I think I'll be able to go back to weekly updates for a while, since I'm gonna be staying indoors. So yeah, that'll be starting from this week on. I'm still planning on taking a break, but I'll probably do that after next month. That way you guys have more to read before then. But anyway, onto the chapter.
Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts II
Chapter 92: The Caribbean part XI
"She'll do it." a voice called out from the side, to which both Sora and Lexaeus turned in the direction of its source.
Upon doing so, they saw Teng coming up toward them along with Vincent and Mulan in tow. The silver-haired boy approaching Sora and placing a hand upon her shoulder, him being the one to speak up. "I know you don't believe in the idea of 'fake people'. So even if he doesn't think he's real, we should respect his decisions." he stated while offering an encouraging gaze toward his friend.
Whom could only stare at him silently, yet even as she opened her mouth to speak, she couldn't seem to find any words. This leading for Teng to just shake his head slowly; "As his own person, he has the right to choose what his fate is." he continued in a somewhat firm manner.
"Even if we don't agree, it's the thought behind the sacrifice that counts." he furthered before gesturing to himself; "I chose to die protecting you."
In saying these words, his tone clearly showed no regret whatsoever. The boy then glanced over to Lexaeus, and pointed at the still kneeling man. "He chooses to die for his honor."
Teng slowly turned his attention back to Sora with a serious gaze; "There isn't any difference...as it's our own decision to make." he finished silently, him now just staring at the girl for a response.
As Sora stood there in an almost daze, her eyes slowly looked over to Vincent and Mulan. Her all but pleading for them to help her in this situation, as she wasn't sure of what to do. This leading for the latter of the pair to walk up to her side, at which point she merely brought the teen into a hug. "I know it's hard...and you don't want to lose your friends, but I do understand how important honor is." she whispered softly.
"To most soldiers, it's worth fighting for. But to a true warrior...it's worth dying for." the girl claimed in a knowing manner.
Vincent looked to Mulan with a nod of his head, to which he turned back to Sora and spoke up. "You might think it cruel to go along with something like this."
"But as someone who understands honor and what it feels like to lose it..." he continued, yet paused briefly while looking down for a few seconds.
"...this is truly a kindness. As it's a way of atoning, and will restore his lost honor." the man said in a genuine tone, his eyes meeting Sora's.
Said teen gazing from him, before looking toward Lexaeus once more. Him simply looking at her in an almost pleading way as he summoned his large axe-hammer. "Please." he said silently, presenting the grip of his weapon to Sora.
Her just standing there completely shocked and overwhelmed by all of this. However, with a flex of her hands out of sadness, frustration, and confusion, she slowly took in and let out a deep breath. "Alright." she started as she reached out and took the weapon in her hand.
Despite its weight and size, she easily held it to the side. Sora then closed her eyes while continuing on; "While I don't like this...much less agree to it...I still have to accept my friends' decisions." she said in a whisper, reopening her eyes as they were filling with tears.
"Thank you." Lexaeus said softly, bowing his hand as he was ready for his fate.
Sora looked from the man, to the weapon in her hand as she trembled slightly. The girl not sure if she even had it in her to go through with this, but both Tseng and Mulan placed a hand over hers. The two offering their support in this moment, as they knew she needed it. "We're here for you." the silver-haired boy whispered with an encouraging tone, just like before.
"We'll do this together." the raven-haired girl added, simply giving a soft smile to her friend in the hopes it would be enough.
This making Sora nod slowly while lifting the axe-hammer over her head; "I'll find you, I promise." she claimed silently, to which Lexaeus just gave a small smile with his head still tilted down.
"I know you will." the man responded in a knowing and confident tone.
Following this, Sora took a brief pause as her arm trembled slightly. Yet with a sad yell of agony and tears rolling down her cheeks, the teen swung the weapon down with great strength. Upon impacting the ground, it caused a large amount of sand and vegetation in the area to erupt around the group. As it slowly cleared, there was only a fading trail of black smoke in the place of where Lexaeus once was. At the same time, said man's axe-hammer also faded away, now that it's wielder was gone.
This lead for Sora to fall to both knees and look down at her hands silently, there still being tears falling from her eyes. Mulan knelt down and placed an arm around the teen gently, her not saying anything. Something of which the others followed suit with, each of them offering a moment a silence, along with their support. Sora took in a few breaths before looking up and around to everyone; "Thanks you guys." she whispered with an appreciative tone, even with her voice being a being strained from crying.
After giving a nod in response, Sora took a few more moments to eventually return to her feet. Upon doing so, the teen looked down thoughtfully. "Well...we have our next mission." she said softly, to which the others gave another brief nod.
"Though...I think I should take you back home for now." Sora continued, turning her gaze to Mulan.
Said teen blinked many times, but her friend spoke on before she could question 'why'. "I thought this was going to be a normal adventure, one that I was confident I could protect you during."
The silver-haired girl tilted her head down slowly as she clenched both hands into fists for a moment. "But after everything that's happened, and now 'this'..." she started, turning her head toward where Lexaeus once was.
"...it was a rude awakening. And it's made me realize that...I can't keep you safe." Sora claimed while looking back to Mulan with a saddened expression.
The raven-haired teen stared to her friend during these words, before her head tilted down. Her obviously feeling bad about having to leave, but also in the fact that she's basically holding her back. "I'm sorry." Sora added in a whisper.
Mulan shook her head quickly, to which she took on a soft smile. "It's alright, you don't have to apologize." she said, placing a hand to Sora's shoulder.
These two giving each other a long stare. Sora's being one of regret, while Mulan's was of understanding. Though, Vincent also noticed there was some sort of ulterior motive behind Mulan's immediate willingness to return home. Of which, he decided to keep to himself as after a few moments, each of them quickly turned to the side as they heard Elizabeth call out. In glancing toward the woman, the group noticed that Norrington, Jack and one other man were currently fighting one another with their blades drawn.
Blinking a bit from this sudden turn of events, Sora stepped forward. However, just as it seemed like she would intervene, she stopped and tilted her head toward the ground. "We should probably leave." she whispered silently.
"We've already done enough in this world to effect its natural progression. So it would be best to just leave before we do any further damage." the teen continued, her tone showing that she was starting to regret even coming here after what happened.
Yet Teng came up to her side and patted Sora briefly on the back; "You did a service to a Goddess...you rescued a father and daughter from possible death...and you even made some new friends." he said, giving her a rather firm stare.
"I don't think that's causing damage at all." the boy claimed, as a confident glint was seen in his eyes.
"You might think you've lost a friend, but he's still out there...waiting for you to find him." Teng finished, offering a small smile to his friend.
Whom turned to him with a sad gaze, looking doubtful in any ability of actually rescuing Aeleus. Yet as she looked to him, Teng just smiled a bit wider and pushed her forward slightly. This causing the girl to take a few steps to keep her balance, at which point, she turned to look at him from over her shoulder. "Don't lose sight of who you are, and who you've always been." the silver-haired boy added.
Sora herself blinked many time to his words, before tilting her head slightly in curiosity. "And who is that?" she questioned, as even she didn't entirely know.
However, Teng's next words were spoken with such conviction, that it almost seemed to make everything and everyone pause to accept this truth. "You're the key that connects all hearts."
Hearing this, Sora's eyes widened as they suddenly returned to their normal blue color. At the same time, the white in her hair appeared to almost fade into its normal brown. Immediately after these changes, the teen took on a soft smile as she summoned her Keyblade. "Then I should go and connect some hearts." she muttered out in a soft chuckle, to which she headed toward the three fighting men.
As she went, Vincent turned to Teng with a slightly raised brow. "That was quite the speech." he muttered silently, him being truly impressed.
The boy simply turned to him and took on a small grin before shrugging; "I've been saving it for a time like this." he stated, turning toward Sora as she walked out of earshot.
"She bares so much on her shoulders. The responsibility of saving the worlds...the duty of stopping the Organization...the hope of protecting her friends..." the teen continued with a heavy sigh.
"Yet we all continue relying on her, without realizing that she's just as scared as the rest of us." Teng almost whispered, slowly shaking his head as if in disappointment of himself for his own lack of consideration.
"There will come a time when she won't be able to hold her head high anymore...and it's that day when all of us will need to be there for her." he finished while looking to the two.
Mulan looked from Teng, to Sora as she reached the trio. The raven-haired girl then took on a determined expression, her motives for returning home having simply been reaffirmed in her mind. "And I'll make sure to be there." she whispered to herself, yet the other two still heard and lead for Vincent to simply nod in agreement.
All the while, Sora moved right up to the three as they clashed their blades together. Upon which, the teen used the teeth of her own weapon to lock them into place. This causing the trio to quickly turn their attention to her, just as she cleared her throat. "So...what's all this about?" she questioned, looking from one man to the next.
Jack and Norrington, she knew. Both of them being a bit shocked by her sudden intrusion, as well as the ability to keep all of them stuck like this. The last man however, was someone she had not yet met. Him having dark hair, a thin mustache and chin beard. His attire consisted of a black coat, white shirt, brown pants and black shin-high boots.
"Ah, Sora...so glad you could make it." Jack hummed with a grin, turning to the teen in full confidence.
"These two plan to take the heart of Davy Jones for themselves, like the selfish dogs they are. But you know me and my reasoning...won't you help?" he questioned, him almost overacting his pleading.
"I need it to free my father. And I won't let him live out the rest of his days in service aboard that ship." the new man declared firmly, narrowing his eyes on Jack.
"Be that as it may, Mr. Turner...I require that heart to get my life back." Norrington stated as he looked over to Sora as though he believed she would take his side.
The teen simply blinked many times before clearing her throat once more; "Right...um...is there any way to do all of those at once?" she uttered out, not entirely sure of how to fix this situation.
Though, no one managed an answer before Turner swiftly pulled his blade away. Jack's and Norrington's grip having loosened enough to get free. After doing so, he then took off running into the jungle. Sora just barely noticing what looked to be a key dangling from his free hand. But while Jack immediately gave chase with a groan on annoyance, Norrington stayed behind as he looked at Sora's weapon. "That's a very odd blade you have there." he said silently with a raised brow.
Well, that just happened. I hope it wasn't too sad or such, but I felt like it was appropriate for Aeleus' character and how he would view such a thing. Anyway, I hope all of you still enjoyed and will let me know what you thought. Until next time.
