Inverted Sky: KH Chain of Memories
Chapter 18: Castle Oblivion part XVIII
Kairi looked to Donald and Goofy with a determined gaze, each of them having witnessed Sora being taken away through a portal of darkness. Yet without another word, they simply rushed toward the doors leading further up the castle. The three believing that the Organization likely took her to the top floor. They quickly stopped however, as a sudden flash of light appeared directly ahead of their path. As they shielded their eyes from the brightness, the trio kept their weapons out, just in case.
As the light settled, they swiftly uncovered their eyes and gazed to what caused the light. When they did, the three saw the figures of Mickey and Riku in the center off the hall. "Riku!" the auburn-haired girl called out in surprise.
Said teen boy blinked a few times as both he and the King turned to the three, upon which, they all rushed toward one another. "Looks like you guys are okay." Riku said in a relieved tone as he shared a quick hug with his friend.
"Yeah...but Sora disappeared." Kairi claimed with worry in her tone and demeanor.
"We found her, but then they took her away." she continued, slowly becoming upset as she spoke.
These emotions being directed toward herself, likely for not being able to stop it from happening. While Riku gave a nod in understanding, he did so in order to hide his own concerns. "It'll be okay, we'll find her again." he claimed in full confidence.
"Besides...Sora isn't the type to be locked up for long. So wherever they took her, she's bound to break free." Riku added while offering a small smile.
Despite the situation, and even the panic she was feeling, Kairi couldn't help but notice the more poised attitude her friend had. "Yeah." she responded, a soft smile curling her lips.
"We better hurry, we're probably not too far away from the top of the castle." Mickey called out as Donald and Goofy stood at his sides after they also shared a reuniting hug.
"Right, lets go." Kairi said with a more self-assured tone than before.
As they all rushed toward the next set of doors however, several corridors of darkness swirled in front of them. This revealing Larxene, Zexion, Lexaeus, and Marluxia as they faced the other group. "Now now...there is no need to hurry." the pink-haired man said while holding a hand out.
"Our little Keyblade wielder is not in any danger, we're merely making sure she's still alive. She gave us quite the fright as well." he continued, his voice appearing to be calming and confident of what he was saying.
However, none of the five appeared to believe his words, to which they simply brought their weapons up. "Sorry, but I think we've had enough of you guys trying to manipulate us." Riku declared firmly, narrowing his eyes heavily.
"You've been keeping us apart this whole time, and we're not going to tolerate it anymore." Kairi added as she actually sounded rather angry.
Listening to this, Larxene just sighed heavily while looking to Marluxia. "Looks like we're not talking our way out of this one." she stated, her gaze turning a bit sadistic while each of her daggers appeared in a flash of lightning.
"So it seems." Lexaeus concurred, just before his axe-sword swirled into his hand through darkness.
Zexion glanced to each of his 'comrades' for a moment before sighing and bringing out his tome-like book with a snap of his wrist. "Well...'this' is still technically part of the original plan." he said silently as his eyes simply narrowed on Kairi, recalling what she did to him during their last fight.
Giving a heavy sigh, Marluxia slowly nodded as he summoned his scythe in a flurry of sakura petals. "Indeed...perhaps we can merge ideas to create an even better one." he claimed in a light chuckle.
As silence took the room, the two groups gazed to one another. Both sides just waiting for the other to make the first move, yet no one seemed willing to do so. That is, until Larxene sighed in annoyance and threw her daggers toward the five. Following their quick dodges to avoid these attacks, the fight began and the two sides charged forward. Each of them letting out battle cries as they clashed with blades and magic.
During all this, Sora was just smiling to Riku replica as he was processing the girl's words. His gaze slowly drifted down in deep thought, as he was unable to understand how she could view him as 'real', when he himself couldn't. The whole reason to prove his existence coming from the idea that he wasn't real, yet Sora accepted it despite that. 'No...this is Sora I'm talking about...of course she would think I'm real. That's just how she is.' he mused briefly to himself in a silent breath.
But the more he contemplated this notion, the more angry toward the girl he became. Or perhaps, his anger toward himself was being redirected to her. Regardless of which one it was, the replica's eyes narrowed while shifting away from Sora. "I don't want your pity." he growled out, reasoning 'that' as the only explanation for her words.
Just as the brown-haired teen was about to respond, Riku replica stepped back and into a corridor of darkness. Him vanishing in an instant, leaving Sora by her self. Upon which, she tilted her head down and let out a sad breath. 'Just like Riku...unless he proves it to himself...he won't believe it.' she thought while closing her sorrowful eyes.
'I just hope he won't somehow reason that he needs to get rid of Riku in order to feel 'validated'.' Sora continued in a worried manner.
'Although...since he also seems to have memories of Namine, perhaps there is something there that can help him.' the brown-haired girl mused in a hopeful manner.
Her eyes then reopened when hearing a corridor of darkness appear to her left. Unlike normal though, no one stepped through. Which the girl took as a sign that it was an invitation for her to go through instead. Taking in a breath, Sora walked into the swirling portal of darkness. As she did, the teen found herself back in Vexen's laboratory, where said man was waiting. "Well well..." he began, his arms crossed over his chest.
"...it seems he was no match for you after all." the platinum blond-haired man muttered, seeming to have expected such a result.
"No matter...I have plenty of other experiments in the works." Vexen continued while moving to the computer once more as a new image was shown on the screen.
This displaying a series of generic body-like forms with a series of heart-shaped crystals rapidly moving into these bodies. Each time they did however, a brief error message would appear and the heart would move back to its original place. Once they reset, the bodies would alter ever so slightly, before the hearts would attempt to move into them again. This process continuing over and over again, without any signs of success.
After a few moments of watching this, Vexen sighed heavily and looked down in thought. "If only I could get some of them to work." he uttered out with a huff, placing his hands on either side of the computer's keyboard.
"You can go now, I have all the data I need." he added in a dismissive manner, almost appearing to have forgotten about the teen.
He then began typing at a rapid pace as the corridor Sora stepped through seemed to shift briefly before returning to normal. This letting the brown-haired girl know that the other side of the portal was now a different location that it was before. Yet while Sora briefly stepped toward it, she paused when glancing to Vexen once more. While she didn't know what it was he was doing, she could tell he was frustrated. 'I know he's an enemy and all...but I kinda feel bad for him.' she mused while looking to the computer screen, the error message continuing to flash after every failed attempt.
'I know what it's like to constantly fail at something...I mean...it took me years before I was finally able to beat Riku even once.' Sora continued as a soft smile curled her lips.
"Trying to bind a heart to something, huh?" she questioned aloud, slowly coming up beside the man.
Whom turned to her curiously before sighing and looking to the computer once more. "It's far more complex than that...but simply put, yes." he responded in his usual condescending tone.
"It seems that the heart is a far more captious than I anticipated. I have yet to find a means of housing a heart within a container capable of retaining its shape." Vexen continued, yet his voice slowly became more neutral and examining.
Gazing to each of these hearts and then the body-like shapes, Sora tilted her head slowly. "Each heart is different, so the same 'container' for one heart...might not work for another." she muttered absentmindedly.
"Which means that each one would need to be 'tailor fit' for the heart. But if the heart is as complex as the individual is...making something like 'that'...could take years." the girl continued in an exasperated manner.
This actually caused Vexen to look at her with an impressed expression, as she actually understood the reason for why this experiment was so difficult. Most just believed he complained about the difficulty, merely for the sake of complaining about it. And despite coming from a non-scientific thought process, the brown-haired girl seemed to see what others did not. "Hmph...impressive." he whispered silently to himself before raising a brow curiously.
"Well then...if you were going to solve this issue...how would you do it?" Vexen questioned, now actually interested in what she might have to say.
With a brief glance toward the man, Sora tilted her head down in thought. "Maybe...instead of trying to adjust the body, there is something inside the body for the heart to bind itself to? Something that would allow the heart to merge with the body, regardless of its makeup." she suggested, to which the platinum blond-haired man blinked a few times in curiosity.
"And what sort of 'binding agent' do you think would work?" he asked further, already looking somewhat impressed once more.
Though Sora tapped her chin a few times while thinking this over, she blinked briefly and placed a hand over her heart. "A bond." she answered as a soft smile curled her lips.
"A what?" Vexen uttered out in confusion, arching a brow slightly.
"A bond. All hearts are connected in a way, whether it be to our friends, our family, or even our enemies. So all that should be needed...is a bond to someone attached to that heart. 'That' would allow the heart to synchronize with the body, and not be rejected." Sora explained while taking on a wide grin.
Listening to this, Vexen's eyes slowly began to widened as the pieces in his mind fell into place. "That could work." he said silently, to which a small smile of his own actually started to form on his features.
"Oh..." Sora hummed out as she gazed to him; "...you actually look nice with a genuine smile like that."
Blinking briefly to her words, Vexen immediately cleared his throat and turned to the side briefly. "Anyway...I think it's time you returned." he declared firmly as gestured toward the portal once more.
Sora giggled softly while smiling to the man; "If you say so...but before I go, I have one request." she started, placing one hand to her hip.
"And what's that?" Vexen questioned with another raised brow.
"Can I have one of those jackets too?" was all the teen asked, to which the man just stared at her for a few long moments.
Vexen clearly wondering if the teen somehow figured out the function of the coats themselves. Yet after letting out a silent breath, he nodded slowly in response. "Very well...as reward for helping my research, I will give you one of our coats."
Unfortunately I only got through chapters 18 and 19 this week. But I hope all of you enjoy these chapters regardless. I altered Sora's interaction with Vexen somewhat in order to fit with things that happen later on. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and will let me know what you thought. Until next time.
