Chapter 21: Consolidated Evil
Kairi yawned and sat in the back of Sora's glider as they flew through the Lanes Between, stretching. She had repaired her heart enough to at least walk and move, but, a nap in the back of the glider had done her some additional good. She glanced over at Sora, noting that he was flying 'very' slow, in a position that screamed 'sleeping at the wheel'. She smiled softly at that, hidden under her helmet. They ought to have been to the next world hours ago, but, she wasn't complaining this time, they both had needed rest.
She rose to her feet and moved to Sora, shaking his shoulder. He gave a start and glanced around before looking back at her, tilting his head. She spun a finger through the air, basically telling him to get a move on. Sora slowly shook his head, she was pretty sure he might be laughing. He sat up straight, gripped the steering wheel, and planted a foot down, taking off at top speed.
They arrived at Lordaeran a few minutes later and landed outside Brill, Sora dismissing his armor and glider, Kairi banishing her helmet.
"So, think we'll find a clue here?" Sora asked.
"No idea, but, there is an awful amount of darkness here, especially in the Shadowlands," she said, "We're going to have to check to see if that's what Vexen meant.
"I'm REALLY not sure the two of us going there is a good idea," admitted Sora, "It's asking to get killed. I mean, were both strong, but, it's the Shadowlands."
Kairi smirked and playfully socked his shoulder. "Coward. Bet I get more Heartless then you."
Sora raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"
Kairi's response was to boot his stomach 'softly' and knock him to the ground before racing off. "You bet it is! Loser owes the other a favor!"
"Hey! That's not fair!" whined Sora, scrambling to his feet and taking off after her.
Fun as it sounded, both of them a least took it serious the moment they entered the Western Shadowlands and the Heartless began appearing in number. But before Kairi and Sora, before Oathkeeper and Oblivion, they were nothing. They tore through effortlessly, up until they reached the first darkness blotched field. Kairi glanced it over silently, searching, but found no light in that darkness...
But...
She narrowed her eyes. "Sora, cover me."
"Huh?" he asked.
Kairi rushed out, into the blotched field.
"KAIRI!" yelled Sora, "What are you DOING?"
It felt like she was moving through mud, the dark muck at her feet gripping at her and trying to pull her down. Instead, she coated herself in an aura of light, and forced herself through, Keyblade destroying any Heartless that dared go for her. When she reached the center, she put through her head memories of Sora and Ven, of them using one of the most powerful light techniques she had ever seen, Salvation. Through her mind, she ran how the technique felt when they did it. Either this worked, or she was about to make a fool of herself.
She began glowing intensely, half knelt, holding her Keyblade out behind her, she took a step forward, rose, spun one foot, and thrust her Keyblade into the air. "LIGHT!"
BOOM!
Pillars and circles of light erupted around her, spinning with her as the eye of the storm of light. It obliterated any nearby Heartless, and banishing the shadow coating the field in one go.
She lowered her Keyblade, a huge grin on her face. "Awesome, I did it!"
"Nice," said Sora, coming up to stand at her side.
Kairi glanced around the cleansed field, a satisfied half-smile on her lips. "I've been wanting to purge this darkness ever since I first saw it. Even if we can't find Kingdom Hearts or a clue here, we can still help this world."
Sora nodded. "Alright."
He winked at her. "Dibs on the next field!"
Kairi scowled. "Hey! No fair!"
"You're one to talk," he shot back, taking off at top speed.
Kairi grinned and took off after him. They ran, sweeping through the Heartless like they weren't even there, purging the remaining three fields, alternating between them who purged, before coming to the bridge to the Eastern Shadowlands. Their playful attitude faded, and a serious look crossed both their faces. The Western Shadowlands paled in comparison to the Eastern one.
"Alright, no goofing off this time," said Sora, "We stick together."
"Me, goof off? You're one to talk," she jabbed playfully.
Sora rolled his eyes and started off. Kairi followed, resisting the urge to gag as the stench of darkness washed over them. The Heartless coming at them grew stronger than before, and they actually started having to put a bit of effort into fighting. This... was so much more different than just running through the Eastern Shadowlands in a mad dash for the other side. Intense, was to weak a word.
"Which way are we going?" shouted Sora.
"Darrowshire first," she called back.
She noted a heavy silence come over Sora, a brooding look crossing his face. "Sora?"
"I... fought there when it fell to darkness, it was... bad," he said sullenly, "If Mickey hadn't dragged me onto his glider and bolted, I probably wouldn't be here now. No one else, not Davil, not Joeseph, made it."
Kairi couldn't find anything to say to his sadness, she merely focused on fighting instead. They fought into the darkness swamped town, their feet slogging through dark muck, a black mist in the air. Then, suddenly, the Heartless tide stopped, and the town grew silent.
"Uh... why do I suddenly have a bad feeling?" she murmured.
"You and me both," muttered Sora.
The darkness around them began to swirl and condensed into the center of town next to a well. Out of it, rose a massive bony, horned, and robed creature, levitating a bit above the ground. It was like a horrific, demonic, horned skeleton, no skin anywhere on it. It's eyes glowed pitch black, as did a core of darkness around where it's heart would have been had it been a person. Chains floated around its chest, to Kairi's surprise, she noticed a BLUE Heartless Emblem on it's rib-cage. This... was the first time she had seen that emblem on anyone but Aqua's Heartless. It had a headdress like ornament was attached to it's neck and head. It was emitting a sense of evil that made Kairi shiver, only Xehanort and Aqua's Heartless rivaled what she felt right now.
Kairi noted that Sora had gone tense, anger splashing across his face. "You... recognize it?"
"I remember him, both when he was a human working for the Scourge, and after he was swallowed by the darkness and became what you see now," spat Sora, rage growing on his face, "The things he's done, he's an inhuman monster!"
This... was one of the few times she had seen him legitimately angry. "Who, what, is it?"
"Kel'Thuzzad," snarled Sora, gripping his Keyblade tightly, "Why are you here instead of cowering up in Noxious Glade with the rest of the Emblems?"
Kel'Thuzzad grinned a bony smile at them. "The Mistress commands that I test the girl personally."
Ah great... Aqua's Heartless was probably watching them through her Heartless...
"Mistress?" questioned Sora, "But Xehanort's the one who... wait what?! What's with that symbol?"
She glanced at Sora confusingly, "Huh?"
Sora looked baffled. "It was black and red last time I saw him, why is it blue and black now?"
As if in response, Kel'Thuzzad snapped his fingers...
To Kairi's shock, BOTH Emblem and Pureblood Heartless appeared around him. Only... the black and red symbol she had normally associated with them was gone, ALL of them had a blue and black emblem instead, as if...
"Oh shit," said Kairi, understanding washing over her, "Aqua's Heartless took Xehanort out, she has control of all his Emblem Heartless."
"Whaaa?!" exclaimed Sora.
Aqua's Heartless had absolute control over every Heartless in existence now... oh jeez... as if things weren't already bad enough...
Kel'Thuzzad aimed a bony hand at them, and a nova of black ice erupted between them, shattering and knocking them away from one another. Emblem and Purebloods rushed at the separated pair, hungering for their hearts. Kairi swept her Keyblade in-front of her, backpedaling, uncertainty crossing her face. She had never seen the two types of Heartless fight alongside one another before, it left her with a complete lack of experience in how to fight that kind of combination...
Well, when in doubt, go with brute force solutions.
Kairi surged forward, leaping into the air and coming down to Stock Break, blasting apart the group with light, and then Sonic Blading through the rest before rushing at Kel'Thuzzad. She leaped into the air and aimed to take his bony head from his shoulder, only for him to raise a hand and unleash a frostbolt at her, slamming into her midsection and send her tumbling backwards and to the ground, hard.
She winced on impact. "Owww."
She glanced up, noticing Kel'Thuzzad aiming a glowing hand at her. The ground between them started to rip open, a fissure of darkness racing towards her. Kairi rolled, scrambled to her feet, and bolted away from it as darkness erupted out of the fissures in an almost deafening CRACK.
"For Andorhal! For Hearthglen! For every life you and the Scourge STOLE!" came Sora's roar.
Kairi stopped running and glanced back, sighting Sora leaping onto Kel'Thuzzad, driving Oblivion straight through his rib-cage. The Heartless monster screeched in pain before swatting Sora off him, black energy leaking out of it's body like blood. Kairi was about to join and help him before pausing as Sora threw himself back at the monster, lost in fury. This... seemed almost kind of personal for him...
Kairi decided to stay out of that fight, trusting Sora to handle it and sate whatever rage was running through him, and moved to keep the lesser Heartless out of his way. She had only come to this world after the fact, she was more than aware she had missed a lot of history that Sora had personally experienced and fought through. Kel'Thuzzad might have been sent for her, but, it felt more like Sora's fight than hers...
"Enough!" screeched Kel'Thuzzad, smashing Sora away and then unleashing a wave of black frost that froze their feet in place.
"Your flesh will decay before your very eyes!" cackled Kel'Thuzzad, holding glowing blackened skeletal hands into the air.
Kairi and Sora both screamed as the entire area became coated with dark mist that ate at them. Kairi hissed in pain, feeling the energy gnaw at her. It wasn't just them though, the very land at their feet, the grass, the ground, the rocks, nearby buildings, everything started just... dying... it was as if his magic was inflicting death and decay on everything it touched...
SHINE!
Kairi's eyes went wide with surprise when a barrier of light engulfed both Sora and herself, shielding them from the deadly magic. "What?"
"FOR THE LIGHT!" came a familiar roar.
Kairi turned her head in time to see Arthas and Uther arrive leading a squadron of Paladins and warriors. Arthas threw his hammer, light shining from it, and embedded it straight into Kel'Thuzzad's skull. The deathly magic stopped, and the monster staggered back. It tore at the hammer and threw it to the ground...
But it was to late for him.
Sora, Kairi, Uther, Arthas, and everyone else was upon Kel'Thuzzad. They beat him into the ground, severed or pulverized his bones, leaving him as nothing but a bony pulp by the time they finally came to a stop, his heart finally popping free and floating into the air.
"That," spat Arthas, "Was a long time coming."
"Agreed," muttered Sora, a dark look on his face, still shaking with anger
Kairi's eyebrows furrowed. What in the world had Kel'Thuzzad done to shake Sora so, to make him so furious?
Uther turned to them, eyebrows narrowing. "What exactly do you two apprentices think you're doing? A scout caught sight of you cleansing the fields and reported you in, are you trying to get yourselves killed?"
Kairi banished Oathkeeper and crossed her arms. "We're wiping out the darkness here is what were doing."
"It just comes back m'lady," said one of the soldiers.
"Have you ever purged it all at once?" she asked, "Wiped it completely clean so there's nothing else to re-taint the area?"
There was a bit of silence from the group.
She understood it though, years in Traverse Town had taught her what they had been going through, just to a lesser degree. "You're too used to just surviving, and not taking a stand."
"I don't know about that," said Arthas, "Every attack on a town, every caravan through the Shadowlands is a stand against the darkness."
Kairi gave him a look. "You know what I mean. Actually going out and wiping the darkness out completely."
Uther sighed. "And throw away what few remaining lives we have left?"
Kairi frowned. "They'll die anyway if nothings done."
Uther gave her a hard stare. "Is this a game to you child? You think by running away from your Masters and seeking glory is the right path?"
Kairi bristled. "Excuse me? This has NOTHING to do with them, and how do you even know about that?"
Uther brought a purple communications crystal out of his pocket. "Your Masters asked if I had seen you awhile ago."
Kairi started forward and brushed passed him. "We arn't here then. I have nothing to say to them."
She left, Sora jogging to catch up to her. For a few minutes, nothing was said.
"You... seemed really angry when fighting that guy," said Kairi.
Sora was silent for a moment before sighing and rubbing his eyes. "The Scourge... as far as I'm concerned, was far worse than the Heartless, if not in the count of lives stolen, then in the ways that they did so. They... I..."
Sora came to a stop and looked at the ground. "I was just nine years old when I came here and fought the undead. It was... well... horrifying. The Heartless, they just take your heart, they don't torture you or..."
Kairi coughed and gave him an intensely pointed look.
Sora winced. "Okay okay, outside of Aqua's Heartless and Xehanort they don't. The Scourge? They do all that and more. They... left corpses everywhere, mutilated, tortured, disfigured and dismembered. The blood, the stench, the decay, former friends rushing to kill you... I... I just... I still have nightmares about it from time to time."
"Sora...," was all she could say weakly, not sure what else could be said.
He sighed. "The Masters told me we weren't supposed to interfere in the worlds unless outside darkness was involved. If I hadn't snuck off to follow Arthas, I would have been expected to just sit back and let the whole thing play it's course, not interfering because it was an 'inter-world affair'..."
"Bunch of bullshit if you ask me," said Kairi, spitting at the ground.
Sora scratched his head. "I don't like breaking the rules, but, sometimes, I agree, it is stupid. Things like that, evil like that, it has to be stopped, even if it's against the rules. I really, truly think, if I hadn't been there for Arthas, things would have gone really bad in this world..."
"And I still owe you for that," came a voice.
They both turned to see Arthas, Uther, and their men walking up to them.
Uther strode to the front. "I don't agree with this foolishness, but damned if I'm going to sit back and let you two risk your lives on our behalf without me lifting a finger to help."
"Agreed," said Arthas.
"Umm, sirs and ma'am," said one of the soldiers, "Where's the Heartless?"
Kairi paused, they all did. Now that they mentioned it... where were the Heartless? They hadn't seen any since Darrowshire. Normally one couldn't take a step through the Eastern Shadowlands without being swamped. Where in the world were all of the Heartless?
Sora stiffened. "Kairi, you feel that?"
Kairi blinked once and focused. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and she felt an immense amount of darkness, more than normal for this place, gathering in one spot. She took off running, summoning Oathkeeper, Sora and the others following suite. They came to the main area of the Eastern Shadowlands outside Corrin's Crossing. There, in the area cutting them off from Tyr's Hand, was an amalgamation of darkness unlike anything Kairi had ever seen.
Darkness was being pulled from every corner of the Shadowlands, feeding into a swirling mass of shadows. It was like a Demon Tower, but far bigger, longer, thicker, and flying through the air instead of being stuck to the ground. Not to mention feeling far more powerful.
"It's like staring into a sea, a tide, of shadows," muttered Sora.
"Demon Tide then?" asked Arthas.
"Yeah, the name fits," said Sora uneasily.
Uther turned to his men. "All of you, get to Strathlome, now. This is beyond any of you. Get the Ashbringer, go, now."
Kairi watched them go, agreeing wholeheartedly with Uther. This... thing... felt incredibly dangerous. The only darknesses stronger than it that she had encountered up to this point were Xehanort and Aqua's Heartlesses, and that was a given.
Oh boy this was going to be messy...
"I vote... keep our distance until Alex gets here," said Sora.
"To late!" said Arthas, pointing at the swirling mass.
They all dove to the side as the Demon Tide began glowing red and charged at them. Glowing red shadows flaked off as it surged passed, running after them and exploding on contact. Kairi gave a yelp and was thrown back, landing and skidding on the ground. She flipped herself up and dove, staggering out of the way as more exploding shadows ran at her.
Kairi lost the ability to keep track of anything but keeping herself OUT of it's way as it sped up, surging into the ground and then exploding outward, coming straight for her. She dove out of the way and kept on scrambling, as it turned and made for her again and again, each time it turned and came back around for her, trying to ram and flatten her to the ground.
"Has this Heartless got a thing for me or what?!" she yelled.
"Just keep it busy!" called out Sora.
She turned, seeing him and and the others swiping at it as it passed them and unleashing light attacks and magic into it. Well... if it wanted to focus on her, let it, she'd keep it busy and let the others whittle at it. She kept her distance from them, making sure it's attacks were far from them.
The Demon Tide glowed red and surged into the air before coming around barreling at her at such a speed that it began to glow blue with the force of it's movement. Kairi scrambled to get out of the way, barely moving out of the way, and again, and again, and again before he started simply flying around, letting them attack it almost freely.
This thing... for all the power it exerted, if she just dodged, it actually wasn't that threatening...
"For Lordaeran, for the King!" came a powerful voice.
Kairi turned her head to see Alexandrous Mograine charging out on horseback. Damn, that was quick. The man aimed his blade and unleashed a powerful blast of light, charring the Demon Tide, making it scream, and then rise into the air.
Kairi's blood ran cold as it plummeted down towards, and into the ground, black ooze surging out to coat the ground, the air around them darkening.
"I think you pissed it off Mograine," called out Arthas.
The Ashbringer leaped off his horse and sent it away, gripping his blade tightly as he approached, eyes narrowed at the Heartless mass. "Good."
A congested ball of shadows, like a core, glowing orange almost like it had a fire inside of it, rose out of the ground. The mass of the tide began spinning around it like a cyclone. They all cried out and had to scramble or block as it started shooting red glowing shadows at them. It pelted the shadows at them like an infinite replenishing gun. Finally, it stopped shooting them, only to glow red and start rushing at them. It was far fast this time around, to fast even.
Kairi was slammed into, sending her flying and skidding along the ground, and she wasn't the only one either. Kairi shook her head and rose to her feet, glancing around at the others. To her surprise, the three paladins formed barriers of night impenetrable light around themselves and charged at the Demon Tide, it's attacks bouncing off them harmlessly.
"I've got to learn divine shield," she muttered jealously.
She and Sora backed off, letting the Paladins let into it's core for a bit...
The Demon Tide began to pulsate. It's core rose out of attack range and vanished. Kairi got confused for a second, before the Demon Tide started lobbing huge balls of purple and black energy out of the funnel and down on them all. What's worse, rather than just exploding when the attacks hit the ground, each ball sank into the ground, then came out and started bouncing after them.
"REALLY?" shouted Kairi, panicking and running as fast as she could with Sora at her side, legs starting to burn, she hadn't stopped running pretty much since it had arrived.
Then, the attack warped. All of the balls merged together and rushed at the Paladins, exploding, breaking their barriers, and rocketing them from the battle. The Demon Tide sank into the ground and moved, coming up to surround her and Sora, raising high into the air like an impenetrable barrier. They were buffeted by a wave of darkness and thrown into the air, and out of the ground, more balls of black and purple energy streamed up at them...
In that single moment they hung in the air, she and Sora exchanged glances and looked down, falling into that mass of darkness and energy was death...
Sora held out a hand towards her, glowing with light, raising his Keyblade in a familiar gesture. Her eyes went wide, recognizing the what he was about to do. She channeled her light, glowing as well, and took his hand, mirroring him. They used eachother to spin as they fell towards the destructive energy.
"LIGHT!" they screamed together, pillars and circles of light bursting out of the ground and spinning around them.
BOOM!
Their conjoined Salvation technique unleashed a massive explosion of light that obliterated the Demon Tide and bathed the entirety of the Shadowlands with light...
Of course that didn't exactly save them from crashing into the ground painfully. They both groaned and laid there, a mass of limbs sprawled over one another.
There came a soft chuckle as the paladins walked up to them.
"Not bad, for children," said Alexandrous.
"Ha, that was impressive and you know it Mograine," said Arthas.
"Keybearers indeed," said Uther, a smirk on his face.
Arthas and Uther helped them to their feet, and they all looked around. Without the darkness tainting the land... it almost seemed peaceful. If not for the ruined Corrin's Crossing to the north, it would have been hard to tell there had been anything wrong with this place...
Arthas crossed his arms and spoke softly. "I... had forgotten how beautiful Lordaeran was without the taint of death or darkness clouding it."
They simply stood there together for a time, looking over the cleansed land...
WARP
Until the moment was ruined, and Aqua's Heartless stepped out of a Dark Corridor before them. They all tensed and nervously brandished their weapons.
The Heartless scowled at Kairi. "That fight was for you, and you alone, Kairi. I did not order my friends to merge and fight to the death only for your allies to interfere with the battle. It was meant for you to press yourself to your limits of your power and grow stronger. Was Kel'Thuzzad's words not enough to get it through your head?"
Kairi narrowed her eyes at her, and was about to respond, before Sora did for her, "Our friends are our power, the reason we fight, and our guiding light in our time of need. I'd think you would have remembered that fact going through Aqua's memories."
The Heartless turned her head to glare at Sora, a dark aura pulsating off her. "Be silent. You aren't worth being addressed or listening too."
Sora took a fearful step back.
The Heartless sighed and shook her head before staring at Kairi. "Oh well, if you had fought it on your own, you probably wouldn't have come out in a state where we could have had another 'session'. I suppose I'll have to take more of your screams as compensation."
Kairi raised her Keyblade fearfully. "Y-you stay a-away from me!"
The Heartless grinned. "Oh? You don't wish to give me more memories? Well, I suppose I could let you go this time, but, if you do go, I'll have to take something else..."
Her eyes flickered to the others. "Like the hearts of your friends here..."
Kairi froze.
The Heartless extended her hand to Kairi. "Make your choice. Come to me willingly, or run and let your friends perish."
"You witch!" shouted Sora, starting forward, only for both Alexandrous and Uther to grip his shoulder and pull him back.
Kairi bowed her head, trembling. "I... I hate you..."
The Heartless only smiled in response. "Come to me."
Kairi weakly walked forward and stopped in-front of the Heartless, who reached a hand forward and ran it through Kairi's hair, almost lovingly. "How I cherish our moments together..."
Kairi screamed as the Heartless drove its other hand into her chest and squeezed her heart. "How I treasure your screams!"
Light erupted from Kairi once more, bathing the area in light, making Aqua's Heartless hiss in pain. "Glorious!"
Kairi suffered through another few squeezes, despite how much she wanted to hold back her cries, against that kind of pain, it felt impossible. Finally, the Heartless lifted her up and tossed her aside. Kairi hit the ground and curled into a ball, sobbing.
"Hmm," murmured Aqua's Heartless, rubbing her forehead, "Aqua and the witch, Maleficent, spent much time gaining knowledge from Xehanort's stolen books, and training within the Realm of Darkness..."
The Heartless grinned. "Oh, there's so much knowledge and abilities to put to the test."
She glanced down at Kairi and knelt down, petting her hair. "Fret not, I don't think it will be much longer Kairi. Soon, I'll have all I need, then, we can be together. I'll take your heart into me like the rest, and there, you can sleep forever, reunited with your Master."
With that, she rose to her feet, formed a Dark Corridor, and left.
Sora rushed over and knelt down next to Kairi, offering her a glowing hand. "Kairi... I'm sorry..., please, take all that you need."
Kairi sobbed and latched onto his hand, draining all the light he offered to try and take the pain away. The three paladins came forward and offered her their light as well. For a time, none of them moved, simply letting Kairi try and mend herself.
Finally, Kairi took a ragged breath and sat up, sniffling. "I... I hate that thing so much..."
"It's a beast, a defilement of anything natural," spat Arthas.
"I'll admit, it's the first time I've actually seen the presence with my own eyes," said Uther, "I always thought it would be more... monstrous looking, rather than being a woman..."
"Hmph, more treacherous and painful is the foe who resembles you or those you know," said Alexandrous, "I know that personally from my son's betrayal."
"That's what I hate about it," said Kairi sorely, "It... it used to be a person, it used to be... be... Master Aqua... before she sacrificed herself and was consumed by darkness."
She bowed her head. "I don't think I'll ever be able to think of my Master without seeing that thing's gleeful face as it hurts me, and remembering that pain. That's why I hate it so much, even beyond the torture, it... it ruins the memory of my Master for me..."
There was a heavy silence before Kairi sighed and shakily rose to her feet. "C-c'mon Sora... we have to keep moving, keep searching for Kingdom Hearts."
"Kairi, you really should rest," said Sora softly.
"I... I'll sleep on the glider," was her reply.
Sora gave her a sigh of frustration before summoning his glider, helping her on, saying goodbye to the paladins, and taking off into the Lanes Between...
Author's Notes:
Decided I'd put in the Demon Tide from Fragmentary Passage, though, 5 VS 1 made things a bit easier than that fluster cluck in the actual game (assuming you didn't cheese phase 2 with shotlock spamming during Wayfinder)
So yeah, last few chapters have kind of been a boss rush, with a bit of time to rest/recover in-between.
That ain't stopping anytime soon, IDK if you guys recognize it or not, but, we're in the final stretch. This book's final stretch is a bit more... combative and active than the last, considering the state of the worlds.
Roughly 5-7~ chapters left before the epilogue to book 2, depending on how I play out the final area/encounter(s).