Chapter 11: The Divine Fool

There was no sound, not even a heartbeat, bugging Kairi as she laid out drifting in a sea of black. Time is immaterial. It was nice. All those worries could just...disappear.

"Hey...!" A faint sound rippled and rocked Kairi. Her face quivered and she could feel something pushing from the right.

"Hey!" Still faint, if a little louder, the sound pushed the sea like a growing wave. Kairi's face quivered and her opening eyes parted the black sea. It was blurry on the outside, and sound continued to struggle to reach her.

"Come on, wakie wakie!"

"Mrrr...!" Kaiir sounded off with a barely audible groan and turned to face the voice.

Through her blurry vision she made out blonde hair on a person with fair skin. Weakly she murmured "Shina?" and tried to force her eyes open. A headache fought back all the while.

A quick and light slap on the face jolted her eyes awake after briefly forcing them shut. And now that she could see clearly again it was painfully obvious that Jupiter was the one over her. Jupiter slapped her one more time and then pulled back with a smile.

"Whew, there we go!"

Kairi found it hard to rise so Jupiter put a hand on her back to prop her up. The left side of her skull throbbed with soreness and a sharp noise rang in her ear drum. Fortunately both stopped when she laid a hand on the other side of her face.

"You took quite the nasty fall there." Jupiter said, taking a stand once she felt Kairi was stable. Kairi stared straight out and, though the cast of characters had rotated, it was still full of surreal, familiar faces.

And they were all a pat of daily life in "Sancturia". That was the hardest part to swallow. She'd already had plenty of days to accept that the worlds of fiction her sister adored were, in fact, real. But all these characters belonged to different worlds. Why were they all here? And...what did this have to do with Shina?

Kairi stood up slowly and then wobbled back into the side of their ship, and slumped down. Jupiter approached with concern in her voice, "Whoa easy there."

She had a gentle touch propping her up under her shoulders, "You'll fall down again. Just stay still for a bit."

Kairi gave a lazy look at Jupiter and murmured with envy, "You're taking this pretty well."

"Work with Cat long enough and you get used to all the crazy!" Jupiter boasted proudly before turning to her side and glaring at the people.

"Gotta say though...this is a new one." She clicked her tongue against her cheek and hummed deep in thought.

Kairi watched a stout skeleton with a blue jacket and an orange blue jeans wearing marsupial pass by in front of them and realized something.

"They aren't paying any attention to us..."

"Yeah, weird..." Jupiter stuffed her hands into her pockets and stuck her foot out, looking half-tempted to trip the next passerby.

She pulled away at the last second and commented, "Its like they're real and we're ghosts."

She then tilted her head back and asked, "You feel it though right?"

Kairi paused for a moment and then tried closing her eyes. Her face automatically scrunched up and the pain in her head flared up.

"Nnn...!" She grunted.

"Oh right, sorry." Jupiter forced a grin and resumed facing the crowd.

"I can sense these guys. If they're fakes, they're pretty damn good ones." That didn't make any of this easier to swallow.

"Y'know, I recognize a lot of these guys from Cat's reports. Heroes from other worlds, some of their friends...I'd assume a galaxy-wide kidnapping but..."

"They're all acting...normal." Kairi murmured, the pain in her head finally subsiding.

"Exactly. Too normal. Could be some form of mass hypnosis..." Jupiter's observations brought her back to Kairi, who wasn't exactly "subtle" with the distress on her face.

"Or...you've already pieced it together."

Kairi looked away with a mild frown then slowly shook her head to get the last bit of resistance out. It wasn't hard to deny, but that didn't make it easy to accept.

"Shina...played and read a lot of the works these characters are in."

Jupiter widened her eyes in revelation and then tapped one foot towards towards the false city. She propped her hands on her hips and swerved her body in place.

"I getcha. So no matter what she's at the center of this craziness."

"Ghh..." Kairi felt sick in her stomach and unconsciously spoke her thoughts, "Maybe we should call for back-up."

"No can do." Thus Jupiter's swift response took Kairi by surprise.

"I tried calling Cat while you were knocked out. This place is blocking out all outside communication. We're probably not getting out until we get to the bottom of this, just like Cat theorized," Jupiter seemingly took all this in stride, "But...that was the plan to begin with!"

"We're not going to solve this mystery standing around sightseeing," Jupiter turned all the way around and punched an open palm, "I'll hit the high road and you can take the streets! Just try not to interact with the others along the way."

Kairi had objections but they were left unvoiced when Jupiter went hopping along the rooftops. She had the grace and agileness of a cat outside of the heat of battle.

Kairi hung a hand out then pulled it back to her chest as a fist. She took a deep breath in a vain attempt to relax herself. Her skull was fine but she still had a minor headache.

The immediate area was clear so she dragged herself forward into this illusionary city. It was a little different inside than the regular Sancturia. Kairi noticed green pipes, loops, wild Pokemon and much more.

A multitude of objects lacking uniformity. For someone like Shina this really would be a paradise. It was also an obvious note but, Kairi didn't notice a single villain around.

"I came all this way to save Shina but..." Kairi's gaze went down and her tired eyes wobbled, "If she's behind all this, does...does she even want to be saved?"

Kairi found herself constantly changing directions to avoid contact with the others. She should've stuck out like a sore thumb but clearly the Aurian copies were helping her blend in. Still, that no one even looked at her let alone spoke made this a lonely, creepy walk.

The random landscape changes aside the general feel of Sancturia was the exact same. After a few minutes Kairi recognized which part she was in and decided to try and find her house. It had to be here right?

The answer was "Yes". In the same spot, with the same look, and the same safe, homely vibe. But here, the latter trait left Kairi nervous moving towards it.

Her heart raced with anticipation at the possibility of her reunion with Shina. Two long years of waiting could be over the moment she swung the door open.

Her voice shook off a couple years of age as she pulled the door open and excitedly announced, "Shina?!"

A cold air of silence exited the house and Kairi's smile soon sagged. She slowly walked inside and looked around. There were a couple subtle changes to things that declared to her that this was the way the house looked two years ago.

"Shina!" Kairi cupped her mouth and screamed her heart out in hopes of a reply, even her own echo would do.

Nothing. Just, nothing.

"Of course not..." Kaiir grumbled in a dragging tone of defeat and pressed on a little further inside. She found herself checking the small drawers near the stairs for a framer picture on top.

"Its still here." She felt some relief as she carefully lifted the photo up near her face.

It was a simple picture from two years ago. Kairi was depicted as shorter, cuter, and smiling while her big sister hung over her with arms wrapped in a hug and a much bigger smile on her face. Hovering behind them was their mother...

"Huh?" Kairi took a longer look at her currently faceless mother.

"Why is..." A shadow was cast over Kairi and she spun around with the picture clutched to her chest and bumped into the drawers.

Fortunately, it was just Jupiter.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"T-This is my home," Kairi said shaken, "What are YOU doing here?"

Jupiter slanted to the left and sighed, "I'm embarrassed to admit it but I forgot to ask you what your sister looked like."

She then swerved her head around with the curiosity of a kitten, "So this is your house huh? Nice."

Kairi pulled the photo out and turned it at Jupiter with a finger aimed at Shina. Eventually it caught the amazon's eye and she leaned in for a closer look.

"That's her?" Kairi replied with a nod, "She's really pretty and kind looking. I can see why you looked up to her."

Kairi took another look into the portal of yesteryear and her heart warmed, making her smile. Jupiter then remarked, "What's up with the woman above you two?"

Kairi flinched and placed the photo back where it belonged while answering, "That's supposed to be our mother?"

"Lady Auris? Doooooesn't she normally have a face?" Jupiter deduced, getting silence in response.

"Gotcha, ok!" Jupiter leaned a hand onto her hip and then asked, "One other thing. Is there anyone your sister reeeeally likes?"

"Besides me? Uhhh..." Kairi had a couple obvious candidates like her sister's old class friend Bobby and Alex Whiter...Something told her the latter wouldn't be recreated here though. But out of this cast of characters there was one Shina absolutely liked the most.

"Noel Vermillion," Kairi remarked, "Sis was always gushing about her and even got to meet her on her travels. She based her Gunslinger Drive fighting style after her too."

"Sounds like a start. What she look like?"

Kairi laid a hand on the side of her face and had trouble remembering, "Uhhh...blonde hair under a blue beret and an officer's uniform."

"That's more than enough thanks! I'll find one or the other and either tail them or let you know. You just keep doing what you've been doing!"

And once more Jupiter hustled off without Kairi getting a word in edgewise. It was comforting to know she had a strong pair of eyes on her side anyways.

Kairi took one quick tour of the house but saw nothing else indicating that Shina had been here. Disappointment hung like a storm cloud overhead as she left the house and ventured further into this "Sancturia".

She occasionally caught Jupiter perched atop the buildings to survey the city. She wasn't having much luck in this part of town so Kairi decided to push towards the center. And that was where the biggest changes started popping up.

First, the statue of Gravitus was gone. Of course. That's obvious. But it being replaced with a statue of Shina hugging a younger Kairi? Weird, but in a way that unfortunately made sense given everything else.

The second change, however, was the complete and utter removal of the Pyramid in exchange for a shrine depicting Shina...in a holy robe, with a dozen people kneeling in front of it in prayer.

"What...what's going on here?" Kairi froze before the grand shrine and stared at the flattering statues while the praying folk wandered off. She started trembling and bit her teeth down.

"C-Calm down Kairi its...its..." She clutched her fists and started talking in a haste, "Not what it looks like! There are...plenty of curvy, long-haired girls out there!"

Kairi forced her head up and with the way the statue looked down it was hard not to place Shina's silhouette over it...And it was a perfect fit. The curvature of her face, the simplicity and warmth of her smile. There was no one else they could belong to.

"Shina...Why?" She whispered as she fell to her knees.

"Kai...ri." It took her a moment to register the sound of her name and look up to the left, finding Jupiter atop a faraway house. She waved a hand at her and pointed the other down to the left.

"Kairi, hurry! I found them both!"

A jolt through Kairi's heart left her skin cold as she scurried on up over to Jupiter's location. She nearly tripped turning the corner the amazon pointed towards. A pair of blonde girls, one a near foot taller than the one in the beret, were rounding a store.

Kairi's heart raced and she hustled after them short on breath. By the time she rounded the store the two girls were heading around the block. But god...the tan pants, blue shirt, long curtain-like blond hair. She looked the same as when she had left.

Kairi started screaming her sister's name as she sprinted after her. The gap in speeds was great enough that Kairi was only thirty feet away when she rounded the corner. Panting, wheezing, hands on her knees and a long clear gap between them...Kairi thrust her head up and screamed, "SHINA!"

The two girls paused in place and the taller one started to turn. It had been two years since they'd seen or spoken to each other. Now, for the first time since Shina kissed her goodbye Kairi could look into her glistening green eyes and cast aside this illusion to believe that she was truly home.

Shina's face was frozen in a stiff look of surprise and a vacant gaze from her eyes. Kairi drowned out all other sound and years began to well in her eyes.

"I-It really is you...Shina..." Kairi's wobbling smile and raised arms anticipated her sister's embrace once more. Shina ran towards her and Kairi closed her eyes to sniffle.

But then, a breeze swung past her left and Shina had ran past her. Kairi's eyes swung open and her body went stiff, her mouth partially agape.

"How's my favorite little sis in the whole wide world?" Shins said lovingly to an unknown person.

Kairi slowly creaked her head back and her eyes widened all the way. Shina bent down and firmly wrapped her arms around a two-years younger reflection of Kairi.

The petite Kairi squirmed with a pleased smile as she murmured, "S-Shina...you don't have to hold me so tight..."

"Awww yes I do! Cause you're just so huggable!" Shina joyously declared.

Kairi turned around and weakly raised an arm up from her waist, "S-Shina I'm right..."

The fake Noel Vermillion strolled up to the sister's embrace and cried jealously, "Awww...I wish I had my own little sister."

Shina stood up and patted the petite Kairi on the head, "Isn't it great? They're the best!"

She then looked down at her and enthusiastically asked, "Sis, wanna hang out with us?"

"O-Of course!" The petite Kairi perked right up.

"Sweet! Lets go to the juice bar!" Shina pumped her fist in the air.

"A-Again?" Noel meekly remarked, "Haaa...you're the boss Shina."

The three turned and walked away. Kairi stretched her hand out and desperately pleaded, "Shina! I'm right here! Answer me! Shina! Shina!"

She disappeared into a growing crowd and Kairi squeezed her fist. She dropped to her knees and knuckles and tears fell to the ground.

"Hic...! Hic...!"

"How weak such a bond can be...When it can easily be replaced by a fake."

Kairi tensed up and turned her head. Standing in her shadow was the vile, duplicitous elven king, Aurian Pluto, having seen better days...Yet still looked as smug as ever.

He raised his brow in a condescending manner and murmured, "Look at those tears...I had no idea I wasted my breath on a baby."

Kairi bit down a scowl, slammed her Angel Drive, and rose so her staff would be drawn against the king's neck. He lurched his head back with disgust in his ferocious glare.

"YOU...!" Kairi growled, shoving the staff tip into his nape, "What did you do to my sister?!"

'If denial is how you choose to cope with reality then I have nothing to say," Pluto closed his eyes and whispered, "Except that I have nothing to do with this."

"Yeah right..." Jupiter suddenly came crashing down behind Pluto and cracked her knuckles, earning a mere aside glance from the Disgraced King, "This kinda stuff fits your M.O., dark elf."

"Hmph, I knew I smelled ogre sweat," Pluto said in a tactless tone, "Last I checked the dark filth capable of this deception flowed in your kin."

"Ck...!" Jupiter grit her teeth and buckled her fists down by her hips, "You certainly chose a fitting place to hide that massive ego of yours."

"This was hardly by choice..." Pluto stared unflinchingly towards Kairi, "After the fate you and that brute Overlord left me in I spent time regaining my strength so I could regroup with Gravitus. As it turned out I was just in time to save his life."

"And how was I rewarded? By him impaling his scythe into my flesh and draining my aura to recover."

Jupiter gave a dry shrug and murmured, "You had that coming. Gravitus had the closest eye on your the whole time you worked under him."

Pluto glared aside and grumbled, "I can see that now."

He held his head high and continued, "He broke off the rock we were on and hurtled me towards the Sun. I helplessly drifted through space for two days while my body healed in futility...Or so I believe. Be it a stroke of luck or divine intervention, the Sun was transformed into a mighty black hole and swallowed me whole."

"My Divine Drive kept me alive as the crushing, twisting pull of that laceration threatened to devour me whole. Endless days and nights of agony passed before I was spat out in an unfamiliar space, hurtling towards the cage we find ourselves trapped in."

Pluto glared at Kairi one more time and his voice carried the firm disposition of his former title, "And when I arrived this place looked exactly as you see it now, an illusionary paradise for a delusional girl."

"Tsk..." Jupiter roughly rubbed the back of her head and admitted, "You're a snake but you're not a liar."

Kairi's eyes wobbled and she clutched her staff tight, "Well I don't believe him."

"Hmph, stuck between two aggressive harpies, whatever shall I do...?" Pluto slowly raised his hands in surrender when suddenly, Jupiter flinched and pulled her fist back.

"Kairi, his swords!" It was a warning too late to matter. Pluto swiftly called his swords forth with magic and had one blade behind and before Kairi's neck. Jupiter's punch was halted an inch from the back of the king's skull.

Kairi's eyes froze wide-open and she was hesitant to breathe, a luxury Pluto then enjoyed to his fullest.

"A little surprise and you turn doe-eyed in an instant. What sort of farce is this?" Pluto squeezed his grip and shook Kairi with a meager turn of his blades, "I can see now how Gravitus survived. You lack the balls to take a life when it truly matters. Your...intimidation, for lack of a better term, was a disgrace befitting your bloodline."

"Power is handed out to you 'destined children' like candy these days. That isn't the will of the gods, but the seeds of chaos being sewn by the devil! Emotional, rash children running around with god-like power...What an easy way for him to gather souls."

"But mine is truly a divine blessing, and my continued existence spites the devil's handiwork. I will rise to providence and one day claim the throne as the reigning king of the universe. And there's nothing you can do about it, because you lack the drive to face REAL hardships, Neo Child."

Kairi's hand shook as she pushed her staff up and Pluto's eyes flared open, thrusting authoritative pressure deep into her soul.

"Get that disrespectful stick out of my sight." With his chilling bellow, Kairi lowered her weapon and Pluto sighed.

"Weak. Weak and pathetic." Pluto dispelled his swords and turned aside, averting his gaze from his assailants as he wandered off.

Jupiter scoffed and cracked her knuckles, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Anywhere I please," Pluto boasted, "Your only means of stopping me is too paralyzed to do anything but stare at the ground and brood."

"Ch...!" Jupiter clicked her tongue and waved her hand out as she exclaimed, "You talk tough but face it...You haven't figured anything out about this place."

Pluto stalled and leered back with a quiet scoff, "If you believe that then you better put that ogre brain to work and find us a way out."

He continued to walk and Jupiter merrily shooed him off with a warning, "Don't wander too far! Cat's got a nice cold cell waiting for you back home!"

When the elven king was gone Jupiter shook her head and murmured, "God he's an asshole."

Kairi dropped out of her Drive and mumbled "Bastard", to which Jupiter nudged her in the shoulder and said, "Ah he can cram it. He's just mad you got the Neo Drive while he was stuck eating space dust!"

Kairi's eyes wandered in the direction Shina went down and she hopelessly whispered aloud, "She didn't even notice me..."

"Your sister?" Jupiter got a weak nod in response, "Pfft, that ain't right. Hell, none of this is right!"

She turned and spread her arms out at the city, then promptly laid her hands on her hips. She looked aside and noticed Kairi trembling.

"A-And...she had a young version of me with her. Why? Shina..." Her voice was turning mute as a result of her retreating into herself for some form of comfort.

Jupiter loudly stamped a foot down and provided the jolt needed for Kairi to re-engage with reality. Kairi turned around and saw Jupiter crossing her arms full of confidence.

"Hey, that sounded like quitter talk to me!"

"N-No...of course not." Kairi hastily mumbled.

"Good! Cause we're getting to the bottom of this right now!"

"You...figured it out?" Kairi had reasonable cause to doubt.

"Mostly," Jupiter grit her teeth and punched a palm, "Don't know how or why but I know what or who is behind your sister's strange behavior."

"Think about it. We get in here but can't get out? The name 'Cosmic Cage' isn't for show...This place is a prison!"

A spark of inspiration and anger shone in Kairi's watered eyes and she murmured, "And this prisoner...is preying on Shina?"

"Could very well be."

"But the Cosmos Drive is here too..."

"Hmm..." Jupiter paused and closed her eyes to think, "Smells like a connection to me."

Jupiter sallied forth and waved Kairi to follow her, "C'mon, lets catch up with your sister!"

The two hurried through the streets of this fake city and wound up finding Shina and her two fakes hanging out in front of a juice bar. They stayed their distance from them. Kairi shook seeing the little copy of herself sharing a giggle and juice with Shina. Jupiter, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes in disgust.

"Ok, that's real messed up."

"What are we going to do about it?" Kairi turned and saw a bit of hesitation from Jupiter biting her lower lip.

"I'm definitely feeling bad vibes around your sister...Mrrr..." Jupiter took a deep breath and then glanced deep into Kairi's eyes, "Do you trust me?"

Kairi stared at her for a while and then back at her sister. She looked so happy but it was an unnatural sense of bliss. This world, these people, her smile...It was all one big lie perpetrated by a horrible figure in the shadows.

Kairi firmly glared at Jupiter and said, "I want my sister back."

"You got it!" Jupiter cricked her neck and wound up a punch by rolling her shoulder, "Unless I'm wrong in which case...she'll be paste."

Jupiter bolted straight ahead with a jetstream at her back. Kairi tensed up as Jupiter pulled her fist back and swung it out like a piston at Shina.

At the last possible second the azure ethereal projection of a short, feathery robed figure appeared and raised their arms. A wavy barrier caught the full force of the punch and a shockwave smashed through everything past the sides of it.

The breaking debris, flying people and even the atmosphere itself turned still and cold. Kairi saw her own breath as she ran closer, stopping behind Jupiter after she hopped back.

"Found you, you ugly..." After the barrier went down Jupiter raised her voice in bewilderment, "Huh?! You?!"

A few bestial clicks unfurled from the man's shroud as they harshly reprimanded his assailant, "You should have left well enough alone..."

"Shina!" Their declaration sparked Shina's attention, "It seems we have some intruders that are needing to be dealt with."

Shina narrowed her eyes with a fire lit inside and Kairi felt uneasy watching her stand with determination. She swung her arm out and said, "Stand back sis, this might get messy!"

She passed through the blue ghost and raised her right arm before her chest, revealing an azure bracelet full of sparkles above her original bracelet.

"...Uh-oh." Jupiter murmured.

"Show them true cosmic power," The ghost hovered behind and snarled in delight, "My goddess."

"You got it!" With an immense pep in her voice Shina tapped the new bracelet and slowly it began to dissolve into her skin.

Shina raised off the ground and spread her arms out. Her skin and clothes were peeled off like shreds of paper, replacing it with a body of azure space. Living, breathing stars and miniature galaxies drifted through her form. Bright light unfurled from her back, manifesting a pair of see-through wings made of ancient runes. And her hair now flowed like a golden nebula.

A calm air rippled out below Shina's feet as she remained hovering a foot off the ground. Kairi was frozen, Jupiter was trembling. The force of Shina opened her eyes pushed the two back and revealed compound eyes full of emeralds greens and sparking white.

"Now..." The ghost waved their hand out and chuckled in a vile tone, "Eliminate them both."

"S-Shina?" Kairi clutched a hand over her chest and pleaded with all her heart, "Its me Shina! Can't you recognize me?!"

"I recognize you..." Shina's voice echoed like the choir of a thousand angels but sounded cold and dismissive, "You're a deception planted her by Gravitus or Yukari. And I won't fall for them anymore!"

Next Time: Gathering Forces