Chapter 6 guys! Wahoo! Any way I've been having trouble with certain character dialogues, such as Merlin's stuttering! I know this is a stupid thing to have a problem with, but when it comes to your average Disney character… It's a little hard sin
V ~ Lost Fragments
Hollow Bastion…
Everyone gathered around Akari as Sora carefully places her down on Merlin's bed, his eyes glued onto her as he stared at her closed eyes. After removing the black cloak, Sora could see she had changed since the last time he saw her. Physically at least. She still wore the same outfit on her since the beginning of their journey; her white t-shirt, non-sleeved gray jacket, short black skirt with gray tights underneath, big black shoes, and had the very same necklace he gave her. Her hair was no longer at shoulder level, it has grown much longer all the way to her hips and her face was much paler than he remembered.
Either it was because Akari no longer had a heart or hasn't seen the light in day for god knows how long, he didn't care. All that matted was that she was here- unharmed and was still herself. "Well I checked her… she's not one of those nobodies you're after," Cid confirms after finishing his work on the giant computer. Yuffie looks down at her friend and asks, "So what's the problem...? If she's not a nobody, how come she's here?" "When one loses their heart the body left behind becomes an empty shell," Leon recites. "Akari lost her heart at the cost of saving Sora and the others from her heartless."
"Ya know… maybe she's like Kairi!" Goofy points out much to everyone's surprise. Donald eyes his friend in confusion, "Whadya mean like Kairi?" "Well while her heart was inside Sora, she never became a nobody. She was simply asleep!" Donald smacks the back of Goofy's head and whispers into his ear, "Don't you remember…!? Akari's heart was destroyed by Ansem…! Even if it's true… she can't wake up anymore without it…!" "Sora?" Aerith steps closer to the boy, concerned at his odd silence. He sniffs and wipes his face with his arm, facing the group with a big smile on his face as he said, "C'mon guys! Don't act so glum about this! What matters is that Akari's safe and sound!"
They all could tell he was hurting. No matter how much he tried to hide it, there was small crack in his voice and they could see the small amount of sadness through his smile. "Now I wouldn't worry about that!" All eyes went on Merlin as he pushes everyone aside and goes up to Akari. He leans down to take a good look at her, placing a hand on the spot where her heart should me- much to Sora's annoyance, and closes his eyes to concentrate. After a few short moments, he looks at the rest with a delighted look in his eyes. "She'll be just fine! She's simply asleep!" "What!?" everyone screams.
They began to cheer (Aerith and Yuffie at least) at the good news. The girls began to tearfully hug each other, Leon leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and smirks as Donald and Goofy grab Sora and shake him happily as he stood there dumbstruck, finally letting out a true smile. Cid jaw drops saying, "No way! The computer didn't pick up anything!" Merlin huffs and waves his wand around, "Forget those confounded stupid machines! Magic takes much less effort and time compared to that contraption. Maybe you should learn a thing or two about things magical rather than keeping your head stuck in a screen and fill your head with useless numbers!"
They laugh at this as Cid turns around in his chair at grumbles angrily to himself, embarrassed that an old wizard could do better than him. For now at least. Twirling his wands around, he brings out his hand and creates a glass orb. He shows it to everyone as he tells them, "At the moment her heart is in fragments, these pieces of light were meant to mend itself together until Akari sacrificed herself for the sake of saving all of us from impending darkness. Though incomplete, she scattered her heart so no one could use them again against her own will. Right now she somehow regained two fragments that are floating around inside her. The rest I don't know where they are and what's happened to them.."
Skeptical, Goofy asks, "And ya learnt all that just by touching her?" (me: pervs… -_- Yeah I'm looking at you.) His pride suddenly shatters as he coughed really loudly, confessing to them, "Actually… Yen Sid instructed me to tell you this beforehand…" Donald snickers and says out loud, "I knew it was too good to be true for a crazy old wizard to know all this…" In a puff of smoke, a pan filled with hot water appears over Donald's head and spills over him. "WAAAAHH!" the duck screams as he runs around the room with a head hot face. Goofy and Sora burst out laughing at this. Instead of helping their friend, they watched in amusement as Donald brings up his magic staff to his head.
"Freeze!" And in that instant, Donald falls down backwards as his now ice covered body hits the ground. Merlin places his hand on Sora's shoulder and bends down to his level. "Now listen my boy…! Hollow Bastion is not a safe place for Akari… she is weak and the longer she stays here the more heartless will come after her… find one more fragment and go! Two will not suffice if you want her to reawaken…" he instructs. Sora's eyes widen for a second then shifts to a much more serious gaze, clearly understanding what he must do. "We'll help you out kid," Cid spoke up. "This so-called 'stupid' machine can check if any of those heart are anywhere nearby. Besides, you helped us get our home back so we'll help ya get your girl back up on her feet."
Sora blushes as Donald and Goofy snicker at his reaction. "She's not my girl!"
Where the worlds meet…
All the member appeared in their perspective seats- only Xemnas was the only one not present. "The girl was returned back to protector?" Saix questions Xigbar. He shrugs in response, "Piece of cake! He took the bait just like we expected him to! It wasn't easy to keep her still, but it all worked out in the end. Now we just have wait again, right?" Laxeus tosses his dice in the air then catches them. "All game pieces are accounted for. It is up to Sora now on what his next move is from here." "And of Axel?" Xemnas spoke up. "Uh about that... he sort of ditched me after we got back." Xigbar sank in his seat when Xemnas glares down at him.
"
Hollow Bastion…
As the trio walk out of the house, Goofy brings up the question to Sora, "So what are ya gonna do once she wakes up?" He crosses his arms and stops in place. "Never actually thought about it yet…" Donald nudges Sora playfully, teasing him, "Maybe you should wake your princess up with a kiss!"
"C'mon guys quit it! It's not funny anymore!"
"You can't hide it forever Sora! We've known since the first moment we saw you two! You were stayed close to her like glue when you found out what she was."
"Sora~! Your face is red!"
"Not you too Goofy!"
They both loved teasing Sora- he always gets flustered whenever Akari is mentioned around him. "C'mon guys quit it!" They both laughed at Sora as he marches on ahead of them, his cheeks flaming red from the large amount of embarrassment. "Sora...!" All three of them come to a complete at the familiar voice. "Do you think that..." Goofy starts. Donald wildly shakes his head and pushes the idea, "No way! She's back at Merlin's!" As if on cue, a figure appears right at the entrance tunnel heading towards the Borough.
It first took the shape of a heartless then morphs into how Akari used to look a year ago. Sora and the rest bring out their weapons as she slowly turns to look at the three, a small sad smile forming on her lips when she made direct eye contact with Sora. Caught off guard at this, Sora slowly lowers his weapon only for multiple heartless to appear around them. "Don't get in my way!" Sora cries out. It took them a while to defeat the heartless, especially with Donald getting knocked out every now and then only to be revived again from either Goofy or Sora. By the time they finished 'Akari' was already gone from sight.
"C'mon! We have to follow it!" Sora yells and starts runs after 'her'. Donald stomps his foot and taps in on the ground, upset at Sora running off again as Goofy simply chuckles and goes after him. Donald groans, "Why can't there be a day of Sora NOT running around when Akari is mentioned...? It's like looking after a kid all over again!" Though at least it was just Sora. A shiver runs down his spine at the memories of the torment he went through with three certain nephews. Sure there were fun times, but there were moments that he was surprised he's been able to handle for so long.
Borough...
A few people began to run past him as he runs up the steps, all of the stores were being closed by the shop owners, the single moogle flew right into the freezer as Scrooge nervously steps inside and partially shuts the large metal door. Sora comes to a stop when he see's the blue haired girl down below from where he stood- her back turned as he jumps down to where she was. Goofy stops and points down to the two as Donald catches up. They both nod and step back a bit, but just as they were about to charge after Sora a barrier formed in front of them the moment they began to sprint forward. Donald and Goofy slam hard against the invisible barrier.
"Sora!" they both call out. He doesn't react. All of their loud cries were muted out so he was unable to hear them. But even though he was worried as to why his friends haven't showed up, he didn't even have the chance to make a single move as a sudden long cloth swung straight at him on his right. He blocks it and ends up sliding on his feet. Sora slowly looks up as he continues to hold off cloth only to gap in horror at the heartless. The body was human, it have Akari's long blue hair, but wore an extremely long white dress that hid what's underneath. The skin of the heartless was white as well, blending into the color of the dress itself.
(Me: I just realized how terrifying it looks when I pictured it in my head... O_O It's like a freakin no-faced ghost!)
Pure white wing began to sprout out of its back as it began to lower itself to the ground, the long cloth retracting back. Slowly, a strange heart emblem appeared on it's chest. It was sky blue and have no 'x' mark on it, instead, it had the shape of what looks like... a star? "What the..." Sora squints his eyes as he tries to get a better look at it. Much to his surprise, it gets into the same battle stance as Akari and summons wooden sword. Tilting his head to the side, he stares hard at the weapon of choice. Then he remembers once he sees a certain carved mark at the tips of the wooden blade. 'That's Akari's sword... from back on the island...'
The heartless runs towards Sora and slashes at him, but not before he blocks it. He shoves the heartless back, causing it to stumble a bit and regain it's footing. It goes back into it's stance, raising a hand and eggs him to come at it instead. He immediately recognizes this gesture on the spot,
Akari slides back and stumbles a bit on her feet. She wipes her mouth as she playfully glares at Sora, who was waiting for her next move. Silently, she raises a hand up as she readies her wooden sword on the other hand, mockingly gesturing him to come at her.
Sora charges at it as the heartless does so as well, both blades clashing and this kept up many times. It was surprising how a wooden sword could go against a metal keyblade if one were to watch, but every time sword came in contact with Sora, he could feel it was ten times harder than wood. He should know. Riku was always the one to kick his butt back when they were kids! But that slightly changed when Akari first arrived. He steps back as it attempts to side sweep him off his feet with the cloth extending to where he stood. Sora jumps up a bit only for the heartless to appear behind his back.
At the last second, he used fire (A/N: Again I do not remember what's the first thing Sora has after he wakes up... -_-|||) to protect himself from another hit from the heartless. In that instant all he could remember is being blinded by a bright light and the loud sound of shattering glass. Sora lands on his feet as the heartless falls on the ground- hard. The barrier that held Donald and Goofy, who helplessly watched the fight from above, back away in shock but immediately run down the steps. Sora looks around in shock to see the shop owners from before casually doing their business, like as it the fight never happened.
Donald and Goofy rush to their friends' side. "You alright Sora? You look a little tired..." "Huh? Oh I guess fighting that heartless did take a lot out of me," Sora laughs nervously as he puts his hands behind his head. Truthfully, he was worn out. He never felt this worn out in a long time since he first went against Tidas, Wakka, and Selfie the first time he had the nerve to go up against them. The heartless began to shift from the ground, prompting the trio to bring their weapons up. It stood up. They expected for it to try and have a final fight with them but it just... stood there.
The blank space on where the face should be cracks, shocking the two. The white on the heartless began to crack and, slowly, the pieces began to rise up in the air. The bottom of the dress broke off. Soon, all three of them stare with wide eyes as the heartless takes the exact form of a young Akari. She opens her eyes and smiles happily at the two. Her entire body transforms into light, taking the shape of the wooden sword and shot up into the sky in a beam of light.
Merlin's House…
*Static* "Hehehe... ****~" I gaze down at our hands and giggle as he follows my gaze, turning red in the face and instantly lets go. "S-Sorry Akari! I didn't know I-" I put a finger on his lips to stop him. "It's fine **** it kinda is my fault for sleeping here..." He scratches his head then points out, "Wait, what exactly were you doing sleeping beside me?" Now it was my turn to blush. "I was..." I nervously turn my head away. At the back of my mind I thought, 'It's because of how peceful you look I couldn't help myself...'
*Static* I chased after the two boys with K**** as both S*** and R*** race each other to start finishing our raft.
*Static* Twirling my wooden sword around, I grin in triumph as I watch ***u get up from the ground. "You've improved," he comments with the same amount of amusement as me. I shrug at this, saying, "I've had my share of practice! You're just getting soft with that ego filling up that big head of yours!" I got back into my fighting stance. "C'mon R**u! Once more!"
*Static* "Hey S***? Do you remember when we first met?" I ask the boy as we sat together on the lying paopu tree, watching the sunset in wonder. He chuckles, "How can I forget? I was the one who gave you your name in the first place!"
*Static* I fell back as a sudden strong wind picks up, forcefully pushing me away with each step I took. I saw **r* runs on top of the bridge right across from where I stood. I move to chase after him but something from behind my back grabbed my ankle, preventing me from moving. Scared, I nervously look down to see a dark swirling circle below where I stood with a black hand holding my ankle. I was about to kick it until I felt myself being pulled down, sinking deeper into the darkness. "No! Let me go! I need to find my friends!" The last thing I remember was being engulfed by complete darkness.
Slowly, I felt the heaviness on my eyelids disappear as I began to regain consciousness. I blink bit by bit as I slowly shift my head to look around and take in the all of my surroundings. "Where... am I?" I mutter as I moved to get out of bed. I tried to stand when I moved my legs off the bed, but my body felt so heavy for some odd reason and I found myself collapsing onto my knees. I tried against, and this time, I was able to carefully balance myself on my two feet. "Where exactly am I? Where's home?" Then I stopped myself. Where exactly is home?
I thought hard on this, 'Maybe it's that island I saw... with my friends... wait, who are my friends?' When reached the wooden door, I cautiously stuck my head out then made a few steps out the door. "Wow...!" Wherever I was, this was one of the coolest places I've ever been in. I think. I was only 3 feet from the door when suddenly, out of no where, a strange black ant-like creature appears in front of me. "She's... alive..." a creepy voice rang. I back away in fear as it began to crawl closer to me. "She's... alive... she's... ALIVE!" I immediately dodged to the side when it suddenly jumps straight at me.
Falling on my side, I saw more creature appear and began to surround me. I saw an orb like object move around and got rid of a few of the creatures but more seemed to arrive as a result. "Stay away..." a fuzzy image of the creatures appear in my head. "Stay back..." Another image flashed in my mind of them dragging me down into a pool of darkness. "Stay back... STAY AWAY FROM ME!" I shut my eyes in fear as all of the creatures jump at me all at once. But they never came. I open one eye then both to see all of them have disappeared, a cloud of darkness left behind. Then I fell something hard in my left hand.
I look down to see... a key shaped sword? I lift it up to take a better look at the weapon. "Where did you come from?" I didn't even get the chance to look at it more closely as more began to appear around the corner. "I have to get out of here!" In spite of seeing more creatures coming after me, there was something about this weapon that felt so nostalgic and reassuring about it. Spotting a way up on my right to an unknown tunnel, I didn't even once think twice about leaving the house. It may seem safe but I have no idea how I got in there in the first place nor do I want to find out.
As I jumped up the first large step then unconsciously slash at the heartless that jumped at me on my left. It was weird how my body automatically acted up like that, but seeing more of those creatures swarm below where I was, I continued my ascent up to higher ground.
The moment the three came back to Merlin's, Yuffie pulls the door open and ends running into Sora. "Sorry I'm in a hurry- Sora! Oh thank god you're here! You have to help us!" Yuffi grabs Sora's hand and starts to drag him away from the house. "What's going on?" he asks her. She looks over at him with a panicked look in her eyes and answers, "Akari's missing!" "WHAT!?" all three of them screamed. Sora let's go of Yuffie's hand and bolts right past her. "Sora wait! We have to stick together or... And he's gone," Yuffie slumps her shoulders as they watch Sora disappear around a corner.
"What happened Yuffie? Weren't ya guys supposed to watch her?" Goofy spoke up. She scratches the back of her head and sighs, "A bunch of heartless appeared so we had no but drive them away. But by the time we got back, Akari was already gone..."
Tunnels...
(A/N: Forgot the name of this area, but I can just say it leads towards the Borough. XD)
By the time I came to a stop to catch my breath, I found myself in the large room which is probably somewhere in the center of the tunnel maze. I hug myself as I stepped into the center of the room, muttering, "What were those things? I've never seen any thing like that before... I think? Where exactly am I..? And... who am I?" I barely remember anything now that I think about it. My name, where I live, where I am, how I got here- it's all blank to me... I hold the weapon up and brought it close to my face to take a better look at it. "I wonder what this is... Whatever it is, it sure saved my neck back there!"
A sudden shiver runs down my spine. I turn around in time to see a hooded man step out of strange dark portal, which disappears the moment the man comes to a stop. I put a hand over my chest when I felt an odd throb beating against my chest the closer the man got. Then I remembered the weapon in my hand. I held it up and warned the man, "Stop right there!? Whoever you are- stay away from me!" He stops, much my relief. "Do you remember who I am?" a deep voice spoke up. I hate to say this, but he sounded oddly familiar, in a bad way.
"Who would remember a creeper like you!? I sure wouldn't!"
"I see that straightforward attitude of yours is still there..."
"What's that supposed to mean!? You don't know me! And I sure as heck don't know you!"
He chuckles at my reaction, "You will know in due time. For now, you need to focus on regaining the pieces of your broken memories." "My... memories..?" I put a hand on my head, another throbbing struck as fuzzy images of an island appear in my mind and then four children holding hands on the beach shoreline. I drop my weapon, falling on my knee's as a sudden sharp pain struck me in both my chest and my head. The man walks up to me, bends down to my level and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Don't try to remember so hard... the more you try the more your remaining fragments will split and fall apart," he tells me.
"AKARI!" My eyes shot open when I heard that name. It sounds so oddly familiar, both the name and voice. The hooded man jumps back as a boy appears in front of me, slashing the same kind of weapon I have. "Organization XIII! Stay away from her! I'm not letting you take her back!" The hooded man slowly starts to walk backwards, the same dark portal from earlier appears, and steps inside as it begins to close shut. Left alone, the pain slowly begins to subside when the boy lowers his guard and turns to face me. He goes down on one knee and stares straight into my eyes, reaches his hand up to slowly stroke my cheek.
"You're awake... you're finally awake!" My eyes went wide when the boy pulls me into a tight hug. "You don't know how much I've missed you Akari! I promise from now on I'll never let anything like that happen to you again!" I push my hands on his chest to push him away. I nervously glance up at him, my voice shaking as I asked him, "I...I know I should be thanking you but... Wh-Who are you exactly?"
~After Story~
"Alena! Where are you!?" one of the guards called out as the ran around the garden area in search of the girl. Two figures hid in the bushes, one giggling as the other hushes the girl while the guards continue to call out and search to almost every part of the garden area they thought they would be hiding. Their current spot was new so it would be impossible for both of them to be caught. Once the guards gave up, the boy sticks his head out of the bushes and signals the girl beside him it was all clear. "Are you sure it's okay to hide Abednego? Master will be mad at us for skipping out on training..." the girl, known as Alena, asks the boy worriedly as she glances in the direction where the guards ran off to.
Abednego grins at her, "Don't worry! Besides, today's your special day remember?" He digs in his pocket then lifts his hand up to reveal a pink crystal. "Happy birthday Alena!" A small smile forms on her lips as she happily takes the pendant in her hands, cupping them together and brings it close to her chest. She teases him, "I never knew you were the romantic type." Abednego blushes, puts his hands behind his head and looks away from the girl to his his embarrassment. "Of course I can! Besides," he grabs her hand and stares straight into her eyes, "I've been wanting to say something to you for a while now..."
"Abednego..."
"I know it's forbidden, and it's the reason why your past lives fell... but I really want to tell you! You don't have to accept my feelings, just hear me out."
He gulps as the pinkette intently watches his every move. Abednego goes down on one knee and holds her hand. "Alena... when I first met you, I was sworn to protect you with my life. As your protector, I was given the oath of never stepping over the boundary between the two of us. I was chosen to protect you, a weak pampered little doll who has no fighting skills at all." She bites his hand in retaliation. He ignores this and continues, "But when my life was on the line you, even though it was forbidden, protected me and faced the consequences. I realized you aren't a doll, you are a living person whose destiny wasn't your choice."
Her eyes sparkled as he stands back up on his feet, excitedly awaiting for what else he had in store. He pulls her into a tight hug, her face colliding hard against his metal chest plate. Alena doesn't say anything and continues to listen. "That is why I swear on my very existence, I shall always be with you. No matter what happens, even if we both are reborn as different people- I will find you and continue to protect you till the very end."
Sorry is this is a little late, but I've been freaking out ever since I saw heard the announcement and saw the trailer for KH II.8! My mind is like blown right now! But sadly I can see III is coming out in 2017... I want to play it but next year I'll be starting my duties in my second year nursing... T^T So anyway, I've been trying to improve in fighting scenes since I have been making THREE fanfics in total that has a crap ton of fighting in it. Thank you guys for the support! Pls R&R and I'll see you on the next chapter!