Darkness Reign
"I... I... I'm gonna go seal the Keyhole!" Aleri chokes, on the verge of crying, but summoning TELOS nevertheless. But as he ran towards the Keyhole, he was thrown back by something. Or rather, someone. He hit the stairs with a sickening thud and at the spot he ran to, stood a tall, dark skinned man with pushed back silver hair and... Golden eyes.
"So, you have awakened at last princess. The keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose. But now it's over." It was definitely him! No two voices would be a smooth yet chilling as his.
"Ansem!" I growled, wanting to charge at him and rip him to pieces, but instead I ran to Kairi, standing between them protectively as did Donald and Goofy.
"Don't make another move!" Donald quacked.
"Do ya think we can stop him all by ourselves?" Ansem laughed smugly.
"Ahahaha... And the night rider... Such pathetic fools you surround yourself with. That shall be rectified soon enough." Rexial got up and charged directly at Ansem, the intent to kill glowing in his eyes. However, he was easily knocked aside, crashing into and denting a pipe, slumping to the floor. Aleri managed to stand, swaying, and cast a healing spell on both Rexial and himself.
"..Y... you put us into a situation where we couldn't do anything... no, we couldn't find a way out of it." He panted through gritted teeth, stepping back as if he was about to turn and run. But then something strange happened; Ansem halted, twitching and twisting as if struggling to move forward.
"Impossible!" A faint glow appeared in front of him. And that faint glow grew brighter and took form. The form of Riku.
"No! You won't... Use me for this!" He threw his arms out, barring Ansem's way further, clearly in pain from his outburst and giving it his all just to stay where he was.
"Riku!?" Kairi tried to take a step towards him but I put my hand out slightly. I was at a loss for words.
"What a crazy-strong will..." Aleri muttered, Rexial staggering back towards us. Once he joined us, I took a couple steps forward but Riku swiped his arm.
"You've gotta run! The heartless are coming!" The very idea of running away made me find my voice.
"What? No! I won't leave you!"
"We have no choice; we gotta run while we have the chance!" Rexial urged. I knew he was right but my stubbornness and pride refused to let me run. So I turned and glared at him.
"I. Won't. Leave. Riku." He seemed a little irritated but kept his head straight while he spoke.
"You didn't just get bitch-slapped across the room. Even if we could take him on, we'd get swallowed up in a minute anyway." I looked back to Riku briefly. His expression was one of pleading.
"Run!" He shouted. Reluctantly, I turned and started running with the group, glancing back just once, to see Ansem regain control, and Riku's form collapsed, shattering like glass when he hit the floor.
"What about the keyhole?" Goofy asked as we passed the Princesses.
"Let's just get out of here!"
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As we reached the Entrance Hall, we noticed we weren't alone. A tiny Shadow Heartless had been following us all on its own. It caught up and waddled towards Kairi, but Donald blocked its path and whacked it on the head with his staff, just as Rexial and Aleri caught up.
"Confounded heartless. Get lost, will ya!"
"Sora?"
"Huh?" I looked between Kairi and the shadow. And I saw the faintest glow of a connection. My thoughts were interrupted as we were surrounded by Heartless. "Stay together!" The last thing we needed was for us to get separated and picked off one at a time. And Kairi was unable to defend herself. But of course, Rexial had to charge off.
"Hell no!" As he leapt into the fray, causing immediate chaos and confusion among the Heartless, making it easy to defeat them individually but practically shattering any hope of a simple victory. Aleri was soon to follow, getting swept away in order to fight off a trio that had leapt for Kairi. Before long, the rest of us had dispersed to fight back the hoard and amidst the fighting, Kairi was submerged under Heartless. I tried to weave through the shadows, as did Rexial, however, the Heartless were suddenly thrown back in a flash of bright white light. When we opened our eyes, everyone's jaws dropped at the sight before us. Sora. Holding Kairi in his arms, perfectly fine. My jaw dropped. How could that have even happened? We had no time to dwell on it though. The Heartless that had retreated returned, and surrounded everybody in greater numbers. We formed a circle around Kairi, facing out, our weapons ready as the Heartless swivelled towards us. Then, the ground started trembling to an ear splitting roar. The Heartless were destroyed by the sheer power of the roar, carried out by Beast.
"Go now!" He growled from atop the fountain, jumping down to our level.
"Come with us!" Sora asked urgently.
"I told you before, I'm not leaving without Belle! Now go! The heartless are coming!" If Sora had any ounce of smarts in his head, it was that he knew not to argue with an eight foot tall, angry and dangerous beast.
"Alright, let's get outta here." Everyone turned to leave except me. Beast wouldn't leave without Belle. So I couldn't leave without Riku. Aleri stayed as well, turning to fight the newly appearing Heartless.
"You guys go without me!" He then looked at me and Beast. "I couldn't leave the two of you to fight alone. I'm sure we can hold out until the others regroup and come back, between the three of us."
"Al, you should go with them. You would help a lot in making a plan. You have no real reason to stay right now anyway." To my surprise, he was grinning at me.
"'No real reason'? Geez, you're as hypocritical as Rex... I'm sure they'll think of something without me! Right now I need to make sure that all three of us are still around when they do!" I sighed and smiled back at him.
"Fine. But you need to learn to stick your nose out of other people's business."
"Not happening today, sorry." He replied, summoning his Keyblade and taking up a battle stance.
"Alright, you two go and get the Princesses out of the crystals. I need to look something up in the library quickly." I stated, decapitating a shadow.
"Actually, Beast, could you clear a path from the area up ahead to the library? I can free the Princesses myself, but it'll be hard to protect them all if we're swarmed. Can I count on you? We'll all meet up in the library afterwards. I've thought of something we can do." Aleri announced. Beast nodded.
"As long as belle is safe... I can clear the way." We nodded to each other and I took of up the stairs to the library, Beast immediately starting to clear the way while Aleri charged through the crested door to find the Princesses.
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I put away yet another book. Nothing. I sighed heavily, sitting on top of the bookshelf, careful my wings didn't snag on anything. There was nothing about the so called 'Night Rider'. It occurred to me that Ansem was just messing with me or created a new name for me.
"Raven, you still in here?" Aleri's voice echoed through the shelves. I slid off my perched and gracefully glided to a halt in front of him.
"What's up? Y'know other than a crazy bastard trying to take over."
"I got the princesses out. They're in another part of the castle, holding back as much of the darkness as they can. As it turns out, their power is... pretty crazy. Once somebody seals the Keyhole, they won't have to keep it up anymore. The Heartless have thinned out, too." He folded his arms and his head started bobbing from side to side slightly. It reminded me of the toys with springy heads. "...So, what's this thing Ansem called you? Uh... 'night flier'?"
"Night Rider. I can't find anything in here about it. I think maleficent knew what it is, sort of. I'm guessing it's the reason Ansem and Maleficent have been tailing me."
"...Fair enough. No offense meant here, but I don't see why they'd be so intent on you, either. Hm... my first guess would be that a 'night rider' is part of a group, but I think you'd know if you were in a secret club." He glared at the floor for a moment, perhaps contemplating something. The he looked up and unfolded his arms. "...I figure it may have something to do with this weird vibe you give off. You're not a totally normal person. Well, I mean... Y'know what? Forget I said anything. It's a difficult point to make in a world where 'totally normal' isn't such a stable concept..." He shook his head, brushing aside his own words.
"Well... I am kinda messed up. I'm sort of part dragon."
"Oh, that must be it! ...Wait, how does that work? Was one of your ancestors a...?"
"If you're suggesting my ancestors did it with dragons, you're very, very wrong... And kinda creepy."
"Hey, I heard "I'm part dragon", and my mind didn't go to "magical elixir from dragons' blood". Sue me." I leant against the table, folding my arms as I went into the explanation of my Dragon Heritage.
"No, when my mother was pregnant with me, it didn't look like I was gonna be a healthy baby. Or so I'm told. So my father prayed to the dragons to save me and my mother, as the birth would've likely killed her too. They answered his prayers by providing an elixir made from dragon blood. My mother drank it and it made me strong. So I'm a bit harder to kill than other SOLDIER." I looked down at my stomach where, underneath the SOLDIER uniform, the Dark gash lurked. "I'm assuming since I've had this wound for a few months and not died yet. Although that could be because Ansem doesn't want me dead." After I'd finished, Aleri closed his eyes and pondered the knowledge we had among our assets.
"Hm... it seemed like he wanted you as dead as the rest of us, but then again, there's no way a scholar like him hasn't studied Sun Tzu. And Sun Tzu said that all warfare is based on deception. Of course he'd make us think he wanted you dead if he wanted you to live for some purpose of his. Or... would he? Now I'm just going in circles..." I thought back to my last private encounter with the man. He could have killed me but he just left me.
"I'm sure he doesn't. I didn't tell you before because I knew we had Kairi to rescue. But... Between escaping Maleficent's prison bubble, and meeting up with you at the rising falls, I had another run in with Ansem. He had the chance to kill me but he didn't do it. So he still has use of me alive."
"That, or he thinks you're inconsequential. Given what I know about him, the former's more likely, since you've been involved in his plot for so long now. ...So what do we do about it?"
"Theoretically, take him out, save the world and rescue Riku."
"Maybe that's exactly what he wants?" He shook his head. "...No, never mind, that's stupid. What's stopping us from going in there and fighting him...? I think we were going to wait for the others to get back."
"Al, I can't just wait and let Ansem torment Riku any longer. I have to try. I'm going to face Ansem and either win and save the day or lose and buy some time."
"...Mind letting me help out, then? I won't let you die as a 'distraction', especially not when you're doing it for someone you love." I choked on some spit at the last remark, coughing and wheezing for a minute.
"Excuse me!?" He tilted his head in mild confusion.
"Aren't you doing this for Riku? You did just say you couldn't leave him to suffer, right?" Then he snapped his fingers in realisation. "Ah, I getcha. New couple, and all this stuff happens to shake things up... your reaction's understandable. But all the same, I think it's better that you not make a plan based on the idea that, even if you die, it'll benefit everyone somehow. Besides, I'm sure Riku would hate to wake up to find that you died."
"We- We're not a couple! And besides..." I thought back to that fear I felt when Mori needed to release the Darkness. That fear of failing Riku. "Who said anything about dying? If I lose, I don't plan on dying."
"Hm?" He pauses but when he speaks again, his jovial tone seemed to have thinned. "...Sorry, death's been on my mind lately. But all the same, would you mind if I accompanied you?" I just sighed and shrugged as I stood upright.
"You're just gonna follow me anyway."
"Glad you've got it straight! With the way the Heartless have been reduced, Beast can handle himself easily. Plus, Ansem probably isn't getting as much power from the Keyhole. We might be able to beat him."
"But you need to understand, I'm going to fight him alone. I have to." I waited for his response as he crossed his arms again and mulled it over in his head.
"...Alright, if it means so much to you. But if everything goes wrong, I'm not staying on the sidelines."
"Fine." His concerned expression then melted into a smile.
"Thank you. Ready to go after him? I see you've... done a lot of reading in preparation. Is this that 'speed-reading' thing I've heard about, where you flip through quickly and memorize what's on the pages to sift through information quickly?" He asked, noticing the pile of books I'd trolled through.
"Yeah. I think I know how to control something I did by accident earlier. Something that boosts my chances of winning."
"Hey, that's great!" It was, but it required a lot of energy and magic.
"Could you deal with any heartless on the way? I want to conserve my energy as much as possible."
"Okay, then, I'll clear a path." He summoned his massive Keyblade and hefted it onto his shoulder, walking out into the grand hall. He began to cut down Heartless and blast them aside with his magic, and skilfully so. I followed him closely, but made a point of staying out of his way. After cutting our way through the castle's annoying lift systems, we arrived at the door to the Grand Hall. Aleri slipped behind me to fend off any Heartless that might've attacked from behind. I took a moment to steady my breathing, which had grown ragged with nerves, before bursting through the doors and rushing straight to the Keyhole.
"ANSEM! Come out! I know you're here!" I bellowed angrily. Ansem turned around from his post at the control panel and extended his hand to me as I reached the top of the stairs. His silky smooth voice practically purred his greeting to me.
"Now, is that the proper way to ask after someone, Night Rider?"
"Don't call me that, bastard. Where is Riku? Tell me!" I snarled.
"You shouldn't be so resentful of your power, Night Rider. Why don't you reach out and take what you want? You already have what you need in order to stand head-and-shoulders above everyone else, if you would just embrace it."
"Anything you see as great power is something I want nothing to do with. Now where is Riku!?" He turned his back on me, glancing over his shoulder at me.
"The boy could have been yours as well. Why do you refuse me at every turn? I tell you how to seize your desires, without having to give up anything of real worth..." He crossed his arms, standing proudly. I was going to change that soon enough.
"I told you before. I don't need your help to get what I want. Now tell me where you're keeping Riku before I tear you apart." My voice dripped with venomous hatred.
"That boy is lost to the darkness, beyond any hope of return. Unless you were to push aside your cowardly feelings and..."
"I already said no. Why would I listen to you? You stabbed me in the stomach! And if Riku's so far into darkness, then how come he held you back, huh? If your darkness is so weak that a teenager can break its hold, then that's even more of a reason not to take your advice." I taunted, smirking at the sour expression and hitch in his breath it caused.
"Ah, yes... I underestimated him. Rest assured, his efforts have landed him in a darkness beyond that; he will not interfere again. But tell me, Night Rider, why do you fear the darkness? Why do you fear your own power?" I scoffed at him.
"Fear? You think I'm afraid of you!? You're just a sour old man kidnapping kids! I've dealt with people like you before and you're all the same. I'm not afraid." To my annoyance, the smirk returned to Ansem's lips.
"Yes, that's it. Let your emotions run wild while pushing down your fear. Let the darkness feed on it." He turned back to face me, his image shifting into Riku's form and extending his hand once more. "This is your last chance to come willingly. If you refuse again, I will see you submit, both to me, and to the power you were too cowardly to take command of." My own smirk only widened as I spat on his outstretched palm. Ansem retracted his hand, returning to his true form as he hovered off the ground, his arms folded. "Then you will crumble, just like the boy did. It was absolutely pitiful."
"I'll die before I give in to you." He seemingly ignored my comment, continuing with his talk of Riku.
"Crawling like an insect after a bludgeoning by his close friend and yourself... you should have seen him, begging me for more power. Pathetic. What did you call this vessel... 'Riku'?" Riku was not a mere vessel! He was my friend!
"Shut your mouth!"
"Why don't you try shutting it with that power of yours, Night Rider?" Ansem challenged.
"I will!"