A/N: Help me, edited chapter. You're my only hope.
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The fighting and brawling was inaudible from this height, and yet the witch narrowed her eyes at the mere thought of the confrontations taking place down below. Her hands clenched on the window's edge, her nails scraping against the pure white of the wall as sparks of angry, green embers were sparked from her fingertips. Her eyes were dark and angered as they swept the landscape below. To say she was angry would be offering a vast understatement. No— she was livid. Enraged. This turn of events, though unexpected, should have been the opposite. She should have seen something like this coming; she should have realized that such a plan as this would be hitched in the center. What else would happen, when she had stooped as low as to side with these mongrels?
As it was, she should have known that Xemnas was not planning to keep his bargain in the first place. She had been right to be distrustful at first— she should have stuck with her initial viewpoint. But her greed had ended up blinding her in the end. She could have very well have exacted her revenge on the keybearer soon enough, without any of these black-cloaked people involving themselves and getting in the way. They were the ones that needed her, not the other way around.
Movement from below snatched the witch's attention, and immediately a cross hiss escaped her teeth. It was a group of people— five, it seemed. They were clustered together in a tightly-knit group, and they were obviously a functioning force as they rushed alongside one another. She didn't even have to look closer at them to come to the conclusion that they bore weapons.
Disgusted, the woman drew back with a pompous huff. "The Organization is too feeble as to even defend their own fortress," the witch commented coldly, almost to herself. Though she was addressing the person behind her just as much as she was her own self, and Pete immediately straightened at the sound of her voice. And, predictably, he nodded in agreement with the woman, ever the first to offer support to what she claimed.
Though the sorceress was not at all impressed. Instead, when she glanced back to look over him, she just seemed irritated further. And abruptly, she shook her head and walked away from the window, her footsteps seeming to echo out even over the rain. "This is when we leave," Maleficent said next, making it clear she was not asking for her servant's opinion on the matter. The cat seemed slightly surprised, and he opened his mouth to say something in response. But Maleficent wasn't paying attention as she went on instead. "The intruders storming the castle will be here any moment, we are to leave before they even know of our role in this event. I do not feel like getting my hands dirty when there is no need to do so."
"Bu-But…" the cat seemed to be searching for something to say, but he was coming up with nothing fast. He quite liked staying in such a spacious castle. A castle that was spick and span all by itself. With such a nice view. Certainly it was much better than that other castle— the run-down, rickety, old one, back in Hollow Bastian. But he figured that voicing the complaint would bring more trouble than it was worth, so he bit it back. A wise move, if he'd ever made one.
"We'll leave these fools to drown in their own mistakes," Maleficent said thinly, going forward to stand in front of the cat with a scowl on her face. Though the cat was much taller than her, she seemed to have the upper hand, an air of authority surrounding every inch of the woman. "The keybearer will be ours soon enough regardless. We don't need the help of this filthy place." She eyed the place around her with contempt and distaste, for a few moments, as if trying to collect herself in the midst of it all. But after moment or two, she extended out her arm from where it hung at her side, reaching out and leaving it suspended for a few sparse moments.
Then, from the palm of her hand, green flames spilled out in an oddly-elegant manner, sweeping to the side and circling around to engulf the odd pair in its embrace. It swallowed them from view and raged for a few minutes in a silent fashion— no crackling or popping like any normal inferno. And when it died away, there was nothing left behind. Maleficent was nowhere in sight, and neither was Pete. The two were completely gone. The only thing left in the room was a small clump of dying embers, sparkling like miniature stars.
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Sora began to panic as he choked and thrashed, blackness ringing around his eyes and threatening to pull down over his consciousness. Desperately, he fought to get free, gagging as he scrabbled at Xaldin's grip. He couldn't breathe! He was going to suffocate! His lungs screaming and aching for air, the boy blindly bunched his legs up close to his chest, grimacing deeply before he kicked out with as much strength as he could muster. Pain stabbed through his bad leg as his feet collided into the center of Xaldin's chest. Had Xaldin not been clamping over his throat, the boy would have cried out in agony that the collision caused him. But after the strike, Xaldin hunched forward, a heavy grunt escaping him. And as the man's grip slackened around Sora, the boy was able to finally pry himself away.
Sora fell away from Xaldin and slammed into the ground, his breath getting knocked out from him at once. Water sprayed up around him and soaked him through upon impact, and the boy immediately was struggling to get up, heaving and wheezing for air that couldn't make it through his throat. To the side, Sora's heart froze in panic as he realized that Xaldin had already recovered, the man standing up with his hand wrapped around his stomach gingerly. The boy's body screeched in protest, but, still trying to squeeze air down his windpipe, Sora started to struggle up to his feet as well.
"I'll admit, I kind of underestimated you," Xaldin growled, his voice gruffer than normal after the hit to his gut. Sora locked his jaw backwards, his eyes burning as he staggered, forced to hold onto the wall to keep from falling. Xaldin seemed to find the sight amusing as a twisted grin started to tug up the edge of his lips in a sneer. "But I won't be making that mistake again; you can be sure of that." Sora's eyes narrowed in defiance, however there was a sense of panic in the back of his gaze when Xaldin reached back, summoning lance at his side with a small gleam of light. Sora went rigid and immediately threw himself to the side, narrowing missing the blow that Xaldin struck as it instead buried deeply into the wall where he had once been standing.
Gasping sharply and clenching his hand at this side, he summoned his keyblade forward in a beam of light. His grip increased on the hilt, feeling the familiar grooves of his weapon. Trying to reassure himself with the mere touch, he took in a quick breath, pushing off the wall and forcing all of his weight onto his legs, which immediately began to tremble in response. But he pushed aside the fact at once, jerking forward and raising his keyblade just to slam it back down again, landing a heavy blow against Xaldin that he was almost impressed with. He didn't think his muscles had enough energy in them to strike a hit so hard.
Xaldin immediately drew back, doubling over in a sense of pain from the attack. And, taking his chance and not giving himself even a moment of recovery, the teenager dashed forward again to slam his blade down across the man's shoulder. And his eyes flashed as the cloaked figure doubled back again. If he could just make Xaldin get far enough back, then maybe he could weave around him and get out of this dead-end. He wasn't sure how fast he could run, but maybe he could break free long enough to find Axel; or at least call out for him and hopefully get his attention. Or maybe…
Didn't Xaldin say before that there were people attacking the castle? He had no idea who it was, but if they were coming so far as to attack the Organization, surely they were against the group? Maybe he could run into one of those people and try to explain his situation. Maybe they could find enough pity in their hearts to try and help him out of here. It was a slight reach to presume something like that. After fighting just for a few minutes, he was already running out of energy. He wasn't sure how much help he could be by the time he rushed to someone in that party. They might discard him regardless.
But he had to try, didn't he? It was all he could do, really.
Sora forced his exhausted boy to kick into overdrive. His muscles were burning and aching, pleading with him to stop. But giving up now would mean the end— he had to get over it. So he gritted his teeth and rained blow after blow down on Xaldin, ignoring the way that his arms felt like lead. And for a heartbeat, Sora wondered despairingly if the man would ever fall. But after what seemed like ages, Xaldin did finally go down, knocked aside as he let out a low groan. Sora forgot how to breathe as his chance started to come up, and, just for good measure, Sora offered what he hoped was a hard blow to the man's head to try and keep him down. But by now, his swipes lacked energy, and as he started to stagger around Xaldin's body, he hoped that it would be enough to keep him down for at least a little bit.
Adrenaline pumped through Sora's veins, and with the hormone, some of the pain was smothered away. It wasn't his forefront of attention; getting out of here was, so he was able to look past his agony and quicken his pace into an actual run. He pelted forward, the freezing rain lashing back into his face as he got nearer and nearer to the exit of the alley. Though he was cold from head to toe, and though he had trouble maneuvering in the thick cloak he wore, he couldn't hold back a slowly-growing sense of excitement and ecstasy. He was going to get out! All he had to do was keep running!
Sora was just about to burst out of the dead-end, when suddenly he was pitched forward. His cloak had been too long on him in the first place— when Axel had first given it to him, his first thought was that it was probably much too baggy on him. And now that it was weighted down with water, the bottom of the hem was a pool on the ground. Not paying attention to anything besides his desperate need to get out, Sora hadn't been careful where he was putting his feet. He stepped on the bottom of the Organization uniform and was immediately tripping forward, his bad leg screaming as it was only entangled in the mess.
It was so surprising and it moved so quickly, that he had nothing to do in response.
He had nothing to do except throw his hands out in front of him in an attempt to catch himself, a force of habit taught from a young age. Sora tried to land on all fours and make his fall less painful. And as he slammed into the ground and earned himself a gash on his cheek and a scratch on his forehead, he thought that he had done the trick well enough. From behind him, he could hear small splashing sounds, along with a small grumble that was almost lost to the roar of the raindrops. Xaldin was getting back up.
Sora started to do the same, panic causing his throat to close. He had to get back up and start running again before Xaldin could hold him back. But as soon as he tried to move, the boy suddenly went stiff and unmoving, his eyes widening slightly as he realized that something was wrong. A slow, almost tingling sensation was traveling up the length of his arm— a feel that caught him off-guard as he looked down with a confused expression. And immediately, as he laid eyes on the limb, horror spread over his features in less than a millisecond.
His right arm was bent at an awkward angle; his fingers were splayed out in an awkward clawing fashion, and though his clothes hid the skin underneath, Sora could see the rain coming off of him dyed a pinker color, as if he was starting to bleed. It was…it was broken. He couldn't move it! Seeing the injury in front of him, the boy's breathing hitching, escalating into a hyperventilation as the tingling feeling in his arm started to thicken into a searing hot pain. It felt like a white-hot iron was being pressed against his nerves and against his bones.
Quickly, Sora screwed his eyes shut tightly, ducking his head as his left hand balled into a shaking fist to try and focus on something other than the agony that was now flooding through him. And, trembling with the effort not to scream aloud, Sora dug his nails deep into the palms of his gloves, trying to push himself up but only managing to twitch on the ground. He ground his teeth together, so the boy was left to hiss out a pain-filled whine, the noise sounding pathetic and agonized.
Xaldin had recovered by now, and he walked slowly over to Sora, his hands clasped behind his back. And at the pathetic sight of the keybearer, Xaldin snickered, his face marred with an ugly smirk as he crouched down almost to the child's eye-level. "Well, well, well," Xaldin hummed sickeningly. "Look at the little mess we've fallen into, hmm?" Sora looked up at this, biting down so hard on his lower lip that a trail of blood had begun to mark its way down his chin. He opened his mouth to say something, but Xaldin didn't give him a chance. Reaching over, the man grabbed hold of Sora's front, yanking the boy up so that he rose along with Xaldin. The movement caused his right arm to jerk wildly, and Sora let out a pained gag as he was forced upright.
"Let's see how well you fight now, huh?" Xaldin growled. And no sooner had he said this, did he jerk forward, throwing Sora down onto the ground as hard as he could possibly manage. Against the slick ground, Sora skidded on his back for about a foot, coming to a stop in a ragged heap. Sora scrabbled, reaching around and holding his broken arm tightly with his own, squeezing his eyes shut and gasping a sharp intake of breath into his lungs. He could hardly tell up from down, and he was quickly becoming nauseous with the amount of pain that was layering itself on top of him. His throat was thick and he couldn't even breathe without the sigh being punctured in a small noise akin to a sob.
He turned, looking at his arm and how damaged and awkward it seemed. He tried to shift to see it better, his eyes hollow and round with alarm. Blood was making his arm hot despite the frigid air and water all around him. He knew that this, along with everything else, was just going to make getting away even more impossible. He had to find a way to try and weave around this.
But he didn't have the chance to try and repair his arm even slightly. Because as he tried to move and arrange his limb into a position where it would not get budged or ran into, another lance sped past him, this time barely grazing his ear. Sora stiffened, his eyes wide as he watched the weapon fall into the street instead, sinking into the flood of water that was quickly replacing the pavement. And from where he stood, Xaldin summoned forward another spear, narrowing his eyes at the miss as he started to line up another spear instead. Taking in a gulp of air, Sora ducked his head, letting go of his broken arm and willing his keyblade into his left hand instead.
Typically, the teenager used his right hand when he fought. It was his dominant hand, and the one that he had grown accustomed to, really. He had only just started using his left hand at the start of this journey, but the only reason that such a skill came almost naturally to him was because of the aid of Drive. This time, he had no friends to lean on for support; he was entirely by himself. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place using an arm that he normally didn't. He looked down at his keyblade, worry and panic brewing amongst the pain in his gaze. But he knew that there was no point in trying to debate over it all— this was all he had left. He had no other choice than this.
The boy snapped out of his thoughts just in time to yet again dodge a spear that was heading his way, staggering to the side with enough room to watch it flash past him. Gritting his teeth, Sora shook his head and braced himself, gripping his keyblade and forcing his wearied legs back into motion. His right arm was useless at his side, and with every little movement, pins and needles seemed to sink deep into his skin and strike his nerves. The boy reared back and slashed forward with his keyblade, landing a blow on Xaldin that was obviously less powerful than what it normally was. It only winded the man for the briefest of moments, and Sora was forced to skitter backwards to avoid yet another stab.
Catching himself before he could keel over, Sora found himself blinking rapidly, trying to steady his eyesight, which was wavering and shaking by now. There seemed to be two of everything with his sluggish mind, and the boy let out a small curse underneath his breath. "C'mon…don't give up now…" He had gotten this far; now that he actually had a plan, was he really going to let himself get beaten? He could get through this! He had gotten through everything else! All the torture, all the days without food— this couldn't be the breaking point. Not when he was out; not when he was so close.
So he let out an angered scream, crouching down and making a slow, slightly dragging run at Xaldin again.
But the man seemed to be ready for him this time. His eyes narrowed for a brief moment, and he seemed to contemplate something; but he did not hesitate too long before he too started rushing towards the other. He was making to meet Sora head-on, but the boy quickly stamped down his rising panic. It was fine, he told himself. He had killed others that had been in the Organization— this guy was just another thing on his list to check off.
But instead of launching forward another weapon, Xaldin caught Sora off-guard by instead reaching out to him. Sora's mind was racing a mile a minute, but the teenager was wise enough to the game by now. Thinking that the man was going to head for his throat again, the brunet started to duck lower, about to launch himself forward and slide out from underneath him. If he did it right, he could slash the man's side on the way out as well. But too late was it clear that going for the throat was not Xaldin's plan. Instead, the man lashed out and grabbed too-tight hold of Sora's right arm, which, up until this point, had been limp and dangling at his side. And quickly, before Sora could react, Xaldin curled his hand inwards, his fingernails digging into the already-injured-limb without warning.
In the middle of skidding across the water-covered pavement, Sora was suddenly yanked backwards by his broken arm and kept into place. He stumbled, trying to scuff at the ground to catch himself so that his arm wouldn't become even more mangled. However, the movement only caused his bad leg to flood in pain, and he was left to swing backwards, his eyes growing wide and hollowed-out as he stared blankly forward. His lower lip began to tremble, and the teenager's eyes began to prick and sting as he struggled to choke and swallow back the scream that was pushing out from his mouth. Xaldin was watching him with an eager smirk; yet as Sora only began to shake and tremble, he seemed to grow disappointed over the lack of response.
So he tilted his head to the side, pulling and lifting the boy up off the ground by his broken arm.
It wasn't very far. Maybe a couple of inches.
But that was all it took.
Immediately, Sora was screaming at the top of his lungs, a blood-curdling screech that ran the boy's throat hoarse as absolute agony ripped him apart. Xaldin responded quickly to the child's scream, hoisting him up a little bit more – much to Sora's anguish – only to throw him back down with a slam onto the concrete below. Sora started to scramble, but not to his feet. Gagging and sobbing, the teenager immediately skittered, turning and grabbing at his arm, as if such a movement could help stop the wave of pain that was landing against him like fire. He didn't try to get up at all.
Xaldin watched the boy writhe for a moment, enjoying the sight. But after a pause he dropped down as well, grabbing Sora's shoulder and transitioning him roughly so that the teenager was on his back. The boy was frantic, his chest rising and falling in uneven gasps as his pupils were mere slits. He was still screaming, as if he couldn't manage to get himself to stop. Scowling, Xaldin planted his hand down on the boy's chest, holding him in place as he cocked his arm backwards. And without any sense of hesitation in the face of the weakened teenager, Xaldin balled his hand into a tight fist and slammed it down against the boy with startling force.
Again and again he repeated the action, completely merciless in every single one of his actions. Repeatedly, he slammed his fist down with a thud. At first, Sora tried to fight back against it. He continued to screech, and at one point he even tried to bring up his keyblade to try and knock the other away and off of him. But it couldn't last. Pretty soon, with each passing punch, Sora's voice died off, his screech dying away into ragged gasps and incoherent whimpers. Blood was staining itself onto Xaldin's knuckles, but it was staining Sora's face more. His left eye swelled shut, and he could taste the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. His neck gave out from him, and the boy found his head drooping limply to the side.
Xaldin lost count of how many minutes passed of the routine. He had been momentarily lost in a haze of red anger. But by the time he was brought back to himself, he was slightly out of breath and his arm was wearied down from its exertion. Sora was near unconscious, the boy's face bloodied and bruised almost beyond recognition. He was staring off to the side, unable to support his own head anymore as he was left staring at the wall off to the side. The water running off of him was now a darkened red.
The sight brought a grin to Xaldin's face. "Aw…poor dear." He turned, crouching over Sora and planting his knee onto Sora's right hand, the boy immediately letting out a sob in response to the action. And in seeing the reaction, he put a little bit more pressure down, evoking a similar response. Sora tried to make a move as to get up, but it was clear to both him and the young boy that such a thing was impossible by this point. And with the realization, Xaldin chuckled, reaching over and grabbing the younger's chin as he forced the pinned boy to look up at him. "Maybe this could have turned out differently if you weren't so annoying."
Sora's eyes were fuzzy and distant. But as Xaldin brought out a spear and waved it teasingly in front of his face, a little bit of intelligence leaked back into the boy, along with severe panic and desperation. Xaldin sneered, turning down and starting to line up his sear, placing its tip against the boy's chest and beginning to put slow pressure down. It stabbed through the clothing easily, and Sora's breathing picked up into a hyperventilation as he felt it tease the skin underneath. The boy turned, trying to struggle free; but he knew that it wasn't possible. He was too weak; he had no energy left inside of him. His head was spinning and throbbing— he felt like he was going to be sick. He couldn't keep track of one thought before it fell like sand in between his fingers. He couldn't feel his legs anymore, and the water was getting too cold around him.
The teenager finally shut his eyes tightly, tears leaving clean marks down his bloody face as he turned his head away. Yet Xaldin responded quickly, reaching over and grabbing the boy's chin and forcing it back center. "Oh no, you brat." is voice was a low growl, but there was no mistaking the humor and enjoyment that was throbbing underneath his words. "I want you to watchas you slowly lose your heart." Sora didn't react, keeping his eyes shut like a child that didn't want to see a scary movie or something dreadful. And Xaldin repeated his words icily. "I want you to watch!"
Sora let out a soft cry as he felt yet another punch delivered to his head. More pressure was applied to his arm, and as the boy sobbed, Xaldin repeated it for a third time. "I want you to watch!"
He could barely make sense of things anymore. Colors were smudges, and he felt like the ground was caving out from underneath him. But as yet another punch was applied, Sora was forced to open his eyes, looking pained far beyond measure. And the cloaked figure pinning him to the ground smiled, satisfied with the forced reaction.
And as the satisfaction spread over his face, Xaldin looked down at Sora's chest, and, with the barely-conscious child being made to watch, he began to line up his spear.
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Axel skidded back on his feet, narrowly missing yet another spell attack that had been thrown at him from Ansem. Geez— the guy might look old, but if he was, he certainly wasn't hindered from age. The guy was almost too hard to land a blow on. He moved too quickly, and struck even quicker. Wounds and burns were etched over Axel's skin by now, and moving was starting to become a chore. He had already used up two potions; those as well just happened to be his last two that he had in storage. He had to be more careful now, but above all, he had to get out of this mess. He had been fighting for much too long— he needed to get back to Sora.
Precious seconds slid through his hands like it was sand, and panic was starting to grate against his nerves. Sora was like a magnet to danger, and with them being separated for the long, Axel was starting to get worried. He growled underneath his breath, his eyes narrowing into slits as he raised his arms and threw both of his weapons forward, barreling towards the man across from him. But once more, Ansem merely dashed out of the way, the Chakrams having nowhere else to go but straight back into the redhead's grip. And, frustrated, he scooped them up, trying to fight the rising tide of anger that was stirring in his stomach.
He was growing tired; he was losing his edge. The thought made him scowl angrily, and, not for the first time, Axel wondered despairingly why this guy wouldn't just let him go. He had said what he was trying to do! He had tried his best to explain himself! But apparently to Ansem, it wasn't enough to earn himself a ticket out of this mess. So he was stuck trying to beat him out instead— and he was quickly beginning to wear-out like beaten-up shoes.
Axel opened his mouth to try and reason – once more – with the man, but broke off with a startled yelp. Ansem had crafted yet another wall, which was quickly careening towards him. He was frozen— knowing that he had no time at all to try and dodge the blow. So quickly, without thinking much at all, he turned his back to the spell, hoping that it would help to at least alleviate some of the force of the blow. But all it did was throw him into the wall face-first instead, crashing with a dull thud as another jolt of pain ripped up his side. The wall disappeared in a flash, and the man slid down the wall with a slight squeak.
Feeling a pain rooted deep in his side, Axel held his stomach as he pushed himself up, a pained grimace written over his face. "I think you broke a few ribs with that one," Axel coughed, fixing the old man with a sharp flower. Ansem did not reply; he only stared steadily at the man, poised to throw himself to the side in case of attack. Blowing out a breath, Axel tried to push most of the pain out alongside it. "Alright then," he said, straightening as much as he could. "My turn, then."
Letting his two weapons disappear in a small spark of flame, Axel brought his hands forward instead, his green eyes flashing as he mumbled a sharp spell underneath his breath. Ansem straightened at the change, and Axel was acutely aware of the fact that he seemed to go rigid with a sense of worry or confusion. Axel was a little hesitant to play this card; if it didn't work and the man somehow managed to dodge this attack, then that was the end of it. Axel would be left like a limp noodle, and he certainly wouldn't pose any other kind of threat. But he knew that there was no choice. Sora could be in danger right now. So he had to make this work somehow.
Ansem began to backtrack to try and make more room between himself and the cloaked man. But y this time, Axel was finished prepping for the spell. Abruptly, his head snapped up, and from his splayed hands shot out long, thick strings of fire that almost resembled rope. Ansem's eyes shot wide at the sight, and even wider as the flooding inferno started to turn straight for him. Yet as the flames grew nearer, Axel hesitated, and instead watched as the strands hollowed out instead. Instead of wrapping around him like Axel had originally intended, he watched instead as the strings changed into a wall themselves, ballooning out and curling around his opponent. Like a cage would an animal, it fenced him in tight. Ansem was trapped. It was either stay put against the wall, or risk getting searing hot third degree burns.
Axel let his hands fall down, a flinch crossing over his face as he stumbled a little bit to the side. The spell seemed to have taken more out of him than he'd first thought. Yet despite the pang that was now filling his body, Axel could not hold back a twinge of satisfaction at the sight of his work. Ansem was completely surrounded on all sides by walls of thick, raging flames. The only way he could remain unburnt and uncharred was by staying right where he was. Anything else would just be suicide.
He almost stopped long enough to find amusement in the sight. Any other time and he would have called out a few teasing drawls that would only throw salt into the man's wounds. But he didn't have the chance— not right now. Quickly, all humor drained from his face, and instead, the redhead's look faded into one of apprehension and anxiety. And softly, underneath his breath, he gave a small mumble. "…Sora." He had to find him. He couldn't waste any more time than he already had.
Ansem stiffened at the name, his eyes narrowing into an expression of puzzlement and anger. But Axel wasn't even bothering to pay attention to him by now. Instead he turned on his heel, his hands balling into fists tightly at his sides as he broke into a sprint. He flew up the steps and took them two at a time despite the tiredness that was beginning to drag at his bones. He started to try and head back, in the direction that he had come from. What were the odds that Sora had somehow found a way to wait for him there? Or that he could maybe catch up to him?
But he came up empty as he passed the spot he had spoken to Xaldin with Sora. There was no one on the steps. So he huffed and went up the rest of the way, wondering if maybe things had backfired, but not by too much. Had Sora been found out and just stuffed back into his room? "Sora!?" Axel called, unafraid now of shouting. He hadn't seen hide or hair of anyone else since he'd broken away from Ansem. "Sora, where—?" Axel stopped short, his eyes wide. Sora's door was open. It hadn't been open before. And, dashing inside, Axel realized that the items that had been stowed away into the corner had now been strewn in the center. The box and the shoes.
Panting and gasping for air, Axel reeled, trying to find out what he should do. What happened while he was busy!? Quickly, he shook his head. And pushing away from the wall and spinning around, he decided to fly back down the steps, making for the main floor. Had Sora made it outside? Was he somewhere out there? It was the best chance he had, if he had been forced to go along with what Xaldin had asked him to do. Breathing unevenly and trying to move past the burden that his legs were becoming, the man forced himself to keep running, his chest feeling tight and constricted. "Hang on, Sora." The mumble was hardly audible, yet it resonated all the same with the cloaked figure. "Just hang on; I'm coming."
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Riku, Yuffie, Leon, Kairi, and Cid kept paced with one another, their rapid footsteps bouncing off the walls and echoing back to them as they searched rampantly through the halls of the castle. Yet despite their efforts and all they were putting in, they still hadn't found a single trace of eitherof their targets. Xaldin and Xigbar were both missing still, and by this point they had covered the first few floors in their entirety. Pretty soon they were going to run out of places to look. "This is impossible," Riku gasped, skidding to a halt. The others let out mumbles in response, as if in objection, but after a few feet they halted as well. And as all eyes went back to him, Riku shook his head. "We're never going to find them with the way we're going through things right now! And where could they possibly be!? We've checked every room! We need to broaden our search, otherwise we'll get nowhere!"
"You're a real downer, huh?" Cid sighed, his hands on his hips.
Wisely, Riku decided to ignore the jab.
"What good will splitting up do now?" Yuffie demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. "We've come this far together; we should try and stick with one another as long as we can. Or at least until we find at least one of the targets, right?" She waited for objections, and no audible ones came. Though the frustration on Riku's face was apparent, as was the worry plastered over Kairi's. Sighing softly, Yuffie tried again, tilting her head to the side. "I'm just as worried as you guys are, but the King didremind us that we had to focus on the mission too, right?" Glancing over at Riku, she added softly: "After our last blunder, I really don't feel like making any more mistakes."
Riku had to admit, he was pegged with that one. But still, he found it difficult to swallow back the irritation that was stirring in his gut. These white halls seemed to be endless, and Riku was starting to wonder if they would ever even see a different shade of any color on the walls or floors. So far, everything looked as though it had been submerged in bleach and left to soak for a few days. There wasn't even a smudge of beige anywhere at all. And somehow the complete lack of color or variance was really putting him on-edge. Maybe even more so than he would have been normally.
To the side, there was a window that was slightly ajar— probably on accident by someone quite some time ago, judging by the small puddle that was slowly gathering on the floor. And through the gap between the sill and the glass, Riku could make out the sounds of fighting and clanging. Against himself, he wondered how everyone was holding up. Hopefully better than him and the others. What would Mickey think right now if he knew that they couldn't even track down their designated people? Surely he'd have a heart attack.
Riku sighed, starting to give into Yuffie. They should probably get moving again; after all, what use were they if they just stood around here bickering? But as soon as he opened his mouth to reply to the girl, he was cut short by the faintest of noises. He wasn't sure what it had been at first, but it was odd and seemed to stick out from every other noise that wafted in the breeze. No— this was different. And, veering over to the side, Riku went over and opened the window the rest of the way, his eyes straining in the darkness as he felt his heart begin to pick up in tempo.
The reaction immediately caused Kairi to be on-edge. "What is it?"
"…Did you hear that?" Riku demanded, whirling around to face the others anxiously. Their blank faces stared back at him, answering without saying a word. They were looking at him the way someone would look at a dog that had just morphed into a fruit. Shaking his head, Riku quickly went on, finding the idea trivial. "A scream. I'm sure that's what it was. Someone was screaming. And it sounded…it sounded…different…" Hesitating, he looked over his shoulder down below, fire forehead creasing over. "Something is wrong; we should go back down. Now." Even before he was finished talking, he was moving, turning around and heading back the way they had come.
But he was stopped. "Wait!" Leon called out, stopping Riku in his tracks. Yet although he halted, he didn't turn around, keeping his back to the group despite the fact they had all turned to look back at him. "You don't know what's going on!" Leon pointed out. "That scream could have come from someone from the Organization!" When Riku didn't react, he shook his head. "Or— let's say it was from our group. You seemed to have forgotten that we came stocked with a lot of potions! If someone's gotten hurt, they should be perfectly fine, right? Their partner is there for them!"
Riku didn't seem assured. He did turn, but only to fix the person who had spoken with a hard stare. "And if something went wrong? You didn't hear what I heard, Leon. That sounded bad. It sounded like something had fallen out of place. With all our planning, something like thatshouldn't have happened I don't think."
"Riku, it could have come from someone in the Organization," Leon repeated. Yuffie glanced his way, as if silently agreeing.
Riku shook his head again. "I know what it was, Leon. It's somebody out there and they need our help. It didn't sound like any Organization member I've heard." It was true; and despite the sense that Leon's words held, he realized that he was under the impression of a bad feeling. Something wasn't right; something had changed. "I don't know about you all, but I'm going to go check it out. I know it was from somebody in danger, and I'm not about to ignore them." He wasted no more time, turning and rushing down the hall, beginning to retrace his steps.
As he ran, he became aware of another set of footsteps behind him. And in no time at all, Kairi appeared, flanking his side and matching him stride for stride. He glanced over the girl's way, and he turned to offer him a small smile. Of course; should have known that the girl would stick with him.
One by one, the others gave in, giving chase once Kairi left them too. Pretty soon, they were all falling into step behind Riku, who was at the head and leading them to where they were to go next. Narrowing his eyes, the boy found himself hoping that what he had heard was in fact something real— that it was someone in danger and not just them walking into some kind of trap. And yet he was also kind of hoping that maybe it couldbe nothing at the same time. The scream he had heard was blood-curdling and sickening to hear, even from a distance. It was like something out of a horror movie. And the thought of losing someone that he had walked in beside this morning was awful.
He just hoped that if it was something, that their hesitation would not have caused a backlash.
He hoped that they could make it in time to help.