|
Insidiae Chapter
2 : A thousand heartless. No. More than that… More than he had ever seen before in his life. "…Tell me." He said. His eyes darted across the mass of moving blackness. Searching. All of them marching mechanically past him, all eyes facing forward into a black abyss. A fierce wind was blowing and Sora had to scream above the wind to be heard. "Tell me, damn it!" he cried again. I wonder what I'm doing, he thought to himself. He felt something in his hand, but it wasn't a keyblade. It was heavier. And he knew it was a weapon. But he didn't look down to see. He wanted to, but he turned elsewhere. To his left where a figure was on a small piece of uplifted land across from the one he was standing on. He was in a dark place. A purple sky. Clouds poisoning the world with their rain. The grass beneath him sick and dying. And then there was the heartless. A whole army of heartless marching forward to an unknown destination. The man leading them. Laughing as they followed his every word. Completed his every whim. "I'm getting scared now," he said aloud, but not loud enough for anyone but himself to hear. The wind was still loud enough for his voice to be drowned out. "I know you are." Sora's heart skipped a beat. "I want to know who you are!" he cried at the stranger. The man only laughed. Sora's eyes opened with a start. He sighed- he was covered in a cold sweat so he rolled onto his side, desperate to keep himself from feeling sick. He shoved his face deeper into the pillow and prayed that he'd just fall back asleep again. A dreamless sleep. What had that just been? Nightmare, he told himself as he stared at the tanned ceiling above his head. It was more comforting to occupy one's mind with senseless chatter than to reflect on something unpleasant. His best way of coping was to forget about it and hope it would go away. A few years ago, he would have laughed it off and conquered his fears over his head's silly little musing in a flash. But it wasn't a few years ago. It was now. And he didn't like the feeling that he had grown weaker instead of stronger. It meant he would have to challenge himself again. And he was a coward now. "G'mornin, Sora," said Goofy, taking a bite of the apple he held in his gloved hand. Sora sat up in bed, but didn't speak. Talking in the morning took so much effort. His mouth was clamped shut with laziness and he didn't bother to use a lot of effort to keep himself up. He fell back against his pillow and shut his eyes again. The pillow almost seemed to invite him to sleep an hour more, letting him sink deeper into it. "Sora, time to get up. You know how bad it is to sleep in late. It messes up your internal clock, you know," Goofy said. The Inn's beds were top notch. They were the best beds he was able to sleep on for a long time and Sora sure wasn't in a hurry to jump out and start his morning routine. The four of them had been traveling aimlessly, staying at Inns all over the place. So the three of them pretty much had a good idea the range of quality the Inns provided to its customers. It was one of the only benefits to be traveling abroad. Knowledge of the world outside of their own. But one of the more unfortunate circumstances was that they weren't sure what to look for. Any remote clue to finding the two they had originally set out to rescue. Mickey and Riku. But they just ended up with a farewell letter, a dog and enough munny to last them a few more days. Days turned to weeks. Weeks to months. And months to years, they finally turned to citizens willing to pay for the extermination of 'creatures.' It didn't prove much of a challenge as it should have, though. The heartless were much weaker now that their source of power was gone. Sora sighed. He didn't want to leave the luxury of his bed just yet. Not unless there was something more important, anyway. In the mean time, he could just lay there and just let his mind fall comfortably back into sleep. Unfortunately, his mind insisted on being stubborn and his eyes kept wanting to open by themselves. This was the restless anxiousness of one who knows that there are things to be done. He groaned at the stubbornness of both Goofy and the workaholic that resided someone in his head. "What're you doing?" he mumbled into the pillow. There was a loud clatter and a chain of clinks and clanks that accompanied Goofy's cry of pain. Sora opened his left eye to see Goofy under a large pile of their belongings. "I'm packin' things for when we set out again," said Goofy slowly. Pluto stirred at the foot of his bed from the loud noise. Sora wiggled his toes and Pluto woke up. He groggily glared at Sora and moved off his feet, only to slump onto his chest. Sora sighed and Goofy laughed at the sight. Pluto sniffed in disapproval as Sora gently pushed him off the bed. "Sorry, Pluto. If you don't get off now, I don't think I'll have the reserve to get myself up later," he told Pluto. Pluto only circled the square blanket on the wooden floor a couple of times before settling down and falling back asleep. He wished enviously that life could be like Pluto's: A dog's life was a simple one. Eat, sleep and chase your own tail. Simple indeed. A lot simpler than his anyway. "So what's the agenda today, Goofy?" Sora asked, grabbing his pack and pulling out his toothbrush and some toothpaste. He headed into the bathroom to wash up. He nearly had to feel and grope his way to the bathroom, his eyes blurry from sleep. "Well, we're heading back to the ruins to get rid of another group. It's pretty small so we shouldn't have too much trouble," he called to Sora from the small table. "'Eerghugh Gonagh?" he asked, toothbrush in his mouth. "He went to go look at the shops back in town. Should be back soon. Wanted to see if there was anything we could use," he replied. And speak of the devil, the door opened to reveal Donald. He wore a distinct scowl on his face and the telltale plik-plak of him stomping into the room was a dead giveaway that he didn't find what he needed. "Nothing- absolutely nothing," muttered Donald as he trudged into the room. There was the sound of Sora spitting into the sink before he called, "What's up Donald?" "Went to the shops to see if there were any good weapons." "Whadja find?" "What I said before- nothing," said Donald. He walked over to the table and picked up an apple as well. He hadn't had breakfast that morning and he was famished. The sound of him biting into the crisp fruit floated over to Sora's ears and immediately his stomach grumbled. "Our weapons are better by far. The workmanship on the weapons we have are a hundred… no thousand times better than the junk they strapped together at the shop. I feel sorry for the dupe who is stupid enough to fall for such poor excuses for weapons." "Oh, well that sucks. We'll probably have better luck when we jump worlds. Say, what's for breakfast? We got anything besides fruit?" asked Sora. Goofy and Donald both uttered an ironic 'No.' "To think- we saved the universe a year ago. Now what are we doing? Scrounging for food and starving to death, that's what," he said to them. They gave an affirmative nod. "I think I'd rather starve to death and end it all rather than live off of the same things day, after day, after day." Sora noticed their lack of reply and strained his ears to listen to what they were doing. He detected just the slightest sound of whispering in the other room and he found himself obligated to hear their hushed chatter. No doubt he was probably the focus of their conversation. "Why don't you ask him already? It isn't really that hard. And anyway, you're the one who came up with the idea," Donald said to Goofy. Goofy was probably shaking his head no and waving his hands in front of him defensively. "I don't know- should we really?" asked Goofy. "I mean, it seems kind of… rude, doesn't it?" "It's not rude! It's just an honest question!" Donald replied. Goofy scratched his head and gulped. Sora raised an eyebrow before splashing his face with cold water to better wake himself up. This is gonna be good. He thought sarcastically to himself. "Hey- um… Sora?" called Goofy. Sora grunted in reply for him to continue, still running water across his face. "Me and Donald were thinkin- (ow!) –actually I was just thinkin…" "What is it?" asked Sora. He could wait all day. "You wanna leave?" asked Goofy simply. Sora blinked several times before tilting his head. "What made this come up?" asked Sora. He watched Goofy and Donald briefly glance at one another before replying. "Well, it's just that we've been here for a few months now and…" "Shouldn't we do the job over at the ruins first? We do need the pay, don't we?" Sora interrupted. For some reason, he found it a tad bit annoying of them to concern themselves about his well being. Was he really that helpless? Did they really expect him to fall to pieces that easily? No, it wasn't like that. It was just that sometimes, he just needed to … break down a little bit… that was all. "We do need the pay, but it's entirely up to you. You just seem to be down as of late and we were wondering whether you were feeling anxious to get out of here. Maybe you want to move on to the next world or something…" said Goofy. Sora shrugged indifferently and walked back into the washroom. "I don't know. If we really do need the pay, then I think it's probably best we stay a bit longer. Just until we get the job done at least… Takes more than that to get me down, guys. You don't need to worry about me- I'll be fine," he told them. "And I think I might want to stay in this place just a little bit longer. Maybe take some time to enjoy ourselves rather than jumping from world to world every two seconds. We might need this." The two didn't answer. Sora looked himself in the mirror, "Besides… This place reminds me of Destiny Islands." And I want to hold it close to me as long as I possibly can. A powerwild swiped at his feet, but he was able to dodge it by jumping back. The next moment, he was thrown forward when an air soldier slammed into him from behind. He hit the dirt and the wind was knocked out of him hard. He rolled to the side and leapt to his feet. Even if he didn't have weapons, he still could defend himself. He threw his legs forward and crashed into an incoming air soldier. The two collided and he smirked as the blow was deflected. He landed on his two feet, preparing for the next attack- wherever it would come from. But as he placed his feet on the ground, he felt himself falling backwards until he was in the exact state he started in: on his back. He cursed the banana peel he had slipped on as another air soldier made an attack. "Riku!" Mickey cried and he instantly felt rejuvenated as a curaga was casted over him. The King was quick to follow up second spell of blizzaga and the majority of the heartless vanished with the conclusion of his spell. Riku sighed in relief as Mickey took out the remaining enemies with single blows with of the keyblade. The two finished the battle panting and gasping for air. Riku's knees gave out from under him while Mickey was satisfied to lean on a tree nearby. "What's going on?" asked Riku after he caught his breath. His muscles were sore, and he didn't have the strength to even pretend that his chest didn't burn in protest. Mikey wasn't in as bad a shape as he was, but he definitely seemed like he was feeling the effects of battle. "I thought we were in…" Riku trailed off, unaccustomed to using his voice in such a long time. "We were," Mickey said, gripping the keyblade tightly. Riku coughed and gave him a questioning look. "One minute we're both floating in the darkness, and then the next thing I know, the both of us are in this damned forest trying to fight off the heartless. Just what's that supposed to mean to me?" Riku muttered to him. King Mickey sighed and put away his keyblade. Riku felt a pang of sorrow, being unable to weild the keyblade now that it was in the King's possession. But he brushed aside his jealousy, suddenly remembering that it was one of the more unfortunate reasons he had gotten himself in that whole mess in the first place. It was because of his heart. It never was as strong as Sora's, was it? I may have had the higher score, but you always seemed to have it where it mattered. "We weren't supposed to come back," Mickey said darkly. Riku raised an eyebrow, in sudden remembrance of the truth. They had spoken before they decided to close the door. He told Riku that once they closed the door behind them, they wouldn't be able to turn back. That it was something that they'd have to live with for an eternity- or however long the darkness chose to keep hold on their souls. Riku shuddered, "I know that. You don't have to remind me." "You don't understand, Riku. We weren't supposed to come back at all. We were supposed to die in there. The both of us had strong hearts, so we lingered in the darkness longer than we were supposed to. But eventually the darkness was supposed to destroy us." Riku looked away from his eyes. He couldn't stand talking about this kind of thing. He hated looking people in the eye. It felt almost like they could see through him- see everything about him. His darkest secrets. "Then why are we out here in the real world?" asked Riku. "I'm not sure. But I think we still have a purpose. There may be some higher powers at work, but my intuition tells me that we're still needed here. Someone's in trouble and we need to come to their aide. I can feel someone calling to us even now." Riku almost laughed had he not suddenly felt a faint tug on the strings of his heart. It was almost as if his body was itching to go somewhere- do something important- do anything from keeping still. The feeling passed from him a moment later and he relaxed, "What purpose could we possibly serve here. As depressing as this sounds, I'd understand you coming back. But me- I'm the reason for-." "I'm not surprised you think that way. This is not entirely your fault. Everything happens for a purpose. And I know what you're thinking- Don't think of this as a charity case. Think of it as a chance to redeem yourself to whatever chose to spare your life from the darkness," he replied. "A chance to right the wrongs you did to the others in the past. Your heart will know what to do." Riku chuckled to himself and found an interesting spot in the dirt to stare at. "Sorry, your majesty, but I don't think I'd be able to take that from someone who has as strong a heart as you do," he said ironically. Mickey stopped in his speech and turned to him, "If you had a weak heart, you would have been consumed long ago." And there was something in his voice that seriously forced Riku to raise his eyes and look straight into Mickey's. "Someone close to you needs your help. Don't lose their future in an attempt to grieve over your past. I know it's hard right now to accept the things that you've done, but please don't give up hope for yourself. It's never too late to mend the heart." He looked the King over a number of times. How could someone be so self assured? It was Mickey who turned away this time. Riku's eyes never left the King, "Where to, majesty?" "Please, call me Mickey," he told Riku. He didn't answer the previous question, but did start making his way forward along the dirt path beneath them. Riku reluctantly pulled himself up off the ground and quickened his pace to catch up with the mouse. "Hey, Maj… er… Mickey," Riku asked the King. Mickey gave a small, "Mm," in reply, urging him to ask his question. Riku scratched the back of his head and hesitated before saying, "Why were we so weak back there? The two of us were pretty strong… we should have been able to take them out easy. Even if I didn't have a keyblade to fight with…. I don't get it." The tip-tapping of their shoes on the path was suddenly louder than Mickey's voice as he said, "We were confined in the darkness for a long time. If anything, the heartless should have been able to take us out…. Riku, though the heart can heal and mend with time, the heart can also only take so much before it shatters." Riku was rendered speechless. Whatever higher power was at work, Riku didn't like it in the slightest. He'd rather feel as if he had control over his own destiny. Even if it meant siding with the darkness to keep from feeling helpless. "Mending the heart…" he said to himself, "…my heart." It sounded good to him. Even if he wasn't really worth the effort. I've got to, he told himself. It's the only thing I got left. Sora and the others didn't have very much luck at the ruins. Apparently, there wasn't anything to be found but a paranoid civilian willing to pay plenty of money to get rid of his delusions of the 'creatures that lurked in the night.' Only one or two heartless roamed about the broken buildings and those were already weak from wandering so long without a heart to sustain their ghostly forms. The civilian had been so insistent that they get rid of the heartless in the ruins. But the three were convinced that he was seeing things. There was simply nothing there but shadows that fell on the weathered stone when the moon rose at night. Real shadows? Yes. Heartless? No. But by the time the three of them had realized this, night had already fallen. They had no choice but to set up camp where they were. Sora didn't complain. He wasn't exactly in the mood to make his way all the way back to the town- even if they did have comfortable beds. He gazed deeply into the quiet flames, almost hypnotized by the dancing fingers of orange and red. Idle chatter between them had died down quite a while ago, and Sora was content to listen to the crickets chirping in the warm night. The skies were clear and the crystalline forms of the stars were bright and pure. And he was overflowing with the most potent feel of nostalgia. It left a small burning in his chest and an ache for the sight of Destiny islands where Kairi was hopefully waiting for him to return. The chain with the small crown-shaped pendant rested perfectly in his fingers. He could even feel its warmth through his glove. Wait… he said to himself. That burning in … my chest… isn't… he thought to himself. He widened his eyes as the burning sensation turned into pinpricks Sora…a foreign voice rasped within his mind. Sorraaa… He
felt his body tense. Was he hearing things? Without warning, the uncomfortably pinpricks became piercing knives against his heart. He clutched desperately at his chest, only able to writhe silently at his shirt as the painful wrenching in his heart continued. His lips muttered a cry for help but no sound left his mouth. Donald…! He cried in his head, unable to breathe in and summon the strength to wake his companions. Goofy… help me. He threw his arm out to the side, stretching for the small pile of equipment that lay just beyond his reach. If he couldn't call for help, then would he be able to make enough noise to call their attention? His fingers just barely brushed against it, but immediately the touch seemed to send him into another round of painful throbbing. He gasped for air, but it still wasn't enough to call out for help. I won't give in!! he cried desperately. I won't let you win! Then, as if hearing his refusal to submit, the pain rose from his body and disappeared into the night air. The exhausted Sora brought his knees up to his chest to ease the dull pain that was left behind to haunt him. His eyes focused only long enough to see the dying tips of the fire go out before his consciousness followed suit. He fell into a restless sleep. He knew he was dreaming when he rose from the earth and stood to face the same man from his earlier vision. The skies were purple again, but the army that marched forward before was gone. Nothing could be seen but the destruction left by their endless journey. "I know it's you…" Sora said defiantly. He brought forward his keyblade and jumped back into a low fighting position. He watched as the wind threatened to pull off the hood and reveal the identity of the stranger. "I know that you're trying to get to me. I'm not letting you do whatever you want. I'm going to stop you, whatever it is you want!" "Silence," whispered the stranger. The wind died down to follow his command. Both Sora's mind and body did as well and found that his only weapon was the keyblade and the undying courage that raged like a fire in his heart. A twig snapped beside him and he found the familiar presence of Ansem himself. He watched Sora with a mocking grin but it only made the courage grow even brighter under the scientist's gaze. Sora's eyes darted back and forth between the cloaked figure and Ansem, prepared to engage either enemy in battle, refusing to give in to either. He stepped back cautiously, suddenly aware of a cliff that materialized behind him. The cliff gave away under his foot and he nearly fell into the black abyss below. The clatter of the stones against the sides of the cliff echoed hollow in his ears. Ansem reached over to grab Sora, and he swung his keyblade defensively. Sora fell into complete shock as Ansem's strong fingers wrapped around the keyblade to halt his attack. He poured all his strength into pushing back Ansem, but his confidence wavered when Ansem easily took a step forward against his grip. "You already know who I am," Ansem said. And Sora felt his eyes pierce deep within his own- probing, searching and destroying. "But do you know who this man here is?" Ansem motioned to the cloaked stranger. The keyblade burned to the touch and Sora jerked his hands away from the weapon. "What the-," Sora cried as Ansem lifted the Keyblade and held it over the cliff in a challenging gesture. "Give it back," Sora said. He wasn't sure quite what he thought he could do about it, but he was practically on the verge of panic. Any moment now, he expected himself to tackle Ansem- anything to keep him from dropping the keyblade into the ravine. "Do you know who this man is?" Ansem insisted. Sora shook his head, terrified of the implications. Ansem opened his fingers and let the keyblade drop. Sora cried out in protest so Ansem quickly reached out once more and grabbed it before it fell. He held it over the cliff. "Do you know, Sora?" "Stop it!" cried Sora. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!" His hands raised to cover his ears against the infernal hum of their voices in his head. Sora felt his hood slip lower off his head, but he didn't reach to bring it up again. "Oh, sure you do!" Ansem said, "You know very much who this man is." "I-I don't!" Sora said again, but with less conviction as the prior reply. This time, he was attempting to deny more so than to declare. Stop it! My mind is my own! I will not admit defeat! "But what about your heart Sora? If you won't answer who he is, then will you answer this? Is your heart your own?" "Yes…" Sora whispered. Ansem laughed, but Sora didn't move to stop him as he once again let the keyblade fall from his hand. He watched numbly as the keyblade tumbled into the darkness. There was an emptiness within him that was growing with every tick of some imaginary clock that hung above their heads. The hand of the clock clattered noisily. "Who is he!?!" Ansem growled at Sora in a mangled shout. Sora faced the hooded figure and reached to pull off his own hood. The shadow followed his movements almost like a mirror. As Sora had expected, he faced a copy of himself. But he wasn't afraid any longer. Now it was just… empty. His courage was dying like the last desperate embers of what the raging fire used to be. Sora shook his head, still unable to turn away from the mirrored image of himself, "I don't want to know." "As long as he remains, I will always lay dormant in the depths of the darkness. I will never die. I will only return with renewed retribution," Ansem said to Sora. Sora felt something tugging at his arms and feet. He reached over numbly with his left hand over to his right. A string was pulling at his right hand. What is that? What's it… where's the string going? A string was pulling at his left. It's going up. Being held up. Another two his legs. Me? I'm being… The strings remained loose, but he could feel the knowledge of being a marionette burning deep into the back of his own mind. Another string looped around his neck tightened. He didn't struggle. He only let the ground beneath him inch away from his feet. The more it inched away, the tighter the loop became. A spotlight clicked on from above and darkness fell like a curtain over his other surroundings. Now it was only him, the spotlight and the unknown puppet master pulling gently at his strings. The puppet master spoke in a reassuring tone. "In the time of peace you have forgotten me. I've been sealed away, but it's all right. I haven't forgotten you. Wait for me, Sora. I finally understand- I'll bring you back. I'll take you down into the darkness where you belong." Sora woke from the dream. His hands quickly reached for his neck in an attempt to pull off the noose that he thought would linger in wakefulness. His hands found nothing, and he took this time to breathe as deeply as he possibly could. I wont let you take me. He thought to himself. "Ansem…Not without a fight."
Many thanks to Lost, Sugar Bliss, keyblade-master, sailor taurus and calcite for their support. Much appreciated and very much grateful. |
Insidiae
By: TeddysFromHeyll
Sora & company encounter a new threat from the distant past. But then, they find out that Sora's losing more than just hope - He's losing his heart and sinking deeper into the darkness. Can they bring him back before they lose him completely? [KairixSora]
Rated: Fiction T - English - Adventure/Romance - Chapters: 4 - Words: 23,352 - Reviews: 29 - Favs: 14 - Follows: 5 - Updated: Jan 12, 2003 - Published: Dec 7, 2002 - id: 1109119
+ -
Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten
|
||||||