AN: Tah dah! Got there eventually :D My thanks go to HeartofFyrwinde for the chapter title.
I hope to have the next chapter up before the end of the month, but if not seasons greetings for the here and now :) and hopefully the plot won't be quite so dark for a while! ;)
Any thoughts/views/constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated!
Siege of the Mountain
Maleficent coldly regarded the wounds on her hand, inflicted by that wretched bundle of feathers, before flicking the offending appendage aside; thin tendrils of green and black smoke slithered around the red lines that trailed blood, knitting her pale flesh back together. After that round, Pete and Tomasa could deal with the dragon, she had decided. She frowned deeply as she walked to a window and gazed outside at the barren landscape beyond, thinking hard. Stroking the smooth stone set into her staff, Maleficent reflected on what had not gone exactly according to plan.
She had assumed that without the glaring Light the Key bearers brought with them, the dragon would be more receptive – impressionable, even – to the idea of Darkness. Leo had so far resisted each attempt they had made to change his mind; the book they had stolen detailed a lot of suggested training regimes (which apparently had not been followed with his own tuition) and figures and statistics for their size and dimensions, and not a lot else. Despite his size, she knew he was not even a year old yet, and without his handlers, she had thought it would make the job easier to manipulate him. Apparently, he was either too stubborn or too loyal to be swayed over night. And the longer they held him against his will, the greater the risk of the Keyblade wielders coming to seek retribution.
The plan had been for Maleficent to win Leo over first, and then when Mel came for him she would convince her too, using the dragon's shift in attitude as leverage. And he was just as stubborn as his handler – it would never work, now.
And another thing…the Heartless should have made a mess for Sora and Riku to mop up to distract them while their friends may have been calling on them for help, not kidnap a teenager from their small island community who they would probably know. Sora was hot headed and impulsive, and she remembered quite clearly how stubborn and protective Riku had been of Kairi, and the girl herself could be quite fiery and resilient when she wanted to be. Those three in themselves would be enough to cause the witch some concern – knowing that wherever Sora went the King's lackeys were never too far behind gave her even more pause for thought.
There were also those two women, the female Keyblade Masters – one of them a Nobody – who had been buzzing around recently as well. Being of the same Order, and aligned with the Light, it did not take much guesswork to deduce that they would have formed alliances with Sora and the others.
Maleficent sighed and passed a hand over her face, giving the window a long, hard look. If not for the dragon's stubbornness, she may have been able to detach the Island girl from him and use her as bait or a bargaining chit against the Keyblade brats. As it was, she may have had to do away with Leo entirely before he would allow her to get anywhere near the girl, which was not what Maleficent wanted to do at all…
As she pondered, Maleficent heard a door swinging on its hinges, and then footsteps. She turned towards the door of the room she was in, and saw Tomasa in the corridor outside, holding a book close to his chest as he walked by.
"Tomasa," she called imperiously, and he came to an abrupt halt before turning to face her with a neutral expression. She curtailed a sneer of contempt at the way he tilted his chin, so that he was effectively looking down his nose at her, through a thickening curtain of inky black hair falling over his green eyes. "See to it that our 'guests' are fed and watered," Maleficent said carelessly before turning her back on his with a sweep of her arm.
The young man murmured his assent, and left without further comment. Maleficent waited for his footsteps to recede before calling upon her faithful raven and charging him with the task of following Tomasa and watching what he was up to. With the threat of his cousin coming to bear down upon them, she needed to keep a close eye on him. Tomasa probably thought he was being clever and sly, but she knew he was planning something.
Right…with the boy being trailed and the dragon locked up, she needed to think about her fortifications. Pete could check the outer defences, and test they were still strong enough. Some spell had interfered with her blocks a little while ago – a rather powerful spell. If they were no longer strong enough, well…Pete could find out for her.
As she plotted and planned for the inevitable, she went to a room that she had neglected to tell Tomasa about, hidden behind a tapestry at the far end of a dark and deserted corridor. It was small and dimly lit, with a solid sideboard made from aged wood; Maleficent reached around the side and touched a particular knot in the polished grain of the wood, and groped around in the hollow space within for something. She smiled to herself as she hefted the short, stout staff she had created, with the small but impossibly sharp tooth like structure that had been in the box with the book they had stolen from the Keyblade wielders' castle.
Let the fools come. She was waiting for them…
XOXOX
They had arrived in drips and drabs, landing in various locations before regrouping behind a large rocky outcrop that shed a great deal of convenient shade to hide in. Mel was virtually unapproachable; she wouldn't speak to anyone, choosing to communicate with basic gestures and one or two words at a time only, and spending her time staking out the security measures in place around the dilapidated castle. While she did this, Ven followed at a respectful distance to let her know he was there to support her and to watch her back whilst also giving her space. Terra and Aqua conferred with Rhiannon and Lynn on their options, letting Sora, Riku and Kairi field ideas to work into their grand scheme. When Mel came back to report on her findings, they took the information on board and began to formulate a real plan.
Lea showed up as they were just getting ready to deploy themselves – which seemed to put an unexpected spanner in the works.
Mel pulled herself out of her dark mood long enough to look confused and concerned for the Nobody, but Rhiannon quickly took charge of the situation and wove Lea into Donald and Goofy's strategy, conveniently far enough away from Lynn and her strange reaction for the moment. The eldest Master said nothing; Terra and Aqua exchanged looks and figured a scenario close enough to the truth, but didn't comment. Mel was too wrapped up in her concern for Leo to think too much of it for very long, and Ven was focused on Mel, although he was aware of the tension and chose to turn a blind eye for the moment. Sora was surprised that Lynn wasn't verbally abusive towards the man as she usually was, as was Kairi. She suspected some kind of fight had occurred, but Riku managed to glean a little bit more from the situation, though he didn't comment on it. They had far too many pressing matters on their hands right now…
Donald was the only one to pass comment on the strange interaction, demanding to know what was going on, and Goofy bundled him aside talking loudly over him about getting into position before anymore could be said. In response, Lynn stared intently at the castle with arms folded and shoulders hunched while Lea just glared daggers at Donald, his back turned on her.
"Right," Rhiannon said loudly, walking amongst the ranks of warriors congregated in the shadow of the outcropping under a darkly ominous cloud cover. "You all know what to do – and what everyone else is doing?" There was a murmur of ascent as people began preparing to split up into their groups. "Good. Now then, get into position and wait for the signal."
Everyone nodded and split up. Lea ran off with Donald and Goofy around the eastern side of the castle while Terra led Aqua, Sora and Kairi around the western side. Mel ran towards the winding path that lead up towards the gates, and slid into a ditch nearby to wait impatiently for the signal to go. Ven and Riku jumped down beside her and watched Lynn and Rhiannon stroll up the pathway nonchalantly. The tension in the Nobody's shoulders was hard to miss, though she did loosen up slightly as they got closer to their target.
Rhiannon tilted her head slightly towards her old friend as they moved out of earshot, concerned about her.
"All right, pet?"
"Getting Leo back is more important than my or Lea's feelings," Lynn said firmly, almost resignedly. "I'll deal with that later, when we're not staring death in the mouth." She titled her own head towards Rhiannon with a wry smile. "Again,"
Rhiannon grinned fiercely. Too bad about Kenny, but they had fought their way out of trouble before without his help, and they had plenty of back up now unlike back then.
"Ready?" Rhiannon asked as they came to a halt very close to the castle gates.
Lynn gave her a sly smile before pulling a particular arrow from her quiver and hefting it carefully in her left hand, brandishing her bow as a club until they needed to set off the signal. Behind them, the three slowly crawled forward through the stunted undergrowth and shadows cast by the rock litter.
"Oh yes."
They turned to look up at the high walls, and saw Pete stood up there watching them snidely from his perch upon the battlements, waiting to see what they were going to do.
"Oi, dick head!" Lynn bellowed, cupping her hands to her mouth before waving an arm vigorously at him to get his attention. "Yoo-hoo! Over here!"
"Waddaya pipsqueaks want?" Pete shouted back, angry and just a bit unsettled. Just the two of them up against their forces…it seemed suicidal. They had to be up to something…or hiding something…
"Just payin' a friendly social visit, flower!" Rhiannon called up, taking one step forward and sinking into a stance that would allow her to either fight or flee as the situation developed.
"Yeah, we got a message for the old hag if you'd be so kind as to pass it on!" Lynn added, grinning manically as she prepared for their next move.
"Oh yeah?" Pete shook a fist at them. "And what's that?"
The two women abandoned all decorum; Lynn hopped from one foot to the other and pulled faces up at Pete with her tongue sticking out while Rhiannon did a jiggy little dance before turning her vulnerable back to him and his hoards of Heartless to bend over and pat her backside at them, turning to look over her shoulder with a grin.
Pete was beside himself with fury at the blatant display of disrespect – exactly what they had been going for. He sent the Heartless after them with a vengeance, and the pair of them danced lithely out of the way, tumbling and performing tricky cartwheels to entice the Heartless into a chase. They finished by running to the other side of the pathway to which the others were slowly closing in, and paused long enough to yell a few more insults.
"Ya fight like my Nan!" Rhiannon shouted at Pete.
"Yeah, and the old bird's been dead for fifteen years!" Lynn added, again cupping her hands to her mouth to make the sound travel further.
Pete couldn't handle any more infantile slights, and jumped down from his defensive position on the castle walls to chase them down. The two women turned to look at each other and gave a little twisting jump each off the edge of the path; they both hung for a moment in midair facing each other, and threw up a hand to high five each other before they twisted into crouches to land in a steep ditch with their backs to the enemy. They hit the dusty ground and sprang to their feet in an all out sprint and dashed away, still hurling insults and cajoling Pete into the chase, leading them straight into the ambush awaiting them on the western side of the castle – in a conveniently shaded canyon.
On the other side of the castle, Donald was working his way through the magical defences to disable them and allow a greater variety of escape roots for later, while Goofy and Lea watched their backs in case any scouts came their way. Mel waited with baited breath for the signal that meant they could go ahead while Riku and Ven crouched either side of her. After a short while, an explosion of fireworks showered light and noise from the direction everyone had hurtled off in. And then came the signal they had been waiting for; Lynn's arrow shot through the air like a rocket and exploded into a cacophony of whistling, whirring sounds accompanied by a blinding bright light that only attracted further attention towards their side of the castle. Mel was already out of the ditch and over the castle threshold before Ven and Riku could blink. Despite her drive and determination, they caught up with her fairly quickly, and Riku over took her as they went through the empty courtyard and deeper into the castle.
They were vaguely aware that some of the magic surrounding the place had been severed, which meant Maleficent would soon figure out the noise had all been a diversion. They had to hurry.
Ven and Riku might have had some difficulty figuring out exactly where they were going, since the layout had changed somewhat since both had last been there, but Mel followed her Heart and her inner sonar down into the dungeons, following the correct path without even thinking about it. She had found Leo's aura while scouting around the edge of the castle, and nothing was going to stop her from reaching him now.
XOXOX
Leah had been sat on the cold hard ground, leaning against the dragon's warm side, playing with her hands while she wondered what they were going to do, when Leo raised his head with a frown and sniffed at the air. At first she thought someone was coming to give them more food or water, but the guy had been in recently already, and as time dragged on she didn't hear any footsteps…
She had asked Leo what it was, but he didn't respond. He just sat up, nose and tail twitching. Then she thought she could hear faint noises from very far away. When the dragon jumped to his feet she shrieked with alarm and tried to find somewhere to hide; Leo reared up onto his hind legs and raked at the air with his forepaws, roaring incessantly while Leah scrambled out of the way. She was sure he had no intention of deliberately hurting her, but it was almost like he had forgotten she was there, and he might accidentally step on her or if he got tangled in the chains again he might squash her flat.
"What is it?" she asked him again as Leo crouched his front quarters down low to the floor, tail swinging dangerously despite its restricted movement as he opened his mouth wide and emitted a deep, low warbling sound. He then stood up straight abruptly before rearing up again and repeating the entire process. She didn't understand how dragons behaved or communicated, but she felt a flicker of hope; his calls were urgent, but he didn't look angry or afraid. Maybe he could hear someone coming to help them?
Leah didn't hear the footsteps on the stairs, and she barely made out the voices over Leo's higher pitched and more insistent calls, though she did see the handle working as someone on the other side tried to open the door. Then fists banged on it and she could hear someone shouting before a muffled voice called, "Get out the way!"
Leo turned to Leah, and whipped his tail around to flick her into his shadow. There he brought his wings down and in to protect her as the door was blasted off its hinges, showering the room with shrapnel with a deafening boom. Leah again had to dive out of the way as Leo sat up and strained to get closer to the door, crying out again desperately as his chains rattled.
"Leo!" someone shouted over the sounds of the last of the debris falling, and Leo fell forward as much as the chains would allow, nuzzling someone obscured by the settling dust.
Leah blinked in surprise as she recognised the girl who had her arms wrapped around the dragon's muzzle while he cooed happily, tail thumping against the floor – she had been on the island a couple of times, and spoken to Leah at least once. And the guy who had been there at the time ran up beside her and grabbed Leo by the neck as well. Mel…and Ven was it?
"Oh Leo…" she said through tears, hugging him close.
"You okay, boy?"
Leo twisted towards him without breaking the girl's hold and licked his face with a whine.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, pulling away enough to get a good look at him. "Is anything broken?" Leo shook his head, and she hugged him again.
"C'mon," Leah jumped at the sound of a very familiar voice. "Let's get going. The diversion won't work much longer,"
"Riku?" Leah asked, stumbling through the wreckage and dust towards the source, hardly daring to believe it.
She saw his familiar outline jump at the sound of her voice, and spin round to face her. Leo lifted his head and turned towards her, croaking softly and making to walk towards her, though the chains stopped him short.
"Leah?!" Riku blurted out, his tone full of shock and his eyes wide. "What're you doing here!" he demanded, as stunned as she was by this turn of events.
"I-" her voice failed her as the last day or so began to sink in all over again. "I don't know-" she didn't want to cry again, but she felt the tears collecting behind her eyes and a sob rise in her throat. Riku strode forth and opened his arms to her, and she threw herself at him without really thinking. Everything had been so unpredictable and just…so messed up; she craved normalcy, something familiar – and right now he was the only thing here that she knew.
"It's okay," she heard him say softly as she tried to bury herself in his embrace. "We'll get you home, I promise."
"Riku, we need a hand," the other guy said, ducking underneath Leo's wing to look closely at the chains around his back legs.
Leah clung to Riku's arm as he moved toward one of Leo's forelegs, but let go when he made to kneel down and pick the chain up in his hands. As she watched, the girl grabbed the chain attached to the metal hoop around his thick neck, and seemed to pull the links apart with her hands while Riku and their accomplice produced orbs of light between their hands that appeared to break the chains apart. Once each shackle had been dismembered they regrouped in front of the dragon as he stretched his limbs and rolled his massive shoulders, flexing his wings and stirring up the dust on the floor while he croaked.
"What happened to the saddle?" Mel – Leah was pretty certain it was the same person – asked him.
Leo pulled a sort of scowl before he growled, showing just one or two teeth as he did so.
"Never mind," she turned, and appraised Leah properly for the first time. She looked quite dishevelled, but the set to her jaw was very determined. Truthfully, she looked a little frightening, but then again everything felt that way to Leah right now. "Did the Heartless bring you here?"
"The…what?"
"Those monsters," Ven added, tracing something in the air with a finger that may have resembled the emblem on some of those…things that had brought her here. Then suddenly in the air where he had been tracing appeared an image that did look like the same symbol. "They attacked the island, probably to distract the others. And it looks like you got caught up in it."
"We're very sorry," Mel said gently, looking more like the girl Leah had met all those weeks ago. "But don't worry, we'll get you home,"
"We better get going," Ven said, tapping her shoulder and hurrying to the door to check if the coast was clear.
"Come on," Riku said, raising his right hand – and suddenly he was holding something that looked like a sword. Leah rubbed her eyes hard just to check if she was seeing things. "Stay behind me." He added, drawing her close and standing firmly in front of her. She swallowed and nodded, making a small noise of assent in the back of her throat.
"Clear," Ven said, leaning through the door and watching the stairwell, waving them onward.
"Are you okay to fight?" Mel asked, rubbing the underside of Leo's jaw. He whined and croaked at her, rubbing his head against her slight body and wriggling with puppyish delight. "I'm glad to see you too," she said, flinging her arms around him again.
"Come on," Ven hissed, wincing as sounds came clattering down towards them from above. "We haven't got much time."
Mel started to run towards him, and Riku followed dragging Leah behind him, but the dragon had other ideas. He flung one of his wings out to stop Riku in his tracks and grabbed Mel with a paw to detain her as well, before very carefully nosing Ven away from the doorway. He turned to gaze over his shoulder at them all with a reassuring look, before he fell forward into a crouch and hunched his shoulders with a terrible snarl that made Leah hide against Riku's back. Then, with a resounding roar Leo charged forward and up the stairs; shrieks and strange sounds came down to them, as well as the sound of his heavy paws on the stone steps.
Ven went to the threshold to watch, and then motioned them all after him as he took the stairs at a run. Leah stumbled as she tried to keep up, and jumped when something small and coal black with lamp like eyes set in a bulbous head, that had no other distinguishing features bar the twiddly little antennae, seemed to sprout out of the floor. Ven raised his right hand; suddenly there was a key shaped weapon there, very different to Riku's though somehow similar. He held it backhanded and smacked the thing squarely in the head so it went flying as they ran past without stopping.
"Dammit," Ven hissed under his breath as they ran into a long corridor that was partitioned by a series of heavy oaken doors that were swinging shut as they arrived. "Now what?"
"We can't stay here, we need to get outside," Riku said, casting around for an escape route.
"Leo," Mel said calmly, patting the dragon's snout. He turned to look at her questioningly. "Do your thing." He licked her cheek, and then he was tearing off again; he bounded towards the first set of doors with his lips drawn back in a snarl. He landed about a pace away rather low down before he reared up on his hind legs and threw his entire weight against the door. The wood splintered and gave way under his powerful claws, and Leah was extremely glad he had counted her as a friend. If he had chosen to turn on her down in the dungeon, she would have had no chance at all. Ven and Riku batted away the Heartless monsters that got too close, while Mel stayed close to Leo. Not too close though, as his tail thrashed dangerously while he worked, taking a few monsters out while he did so.
They broke through two more doors in this manner; the third was blasted apart before they could reach it. Two women were running their way, one was rather solidly built with very pale hair and the other was tall and willowy with shortish dark hair and curiously bicoloured eyes: one iris bright yellow, the other blood red.
"This way," the fair-haired one called, waving them on as she turned and dived down another passage way.
"Hey, Duster!" the other proclaimed, rushing up to pat his neck. "A'right, boy?" she was also brandishing a strange weapon somewhere between a key shape and a sword, and she ran with them down the passage her comrade had shown them. "Any trouble? And who's this?" she peered at Leah suspiciously.
"This is Leah-" Riku began, but was cut off as the whole structure around them shook ominously, and they all skidded to a stop. Leo almost knocked them over in his bid to grind to a halt quick enough.
"Shit." The tall woman hissed, looking up at the ceiling as the stone groaned ominously. "Listen," she turned to them and began to explain quickly – most of which meant nothing to Leah. "Our little friend from that spat in Radiant Garden was skulking around earlier. Maleficent's just about blowing her top right now after Pete fell into our trap and with that dick floating about putting spanners in her works. Aqua wants everyone out ASAP and we'll regroup at Yen Sid's. Failing that, the Committee's on stand by to receive us, just in case."
The three of them nodded while the information went over Leah's head. They all turned to look at Leo who had swung round to face back the way they had come, hissing in a low and menacing manner that had chills creeping up and down Leah's spine.
"Onwards, men." The woman said, and with that she sprinted off again.
Leah struggled to keep up with their pace, and it seemed Mel was as well, but the dragon provided quite a good blockade; with a good solid stance and his teeth and claws, almost nothing could get past him, which gave the rest of them a good head start on their pursuers. They reached the end of a hallway and saw a large hole in the wall, and gloomy day light outside; there was a man stood there in the light, waving them all forward. Just when Leah thought freedom was assured, something sprang up in front of them like a wall of solid darkness that those at the front of their procession crashed into. Another figure seemed to materialise and strode towards them, and the others all reacted aggressively. The two older women flew at the person while Ven followed; Riku stood between them and Leah while Mel raised her hands and the air around them seemed to shimmer. Leo went for it as well, and they had the figure running rather quickly.
"I got a score to settle, bastard!" the tall woman bellowed after them before breaking into another sprint.
"Eaves! We need to stay together!"
"Lynn come back,"
Leah hid her face in her hands for a moment and took a deep breath. She started when she felt another pair of hands on her wrists and glanced up to see Riku looking at her earnestly.
"We're going to get you out of here. I promise,"
Before she could say anything Mel tugged on Riku's arm and he turned to her instantly. "If Leo and I charge ahead we'll clear a path for you to follow to the outside, hopefully."
"Okay," he looked uncertain. "But be careful,"
Mel clambered onto the dragon's back and shifted uncomfortably around on his shoulder blades before finding her seat.
"Make sure you find that egit before the Heartless do, pet." The older woman said with a weary sigh.
"Will do," Mel leant forward and rubbed Leo's back. "Right then," he twisted and craned his neck to look back at her. "Let's go."
The older woman looked Leah up and down as the dragon bounded forward with a roar, and then turned to Riku with a nod in her direction. "This your missin' friend?"
"Yes," he turned to look at Leah with a bemused expression before giving himself a little shake. "Oh, this is Rhiannon – she's a friend."
They followed in Leo's wake, and Leah wasn't sure if she was surprised or not when they ran almost head long into two more familiar faces in this crazy place. It really shouldn't have come as a shock by now, given that whenever Riku disappeared Sora and Kairi were quite often absent as well. They practically collided with the group that came racing round a corner, and then they all had to dive out of the way as Leo came hurtling back to meet them.
"Are you okay?" Kairi demanded of Leah as a couple of their companions that she didn't know were fussing over Leo. The dragon was ecstatic to see them and he almost bowled them over – it took quite a while for Leah to realise the woman hugging him had blue hair.
"Y-yeah," was all Leah could manage to say. She wasn't hurt physically at least…
Sora turned to Riku, and they both adopted rather hard looks. "We have a situation on our hands."
"The guy in the black robe – I know."
"No, there's like three of them with different weapons running around. I think Maleficent's about to go berserk."
"We better get out of here, then."
Sora was usually so bouncy and cheerful – his stern demeanour was very worrying.
"C'mon," the blue haired woman gestured the way she had just come. "Lea and the others are guarding the exit for us,"
"Maybe we should get on Leo," someone unfamiliar said, but Mel shook her head.
"No saddle. It's not safe for us all to ride bare back-"
Something flickered in the corner of Leah's vision, and she turned to try and confront it – but there was nothing there that she could see. Then the ground seemed to open up into a gaping hole of something dark and tried to swallow her. She screamed, remembering what had happened the last time – but when she fell through the floor, she wasn't alone. She could hear people shouting after them, and she couldn't see a thing, but she could feel Kairi's hands holding hers firmly, which brought her some comfort as they fell together.
XOXOX
Aqua dodged out of Lynn's way as she rushed towards the place the two girls had been standing, swearing as she went. She crouched down and placed a hand on the floor and frowned deeply. It was a tracking technique that required a tricky little spell, which allowed you to follow where someone had teleported by any number of different means, so long as they hadn't gone too far. Mel was also looking around, trying to trace Kairi's aura, and they both seemed to settle on the same direction.
"Well?" Riku all but exploded at Lynn as she stood up.
The Nobody backed up, hands held in surrender. "Easy, mate. They haven't gone far,"
"We have to go after them," Sora said instantly.
"So," Mel said as they got ready to mobilise again. "Head on or sneak attack?"
Lynn and Rhiannon exchanged looks that became somewhat sly before they responded. "You just flatten them with Leo and we'll take a few pot shots," Rhiannon said with a grin.
Lynn pulled out her bow and an arrow, which she knocked into position as though cocking a rifle. "Lock and load, bitches," she said, and the pair of them went racing off down a side corridor.
Aqua ran after Leo with a heavy heart; she had hoped they would be swooping in to retrieve him and straight out again, but things didn't always go according to plan… Still, she was so happy to see him again and to see he was all right – despite his bust up before being kidnapped, he was doing incredibly well. They practically sailed past the Heartless without any effort on their part; it was like they were afraid of him and readily jumped out of their way.
When they arrived in the correct room, Aqua felt herself bristle. Maleficent was stood in the middle of a grand, circular hall way not unlike the one in which they had first met. The witch was regarding them with a cool smirk while Pete stood behind and to the side, fuming; behind him were the two girls. Kairi stood rather composed, loose and relaxed, watching Riku and Sora intently while the other girl cowered in fear. Both of them had their hands bound with thick tendrils of Darkness.
Aqua flickered her gaze upwards for just a moment and was glad to see Lynn perched on the sill of a window high up in the eaves of the room. Rhiannon was crouched low on a beam and slowly inching her way towards the centre, fishing in her pockets as she went. Those two must have an ace up their sleeves…
"Now then," Maleficent said without preamble. "I wish to propose an arrangement."
Aqua was aware that Riku had spotted the two Masters up above, and had silently passed the information to Sora, who stared intently at Kairi and jerked his chin upwards. Pete watched suspiciously at the exchange between the three of them, and failed to notice Lynn crawling after Rhiannon through the eaves above him. Kairi saw, and nodded before sinking into a defensive stance in front of her friend, constantly watching for the right moment.
"If you agree to join me," Maleficent said to Mel and Leo, "I will release your friends unharmed."
Aqua heard several derisive snorts, but kept her attention fixed on Maleficent, trying to resist the urge to look up in case she gave the game away.
"I don't think so." Mel said flatly, Leo hanging over her shoulder and snarling menacingly, scuffing the ground with a heavy paw before placing it back down with a thud. Aqua didn't think she'd ever seen him so angry.
"You do not want to protect your friends?" Maleficent asked in a mockingly innocent voice, gesturing at her prisoners. Kairi gave her a filthy look.
Mel's eyes were narrowed. "So far you've done the exact opposite. What do you think you've done that has gained my trust?"
"Look," the malevolent faerie spat, teeth bared in a desperate sort of grimace as she balled her hand into a fist so tight her knuckles went white. "I don't have time to indulge all of you fools. It would appear we have a common enemy now, and I want the power of the Keyblade Dragon on my side."
There was an incredibly long pause as she extended her hand out towards Mel again, who just shifted her right leg back and sank into a fighting stance, summoning two balls of glowing energy into her hands that coalesced into flames.
"Somehow I don't think you're putting forward a very good case," Lea said loudly into the silence.
Leo crouched down low as if to spring, lips drawn back over his teeth. Everyone was on tenterhooks, and when it all kicked off, they all sprang into action even though the spark that finally set it off was an unexpected one.
In the space between the two groups, a black hole into the Corridors of Darkness appeared, and from it emerged more than half a dozen individuals all draped in long, dark dark robes that went for several different people at once. Pete was bowled out of the way by one, but they couldn't catch Kairi – she was ready and raring to go, and her assailant took a backhanded blow to their knees with the pointed hilt of her weapon before she managed to get herself and the other girl out of the firing line. When they finally managed to stagger to their feet, Sora and Lea gave them a whack round the back of the head for good measure while Riku bundled the girls out of harm's way.
Maleficent screamed with frustration as she tried to fend off an attacker of her own, while one of the anonymous accomplices went straight for Mel. Without her Keyblades, she might have been in trouble. But Terra had her back, as did the young, strong, very angry dragon who may well have ripped the man's arm off for all Aqua knew underneath that heavy and concealing fabric. She had to dodge out of the way of Mel's Fira spell that went spinning through the air like a Catherine wheel before it caught on someone's robe, but she managed to get a few blows in before Rhiannon and Lynn joined in the fray.
A hail of arrows filtered down through the air in slow motion before they exploded, causing even more chaos. One landed unexploded in front of Donald, who took one look and seemed to know what to do because he mounted it on his staff like a crossbow and shot it at Maleficent as she grappled with one of the unwelcome visitors, aided by a bundle of black feathers that came streaking out of nowhere to attack the robed figure who dared to challenge the raven's master. As the two women descended from their lofty perch above, they slammed their weapons into floor and creating two circles of light that flung the Heartless aside just as they were starting to emerge into the fight. Rhiannon raised her blade high over her head before screaming a wordless battle cry that scared the daylights out of the closest enemies – human and Heartless alike – before she ran at them, swinging her weapon in an elaborate pattern as she summoned magic for the final blow that sent any who still stood flying. Lynn took her time in standing up, tossing her bow aside seemingly without care before summoning her own Keyblade and sinking into a stance that would allow for maximum speed when she pushed off for the run. She grinned fiercely at the regrouping Heartless, stood up a little straighter, and prepared to swing her blade like a bat as a red, wyvern-like Heartless with a blunt head and their insignia on its chest came swooping towards her.
As Aqua danced out of the way to clash swords with one of the robed people, she heard the Nobody bellow, "Allons-y, mother-!"
It was a tight fit in that large hall, especially when Leo was quickly flying into a rage and the available space to dodge into was constantly shifting; several individuals, including Aqua, had Scion crystals in their possession, but it just wasn't a viable tactic. Aqua faltered when she saw Mel freeze and shout something that was lost over all the noise. She ran to cover Mel since her guard was now down, and saw what she had seen. Tomasa was in the fray, trying to dodge his way around the fighting parties. He caught sight of Mel, and stopped too, his expression torn between a hundred different emotions. The moment ended abruptly when someone in a robe turned on him and grabbed at his backpack. He fought valiantly to keep hold of it, but took a sharp blow to the head, which made him go limp. Mel was on his attacker in an instant, and she may have even managed to bring them down single-handed but for her victim's comrade coming to the rescue. They grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the floor, staring deeply into her face for a moment while she fought against their grip. Then she was hurled across the room where she landed in a dishevelled heap. Pete tried to grab her, but he was beaten to it, and the man – Aqua was sure it was, judging by the arm exposed by the enormous rip in the fabric, tattooed with enigmatic designs and bulging with hard muscle and sinew – locked his arms around hers in an attempt to control her. Mel was digging her nails in his flesh, and the man shrieked in pain before Terra was on him like an avalanche.
Aqua turned away from them at the sound of Leo's roar, just in time to see him slamming someone against the wall with the flat of his skull and another fall from his back before being hit with his tail.
Somewhere in the throng, someone held up a black sack that seemed to have come from Tomasa's backpack. "I have it! Let's go,"
From the corner of her eye Aqua noticed Maleficent, and grabbed Terra and Mel before yelling for everyone to take cover. When the blinding green light faded, two dragons were circling each other while everyone dived out of the way. Everyone in the concealing robes fell into dark portals – a couple had to be dragged, including the one whose arm had sustained heavy damage. Tomasa was lying on his back, blood trickling down his face, gaping upward in horror at Maleficent. Rhiannon raced across the open space and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and heaved him out of the way just in time as the scaly dragon landed heavily from her menacing rear that tried to convey dominance and power.
Only, Maleficent wasn't really a dragon; she was a human – however monstrous in her actions and steeped in magical lore – just a human. Leo wasborn a dragon, with no power of transformation. This form was the only thing he knew, and his control over it was expert.
They collided with a force that shook the rafters and roared so loudly it left their ears ringing. Maleficent had magic on her side, but Leo had more experience and despite his injuries he was still physically powerful. She cast spell after spell that he had to dodge, but when he could catch her with his jaws she had a hard time shaking him off before she could do anything else. He usually went for the jaw or the base of the skull, somewhere that inhibited her movement and made her more vulnerable. Her thick hide probably protected her from the worst of it, but there was plenty of blood before the end. Leo's claws tore her thin, membranous wings to shreds, and while she returned the favour as best she could, all she really did was make his feathers fly and ensure a lopsided flight until they grew back in again.
As he swung his heavy hindquarters around with the aim of smacking her silly with his thick tail, Maleficent ducked out of the way and managed to undermine his balance with a well-placed and well-timed blow. Leo sprawled on the floor and his head collided with a broken pillar with a sickening crack. No one could have stopped Mel from flying out of hiding to come to his rescue, though dammit they tried very hard to. She knelt in front of his head, which was lying upside down on the floor, as Maleficent took a moment to gather herself before stalking towards them menacingly, snapping her jaws in warning of what was to come.
Leo groaned and opened his eyes to look up at Mel, and her hands glowed with healing magic. He rolled over lopsidedly and stood up, placing a barrier between her and the approaching dragon, growling loudly as he did so. The heavily bleeding dragon trailing green tendrils of flame from her mouth reared up and the feathered one pounced to meet her. Leo was a flailing bundle of limbs, but his energy was waning and it was he who was caught by the back of the skull with powerful jaws, and he the one that had to buck and rear and twist to get free. Aqua felt only a little better when she saw Ven grab Mel around the waist and fling her over his shoulder to get her out of the way, though she protested vehemently.
Maleficent kept hold grimly and battered the young dragon with every claw she possessed, and Leo flagged further still, though he refused to surrender and continued with one long, loud snarl that didn't seem to end. He scrabbled uselessly at her armoured belly and tried to bring his tail around to clout her senseless, but he couldn't manoeuvre himself easily, and Maleficent had him retreating towards the centre of the room. There she shook him ruthlessly until Leo raked at the air vacantly with one paw, blinking and disorientated. She tossed him aside and he collapsed with an earth-shaking thud that dislodged whatever dust remained in the rafters. On his side, he stretched out a paw again that didn't find purchase on the stone flagged floor. His growls were weaker in volume, but his teeth flashed dangerously in the flickering light as he set his gaze on Maleficent.
The witch threw her head back and roared, sending up a palling to prevent the others coming to his aid, and then she shrank into a cloud of green and black smoke before stepping out in her usual form, holding an unfamiliar looking staff. The raven came to settle on her shoulder, and Maleficent raised the staff above her head one handed before she brought it down against his front leg. Leo roared in pain, and Aqua threw herself at the palling to try and reach him, but she had to undo the enchantment first – and then she was stood gaping as part way around the hall, the shield was blasted apart and Mel jumped through the splintered magic, looking as though she were possessed by a nimbus of pulsating light that sharpened into greater clarity when she reached Maleficent and struck. The witch was too busy dealing Leo another blow, this time across the face, so she didn't notice Mel until she was on top of her. Ven had leapt through as well, and ran after Mel looking worried, and Aqua started working her way around the hall to reach the gap in the palling rather than try to undo the spell that held it where she stood.
Mel slammed into Maleficent, who dropped her staff and staggered heavily as she tried to retreat. But Mel was a blazing form of fury, and she couldn't escape so easily. After placing herself squarely between Leo and Maleficent, Mel grabbed the staff and broke it over her knee, twisting the end off and stuffing it into her pocket before flying at the witch again. She dodged Mel, and Ven came running to aid her, pausing only to fight off the raven. There was a satisfying smack as Ven hit the bird solidly with his Keyblade so hard it was flung straight into the palling where it slid almost comically to the floor in a heap. Even with her ire burning as strongly as it was, Maleficent still managed to get past Mel's defences and grabbed her by the throat before tossing her aside. Ven tried to strike in retaliation as Leo skittered haphazardly towards Mel, and Maleficent neatly sidestepped him to grab his hair and force him to his knees. Terra burst through the breach in the palling and shot like an arrow towards them. She let go of Ven, but she used a powerful spell that knocked Terra over. The speed with which he had been moving threw him to the ground, and she stood over him ominously, raising her hands as Darkness crept over and around her outstretched arms.
Aqua broke through the defences just as Lynn did; the Nobody halted and knocked an arrow into her retrieved bow and chose her spot carefully before letting fly. As this was happening, Mel had got to her feet and ran at Maleficent's turned back. She jumped at the last moment and grabbed the witch's shoulders as she kicked out with her feet at the back of her knees. Maleficent hit the floor as Lynn's arrow pierced the palling just so and shattered it completely, allowing the others to join in the fray once more.
In defence, Maleficent called upon more Heartless – and for a few minutes all was complete confusion. Aqua didn't see until the last moment or so; Mel was stood crouched in front of Sora, who was bleeding freely from a gash on his head, glaring up at Maleficent with her hands full of angrily flickering light. But she was wounded too, and didn't have a build that stood up in this type of combat for too long; and she didn't have her Keyblades.
"You've caused me more than enough trouble," Maleficent spat, pointing at her accusingly. "Prepare to die-!"
For one horrible moment Aqua thought the worst, and she turned to try and reach them to help, with little hope that she would in time. It was one of those moments where everything just seemed to slow down; the ball of destructive energy Maleficent conjured and then flung at them never made it, because Tomasa ran into the firing line with a wordless yell, and flung his arms wide. He glowed with magic, but what type of spell he was casting Aqua had no idea. The two spells collided and the resulting fall out banished all of the remaining Heartless from the room with a burst of painfully bright light.
When Aqua managed to blink away the afterimage in her vision, she saw Maleficent was lying flat out on her back, completely out cold. Mel was on her hands and knees shivering violently as though she had just been hit with the highest-level ice magicks – her cousin nowhere to be seen. Sora was staggering towards her, looking concerned and trailing blood; he fell to his own knees beside her, hands on her shoulders, saying something. The ground beneath them bubbled and rippled, and the people who were advancing to help halted when the floor gave way to deep shadows and they both fell through.
Voices calling both their names echoed around the hall, and as Aqua reached the edge of the rippling portal she nearly doubled over to retch. It was a horrible, dank and stale smell that in itself was tolerable, but the memories tied to that smell were almost unbearable. She stood there on the brink of the abyss, shaking almost as violently as Mel had been, fighting back tears. Sora and Mel were down there somewhere – they were both injured and needed help.
And every fibre of Aqua's being screamed at her to run away from it, that incessant darkness that laid so thickly over everything…
But she couldn't leave them! They were her friends and her responsibility, and Sora had pulled her from that world once before – she owed him a debt.
Leo roared with desperation, and before anyone could do anything he had made it to the portal at an awkward but quick run and dived in after them without any second thoughts or hesitation.
Aqua felt sick, both with the stench of Darkness in her nose and with her own cowardice. She felt a hand on her shoulder, but she couldn't look whoever it was in the eye.
Rhiannon thankfully took control of the situation yet again, and appraised their remaining forces. "Eaves," she jerked her head towards the prone figure of Maleficent. "Watch'um." Lynn gave a little salute as she made her way towards the witch, taking time to choose an arrow and knock it into place before standing over the unconscious body and aiming directly over her heart with a grim expression. "You," Rhiannon commanded Lea. "Watch that one. Goofy, you help. Donald, over there," they went off to watch Pete while Donald went to Lynn's side and brandished his staff menacingly, though she was not conscious to see the gesture. "Right," she turned to the rest of them. "We haven't got long. Someone has to go down there and get them,"
Aqua couldn't quite suppress the shudder that ran down her spine. Each sense was telling her to flee. She couldn't bring herself to do it, not again…
"I'll go," Terra's strong voice said from her side, and she felt his hand give her shoulder a squeeze. She turned to look at him, and he looked back, stubborn and determined – not judging her cowardice.
"Me to," Riku said quickly, stepping forward.
"Black Coat in my satchel. Over there," Lynn said with a jerk of her chin, eyes still trained on her target.
"I'll go-" Ven began, storming his way over, but Rhiannon held up a hand to stop him.
"We need fighters to stay up here in case anyting gets out that shouldn't. Stay here and keep watch,"
This rankled, but Ven set his jaw and nodded stiffly, taking up a defensible position by the portal's edge.
As he did this, Rhiannon turned to the remaining girls. "You two," she motioned to Aqua and Kairi, "keep this portal, or we'll be trapped down there. And don't let any Heartless out." She repeated. "You," she rounded on the poor island girl who looked like a shaken leaf. "Get behind one of them and stay there. We're not out of the woods yet." She turned to Terra without waiting for a response. "Ready?"
Terra nodded grimly and raised a hand to summon his armour. Rhiannon did the same, and she jumped into the middle of the dark portal, followed quickly by Terra and a robed Riku on the formers glider.
Aqua had to shake herself before she could apply her mind to the task at hand. She raised her hands and cast a spell to stabilise the edges of the portal, which would stop it from decaying and collapsing. Kairi watched intently as she did this before doing the same, her friend clinging to her shoulders and shaking silently. There was a groan, and Aqua looked up to see Maleficent coming to. Lynn bent her knees and lowered her arrow just a little closer to its mark, and she said in a spitting, acidic voice, "Just you try, bitch. Just you bloody try,"
With the spell in place, all Aqua had to do was feed it enough manna to keep it going, which was bad in a way, because she didn't have to concentrate. Instead she had to keep the memories from burying her in their rubble as the smell continued to permeate her senses.
I can do this. She told herself. I have to do this.
Too many people she loved were down there, in that place…
The memory of agonised waiting in darkness, coupled with that horrible scent, on top of this waiting now was excruciating.
XOXOX
The first thing Sora knew was that it was dark, and then he felt the sharp pain on his scalp. He sat up and looked around in the gloom, and jumped when he heard a groan. Mel was laying on her side a few feet away, her back to him, and shaking badly. Sora scrambled to his feet and cast a glance around, summoning his Keyblade though the only sounds for miles around was their own breathing.
"Mel?" he poked at her shoulder and then rolled her on to her back to get a better look. "You okay?"
She was shaking, and her limbs kept twitching and convulsing. With a grimace she tried to sit up but her back arched unexpectedly and she bit back whatever she had been about to utter. "It hurts…" was all Mel managed to get out before she rolled onto her other side and curled into a ball again with a gasp of pain.
"We have to get out of here," he said with certainty, and stood up again.
But how?
Sora looked around, not entirely sure how they had ended up in the basin of the Realm of Darkness. The events leading up to that moment…it had all happened so quickly. He was trying to get Mel to sit up enough so he could pick her up, when he heard Leo's familiar roar. He turned to meet him with a grin, but turned back sharply when Mel's fist knocked against his back in warning. A pair of Neoshadows were scuttling towards them. Sora stood up and brandished his Keyblade, but Leo came hurtling out of nowhere in the endless gloom above them to land heavily with his feet planted either side of them, lurching as he did so. He was wounded and bleeding from several deep gashes on his legs and face, but the Heartless went scuttling off again after one swipe of his paw sent them sprawling.
"Am I ever glad to see you!" Sora told the young dragon, whose attention was now focused on Mel. He added in dismay, "I don't know what's wrong."
It looked like she might have been having a fit, but he knew from one of his conversations with Rosie about medicine that generally speaking when a person had a fit, they weren't aware of what was going on. She was certainly struggling and probably in a lot of pain, but she was still alert and conscious. He tried to help her up, but she reached a hand out to Leo, who nearly squashed them both in his eagerness to get closer. He licked her cheek and chirruped before standing up awkwardly and taking a stronger stance. Sora was puzzled until he filled his lungs and bellowed into the darkness, one long and low modulating note that filtered through the permeated air, far off into the distance.
Something a little way off shrieked in response, and Sora felt the hair on the back of his neck stand to attention. If Leo kept that up, every creature within a wide radius would know where they were – and still he kept making that noise like a foghorn. All Sora could really do was make sure Mel was in Leo's shadow where she was less of a target, and hope that Leo attracted the right kind of attention.
Something big was shifting through the strange, fungus like undergrowth that glowed with a muted light, and Sora shifted his grip as he saw from the corner of his eyes two small lamp-like flashes of red. But before he or the unseen salient could do any more than this, something bright flashed past and cut deeply into their cover, so the thing – whatever it was – shrieked and retreated with a series of crashing noises. Then he saw a figure clad in armour that shone with brilliance in the darkness, with a helmet that was just a little reminiscent of a horse's head. And they were shouting such abuse in a language Sora didn't understand, but he recognised first the accent and then the Keyblade that came spinning back to its owner's hands, and she raised it above her head as she yelled some more.
"SORA!"
He blinked at the sound of his name, staring straight ahead, and then almost fell over as someone crashed into him from behind.
"Riku!"
"You okay?"
"Where's Mel?" Terra demanded from within his own helmet, and Sora pointed to where Leo was nuzzling, and he went to her.
"God this place is awful," Rhiannon muttered as she walked towards them. "Where is she, then?" The two boys pointed wordlessly, and after she had passed them turned to each other.
"What happened?" Sora demanded. "One minute the ground was solid, and then-"
"Dunno," Riku looked over his shoulder as they heard something twitching in the darkness. "Those two spells collided, and then-"
Sora jumped when he realised something. "Hey, did Mel's cousin fall down here too? I haven't seen him,"
Riku looked surprised, and the frowned and shook his head. "No, I didn't see him…"
"Uh-oh."
Mel was thinking along the same lines, because as Terra stood up with her in his arms she struggled feebly against him, still grimacing in pain, saying, "Where's Tom? Where is he?"
"We can't hang around," Rhiannon said briskly, putting a hand each on Sora and Riku's shoulders and giving the pair of them a shove. "Get going,"
"-Can't leave him-!" Mel protested.
"He isn't here," Terra tried to reason with her as he placed her on his glider. "We can't stay, it's too dangerous,"
It was hard to tell if her whimper was from physical pain or the knowledge that they didn't know where her cousin was.
"You," Rhiannon snapped her fingers at Sora. "Get over here."
As he clumsily balanced on the back of Rhiannon's glider – vaguely resembling something like Aqua's but more like a chariot, and in colours to match her blade and armour – Leo lowered himself closer to the ground and hissed menacingly.
"Go!" the elder Master shouted, and they shot up into the air.
Sora looked down to see something lunging at Leo as he tried to take off. It was black and shapeless for a few moments before it morphed into something bear-like with orange eyes and a small horn growing out of its forehead. Leo dealt a rough blow to its jaw before bounding away and spreading his wings. While Terra and Rhiannon concentrated on navigating back to the small window of Light, high high above, Sora and Riku took turns to shoot spells at the Heartless that continued to stalk Leo as they ascended. Sora wanted to do more, but that just wasn't possible without risking losing someone. It was still a difficult enough task, trying to hit the Heartless that was always just behind Leo – he tried to swerve a few times to break its cover and get out of the firing line, but his strength was running out, so he settled simply for keeping pace.
Sora winced as they flew up through the portal, feeling the cleaner, fresher air in his lungs and the brightness of the hall that had seemed so dimly lit before by comparison. Rhiannon screeched to a halt, and he lost his balance and fell off just as Terra stopped as well. They all turned to the portal, and Leo's head broke through but something was wrong. He grappled at the edges to find purchase, as though he were trying to climb instead of fly. And then the Heartless that had been following them appeared, just its head, and it bit deeply into Leo's neck. He roared his defiance and continued to skitter his way out of the realm below, but the Heartless was sinking each tooth and claw into him and preparing to either drag itself out or drag Leo down with it. Several people reacted with much the same actions, and the Heartless screamed as spells and strikes were all aimed in its direction.
The final blow that made it release Leo completely came from Ven, who jumped over the void they floundered in and brought his Keyblade down against the horn-like structure, standing on its massive shoulders as he did so. The Heartless wavered, and than sank back down as Leo clawed his way out and onto the flagstone floor. Ven twisted and grabbed at his tail, and Riku and Sora grabbed in turn at his arms until they were all clear, and Rhiannon hurled something into the middle of the portal, which froze the endlessly bubbling surface into an icy crystalline substance that broke and shattered before melting away like snowflakes, into nothing but the stone floor.
Ven sat up, breathing hard and looking at the place where the rift between the realms had been just moments before. "Thanks," he panted quietly.
"Don't mention it," Sora turned his attention to Kairi, who was running to meet them with Leah right behind her. "Are you okay?" he asked as he and Riku sat up straight.
Ven scrambled to his feet and ran to check on Mel.
"Yeah," Kairi began, but stopped. "Sora! What happened to you?"
"Huh?" he felt concerned by the look Riku was giving him, and when he realised how much blood had seeped into his clothes he understood why. "Ah – just hit myself on something, that's all." He didn't feel too bad at any rate, just a bit bruised. He'd felt way worse than this before…
"Sora!" Donald bellowed at him and came marching over to him with a glower. "What did you do to yourself this time!"
"Nothing!" he rounded on him in a huff. "Mel needs the healing more than I do," he folded his arms stubbornly, but that didn't stop Donald throwing a few healing spells at him, despite his attempts to flee.
Rhiannon marched past with a face that seemed to forbid any questioning, and Leah tried to hide from her behind Riku. She went right up to Maleficent, who was lying on the floor with Lynn stood over her and an arrow trained on her heart, keeping her quite effectively pinned in place. Rhiannon pushed Lynn out of the way and leant down to look her in the eye. Maleficent stared balefully back, and Sora ran towards Rhiannon to help, with Riku on his heels. They both knew that look and what it portended.
"You stay here, you cause us no more trouble, now. And we catch you in our territory again; we'll tear your Heart out. Understood?"
There was a silence, and then before Maleficent could say or do anything, Rhiannon punched her squarely in the face so her head was thrown back with a smack on the stone floor. Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at Rhiannon in amazement. Sora and Riku skidded to a halt and stared at her dumbstruck. Sora had, in his angrier moments, imagined doing the same thing, sometimes – but he'd never imagined someone would actually do it.
"Whoa!" Lynn pranced out of the way with her hands in the air as though to stave off any retaliation. "What the hell?"
Rhiannon straightened up and adjusted her armour as she walked away with a cool expression and no remorse on her face what so ever. "We need to get out'ta here, she won't let us do that, I knocked her out, we go now."
Lynn was watching her friend incredulously as she walked by swiftly, shaking her head as she raised an eyebrow and swore under her breath. "There are ways of knocking people out without using fists." She continued to shake her head as they walked in Rhiannon's wake warily. Then she turned to take in the youngsters and their stunned expressions. "C'mon then," she gestured at them impatiently. "Let's go while we have the chance." She added to Riku as they ran forward together, passing Leo who was watching Terra lift Mel up carefully, the task made difficult by her twitching limbs. "Don't really fancy our chances after that now…" Riku shook his head, took Leah by the shoulders, and lead her after Lea who was checking the way ahead was clear.
"Now what?" Kairi asked the group at large as they began to filter towards the exit.
Aqua walked past and put a hand on her shoulder briefly. "Radiant Garden. Too many people need seeing to at once, and the Committee are already waiting for us," she looked at Sora anxiously. "Are you feeling all right?"
"Gees, it's just a bump on the head!" Scalp wounds were supposed to bleed a lot, right?
XOXOX
It was as a dishevelled mob that they arrived together in Radiant Garden, and as promised, the Committee were ready to receive them. Another surprise was seeing Flaire parked outside HQ, and Rosie was one of the first to rush out of the building towards them. Terra was a little taken aback by her appearance. She usually wore black leggings and baggy, dark and nondescript tops and wore her long hair loose; today it was a sort of black unitard underneath a long sleeved and tightly fitted shirt made of soft, slightly see through cotton, that went down well below her waist and had blue printing on it, the same image as the buckles on her familiar looking boots that told anyone looking to which Guild she belonged. She had also put up her hair with a clip at the back, so that it still hung down freely but didn't get in her way. It looked like she was on Guild business.
"What happened?" she asked as she and Aerith reached him, looking at Mel in concern.
Terra was holding her, something that shouldn't have been too difficult because of her size, but she hadn't stopped jerking and convulsing since they left. "I'm not sure,"
Aerith went to check on Sora, who had insisted that he was fine but was starting to look quite pale, and his friends were starting to fret. Rosie turned from Mel to stare wide-eyed and fearfully up at Leo, who was also bleeding heavily from several deep gashes.
"My God…" she said quietly, hands over her mouth.
"What's wrong with her?" Aqua asked sharply, and Rosie pulled herself together with remarkable speed. She pressed her fingers to the pulses in Mel's wrists (taking a long while as her limbs wouldn't settle) and then at her throat, and then she took her face in her hands and closed her eyes for a long moment, as though deliberating over something. Mel had blacked out on the way here, and was still unconscious despite the perpetual movement. "Well?" Aqua demanded, tense with worry.
"It's augmented magicks," Rosie said, stroking the hair back off Mel's face. "Two different spells combined, or something backfired. It's quite common in duels among the younger students at the Guild. That's why the rules state the same order of magic has to be used by both combatants. Get her up to the castle; she needs a hospital for the moment. Let me see to Leo first, and we can follow you."
Leo snarled at her for daring to suggest he would abandon Mel now, and though she flinched Rosie turned to meet his ire and said, "I'm sure she'd rather come round to see you looking well. You're covered in blood," The dragon narrowed his eyes at her, and then without breaking the contact he very deliberately raised a paw and began licking at his wounds. "That needs a butterfly stitch. Oh, Yuffie?"
Yuffie skidded to a halt as she ran by after Sora. "What?"
"Could you get the first aid kit from under the desk in my ship?"
"But what's actually wrong with her?" Aqua insisted as Rosie started to assess the damage done to Leo's face.
Rosie frowned and contemplated the question for a long moment. "I don't know. I need to know which spells combined and how. Look, take her up to the castle and get her checked in case there's any internal damage I missed. I'll be up in a moment," she turned around to see Lynn staggering towards her looking glum. "Oh Evie, what have you done this time?"
"I want to go home and bury myself." She said bleakly, leaning heavily against Rosie. "I can't even…"
"Go lie down in the TARDIS. I'll be a while, yet. Aerith, there's a bottle of rose tincture on the shelf," she looked meaningfully at the island trio's friend, clinging to Riku's arm like a frightened child. "I think a big dose is needed."
"Okay." Aerith nodded her understanding.
"Anything you need is probably in there, it's all labelled and if not the book on the counter will tell you everything you need. I'll be out here with – thank you," she took the box from Yuffie and set it on the ground beside Leo. "Mel needs a hospital. I'll get someone to send up Merlin, but you need to take her there now,"
That was good enough for Terra, so he set off with Ven and Aqua behind him. His concern was split in several different directions, but his worry for Aqua was growing; she was jumpy and agitated, and just couldn't calm down. Rhiannon was swinging back and forth in the forming crowd, barking orders and cajoling people this way and that while Lynn followed Rosie's instructions; she then in turn made Leo the centre of her attention, and did her best to work on him while he whined and grated plaintively for Mel.
Up at the castle Terra laid Mel on a bed that had been set up for her in a room with a large balcony and enormous doors that would allow Leo access to the room. Kyo had apparently demanded it, but Ansem had wisely barred him from the room for the time being. If he saw either Aqua or his sister in this state it would probably send him over the edge. While Ansem made his assessment with Ven assisting him, Terra tried to get Aqua to calm down at the edge of the room, but she just wouldn't. She kept clutching her hair and shaking her head, and wouldn't be consoled no matter what he said. The door banged open not long after Leo had landed on the balcony, and Rosie slipped inside around Rhiannon who stood on the threshold. She rushed over to Ansem's side while Rhiannon looked up and saw Aqua, and strode over to her, taking her shoulders and pressing her up against the wall despite Terra's protests.
"Calm. Down." She said firmly. "We're all here and accounted for. That hag won't be tryin' anytin' for a while now if she knows what's good for her. It's under control. All right, pet?"
"Bloody hell," Terra looked up to see Lynn watching from the doorway with a tired air and a raised eyebrow. "Calm down, Admiral Bossy-Boots. There's no need for-" she stopped and turned aside in surrender at the glower she received.
"Go make yourself useful and go get everyone sometin' ta'eat."
Lynn just shrugged with her eyes on the floor, turning to leave. "…Always said you were power hungry…"
Rhiannon rounded on her and stepped in her direction. "Say that again, pet."
But Rosie appeared before either of them could continue their fight, and pointed away from the room while saying in a clear, firm and ringing voice, "Out." Rhiannon looked like she wanted to have a go at her too, but Lynn grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the room before anymore could be said. Rosie turned her back on the door and rubbed at her eyes for a moment, muttering something that sounded like "Vexation," before she went back to Mel's bedside.
Terra and Aqua hurried after her, and saw Mel was awake again.
"Can you tell me what's wrong?" Rosie said gently, rather expertly getting her to sit up straight despite the convulsions in her limbs.
"All over," Mel grimaced and her back arched involuntarily before sharply constricting again. They had to wait for the sensation to subside before she could speak. "It hurts. It's hard to breathe,"
Rosie turned to look at Aqua. "Tell me exactly what happened. It's very important."
Between them they managed to piece together the events that had led up to the rift in the floor opening up. Rosie listened attentively, as did Ansem, and she flicked through a book from her satchel before jumping out of her skin when Merlin arrived unexpectedly in a cloud of smoke.
"Good grief!" he swatted something off his hat. "So sorry to keep you waiting, chaps! Now then, what seems to be the matter?"
"I'm fairly certain I know what happened," Rosie said carefully. "I'm just not sure how to undo it…"
"What?" Ven demanded loudly, hands slamming down on the tabletop and making her jump again.
"Well then? What do you know?" Merlin asked more kindly.
She gathered herself and said, "A dark arcane magic combined with a powerful but passive defensive spell – I…I'm not sure which category it was from, though. But it hit one of the casters – I think it's safe to assume it was…Tomasa, was his name? Yes. These things happen with young duellers all the time. Not normally at such an advanced level of magic, though. It looks like he was forced to seek refuge within Mel, but because of the fall out from the spell and the effect it was having on him, it wasn't a successful or complete merging. My guess is her body has been tricked into thinking it has to support both herself and Tomasa, but there's only one physical body present. This," she gestured to Mel's hand that kept clenching and unclenching, and spasming in between. "Is a result of her body trying to produce more energy than it needs, to support the metabolic needs of another body that isn't physically there to take up the excess chemical energy being produced."
Thankfully, she gave them a moment to let this sink in.
"It's quite a complicated biological process, but it's essentially to do with respiration." She said, gesturing with her hands square in front of her. "It's entirely possibly for Hearts to blend, whether by conscious decision or not. Whatever happened to the combined spells forced the action of merging, but because of the nature of the defensive spell it did not allow for a merging to take place. So Tomasa is in there somewhere, and Mel's body is trying to compensate for his metabolic needs as well as her own."
After a long pause, Terra said tensely, "So what do we do?"
Rosie bit her lip and folded her arms, tapping her fingers against her cheek. "I'm not entirely sure…I've never come across a case of augmented magicks on this level of expertise. Usually by the time someone has learnt to use such high level spells, they also know how to use magic responsibly. Most duelling accidents happen when the students are still learning the basics. I don't know what to suggest in this case."
"I do," Mel gasped, trying to sit up. Ven and Rosie helped her to do so, and she said, "I understand now. I know – what I need to do."
Rosie took a deep breath and nodded, looking decidedly nervous.
"So he's – s-stuck in the threshold. Of my Heart. And he can't go anywhere – in either direction. I just need to give him a nudge." She nodded, wincing as a shiver ran from her spine and down along her left arm. "I can do that, I know how to."
"Thank goodness," Rosie bowed her head for a moment; hand over her face before straightening up. "Do you need anything?"
"Water,"
"I'll see to that." Ansem offered, and left the room.
"It's just a form of meditation." Mel assured Ven, who was almost as distressed as Aqua now.
"I don't get it," Terra said to Rosie as she slid out of the way so Aqua could sit by Mel's side. "Why's it making her…" he gestured at Mel and the way her body was shaking.
"Do you understand how respiration works on a cellular level?" Rosie asked him.
"Um…" he could only stare at her blankly. His scientific knowledge was rudimentary at best, since it never featured too heavily on the Keyblade's curriculum.
Rosie seemed to understand this, and explained carefully as best she could using as simple terminology as possible. He didn't understand the names of the chemicals or what electrons were meant to be doing, but the general gist was that one adult body was trying and not quite managing to provide enough for two to function, and both with very different needs, especially considering the difference in sex. Rosie gave Mel a sideways look as Ansem returned with a full glass and a jug of water. "But I've never actually seen it for myself…its such an odd condition, and it usually doesn't come about as a result of augmented magicks."
"So…that happens if it keeps going?" Terra asked.
Rosie looked straight ahead and wouldn't turn to face him when prodded. She held a loose fist to her lips and concentrated hard on something he couldn't see before giving a little surrendering flick of her wrist and looking downward as she said, "Either her body expends all chemical energy readily available to it and starts metabolising her body tissue to keep going, or…the extra energy hijacks cell replication and eventually starts developing tumours…" she clearly didn't want to contemplate either outcome, and Terra didn't really either.
They both stepped out of the way (more of a leap in Rosie's case) as Kyo flew suddenly into the room and jumped onto the foot of the bed.
"Kyo, I thought I told you to go to the library," Ansem told him, but he got such a scowl in response that he seemed to think better of pressing the issue. Kyo didn't say anything, but his glare challenged anyone to try and take him away from his sister.
"No!" Mel tried to jerk away when Ansem started to assemble the pieces for a syringe. "No drugs! They make it – so much harder…"
"Are you sure you know exactly what to do?" Rosie asked carefully as Mel settled back against a pile of pillows, Kyo crawling over to lie alongside her.
"Yes." It sounded like she was snapping at the mage, but it was probably a product of the pain she was experiencing.
"All right then." Rosie touched Terra's elbow. "If you need me I'll be on my ship. I'm a bit concerned about Sora, he was looking very pale. You will call me if you need anything?"
"Of course," Terra answered for them all as Aqua took Mel's hand and squeezed as she closed her eyes and started concentrating hard on her sporadic breathing. He went to her crowded bedside as Rosie slid the door shut behind her, and said, "You got this?"
Despite her condition, Mel cracked one eye open and looked up at him dimly. With gritted teeth, she said, "I will do once everyone stops asking me."
XOXOX