Okay here's chapter 14 Nightmare on Merlin's street (get the pun? -btw i thought that film was awful)...i know i said it might be a while but you see i just couldn't stop myself from writing, i love it too much :D - i think was just being a little melodramatic (in other words, i was in a bad mood cos of all the homework) but now we're back to school -and yes i am going to say this- i'm glad we're back.
Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts, if i did i would have released RE: Chain of Memories and Final Mix in Britain already...
In this chapter i've tried action...and believe me i don't think i'm very good at it so the fighting isn't graphic
Review Responses
NOTE TO ALL - I VOW TO NOT RANT ABOUT HOMEWORK :P
RikuLover211 - Thank you for your review!! I'm glad you like the blue kitten :D Little bit of comic relief cos things are going to get a bit more serious now with revelations (in chapter 15 which i've nearly finished). But i don't know how much Yen Sid and co. are going to be in it, i haven't decided whether to get them out or not yet...
Luvablenerd - Thank you for both of your reviews xx I don't mind, i'm happy enough knowing you like my story to take time to review it and that you want to carry on reading so thank you!! In response to the second review, i'm glad the faries turned out well :D and i'm really happy that you would wait three years but i will never take that long, it really annoys me when people don't update for months and i don't want to do it to you guys
Rose93darkness - who else would it be...when i wrote this i was suddenly reminded of the film and how they turned the arrows into flowers, rocks into bubbles etc and as for the not typing anymore, i already said i can't keep away from this story so no need to be sad
Blackrogue123 - meh, i see it as being great minds think alike :D Besides, there are thousands (like 32,000 to be more precise) of kh fictions so there are bound to be similar ideas out there. I'm happy you found the duel funny (i loved that joke out of LOJS) and no, the homework will never keep me down!! NEVER!! she says screaming into the distance :P
Chapter 14: Nightmare on Merlin's street
The remainder of the party's journey back to Radiant Garden was pretty uneventful, Sora had brightened up a bit after some encouraging words from his friends and was now thinking, Xenia's right; the chances of them getting the machine to work are slim, like she said the heart's too unpredictable. Besides, the others are here with me, its not like I'm on my own. He was still sitting sideways in the pilot's chair but now in more of a lazy manner than a glum one. Donald and Goofy were sitting behind him in their usual chairs, Donald rested his head in on hand whilst tapping the fingers of his other hand impatiently against the armrest of the chair, waiting to get back to Radiant Garden. Kairi was filling Xenia in on all of their previous adventures, much to the dislike of Riku who was staring at the two, angry that Kairi was so openly telling her about everything that had happened to the three friends. Mickey was pacing back and forth in between Xenia, Kairi and Riku, obviously in deep though with his hand holding his chin, staring intently at the floor. Sora suddenly sat upright at what he had seen on the screen in front of him, swinging his legs around so he was sitting in the chair normally.
"We're here!" He shouted to everyone cheerfully as the market place came into view. Donald brightened up immediately.
"Finally, that was the most boring journey I've ever been on."
"We didn't even get attacked by them heartless guys or nobodies." Goofy said cheerfully. But as soon as he said this there was the sound of an explosion as something hit the ship.
"Ah, there you are old irony." Sora said grabbing hold of the ship's controls and taking it off auto pilot. Donald turned and scowled fiercely at Goofy.
"You just had to jinx it didn't y-" but Donald was cut off when another explosion shook the ship violently sending everyone flying except Donald and Goofy who were strapped in. Sora was thrown forwards at hit his head hard on the control panel in front of him, when he sat up he was seeing spots and a wave of dizziness hit him.
"Oww, that really hurt." He mumbled, rubbing his head with one hand and taking the controls with the other. "Alright who's not dead?" The groans that followed coming from the rest of the ship reassured Sora that everyone was okay, Mickey was rubbing his nose where he had fallen flat on his face and Riku had also been thrown forwards and had crashed into the girls.
"Riku, you mind getting off us?" Kairi asked irritably, Xenia was already shoving him off and trying to stand up. Riku got up holding his side where he had whacked into Kairi's legs.
"Oww, Kairi you're so bony." She shot an angry glance at Riku.
"Oh yeah real smooth Bangs." Xenia muttered wiping a stray hair out of her face. Sora, who had regained himself a little by this time, chuckled but regained his seriousness when Mickey marched up to the pilot's chair.
"What hit us?"
"I'm not sure but it looks like it was coming from here." Sora answered as he landed the ship quickly in the market place before something else had a chance to hit them. The party rushed out of the gummi ship to see a full blown battle taking place, there were heartless left, right and centre. Sora, Riku, Mickey and Kairi summoned their keyblades, Donald got out his staff, Goofy his shield, leaving Xenia feeling a little helpless and standing awkwardly as the others got into a battle stance. Sora spotted Leon nearby and ran up to him, slashing through heartless as he did.
"What happened?"
"I don't know, they just sprung up out of nowhere…and now they're everywhere." Leon answered panting slightly as more heartless came in to attack. As soon as they got a break, Sora turned to Leon again.
"Where are the others?"
"Yuffie is in the Bailey, Cloud is in the Great Maw, Merlin, Aerith and Cid are in the Borough trying to get the defence systems online. They just shut down and all then all of the heartless came."
"Wahoo! The cavalry is here!" Shouted the small blonde-haired fairy as she floated over to the group with her two friends. Leon wasted no time using the newly arrived group of keyblade wielders to his advantage.
"Your Majesty, Donald and Goofy, go and help Yuffie." He shouted, Mickey nodded swiftly and ran off towards the Bailey followed by the court wizard and the royal captain.
"I think I can help with those defence systems but I don't know where the Borough is." Xenia shouted, Leon looked at her with a confused look but thought better of challenging her since they were in the middle of a battle and after all they did need help.
"Someone take her to the Borough!"
"I'll go!" Kairi shouted before grabbing Xenia's arm with one hand, tightly gripping Flowers of Hope in the other and running off towards Merlin's house where Cid's computer was. Meanwhile Rikku had gone back to Yuna and Paine and they were now taunting a heartless, making it move towards the edge of the wall before pushing it off the edge, high-fiving afterwards with a triumphant 'yeah!' before more heartless came in to attack. Riku had just finished off a bunch of soldier heartless; he was growing tired at the number of heartless that kept coming. He regained himself and turned to Leon who he was standing next to.
"I'm gonna go help Sora."
"Looks like he's doing just fine to me." Riku looked to where Leon was looking and his jaw dropped when he saw Sora slicing through countless heartless with Oblivion as if they were made of air. He pulled off complex attacks that Riku didn't even know he could do, jumping, dodging and slashing so quickly his movements were almost a blur. Of course if Sora was close enough Riku would be able to see that he was smiling at the pain he was inflicting upon the heartless and his eyes were black. He stood staring until a heartless jumped on him, claws scraping down his cutting through his clothes and leaving gashes, blood slowly tricking down his back. Leon shot the heartless with his gunblade. "Stop staring and fight!" Riku quickly shook his head and began to attack the heartless again, wincing as the gashes stung as he moved. After about ten minutes of intense fighting, Riku and Leon were worn out and covered in scratches but still the heartless continued to come, Sora on the other hand was still fighting as if he had an unlimited supply of energy, hacking away at them with unknown strength and obliterating the heartless who attacked him relentlessly.
Kairi and Xenia ran through the Borough, Kairi swiping away at any heartless who got in their path with a quick movement of her keyblade.
"So this is like normal for you guys?"
"Unfortunately yes." Kairi answered with a smile. The rounded the corner to see Merlin putting up a good right, sending various magic spells at the heartless, trying to keep them away from his house and Cid's computer.
"Girls, oh thank heavens you're here!" Kairi let go of Xenia and proceeded to kill the heartless surrounding his house, when they got a moments peace from the fighting, Kairi spoke.
"Merlin, this is Xenia, she's going to help Cid get the defences back online."
"Right, okay, they're inside." He said before aiming his hand at the door, only then did Kairi realise that the door had been glowing faintly; Merlin noticed her staring at the door. "It's just a spell to keep the heartless out; they already stole the Winnie the Pooh book, I'm not letting them get anywhere near that computer." The door stopped glowing and Kairi and Xenia rushed inside, Cid typing away at the computer and Aerith standing next to him. The both turned around when they heard the door open.
"I'm here to help with the defence systems." Xenia said confidently before going towards the computer and looking at the screen.
"I've tried everything, there's something blocking us." Cid said lifting his fingers off the keyboard and shaking his head.
"Hang on, I know that code." She said looking at the symbols on the screen before turning to Kairi with a grim look on her face. "It's one that Nexus and Xenithan like to use, because it's so hard to hack through."
"You mean they're here?" Kairi's face and tone soon turned to that of worry.
"It's possible; they might try and get Sora again, what with everyone distracted by the fighting."
"I'm gonna go warn them." She said before summoning her keyblade once more and running back out of the house.
"So can you hack this thing?" Cid asked Xenia.
"I said it was hard, but I didn't say it was impossible." She said gesturing Cid to move out of the way so she could sit down and then proceeded to type very quickly. After a few moments she frowned, this thing really is hard to crack, she thought staring at the enigma in front of her. It was about ten minutes of furious typing later that the code that was blocking them from the system disappeared off the screen and returned to its usual look, they all sighed in relief when a green message came on the screen telling them that the defence systems were back online and working to full power.
"Dang, you're good girl!" Cid said cheerfully slapping his hand on Xenia's shoulder making her wince slightly from the force, she smiled at the other two before it faded from her face.
"That's why they picked me." She mumbled so Aerith and Cid couldn't here. Back outside Kairi was busy helping Merlin, crying out in frustration as the heartless kept coming, blocking the way back to the market place.
"I really need to warn them." She said before memories from The World That Never Was flashed inside her head, showing her how ruthless the Organisation could be. With renewed strength, Kairi attacked with more ferociousness than before.
Back in the market place, Riku cried out triumphantly and punched the air as the defence systems were activated, sending heartless flying into the air, their numbers were finally going down. He silently thanked Xenia although he still didn't trust her, last time I trusted a stranger it didn't end so well, he thought wincing at the memory of believing Maleficent and fighting his best friend. Sora however didn't react to the sudden appearance of the Radiant Garden defence systems; he just carried on killing, caught up in the intensity of the battle, smile never leaving his face. This power, where did it come from? He looked down at Oblivion for a moment before smirking, it feels amazing. He gripped Oblivion tighter, adrenaline coursing through him as he prepared fro another attack but he could tell that he was getting tired, fighting at this kind of level for that amount of time was taking its toll on Sora as his attacks began to get slower. As though in reaction to what he just realised, Sora began to feel the exhaustion catch up with him. Suddenly he saw something flash out of the corner of his eye, he turned, bringing Oblivion up for an attack but whatever it was he had just seen grabbed him around the throat and lifted him off the ground so he was slowly being strangled so quickly he didn't even have time to register what was happening. Dread sank its way into Sora's heart as he finally recognised the silver hair and the cold blue-grey eyes. Nexus smiled as he dropped Oblivion and struggled against her grip, clawing at the hand around his throat but to no avail, she was strong and he was exhausted.
"We meet again, keyblade master." She said before staring him right in the eyes, no matter how hard he tried, Sora couldn't look away from those eyes that felt like they were piercing him like daggers.
"What are you doing?" He managed to choke out. Nexus seemed to avert her eyes for a moment giving Sora a small relief but when she faced him again there was even more coldness in her stare, she chuckled.
"If looks could kill…" He was growing dizzy and his vision was becoming blurry, someone was calling his name but it sounded distant. Anyone else would have said that it was the death grip she had around his throat that was causing Sora to feel like this as his lungs were slowly being deprived of oxygen but Sora knew that it was her cold glare that were sending him into the darkness. The last thing he heard was Nexus speaking to him softly, "See you in your dreams," then there was a loud scream before he fell into unconsciousness.
Kairi ran into the market place and saw someone dressed like the Organisation holding him up.
"Sora!" She shouted running towards them but he didn't seem to notice her, Riku and Leon hadn't seen either, they were too busy fighting of the remaining heartless who numbers were now dwindling. Kairi gripped her keyblade before shouting a kind of battle cry and sinking it deep into Nexus' back. She screamed and let go of Sora who immediately fell to the floor eyes closed and unmoving. Nexus fell forward onto her knees breathing heavily but after a few seconds it turned to laughter. She put a hand behind her back and ripped out Flowers of Hope. Still holding the keyblade, Nexus stood up and looked at a very confused and shocked Kairi.
"Do you really think I can be beaten by a mere princess of heart?" Nexus laughed once more and disappeared into black smoke, a gentle wind blowing it away. Kairi was too shocked at the moment to notice that some of the smoke gathered around Sora and he breathed it in. She looked at Flowers of Hope; there wasn't even any blood on it. "Who is she? What is she?" Kairi said in barely more than a whisper. She hadn't noticed that as soon as Nexus had disappeared all the heartless disappeared as well, fading back into darkness from whence they came. It was when Riku called and ran over to the two when Kairi was brought out of her thoughts and she realised Sora was on the ground unconscious. She immediately dismissed Flowers of Hope and knelt down next to him.
"Sora?" Kairi was filled with worry and her heart rate quickened when there was no response. She quickly checked for a pulse and relief washed over her when she found one but that didn't stop tears forming in her eyes.
"What happened?"
"I don't know," her voice was cracking, "The Organisation, that's what happened!" She said bitterly. "I thought he was dead." She shivered at the thought and a tear slid down her cheek which Riku noticed.
"Come on, we've had worse than just being knocked out. He may just be exhausted; you should have seen him fighting back there, I swear if he was going any faster he would have gone into warp drive." Riku knelt down next to Sora and picked him up so he was hanging limply in his arms, Kairi standing with them worry still etched on her face. "We should take him back to Merlin's house." Riku said before walking towards the Borough.
"Where did Leon go? And those other fairies?" Riku said stopping in his tracks, noticing that they had just seemingly vanished into thin air.
"I don't know but we can think about that later, we need to get Sora help."
"Right." He said before carrying on walking. Kairi summoned Flowers of Hope again in case they were attacked before they made it to Merlin's house but nothing was there, no familiar shadows bursting out of the ground meeting them with razor sharp claws, they all vanished with Nexus. When they reached Merlin's house, Donald, Goofy and Mickey were waiting outside, faces turning from happy that the fight was over to shock at seeing Sora hanging there lifelessly.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy shouted in unison running up to the three who had just come into sight. Donald took out his staff.
"Curaga!" The familiar green glow erupted from the duck's staff, circling it in leaves and flowers before heading towards Sora. Moments later the glow faded but Sora still lay unconscious; Donald looked puzzled for a moment before trying again but with the same result.
"Aerith may know what to do." Mickey said before opening the door and leading them inside the house where Cid, Merlin, Aerith and Xenia were. Riku walked over the bed and almost dumped Sora on it earning him a sharp glance from Kairi.
"What happened?" Xenia asked with concern on her face.
"It was one of your Organisation friends." Riku snapped, only when he realised that it was Xenia who just asked the question.
"They are not my friends for the last time, how long is that going to take to get past that mop you call hair and into your head?"
"Why you –"
"Hey will you two just shut it for once!" Kairi looked at them before turning her attention back to Sora whose breathing came out in quick, shallow rasps and sweat was forming on his forehead. This time she spoke more quietly. "Oh Sora, what's happening in there?" Meanwhile Aerith had gone off in search of a potion.
"Was it Nexus?" Xenia suddenly spoke up from where she had gone into a guilty silence after being shouted at by Kairi.
"What? Is that who that was?" Kairi said looking away from Sora's unconscious form Xenia.
"Silver, shoulder-length hair?" Kairi nodded. "What was happening when you found them?" It was a memory Kairi didn't want to think about, the woman's evil glare, Sora slowly suffocating, eyes slipping shut.
"She was strangling him, smiling."
"I don't think that's what caused it." Before Xenia could say anything else Aerith had come over to where Sora was lying on the bed holding a small vial of potion. She took the stopper out of the vial and poured the contents into his mouth, massaging his throat so he would swallow the liquid. Sora coughed as the potion went down filling his body with warmth and energy, Kairi's face brightened for a moment then fell again when Sora failed to come around.
"I don't understand, that should have worked." Aerith said in her usual soft voice apart from this time it was filled with concern.
"It's Nexus." Xenia spoke up again. Everyone else in the room looked confused so she explained. "Only Nexus could have put him in this state, she has this power…I don't know how to describe it…it's her eyes. There's a dark power that she can use at her command, it makes the victim feel dizzy at first, then they can fall into unconsciousness like Sora has. Believe me if she was channelling enough rage and power she could easily kill, she just needs to hold the victim's gaze." Kairi winced at Xenia referring to Sora as a victim.
"Why didn't Aerith's potion or Curaga work if he's just unconscious?" Riku asked from behind where everyone else was standing, listening to what Xenia had to say about this intriguing mysterious dark gaze.
"It's different; Nexus could be in his mind right now."
"So how does he wake up?"
"When she decides to leave, or at least when she grows tired of constantly channelling the power." Xenia almost whispered, voice full of concern for the teenager. She expected silence to follow but apparently Riku wasn't done with his questioning.
"How long before Sora wakes up?"
"If she's in his head, not long, but longer if she's not." Silence again for a moment.
"So how come she didn't do this before, wouldn't that have been easier for them?"
"I guess she wasn't done with the whole darkness thing."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I thought Xenithan told you or he must at least hinted at it."
"The darkness suits him well." Kairi murmured, remembering Xenithan's words.
"Exactly but I don't know why they want his darkness to grow, it would just make Sora more powerful and harder to control."
"So that's why he was fighting like that."
"Pardon?" Mickey looked upwards to Riku.
"Before during the battle Sora was using attacks I've never seen before, hell, some of them looked physically impossible!" Mickey sighed and frowned.
"As the darkness grows, so does his power." There was a moment's silence before Riku carried on with his questioning.
"Why don't they just come get him now while he's in this state?" Xenia sighed.
"You just don't give up do ya Bangs." But before Riku could object to her new found nickname for him she continued talking.
"She's not stupid you know. She and Xenithan are outnumbered here and in this state Nexus has to focus all her concentration on Sora and that weakens her, I doubt she would want to take on all of us."
"What about Xenithan? And all the heartless? They outnumber us."
"Well you've just proven to me that you can all fight a bunch of heartless, and I doubt she trusts Xenithan to take care of things after the escape."
"Speaking of everyone else, where are they?" Cid called over from where he was sitting at the keyboard but with his back turned towards the computer. True, looking around, Leon, Yuffie, the three fairies, Cloud and Tifa weren't in the room.
"They're probably checking around for any heartless, better to be safe than sorry." Merlin said causing Kairi to look up at him suddenly as a thought came into her mind.
"Merlin, where did Yen Sid and the three good fairies go?" At her words his usually friendly expression turned into a scowl.
"That old fart left right after you did, probably couldn't stand the humiliation."
"I seem to recall us lot having to stop you from turning this place into a war zone and Yen Sid left saying he'd come back when we needed him." Cid said with a smirk on his face.
"Yes, well…" Merlin trailed off then continued. "Shouldn't he be here now you're back?" But unlike before, Yen Sid or the three good fairies didn't pop into existence. "Hmm, guess I'll have to get him myself, be back in a jiffy!" Merlin called cheerfully before waving his hands and disappearing on the spot. Kairi looked back at Sora whose breathing had returned to normal but he still appeared to be shivering slightly. She placed a hand on his forehead which was surprisingly cold, almost icy to the touch. Kairi closed her eyes, you better get out of his head now, Sora, please wake up she thought to herself but knowing it was hopeless, she would have to wait like Xenia said, Nexus wouldn't be able to keep him like this for long. A few moments later Merlin materialised back into the room with a frown on his face.
"I'm afraid it's not good."
Next chapter is about what happened to Sora and revelations about the machine
Yeah i really haven't decided whether to bring Yen Sid back or not so i'm leaving it in your hands...bring Yen Sid, fairies and blue kitten back to have more of a role in the story than just from behind a force field...yay? or nay?
and i know ducks don't have fingers or hands for that matter...but hell, this is a cartoon duck we're talking about!!
NOTE - I was reading a really good fanfiction -and when i say good i mean staying up till about two in the morning to read it good- and then it just cuts off, and that really pissed me off so i decided i will not ever discontinue this story :D - even the forces of evil (homework and angry teachers) cannot stop me!! evil laugh
For all those following this story who have yet to review - Please, i would really appreciate it if you just took a moment to look down...see that little blue box with submit review written next to it? CLICK ON IT AND REVIEW ALREADY!! - i've allowed anonymous reviews as well so there's nothing holding ya back.