Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts II
Chapter 24: Hollow Bastion Side Story
In the dark corridors of her Hollow Bastion castle, Maleficent gazed down at a round table. Of which showed a magic display of Sora speaking to Xaldin when she had visited Beast's castle. "Xemnas has determined it's worth telling you that once a person's Heartless and Nobody have been destroyed, the original is reformed." the man in black explained, to which the witch raised a brow curiously.
"Therefore, he has decided to make it a game of whether or not you get to save them this time...or to let them die again." Xaldin continued, Maleficent then taking on a small smirk in amusement while watching the visible shaking in Sora's hands.
"Whether you wish to play is entirely up to you...but you better hurry and decide. Who knows what might happen if one of us finds them first." he finished, just before vanishing in a portal of darkness.
Immediately afterward, Maleficent waved her hand and allowed the display to disappear and show just the table. However, she tilted her head down in deep thought for a few moments in order to figure out how to use this to her advantage. She then moved herself away from the table in the center of a large hall, to which she walked slowly toward the throne at the very end of the room. Upon sitting in it, her eyes closed as a small, yet wicked smile curled her lips.
"Pete...get in here." she whispered, but her voice still echoed through the hall as said anthropomorphic cat rushed inside and ran up to the woman's throne.
"Y-Yes, Maleficent?" he asked quickly, him being a little out of breath while he took a knee in front of her.
After reopening her eyes, the witch gazed down at the man and spoke out in a silent tone. "Gather our forces, they're going on a little scavenger hunt." she ordered, her voice being very commanding and firm, despite its quietness.
"E-Even the new guys? Cause most of them don't seem very compliant in taking orders so far." Pete said rather nervously, him being worried about what the woman might do or say in return.
"Is that so?" Maleficent hummed out calmly at first, yet her smile slowly disappeared while both eyes began to glow a bright yellow.
"Then tell them that they can either listen to me...or die by my hand." she stated in a completely honest and very intimidating manner.
It even making Pete shiver and gulp, despite the words not actually being directed toward him. "Y-Yes ma'am!" he called out before rushing out the doors as fast as possible.
Maleficent simply smirked lightly to this before letting out a breath, to which she stood herself up and moved away from the throne. The witch going toward an open door on the right side of the room, a crystal orb similar to the one in Castle Oblivion being visible in the center. While walking up to this, the woman brought out her free hand to hover over the sphere's surface. "Reveal the hearts for which I hold dear." she whispered quietly, her staff's jewel briefly glowing a bright green.
Once she said these words, the lone image of Sora appeared in the crystal. However, it then changed into a golden heart that held many chains linking it to a great many red colored hearts. There also being multiple black hearts, exactly seven white ones, and even a single transparent heart. As Maleficent's hand hovered over the black hearts, they almost seemed to be magnified. Which then created five separate images, yet they were each of different areas within the same world of Hollow Bastion.
"Hmm, interesting. He purposefully lead Sora to believe that they were reborn in other worlds. That way it would keep her distracted in chasing after literally nothing for a short time. Meanwhile, those five will start to wander around to other worlds looking for Sora herself...making it a true game of whom can find them first. Quite the clever plan by taking into consideration of how both sides will move." Maleficent whispered silently to herself, yet her gaze slowly narrowed slightly.
'But I doubt Sora will believe it for long and will figure this out on her own. Or perhaps...' she continuing within her mind, to which she closed both eyes as if to think this over.
However, she didn't get to think much further on it as she turned herself around and glared at the hooded figure standing only a few meters ahead of her. They were in the typical Organization coat, but from their stature, they were a bit younger than any of its current members. "If you're hoping to spy on me...you better do a better job of it in the future." she stated in a firm, yet knowing tone as if noticing the person long ago.
Though said figure didn't speak, Maleficent was still gauging them carefully as to be ready for a possible fight. "Is there something I can help you with?" the witch all but demanded while upturning her her head in a rather imperious way.
"It's come to my attention..." the person began, in a obviously young man's voice; "...that you've taken a bit of Sora's power for yourself."
Maleficent narrowed her eyes heavily upon this person as the grip on her staff tightened slightly; "And what of it?" she questioned, her tone being a very challenging one.
"I'm just curious about the nature of your intent with it. If need be, I can and will take it from you." the man claimed in a very calm manner, which unnerved the witch slightly.
"Is that so?" she hummed out silently, their invisible auras of power slowly becoming visible as great tension vibrated the air around them.
"Well...perhaps I should point Sora in your direction. Since you seem to be so worried about where and how her power should be used, maybe she'll be interested in the little 'experiments' you're conducting. The one you've been perfecting since 'those' three came around." the woman claimed with a small smirk, yet she was clearly bargaining with the man since neither one appeared to want to resort to a fight.
"Hmm...so a stand still?" the figure questioned in a rhetorical manner, to which he placed a gloved finger and thumb to his chin.
Despite his still calm voice, it was clear to Maleficent that he was trying to figure out how she could have known about the 'experiments' she mentioned. However, he just turned around and began heading toward the doors leading out of the hall. "Leaving already?" the woman asked almost mockingly, yet it wasn't blatant enough to warrant a violent response.
"For now...but we'll be in touch very soon." the man claimed as a corridor of darkness appeared in front of him, to which he walked through and vanished once it closed.
Immediately following this, the tension in the room also disappeared, to which Maleficent let out a heavy breath. 'That was definitely the man from Sora's memory, as well as the one I saw just after Ansem defeated me. It was a lucky guess that he really was behind those strange Heartless Sora encountered in that swamp and jungle. But it's even more lucky that the buffoon Pete actually discovered something useful when recruiting that swindler with the self-moving shadow.' she thought to herself silently while closing both eyes.
But as the reopened, she glanced down to her staff's jewel with a narrowed gaze. Said gem holding the image of a sleeping Sora, to which the woman let out a silent breath and headed into the hall once more. Though, just as she was sitting back down Pete finally returned. Yet it was due to being thrown through the doors by an obviously stronger force, which didn't narrow down the list in Maleficent's mind.
The large man groaned silently as he landed rather hard on the floor after this toss, to which he quickly stood up to face the figure following in after him. "You dare to make threats to me?" this person spoke out in a deep and evil voice, his long cloak making it impossible to see his features, especially in the dim light.
"And to make them through such a pathetic and worthless creature like this." he continued while pointing to Pete with what looked like a single skeleton finger.
"Whether the threat is made personally or not...I will kill you if you do not head my orders. And I'm in a particularly foul mood right now, so I would suggest not to test my patience." Maleficent claimed, her not even standing up from her throne as the whole hall started becoming darker.
"I am the ruler here, therefore, if you wish to receive my power and aid...you will obey my word as law!" she announced while her eyes began glowing, to which the room became completely black.
"I will do as I-!" the man began, but was cut short as his form started getting swallowed up by the darkness around him.
"You will obey...or die, is that understood?" Maleficent said in a much calmer tone, yet it was clear she was a mere hair's width away from just killing the man.
Despite being silent for a few brief seconds, the man let out a growling; "Yes." in response.
"Good." the witch whispered as the darkness disbursed and returned the room to normal.
"Now get yourself and the others ready, I want a select few people found in various different worlds. Now go." she ordered before leaning back in her throne slightly.
Despite the feeling of utter rage emanating from the cloaked man, he just turned around and headed out of the room. Meanwhile, it was Pete's turn to breath out a sigh of relief as he looked over to Maleficent with a somewhat thankful gaze. Yet she had her eyes closed and didn't even notice, her appearing to be in deep thought.
'While his request for joining me is simple enough, the fact that his loyalty is so skewed...his usefulness is not as high as he was promising.' she mused silently to herself, Pete having already left and closed the doors once more.
However, since the lock had been broken, they could be easily pushed or pulled open. Not long after these words, the woman slowly took on a small smirk. "Perhaps I shall simply replace him." Maleficent uttered out aloud, yet her voice didn't echo at all.
'Until the right moment however, I'll merely bide my time with whatever traitorous plans he'll make before finally letting Sora destroy him for me. I'm sure there isn't anything she won't do for those friends of hers. In the meantime though, I'll have to keep a very close watch on him, since he knows he cannot defeat me alone. Which means he'll very likely try to turn the others against me as well.' the witch finished, yet her body slowly began to take on a fiery green aura.
"But...first things first." she hummed out while the flames around her began to increase.
"I suppose it's time for me to find those friends of hers." Maleficent continued as she raised her staff into the air.
'The crystal ball could only show me where they were reborn, I'll have to track down where they went afterwards the old fashion way.' the woman mused, to which after almost a half hour of concentration, her eyes fluttered open.
"Perfect." she whispered silently with another small smirk on her features.
This was short lived however, as Pete came stumbling through the doors once more. Though, there was a small storm cloud hovering over him as well; "They've gathered." he said quickly before being struck by a tiny bolt of lightning.
"Ouch~!" he whined out as he rubbed his backside where the electricity hit.
"Good." was all the witch spoke as she stood up and headed to the wide open doors.
"Maleficent~! Please tell them to turn it off~!" Pete called while rushing after her, him trying his best to dodge any further lightning strikes along the way.
The closer to the door the witch got, the sound of laughter from a pair of women became more apparent. This making her let out a heavy breath before coming through the doorway and looking out to the same six people whom had previously gathered for her revival. "Good news." the witch began with a small smirk on her features.
"I know exactly where each of our targets are, and once we have them...we'll have the power of the Keyblade at our beck and call." Maleficent continued while looking from one person to the next.
Hades and Ursula being the more familiar faces, while the other four were the recent additions to the group. Madam Mim, rival of Merlin in sorcery, master of witchcraft and lover of chaos. Magica De Spell, enemy to Scrooge McDuck, user of dark magic and seeker of wealth. Dr. Facilier, smooth talking con-man, wielder of voodoo magic and searcher of riches. The Horned King, self proclaimed ruler of the world, user of necromantic magic and aspirator of godly power.
"And when we do, you'll all get exactly what you desire." the woman finished as each of the six slowly nodded their heads in response.
Well, there's the not so big reveal of the members in Maleficent's group. Lol. Those were the only ones I could think of whom would really figure in the story while also providing something that Maleficent herself would want. But yeah, the one leading the traitors is the Horned King for obvious reasons. And while I didn't fully show exactly what he did to reveal he was a traitor, it's pretty much implied just from his and Maleficent's interaction. So instead of going with a really long scene involving the two fighting with words and magic (as I was originally planning), I wanted a bit more. Mainly to show that there is more going on than just inner turmoil in the group (which is what I made). Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed this and will let me know what you thought. Until next time everyone.