Here's chapter twenty - one. Thank you Bookworm Gal, LunaClefairy, and Eye of Saturn for reviewing last chapter!
Chapter Twenty - One: Locked Away
"You can't leave?" Zylen repeated, puzzled.
"Isn't that what I just said?" Gillick asked, feeling a flicker of annoyance.
"Why?"
The black-haired boy sighed. "It's complicated; I'm not sure I even fully remember." He shook his head. "Why don't you focus more on getting out yourself instead of questioning me?"
Zylen's dark amber eyes narrowed. "You've been helping me; is it wrong for me to want to help you?"
Gillick blinked in surprise before starting to laugh. He stopped at Zylen's confused look, but didn't provide the man with an answer for his sudden outburst, instead walking past him. Why do I get the feeling that wouldn't have been something you said before? he wondered dryly. He wasn't sure whether it was his fight with Roxas or his lack of memories that was influencing the Time Racer, but it didn't matter. Maybe it's better if you stay here, he thought. You'll have more of a chance at redeeming yourself.
Shadow looked around the ancient world with sad gray eyes. "Remember the last time we were here?" she murmured.
"Yeah," Angel sighed, not looking at her. He shook his head. "But come on; we don't have time to reminisce."
Shadow followed behind him, thinking this was the perfect time to reminisce. As hard as those days traveling the worlds and fighting the Time Racers had been, she missed them. Then she hadn't had to worry about watching over two Keybladers - who they couldn't even reach at the moment - and Roxas had still been there.
The brown-haired girl shook her head to try and clear it of depressing thoughts. "What are we looking for?" she chirped, trying to be as cheerful as possible.
"I don't know," Angel admitted quietly, eyes locked ahead. "Something - anything - that could tell us how what Mickey said is possible."
"Then why are we walking?" Shadow raced past him, heading towards the looming ramparts of the castle.
"Shadow, don't just race off!"
"Why don't you hurry up, slowpoke?" she responded, looking over her shoulder and flashing him a grin. He shook his head at her, muttering something before jogging after her.
The two stopped at the entryway to the castle. Both were silent for several moments, staring. "So," Angel muttered, "are you ready?"
"Yep," Shadow responded.
"Then let's get looking."
The two slowly walked through the entryway to the castle. "We'll split up," Angel told her. "Look for anything unusual."
"But everything here's unusual!" Shadow replied, flashing her boyfriend a cheeky smile.
"Then look for something more unusual."
"Ok," she agreed, waving and heading off down a corridor.
The brown-haired girl looked around the corridors, eyeing the flickering torches. "Those are still burning?" Then another idea hit her, and she lifted her hands, shouting, "Hey! Any Time Racers here?" When there was no response, she shrugged. "Worth a shot."
The stone walls and line of torches stretched on around her as she walked. "You know…we really didn't get a lot of time to explore this place," she commented, the thought making her grin. She almost took off running down the halls, but caught herself. Angel will be really upset if I don't find anything. But that didn't mean she couldn't explore; in fact, it gave her all the more reason to. She just had to do it slower.
It wasn't long before Shadow found herself at a flight of steps descending down into the ground. "I wonder where these go?" She headed down them, blinking gray eyes into the darkness. "Geez, does no one come down here?" she muttered, reluctantly moving slower as she walked further into the darkness.
The only light that could be seen was the faint torchlight from above as her feet touched bottom. "Ah, man; how am I supposed to see anything in here?" Then an idea hit her and she grinned, running back up the stairs and pulling a torch off the wall before running back down.
She quickly realized why it seemed like no one was interested in going down where she was; the area was dark, damp, and made you feel trapped. Her eyes scanned around the gray stone walls, the rocks stacked at right angles. "Sheesh. What are they hiding down here?"
She found out when she turned her head and saw what looked like a steel door. This sounds like what Angel was looking for, she thought, grabbing the handle and pulling. The door didn't budge, and she frowned until she realized that there was a lock on the door. She grinned. "Hah! That's no problem for a Keyblader!" She summoned her weapon, pointing it at the lock and watching as a beam of light flew from the tip into the lock. "I wonder why this is down here?" she murmured. "I mean, why wouldn't someone have opened it yet?"
The lock clicked, and she stiffened when the door flew open on its own, her torch going out. "Ok, that's creepy."
Then a roar resounded through the darkness.
Angel allowed his eyes to scan over the walls. He sighed. Even with the time I spent leading the Time Racers, I still don't know everything about this place. For example, why did it exist? When he and the other Time Racers had come here, there hadn't been any sign of life, just a broken castle and a dark, barren landscape. And the crystals, he reminded himself, thinking about the items that allowed for the creation of - and access through - a barrier. Obviously, though, he hadn't discovered enough; Zylen had found a Keyblade here, after all. What else could be hiding here that he didn't know about?
He stiffened as he heard footsteps. It wasn't the fact that there was another person there that bothered him; he was sure that many of the surviving Time Racers had chosen to stay on the desolate world. What bothered him was the knowledge that the remaining Time Racers wouldn't likely want their presence known.
Angel whipped around the corner, summoning his Keyblade in preparation for a fight, if necessary. The person who'd been walking stopped suddenly, looking surprised. "So you've come out to greet me, have you?" the stranger asked.
Angel's brown eyes narrowed as he surveyed the boy: silver-white hair, amber eyes, black coat. "Greet you?" he questioned. "Who are you? And why are you here?"
"Why must all of you be so jumpy?"
He's met some of the other Time Racers. "I'm not with them," he informed the other boy. Not anymore.
A silvery eyebrow arched in surprise. "Really? How interesting."
"You haven't answered any of my questions," Angel reminded him, not releasing his grip on his Keyblade.
"Well, I'm no one you need to know about," the boy commented, "and I'm here to learn."
"About what?" Angel asked warily.
Amber eyes lifted to trail over the stones. "This place is strange; it has a unique power, and is home to people with…unique powers."
"They're not 'natives', if that's what you think," Angel commented dryly.
The boy's eyes flashed back to him. "So you're not one of them, but you know about them." Angel said nothing in reply, and the other boy studied him closer. "You're hair…looks like it's made of metal. That was the same of the others I saw here."
"You're answer to my question was vague," Angel growled, his fingers tightening around the handle of his weapon.
"Persistent, aren't you?" The boy sighed. "I want to understand the connection between this place and time, and I want to understand the people here."
The connection between this place and time. Angel smiled at the irony. "Funny," he commented, "that's what I want to know, too."
The next question was put forward slowly. "Perhaps we should work together a while?"
Angel stiffened, wondering if he should trust the boy. "Perhaps," he agreed slowly, deciding that even if he couldn't, he didn't have to tell him anything. After all, he was very good a lying.
Lea followed behind Yzma, Krunk walking nearby. "Why do you follow her, anyways?" he asked.
Krunk looked at him in surprise. "Huh? What do you mean?"
Lea kept his eyes trained on the old woman just ahead of them. "Why do you follow Yzma? I know why I am, but why are you?"
Krunk looked away, face scrunching up in thought. "Because she hasn't kicked me out yet."
"Kicked you out?"
"You know, of the castle. She sticks with me."
Lea snorted, then looked away. "I see."
Silence stretched between the three for a long time after that. Then Lea froze as a faint sound reached his ears. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Yzma asked, looking back at him in faint annoyance and nervousness.
It came again, louder this time and more clear; a voice, one without sound:
Either Axel can exist, or Lea. If they fuse, there is no in-between.
The former Heartless felt his blood grow cold. Where did that voice come from? And what did it mean? Was it a hint that this was why he could no longer sense Axel but could use his powers again? Had he and the Nobody fused together?
"Lea! Snap out of it!"
The red-head shook his head at Yzma's snapped words, looking back at her and apologizing, "Sorry. Just hearing things."
"You might want to get that checked out," Krunk commented.
All three stiffened as a new noise reached them. "I'm not the only one who hears it this time, right?" Lea hissed, listening to the sound of growling.
"No," Yzma and Krunk agreed simultaneously, shaking their heads.
The growling grew louder, followed not long after by screaming. "Hey, that sounds like Kuzco, doesn't it?" Krunk asked, pointing in the general direction of the commotion.
"Yes," Yzma agreed. "After it!"
"We're running towards the growling?" Lea asked incredulously.
"We need to find Kuzco," Yzma replied, heading off into the forest with Krunk close behind her. Lea sighed, following behind them and thinking about how horrible an idea this was.
"If I'm not supposed to be here," Axel asked slowly, "then why am I here?"
The question was posed to no one in particular; Xion didn't know, and Ven and the mysterious armored figure had left a while ago to search for answers to that very question. Xion sighed, shrugging and shaking her head while offering an apologetic smile.
Axel tilted his head back, closing his eyes and trying to ignore the faint flicker of fear that stirred in his heart. Reminds me of when I had to kill Lea, he thought. Well, destroy him, I guess, since he was a Heartless. When he'd been brought back from the Realm of Darkness, he'd been given the task of tracking down Lea and ending him, but he'd known what it would mean; he'd already faded away, so destroying his Nobody would cost him his own existence. Now he was in that exact same position, except this time, if he followed through with everything, he ran the risk of no longer existing. Roxas…is this how you felt when you had to merge with Sora? And how is it that you're still able to exist when you're a part of him?
The Nobody wasn't sure what to think; all he knew was that he didn't want to fade away again.
That's the end of chapter twenty - one. Reviews would be great, please?