword with a handle like an overgrown gun. Adrian and Kairi, who was holding onto his forearm and helping him stand, stared at the gleaming silver sword with horror.
" Check me out!" he grinned darkly. Then the silver-haired girl shouted.
" Seifer, your left!"
" What-"
The bulky man with the red shirt suddenly threw himself to the left with a shout, fists up in the air, Seifer jumped to the side, then came at Adrian and Kairi, sword swinging, while the thing officially engaged with Zidane and Goofy. Sunami was screaming and Kori was scrambling over himself trying to help somebody, anybody, and not piss in his pants in the process.
The random people who had hurried to safe corners and into shops to hide and watch the fight with fascination winced as a roar rocked through the streets. There were two flashes – white and black – as a man in the black coat jumped at the muscular dark-haired man, two fascinating and coldly beautiful swords swinging in his hands. The dark-haired man brought out a weapon of his own, a staff. There was a violent clash, and then the silver-haired woman leaped in, strapping something onto her hand. Projectile weapons.
Street-side rivalry had turned into an all-out territorial war.
""
Paine raised an eyebrow with mild interest as she watched people run past the doors and windows in one general direction, shouting and shoving. Rikku was dozing over a game of solitaire at the table in the lobby, drool pooling on the cards, while Barret had gone to the back to supervise Brother and Buddy with their latest order. Shinra was reading a 'Famitsu' magazine that came to the motel every month but now he was staring at the crowd as well.
" Something's up," he said calmly.
" You think?" Paine snorted. " I wonder what's going on…"
" I don't like it," Shinra said decisively. " We should go check it out."
" Hubba…bubba…" Rikku muttered, her jaw moving up and down ungracefully.
" Oh my," both Paine and Shinra remarked.
""
Kairi barely breathed. Her lungs were on fire and yet she was forced to keep moving, keep dodging, as she and Adrian tried to bring down the sword-swinging blond gangster. He had his fists; she had her staff. He was already beaten badly and scorched besides, and she was, in other words, a woman. She had trained for so long and had believed she could do this but this was her first real test now. There was nobody at her back but an injured ally; she was the one who must decide the direction of the fight.
The train would be leaving in less than an hour! How can we end this AND get to the train in time?
She pushed her screaming limbs to the left, feeling the sword breeze past her shoulder by mere inches. Kairi stumbled but she quickly regained her step; signs of weakness would lead to defeat and that was not an option.
Auron was a tough taskmaster and she thanked him for it.
Quickly she brought up the staff with both hands and blocked a blow that would have made a wonderfully precise vertical cut right down the center of her. She stared at the owner of the heavy sword, straining to push off the weight and retaliate.
Things didn't look well when he applied more pressure and her arms began to bend, bringing the sharp, silver edge closer to her face. He leaned in, smiling with victory as she grit her teeth and tried to will herself to force him away.
" You know…it doesn't have to be this way."
She flushed angrily. " Don't even think about it!"
Stupid git…they're all idiots, saying the same line over and over again…like that guy back at school. Too bad Riku saw him.
" Who's going to stop me?" Seifer grinned as he leaned in even closer. " Give in now and I won't hurt you. But if you resist, I will take you by force."
Kairi cocked an eyebrow at him.
" You men are all so stupid."
Then Adrian's fist connected with the side of the man's head and he jerked back, off-balance by the blow. Kairi jumped back to her feet, winced as her legs began to cramp up, but swiftly brought her staff down on his head. Then she twisted to the side and jabbed at his side. Then Adrian input a high kick that left Seifer staggering. Adrian, dripping with blood and sweat, grinned, gave her a thumbs up, then fell over.
" Adrian!" Kairi yelled, rushing forward. She ducked under a Blizzaga and turned to watch it bounce off Goofy's shield. He and Zidane, who was hiding under the shield, had barely moved from their position; a Firaga roared over her head and exploded against the shield seconds later, providing her with the answer why. She ran to the prostrate body and tried to revive him.
" Adrian, c'mon Adrian, wake up now! Adrian, this is a bad time to faint; I haven't even a Potion on me and I don't have the energy to Cure you so wake up dammit, so I can move you elsewhere-"
A force tackled her and threw her to the ground. She gasped at the impact and for a moment she couldn't move. Her whole body was stunned, sure, but her mind was suddenly thrown into a hazy setting that she could barely remember.
She was breathing heavily, trying to make a sound but failing. Her whole body ached with the impact but she was breathing, she was feeling, she was seeing. For a moment she was hanging from the balcony, then she was falling. Her death had come, she thought, and it came at a time she thought she was going to die, with her love and her friendship falling apart all around her. Then the strange boy with the strangely familiar face had appeared and tackled her to the ground, changing her course and giving her another chance at life.
She could feel him resting on top of her, trying to catch his own breath as the world kept shifting in and out of focus. Then she felt him raise his body up but only as far as his arms would let him. Kairi looked up, into the blue eyes of the blond teenager who had suddenly become her savior. The eyes were entrancing, as beautiful as the sky on a clear, sunny day. There was something about his face that touched upon her deep inside; she knew she had seen this face before. But his blond hair…and the sadness locked deep in his features…
She raised a hand tentatively to his face, wondering if he was real.
" Who…who are you?"
Kairi gasped at the weight crushing her. She stared at the cold, cruel face and the black fire behind them.
That look…no, not again, not again!
She whimpered, tried to push him off, tried to twist away but he put his hand on her chin and forced her to face him. He studied her face for a few minutes, then smiled. She couldn't help but watch his long scar distort as he brought his face close to hers. Inwardly she cringed as she felt his hot breath smother her.
" War's upon us all, so we're in short supply of everything. We can only take what we can get when its there for us. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, don't you? I've seen you before; you're one of the people with the damn Key people. Bastards to me, the whole lot of them, but you're something else. Definitely worth something in this shitty life."
For one horrible second Kairi cursed her looks. Why was I born looking like this? I didn't ask for much but I didn't ask for this!
Then she froze, feeling his hands skim over her. He fondled her breasts, grasping them to the point she couldn't breathe from the pain. She grimaced, tried to fight back tears of humiliation as he slid his hands down her hips. Fear rocketed through her body wherever he left traces of his touch and she squirmed away. He grabbed her hips tightly, to the point he was bruising her, and Kairi whimpered with pain. Angry tears began to slide down her face as he slowly let go but continued down to her thighs. But as he slid his hands inward and up, something within Kairi snapped.
" DON'T TOUCH ME!"
''
Tetsu slammed the projectile back in the silver-haired girl's face as he finished the somersault over the muscular man's head. As he landed on his feet, a scream exploded.
" DON'T TOUCH ME!"
Tetsu staggered back, shocked by both the words and the source of the voice. The cry ripped through him, leaving him vulnerable and cold. He had heard that saying before, he was sure of it.
DON'T TOUCH ME!
That left time for the man and the woman to strike, and they rushed at him. That also allowed for the strange, curling dragon within him to reach out and seize control.
Oathkeeper and Oblivion flashing, Tetsu turned on the woman with impossible speed and tossed her to the side with a flick of his left wrist. His other hand quickly caught hold of the man's staff and wrenched it out of his grasp.
" Why you little-"
The staff dropped to the floor as the Oathkeeper and Oblivion made short work of his consciousness, leaving him to fall to the floor, bloodied but still breathing. Tetsu then searched for Kairi and the beast within him snarled with harsh fury.
Tetsu had gradually become aware of the attraction men felt towards Kairi – he preferred to remain mum concerning himself – but he didn't think it was possible for anyone to try and rape her in the middle of a fight.
This Seifer was just plain weird. And he was pissing Tetsu off, big time.
Following the desire of the beast within him, Tetsu ran at Seifer, who had a hand between her legs and the other over her mouth. She was shouting something but was muffled. Tetsu could see with shocking clarity the glistening tears on her face as he leaned over and began to whisper into her ear. The moment her eyes widened in terror, he let loose the Oathkeeper in a wildly-aimed Strike Raid. But somehow, he knew the raging beast within him was dead accurate and dead set on vengeance. A second after the sickening impact, Tetsu hoped he wasn't dead. But really, it didn't matter. He couldn't forgive Kairi for the harsh exchange the other day but it was the monster within him dictating his movements, not his own mind.
Kori finally found his voice and shouted, " Stop!" at the weird thing with the glowing eyes. Those eyes enlarged in shock but it was too late for this sad, little squashed fellow; it froze in that stance, finger pointing at Goofy's shield, its eyes huge with astonishment.
Tetsu ran to the body sprawled next to Kairi; she sat up and pulled herself away in horror as blood began to seep onto the sidewalk from Seifer's side. In one motion he yanked the Oathkeeper out of his body and pulled Kairi to her feet. She immediately dug her heels into the sidewalk and snapped, " Let me go! I'm fine!"
He didn't think so and he kept dragging her down the sidewalk, away from the grisly battle scene and the clock tower.
" I said let me go!"
" Shut up! Don't be such a bitch right now! We're outta here!"
" I can see that! Let me go!"
" Hey, wait up!" he heard Zidane shout and presently he could tell three pairs of feet were following them. This was time to speed up and he started running, pulling Kairi after him, even as she screamed at him and dug her heels into the ground. People on the street jumped out of the way as he headed for the train station, hoping nobody would stop them. He really wanted for them to get off Twilight Town like now.
And if anybody did try to stop them, Tetsu didn't think he'd hold back. Neither did the dragon.
""
King Mickey was incredibly bothered. Again.
He drank from his glass of cognac as he stared out the window of his study. The skies were streaked with twilight hues, bringing to his heart a painful, wistful tugging. In his mind he remembered an earlier time, when he stared out the very same window of the very same room, drinking from the same glass the same liquor, wondering what the future was going to be.
Back then, everything was out in the open, until it all narrowed down to a simple choice and test of will.
Now everything was beyond his control. King Mickey was weaponless, for one; all he had at his disposal was the Sword of Disney. The Golden Keyblade had long since gone –
" I know. And besides, I don't exactly have the Keyblade with me-"
" What do you mean, you don't have it with you?" Auron demanded.
" Ah, well, I let him borrow it…"
His hand tightened around the glass and the amber liquid trembled. King Mickey let loose a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
Ah, well, I let him borrow it…
Almost instantly, a stern, sorrowful face came to mind, then vanished instantly, leaving him struggling to snatch up the wisps of memory as it disappeared. But it was there, that face. Where did it come from?
Who-Lyath….
His eyes widened. The glass slipped and fell to the floor, shattering. The liquid splashed over his shoes and all over the rug and the wood paneling as glass shards scattered. He didn't move, though. His Majesty was trying to remember.
Where did this memory come from? How could I have forgotten this? How could I have forgotten him? Impossible…
As the face returned once again, this time with the colors and lines more bold with memory, he felt the lost links begin to surface from the darkness of his subconscious. A gap he didn't know existed before the two empty years began to form as the links came faster, connecting to the greater chain of King Mickey's memories.
Suddenly, the world didn't seem that simple anymore. The ones who had gone out into the Universe to find Sora had someone else to look for, too, the only person who could make Sora complete again, and the opening of the Door possible.
Roxas…
Author's Endnote: Holy moly, this thing is friggin' long! 0.0 I hope that's something for you people who have been waiting for ages for this chapter to come out. Happy New Year, everybody! Three months to Kingdom Hearts 2, celebrate! Please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story, especially after the long absence. And do check up on my Bio page for occasional updates, thanks.