Kairi sat in the corner of the ship and hugged her knees. She wanted to go home. She didn't want to be a part of all that was going on. She wanted things to go back to normal, not be like this. She closed her eyes. Maybe if she slept, she'd wake up on the islands the day they started building the raft. Kairi slowly drifted off, and then shot up when she heard the door of the hangar creak open.
"Maybe it's Naminé…or it could be a Heartless…or one of those guys from the prison…" Kairi blew the hair out of her face and bit lightly on the tip of her thumb. "I don't want to believe that something that bad would be here, but if that…thing managed to show up and nearly suck me down into an endless chasm, then I wouldn't put it past the Chasers or the Heartless to break in." Kairi shook her head. She wasn't going to take any chances. She quickly got up, still clutching her bloodied knee, and limped over to the ship's cockpit. The pain was beginning to set in now, and she was glad to not need her legs for a while. She pressed the button that started the engine of the ship and then she froze.
"How do I fly this thing?" Kairi asked herself. She looked around at the various levers and knobs on the dashboard. She couldn't figure out which one to press. She's never actually seen a Gummi Ship being flown. She'd only been in the one ship when this whole thing started and she was in the back. Kairi trained her ears as best she could and heard running footsteps underneath the hum of the ship's engine. She looked out the side window and saw a faint shadow running towards the ship. She panicked and slammed her fist down on a random button. The ship whirred to life and floated a few inches off the ground. She turned the wheel sharply and faced the shadow. It froze in place and started to inch back. It was still difficult to see who or what it was. She looked at the control panel and tried to pick out a button that would make the ship move forward…a big green button with the word 'GO' on it would have been ideal, but she didn't have that luxury. Kairi looked up and saw that the shadow was starting to walk towards the ship again. She made a split decision, closed her eyes, and brought her finger down on a button. She opened her eyes when she felt the ship lurch forward and then launch down the aisle of ships. She turned around and looked out the rear window. The figure had obviously gotten hit. From what she could see, it was clutching its left arm. She smiled and then a shooting pain ran through her own left arm…like she was feeling what the figure was feeling. She grabbed her left arm with her right one and he turned around, only to realized that the door the hangar wasn't open. She tried to stop the ship, but she didn't allow herself enough time and it crashed headlong into the wall.
Kairi heard a metal screech and an explosion. She was splayed out on the floor of the ship. Her vision was fading in and out. She saw fire in corner of the ship where the door was. She put her hand to her face. She felt blood…she reached to the middle of her forehead and traced the cut all the way down to the bottom of her right cheek. She was afraid. She couldn't move her legs…she couldn't yell for help…her voice had failed her. Even if she could yell, the only thing there that could possibly help her was the shadowy figure and she'd just hit him with a Gummi Ship. She gave up hope…she was going to die here…if not from burns then from open wounds that would easily become infected. Tears ran down her face…then she heard another explosion. The smell was becoming noxious. The felt herself fading and she closed her eyes…then there was another explosion. The door of the ship flew off its hinges and landed near her. She looked at the door, which was still fuzzy and out of focus. There was a blue glow and the fire surrounding the door was extinguished. She tried to yell, but her voice didn't want to work. She watched the person come in. It was the shadowy figure. He put his arm up to his face, shielding himself from the smell, walked towards her and bent over her. She forced herself to focus just enough to see who it was. He had a gash that matched hers on his face. It was leaking blood. He brushed the hair out of her eyes and looked down at her. She saw his left arm underneath the shredded mess of his sleeve. It was bruised all over. He reached underneath her body and picked her up, even with a bad arm.
"So…ra…" was the last thing Kairi uttered before she closed her eyes.
Sora rushed out of the burning ship carrying Kairi and took great strides towards the side of the hangar where he had entered. He was loosing her, fast, and he needed to get her to the hospital somewhere in this zone. He looked down at her. Her face held the result of the crash, the gash from her forehead to her cheek. He knew she wasn't OK when the gash appeared on his face as well…and he could care less. She was still beautiful to him no matter what, and they'd both be ok. Sora held her closer to him as he located the door. He tightened his grip on her, so as not to drop her, and kicked down the door (which had auto-locked because of the ship taking off). He rushed out and set her gently on the ground. He summoned his Keyblade and used a water spell Donald taught him to gently clean out the cut on her face and her knee. He then cast aero using all of the energy he could spare. The Keyblade floated out of his hands and allowed him to pick up Kairi once more. The blade flew them both towards the center of the city.
"Don't worry…we'll be alright." Sora whispered to Kairi continually. He was extremely worried. She wasn't moving…her arms and legs were limp…she wore no expression on her face…she was barely even breathing. The only thing he could actually do was allow the bubble to carry them to the hospital and whisper in her ear…and hope that she would respond or hear him. Tears rushed down his cheeks…he felt to blame for everything.
"It's my fault…if I hadn't left her in the first place…if I would've listened…she'd…" Sora was silent. The bubble drifted closer to the hospital.
"Any luck?" Donald asked. He looked at the Turks and Goofy who all had solemn looks on their faces. They shook their heads. The Turks, Donald, and Goofy were in the Industrial Zone.
"This is the last place she could possibly be…right?" Elena asked. Reno nodded and took a few steps towards the statue. It was of a woman with flowing hair. She was reaching towards the sky…she looked sad somehow. Goofy looked at Reno climb the tall statue. He reached her face and pulled out the shock stick he carried around. He pressed it into the left eye of the statue and then slid it down the outstretched arm. Reno glanced at Goofy and pointed his finger down at the un-reaching arm. Goofy focused his attention on it. The arm twitched and Goofy crept back a couple of steps. The arm opened up its fist and a blue ball of light began to glow.
"Gawrsh…what's that?" Goofy reached out his hand to touch the light.
"Don't touch that," Rude commanded. "until we tell you to!" Goofy pulled his hand back.
"I only wanted to know what it was…" Goofy replied dejectedly.
"That is an X-Reactor. It was developed in Gaia by…" Tseng began.
"Gaia?" Donald inquired. "What's Gaia?"
"Gaia is where we came from." Reno replied, finally jumping down from the statue. "More commonly known as The Planet…but then again, you probably wouldn't know about that either…"
"Where is it?" Donald asked.
"Well…there are only remains now…I'm pretty sure Midgar is accessibly from certain points in the last city, but…" Elena said.
"What's Midgar?" Goofy asked.
"A city in Gaia." Tseng replied.
"Where did you say it was accessible from? The last city…what's that? Why is it the last city? How…?" Donald asked
"Why do you have so many questions?" Rude asked.
"I just want to know." Donald replied. Reno paced back and forth, scratching his head. He rumpled up his hair and sighed a deep breath.
"A couple years ago…a year or two before Sora had the Keyblade…we used to live in a massive world called Gaia. There were so many big cities and small towns…it was so diverse and interesting…" Reno began.
"Of course, not everything is perfect in a civilization." Elena continued. "I'm not getting into specifics, no matter how much you ask, but The Planet, at it's birth, created seven…"defense mechanisms" if you will. They were each located and reprogrammed under new names in the WEAPON program. They were designated Jade, Sapphire, Ultimate, Diamond, Emerald, Ruby and Omega. They were originally supposed to protect the people of Gaia, but because of Sephiroth, who I'm sure you've met, they attacked them instead. They were seemingly destroyed by Cloud, his friends, and the Sister Ray…which we also won't go into."
"Turns out, their cores were still functioning just fine, hidden where they were defeated…underwater mainly…" Tseng added. "There was a small group that formed to find those cores…they were successful, and they placed the cores in smaller, more efficient robot shells. This was all fine until the cores were damaged in an update session. The cores reverted back to their semi-original programming…their Sephiroth programming…all except Omega. Omega, because it was this organizations main focus, received more damage, and thus reverted to its first ever programming. The other WEAPONs' decided to scatter themselves, and destroy their cores. This would destroy the whole Planet, since the cores were the most powerful things in existence. Omega caught on and used its original programming, as an evac robot, to evacuate as many people as possible."
"Since the weapons had attacked and disrupted the way of life of the people, most of them were reluctant to follow Omega. The only reason that the ones that followed…well…followed is because of Leon. He wasn't a resident of Gaia…he came form somewhere else called Balamb…or something." Reno said. "He talked some people into following, including Cloud and everyone. Because of the impending explosion, Omega put them in the city, surrounded it with his own core, and rewired peoples' memories so they wouldn't remember those in the outside world that were destroyed."
"Yeah, but where is this place?" Goofy asked.
"Hollow Bastion…" Donald replied quietly.
"Radiant Garden, actually." Reno corrected. "We still don't know why the name changed."
"I got that…but who were the people that recovered the cores in the first place?" Donald asked.
"The Radient Knights." Rude replied. "They wield…artificial Keyblades that they made themselves."
"Artificial Keyblades?" Goofy asked.
"Yeah…they go by another name…the Chasers." Donald and Goofy looked at each other then back at Rude. "It's true. They created their own Keyblades and used them to fight massive Keyblade wars."
"Why'd they change the name from the Radient Knights to the Chasers?" Goofy asked.
"It was more of an involuntary change really." Elena replied. "The Chasers are based out of a continent called Ivalice...in a place called Dalmascus. While you may have thought Chaser to be an English word, it's actually a Dalmascan word. In English, chaser means "he who is false" or, when it's used in a personal context, "the false creator". Because of the Knights' penchant for war starting, they were given the name.
"Aren't the chasers extensions of those who lost their hearts? You know, like if a person turns into a Heartless, a Nobody is created and a Nobody makes a Chaser." Donald asked.
"Donald, my friend," Reno replied. He chuckled a bit. "we've got a lot to talk about."
Sora looked down over the city. It was so quiet. He couldn't believe that nothing had changed. No one had bothered to look for the source of the horrible explosion…then he remembered that no one lived there yet. Sora shook his head and looked at Kairi once more.
"We're almost there…you'll be better soon." Sora listened closely to Kairi…she didn't seem to be breathing anymore…he was so worried for her…he willed the bubble to go faster. He focused his attention back down at the ground. He saw a statue holding a blue light. It was surrounded, upon closer inspection, Donald, Goofy, and The Turks. Sora turned the bubble towards them, hoping that The Turks knew a faster way to the hospital. As he neared them, he saw Reno mouth something to the effect of 'Is that Sora?".
Sora stepped out of the bubble and ran towards The Turks.
Donald and Goofy ran towards Sora. He was carrying Kairi and they were both beaten up.
"Sora…what happened?" Goofy asked worriedly. Sora remained quiet until he got to Reno.
"She's…not…breathing…anymore...hospital…" his words were muffled by tears, but everyone understood the second he landed that he needed to get her to the hospital. Reno lifted his hand towards the blue light and it expanded into a door-like shape. Sora stepped through it, followed by Donald, Goofy, and the Turks. Sora felt like he'd been spun around a few times, and when he'd opened his eyes, he was standing in front of the hospital. He wasted not time in running in, praying for Kairi's life to stay with Kairi.