'Twas Between Us
Chapter 5
Fighting Temptation
Returned. She had returned. Maleficent brought a near-overwhelming sensation of darkness with her presence alone. She also brought a seething anger with her. She was furious at the state of her old fortress in Hollow Bastion, no longer seeped in darkness. She was even angrier at the sight of the Nobodies who infested the world like silvery worms.
Every Heartless in Hollow Baston was drawn to her green flames, her flaring hatred and bottomless evil topped by her twisted horns. Her words were a regal and poisonous thunder that rippled through their bodies, "Dispose of those horrid Nobodies! This world, and all others, belong to me. Drive them out! This land shall once again be plunged into darkness!"
The Heartless rattled with a hungry glee, and they flooded from the ruins of the castle, blackening the blue ridges with their inky bodies. Charged with her fury, the Heartless hunted the wayward Dusks and tangles of more elite Nobodies, catching the ghastly creatures by surprise with their sudden insurgence. In the distance, the humans in the town panicked as they witnessed a massive army of Heartless encroaching upon them. Every Heartless was involved, from the large Arch Behemoth to even a snippet of a Shadow.
The little Heartless buzzed and twitched, drunken with Maleficent's hatred. It lashed out at any non-dark creature that got too close, though the Shadow snippet had too stubby of legs and short of claws to generally hit anything. But the fury agitated its hunger, so it doggedly pursued its targets anyways. The little Heartless wasn't even sure what it was chasing, some kind of pale furred, floating creature with a red ball hanging off its head. It didn't care, the heart inside was too tempting. The creature, which the snippet didn't know was called a Moogle, flew away as far as it could from the Heartless army, and the little Heartless pursued. The Shadow snippet clawed up a wall of rocks, steadily leaving the edge of the army. The little Heartless chased and chased the Moodle, stretching its clawed fingers for the creature's nubby foot.
The small Shadow's own foot caught on a rock and the Heartless slammed into the ground, tumbling for a few feet. The Moogle didn't slow and was long gone. The Heartless chirped in pain and its antenna stirred. It gingerly lifted its head, its chin stinging, though its inky head cleared a bit.
Looking around, it became aware of the battlefield around it. The very ground trembled from the stampedes of Heartless. This normally wouldn't have bothered the Shadow snippet, but it cringed at the sight of Dusks squirming in cages of Heartless claws before being swallowed up in darkness. The little Heartless shuffled back, twitching its head, trying to look away from the violence. Every angle was frenzied battle and of things cutting and others being cut down. With a whimpering hiss, the snippet scuttled farther out from the army, trying to find a quiet place.
There were very few corners not brimming with battle. The Shadow snippet felt scared, as if its own Heartless might rip it apart if it got too close. Nowhere was safe. Needed safety. It needed to be safe.
Being so small, the Shadow snippet finally found a narrow space in the canyon to squeeze itself into. It had to ball itself into a knot but hardly anything could get it. Well, Nobodies were stretchy enough to ooze into anywhere, but the spot the little Heartless found was too dark and out of the way. It tried to stay quiet so it wouldn't be noticed. This didn't seem difficult, as the deafening sounds of battle quaked the air. The noises seemed worse while the snippet was tucked away rather than out in the open.
It seemed the Nobodies were getting the upper hand at times. They were strategic and patient, allowing them to cut down Heartless with unfeeling efficiency. However, the Heartless wouldn't be easily defeated, they outnumbered the Nobodies and any that were defeated soon clawed back out of the darkness again. As much as the little Heartless hoped to wait out the battle, it seemed like one that would go on for eternity.
A piercing, airy essence steadily filled the air.
Its antenna rattled and its body jittered. The light caused every shadowy inch of its body to burn in hunger. K-Keyblade! It hissed as its body jerked towards the opening.
The Shadow snippet remembered the panic of the vapid Dusk and stopped itself. The Heartless trembled as it unsteadily repeated, Kuh-Keyblade. D-destroy. Never r-ri-rise. Luh-light destroys. Ne-never see Vapid.
It dug its claws into the walls to keep itself from continuing forward. Its body itched like thousands of angry ants, but the Shadow snippet dug its claws in further.
Outside of the hovel, Heartless shrieked in anger. The army changed course, barreling towards the source of the immense light. The Heartless rained down on the Keyblade bearer, but their steady stream was punctuated by the hiss of Heartless being cut in half and the shimmering ring of light piercing the shadow bodies. Each slash caused the Shadow snippet to jerk and its hunger to flare.
Uttering a crackling groan, the snippet of a Shadow stirred restlessly. It scratched desperately at the walls, everything screaming inside and outside of it. Feeling unable to stop its feet, it rolled onto its back and twitched like a dying roach. It held its bulbous head in its tiny claws.
Muh-must see Va-pid. St-st-stay. Stay. S-s-safe. It hissed this to itself repeatedly, clinging to the words to drown out everything else. If it could, it would have cried. The hunger was painful and the little Heartless writhed helplessly.
It didn't know how much time passed. It had trouble telling time anyways, but it felt like hours.
Then the piercing light dwindled slowly. The hunger ebbed, as the Keyblade started to leave. The noises of the war steadily died down too. Though not completely quiet, it was silent in comparison. The Shadow snippet was left as a crumpled shape on the ground, drained of its energy.
The little Heartless twitched and it slowly stirred, clawing itself up onto its shaky feet. Its antenna stirred. Maleficent left as well, as the Heartless and Nobodies dwindled, moving elsewhere. The snippet of darkness would have followed, chasing their trails to rejoin the cluster. With the cluster, it could find bigger, more delicious hearts than it could ever find on its own. If there was enough darkness, they could swallow up all the light they wanted, until there wasn't a single drop left. The little Heartless did not think of this. The Shadow snippet sunk into a puddle of darkness and crawled through a portal to the Realm of Darkness, heading off a different direction, breaking from its cluster.
CatCrescent: The battle of 1,000 Heartless was one of the coolest moments in Kingdom Hearts II. Lots of memorable lines and action pieces. It was fun fighting all those enemies and probably one of my favorite lines from the cutscenes here was when Cloud said, "Well...might be tough if one more shows up" and frankly just the whole exchange. I appreciate you guys following so far. Tomorrow is the finale!