Notes: Alright, this chapter will be starting a major turning point for Sora and co. Soon, Keyblade Master Xehanort is going to be messing with everyone, especially Riku's, heads…I kinda got the impression form the trailer that he is one cruel guy…
On the plus side, for those of you who like Monica and Riku, the two of them should be getting a fair amount of fluff…if you can call their interactions fluffy. Since Monica got introduced later than most OCs with her personality that are going to be paired with Riku I'm going to have to fast forward their relationship just a tad…don't worry, they won't be a couple for awhile, so it shouldn't feel either rushed or fake!
Me: Okay, Nihlus, it's your turn again since certain events in this chapter are going to put you at odds with everyone…
Nihlus…No, I won't do it unless you promise to undo all that terrible stuff that you're planning…
Me: No can do! There are some things that even I, the author, can't reverse, as you will soon find out…at least this whole thing will end on a happy note…maybe…
Nihlus: Fine…asshole…Blackrogue123 doesn't own anything except his OCs and ideas…
Shadow: And I own your sssoul…and the cookies…mussstn't forget the cookiesss!!
Nihlus:…Shadow, are you feeling alright?
Shadow: Ow, Nihlus, my head…it feels like someone hit it with a sledgehammer…so what'd I miss?
Sora walked with his hands behind his head in his trademark pose as Lloyd lead the entire group towards his hometown. They had met up with Terra, Roxas, and Namine almost immediately after they left the cathedral. The facial expressions of both Lloyd and Monica when they realized that Ven and Roxas were totally identical except for their clothes and attitudes were absolutely priceless!
It had been nearly impossible for Nihlus to convince Lloyd to wait until hey got back in town for the summery of all that had happened. From what Sora could understand, from Aqua, Ven and Nihlus's interactions with him, Lloyd apparently acted as something of a big brother to them before they had their hearts ripped out by Xemnas…a big brother that tried (and failed) to curb their rule-breaking streak.
'Sora…' the keyblade master stopped in his tracks for a moment when he realized that Nihlus was trying to talk to him through their link. 'Please, don't tell anyone about Shadow or the heartless…there's no telling how they might react….'
Sora responded with what would be the mental equivalent of a nod. He had gotten used to Nihlus's attachment to darkness, but it was still disturbing, even for him, to see his counterpart's powers at work. Even Sora was able to figure out how a bunch of people who had been fighting off heartless, rogue heartless that Shadow said weren't part of the realm of darkness but heartless nonetheless, would react to Nihlus's…talents…
'…Thank you…' While his words were simple, Nihlus's emotions blatantly indicated the true depth of his thankfulness far more than he would ever be willing to admit..
"Uh, not this again!" Kairi moaned as she fell in step next to Sora, her eyes were fixed upon Riku and Monica. The two had been making numerous offhand comments that were clearly meant to insult each other in just about everyway possible, from their fashion sense (or lack thereof) to the odds of them getting a pie in the face because no one could stand looking at it any longer…that latter being used when all other ideas were exhausted.
In short, their exchanges were really getting on everyone's nerves…whenever Lloyd ordered Monica to stop; Riku would just make a comeback and trigger yet another exchange. The only time they seemed to be at peace was when Monica had been admiring Namine's armor/upgraded dress, and even that had only lasted for about thirty seconds. "Alright, I'll tell ya' what," Monica started as she unslung her rifle and turned to face Riku. "I'll stop calling your mother all that rude stuff, if you can beat me in a fight!"
Riku stopped and thought for a moment. "That's not good enough…if I win, I get that bandanna of yours…and you'll have to shut up for the rest of the trip!" Both Lloyd and Monica gasped when Riku mentioned him keeping the latter's bandanna, her hand shot up to it out of reflex. The entire party had stopped to see how this would end.
"…Alright fine…but I get to take something from you if I win…"
"And what's that?"
"…Your pants…" Riku was as surprised as everyone else at Monica's unusual terms for the bet. "These are the only pair I have!" she said as she motioned to her shorts with a sweeping gesture. "Yours look like they'll fit me just fine…why are you looking at me like that?" Indeed, Riku's expression was one of embarrassment mixed with horror. He dimly noted Lloyd smacking his own head with his right hand and muttering something to himself about Monica's behavior.
Riku couldn't help but admire the guy for putting up with this girl for God knows how long!
"…Fine…" Riku finally replied as he spun around and walked away from Monica, partially to put some space between them so that they could actually fight and partially to hide the extremely faint blush that had materialized on his face.
In contrast, Monica grinned almost manically as she ran in the opposite direction of Riku. While she was a formidable melee combatant, she had seen just what that weird sword of his could do, even if she and Lloyd arrived at the very end of the fight between the heartless and keyblade masters! "Alright, Riky, tell me when you're ready…and don't wet MY new pair of pants!"
Riku glared back at her in reply. He would just have to show her the old fashioned way why no one messed with him…
Everyone else got out of the way of the two combatants; there was no hope of stopping them now. Monica started the fight by aiming and firing a shot at Riku, which he managed to dodge. Monica continued to fire shots at Riku, whose dodges became narrower and narrower as he got closer to her.
The blonde grinned and aimed one last time as Riku closed to a range of several meters, Monica had him now! She fired an energy blast from her rifle; it was aimed at Riku's chest. Apart from the fact that her rifle was easily one of the most advanced weapons on this world, Monica was also confident of her victory because, at this range, it would be impossible for even him to dodge her shots!
To her utter dismay, Riku smirked and raised a honeycombed shield, one of his more common techniques: "Dark Shield", and deflected the shot so that it hit the ground instead of him. He then took a swipe at her with his keyblade, which Monica just barely managed to block with her rifle. Riku just tauntingly looked at her with his smirk plastered on his face. He excelled in melee combat, and however good Monica may have been, there was no way she was nearly as good as him. If their skill difference didn't put Monica at a bad enough disadvantage, the fact that her rifle wasn't as suited to melee combat as well as The Way to Dawn was.
Riku jerked away in order to break away from the deadlock and then launched an upwards diagonal strike against his opponent. Monica managed to catch his keyblade with her bayonet and tried to disarm his by twisting both their weapons and firing when her rifle was pointed at him, only to have Riku himself twist out of the way of the shot and wrench her rifle from her grip. He smirked and hit Monica in the stomach with a kick before she could recover.
Monica hit the ground with a grunt, though she managed to remain on her feet. As much as it pained her to admit it, she had sorely underestimated Riku…not that she'd ever let him know that! When Riku made a thrust at her neck in an attempt to force her to surrender, Monica leaned sideways as she got back onto her feet, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Despite her rather impressive dodge, Riku seemed understandably unconcerned. He had already disarmed her, and her rifle had landed far out of Monica's reach. Riku jumped back and aimed several slashes at Monica, only to have her duck, twist, and jump over all of them in a display of her formidable capabilities. Still, it was a lost cause as she was beginning to tire, and there was no way that even Monica would be able to dodge Riku's blows for more than thirty seconds. With no other alternative and filled with a desperate need to win, Monic jumped back to avoid Riku's latest attack, and surged forward, catching the silver-haired keyblade master off-guard.
It was almost suicide, doing so, but that was what allowed it to succeed. Riku never saw it coming.
His eyes widened as Monica tackled him, sending them both tumbling onto the ground. Riku was too surprised to try to wrestle out of Monica's hold, it wasn't until she pinned him to the ground by his arms and was looking down on him with a smirk on her face.
"Looks like I win, Mr. Frowny!" Riku scowled in reply, though inwardly he was sweating buckets. Did Monica realize just how close their bodies were because of the way that she had pinned him down? "So, do you give up yet, or am I going to have to sit on you like this for the next hour until you admit defeat?" her voice was full of satisfaction and, in Riku's opinion, a mocking tone.
Mentally cursing his hormones for allowing him to be distracted by…other thoughts, Riku slightly shifted his keyblade while he glared at Monica in order to keep her attention. Judging from the pressure on his arms he, wouldn't be able to get away from her through sheer brute strength, the fact that she was currently on top of him, therefore having the advantage for this scenario, as well as her own strength meant he wouldn't be able to simply wrestle away from her.
Still, Monica was too busy looking satisfied at the glare she had elicited form Riku. It was so fun irritating him! She didn't notice that the corners of his mouth had begun to curve into a smirk as The Way to Dawn was pointed at her. Monica was suddenly shot off Riku by a Dark Aura attack; she literally had no idea what hit her!
She was too dazed to do anything as Riku stood over her and pointed his keyblade at her throat. "You lose…" was all he said. The smirk he wore on his face pretty much summed up what he was feeling about now. "Now hand over the bandana,"
"Wha-?" Monica seemed to be shocked at not only losing, but also the prospect of losing the bandana she wore on her head. "But…I…take it…" She finally said as she shoved Riku's keyblade away from her throat.
"Monica!" Lloyd exclaimed in surprise, only to be silenced with a wave of the blonde's hand as she moved to pick up her rifle.
"It's alright…" her normal air of cheerfulness had evaporated the moment she realized that she had to give up her bandana. "Here, Riku…" Monica said as she removed her most prized accessory from her head, exposing the rest of her hair for the first time since she had meet Sora and co.
Riku couldn't help but feel a hint of guilt as Monica reluctantly handed him her bandana. He had only wanted to win it to hurt Monica's pride; he didn't think that it actually meant anything to her! He was about to offer it back to her when she roughly placed a finger over his mouth before he could actually say anything to explain his actions.
"Oh no you don't, Riku," Monica said in a serious tone. It was the first time that she had actually called him by his name rather than one of the many nicknames that she had come up with for him. "You won it fair and square, so I'm not going to just take it back…I'm going to take it from you the day I beat you!" some of Monica's "normal" demeanor seemed to return as she said this.
Suddenly she grabbed Riku by the collar and dragged him down so that their faces were uncomfortably close. "So you'd better keep it safe, alright? 'Cause I'm not going to leave you until I get it back!" Riku nodded weakly in response, he was surprised and once again cursing his hormones for the effects they were having, namely the feeling all tingly and all around weird, not to mention hot in the face. Monica smirked and then released Riku, satisfied that her bandana would be kept safe.
She didn't even notice the effects that her lack of respect for personal space had on Riku…
The silver haired keyblade master looked down at his prize as Monica turned away from him. He then tied it around his neck; it was the safest place he could think of at the moment. Riku may not have liked Monica much, but he wasn't about to let that break any kind of promises he made, even if they were to her. "Hey, Lloyd, can I ask you something?"
Lloyd regarded Riku curiously for a second and then nodded. "Alright, what exactly does this thing mean to Monica?" Lloyd was obviously conflicted by the question as the entire party followed behind the two silver headed teens.
"A lot…I'm not sure about the specifics, she never told me anything apart from that."
"Oh, I see," Riku sighed, disappointed. "Alright, then, does she have any regard for personal space?" A small grin etched across Lloyd's lips as he chuckled. "None at all…especially when she's in a fight!"
Mickey sighed as he closed yet another one of Ansem's books that lay upon the former ruler of Radiant Garden's desk. He had been pouring through them practically nonstop since everyone else had left for Nihlus, Ven, and Aqua's world (they didn't have a name for it, as on the navigation computer Nihlus had marked it "Home, Danger, do not come here" on the navigation computer).
Mickey was desperately trying to find out anything and everything he could about the one eyed man that had defeated Master Yen Sid and sustained no visible injuries in doing so. Granted, while master Yen Sid was arguably the best wizard around (he and Merlin had yet to actually compete, and then there was the possibility of some unknown wizard running about…) he wasn't necessarily the best battle mage. He focused on all areas of magic rather than simply how to throw fireballs at enemies, though he was still a formidable foe. While the one eyed man wasn't quite as god-like as he initially appeared, he was undoubtedly the single most powerful being that Mickey had yet seen or heard of.
Not to mention his apparent immortality, assuming Yen Sid's claim of him being some kind of hero from an ancient legend. Still, as skeptical as Mickey was of that, he decided that he may as well look into it.
Unfortunately, Tron hadn't been able to find any useful files and had suggested that Ansem may have kept some books on the subject in his office. Without the no-dead scientist to help him search, though, Mickey was making near glacial progress.
So far, he had found out that the one eyed man, according to the scraps that referenced the legend, had made some kind of pact and gained a tremendous amount of power in exchange for something. Precisely what or who he made the pact with and what he lost was unknown due to the books being woefully tightlipped about the entire affair.
It was like someone hadn't wanted anyone to be able to know what happened in the legend…
Mickey slumped forward and rested his head on the desk, only to have his few seconds of rest rudely interrupted by the feeling of something falling out of his pocket. He lifted his head to see that it was the crystal Yen Sid had given him that he said could show possible futures. Mickey reached down to pick it up, but the moment his finger touched it, the crystal began to glow.
Suddenly it let out a blinding light as the mouse king felt it burn a vision into his mind…
Aqua, in her chaser armor, lay heavily wounded in front of the memory skyscraper on The World That Never Was. Her armor seemed to be glowing with some king of purple light before the said light seemed to fade away. Sora, Kairi, and Riku were standing in front of her, though Kairi was dressed in some kind of purple colored leather armor. All three of the keyblade masters stood in battle stances, clearly tired.
They had obviously been fighting Aqua for some reason…
"A-Aqua!" an all too familiar voice called out, tinged with horror. Nihlus suddenly bolted out of nowhere, whether Mickey hadn't seen him because of his control of darkness or because he had "warped" in, was unknown. "What…how…why?!" his voice was choked with emotion as he kneeled down next to Aqua.
Behind Nihlus, Sora, Kairi, and Riku all lowered their weapons. Pained expressions marked their faces.
"Nih…lus? Nihlus?" Aqua quietly asked. Almost instantly Nihlus began to hold her by lifting Aqua up slightly so that she while she was still on the ground, she was resting in his arms. Her helmet fell off in the process, revealing that she had some of her own blood coating her lower neck.
"A-aqua…I…I…" Nihlus wasn't even able to finish what he was saying, his voice was simply too choked to form an intelligent sentence. Aqua lifted up her right hand and raised it up against Nihlus's face.
"Hey, Nihlus…you're…not supposed to…cry..." she said as she weakly moved two of her fingers across Nihlus's cheek, supposedly to wipe away the tears that she mentioned. They soon became invisible as rain began to fall from the skies, a common occurrence eon the world of the nobodies. "You're…you…I…you…" Nihlus moved his own hand and held the one that Aqua had used to wipe away his tears.
"…Aqua, no…please…I…I never…"
"Shhh…it's…not your fault…you…didn't know…" at this Aqua gave Nihlus a weak smile before she seemed to go limp in his arms.
"A-aqua? AQUA!!" Nihlus screamed when he realized what had happened. He dropped her now-unmoving body and fell back; an almost dead look was in his eyes. Sora stepped forward toward Nihlus, apparently intending to comfort him, only to be stopped by Riku, who sadly shook his head.
"How…damn it…" Nihlus mumbled to himself as he sat on all fours. "DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN It, DAMNIT!!" he yelled as his sorrow turned into a blind rage. Nihlus began to strike at the concrete he sat on, cracking it and sending fragments of rocks flying. His arm had become covered in darkness, and now resembled a muscular heartless claw. "How…Sora…HOW COULD YOU?!" Nihlus roared as he abruptly got up and spun around to face Sora, Kairi, and Riku.
His eyes, even though they were glowing brighter than a darkside heartless's in the middle of night, reflected his fury. It was without reason in who to blame for Aqua's death…
"Nihlus…we had to…that armor forced her to-," Riku's explanation was cut off by a furious wave of Nihlus's hand.
"SHUT UP!!" he demanded. Nihlus's leather armor began to warp and change. It grew spikier and more metallic, yet it seemed to be more like skin, it moved far more naturally than was possible for metal armor, regardless of whether or not it was made of darkness. "Why…YOU SACRIFICED HER FOR SOME PEOPLE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW?!"
"Nihlus, please clam down," Kairi begged. "If we don't stop Sulhin, then countless people are going to die!" It was no use; Nihlus was blinded by his rage and other emotions he felt coursing through him.
"You could have saved her if you wanted to, but no! You care more about those people you don't even know, who would kill you to save their own skin in a heartbeat! You killed her for THEM!!"
Sora walked up to join his two friends, his voice was pain filled. "Nihlus, I know how you feel, but you can't just let innocent people die!"
"No you don't!" Nihlus yelled in reply. Darkness seemed to be clawing its way up his neck and onto his face. "You would be doing the same thing I'm doing if it was Kairi who died!" Sora was taken aback. Could he really deny that he would try to reap vengeance on anyone who killed Kairi? "I'm through with you!" At this, an explosion of pure darkness seemed to erupt from Nihlus while Sora and Kairi jumped back.
"Not this again…" Riku moaned as a clawed hand emerged from the explosion. "We have to run we can't beat him here!" Sora and Kairi both nodded as they began to turn around to follow Riku as he ran away from Nihlus. Instead, all three were quickly cut off by a huge force of heartless. A loud blast was heard as Sora, Kairi and Riku spun around to see an immense ball of darkness flying towards them.
"GO!" Riku yelled as he threw Sora and Kairi out of the ball's path, only to be caught in it himself.
"RIKU!!" Sora and Kairi both yelled as they heard their friend scream in pain after being completely enveloped by it. The ball remained stationary after it hit Riku. His arm was seen for a brief instant, trying to break free, only to seemingly be consumed by the darkness. The orb vanished soon after, there was no sign that Riku had ever been there…
"R-riku!" Kairi yelled out as both she and Sora sank to their knees, devastated. Kairi suddenly yelped when she was jerked into the air by an all too familiar tentacle…
"KAIRI!" Sora yelled as he bolted up to try and free her, only to be knocked backwards and onto his back when a spike made of darkness burst forth form the ground, nearly impaling him in the process. Sora made a furious effort to get up; he could see what Nihlsus had turned into.
Nihlus greatly resembled the form he had taken when he was nearly beaten to death in the keyblade graveyard, as well as the creature in Namine's drawing. Black, spiky, metal armor that seemed to be more like a skin than armor covered him from head to toe. His helmet had a large spike emerging from its forehead. In his right hand, which was clawed, he held a wicked-looking scythe with a serrated blade.
Multiple tentacles, including the one that had grabbed Kairi, had emerged from his back. Each had thorn-like blades emerging from the length of them. Kairi shot a burst of light forth from her keybalde, but the blast was simply absorbed by Nihlus's armor. Suddenly, all the other tentacles made a b-line for Kairi, they were intent on killing her in most terrible way they could. "SORA!" she cried out as she struggled against the entangle that held her by her waist. Nothing she did seemed to be working, every time she moved the blades cut into her.
As the tentacles speed towards Kairi, she lashed out at them with her keyblade, only to have them force it aside.
"KAIRI!" Sora yelled as his one true love was completely covered in the blade covered tentacles. He desperately ran toward her and tried to slash the tentacles apart, only to be knocked aside by another one of the spikes. Almost immediately after Sora had been thrown aside, the tentacles that had enveloped Kairi began to stop their rapid and seemingly random movements, all except one, the one that had held Kairi, moved back toward Nihlus.
Kairi's body was already limp, even as the tentacle slammed her into the ground before tossing her aside like she was nothing more than a rag doll. When he saw this, Sora fell to his knees.
He had been devastated when Riku had died, but now… "K-Kairi?" he called out in disbelief as he looked at her unmoving form. At least he couldn't see any of the injuries the tentacles had inflicted upon her form here…
Sore stared hollowly at the ground as Nihlus, if you could call the thing that Nihlus had taken the form of Nihlus, approached him with an almost maddened look in his glowing eyes. He seemed barely able to control his rage as he lifted his scythe above his head in order to decapitate Sora and avenge Aqua….
Nihlus brought his scythe swinging down, only to hear a loud clan of metal as it was blocked from Sora's neck by his Keyblade. Sora's face was once as full of rage as Nihlus's would have been if it wasn't covered by his helmet. While their weapons were deadlocked, Sora's clothes and Keyblade began to change.
As the two jumped away from each other, Sora was now wearing his final form clothing and wielding the ultima keyblade. White, gold and, blue ran down is blade from the top to bottom. Not only that, but a door to light of all places opened up behind Sora.
If you can't take the fight to the realm of light, then you can take the realm of light to the fight…
"NIHLUS!" Sora yelled, as enraged as his nemesis, as the two charged each other. Their respective weapons clashed and they both disengaged, only to charge back agaist each other again.
There was no way to tell how long their battle lasted, though it undoubtedly lasted for a formidable amount of time. To say they fought like madmen would have been an insult to the madmen! They seemed concerned only with harming the other in any way, shape, or form. The fact that both red and black blood alike began to stain their battleground despite the rain meant nothing to them. Eventually they both stood at far ends of the "arena" that was formed by the buildings and skyscraper, glaring at each other.
Black blood was oozing from Nihlus's wounds, despite his efforts to simply absorb it back into his body, while Sora's normally white clothing was stained red with his own blood. He had no potions and had used all of his magic to try and kill Nihlus. Upon realizing this, they both simply charged toward each other one last time.
Sora impaled Nihlus with the ultima keyblade and Nihlus impaled Sora with the blade of his scythe. They both just stood there staring hatefully into each other's eyes, before they both seemed to snap out of their bloodlust, if even for a moment.
"You…why?" Nihlus choked out as more of his blood began to ooze out He had given up trying to regenerate his injuries, between the light and his own wounds it was impossible. They both removed their weapons from each other.
As they fell to the ground as a result of the horrific injuries they had inflicted upon each other, the vision ended…
Mickey abruptly jumped out of his chair at what the crystal had shown him. A million questions roared through his mind before he remembered what Master Yen Sid had warned him about the crystal.
While it could indeed show the possible future, there were literally millions of different possibilities.
In trying to prevent such terrible things form happening, he might actually cause them. Mickey sat back down on the chair; his heart was beating like a drum despite his attempts to calm down.
He would not allow his actions to be influenced by the crystal; he would rely solely upon his experience and logic. They were the only things he trusted to see him through…
"That's our hometown?!" Ven exclaimed in shock, voicing everyone's surprise at the sight of it. "When you said that there had been a few changes, I thought you meant a new building or two, not a complete renovation!" Ven's shock was quite warranted. In all his adventures, Sora had never seen a place quite like this one.
It was difficult to describe the town, but it had a medium sized wall surrounding it. The wall was made of all kinds of materials, some were metallic and fancy, while others were crude and somewhat hard on they eyes. The actual town was much the same way, it looked as though someone had gathered every kind of building material in the world and then made the town of them.
"Yes, well a lot has changed since you three disappeared." Lloyd replied simply as he led them toward what appeared to be a gate.
"Wow, this is the weirdest place I've ever seen!" Sora exclaimed as he followed Lloyd
"Really?" Kairi asked mischievously as she walked up next to Sora and slipped her hand into his.
Sora grinned in reply and nodded. "Well, I don't think you should be that surprised to see something weird…you look in the mirror everyday!" Kairi giggled and then kissed Sora on the cheek before she dashed off towards the town, leaving a stunned Sora behind. He just stood there with an almost dreamy expression on his face as he raised his hand to cover the spot where Kairi has kissed him. Suddenly, it dawned upon him just what she had said.
"HEY!!"
"So, you are all keyblade masters?" the apparent mayor of the town asked Sora, Kairi, and Riku. They were currently in his office. Lloyd had taken Nihlus, Aqua, and Ven off to another room so he could hear their story of how they got to where they were now…there was no doubt in Sora's mind that the trio would find someway to get around having to reveal Nihlus's powers and true nature. Terra, Roxas and Namine were currently taking a look about the town, they had agreed to meet up with everyone else later. As for Monica, she was standing in the same room as Riku, Sora and Kairi.
She hadn't been kidding when she said that she wasn't going to let Riku out of her sights until she could beat him in a fight!
"Well, I'd like to thank you for assisting Lloyd and Monica…without them; I don't think our town guard would last very long!"
"Um, thanks…" Sora replied as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. Despite the fact that he had saved numerous worlds in the course of his adventures, there were very, very few occasions where anyone stopped to actually thank him for it. It was practically a new experience for him.
"Wait, what's so special about them?" Riku asked out of curiosity. He had noticed that several other teenagers their age had shown both Monica and Lloyd a great deal of respect. Judging from the fact that they all carried weapons of some kind or another, they must have been part of the town guard that the mayor had mentioned.
"Well, Lloyd's my son for one thing," A small grin etched itself on the mayor's face. Now that he had mentioned it, the mayor did resemble Lloyd a little. He had gray hair that was much better kept than Lloyd's, and his brown eyes were nearly identical to his son's. "Despite my…objections, he more or less became the captain of the guard. When Monica…arrived she more or less became his second in command." When he received curious looks form the way he said "arrived", the mayor continued. "Ah, you haven't guessed yet? You see, Monica isn't a native of out world,"
The trio spun around to see Monica giving them a cocky salute and shooting them a look that said "What were you expecting?"
"Don't be too surprised, most of the inhabitants of this town aren't from this world either. You see, over a year ago, these strange portals began to open and these creatures came through them, I believe they're known as heartless? Anyway, shortly after they began to attack our town, people began to appear through the portals as well. They told stories of the heartless some how devoured their home worlds."
Sora, Kairi, and Riku all nodded when they heard this, it made since. So this world was much like Traverse Town in the fact that people who lost their worlds to the heartless wound up on it if they feel through dark doors. "You…didn't know that, did you? Odd, both Nihlus and Aqua arrived here through those doors…"
"What?!" Riku blurted out in surprise.
"Hm, well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that they didn't tell you, they were only little children when they arrived here. You see, Ven's parents more or less adopted them, but they never really got close to anyone, except Ven and his uncle…" The keyblade master trio nodded their heads in reply. "Out of the three, Nihlus was always the strangest…he barely even talked to anyone other than them, even after Aqua tried to get him to be more outgoing…"
They were suddenly interrupted when they heard footsteps outside the door to the office. "Hey, guys, this guy said he needs out help!" Roxas declared as he entered the room with Namine, Terra, and a young man from the town.
"Um, yes, I'm the director for our annual play, and two of the actors got sick from a disease that's been going around town for quite some time now. I was wondering if you would be willing to take their place?" the director's voice was full of nervousness; his request was directed at Sora and Kairi.
"Um, sure, but what's the play about?" Sora asked as he saw Nihlus walk in behind the director; apparently he had finished talking with Lloyd. It's not like it could be about anything that would embarrass Sora and Kairi…right?
"Roxas, how could you?!" Sora moaned as he looked through the script of the play while his nobody chuckled at his reaction to finding out that the play was actually divided into several parts that were played out over the course of several nights…and tonight happened to be the epic closing to it, involving a rather romantic scene between his and Kairi's characters…
"Well, me and Namine couldn't do it, we already bought front row tickets with the money we won off Riku, and you two we the bets people for the job I could think of!"
"But Roxas…" Sora continued to moan as he read through the stuff he was supposed to say and do.
"Look, you and Kairi are together, right?" Sora nodded in reply. "Then why should showing affection towards each other in a play be difficult? You two do it all the time in real life!" Sora sighed irritably as he sat the script he'd been trying to memorize down.
"Yes, we together, but this is different! We can't do that kind of stuff in public!" (A/N: Seriously, how many fics have them literally making out in public? And I do mean making out…tongue stuff!)
Roxas shrugged in reply. "Well, you and Kairi already agreed to help, so I suggest that you start suiting up like she is!" Roxas was about to walk out of the room that he and Sora were waiting in when they both heard footsteps coming from outside. In walked Nihlus, at first glance he seemed to be dressed in a suit of black metal armor, but then Sora saw that it was just a replica. He was dressed in the costume of the villain of the play!
"Huh, Nihlus wha-?" Sora received a scolw in reply; it was obvious that Nihlus wasn't very happy.
"Apparently the guy who was supposed to play as this character got sick when he was checking up on the other two," Sora shot Nihlus a puzzled look. He didn't understand why Nihlus was in such a fowl mood. "Naturally, I got chosen by that director to be the evil villain bent on spreading death and decay because I 'am naturally perfect for the part!'"
Now Sora could understand, given his powers and experiences, Nihlus must have been more sensitive than most people were to being called a villain. He had done some pretty questionable things so far…
"…Don't look at me like that!" Nihlus began to put on the helmet that went with the armor. It was black and had horns emerging from it. He then spun around in time to see Roxas making a timely exit. Behind him, he could hear Sora getting ready. His only consolation in the whole affair was the fight scene; it would give him a chance to take out his anger on someone…
"Hi," Roxas whispered to Namine as he took his seat next to her. The play was actually taking place on a stage in the middle of town, the seats were all outdoors. There were massive curtains that had been hung in order to hide the behind the scenes work.
"Hi," Namine replied, grinning, as Roxas sat next to her. The couple held hands as they waited for the play to start. A row or two behind them, Terra sat in his own chair. He crossed his arms and allowed a faint grin to materialize on his face at the thought of what Mickey's reaction to him just kicking back for once would be! That mouse was a workaholic!
The chaser chuckled to himself as the play began, he couldn't wait to see how Sora would look on stage…
The narrator moved onstage with a microphone in his hand. "During our last play, we witnessed the destruction of the Dark Lord's army by King Orious's own knights of the blazing sun. Now, the knight-general Magnus must face his greatest challenge before he can rescue the maiden of light from the dread shadow-knight…" The narrator bowed and then moved offstage as the actual play began.
The curtains parted, revealing Sora, Kairi, and Nihlus all in their costumes. Kairi, who was dressed in a pink dress much like the one she had worn to the dance on Radiant Garden only it was not as ornate, seemed to be held in some sort of stasis in a globe of darkness. The globe itself was clearly just an imitation; it was obvious to everyone in the audience. Kairi too was merely acting as if she were asleep, and quite well too. She must have been taking lessons from Sora…he knew everything there was to know about be a lazy bum!
"Suren!" Sora called out as he drew a broadsword from the scabbard that was included in his costume, a suit of white, metal armor, that was as fake as Nihlus's, without a helmet. "Let her go and surrender, it's not too late to repent for all you've done!"
Nihlus shook his head as he drew his own black sword in response. "No, you fool…" his voice was surprisingly full of barely suppressed emotion. "Do you honestly think there's such a thing as redemption?" Terra, Roxas, and Namine all heard several people near them whisper to each other about "an interesting twist"
A "huh?" escaped Sora's lips as Nihlus said his bit about redemption; Kairi too seemed to stir uncomfortably within the fake prison. "Tell me, do you really think all those people I hurt will truly forgive me? No, they'll claim that they will, but in their hearts they'll want vengeance…" The audience once again began to whisper to one another as Nihlus's eyes began to glow through his helmet. They believed it to be some form of special effects. "They'll justify it by claiming that I'll have to be punished for all those lives I took…either death or imprisonment await me if I simply give up…no, redemption is as much a fantasy as this entire story!"
"What?" Sora asked as he took a step back from Nihlus. He wasn't acting normal, even for him…
"Shut up…just fight me…show that you're the hero everyone loves and that I'm the villain to be despised!" Nihlus abruptly charged Sora with his blade. Sparks flew as their weapons met with a thunderous clang when Sora blocked the strike. They both began a rapid exchange of blows, sparks flying off the magically blunted blades, as they dueled all across the stage. A few members of the audience clapped at their display calling it the greatest fight scene ever choreographed on the grounds that it looked like they were really fighting!
Nihlius's eyes seemed to glow brighter and brighter as his attacks began to increase in ferocity and raw strength. After a flurry of blows, they both jumped back, only for Nihlus to surge forward and strike at Sora so hard that it knocked him backwards and forced him onto his knees. Nihlsu made a charge for Sora, seemingly to impale him on his sword, only for Kairi to suddenly yell "Sora!" and summon her keyblade.
Kairi slashed out of the globe around the time Sora rolled out of Nihlus's way, causing him to embed his sword into the wood. Kairi slashed at Nihlus, only to have him suddenly make use of his powers…in front of the entire population of his hometown. He formed a shield, blocking Kairi's keyblade and then shoving her away, only to have Sora stab him in the side with The Kingdom Key before the blade he was forming on his other arm could be put to use.
Abruptly, the curtains closed on the scene as a few members of the front row were spattered with black blood. Lloyd rushed urgently onto the stage. "And so Suren was defeated, and Magnus and his lady were married and lived happily ever after!" his voice was rushed as he hurried behind the curtains to see what the hell was going on.
Nihlus held his hand in disbelief as he slumped against the wall near the town's main gate. He had shredded the costume and was now sitting in his normal leather armor. Before, no one had questioned him about the heartless symbol on his chest, they had only ever encountered "pureblood" heartless and lost ones, neither of which bore the said symbol. After his display though…
Nihlus truly didn't understand what happened. He had simply voiced some of his opinions and then…lost it…he couldn't stop…
"Nihlus!" his head jerked up to see, of all people, Lloyd running up to him. "What was that? You didn't tell me everything, did you?" Nihlus hung his head with guilt as he got up.
"Lloyd, I-," he was suddenly interrupted by the silver headed militia captain shoving him out of the way, and shouting some kind of exclamation. The gate was shattered into splinters as one of the lost ones burst through it; its golden eyes were fixed upon Lloyd's chest. Before Nihlus could even get up or react, Lloyd gasped when the rogue heartless dug one of its large claws into his chest and roughly pulled out his heart.
"Lloyd!" Nihlus yelled as tentacles emerged from his back and impaled the heartless multiple times, it was Shadow's doing as Nihlus was too surprised to do anything right now.
"Captain, we haven't seen-," Nihlus looked up form Lloyd's fading and unresponsive body as a teenager, around fifteen years old, dressed in an orange shirt and brown pants, suddenly appeared on the scene, holding what appeared to be a sniper rifle. "CAPTAIN! You…you did this!" he accused, not waiting for Nihlus to respond. To him, it was the only possibility, the heartless was already dead and gone (literally) and Nihlus had several tendrils of darkness growing out of his back.
"Wait, no, I-!" Nihlus was cut off when the rifle was fired; he felt something touch his shoulder, but nothing else.
'Nihlus, we have t get out of here! I can't absorb many more of those!' As much as he hated to admit it, Nihlus knew Shadow was correct. He dashed through the remains of the gate while the teen that had tried to shot him started yelling for other members of the town guard to help him hunt down Nihlus.
He couldn't use a dark door, there was a chance that more of the lost ones would be able to get into it and spread to other worlds. Knowing this, Nihlus began to run in the direction of the gummi ship, it would be awhile before a pursuit force could be formed…
'Okay, this is it, you can explain to Sora why you had to take the gummi ship through that link you have with him,' Nihlus nodded in response to Shadow's advice. He was about to enter the ship when he suddenly heard a very familiar voice call him.
"Nihlus, wait!" he spun around to see Aqua sprinting like a bat out of hell towards him. "What happened back there? It's total pandemonium!" Nihlus simply didn't know how to answer her question as she stood in front of him, wanting answer.
"Aqua…I…you have to get out of here, they're coming for me and I can't have you in danger because of my own mistakes!" he tried to turn around and enter the ship, only to have Aqua roughly grab him by the shoulder and spin him back around so that he was facing her again.
"Nihlus, I saw the play…" the champion of darkness gulped at this, for once, he truly didn't have the faintest idea what Aqua was going to do next. "Remember what I said when we made the truce with Sora? You know, when I said that I wasn't going to leave you, no matter how much darkness you pumped into your system?" Nihlus nodded in response. Aqua took a deep breathe before she continued. "I'm coming with you."
"W-what?!"
"You heard me!" Aqua asserted as she crossed her arms. "I promised to stick with you 'till the end…and I'm not going to break that promise because I…I..." she abruptly stopped as she took a clumsy step towards Nihlus and grabbed onto him in what seemed to be an embrace. He stiffened in surprise, but slowly and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her back…and felt something wet.
Wait, wet?! He removed one of his hands to see that it was red, covered in Aqua's blood. Nihlsu gasped in horror as he realized why she was holding onto him so tightly, Aqua's eyes almost seemed dead, she could barely stand! "A-aqua!" he yelled as he allowed her to sink to the ground. he placed her on her stomach to see how bad her injury was when he heard two voices arguing.
"Ashton, what are you doing?! You just shot Aqua, she was innocent!" He looked up to see the teen with the sniper rifle being yelled at by another, older teenager. It was obvious that Aqua' injury had been accidental, Ashton had been aiming for him…
"Aqua, hang on!" Nihlus shouted as he picked her up, bridal style. "Shadow!"
"I'm on it, buddy!" the being of darkness emerged from his host's body and stayed behind while Nihlus moved Aqua to a safer location so that he could heal her. "Hey, why don't you assholes try and fill me full of lead? I'll give five munny to anyone who gets a headshot!"
Nihlus hurried onto the ship, nearly tripping over what appeared to be the armor that he had given Aqua in the first ruin. He didn't bother to question how on earth it got there, it was probably just a prank of Ven's, and he had someone far more important to take care of. Nihlus carefully removed Aqua's jacket and laid her down on the ground on her stomach, of course. "Come on…come one…" he muttered to himself as he place his hand on Aqua's bloodstained tank top. Darkness began to cover the area where she had been shot; he could feel it healing her wound!
In a few seconds the bullet popped right out, and the darkness retracted into Nihlus's palm. He felt relief as Aqua's expression turned peaceful, though her eyes were still shut. He moved her into a more comfortable position on her back and then turned towards the ship's exit…a glare that could kill was etched upon his features.
Shadow reentered Nihlus as he stepped down the loading ramp, his shape shifting abilities meant he was utterly unaffected by all the bullets that he had absorbed. 'Wait, Nihlus, aren't we supposed to be getting out of here about now?'
'No…,' Nihlus sensed Shadow tingle with what felt like fear once he realized what his host had in mind.
'What?! Nihlus, no! You can't kill them, that's blatant power abu-, URGH!' Shadow suddenly began to make choking sounds as Nihlus felt himself shake with rage.
"I swear, I am going to kill you with my bare hands!" he yelled as heartless claws began to grow. He didn't even notice Shadow gagging until the being of Darkness's presence seemed to change…it felt like Shadow, but at the same time, it wasn't Shadow anymore.
'Shhh, sssleep now, little brother, my time hasss come!' the voice was that of the presence that of the presence that had saved him from Davy Jones's crew back on Port Royal. 'What's this? They hurt Aqua, and you want vengeance? Perfect!' Suddenly, Nihlus felt himself being filled with dark power in its purest form. It felt good, and yet he still retained his rage despite the fact that he felt like he was currently on a sugar rush. He could feel his armor changing, growing spikier and more like skin…not to mention what felt like a bladed tail emerging from behind him.
'Can you feel it? Your rage makes usss invincible!' Nihlus nodded eagerly as a borderline psychotic smile spread across his lips. An almost crazed laugh erupted form his lips as he began to summon the single cruelest weapon he could think of at the moment, a cross between a chainsaw and a claymore. 'I believe it isss customary for humans to be given giftsss and partiesss when they return home after an extended periods of absence…I've given you my gift, now look at the party before you!' The presence that had replaced Shadow laughed gleefully as Nihlus began charging down toward the terrified pursuit force.
If he had been in his right mind, he would have stopped to question just what happened to Shadow and what the thing in his mind that was giving him more power than the former had ever been able to muster before was, but he wasn't in his right mind…all he cared about was power and avenging Aqua's wounding and near death…
'HAHAHAHA, welcome home, Nihlus…'
Okay, that was one heck of a cliffhanger, huh? Anyway, I was going to include some of that emotional trauma, but I kinda got lazy and decided that this chapter was long enough as it is right now. Well, in the next chapter things REALLY start to go haywire…try not to hate Nihlus too much, despite him being an OC and all. (In my opinion people rarely feel sorry for the OCs, especially when they harm the canon cast, and only ever don't want anything bad to happen to them when they're being paired with one of the canon cast...and that's just so the bloody character will have a love interest and not go into deprssion over losing someone so close to them!)
The presence that took over Shadow's job is way more powerful than he ever was…and then there's the fact that Nihlus's emotional state is going to be more wrecked than the car I'm going use for driving lessons when I start taking them! It's going to be reallytough to beat Nihlus...prepare for one heck of a battle in the next chapter!
R&R please!