A/N: Yeah, this was supposed to come out much sooner but with the mountain of projects and assignments I'm working on at the moment, working on this had to be put aside for a bit. Also, for anyone who's buying Melody of Memory, I hope you enjoy it. I wasted no time in spoiling myself so I already know what happens but I honestly just find it amazing that since KH3 has released we've gotten not one, not two, but three pieces of Kingdom Hearts content in a single year (and I guess if you include KHuX, that's four). We truly are spoiled as Kingdom Hearts fans.
Chapter XXIX
Tinderbox
The patter of light rain against Xehanort's coat was rhythmically soothing to him. He sat on the ledge of one of the castle's roofs, overlooking the smoke-stacked buildings of Radiant Garden and the orange glow of the horizon. Even as he felt a presence behind him, he did not move or stir. Instead, he merely continued to stare out at the town.
This place had meant as much to him as any other. It had been here that he had been found, wounded and bereft of memory. In that moment, the life he had once had died and a new one had begun.
For a while, he had offered himself up as a lab rat for his disgraced master's research. It was also here where the first experiments that would later become the Heartless came to be. All in secret, of course. And so the borders between worlds collapsed and a massive infusion of darkness had spilled out, Radiant Garden being at the epicentre of it all.
A decade later and the town was to become a petri dish yet again for his plans. He almost felt sorry for them, but whether it started here or somewhere else, all worlds would eventually share the same fate.
"Must you always look like you're about to shoot the next boy band album when I find you?" he heard Gekido's voice behind him.
"They have boy bands in Hell?" Xehanort mused with a slight chuckle.
"The worst," Gekido replied. "Didn't realize you used to live here."
"The memories were short-lived. Ultimately, I'm a denizen of nowhere," Xehanort said.
"Well that's not good. Gotta have somewhere to belong or else you have no footing. Even Hell is better than nowhere," Gekido said.
"I see no point in it. You did say the end of days was approaching."
"In three days no less. And you really are fine with that?" Gekido asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Are you trying to test me? I already told you, what I seek lies beyond the realities of what is currently possible. Therefore, I'll shape reality so that it will become possible," Xehanort said. "And if that means becoming the harbinger of the end then so be it."
"Accepting your role with grace. So, you said that you had an idea to find the Atar's host, didn't you? Is that why we're here?" Gekido asked.
"Let's just say there's a good chance that your spirit friend is here. After all, this was where you first encountered him, as did your less than fortunate friend," Xehanort said. He soon felt a second presence enter the scene. Again, he chose not to look, for he could easily make a guess as to who it was.
"Did you find anything, kitten?" Gekido asked.
"Don't call me that," Black Rose snapped at him.
Gekido grinned and let out a whistle. "What's got you in a hissy?"
"N-nothing. Anyway, I found it."
Xehanort finally looked around to see a glowing cerulean stone in her palm. "Is that one of those Hell Stones you keep going on about?"
"I had a hunch and followed up on it. I found it among an old acquaintance's belongings."
Gekido shrugged. "Well, one down, four more to go then. Hooray."
"It might be easier than you think. The stones… they're siblings, created out of the same fire and brimstone. Thus, they resonate with one another. Communicate. As long as I have one of them, I can use my magic to trace the rest, presuming they're within the vicinity of one another. And…"
"And…" Gekido urged, leaning in and letting his voice err in the air.
With a bemused smile, Black Rose pressed three fingers against Gekido's forehead and pushed him back. "There is at least one other stone in this town."
Gekido snapped his fingers, spun on one heel and pulled Black Rose in by the waist, leaning forwards and her backwards as though in some passionate dance.
"Now that… is what I like to hear," he said. He brought them back upright and looked over at Xehanort. "This plan of yours is looking better and better. So, when do we begin?"
Kairi looked away from her tea and to the window where speckles of rain beat against the glass. It was easy to forget sometimes about other weather phenomena when spending most of the time training in a temporal space where nothing but sunshine and the calm breeze seemed to exist.
As someone else sat down in the seat opposite her she finally looked back to the cup of tea and the person in front of her.
"You really didn't have to do this for me, you know," she said, tracing her finger around the rim of the cup.
"Oh, you deserve it. Besides, I want to know more about you. You used to live here, didn't you?" Aerith asked. They had both decided to go for chamomile tea, although admittedly Kairi had really just gone along with what Aerith had ordered. She wasn't too knowledgeable about the different infusions of tea.
"It's… well I can't say I really remember much about my time here. There are bits and pieces every now and then but not much that I can say is particularly exciting. I used to live with my grandma. She used to tell me these stories. Tales of the battle between light and dark. Thinking back on it now, she must have gotten so annoyed that I kept asking her, but she never refused. Not even once."
Aerith took a sip of her tea and set it down. "She seemed like a lovely person. And your parents? Do you remember them?"
Kairi shook her head. "It's funny. As a kid you… don't really have a concept of death, so the people in your life, you take them for granted. You assume they'll always be there. My grandmother, as old as she was… it never occurred to me that she would disappear from my life one day. Well the reality was crueller. It wasn't her who disappeared from my life. It was me who disappeared from hers."
Aerith gave a sad smile and placed one hand on either side of her cup. "We've all lost someone important to us, but it's the pain we share that also brought us together. Sometimes, I wonder what my life would have been like if the attack on our home hadn't happened. Maybe I'd be off somewhere selling flowers."
Kairi let out a light chuckle. "And who's to say you can't still do that? Things are returning to normal. I'm sure you could set up a nice flower shop somewhere here. I'd be your first customer."
Aerith laughed. "Well that would be swell. I'd be very happy if my first sale was to you. So, how's training going?"
"I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Thinking about what Sora and Riku had to do to get where they are just pushes me to work just as hard, you know? I have to keep up, or I'll just be an inconvenience when it really matters," Kairi said. She took a sip of her own tea, noticing Aerith's nod out the corner of her eye. She set the cup back down and continued. "And I've never told Sora or Riku that, mainly because I know exactly what they'll say. 'You aren't an inconvenience'. The dressing is nice but it's nothing if you don't have the salad to compliment it. That… made sense in my head."
"No, no, I get what you mean. You'd rather it be true than just flattery. But… just don't push yourself too hard, okay? It's part of the reason I invited you out. I know how hard you've been working recently but we all need a break every once in a while. Also, some people just don't know they need a break until they sit down and realize it. You can't count on Yen Sid or Merlin to know either. I can't say much about Yen Sid, but Merlin isn't exactly the most attentive person. People like him only think from the perspective of how they were taught. He won't know you have different needs unless you tell him that."
"I'm fine, Aerith, honestly. Thing is we don't know when Xehanort will strike. We have to keep on our toes until the very end, and then I'll be able to rest, but not a moment sooner," Kairi said. She hesitated with this next question, but figured it was worth asking anyway. "You haven't seen Sora around, have you? He's been so absent lately. I'm starting to worry."
"That is…"
"Wait just a sec," Kairi said, quickly raising a finger. She leaned over and looked at her tea, its once perfect, still form now distorted by tiny ripples every other second.
She looked over to the window, covered in pellets of rain. She saw him for a few seconds, a black coat, hooded, but somehow she could still see the terrible smile lurking underneath. And then he turned to leave, disappearing behind a large golem-like Heartless that had rounded the corner.
Kairi stood up and quickly scanned the rest of the café's customers, yelling, "Everyone, listen up! You all need to get out of here right now!"
As expected, the customers looked at her as though she had grown two heads. But looking alone was good enough. Their attentions were inevitably drawn to the window behind her and the Heartless that was approaching.
Kairi glanced back to the window in time to see the Golem with a chunky piece of debris in its hands. Her body moved instinctively, pushing aside the table and pulling down Aerith along with her as the giant rubble crashed through the window. When Kairi looked up again, there was screaming chaos all around her. People were scrambling and tripping over themselves just to leave the café. Where the rubble had landed, Kairi winced upon seeing a trail of blood flowing out from underneath.
"Aerith, make sure everyone gets to safety. I'll take care of this thing," Kairi said as she picked herself up off the ground.
"Okay. Be careful," Aerith told her before rushing off toward the door. Kairi got in a running start at the window, leapt over and summoned her Keyblade. A Heartless like this was definitely a first for her, but it had only been a matter of time anyway. She could do this. She just needed to remember her training.
"Okay. It's go time, Kairi." She jumped up and down on the spot a couple of times to warm herself up before launching into a run. The Golem swung its hand down to catch her as she reached him, only for her to jump out of the way. Landing on the Golem's shoulder, she flourished her Keyblade and twirled her Keyblade, landing several hits on the Golem.
Suddenly, the Golem jerked itself violently, throwing Kairi off it.
She let out a groan as she hit the ground. She was probably getting a little too carried away there. She looked back up in time to see the Golem driving its fist towards her. Quickly, she rolled to the side, feeling the crunch of the ground as a mini crater appeared where she had once been.
Kairi picked herself up and kicked off the ground, running straight for the Golem's left arm as it honed in to catch her. She jumped, latched onto it and used it as a pendulum to swing upwards into the air. Twisting her body to see the back of the Golem, she zig-zagged downwards in a trail of light, cutting through the Heartless as she landed.
"And don't come back. Please." She added the last word after a quick thought. She took a few seconds to check her surroundings. More Heartless, albeit smaller and less powerful, were spawning along the road the man in the black coat had disappeared down.
Kairi set off down the path, cutting through the creatures as they jumped in to attack. Once upon a time her swings had been flimsy and had left many openings in which her enemy could strike. Looking back on it now, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Granted, she hadn't had nearly as much experience with swordplay as Sora or Riku before they had gotten their Keyblades, but she was truly surprised she had even lasted that long on her own back then.
Further down the stone paved street she travelled until she reached a split in the road. Just which path had the black coat gone down? Presumably the one with the most Heartless, which would be the right path leading towards the castle.
But on second thought, she had to admit it was rather strange. Kairi couldn't help but feel as though the very act of more Heartless on one path was some kind of set-up. She was being lured, she suspected. This led her to consider the other path. Surely it would be better to find Riku and the others first, but it wasn't as though there weren't any people in danger along the path with more Heartless either. It was simply a risk she was going to have to take.
She started down the right path, picking up speed as she sliced and diced her way through Shadow after Shadow. Her blade caught against the rain, droplets dripping off her blade at the most relaxed of times and flying off when she needed to be aggressive. Up ahead she could see the town's defence mechanism doing its own thing as well. Though it could only target one enemy at a time, it was still a welcome addition.
Soon enough she reached the stairs ascending to the bailey. As she glanced up, she caught sight of a Surveillance Robot at the top zipping back and forth. She had only taken a couple of steps when the Heartless discharged a blast from its body, blowing off a chunk of stone from the staircase.
Just in front of Kairi, and to where the chunk of debris was falling, a young girl lay on the ground, paralyzed in fear as Shadows circled in on her. Kairi dashed in quickly, cut through the Shadows in front, grabbing the girl and rolling out of the way as the debris impacted the once occupied spot. Kairi wasted no time in getting back and taking care of the other Shadows before looking over at the girl.
"Are you okay? Can you stand?" she asked, offering her hand.
The little girl nodded through her tears and let out a sniffle. Kairi gave a sad smile. The poor thing looked a mess. She was visibly shaking and snot was trickling from her nostrils.
"It'll be okay. Come here…" Kairi said. She placed her index and middle finger on the girl's chest and closed her eyes. "It's going to be okay, understand? I and my friends will keep this town safe."
In a moment that felt like magic, and perhaps it was, the sobbing girl instantly fell silent. As Kairi leaned away and looked at her, she saw a light in the young girl's eyes that wasn't there before.
The girl wiped her nose with her sleeve before nodding. "Thank you for saving me. You're really nice."
Kairi smiled at this. "Aw, it was nothing, really. Is a parent of yours nearby?"
The girl shook her head. "I usually walk home from school with my friends but we got split up from each other when those creatures attacked."
"Okay… listen to me very carefully. You need to run down that street." Kairi pointed in the direction she had come from. "Run and don't stop for a single second. If you see a woman in a pink dress, stay with her, otherwise keep going until you reach home, okay?"
"What about you? Aren't you coming?" the girl asked.
Kairi merely smiled before giving the girl a gentle push. "Go."
After making sure the girl was well out of her line of sight, Kairi continued, climbing up the stairs, taking long strides in spite of her short legs to climb two steps at a time. Once she reached the top, she knocked back an incoming blast by the Surveillance Robot, sending the Heartless spinning. She dashed forward and finished it off with a single strike, continuing onwards to the Bailey.
After reaching the other side, she gave a quick scan of the area. It did not take long to find her target. The person in the black coat was staring back at her, and then sure enough, they turned and headed for the ravine trail. It confirmed her worst suspicions. She was being guided, led astray from the town on purpose. Why else would they have waited? Made sure that they were seen?
"To go or not to go…" The choice was technically obvious. No one in their right mind would follow such a suspicious individual, especially on their own. And yet, here she was, dictated by the allure of the chase. Right now Kairi needed just about anyone to tell her to stop, but her boldness was getting the better of her. Ancestors who had thrived off their wise choices to survive would be spinning in their grave right about now, and yet for Kairi to concede now… it would feel as though all her training had been for nothing.
"Sora and Riku once faced these guys with no idea of who they were. If they can do it, so can I… I hope," she said, finding the strength in her words to latch onto.
Soon enough, she was past the outer walls and began her traversal down the path. The rain didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon and as the path began to narrow in parts, she had to be careful that she didn't slip. The last thing she wanted to imagine was the image of her head smacking against the cliff's jutting edges below.
When she finally reached the bottom of the cliffs, she was standing at the ruinous castle gates, face to face with the being in the black coat.
"Tired of playing games? What's the big idea leading me all the way out here anyway?" Kairi asked.
"Me, lead you here? But it was you who came to me, Kairi," the voice said, and how familiar a voice it was. It was a voice that invoked fear and terror in her heart. Suddenly the rain ceased to make any noise and it was only the two of them, and the fear.
"Th-that voice… I know that voice…" Kairi said, in a tiny voice, stepping back a bit.
The hood fell from the man's head, and Kairi saw a darkness that she had long since buried when she was a child. She grasped her forehead as a dull ache brought along with it memories flooding back to her that she had chosen to repress.
"Are you having trouble remembering, Kairi? But we had such fun together, didn't we? Even if it were only for a short while. Oh, that won't do. That won't do at all. Remember, princess. Remember your purpose. Let those dark nightmares manifest and become reality."
For the first time in a long time, Kairi was forced to remember her childhood. She had only been four-years-old when she had met this man. She had been in the library, waiting for her grandma when a man had come into the room. Their paths crossed and at the time, he seemed innocent. Though their talk was brief, he must have known it then—that she was special. The next time they had met was under much different circumstances. She could remember that warped grin, unlike anything a human could make, as he grabbed her.
"Xehanort…" Kairi whispered, looking away for a moment. She looked up at last to see that same insipid grin. A grin that harbored more malice than even the worst of Heartless.
"It's been a while. When last I laid eyes on you, you were but another subject in my experiments. The key to finding the Keyblade Master, and how well you performed against even your own knowing. You led me to the key as I had hoped. Everything that's happening now, the danger your friends constantly face, it all started with you."
His words sent a terrible chill down her spine. "No… that can't be true. You're lying, I'd never-"
"You wouldn't have known, of course. Besides, I am also the reason you became friends with Sora and Riku. Rejoice! You had your own worth to me just as much as they did after all," Xehanort declared, his eyes lit up in satisfaction. "You should thank me. Imagine how different your life would have been otherwise."
"I have no words of gratitude for you. I just have to get rid of you and then no one will ever be hurt by you again." Kairi raised her Keyblade and tried her best to keep her breathing under control. She had a feeling it was too late for that, however. Xehanort had already picked up on her fear.
"Under normal circumstances, I would be delighted to hear how you plan to achieve that, but it seems plans have changed, and in the most interesting way imaginable," Xehanort said.
"What are you talking about?"
Kairi frowned as Xehanort thrust up three fingers at her. "This world as you know it ends in three days. Three days and all hell breaks loose. Think you guardians can get your act together by then?"
Kairi was confused. She wasn't quite sure how that plan was any different from the previous one. It appeared however, that the time frame in which they had to prepare had changed. At least, if they took Xehanort's word for it. According to Yen Sid, they had no choice but to, as he was the one running the show. As expected, it hadn't gone down well with most of them.
"To be crystal clear, I no longer need the seven of you," Xehanort said, as though he had read her mind.
"What?" Kairi considered his words for a few seconds before asking, "So if we're no longer required, why are you so eager for us to get our act together?"
"Consider yourselves on reserve. That, and if I tell you this now, you'll no doubt try to stop it. I'll give you all the honor of having a seat up close when the end comes. But I wonder, can the princess play in the big leagues along with the rest of us? Perhaps you need a test to see if you're ready. A real test."
Xehanort lifted his right arm and Kairi instinctively recoiled, but his attack did not come from directly in front. Instead, a pool of darkness formed underneath Kairi's feet. She hastily tried to jump away but to no avail. Its tendrils had already grabbed hold of her ankles and were dragging her down into its depths. Struggle as much as she might, she couldn't break free from its grasp.
"You need to learn to relax. Until we meet again, Kairi. I look forward to seeing how far my experiment has come."
He walked towards and past her until he had exited her view completely. At this point, all but Kairi's head was below ground. She could only manage a gasp before her head joined the rest.
Dust fell from the ceiling as chaos unfolded above Black Rose and Gekido's location. No doubt some of the Heartless were causing a stir on the higher levels of the castle. The lights flickered on and off as they walked down the corridor, almost as though they were in some horror film.
"I quite get the feeling the master would enjoy taking residence in this place. We should make the recommendation once this is all over," Gekido said. He stopped for a moment and let out an exaggerated inhale. He then looked over to Black Rose. "What do you think, Rose?"
"I don't care. Let's just get these stones and get out of here." Rose gave a look at the Hell Stone in her palm and gently blew on it. The stone gave off a faint blue glow before fading. Thanks to her magic, it told her all she needed to know. They were on the right track.
"You know, for someone who calls herself Black Rose, you sure don't like to stop and smell the roses, do you?" Gekido asked, hurrying his pace to catch up with her.
"And for someone named 'Gekido', you're way too calm for your own good. Your name means 'wrath' or 'rage' in Japanese, doesn't it?" Black Rose asked.
"Ah, you've been doing your research on me, have you?"
"Not really. It comes from prior knowledge. When you've dabbled in world mysticism, you tend to pick up a few words or two. Though I tell you, some of the demons in the mythologies are far more fascinating than many of the lot downstairs," Rose answered. The two demons turned a corner to reach a door at the end of what was a much shorter hallway.
"Finally, we're here. Geez, this place is a maze. First thing that needs to happen if we take over this place? Cement. Cave in the whole place. Not like we'll need it. We're demons, for hell's sake," Gekido said.
"Well, I'll leave those details to you," Black Rose said. She opened the door and stepped into a circular room filled with books on shelves and desk and chair in the middle, suggesting it was a study.
"A study in a basement… feels like a place the scientist locks himself up in with his research until he goes insane. All it's missing is the single half melted candle on the table," Gekido observed, throwing in his typical cool yet snarky remark. "Those stones here?"
"Not exactly here, no. Perhaps somewhere… below…" Black Rose was about to blow on the Hell Stone again when a brief flash of light to her right brought her attention to one of the walls.
Two men walked into the room. From the looks of things, they were guards, both tall and sturdily built with the redhead on the right most close to resembling a building. Rose glanced at Gekido before slowly moving around the table.
"Stop! Ma'am, you, um, shouldn't be here," growled the red haired one, although he seemed flustered by her appearance. "Please… er… allow us to escort you and your… partner… to safety."
"Well aren't you a charmer. What's wrong? You're blushing. Do you like me?" Rose teased as she slowly sauntered towards him. And then, as she was halfway towards him, she suddenly stopped. "Just out of curiosity. What if I say no?"
"Enough playing, woman! You're coming with us, like it or not," the black-haired guard with the gruff voice exclaimed. He took a few steps towards her.
"Now you, I don't like," Black Rose said. She reached forward with her right arm, thorny vines shooting forward from her palm. The vine wrapped around the guard's neck, its fine thorns piercing his skin with little resistance, eliciting a growl from the man.
Rose gave him a simple smile. "Do you talk to your mother like that? Then don't do it with me."
With a flick of her wrist, there was a sharp snap that followed, and the guard went limp.
"Dilan!" The other guard cried. He looked over to the woman again, this time with a seething intensity in his glare. "You…"
"After seeing that, think to yourself, man. Should you really be talking?" Gekido said. He waited until Rose's thorns had retracted completely before continuing. "Okay, so… question for ya. You wouldn't happen to have a bunch of glowing stones of different colors on you, would ya?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," the man said, forcefully, as though he was trying to keep himself composed with every syllable uttered.
"Well, maybe since you're obviously the lapdog around here, your higher-ups have probably opted to keep it from you. I could believe that. But I'm not going to because I've seen my fair share of tough guys like you who claim they know nothing. Really, all it takes is just a little… persuasion before they oh-so conveniently remember something."
Both Rose and Gekido advanced towards him, knowing that the slow, arduous walk was just as effective as what was to come after, assuming he did not submit in time, of course. Admittedly, Rose was not as well versed as her partner in the act of torture so letting him take the lead on this seemed the best idea.
"Stop! I'll give you what you want, okay?"
Another figure emerged from behind the guard. It was a younger man with silver streaks in his hair. He also seemed to be wearing a lab coat.
"Ienzo, you fool!" the guard growled. Ienzo paused for a second before continuing. He walked past the guard and placed a hand in his pocket, pulling out a yellow stone.
"This is what you came for, isn't it?" He waved it in the air before slowly lowering his arm. "You let us go and promise to leave, you can have it."
"But Ienzo, we were told to protect-"
"It's hardly worth dying over now, is it?" Ienzo countered.
"Good boy. You can learn a lot from him, you know?" Gekido said as he walked over. Offering out his hand, he motioned for Ienzo to follow up on his word. Hands trembling throughout, Ienzo slowly extended his hand and dropped the stone into Gekido's hand. He stepped back and swallowed the hard lump in his throat.
"Beautiful… well, as promised, us demons keep to our word. Let's be on our way, Rose-"
"Wait. There's one more," Rose said. She looked over to Ienzo and took a few steps forwards, watching as he took a few steps back. "Did you really think you could hoodwink us with that? You don't think I can smell the stench of your nervousness?"
She stopped in front of Ienzo, who had nowhere left to go after being backed into a wall, and held out of her hand with an impatient glance. For a moment, the young boy looked like he was considering his options, but it surely must have come to him that in the end, there really was only one way he could guarantee his and the other man's safety. Reluctantly, he reached into his other pocket and quickly dropped the other stone into her hand.
Kairi hopped backwards as she continued to bat away the hooded phantoms that flew towards her. She looked past them to the source. A giant demonic creature, as black as night with piercing yellow eyes and sporting two devilish horns—Chernabog.
He flung his hands back and forth, producing balls of fire that homed in on Kairi. She kept on her toes, darting underneath each blast and feeling an unusual coolness from each flame.
Free from the vicinity of the flames, Kairi broke off into a sprint, hoping to reach Chernabog quickly. The demon, however, was quick to defend itself, unleashing a gust of wind that blew Kairi backwards. The redhead sailed through the air and landed on her stomach, her Keyblade separated and a few metres away from her.
With some effort, she pushed herself off the ground and looked up to immediately see a group of phantoms circling her. She summoned her Keyblade back to her, for all the good it did. Even having the weapon in her hands was a comfort to her, but she knew it meant nothing if she didn't know how to use it in situations like these.
Just then, a ray of light poured in from the dark apocalyptic clouds above. A couple of seconds later, Riku fell from the sky, flipping before landing a blow on Chernabog's head. It was just then that Kairi had a sudden epiphany. Quickly, she blasted herself into the air with Aeroga. Landing on her two feet ahead of the phantoms, she darted towards Chernabog again.
Up ahead, she could see Riku backing out of the way as a pillar of flame rose up and consumed the demon. Eventually, the pillar of flames subsided, and Kairi was right where she wanted to be. She hopped onto the lowered arm of Chernabog and ran up. As it tried to swat her off with its right hand, Kairi jumped onto it and continued traversing upwards. As it lifted its arms in a hasty attempt to throw her off, Kairi took advantage of change in elevation and launched herself into the air. Now within reach of Chernabog's face, she dashed through the air, plunging her Keyblade right between its eyes.
There was a sudden eruption of darkness that burst forth, completely covering Kairi. For something that felt like an eternity, Kairi panicked. She couldn't see. Eventually, she could make out her own name being called. Her eyes opened to see Riku looking down at her.
"Kairi! You okay?" Riku asked.
Kairi gave an affirmation through a slight nod of the head. Riku let out a sigh of relief and sat back.
"You almost gave me a heart attack. Don't scare me like that next time," Riku said.
"You were… worried about me?" Kairi asked, tilting her head with a curious gaze.
"What? Of course I was! Oh. I see… ha ha," Riku looked away, trying to hide his obvious blush. Just as Kairi had intended. It was not often that she got to see that side of Riku, and so she had taken to teasing him quite a bit. Yes, it was slightly mean-spirited but Riku had told her he wanted to let loose a little and as a friend she was obliged to help him.
"Riku… I saw the one behind this. It was Xehanort, or… I guess I should say, Xehanort in Terra's body," Kairi said.
"Was he the one who trapped you in there?" Riku asked.
Kairi nodded and then added a quick "Yes" as she stood up. "What about the other districts. Are they safe?"
"It was worse a while ago. Came over here as soon as I was sure that things were starting to calm down," Riku said.
"Well I'm glad you came when you did. You were just the bait I needed to take that thing down," Kairi said with a laugh.
"Oh, is that what my role was? If I had known that I wouldn't have come," Riku said with a lopsided smile. Kairi walked over to where he was sitting and reached out for his hand. Riku stared at it for a moment before accepting it and helping himself up. "Urgh, I just… where are Sora and Aqua when you need them?"
"They weren't fighting with you?" Kairi asked.
"No. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Merlin and the others… none of them have seen either of the two since yesterday. I feel kind of bad for saying this but if it were Sora alone, I'd understand, but Aqua? She just doesn't seem like the type of person who would go missing without saying anything. And Xehanort also happens to make his move when they're both gone? I want to believe it's a coincidence but… I'm worried."
Suddenly a strange and terrible chill ran through Kairi's spine. "Riku... Xehanort mentioned something. He said that this world as we know it would end in three days and for us to be ready by then. It seems whatever this was was a warning for things to come."
"Three days?" Riku looked up at the sky and it was for the first time since coming back that Kairi had realised that it had stopped raining. The silence left her exposed to her own thoughts, but not just those. Her fears and insecurities too. Was she truly ready for what was to come? In any case, the well-earned break she had given herself would have to be put on hold for now, for the settling of things had come sooner than any of them had imagined.
A/N: I'd like to think we're coming to the end soon, and because this is NaNoWriMo, I'm kind of setting myself a goal here so we'll see how much I can put out. Again, assignments come first and all but hopefully you shouldn't have to wait too long from here on out. So next chapter, we'll be back on Sora, Larxene and Aqua and the aftermath of the fight against the Hunt. See you next time!
