Suspicions of the Heart
At Merlin's house, everyone was recuperating from the injuries, both emotional and
physical that had been received in battle that day. Leon lay on the bed, his face swathed in bandages. Yuffie and Aerith sat next to him, telling him of what had happened in town after he had passed out. Cloud sat expressionlessly as Aerith bandaged his many wounds from Zexion.
"This…I can't allow this loss to stand" said Cloud as he thought of the silver haired Nobody. Aerith slapped him lightly on the back of the head.
"Cloud, please! Don't tell me you've found another Sephiroth! We're all going to stay here for now, until Sora gets back."
"I hope he gets back soon" said Goofy. Donald had gone out looking for Sora. Kairi sat on the table, looking at magazines, her right arm, her side, and left wrist bandaged where she had been slashed by Nexumair's swords. The King had also been treated by Aerith and was lying on another bed, asleep. Merlin sighed. "Yes, I hope he gets back as well…Your Majesty, I am very sorry. That Tine would do this…I'm sorry and I..."
King Mickey shook his head sleepily. "The fault lies partly with me. I said some very hurtful things to her. And she still saved us…" He fell back to sleep.
"Yeah" said Yuffie. "The nerve of that Organization XIII! To attack us on our own property like that!" she shook her head. "Don't worry Nexumair's going patrol even harder to look for those Nobodies."
"Nexumair?!" gasped Kairi.
"Maht's bwrong? (what's wrong?)" asked Leon through his bandages. Aerith shushed him and pushed him back down in bed.
"I think Nexumair may be one of them" said Kairi.
"That's stupid" said Yuffie. "What are you thinking, Kai?"
"Listen to me!" Kairi yelled. She pointed to the bandages on her wounds. "He attacked King Mickey, and did this to me. He and Demyx had us cornered. Tine saved us from him!"
"How is such a thing possible?" said Merlin. "Nexumair Nevy, a Nobody? But that cannot be! He comes from another world, true but so do most of us!"
"Yes, but most of us don't order the massacre of hundreds of men women and children" said Kairi. "Don't you all think it's odd that he did that? Okay, Xavier's' Flyers were a bad gang and they did terrible stuff…"
"Yes!" said Yuffie. "We wanted to bring them all to justice and make them pay foe what they did. We wanted Xavier himself and his top men to admit what they did. Nexumair himself said so."
"Then why did he kill them all?" Kairi asked.
There was an uncomfortable silence. "I still don't believe that" said Aerith. "Nexumair is a wonderful boy. He's always so nice and…kind. Nobodies lack emotion."
"Yes, but they can pretend it quite well" said Merlin. "Remember, Aerith, the members of Organization XIII remember what it was like to have hearts. They can mimic it very effectively."
"Tine was created my Maleficent, right?" said Kairi. Everyone nodded. "So here's what I think" she said. "I think that Xavier captured Tine because he was working for Maleficent. But Organization XIII wants her too. Maybe they instructed Nexumair to kill all the people there…so that anyone who was in contact with Xavier and the secret about Tine died there too!"
"What you're suggesting…do you realize the seriousness of what you are saying, girl?" asked Cloud. "If you accuse Nexumair of this officially, then you must have proof."
Kairi waved her bandaged wrist in the former SOLDIER's face. "This is my proof! When King Mickey and I tell the people what happened, they'll believe us! And Tine will tell them too!"
Cloud put his hand over his face. "Girl, if this Tine is the monster that I've heard about, the one who ravaged the town once, and then attacked the people of the Marketplace…then I think you will have a very hard time backing up your story. Better stick to the King."
"Another problem faces us, if we are to believe this is true" said Merlin. "Nexumair is very well loved by the people of Radiant Garden. And why shouldn't he be? He has kept them safe from the worst bandits and criminals we've seen. His skills are…" the wizard trailed off.
"What is it, Merlin?" asked Aerith.
"I just thought of something. Nexumair's powers…they are far too developed for such a young boy. It is as if he's had years of training…practicing all his life. Where did he say he was from again?"
"He didn't say" said Yuffie. "He just said he's from 'another world'. He doesn't even remember how he got here."
Merlin shook his head. "That is more evidence in the Nobody slot. But, what I was going to say is that he is well loved by the people. Tine…she killed a defenseless old man and…" he stopped again.
"Whab ist ib bhis bime? (what is it this time?)" asked Leon.
"Mr. Herman Doyle…Tine killed him with a piece of glass to the throat…and he died…but his body was not found by those who cleaned the Marketplace after the rampage!"
"What are you saying?" asked Kari.
Merlin took out his teapot and put it on the stove. Soon steam was coming out of it in little puffs. "I'm saying that I don't like this. It feels too much like an elaborate setup. Tine becomes enraged and attacks people. People run away and Tine runs away to an isolated section of town…and is snatched by the Organization! Nexumair makes sure this happens by telling the Knights not to come out, and people to stay inside their homes. That way, no one sees the kidnapping. Say however that this is interrupted by the arrival of King Mickey. He attacks Tine and they fight…King Mickey is attacked by Nexumair somewhere along the way so that he does not interfere with the plan. And you say that you rescued him? We shall have to wait for him to wake up to hear the rest of the story."
"I don't believe this" said Yuffie. "I just don't believe we're even talking about this!" there was a sudden knocking on the door and everyone readied their weapons.
"Come in!" called Merlin. "It's not locked or warded!"
"Here we are!" said Donald. He was standing in front of Tine. The red haired girl was standing next to Riku, and on Riku's back was…
Sora!" everyone cried. The Keyblade Master appeared to be on the edge of sleeping. He was terribly blue and there were dark circles under his eyes. His clothes were soaking wet. So were Tine's. Riku Tine, and Sora looked terribly tired, Sora and Tine most of all.
"Sora, you're safe! It's good to see you again" said Goofy. He helped his friend off Riku's back.
"N-nice to see you again, too" said Sora. "Now could someone lead me to the nearest bed?"
Goofy helped him into the back room to sleep.
"Nice to see you again. Riku, I thank you for carrying Sora all this way. Perhaps now that's you are all here, we can finally clear up something that we've been talking about." said Merlin to Riku and Tine. As soon as his eye fell on Tine, Leon began ranting from the bed.
"Hat wbon! I'b bonna hill er! (that woman! I'm gonna kill her!)"
"Shut up Squall!" Yuffie said, putting a pillow over his head.
"Well, this is where I go" said Tine. She went to open a Dark Corridor, but Riku grabbed her hand.
"Stay, please?" he asked. Tine sighed, and sat on a mound of books.
"Thank you" said Merlin. "Tine, I want to know what you and Sora did to get yourselves so beaten up."
Tine explained about how she and Sora had been attacked by an Organization member who used water. Then she explained how she had killed him as an example to the others.
"Wait a minute!" said Sora, coming in from the back room. "There was something else that happened too. Demyx said that Tine can control the darkness because she has a million hearts inside her!"
Tine gave Sora a glare that promised painful death later. "Well, sorry" said Sora, leaning on Fenrir. "I had to tell them."
"He's right" said Aerith. She frowned at Tine. "As the Guild Leaders we have a right to know why Organization XIII sees fit to attack our town, putting our people in danger." Yuffie nodded fiercely in agreement.
"So they say you are a walking Kingdom Hearts" said Merlin. He stroked his long beard in thought. "I have never heard of such a thing…could it be possible?" he appeared to be talking to himself, and he made wild hand gestures. "Yes, yes I suppose so! By the laws of magic, I should be so! After all, it is nothing more than an agglomeration of hearts, is it not?!" he looked at Tine with amazement. "You, my girl, may be Kingdom Hearts!"
"I am?" Tine asked. "You're crazy, old man. I'm out of here" she said.
"Sit down" said Merlin, steel in his voice. He walked over to another pile of books and began to rummage around. How he could find anything in the clutter, no one knew. Soon he fished out a book with a silver cover and black lettering.
"Ah, Azal Volume Twelve" he said and kissed the book, blowing dust off its cover. He dropped the book on one of the tables and began to flip through it madly. "Where is it now…" he muttered. "It should be in here…ah yes…it's amazing how complex questions can be solved with simple magic…always knew it was true…what is a spell like this doing in a book like this?!..." and so on he carried on until he found what he was looking for. "Here it is! The Heart Redemption!" he cried triumphantly. "I found the spell that will answer our questions!"
"What is it?" cried Kairi eagerly. Everyone was on their feet and looking happy…except for Sora and Riku. Sora was worried about what he had awakened in Merlin. The old wizard looked positively maniacal. Riku was worried about the effect of the spell they used on Tine, or on her already unstable personality.
"Then hurry up and use it!" said Donald, jumping up and down.
"Wait guys!" said Sora, but they paid no attention to the Keyblade Master.
"What spell are you going to use on me?!" Tine said. She began to get up, but Leon was faster. He grabbed her arm before she could move. For a moment Tine's face was completely surprised. Then, she hurled the gunblade master into a pile of books. Leon rolled over, swearing foully.
"Look, if she doesn't want to do it, then don't try and force her!" Riku shouted, but like Sora, he seemed to have become invisible.
Cloud, Leon and Yuffie grabbed Tine and held her down on the floor. Her screams of rage and hate were horrible to hear. "Such a foul mouth" said Merlin. He clapped his hands and all the lights in the house went out.
"Magic?!" gasped Kairi.
"No, just automatic lights" said Merlin. He began to light matches. "First step of the Heart Redemption Spell, is to light the black candles. This is something that all of you can do, so get moving!" they scrambled to light the candles. Donald was about to use a fire spell, but Aerith stopped him.
"Donald, wait! If we're not careful the magic of that small fire spell might interfere with the greater magic of the Heart Redemption Spell."
"Oh, sorry" Donald said, embarrassed.
"Here, I got twenty candles" said Goofy. He placed them on the table.
"Let me go!" Tine screamed in fear. "I don't want to have a spell cast on me!"
"It's not going to hurt" Aerith said gently. "And we need to find out what exactly you are. If you are Kingdom Hearts, then we need to take action to see that you are protected for Organization XIII."
"I can't take any more of this" said Riku. He abruptly left the house and slammed the door behind him."I'll be back" Sora said and went after him. As he went outside, he ran after Riku.
A light rain was falling and the purple sky had turned gray. "Riku! Wait up!" he called.
"What is it Sora?" Riku asked angrily. "Why are you following me? I'll be alright, just go back and help Merlin cast the spell!"
"You think I want to do it any more than you do?" Sora shouted back. The crash of thunder sounded in the distance. Both of them were breathing hard.
Way To Dawn appeared in Riku's hand. "You handed her over to the people, and they treated her like shit!" he yelled.
The Kingdom Key appeared in Sora's hand. "So what?" he snarled, his temper roused. "Maybe she deserved it for what she did? Have you forgotten what she did to me? You wanted to kill her before!"
"Don't tempt me, Sora" Riku said, raising his Keyblade.
They both rushed at each other, faces disfigured by terrible snarls of hatred.
And that was when the bloodcurdling screams started coming from the house.