Here we go! w00t! Another chapter! Thank you all for your support, review or now. (smiles) I like the fact that lots of people are reading and keeping up with the adventures of Kokoro and Sora, that makes me happy. Please review if you haven't already! If you have... (bows) arigato! Okay, here is chapter 29 of "Kokoro".
Laura ran out of cards, all of them scattered on the ground all over the room. She now waited behind Daniel, who had lost his staff to a Heartless. Skarwind stood in front of everyone because the only fighter left with a weapon. He looked at the numbers, they lowered but still outdid the group. He cringed and gripped onto his spear when the doors to the library opened up. Momo came running out, kitana in hand and Aki on her tail. She slid down the railing while trying to get away but Aki ran down after her and both stopped at the bottom. They weren't the only ones to join the group. Mark and Riku came crashing down from the room before. Somehow they fist fought to the balcony and knocked each other over the edge, both saving the fall with a barrel roll. Skarwind looked at everyone and noticed the missing ones. "Kaguya, where are Kaguya and Sora?"
Everyone else looked around but Aki and Riku. They stopped fighting and turned to each other, then to the center of the room. In the blink of an eye a light formed, first small and then into a doorway. Out came Kokoro with her wings and Sora behind her, hugging himself. "She did it..." Aki said softly and in amazement. Kokoro landed her feet to the ground and turned to Sora with her blue eyes. He cringed in the pain, the scars on his back starting to glow. "Sora, Sora! You have to change, prove you are the one!"
"The one... for what!" Sora ordered for an answer but the pain that Kokoro felt before was now coming to him. He now knew what the other Archangels went through when the Royalty was going to the dark side. He fell to his knees, the pain intolerable.
Kokoro glared down at Sora but spread her wings and turned to Aki. "It's you." She elevated off of the ground, still not able to form the Keyblades due to the fact that the element was still using her powers to fill the castle with water. "Aki, you are the reason why this is happening. I will never forgive you." She let her wings spread and rushed over to Aki, not ever taking one step. She was faster than expected, catching Aki off guard and knocking her down. Momo moved to the side and stared at them, the angel had taken her pray. The feathers fell down from the sudden stop, falling like snowflakes, but the wings were still spread and out while Kokoro looked down at Aki with emotionless blue eyes. "You are hurting Sora, make it stop now."
"I can't." Aki smirked. "Not unless you two hand yourselves over. Otherwise every time we get more power you will feel the pain and change." She stopped talking when Kokoro put her hands around Aki's neck, grasping it. Aki looked at the gloved hands, then at the bearer of them. "Just try it."
Kokoro tightened the grip, ready to strangle Aki until the life had left her. Sora wouldn't let her. He tried to stand up, getting over the pain, and get to her. He tried to go close but the scars pulsed and he felt it in his heart. Riku glanced down at his gauntlet hands, the dark glow residing through the armor. Sora again stood to get to Kokoro, but stopped when the pain came back. He didn't want the wings to spread, to be under the influence of the darkness like the others. Kokoro gave her attention to Sora, then let go of Aki and looked down at her hands. "What... what am I doing..." She let her body, in a limp, hover higher and higher to get off of Aki while still looking at her hands. "What am I doing!"
"Ko... koko... Kokoro." Sora tried to say but the pain was too much to bare. He fell to his knees and gave in, the wings spreading on his back. Skarwind and the other looked in utter shock, this turn of events was not a needed one. The boy was breathing hard, it took a lot of force to sprout the long wings of elegance. He then stood up, the wings hanging low and touching the floor. Sora shifted his gaze up to Kokoro, who had her eyes down to him. "I'm sorry."
She shook her head, then came down to him in his arms. Kokoro fell in them, like there was no gravity, and lay her head on his chest. "Sister... will be happy that you have done this."
"Yeah..." Sora just looked down at her, then hugged her and started to caress her head. "Now, give me back Kokoro... please."
The girl peeked up at him, then shook her head. "I still do not approve of you... saving her." She looked down at her hand on his chest, outlining the scar on it. Sora just kept his eyes on her as she spoke. "I will still try to stop her, but I..."
"Can't." Sora finished the sentence. Kokoro giggled, but not like normal. It sounded like the little girl that he had met before when he was searching for Kokoro in the cells higher in the castle. "If you can't stop Aki and Kokoro why keep going with it all?"
She stopped outlining his scar and giggled again. "Because if she dies then I have nothing to worry about. If she lives then I know she is the one." Kokoro again lay her head on his chest, her wings also now falling and the tips laying on the floor and falling like water. "So then... I guess she can control Fenrir for a good reason."
"Yeah..." Sora kept looking down at her. Both stood in the silhouette of light, the wings reflecting like hearts in the darkness. "Please..."
Kokoro closed her eyes, then her wings vanished. All of the feathers detached, no wings left. Orbs of light and feathers floated around the room. The girl went limp, Sora catching her as his wings also dispersed. Aki sat up and dazzled at the feathers falling. She held her hand out as one landed in it. The soft delicacy turned into an object of light and then vanished into her hand, tarnished by the gems darkness. Sora was also tired from the power, falling to his knees with Kokoro in his arms. "So that proves it." Riku remarked, making everyone but the two angels look at him. "We need both of you, now."
Sora gazed down at the sleeping girl, never looking away. "She's just a puppet. When does she ever control herself? If not her, it's an Archangel. If not that, then an element trying to ruin her life or kill her." He looked down at her soft face as she rested her head on his lap, him sitting on his knees. "All of these tests... to see if she lives or dies... and she doesn't even know about them... what a sick game."
"That's life." Aki tried to joke. Momo stomped her foot at this and was about to yell at Aki when a not needed sound came from upstairs. Everyone turned their attention up and Sora remembered, the water dripping in the cell room. It was flooded and coming towards them. "Please don't tell me that her eyes were blue because-"
Riku stood up as well, running over to Aki. "We have to go, now." He grabbed her by the wrist, ready to warp out. Aki looked at Sora and Kokoro on the floor, then over at Momo. No later she closed her eyes and was warped away with Riku to an unknown location.
Sora stood up, lifting Kokoro onto his back. He was tired but still was ready to fight on. "Let's get out of here!" Sora yelled out. Everyone agreed and ran to the main doors. Skarwind and Daniel got to them first, trying to open them. The doors were locked shut, they wouldn't budge. "No way..." Sora quickly gave up on the door and turned to look at the water trickling down the stairwells. "We'll get stuck in here..."
"Let's run up!" Skarwind started to the staircase that led to the library. He stopped when no one else followed, one foot already on the bottom step. "We need to reach higher ground, if it's coming from a different location above up we might be able to get to higher ground through the library."
Sora nodded and started to follow, but almost tripped on his own feet. Momo went ahead with Daniel and met Skarwind at the steps, then watched him go over to Sora. "You're tired." He put his hand on Sora's shoulder. The boy looked up at Skarwind and gave her over. Skarwind took her onto his back and both went to the stairwell, starting up to the library. They all went into the library, Sora and Daniel shutting the doors and locking them behind the group. Sora stopped and examined at the room, Momo and Aki's fight left a mark but there were still places to hide. Everyone started to the stairwell to the second floor of the library, and examined the height of the area around again. "We have to get higher..."
"Up there!" Sora pointed. He started to knock the books off the shelves and climb up the newly made ladder. He got to the top of a stable bookshelf and then lowered his hand. "This is the highest we can go."
Daniel nodded and started to help the others. The first one to come up was Laura. With the help of the others on the bottom she took Sora's hand and was helped to the top. Laura moved to the corner with the wall and waited as the rescue operation continued. Next up was Mark, climbing most by himself and then getting the help of Sora at the top. Both then knelt over the side, ready to help others. Kokoro started to open her eyes, her head never hurt that much in her life. "Dammit... I had too much last night or what?" She scrambled out of her mouth. Sora smiled that she was awake but the wave of water had reached the main room, they could hear it. Kokoro heard it too, glancing down and now realizing that she was on Skarwind's back. "What did I miss?"
"Lots, now get moving!" Skarwind ordered. Kokoro got down and, with the help of Momo, got up to Sora. Too late. The water broke through the main doors to the library and started up the stairs. Sora pulled Kokoro up, then called down to Skarwind and Momo to hurry. Skarwind gave Momo a boost with his hand, but her hand never made it to Sora. The wave came up the stairs almost as powerfully as if it were going down. Skarwind and Momo were taken by the dark waters, the other getting wet from it splashing against the walls.
Kokoro went to the edge, to jump in, but Mark stopped her. "No, let me go! Momo and Skarwind are out there! We have to-" She never finished, Sora dived in to help them. She knew that he was probably the best swimmer in the group but it still scared her. The water was still rising, it now reached the bottom on the top shelf.
Sora went under, but there were too many books and other object to get around. He popped his head up, finding that the water had indeed gotten very deep. He looked around for Momo and found Skarwind climbing up onto a different bookshelf. The boy swam over to Skarwind, lifting himself halfway out of the water to talk with the man. "Where is Momo?"
"I don't know." Skarwind looked around, pushing his wet hair away from his eyes. He noticed that Kokoro saw him, and waved to show that he was alright. "You have to find her, my armor is too heavy to swim in this."
Sora nodded before going under again. Skarwind took a deep breath, being soaked, and watched the water rise even more. It now as high as the shelf he sat on. He tried to stand up, to get away from the water, but was a little tall. Kokoro saw what he was doing and also stood, the water was getting high. She stood up right, being too small to reach the ceiling unless she went on her toes. The water was now at her ankles and she turned desperately at Mark. "Can you make a hole, get us out?"
"Not a hole but..." He checked at the amount of powder in his pocket, not enough. Then he looked around the room. There was just enough metal and wood to make something that might help. "Gather as much as you can, I think I have an idea." Kokoro followed the orders and went into the water, getting anything that Mark ordered. Sora was still nowhere in sight, looking for Momo, while the water now reached the alchemist's knees. Laura brought over some wet books while Kokoro swam over with some metallic object. "Just enough... I hope..." He started to put everything together when the water now reached his waist. Then clapped his hands to make something.
Still, Sora was underwater looking for Momo.
Fun fact! - Did you know that the wings of the Archangel are based off of the design of the wings on Escaflowne? Those wings were just so amazing that I made my own version of them, long and elegant. Pretty cool huh?
