Chapter 50: Doing what our hearts command
A/N: Riku's back to normal! I'm sure everyone is happy about this. The sad part is that there are only a few more chapters left to this story. I know you're all sad, but just remember that there are more stories to this series.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.
Enjoy!
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Hikari practically had a skip to her step as she walked through the castle. Riku was back in his original body and he looked as handsome as ever.
She was so relieved that he didn't have to suffer anymore. It tore her heart, knowing that he went through so much and sacrificed a lot for her.
But then again, it showed how much he really loved her. The fact that he did so much for her and was willing to change his appearance for her showed that he truly, deeply loved her.
And that simply sent her on cloud 9.
She smiled and buried her face against his arm as they walked. He really was her knight in shining armor.
Riku looked at her for a moment and smiled before resting his head on top of hers. He was relieved that he was in his regular body as well. Now it wouldn't be so weird to see a much older guy being with a much younger girl.
They could finally be lovers now.
They held each other's hands as they walked further into the castle. Now that they were back together like this, they never wanted to be apart. It was as if they let go of each other, they may never see each other again. And that was something none of them wanted.
They made it to the area known as Ruin and Creator's Passage before they had to stop. It seemed that parts of the floor were missing and only a few pillars stood out.
"Great. Now what do we do?" Tsukiko asked.
"Maybe we could jump from pillar to pillar?" Goofy suggested.
"Have you not seen how far apart these pillars are?" Kairi asked.
"We'll just fall to the bottom before we reach any of them"
"There has to be some sort of trick to this room" Mickey said.
"Why else would Xemnas create it?"
"Do you think we have to make another bridge like we did when we tried to enter the castle?" Sora asked.
Riku shook his head.
"That would be way too easy" he said.
"Xemnas is a lot clever than that"
As they were talking amongst themselves, Taiyouko grew curious of the enchanted room, and slowly walked towards the edge.
She peered down at the bottom to see how deep it was then looked at the pillars. If she knew Xemnas well enough (which she did) she would wager a guess that he made this room to throw off any intruders that would interfere with his Kingdom Hearts. He was always good at tricking people so obviously he made this room to trick people.
Raising an eyebrow, she slowly stepped towards the edge and lowered her foot on the open space. And just as she suspected, once her foot hit the open air, clear panels appeared in the air and connected to the next pillar.
Everyone stopped their bickering when they saw this happened.
"Well…I guess that fixes our problem" she said.
"Now all we have to do is go forward"
Since the pathway was so narrow, everyone had to walk two at a time.
Sora, Riku and Hikari went first since they were the keyblade masters while Donald, Goofy and King Mickey followed and Taiyouko, Tsukiko and Kairi took the rear.
Hikari peered over the edge of the path and gulped when she saw how deep it was. One wrong move and everyone would be saying goodbye for a while.
Riku gripped her hand softly and gave her a reassuring look.
"I won't let anything happen to you" he said.
"I promise"
Hikari smiled softly at his words and let him lead her on towards the next pillar.
Nobodies were waiting for them when they got there and they happened to be the strong kind.
Hikari growled in frustration. Even though she recovered from her last chest attack, she still didn't have her strength back. There was no way that she would be able to fight these nobodies while she was like this.
Riku suddenly stepped forward and gently pushed her back.
"Leave this to me" he said.
"You've done enough fighting, so now it's my turn"
She watched at Riku summoned his keyblade and joined with Sora, Donald and Goofy into the fight.
Hikari noticed that he was no longer wielding the Soul Eater like he did before. Instead, he had a keyblade that resembled it with the bat like wing for the blade and had part of it as the hilt. The only difference was that the tip and the other half of the hilt resembled angel wings.
Despite it looking dark and scary, Hikari thought it was really beautiful. It was as if it represented Riku and his powers. While he may have sided with the darkness in the beginning, he was now starting to side with the light. He was siding with her.
Riku slashed through the nobodies like it was child's play. Since he was the best fighter on the islands, it made sense that he would be able to fight he enemies with ease.
It seemed that he picked up a few tricks while he was traveling with Taiyouko as well. He was able to cast magic known as Dark Canon and blast the nobodies away while protecting his friends using the Dark Shield.
Everyone was amazed by Riku's skills and powers. It seemed that he prepared for the final battle as well.
Taiyouko smirked knowing that this was all for Hikari. Riku pretty much begged her to teach him how to use magic so he could protect Hikari better.
"She shouldn't be the only one fighting" he would say.
"This is as much of my fight as it is hers. I want to protect her the best that I can"
And seeing him fight was proof of that. It just showed how powerful lover really was.
Kairi looked around as they made their way up to the top. She knew that she really couldn't fight off the nobodies so the best thing she could do was keep an eye out.
As she looked up towards the windows, she gasped in horror.
Flowing from the windows were mass hordes of heartless. They just seemed to drip down the sides and land of the platforms leading to the upper floor. It seemed that they too, wanted a part of Kingdom Hearts.
Kairi trembled when she saw them coming closer. This was not good, not good at all.
"Sora! Riku! Hikari!"
The keyblade masters ran over to where Kairi was and paled when they saw how many heartless there were.
"There's going to be no end to this" Riku said.
Sora wore a determined look.
"Together we can stop 'em!" he said.
Riku and Hikari smirked at that.
"I guess a little warm up couldn't hurt" Hikari said.
But before they could even do anything, Maleficent and Pete suddenly appeared before them.
"Leave these creatures to us!" Maleficent declared.
Hikari quickly panicked and stood protectively in front of Riku. There was no way that she was going to let this witch take him away from her again. Not while she was around.
Maleficent saw this and scoffed.
"I'm not after your 'precious' lover" she spat.
"He is of no use to me anymore"
Riku looked touched that Hikari was trying to protect him, even when she knew that she didn't have a change against her right now.
Hikari glared at her.
"I'm not taking my chances with you" she hissed.
Maleficent smirked darkly.
"Just like your mother"
She looked at Taiyouko.
"Ah, speak of the devil. She's already here"
Taiyouko glared at her old enemy.
"My Maleficent, you sure haven't changed" she said.
"But then again, I don't recall seeing you with wrinkles or those crow's feet. I guess time is finally catching up with you"
Maleficent growled at her.
"Watch your tongue you infernal witch" she spat.
"You may be still alive, but you're just a shell to what you once were. I can destroy you with ease"
Taiyouko laughed and gave her a rueful smile.
"Oh? And this is coming from the witch who was beaten by a little girl? My daughter none the less?"
Maleficent growled and gripped her staff tightly.
Pete gulped when he saw the heartless getting closer and started to become the chicken that he was.
"There's no way we can take 'em all!" he insisted.
Maleficent shook her head at his foolishness.
"I will be sending them to Xemnas" she explained as she gestured to the group.
"Or perhaps you would like to fight them yourself?"
Pete paled drastically when he realized he would have to fight the heartless by himself pretty much.
There was no way that he was going to do that. He pretty much used up all of his nine lives and he didn't want to waste this one.
"Frankly my dear, I'd rather…RUN!" he said.
Maleficent scoffed.
"Off with you then!" she snapped.
Pete gulped and started to walk away, but he stopped when he saw Mickey. It had been a long time since he saw the king of Disney Castle.
"Well, if it ain't the boat-boy king" he said.
He should have been furious with him. It was because of him that he was banished from his world to begin with. But when he saw the cheerful look on the King's face, he couldn't help but feel glad to see a positive face in a place like this.
Mickey smiled up at his former captain.
"Time to weigh anchor, Captain Pete!" he said.
Pete snorted at his old title being mentioned.
"What, like 'abandon ship'?" he asked.
"I don't think so!"
Maleficent looked at the keyblade masters.
"Hikari, 'Your Majesty'. Do not forget-" Maleficent said.
"When I've destroyed them all, this castle shall be mine!"
Hikari gave her a dull look. She was surprised that she was helping them with the heartless, but she didn't let it show.
"Yeah, well as long as you don't take over my world again, I could care less" Hikari said.
"Opportunities like this don't come along every day, ya know" Pete said.
He quickly went back to Maleficent and faced the heartless. His fears from moments before suddenly gone.
"Bring 'em on!"
The two of them quickly went down the ramp and faced the heartless.
"We gotta hurry" Mickey said.
Sora looked at him sadly. Sure, he hated Maleficent and Pete just as much as everyone else, but sending them off on their own like that tugged at his heartstrings.
Mickey gave him a serious look.
"They're doing what their hearts command" he said.
"We can't interfere"
Tsukiko gripped his shoulder.
"They gave us the chance to reach Xemnas without any interruptions" she said.
"You take what you can get"
Sora nodded sadly.
There was nothing that he could do but move forward.
Everyone looked at Maleficent and Pete one last time before they headed for the top of the castle.
The end was near.
/
A/N: Next up is Xemnas vs. Hikari! Will she finally get her revenge on the man who lied to her? The man who claimed to be her father, only to use her as a pawn and make her life miserable?
You'll just have to review to find out.
I know this chapter wasn't much, but I wanted to save the fighting for the next chapter. That way I'm not mashing things together.
Please tell me what you think!
Ja ne!
