6H: Okay, summer is here! WHOOT! And who isn't excited?
Anaretsu: …
6H: Well I am, especially since it's actually sunny right now. Weather's been crazy in the northeast! In some places it's flooding!
Anaretsu: And this has what to do with your story?
6H: Nothing really….let's do chapter 35!
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Kingdom Hearts-Adventures at Castle Chocobo
Floor 35-Apology
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He gave them a sinister grin.
"No. I'm just a copy" Riku said.
"I knew it." Aru glared back at Riku.
"Knew what?" Cedeile asked.
"That's the Riku Replica Hikari Tagami fought!" Aru explained. "When I was down in the basements of the castle. The angel-demon was fighting with us too."
"Please let us through." Sora said. "We need to help Namine." Riku Replica sneered at him.
"If you go any further, Namine will be hurt." He replied. "I won't let that happen. I promised to protect her." Ryu looked at the floor.
'A little while ago, I was able to say that.' He thought, still upset from the truth being revealed to him. 'Everything I felt was a lie, and yet I'm going with them to save her-the one who made me feel like that.' He looked back up at Sora trying to talk to the Riku Replica.
"Please! We can fight later!" Sora yelled, starting to get agitated.
"We fight now, to settle this-once and for all." Riku Replica declared. Suddenly, Sora felt himself being pushed aside. There was a clanging of metal.
"Ryu!" Aru exclaimed. The fragment hunter had drawn his sword and attacked Riku Replica, but he had blocked it with the Soul Eater blade.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Cedeile exclaimed.
"Shut up! All of you!" Ryu yelled back. "I'm tired of being jerked around by a chain like this. Namine deceived me, and I won't forgive her so easily! Not like the rest of you!"
"Ryu, Namine told us that she was forced to-" Sora began.
"I don't care!" he snapped back. "No one makes a fool out of me like that! Using my own missing memories against me! It doesn't matter-I'll find them on my own, and get my revenge!" He used his strength to push back Riku Replica's block and force him off balance. He went in for another attack, but was blocked again. The copy smirked.
"Don't get all emotional on me."(1) Riku Replica said. "It ruins a good fight."
"Sure." Ryu spat back. "I'll try to restrain myself." And the two went at it-slashing and dodging and blocking-like two well-trained sword fighters, rounding each other and searching for a weak point.
"Stop it! This isn't getting us anywhere!" Cedeile yelled.
"Boys will be boys…" Aru trailed off.
"So we just let them fight?" Cedeile asked.
"Pretty much. Ryu's upset because of what Namine did, and he's got to take it out on something." Aru said.
"So we just…stand here and wait for Ryu to calm down? This is retarded! We've got to stop Marucia, just like Namine said, right? That means there's no time to waste!"
"Well…" Sora began hesitantly. "How do you think we should stop them?"
"I'll figure that out in a moment." She replied as she stormed up to the two boys. Aru and Sora called out for her, but she didn't stop. She walked right up to both of them, just as Ryu was about to attack. Before his sword could reach his target, Cedeile took out the heartblade and blocked it. Both of them were surprised she had gotten in the way of their fight.
"Hey! What the hell are you-?" Ryu started to shout, but Cedeile pushed him over. Sora and Aru's jaws dropped.
"Is she asking for a death wish?" Sora exclaimed in awe.
"Cedeile, you idiot…." Aru murmured to herself in disbelief. Cedeile turned to Riku Replica with a fierce look in her eyes-so much so that it scared him as to what she would do. Without any sound or warning, she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him towards her. He fell limply into her careless, swift embrace. She held him tightly to her and clenched her eyes shut.
"What are you doing? Let go of me!" He demanded, sounding like he might kill her then and there. She only held on tighter.
"Apologizing." She replied under her breath, but loud enough for him to hear. "I'm sorry for everything. Even if you're not the 'real' Riku, I feel like I should apologize to you. Those fights, all of them, were stupid. We were stupid kids, Riku. I still have a scar from the time you cut me on that rock by mistake, and my back teeth still aren't straight from when you punched me hard in left cheek. But after everything that happened, I figured that you were as good as dead, and that we'd never meet again. But now we're here again, and you may not know who I am. And you're not even the you I wanted to talk to, but I have to say this. Because I feel guilty about everything. I know this might not mean a thing to you, but it means something to me. We weren't really 'friends.' Maybe you were jealous because Sora and I were so close, or maybe you just didn't like me. Let's put all that behind us. Riku, I'm sorry for all the fights we ever got into." She said all this with fierceness, as if she were in the middle of battle. Riku Replica was still-he could not bring himself to move. She released him with ease and stepped back, a hard look on her face, but a spot of accomplishment also lingered.
The others were silent as she slowly walked backwards, stepping away from him. Riku Replica watched her every move until she stopped, safely out of his reach. Her stare at him was unbroken and never lost power.
"Who are you?" he asked, awed and frightened. Her aura was suddenly building in power, and he could feel it. So could Aru, and she consulted Hikari Tagami right away.
'Hikari! What's happening to Cedeile? Her aura-'
'It's gaining momentum.' Hikari cut her off. 'Despite being a master, Cedeile's aura was never particularly special or powerful, but now…it's as if someone else is boosting it!'
'Who though?' Aru asked. Hikari laughed to herself softly, as if scolding herself for some unknown reason. Aru was about to ask, but Hikari said, more to herself than Aru-
'Well, I never thought I'd sense you again…Arlette…'
'Huh?'
'It's nothing, forget it.'
'But who's-'
'Never mind, I said. Cedeile's aura has ceased growing, but it's not weakening…' Aru turned her focus back to Cedeile She was still standing there, squarely looking at Riku Replica.
"I'm the heartblade master. My name's Cedeile." She answered.
"Namine…no one ever told me about you!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, Axel said at first I wasn't important to the organization. That must've been why."
"So now what am I supposed to do with you? Do I kill you, or do I ignore you?" he grabbed at his hair as he thought, still looking at her.
"How am I supposed to know? According to most people, I'm an idiot!" she said.
"But…I know I'm supposed to kill Sora. Vixen told me so! And Riku-if I kill Riku, then I'll be Riku! But what about you? Marucia doesn't want you! And I won't gain anything if I kill you! What do I do with you?" Cedeile smirked and folded her arms in front of her chest.
"Don't do anything." She said with cockiness.
"Nothing?" he asked. "But you're with that….that thing!" He pointed behind her to the angel-demon. "It tried to destroy me! But Vixen fixed me, because I'm more important than it-"
"She's my friend. And don't forget that." Cedeile spat with edge. Riku Replica grimaced and then put back on a look of annoyance.
"I don't want to waste my time with you anyway!" He said. He opened a portal and disappeared into it. The hall fell very quiet. Then, Cedeile turned back to the rest of them.
"Not bad, huh?" She said.
"How'd you do that!" Sora exclaimed. "I couldn't get through to him during all the other fights I'd had with him, but you just-and then…wow!" He finally got out. Cedeile smirked.
"It's a gift!" she said.
"Why'd you get in my way?" Ryu demanded from the floor, his head hung.
"Because you were being hard headed, and wasting time." Cedeile replied without looking back at him.
"That's a stupid reason! You should've just stayed out of it, instead of giving that stupid, long winded dribble about being friends and stuff! It worthless!" He said, getting up and turning his back to her.
"Not if Riku heard me. It's not worthless, because those feelings are mine, even if my memories are lost. Because my heart is still here." Ryu fell silent. She had a point-even if his memories had been tampered with, those feelings were still his and were made by his heart. He was never made to remember loving Namine. That was what had evolved from seeing those memories.
"Cedeile, are you okay?" Aru asked, really wanting to question her about her aura growing, but not wanting to say anything directly.
"Sure. Nothing happened to me, so I'm fine-really." She assured the mage. All Aru could do was nod.
"Let's move on! I want to find Namine quick!" Sora said. However, voices coming from the room behind them made them stop.
"Sora! Wait!" One called.
"Hold on!" Another called. Through the doorway came two very odd-looking characters-a duck and a dog.
"Sora!" The dog exclaimed. "It's good to see you in one piece! We were worried when you went to the 12th floor by yourself, but then we decided to go after you!"
"Really? So, you guys forgive me for being so hard-headed?" Sora asked. He bent down to the duck's level. He crossed his arms and turned away.
"Yeah, alright." He replied begrudgingly.
"Hey Sora, who are all these people?" the dog asked.
"Oh, right! Donald, Goofy, these are Cedeile, Ryu, and Aru. Ryu and Cedeile are missing memories too, but Aru seems to remember us."
"Yeah. Don't tell me that you two both don't remember us either." Aru said.
"Can't recall." Donald grumbled. "What's with your aura. It seems super powerful for a little kid." Aru smirked.
"Oh right. You forgot Hikari too." She said. Donald gasped as Aru changed into the ancient mage.
"I used to bother you so much. You thought I might be a heartless leader. I admit, I was causing some trouble at End of the World, but…"
"Oh my god! Aru, how'd you get taller, and change your hair color?" Sora exclaimed. Hikari and Cedeile sighed.
"No, Sora. This is Hikari Tagami! She's….uh…who are you again?"
"I'm the mage who forged the heartblade and keyblade. I also sealed Silvia behind the glass panel and then broke the panel, creating the fragments. And all of you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" The blank looks around her told her enough. "Pathetic." She mumbled.
"Maybe Namine can set this all straight." Sora said. "After all, she took our memories apart in the first place."
"Not mine." Cedeile said. "My memories were all gone before I even got here."
"Well, shall we just move on? Chatting is nice and all, but it's not getting us any closer to the end." Ryu said. (2)
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Sora explained everything about Namine to Donald and Goofy, and then Hikari Tagami tried to convince them that, indeed, they had met before. This attempt failed miserably, as no one else could remember the incidents she described.
The next hallway was the same monotonous room as all the others had been before.
"Wonderful." Cedeile remarked. "This stupid castle is so freakin' repetitive! Can't they at least make the wall a different color!"
"Would you stop whining? You're so annoying as it is!" Ryu yelled at her.
"Leave me alone!" She whined at him.
"Would the both of you knock it off? You're giving me a splitting headache!" Hikari yelled. Both stopped immediately-they were both rather afraid of Hikari. Sora ran ahead of the group, towards the door to the next floor, when a dark portal opened in his path. Stepping through it and blocking his path was Lakchine, and she didn't look happy.
"Lakchine!" Cedeile exclaimed.
"You again." Sora growled. "I was hoping to never see your face again."
"Too bad, kid. I'm here to finish you off for good, as per Marucia's orders."
"We'll take you! Just like last time!" Donald yelled.
"Are you sure you can do anything? Better leave this to a master mage." Hikari spat. Lakchine looked to her, noticing her for the first time.
"Well, if it isn't Miss high and mighty? And how has your time been in the castle?" She asked mockingly. Hikari gave her trademark smirk.
"Boring." She replied.
"You did in Vixen. Sort of. Really, it was Axel that finished him off, but you wore him down."
"I'm glad he's gone. He's face was kind of scary, you know? And of course, one less of you nobodies running around is fine with me." Lakchine snapped, and pushed Sora aside.
"Teleport Rush!" She yelled, and disappeared. Hikari seemed to know what was happening, and turned just as Lakchine reappeared behind her and threw her knives in her left hand. They all successfully lodged themselves in her back, but Hikari ignored this and summoned fire magic to retaliate.
"FIRAGA!" she yelled, throwing it at Lakchine.
"Teleport Rush!" And she was gone again. The fire attack hit the wall instead, leaving a black scorch mark.
"Damn it!" Hikari yelled. Lakchine appeared again on the other side of the room.
"What's the matter, Hikari Tagami? Can't handle me? Am I just too good for you? You must be losing your edge after your 500 year long absence." Hikari was about to charge again, but Ryu stopped her.
"She's trying to get you angry so that you miss. Calm down, and wait for an opportunity." He said.
"You're telling me to keep calm? After your little outburst downstairs, I think you should be slightly ashamed." She taunted cruelly. He glared at her.
"Shut your mouth!" He replied. "You know I'm right."
"If the both of you don't stop it…" Donald began. Lakchine laughed bitterly.
"Is your little playgroup having a hard time getting along, Sora?" She taunted. "If you don't pull yourselves together, I'm going to do you in. No holding back this time!"
"Wait, Lakchine!" Cedeile called, jumping in-between her and Sora. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I'm in the organization, duh! Where have you been this whole time?"
"I know that!" she retorted. "But…it's just that…"
"Look, I've got orders to get rid of you both, and an order's an order. I'm not about stand down, so draw your weapons and fight me!" Cedeile smirked.
"Very well, but you'll see how good I am this time." She replied, taking out her weapon. Cedeile jumped towards her, but Lakchine sent a barrage of knives at her, several of which hit. Cedeile gasped as she stumbled backwards, feeling where one of the knives pierced her skin. She looked back at her enemy. "It might take a little more than that to do me in, Lakchine."
"Maybe." She replied. "THUNDAGA!" Cedeile jumped out of the way just in time, but felt herself knock into something soft. She turned-Lakchine smirked back at her. "Thundaga!" She snapped her fingers and stepped back. The lightning bolt hit Cedeile at full force. She sunk to her knees in pain and fell over on the floor.
"Cedeile!" Sora called. Lakchine pointed one of her knives at him.
"You're next." She said simply. "Teleport Rush!" She disappeared again and reappeared behind him. He quickly called the keyblade to his hand and spun around to meet her attack, and was rewarded with a perfect deflection. She came at him again, and threw one of her knives at him. He turned his face to dodge it, but it caught the edge of his cheek. He touched it and found blood to be sliding down his skin.
Meanwhile, Hikari ran to Cedeile's side and gently touched her slightly charred shoulders. The girl in red shook off the contact and pushed herself up.
"How's Sora doing?" She asked, grinded her teeth to shake off the pain.
"He's alright for now. I don't know how much longer he can keep it up, though." Hikari replied. "What do you plan to do?"
"I'll wait for her to be distracted by Sora. When her back is turned, I'll get her. What about you and Ryu?"
"We'll try to get involved, if you let us, but right now it seems as though Sora would rather have this dance for himself."
"Is this how it used to be…in our last journey?" Cedeile asked. "I don't know…this just doesn't feel the same."
"I suppose it isn't." Hikari replied simply. "Do you want me to heal you?"
"Yes, please." Cedeile rested back on her feet and pushed some of her black hair back. The ancient mage called upon the healing spell.
"Curaga…" She said quietly, but with that same harshness her voice always had. Cedeile felt her burning skin cool and loosen, and the punctures in her chest close up. The knives that had previously been lodged into her skin fell harmlessly to the ground, and the blood faded off their metal surface. She stood up and picked up the knives, holding them as Lakchine did. Hikari raised an eyebrow, but this was not unnoticed.
"What?"
"What are you going to do with those?"
"You'll see. Well? Are you going to stop sitting on your butt and actually do something for once?" Hikari frowned at her, but Cedeile just laughed in response, and head back into battle. Hikari shook her head and turned back to Ryu.
"You ready?"
"Sure." He replied. The two of them approached the ensuing battle. It seemed as though Donald and Goofy had already joined in and were trying their best to help Sora, but really couldn't get an edge in.
"You seem so angry, keyblade master." Lakchine commented.
"You made me remember Namine in a cruel way, and you knew what was going on the whole time." He replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Did I make little Sora cry?" She taunted. She threw a handful of knives at him, all of which painfully struck his body and sent him flying.
"Sora! CURAGA!" Donald yelled, raising his staff. Sora landed on his feet, completely unscathed. Lakchine called her knives back and licked the edge of one nervously.
"You're lucky your little friends are here to help you." She snarled.
"Yeah, I am. Thanks for that Donald."
"No problem."
"Hey you guys, let's take care of this witch." Sora said. He lifted the keyblade, while Donald and Goofy lifted their respective weapons. A giant, magic circle appeared below them and Lakchine. "Ready? TRINITY LIMIT!"
A pillar of light rose up from the circle and engulfed her. The others covered their eyes until the light faded. Lakchine was barely standing, and shaking badly as well, but she didn't let it stop her. She rose up to her full height and prepared to attack again.
"You are NOT going to defeat me that easily." She said.
"LAKCHINE!" Cedeile yelled, bursting into the conversation. She jumped in the air, and flung the knives she had at Lakchine, expecting them to hit. Instead, they fell pitifully to the ground. Cedeile and Lakchine looked at them, both stunned. Cedeile smacked herself in the head. "No freakin' way!" She said to herself. In the background, Sora was trying to stifle laughter with clenched teeth. Hikari shook her head in exasperation.
"You really are an idiot." Ryu said.
"Oh shut up! You're not doing anything right now! Still brooding over your little temper tantrum?" She spat back at him.
"Temper tantrum? Are you serious?"
"Yeah! You're no better than a whinny kid!"
"Speak for yourself!"
"Take that back!"
"That's it! I'm not helping you with anything!" He shouted.
"But you promised!"
"I don't owe you a damn thing!"
"But you said-"
"Alright, alright." Lakchine said. "Are we having a fight or what?" She turned to face Cedeile and withdrew her knives. "Let's finish this now." Cedeile raised the heartblade in a defensive stance.
"Yeah. Let's." The two were about to go forward at each other when there was a horrible slicing noise. Lakchine gasped and her knives dropped to the floor. Behind her appeared Axel. Cedeile dropped her stance.
"Lakchine…?" She asked.
"You. Were you spying on us the whole time?" She gasped out.
"Sorry Lakchine, but your time is up." He said simply. She fell forward to the ground and held herself up with her hands.
"No…I…I won't disappear!" she said desperately. "I can't…"
"Axel!" Sora yelled. The red-haired man turned to him.
"Hey Sora. Fancy meeting you here, but I don't have time right now to deal with you. Time for the organization to get rid of the traitors."
"So you were with the superior the whole time?" Lakchine questioned. He looked back at her and raised an eyebrow.
"You're not dead yet? Surprising." He said. "Yes, I was never honestly going to overthrow the organization. The superior thought there was something going on, so I was sent to keep an eye on you guys. Marucia and you were always suspicious, but Vixen? That was a surprise."
"What's going on?" Sora demanded. "What are you talking about?"
"Hey, just keep out of this for a moment." He replied. He turned back to Lakchine. "So, why did you do it? What did Marucia offer you, Lakchine?"
"Why do you care?" She asked. It was easy to tell that she was fading fast.
"Cause I don't get why you'd turn traitor. Back in the early days, you were so freaking loyal I thought you were a lap dog or something." Axel responded.
"I just…want to be whole again. But that's not happening anymore, is it? When someone like me dies, what happens to them Axel?" Axel turned his back to her.
"I don't really know Lakchine. But why don't you tell me when you find out?"
"You mean…like in a next life or something?" She asked. Cedeile dared to approach and bent down to her.
"Lakchine…" she said. "What's…"
"Hey, Cedeile…no matter what they say…I think that Marucia and the superior should beware of you. You've got some crazy powers." She let her eyes close one last time and faded away. Axel turned his back to the place she one was a sighed to himself.
"In the next life? Yeah…something like that." He murmured before disappearing.
"Wait!" Sora called. "Damn. I hate it when he just disappears like that. I thought all the organization members were on the same side."
"It seems like they have some differences of opinion." Donald commented. "Thatcould be a good advantage to us."
"Well, only Marucia is left, right? And Axel, but maybe he'll just slink off back into the darkness." Ryu said, crossing his arms.
"Wishful thinking." Hikari replied.
"Shouldn't you be turning back now?" Ryu said. "I've never seen you out and about for so long."
"Do I make you nervous?" she asked.
"Yes." They all answered. Hikari sighed but didn't say anything.
"I wonder why Axel killed Lakchine though." Cedeile said. "I mean…I think he…was actually in love with her."
"Axel? Are you crazy!" Ryu said, walking over to her.
"Cedeile, Lakchine and Axel hated each other. Besides, Lakchine was sort of…sadistic." Sora added unsurely.
"I know, I know…but maybe deep inside they really did love each other. Just from the way Axel looked at her while she was dying, and from what they said…it just seemed that way to me."
"Or they just hated each other." Ryu added. "Who cares?"
"I care!" Cedeile replied loudly, turning on him. "Why are you such a jerk sometimes?"
"You're just too sensitive. It's because you're a girl." He said.
"What! I'm NOT sensitive!" She yelled.
"Sure. Um…weren't you crying when we met?"
"Those were tears of frustration!"
Sora looked over at Hikari.
"Do they ever stop?" He asked. She sighed.
"I don't believe they do."
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6H: Footnotes!
Just because it was getting so cheesy, I couldn't resist this:
(1)"Don't get all emotional on me" Riku Replica said. "It draws in those nasty fangirls." Ryu dropped his sword.
"F-fangirls?" he stuttered. "Oh shit!" He took off running. Riku Replica laughed.
"Gotcha!" Riku Replica said, laughing hysterically.
"Now that that's done with, can we get on with this whole thing?" Cedeile asked. "I'm sick of my ranting about how I can't remember anything"
"Honestly, most of us are." Sora replied.
(2)Couldn't agree more, Ryu. (slams head on desk)
6H: Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. Honestly, I lost a lot of steam, plus I have a lot of summer work to do for my AP classes and…I've mostly just been too lazy.
Anaretsu: And stupid.
6H: Well, I beat KH2. Originally, I didn't want to until I started KH2: Shattered Past, but that's not happening any time soon, since there are three chapters left to AaCC. And we all know how long it takes to finish just ONE freakin' chapter…Well, like I said, three more chapters to go. Next time-a confrontation with Axel, Anya finally fulfills her duty, and the beginning of the end.