Dedicated to my Shield.
A/N: This is what happens when I'm on break. I'm going to post short chapters from here on out. That way, the ending doesn't seem so short and the chapters are a slew of cliffies. It won't take me as long to post, either. I want TW finished by Christmas.
Disclaimer: I'll own Kingdom Hearts when Riku actually likes me.
ooo
Sora crawled into the Gummi cabin. Literally. He buried his face into the tarnished blocks of silver, begging – wanting – to be killed. His skin sizzled, ever burning, which was reason for his blackened appearance. Sora couldn't speak. He could barely breathe. "Ri...ku..." he growled. "Kairi's...killing me..."
Sora wanted very badly to rip Kairi's heart from his chest. To end his pain. But, at the same time, he didn't. She was keeping him sane. As long as her heart was conscious, he wouldn't try and kill Riku. Or anyone, for that matter.
Sora grimaced. He hammered his forehead against the floor. His clawed hands drew blood at his palms. Kairi's heart fluxuated. She hovered between 'awake' and 'sleep'. The power she possessed was too good. And he was too evil. To fully arouse her light would mean obliterating every cell in Sora's body. To fully sleep would result in dire consequences. It was a lose-lose situation. One in which Sora's life hung in the balance.
Riku bent over Sora. He laid a hand on his shoulder. "Is there anything I can do?"
Sora bared his fangs. "No..." was his reply. "Don't..." He struggled to formulate a sentence Riku could understand. "...if you...Kairi will..." Sora curled into a ball. His back bristled with coiling darkness. "Stay away..."
Riku nodded. "I've got to get you out of here." He walked past Sora, a little wary, and sat in the driver's seat. Riku stared at the controls. He'd never flown a Gummi before. His travel, up until this mission, was dependent upon the Realm of Darkness. "Hn." Riku pressed a button. He wasn't too pleased to find Tron's computer screen descending from the ceiling.
Tron blinked to life. "Hello, users." He scrutinized Sora. "This does not compute."
Riku raked a heavy hand down his face. "Tron," he grunted. "I need you to fly us anywhere. Anywhere but here." Riku imagined the devastation Sora had the potential to bring about. He would never forgive himself if something happened to his family – his island.
Tron shook his head. "Impossible."
Riku scowled. "Why?"
"The Mastery has cloaked the majority of the Worlds in a foreign veil. Auto pilot won't be accessible."
Riku tapped the dash. "That's why we ended up in Destiny Islands, I take it?"
Tron smiled a computerized smile. "Correct."
Sora howled. The Gummi shook under the force of his fists. He stood on his hind legs and groped for his head. He pulled his hair, stumbling around the cabin like a pinball going for bonus points. First one side, then the other.
Riku spoke over Sora's racket. He fought to stay in his seat. "What about teleportation?"
As a response, Tron stepped out-of-view of the camera. All that was left of his domain was the platform on which he stood. And Nel. But that was all. Flashes of blue lit the chips across the 'sky' – not to mention globs of oily pigment oozing from their strands of data. It looked like fat rain, truth be told. "Cid's desire to understand the Chasers has left the system on the verge of a crash. The Organization's software is the only reason I'm still running. Nel and I will derez in five minutes."
Riku stood to his feet. His chair swiveled backwards in his haste. "What about Radiant Garden?" he asked. "What about-"
"Leon and the others have already transported the willing to Disney Castle."
"The willing?"
Tron's face fell a fraction of an inch. "There were those who opted to join the Mastery in hopes of saving their World..." Tron didn't elaborate. "...similar to the other Worlds you did and did not journey to." He flickered on and off. Tron didn't express pain. "From what I've gathered, the Mastery's focus was the Princesses of Heart. What's left of the Organization took them, per Tarsus' request. The Prince's are safe at Disney Castle, heartless. All of them."
Riku touched his chest. Beams of pink light filtered through his fingers. "Why did the Princes lose their hearts?" he asked.
Tron's face twitched, on the fritz. "I don't know."
Riku knew Tron's time was short. He could barely hear him as it was. Sora's howling wasn't helping matters. "Are you sure the Princes will be safe at the castle?"
Tron nodded. "...Corn-stone..." he blurted. "Only-World that's safe. Every other will-eaten like-here."
Riku grabbed the side of the computer screen. He shook it, hoping that, by doing so, Tron wouldn't disappear so quickly. Sparks of electricity spurted from the motherboard. "How long?" Riku shouted. "How long before-"
The screen died.
Riku sighed. He hung his head. "Hnnn."
An unexpected manifestation of 'presence' bade Riku's blade to his hand. Riku spun from the control panel and pulled his sword through the air, unhesitant and fuming. The clashing weapon-on-weapon at his opponent's defense expanded the cabin's floor area by a yard.
The King held his Keyblade over his head, blocking Riku's sword. But Mickey wasn't looking at Riku. He was looking at Sora, who had long since taken to his knees. "He's fading."
Riku blinked. He lowered his weapon. He didn't bother asking for forgiveness. "Kairi's heart rests within him." There was no need to add: Sora won't fade. Not while Kairi's well-being is at stake. Riku stepped beside the King. It was painful to watch his friend writhe at his feet.
Riku's world was spinning out of control. Much too quickly.
Everything seemed fine a day ago. Then, Riku was certain the 'good guys' had the upper hand. How wrong he'd been. All this time, they'd played right into the Mastery's plans. Tarsus had predicted their moves, beaten them to the punch, and dealt a devastating blow. Not just to one World, but to many. Each of which were in the process of melting – mimicking Tron's.
Riku pinched the bridge of his nose. Heat plagued his vision, only to disperse when Nevaeh's heart berated him without a sound. More like a thump.
"Take Sora to the castle," Mickey ordered. "The Cornerstone should be powerful enough to sustain him."
Riku bent down. He dismissed his Keyblade and held Sora steady. "The Realm of Darkness?"
Mickey nodded. "No point in being discreet. Not now."
Riku thrust his hand against the Gummi wall. A portal to the Realm of Darkness blossomed, turning clockwise in a manifest of dark. "What about you?"
The King was already gone.
ooo
Sora struggled to keep pace with Riku. Is wasn't so much his legs refusing to move as it was his unconscious desire to flee from the Realm of Darkness. Once the oppressive gloom surrounded him, it was more than tangible. The shadows soothed and scorched. Healed and tortured. It was maddening.
Mostly because Kairi's heart wasn't responding well to the Realm.
Sora shuddered. His dead weight pulled Riku to a stop, as much as he didn't want to wait.
"Sora," Riku huffed. "We have to keep going. I have to get you to the Cornerstone."
Sora shook his head. He knew the Cornerstone wouldn't help his case. More than likely, it would render his comatose – the power it possessed was tremendous. And that was the last thing he wanted. Sora was bound and determined to save Kairi. So the castle was the opposite direction in which he wanted to travel.
Riku trudged onward, with or without Sora's permission. He shoved his way through the endless hordes of Nobodies. The Dusks didn't bother moving out of Riku's way. Nor did they hinder him. Much. Riku, more or less, trod through the darkness. It wasn't his job to care how stealthy he was. His first priority was his best friend.
Riku tightened his grip around Sora's shoulder. He battered the Nobodies with his free hand, wincing with every step. Blood stained his jeans. Despite Riku's Heartless interior, black tinged the gashes at his thighs.
Sora watched Riku toil. It both moved and sickened him, just how far Riku was willing to go. The former was of no surprise. The latter curdled Sora's insides. "Wrong...way..." he tried. Sora's voice was almost too low to hear. "Kairi..."
Riku stopped, dead in his tracks. "What?" His gasps for breath were murder on Sora's ears. "What do you mean we're going the wrong way?"
Sora opened his mouth to explain. But the words wouldn't form. They clogged in his throat like the Dusks clogged the Realm. He knew that staying here would do Kairi in. At the same time, he knew that disembarking for Disney Castle would be his bane, in the end. The only option left to him was to head straight for the source.
"Sorry...Riku..." Sora ducked under Riku's arm. Kairi's heart pulsed at his chest, guiding his feet more accurately than his sixth sense.
Riku came close to stumbling off balance. He stared after Sora, shocked. "SORA!" Riku didn't expect Sora to heed his words. So, before he finished demanding Sora's return, Riku chased after him. "What you are doing? You'll die!"
Sora was dark. He was impossible to see. His tracks, on the other hand, were as plain as day. Trampled, darkened Dusks. Sora couldn't have been more obvious even if he'd wanted to.
Riku clutched his legs. They didn't approve of his exertion.
Sora's flight lasted all of one minute. It didn't take long for him to find what he was searching for.
Tarsus' veil.
One of them, at least.
Sora skidded to a halt before the towering shroud. It wafted, airless, stretching for miles and miles on end. Or: miles of the Realm. Which could have equaled any amount of distance in the Realm of Reality. Sora sniffed the veil. It smelt of metallics. He sneered at the barrier.
Riku brought up the rear. He took a gander, too, none too hesitant to touch. His finger tapped the veil as if it were made of stone. Still, Riku pressed his palms against the blockade. Almost desperate. There wasn't a way for him to discern which World awaited on the other side of his fingers. There wasn't a way for him to know whose homeland lay in siege beyond the wafting wall. One fact remained: opposite this divide lay Tarsus. His Realm. His element.
Riku held his breath. He made an expression, closely matching that of Sora's. "Heaven..." He looked at Sora, who regarded him with unease. "Kairi and Nevaeh are on the other side, aren't they?"
Sora nodded.
Riku glanced behind him. A choice tore his decision. To obey orders or...
Sora dove through the veil.
ooo
Sora's surroundings took shape. He found himself smack-dab in the middle of a deep chamber. Pillars the size of his house reached for a ceiling he couldn't see. His reflections ridiculed his condition. Against the black marble, there was nothing. Except for his eyes. And Kairi's heart.
Sora tested the air. It was stale.
Sora snorted. He stuck out his tongue and raked his arm across his mouth.
"Sora." A vision of Kairi danced before his yellow eyes. She knelt down before him. "You have to get out of here."
Sora bristled.
Kairi reached for him. Her hand passed through his cheek. "Tarsus-" She vanished.
Sora's body reeled. Kairi's heart, as strong as it was, couldn't divert from one extreme to the other anymore. It was gong to rise or it was going to fail. And it certainly wasn't going to rise if Sora's ruin came hand-in-hand with her survival.
Sora fumbled for Kairi. He spun around in circles, desperately searching for a trace – a glimmer. "Kai..." Sora's eyes pierced the darkness, intense and livid. "I'll...find...you," he growled. "If it's...last thing I do." Sora bolted in any given direction. While he ran, hands proceeding his feet, he concentrated on Kairi's feebly-beating heart.
Not on his transformation.
ooo
A/N: Possibly the shortest chapter I've ever written. I'll keep a similar pace until I'm done. I'll finish more quickly that way. I hope. I'm antsy to see how TW is going to end. Sorry if the length bothers you.
God bless!
