Chapter 21: Bloodlines
"Ansem is back...and it's my fault..."
A long silence followed, making any movement echo through the Council Room. Sora leaned back in his chair so that it was balancing on the back legs.
"Well, the way I see it, Dax was living for Ansem, so no matter how he died, he would have died for Ansem." He answered. Jade nodded.
"At least this way we could have figured it out and now we know what's coming."
"Yah! Thanks to you, Ansem doesn't have the element of surprise anymore! Good job Skye!" Gaden said, clapping his hands. Riku was wearing an enormous grin.
"See, you've got nothing to worry about." He paused, glancing at the legs of Sora's chair. "Sora, on the other hand..." he said slowly. Sora blinked at him, confused. Riku let out a chuckle and kicked one of the chair legs. Sora let out a yelp, doing a complete 360 and falling flat on his back on the floor.
"Ow. Riku, you're mean." He announced as he got a hand up from Kairi. Skye crossed her arms, looking incredulous.
"I don't believe it..." She said quietly, shaking her head. "After what I did... you're thanking me?"
"After what you did? Skye, you gave us warning that Ansem was coming. Duh, of course we're thanking you." Sora answered. Gaden stood up.
"I wanna go to the village!" He announced.
"Right now?" Jade asked tiredly. Gaden nodded.
"Right now. I wanna go help the people some more!" He explained. Gaden had gone down to the village the day before and spoke with the mourners, acting as a medium between them and their loved ones.
"We need to talk about what we're going to do to prepare for Ansem's attack though." Lodi said. Kairi shrugged.
"I'll go with him then. Sora and Riku know plenty about Ansem. There's nothing I know that they don't, and the rest of you know more about the planet than I do, so I won't be of any particular help here. I can take Gaden to the village, and Sora can let me know what you guys decided with I get back, okay?" She offered. Jade smiled.
"You're wonderfully sweet to offer. Thanks very much. Have a nice time!" She called, waving as Kairi and Gaden left.
It was still early in the morning, but there were already many people wandering through the ruins, some mourners, but the majority workers who were preparing the land to being construction of the new town. Gaden spoke with each of the mourners, and Kairi just watched quietly, awed by the scene. Each and every person he spoke to seemed to be more at peace after they talked with him. Often, he would let the spirits speak through him, allowing the dead to possess his body for a short while so that they could speak to their still living loved ones. Kairi was surprised at how fearlessly he did so; it had to take courage to allow possession like that. Time passed quickly, and Sora joined them shortly after, as did Jade. At one point, Gaden wandered over to Kairi and looked up at her, though his eyes seemed out of focus, as if he were looking through her.
"Are you Kairi?" He asked. She nodded slowly.
"Of course..."
"Then you're close to Skye and Riku?" He pressed. Kairi nodded again, confused by the line of questions.
"Well yes, but why are you asking...?" She would have thought that he might have guessed that they were friends given how they acted together.
"Tell them that I'm sorry..." He murmured, looking down. Kairi opened her mouth to speak, but Gaden continued, looking suddenly up again. "I hope they can understand that I didn't mean it... Riku knows what it's like to be consumed by the darkness. Tell them that I wish them all the best, and I always did, no matter how I acted. Just make sure that Skye knows that I'm sorry. It'll mean a lot to her." He said quickly. Kairi stared at him, unable to find the right words for a long moment.
"But...why?" She asked, totally lost.
"Oh, by the way, my name's Torne, but the people around here call me Ace." And with that, Gaden went limp for a split second, stumbling forward and giving his head a quick shake. He shivered and then shrugged. "The dead are weird." He announced. Kairi blinked at him, deciding that anyone who made a statement like that was the weird one. Then, a new thought occurred to her.
"Gaden? Do you know of any refugees in the Rebel City named Kayla or Annika?"
"Sure, there's a girl named Annika in the infirmaries. I don't know of any Kayla though."
"Well, does Annika have any sisters?"
"She has a twin that visits her every day. Is that Kayla?"
"Probably."
"How do you know them?" Gaden asked as they wandered along the rubble-strewn beach. Kairi thought back to the woman in the house, and even just the thought brought tears to her eyes.
"I don't really want to talk about it." She admitted quietly. Gaden nodded with understanding. Kairi watched the waves crawl in and out along the beach, thinking. Her eyes followed the retreating water, and waited for it to return as it always does... but it kept going. The foamy shore continued to retreat, revealing sea bottom that had never before been exposed. She raised her eyes, concerned, and saw a twisting column of water reaching up towards the sky. Those other people on the beach had stopped to stare. Kairi barely registered that she heard Sora's voice behind her.
"Hey Kairi!" He stopped next to her, his eyes on the column, the same look of shock and confusion on his face that was on hers. "What's that...?" As he spoke, the column exploded, soaking everyone on the beach and breaking the trance that Kairi was in. She grabbed Gaden by the arm and pulled him behind her as Sora shouted for everyone to get back. An enormous, grotesque looking heartless shaped like a giant squid had emerged from within the now dissipated column of water. It swooped down, floating inches off the ground in front of Sora, Kairi and Gaden.
"Ha. Just who I was looking for." It said in a grating voice. Sora blinked, taken aback. Heartless don't talk.
"What do you want?" He asked in reply, his voice shaking a little. He wasn't so accustomed to holding a conversation with Heartless.
"You, the Master of the Keyblade. And her, your little Princess of Heart." It replied, pointing one tentacle at Kairi. "But most of all, I want you..." It said, speaking now to Gaden as it flicked out another tentacle, catching the young boy around the waist and lifting him above the ground, even as Kairi reached out to save him. "I want you and your half-sister. Your father would find the two of you most...useful." It said, letting out a cruel laugh that made Sora's skin crawl. Within seconds, a rope of flames whipped through the air, cutting clean through the tentacle holding Gaden up. He let out a cry as he fell, and both Kairi and Sora ran to catch him, though both knew that they were too far from him to make it in time. Instead, another massive fire burst into life below him and he fell into it.
"Gaden!" Kairi shouted, terrified at what might have happened to him. The fire disappeared, leaving Skye and Riku standing a distance in front of Sora and Kairi, close to the shore. Riku had his blade in one hand, and was putting Gaden down with the other, apparently having been the one who caught him. Skye had two rapiers in either hand.
"Perfect." The Heartless crackled. "All I have to do is ask and you just show up. And you brought the traitor with you." It stated, aiming its last comment at Riku, who in turn let out a growl. He lifted his hand, and a ball of shadow enveloped his hand. He flung it at the Heartless, and the tentacle that was hit went limp. "You see Riku? All I do is get you the slightest bit angry and you turn to darkness."
"Well you know what they say, fight fire with fire." He answered bluntly, sending another orb of darkness at it. This time, the Heartless was hit in the body, causing its whole being to tremble.
"I don't need to deal with this abuse. All Master wanted was to know where you were. And that you're together just makes it all the easier." At that, it dropped down into the water with a splash, disappearing in the depths. Skye looked worriedly at Riku.
"What was that?" She asked quietly.
"I don't know." He answered, staring at the now calm waters.
"No, I mean what you did. What was that?"
"Oh. Maybe I shouldn't have done it. I just thought... since he called me a traitor, I felt like I could use the power I used to have without succumbing to it... I shouldn't have. I never have before, I don't know why I did it now."
"It was tempting you to go back to the darkness. Even its presence was hard on you. It was a powerful Heartless, and it being here had an effect on you." Sora answered matter-of-factly.
"Then why isn't Skye affected by fire?" Riku asked, frustratedly.
"I am." She admitted. "I hear voices from the fire, and stronger than anyone else does. Most of the time I spent at the Shrine, I spent learning how to ignore them. They were what caused me to remember when I did." She offered him a smile. "But that doesn't change the fact that I still use my fire. If you learn to control you power... I don't see why you can't use them. We just have to be really careful, since darkness is so dangerous."
"Then it's settled. We fight water with fire and Heartless with their own shadow." Riku said, feeling more confident than before. Sora then took the chance to pipe up.
"Um, did that thing say that Gaden was it's Master's son?" He asked, looking warily at Gaden. Skye nodded.
"Gaden and I are Ansem's two surviving children. I killed Dax, my brother, and Dax killed Daisy, Gaden's sister, during the tidal wave."
"Ansem...had kids?" Kairi asked, gaping at them.
"That means you're looking at the royal heirs to the throne in Hollow Bastion." Riku stated, only making that connection for the first time himself.
"The royal Shadow Bloodline." Skye said, liking the sound of it.
"My shadow princess." Riku murmured, slipping one arm loosely around her waist and pulling her to him, kissing her lingeringly. Sora blinked in mild surprise.
"I'm still not used to seeing that."
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Sorry the end sucks ; I was having issues... anyways, review plz!