Author's Note: Just in case the comments on the last blog post weren't read, I'm not actually discontinuing Betwixt and Between. It was an April Fool's joke. It turned out to be a rather poor one, but it was a joke nonetheless. I am still continuing and I think the following chapter proves that. :) Enjoy!
"What did you do to her?"
xx
Kairi and Namine were in Aerith's backyard, sparring with a couple of wooden swords that Aerith had lying around. (Or, perhaps it was Leon or Zack that just randomly had a couple of wooden swords lying about.) Regardless, the two of them were sparring.
Kairi moved with fluidity and ease, Namine spent most of her time blocking.
"I don't think sparring's really my thing," Namine said, backing up so Kairi couldn't reach her. "And I think I've already known this fact for a while."
Kairi lowered her sword to the side, Namine's was still up in a defensive position. Kairi looked thoughtful. Namine looked worried that she was going to get hit, even though Kairi wasn't going to do anything.
"You know," Kairi mused. "With the way you're jabbing that sword around, you'd think you were better fit for a dagger."
Namine shrugged in a "how-should-I-know" manner.
"We should look into getting you one," Kairi mused. "It would certainly come in handy—and that way you don't have to keep using pencils."
Namine frowned. "I only do that when the Heartless get too close."
Kairi raised an eyebrow. "That happened twice last night. And you never did get your orange pencil back."
Namine shrugged. "I don't really need orange. Not as much as the other colors…"
"We should ask around about a dagger though," Kairi said. "I'm no good at determining what kind of knife is a good one."
"If you really think I should have one…"
"You should have some sort of physical weapon. Even Aerith and Rinoa have weapons outside of magic."
"I suppose you're right. Hey, speaking of Aerith…"
Aerith came out into the back yard, cradling something in her arms. She looked over at Kairi and Namine and smiled.
"How goes sparring?" she asked.
"I'm not very good," Namine said. "It's not my strong suit."
"I was thinking she'd do better off with a dagger," Kairi said, giving her input.
Aerith pondered this for a moment. "Definitely something worth looking into," she said. "Or at least some sort of physical weapon."
Kairi smiled, but she tried to keep the "I-told-you-so" look off her face. She liked to reserve that for Riku and Sora, mostly.
"However," Aerith continued. "Today, our focus is Holy."
She held out what was in her arms for Kairi and Namine to see. It was two glowing balls of light. They looked completely intangible, but at the same time, they had to have some substance to them, otherwise there would be no way for Aerith to hold them. They each seemed to have a thousand or more colors inside of them. They were beautiful-looking, yet also dangerous-looking.
Namine's eyes went wide. Kairi's did too, she even gasped a little.
"What…are those?" Kairi asked after a moment.
"Pure essence of Holy," Aerith replied. "By taking in these, you will gain the ability to cast Holy and all other forms of the spell at will. You won't need any other aid—nor will you be able to lose this ability, barring something really serious happening to you."
"Like what?" Namine asked.
"Oh, typically falling into darkness would do it. But there are other factors." Aerith was completely serious as she said this.
"Memory rewrites," Namine mumbled with a shudder.
Aerith made an agreeing noise, though it was quiet.
"At that point, however," she continued. "You have more problems at hand than the sudden inability to cast Holy."
"Can I touch them?" Kairi asked, still staring at the orbs of light.
Aerith nodded. "Of course. I'm holding them, aren't I? Besides, you'll need to pick them up so you can utilize them."
Not hesitating any further, Kairi and Namine reached for the two orbs of light and color. Their hands had barely touched the glowing objects when all the light was absorbed by the girls. Kairi and Namine themselves glowed with light for a few moments.
"There," Aerith said. "You've learned it. Now to practice!"
Rinoa poked her head out of the back door.
"Aerith," she said.
Aerith, Kairi and Namine all turned.
"Were we going to go to that meeting that the King called?"
"Meeting?" Aerith asked. "What meeting?"
"The meeting of the fairies and mages," Rinoa said. "Where we were going to try and figure out exactly what damage Xehanort has caused over the years and what we need to do about it."
Aerith thought about this for a moment. "Is the meeting today?"
Rinoa nodded. "Merlin reminded me of it when he left for it."
Aerith frowned. "I told the King we may not be able to make it, given how hectic it can be here."
Rinoa nodded in understanding.
"Well, it's not hectic now, however…"
She looked at Kairi and Namine.
"We did promise…"
"They have already learned the spell, they just need to practice," Aerith said.
Kairi and Namine were unsure of what to say. They didn't want to make Aerith or Rinoa miss this meeting because it sounded important, especially with the King calling it and all; but at the same time, they wanted to be instructed properly on how to use Holy.
Rinoa looked at their faces and made a quick decision.
"I have a solution," she said. "Aerith, you can stay here and help them with Holy. Quistis and I will head on over to Disney Castle. Unless, of course, you would rather go to the meeting. In which case, I can stay and help them. It's no matter to me."
"No, no, you go ahead," Aerith said. "It's no matter to me either. You said it wasn't hectic here?"
Rinoa shook her head. "All the rounds for the day are covered, too. Squall, Quistis and I just got back. Zack, Cloud and Yuffie have the next round. Cid's got a new cannon piece to test out at night, so he's got the evening shift with Zell and Tifa."
"Oh, am I not on the rotation for today?" Aerith asked. "I haven't even been paying attention."
"Yup, you're off today," Rinoa said.
Aerith nodded. "Well, you and Quistis go have fun. I'm probably going to take these two off-world for practice. I want to see if we can find a Thorn, or some sort of large Heartless for this."
Rinoa nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan." She brought her first finger up to her chin. "Give me a call when you're done, who knows, the meeting may still be going on." She shrugged. "I wouldn't know, I've never been to one of these before."
"Neither have I," Aerith admitted. "There hasn't been one in a while."
"Well, Xehanort's been around for a while," Rinoa said.
"I'll keep you posted," Aerith said. "I get the feeling the meeting will probably still be going on long after I've finished a good training session with these two. And I should probably go. King Mickey did call everyone for a reason."
Rinoa nodded and went back into the house.
"Let me guess, we probably weren't invited to the meeting?" Kairi mused.
"You would know if you had been," Aerith said. "He called people whose strongpoints are magic alone. You two don't really have a focus yet."
"Well, I have a Keyblade," Kairi said.
Aerith nodded. "But even as a Keyblade Wielder, you'll gain a focus in something."
"Shouldn't we go practice?" Namine asked. "That way Aerith can make it to this meeting."
"You make it sound like you're being bothers," Aerith said, smiling.
"Are we?" Namine asked.
"Nonsense," Aerith said, shaking her head. "I enjoy doing stuff like this."
"So where are we going to go?" Kairi asked.
"Olympus Coliseum, I would think," Aerith said, putting her forefinger on her chin as she thought about this. "There always seems to be quite the selection of monsters there."
"Sounds like a plan," Namine said, mimicking Rinoa's gesture of bringing her finger to her chin.
Kairi pulled the star shard out of her pocket. She looked at Aerith. "Star shard?" she asked. "Or did you want to do something different?"
"Star shards are fine," Aerith said.
Kairi nodded and the three of them linked arms.
xx
"Well, I didn't mean to go here," Kairi said as they looked at their new surroundings. "Wherever here is…"
"We appear to be in the Underworld," Aerith said. "I feel like we're in the Underworld."
"I feel it too," Kairi said. "Sora talked about this. Don't we need a Hero's Medallion or something?"
"Or to just get out of here," Namine said, looking around. "Kairi, haven't we been here before?"
Kairi's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah! Sora, Riku, Axel and I all came down here. I remember Sora taking off as soon as he had the Medallion. That's why I haven't ever felt this groggy before…"
Namine shivered from a draft. "Just use the star shard again and let's get out of here."
"It won't work," Aerith said.
"It won't?" Kairi asked.
Aerith shook her head. "Star shards don't work in the Underworld. The fact that we got in is actually really puzzling. There must be something direly important happening down here."
Kairi and Namine exchanged glances. They had been to completely different universes because of direly important things. What was going on now?
About then, they heard voices.
"I think it's time for a summer home, boys," came the unmistakable voice of Hades.
"What were you thinking of, Boss?" asked one of his minions, Pain.
Aerith, Namine and Kairi all looked around, trying to see where the voices were coming from. However, they were in a maze of tunnels and the voices seemed to be coming from practically all directions.
"I was thinking about this lovely place," Hades replied to his minion.
The girls all wished they could see whatever it was Hades was showing his minions, for he didn't say what the place actually was.
"Of course," Hades continued. "It'll need a little bit of remodeling and redecoration, but I think it will make an excellent summer home."
"Gee, Boss, it looks pretty swell," Panic said. "But how are you gonna get a place like that?"
"Easy, that's what these are for."
Once again, Kairi, Namine and Aerith couldn't see whatever it was Hades was pointing at. However, this time, the thing being pointed at made noise.
"Is that…" Namine whispered. "Dusks?"
For it sure sounded like Dusks.
"With these fancy-shmancy little things," Hades said, bravado seeping out of his voice. "Disney Castle and all of Disney Town will be ours!"
Pain and Panic applauded.
"We have to go warn the King," Aerith said.
"We have to get out of here," Namine said.
"Leaving so soon, ladies?" Hades asked.
The three of them turned. Hades was standing right behind them, a toothy smile on his face.
"I really wouldn't want you three to duck out so soon, you haven't even stayed for tea!"
"Run," Aerith whispered. "There's no point fighting him on his own ground, not without a Medallion. Our strength and magic is diminished beyond measure."
Kairi and Namine nodded, ever-so-small-like.
"Ready?" Aerith breathed.
Kairi and Namine took off running, Aerith did so as well. They did what they could to stay together. Aerith pulled ahead, trying to see if she could find a viable exit. However, just when they all thought they were going to get somewhere, Kairi let out a shriek.
Namine and Aerith turned, stopping dead in their tracks. Kairi had crumpled to the ground in pain. She held herself up by the elbows, but only barely. It didn't look like she was going to be able to get up, much less run any farther. She looked both exhausted and like she was in pain.
Instinctively, Namine threw up a Cure. But it didn't work. The spell fizzled out before Namine had even finished casting it. Kairi showed no signs of being affected, either. The Cure had been rendered completely useless. Aerith frowned and threw up a Curaga—to the same effect. It was useless.
Aerith's eyes went wide. Namine's narrowed into near-slits.
"What did you do to her?" she demanded, glaring daggers at Hades.