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Insidiae 3rd
Note: I hate.... formatting.... =.= please excuse the messed up
formatting in this one. It has decided to make my day hell. Chapter 3 Vows Elsewhere, in the vast reaches of existence, there was another planet where the forces of darkness were manifesting. Civilizations continued without the smallest inkling of what was to happen. Of those, two young men unfortunately found themselves in a fatal confrontation with that darkness. One of those nameless young men was standing in front of an old Church ruin. The younger raised his camera to take the next picture he had wanted, but he paused to hear an answer to a question he had asked his older friend earlier. Pete hesitated answering the question. "What is it now?" asked Pete, feeling just a bit on edge do to the sudden aura that had settled around the deserted building. The photographer paused and gulped before he was able to continue, "Don't they say that this place is cursed- haunted or something like that? Heard a bunch of kids singing that stupid old ghost rhyme the other day. It's really starting to freak me out-" Pete laughed and waved off his paranoia. He internally held his breath, though, seeing there was an electricity in the air that hadn't been there when they arrived. In fact, it even felt as if someone was watching them. "Don't worry about it. You know how kids are. They'll say anything and everything just to get some attention… but let's just get out of here as soon as possible." Pete wasn't the kind of person to jump up and cry for help at every turn of his imagination, but the anxious tapping of his foot was a dead giveaway that he was afraid. "Pete." Said the photographer. Pete ignored his friend's whining voice. As long as he was going to dawdle about the ruins, the least he could do was leave him to his thoughts. It was bad enough his older brother had forced him to baby-sit the guy. Eventually, though his good nature won out and he answered. "What is it, kid?" asked Pete. Pete received no reply and he turned around to find nothing but the ruin itself. He was alone. "Hey kid…. Kid…?" he asked. Where the hell he go now? Pete thought to himself. He reluctantly got to his feet and trekked around one of the stone pillars that supported the pile of old stones together. "Kiiid!" he called, hollering much louder than he felt he had to. His cries echoed across the meadow surrounding the church and Pete had to come to a halt to suppress the chill that shot down his spine. With a grunt he stomped around the corner in front of him. Hell if I'll let a little wind scare me, he thought, "I swear to God, kid- you're more trouble than you're worth! I told my brother I'd watch you and that's just what I'm gonna do. I don't need you wandering off like some bleepin' two-year old! Jesus-!" He found his legs come to a stop on their own. He watched as the camera dropped from his friend's limp hands. The horrible scene unfolding right in front of him stifled any words he may have wanted to say. He could only feel his knees buckle underneath him. He nearly tripped over his own feet, but managed to keep his balance by some miracle. "T-Th…!!" he uttered despite not being able to find his voice. A woman called Quise was on the roof watching in amusement as a dark black figure wrenched his hand deep into his friend's chest. It pulled back out to reveal a crystalline heart of blue before he dropped the body of the photographer to the ground. "Would you look it here, Janus, dear. More for our friends to play with," said the woman, motioning to Pete. A tall and officious figure rose up behind her and the two of them focused their gazes on Pete. Pete turned and ran, scrambling away as fast as his legs could take him. I'm sorry, kid, but in my book, I come first! He thought when the image of his brother's friend came to mind. It was his last conscious thought before another creature came around and tackled him from behind. He became limp as the creature plunged its fist into the body and pulled out the essence of the victim's heart. Quise laughed again and folded her wings shortly after lofting to the ground. The heartless paused in their takings and stood in awe of her presence. "Quise, you are such a tease," the figure said. "Look. Even those slow-witted shadows are amazed by your cruelty. " He motioned to the black figures standing in wait. "What are they waiting for- Why are they lookin' at us like that?" asked the younger, reddish figure that bounced into view. "They're looking for someone to lead them," said Janus. "In the wake of their master's disappearance, they have wandered astray. But they seek leadership from those who may best drive on the force of destruction." "Eh…" the smaller one said, confused. Janus found himself growing impatient at the girl's dense nature. Every other sentence was probably going to be used to explain even the simplest of principles. Wasting his time with the girl was not something he found pleasant. "They want someone to tell them what to do…" Janus muttered to the girl. The girl nodded in reply and resumed in her play around her other four companions. "This is going to be interesting. Our auras reflect that of darkness- does that mean that they will respond collectively to our demand?" hissed the tall, lanky one. Janus nodded, "The heartless, though they seem separate and divided, work together as a group to achieve a common goal. It's hard to believe their souls are that of darkness. Such qualities you often find in the forces of light," He motioned for the shadow to approach him. The shadow didn't hesitate to march to his feet and wait for a command to be issued. Janus abruptly brought his hand down on it and it wailed hauntingly. But it didn't strike back, "Without Ansem, they're helpless. Mindless idiots… however… they retain memories of the past… and thus still remember our auras." "Good. It's as we suspected. As for our other business, the trinity is inside of the Church. Once all relics are found, we are to return here," said the final voice. It was low and threatening, "Now it is time that we sought out the Black-Winged Relics. Once we find the relics, we'll be able to return our master to his former glory." The six oddly clad figures retreated inside the Church to assemble their dark forces. Riku's stomach growled abruptly and Mickey couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's disposition. Riku muttered some words under his breath to curse his fortune, but was careful not to make a fool of himself in front of the King. The guy's royalty for crying out loud. What better way to make a good impression than to subject him to my bodily functions… he thought grimly. "I take it you're hungry," Mickey said with a smile. Riku waved his hands in front of him to refuse what he knew was an offer to buy his next meal. Unfortunately his stomach disagreed once more in a low-pitched rumbling. Riku sighed, obviously giving up the attempt to not embarrass himself. It seemed that finding something to eat had once again become one of his top priorities. He wanted food. His stomach was burning uncomfortably with hunger, but the only thing that he could comprehend besides that was the sickening smell of dust all over his clothes. It didn't do much for his condition, especially when they had been marching for a day and a half without anything decent to eat or drink. He wasn't sure whether he'd be able to last the day at all. "Actually, I think I am hungry now that you mention it," he said. Mickey pointed down the path where the gates of a nearby town came into view. It was such a refreshing sight. "Will we be able to get anything, though?" "I'm pretty sure we can go get something to eat in town. But you're right- we don't have any money right now, so it looks like we're going to have to work a little while before we get anything in return," said Mickey. Riku scratched the back of his head and shrugged. His thoughts wandered once more and surprisingly found them on the subject of Kingdom hearts. The darkness they had escaped... Not even they were sure how it happened. The only thing he remembered was Sora closing the door behind them, and then for the longest time, they found themselves within the darkness itself. As Mickey had said to him earlier, they were supposed to die there. But he also remembered a soothing blue figure appearing beside him in the darkness and grabbing his hand, leading him to some kind of light. Then, he woke up to find Mickey and himself in a foreign world: outside of Kingdom hearts. Something had rescued them. Pulled them out of there, and it was done for a reason. Whoever had saved them had wanted them there so that they could serve a purpose… But what could it possibly be? "Eh, whatever. A little work won't kill me so it sounds good, I guess," he said trying to get his mind off the grim subject, "Not the best situation I've ever been in, but I guess I can deal with it. Beats searching through the brush n' the trees for grub, that's for sure." He breathed in the gratifying smell of toasted bread that was lofting on the wind. A bakery no doubt was nearby… But Riku paused. The aspect of food quickly left his mind. His heart skipped a beat. Something didn't feel right to him. The atmosphere didn't seem normal. There was a thickness to it that he had only felt when… He narrowed his eyes. "The heartless," Riku hissed. Mickey turned to him, a shocked look overcoming his usually composed nature. The two broke into a run towards the town ahead of them, noticing the black smoke that had just begun to billow into the skies above. A sense of controlled panic entered the two and they darted in opposite directions, not having to speak to each other to understand what they needed to do. While Mickey ran off into a house in flames, Riku rushed immediately into a building to his right- the weapons shop. The clerk was laying face down on the counter and Riku cringed to see his lifeless and cold body. He hopped over him and pulled one of the lighter, but more wicked swords off the rack. He leapt back over the counter and rushed back outside to face the heartless that had flooded the streets during his weapons run. Riku brought forward his sword, hoping that he'd be able to do at least a minute amount of damage to the heartless. He nearly sighed in relief after a small shadow fell under his blade. They're not invincible at least… Mickey stumbled out of the burning building, coughing from the smoke. "Find anyone in there?" Riku called over the clamor. Mickey shook his head. They met eyes and nodded to each other. The king turned and darted deeper into the chaotic streets to do battle. Moving around wasn't an easy task for either of them. The locals were running in all directions. Others ushered women and children to the gates. The few that had the courage to fight stayed behind and delayed the limitless number of heartless that assaulted the town. Each of them were falling slowly but surely- one by one. Riku rushed forward, memories of his battle with Sora resurfacing. The power he inherited from Ansem's merge surged through him and he thrust himself forward with a flurry of swipes to the unsuspecting heartless. Several of them disappeared in his wake. He crashed into an angel star and cursed as it blocked his attack with its impenetrable wings. A lightning bolt showered down around him and he nearly cried out as the electricity wracked through his body. He came out unscathed, and awaited its next move. To his own surprise, he found that he could actually predict when the angel star would react and reveal himself. So with a deadly precision, he brought his sword in an uppercut and shattered his enemy. A sudden cry from his left stole his attention. A child was tugging at her own foot, which had gotten caught under some debris from the crumbling shop behind her. An air soldier pinned her to the ground and reached into her chest to steal away her heart. Riku tackled the heartless and the girl gasped as the soldier released its grip on her spirit. In all the scrambling, her foot was twisted in such a way that she managed to get it out from under the mess. The heartless' goggles shattered as Riku drove it into the ground as they landed. He thrust his sword deep into its body and ripped it out violently, relieved to see that it gone in a cloud of vapors. He continued fighting on with a vengeance, angry as hell to see the heartless destroying what he knew was a peaceful town. Of course, he knew he couldn't continue when the child he had saved earlier clutched onto his left leg for dear life. Riku wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't just shove her away… but he had wanted to keep fighting. "H-hey," Riku awkwardly tried to calm her. The girl only hollered and sobbed louder for her mother. Riku growled in frustration at himself for his inability to react. Oh, he could handle the heartless just fine. It was the little brats he called kids that he couldn't stand. "Hhheeeyyyy!" She rubbed her wet face into his pant leg and started crying even harder. Riku's eyes widened and he nearly laughed out loud from the odd spots on his calf that she was grabbing at. "K-k-kii-iidd!! That…that really… tickles- ah- HEY! Hey!!" If Sora had been able to see it, Riku was almost positive that he'd be laughing his head off. He himself was on the verge of bursting into hysterical laughter from the sheer randomness of the situation. He rolled his eyes as a bandit sensed his helplessness. It drew back and Riku had to dive forward (with the child still latched onto his leg) to dodge the flying sword. "Damn it!" he cried in frustration. The two swords between them collided as the bandit caught the sword and ran forward to attack. The two reached a deadlock. He sighed in relief as Mickey came up from behind and finished it off. Riku waved appreciatively, but motioned to the child. "What've we got here?" asked Mickey, turning to him after taking out another shadow. He looked down at the young girl, "I think it might be best we send her off with one of the fleeing townspeople. The more people we have out of the town when we fight, the better." "Got that right… but I can't…" he tried to pry her hands of hiss leg but only succeeded in making her angry. "Nooo!" she cried, clutching even harder. "What do we do!?" Riku asked. Mickey knelt down low and brought his face down to hers. "Hi there, little miss? How are you doing- are you all right?" asked Mickey. The girl ceased in her crying and cautiously eyed the mouse. She silently nodded and Mickey held out his hand. "It's not safe for you to be out here while all these… animals… are running loose. Do you know where your mother is?" The girl shook her head and Mickey looked around, as if his surroundings held the answer to his question. "That's going to be a problem. Well, you definitely can't stay here with us…" said Mickey. "Riku, hold on a sec." He quickly caught the attention of one of the men running nearby. The man stopped in his frantic duties of ushering out the citizens and found himself humbled in Mickey's presence. Riku watched in awe as the man obediently followed him back after some simple instructions. Mickey knelt down once more, "This nice man here can take you out of town and he's going to help you find your mother. You think you can let go of Riku's leg now? He has something he needs to do for me." He motioned to the man and the man eagerly lifted her into his arms. The girl's eyes lingered on Riku a moment before they disappeared into the chaos that was occurring around them. Riku stood up from the ground and dusted himself off. "Come on, Riku… we've got a lot of work to do," Mickey said. Kairi was dreaming. She knew it had to be, because she could see herself on the battlefield. It was a war. Dreams were always like that, she told herself. And she let the dream take her on its course. She looked on as an armor clad version of herself approached the man with the fiercest look of hate her comrades had ever seen. She tightened her sword and prepared for her enemy to make the first move. They stood mere feet away from each other and she could already feel the tension. The man only smiled at her furious outcry, "Strike!" He didn't falter in continuing the standstill between them. "Strike, I said! Strike and I'll show you just what Kairi can do!" she tried again. He didn't react to her threat. He brought up his sword and rested the flat side of it gently against his shoulder, tapping rhythmically against his shoulder guard. The sounds of battle that filtered through her concentration closed in around her and she found her feet itching to move. No! she thought to herself. I will stand my ground! I won't give him the pleasure of forcing me to make the first move. My will is stronger than his! Has and always will be! "Fair maiden, why has such a beautiful one such as yourself chosen the blood-stained ground of battle?" he said in a false accent. He was completely oblivious to the combat taking place all around the two. Her face flushed with warmth, but she held back the urge to smile. This was serious. A little flattery from the enemy wasn't going to work on her. She was going to kill him, and that was that. He was the reason the whole damned war came knocking on her doorstep. He brought the war to her homeland. "That's none of your concern," Kairi snapped back. "And don't think that just because I'm a girl that I'll fall to your feet and confess love to you. And don't for one second think that just because I'm a girl, I'm weaker than you either. I guarantee that you will die by my own hand!" "So angry too!" the man said to himself. He crouched low to the ground as if he might any moment reach down and trace invisible designs in the red dirt beneath his feet. "Such a shame…You look like you'd make such a nice girlfriend." "Stop that!" cried Kairi. The man turned to her with a charming grin. Kairi drew back in surprise. The man she had despised for the past three years had turned out to be nothing but a young boy of seventeen- not much older than herself. "What? Stop what? I'm not doing anything in particular. If anything, you're the only one who seems to have your own agenda. I don't see any of your friends screaming and hollering about dying and such. They're all focused on the moment of conflict. They've got no time for such trivial matters. It's life or death for them. You seem to have no reason to live other than fighting me," said the boy. He watched her frustrated breathing and sighed. "… Geeze. You really do seem so set on fighting me. Might as well get it over with, right?" "Just who do you think you are!?" Kairi said, "Talking to me like we're playing games! I'm not playing games- I'm set on destroying you because you destroyed my whole world! My family, friends… my way of life!! I'm not letting you get away with treating this like some kind of …kind of…." "Game?" offered the boy. "Yes!" shouted Kairi, tears on the verge of spilling down her delicate cheeks, "I've lived in fear ever since you showed your face. I've lived for the past three years… training, fighting and searching. I've waited three years for just this moment. So shut your mouth. You don't know anything. You haven't seen the carnage that your war has brought. Your ignorance makes me sick…" "What makes you think I haven't seen all of it," said the boy suddenly. His disarming grin was gone and in its place was a nostalgic one. "Maybe… maybe the whole reason I'm doing this… is because of what I know. What I've seen." Kairi unconsciously lowered her weapon in response to his answer, "What do you mean?" "You wouldn't understand," he said. He shook his head and took a deep, cheerful breath of the stale air. "But you wanted to kill me remember?" Kairi's face turned red. "Of course I do!" she said angrily, "It doesn't matter to me the reasons. It only matters to me that you have to die. I won't live knowing that you've died any other way. I hate you so much…" "Is that so," he said. He sent her a look that nearly scared Kairi out of her wits. It was an instant change and it threw off her concentration. It was one of both resentment, anger and cruel intent. Then, without warning, the boy was inches away from her face, her right hand, confined within his grasp. He brought forward his blade and set his first attack into motion. She didn't move as the blade pierced soft flesh. Kairi's eyes were widened in shock. "Impossible…" she whispered. The boy withdrew his blade and Kairi collapsed to the ground. He was faster than anything she had ever seen before. He looked down at the soldier he had struck down behind her, "You are not to touch her, fool." "Why…" Kairi asked suspiciously. The boy fell lazily to his knees beside her and released his grip on her wrist. It was sore under such a strong hold. She cradled it in her lap. "Why didn't I kill you? Why did I kill one of my own? Why did I protect you?" asked the boy. Kairi nodded and gave a small reply of, "All of it." "Because someone who doesn't have the eyes of a soldier… someone who's only looking for death…" he said to her. He gently leaned in and kissed her crimson red lips. Kairi didn't resist. She only let him deepen the kiss. "…doesn't deserve to die." He rose to his feet and held out his hand for her to take. Kairi didn't know what to do. Why couldn't she hate him any more? She only stared at his gloved fingers. "Take my hand, Kairi! That's your name right? Kairi?" She nodded numbly. "Take my hand and I'll teach you how to live!" His face was so bright and cheerful that even the sun seemed to dim in his presence. This boy couldn't be the general she hated for so long. How could she possibly kill him now? "I have a life…" "It doesn't matter! Please, Kairi, I can show you what it means to be alive!" he said. Kairi didn't breathe. "Who are you? How could you have possibly…" All her hatred was gone. She wasn't sure how, but there was just something about the boy that she just couldn't bring herself to refuse. "My name? The people call me Loki… but you…" he said. She brought her slender fingers into his palm and they closed affirmatively around hers. She was lifted eagerly to her feet and she met his eyes with what the boy knew was a glimmer of life. "…you can call me Sora." And that's when the rays of the morning sun shifted and warmed her skin. The sounds of battle faded away to the soft flowing of waves that accompanied the ocean. She felt safe under the rays of the sun. She opened her eyes and found Tidus, Wakka and Selphie hovering over her, eagerly waiting for her to awaken. She stretched her arms out and flipped onto her back, "What time is it guys? How long have I been out?" Selphie pushed her to her feet and rested her hand on Kairi's shoulders. "You've been asleep for about two hours now. You're going to be so sunburned tomorrow! I guarantee it!" she laughed. "You were supposed to meet us at the sand bar down by the dock about twenty minutes ago." "We started to worry- you're usually on time for everything," Tidus broke in. He had his infernal little stick with him as well- the one that he called a 'sparring staff.' It was the one he always used when Sora would come down to fool around with the gang. Kairi sighed and her mind wandered back to a few moments before. "I had such a weird dream," Kairi said to them. The trio exchanged apprehensive expressions, but both Selphie and Tidus halted anything they had wanted to say. It was Wakka this time though, who spoke up for the majority of Kairi's friends. "Was it about Sora again? Because if it was, that's not really healthy, ya know?" he said. She could feel her anger rising with every word. Kairi glared daggers at him and waved him off. Wakka nearly darted behind Selphie for self defense, but Kairi made no move to hit him. She only turned her back to them and crossed her arms. "Oh don't start this up again. I've told you a hundred times before, I cant help it! It's not like I'm trying to!" she told them. "I can't help what comes to me when I dream. It already hurts, and you guys are only making it worse!" Selphie walked forward and quickly tried to dismiss her claims. "Kairi, no! We're not trying to say that you're going this on purpose!" Selphie defended herself. The other two boys nodded in support. "It's just that… well… shouldn't you move on already? I mean, this whole ordeal with the gates-" "Keyholes," Kairi corrected. Selphie continued, unfazed by her interruption. "Keyholes, whatever. And with the keyblade and that Ansem guy, the heartless the … gummi… ship- everything… doesn't it seem a little farfetched?" asked Selphie. Kairi crossed her arms and gave her an incredulous look. "Don't take it wrong, though! We believe you, we really do. It's just that, well, its not something we hear every day." "And don't tell me it isn't healthy because I couldn't help it this time," Kairi started. Her features softened. "I just really miss those two. They're gone. Shouldn't that be enough for you to believe me? No word of good-bye. No knowledge from their parents. No one knows where they are. They couldn't have just disappeared- so why is it so hard to believe that this really happened?" "Well, put yourself in our shoes, Kairi," said Tidus quietly. Kairi didn't answer. She looked up to the cloudless sky and the memory of his smile suddenly appeared in her mind. She giggled to herself. "Sora was always so silly…" she said. "… with that stupid grin of his…No matter what I did, he always managed to make me feel better when I was down… just by showing me his stupid grin." Kairi sat down by the water and let the water run over her toes. Selphie sat behind her and motioned her to lay her head in her lap. "Tell us what it was about." The others followed silently and found places on either side of her. "What, the dream?" Kairi asked. Selphie nodded. "Dreams are ways to tell something about yourself. There are symbols in the dream and you can always find something new when you analyze it. Just got the book two weeks ago and I already memorized half of it…" she gave a small victory gesture and gave her trademark smile. "I remember being in red armor. And I was in a war- everyone was fighting around me. But I was ignoring everyone else because I wanted to kill just one person because he killed my family or something. He didn't kill them himself, but he commanded an army. Thousands and thousands of people fighting and dying around me, but I was flat out convinced that I wanted to hurt this person," said Kairi. Selphie nodded. Tidus stood up and said, "I'll leave all this girl talk to you guys. Love to stay, but this sounds like it's getting kind of personal. Hey Wakka, wanna go play some Blitz??" Wakka shot to his feet. "It's about time, ya know!" the two darted out to sea, blitzball in hand. "Never mind them. Now you don't have to hold back anything because now it's just you and little old Selphie. Shoot, Kairi," she said. "Anyway, I confronted him and at first I hated him. But the more I talked to him the more I realized that he didn't have the face of a soldier. So I couldn't hate him. Almost like someone lifted the weight of anger off my shoulders and I just couldn't. It doesn't make sense, though. The general may have been Sora, but it takes more than a few words to make someone's hate go away. Things are more complicated than that…" Selphie clasped her hands together as if she was prepared to go to work, "Allrighty then! Lessee if I can remember some stuff from the book…" she paused a moment and rested her chin on her palm in deep thought. "Red… that means great passion or feelings in your emotional relationships. Aaanndd war means that you'll probably be persecuted in the near future. You'll enter in some kind of journey or something. And since I doubt you're going anywhere any time soon, it probably means that you'll just go on some emotional trials," Selphie looked at Kairi's face and smirked, "And the sword means you're trying to escape something that needs to be addressed. You're avoiding something or trying not to admit something to yourself." Kairi blushed madly, knowing exactly what Selphie was implying. Was she talking about Sora? "S-stop that! What are you trying to get at? J-just go on with the dream thing," said Kairi, trying to recover. Selphie only shook her head. Kairi was always like this. "There wasn't anything material about shoulder in your dream, but let's just get the meaning out anyway. Shoulder means that even though you may be happy and cheerful, you're carrying some kind of burden. There are problems and stuff around the corner that are awaiting you. But always look up because they'll be taken care of soon." Selphie watched her and amusingly found that Kairi was actually smiling to herself. Her cheeks were turning a slight pink. "Either you really are sunburned, or you're thinking about that special someone." Kairi nodded, "I don't know what to do anymore. Selphie, whenever I 'm alone, I find myself thinking about Sora. Riku, too, but there's something that just makes me want to stop breathing when I see Sora's smile again. It hurts to think of Sora." "I think someone's got a case of the love – bug!" Selphie giggled and Kairi cringed at the thought of her sly and provoking ideas. But she stopped when she noticed that Kairi wasn't trying to deny it. The girl closed her eyes and Selphie sighed and said her next few words softly. They both looked out into the calm sea where Wakka and Tidus were playing. "You know, it's not often that someone gets a real feeling like that. Is it a crush?" Kairi shook her head, "I've had crushes before. This isn't one. I've never felt like this before. It's just… different. I just really want to be with him. Have him hold me, feel his hand on my shoulder. Just feel the touch of his skin against mine." "If Sora really does come back-," said Selphie. "When…Sora really does come back-," Kairi corrected. "Yeah. When Sora comes back, do me a favor and tell him that you feel this way. You don't have to tell him you lo… like the guy… but just tell him that you want to be around him." Kairi laughed as Tidus grabbed the ball, jumped out of the water and waited before Wakka decided to come to the surface before he hurled it at him. It collided against Wakka and the poor boy fell back into the water with a loud splash. "I will," promised Kairi. "I swear it." Riku was happy. He had a full stomach, a warm blanket, and the gentle flames of the fireplace to his left. He hadn't felt that comfortable in… well… a year and a half. The day had gone well. Soon after they eliminated the remaining heartless, work turned to putting out the flames of the fires raging around the town and tending to the wounded. Riku had forgotten about his hunger in all the chaos, so when the little girl that he had saved earlier came back with her mother and a warm loaf of bread, he was grateful. He had never been so hungry in his life. He looked across the small room where the other bed sat against the wall. Miscellaneous papers and notepads were strewn about on the sheets. The shadows danced across the papers in a mystifying rhythm. Mickey had an amazing amount of stamina. Even after everything was taken care of, he still had the hardworking spirit to do even more work. Mickey was busy outside running some errands and looking for some library he kept on ranting about. He said it was real important, and the more that King Mickey spoke about it, the more Riku's interest was being ignited. "Riku-sama…" said a small voice. Ria tugged at his pajama pants. They weren't his. They had let him borrow it for the night. It actually belonged to Ria's older brother and it was a little big for him. Ria was the little girl he had saved earlier. After everything was over, Riku and Mickey had nowhere to go. Luckily, Ria had volunteered her house for them to stay for the night and her parents were all too happy to have the strangers who saved their daughter accommodated. "You don't have to call me that. Just Riku is fine," he said to the girl. The girl only lifted a cup of hot cocoa up to his face. Riku took the steaming cup from her hands. The sweet smell of chocolate reached his nose and he had to close his eyes a moment from sheer habit. Riku pulled the blanket tighter around his form. "Thanks." "Mum says that you gotta rest up if yer gonna leave tomorrow. And whatever mum says you gotta do. You don't wanna get her angry. Daddy got Mum angry yesterday and he had to sleep on the couch. Yer lucky. That's where my brother is sleeping right now. It's cold out there. It doesn't have the fireplace like this room does," Ria rambled on. "Do you know what its like outside? Are there all kindsa monsters and stuff? Are you a knight? Do you fight dragons or do you wait until a princess calls you on the phone and asks you to save her?" Riku would have laughed if not for the sadness that settled into his chest from her first few questions. His eyes darkened, "If anything, I'm not a knight, Ria." "Whadda ya mean? You saved everybody earlier…" she said eagerly. Riku resented her state of mind. If only things really were that simple. Things were so much easier when he was a kid. There were things that he never stopped to think about, let alone deal with. Moreover, back then, he never had the capability to destroy the universe. "Yer definitely a knight! Because knights save people!" "Saving people, eh? Maybe I'm just selfish. Maybe I'm trying to find a way to repent," he whispered. Ria's ears perked up and she looked at him funny. Riku was being weird again. Riku was an okay person, except when he started being weird. She didn't like being around Riku when he was weird. People shouldn't be allowed to be weird, thought Ria. "What did you say? I didn't hear you," she said. Riku waved it off with his hand, "Nothing, don't worry about it." A faint voice floated into the room from the kitchen outside. Ria's name was being called by her mother and in a flash, Ria waved good-bye and darted out the door. Riku stared into his hot-chocolate. The marshmallows filled half the cup and Riku doubted he'd get any hot chocolate in his first sip. He shrugged and attempted to drink from it anyway. "Hey there," said a voice. Riku looked up from his cup and quickly wiped the foam from his lips. "Found what you were looking for?" asked Riku. "Yes. I did. We were summoned back from the darkness to restore something stored away in several relics. I'm still not sure myself how these will be instrumental in permanently destroying the darkness, but I know for sure that we're not just going to sit here and do nothing." "So our whole reason for being alive is to …" "Find the Black Trinity and the 4 relics." He said simply. Mickey set down several books down on the bed on top of all the papers. He hopped up onto the bed with the books and flipped open one of them. He spent a couple of minutes flipping through "Hmm..here it is." Riku stood from his bed and sat beside Mickey on the other. He ran his fingers along several lines of text. "This is what we're looking for. The Winged relics of Gaia." "What is that?" Asked Riku. Mickey turned the page, revealing an intricately drawn picture of a beautiful statue with a single wing. On the opposite page lied another picture, except the second picture was lined in black and obviously had a much darker tone. "As you can tell from the picture, this is the White-Winged Relic of Gaia. This other one is the Black-Winged Relic of Gaia. So similar but so different in nature. One is used to purify, and the other is used to destroy or cause people, things and even entire worlds to fall into darkness. There are four relics of each distributed all around the universe. We have to seek out the White winged relic in order to restore some kind of weapon, I'd think, to combat the darkness." "But I thought we closed Kingdom hearts. Wasn't that enough?" "Well yes. It aided in balancing out the forces. But it only worked to delay the inevitable at this point in time. There's a person or thing that is contributing to the darkness and unless we do something to stop them…. Well, when we find the 4 White-winged relics we must bring them to the Black trinity in order to purify it. Once we do that, everything will fall into place. Or so it says here in the books." "What about the black winged relics and the white trinity you talked about earlier- do they play any part in this whatsoever?" asked Riku. "Unfortunately they do. I have no doubt that whoever is driving on the darkness knows about the black relics. If they should find the relics and taint the white trinity, then it's all over. Everything we've done so far will be for nothing." Mickey finished. Suddenly the fire, the blanket and the hot chocolate weren't enough to warm him. He couldn't help but shiver at Mickey's predictions. But he didn't show it of course. It wasn't in his blood to show weakness, especially after he witnessed what the heartless could do to those who were weak of spirit. "So all we have to do is find the relics, right? And then find the black trinity. Then everything follows up and we just gotta sit back and watch it happen… sounds simple enough," he said with a lot more courage than he thought he had. Mickey seemed to gain some confidence from this and he nodded. "If we keep cool, I'm sure we can come out of this on top. If we've made it out of the darkness, then it means that there's probably someone up there looking out for us right?" "I hope you're right, Riku," said Mickey. "I also hope our time hasn't run out already." Then, Riku's eyes fluttered closed on their own and an image of Kairi, Sora and him inside of a dark castle appeared in his mind. Sora raised his hand in the middle and the two of them followed with their own hands raised in undeniable friendship. "It doesn't matter what happens anymore. I have no regrets…" said Sora. Riku could feel the passion of something bigger than what he knew to be true burning inside his heart. It lingered briefly before it flickered and then was snuffed out by the snap back to reality. I'll see you all again. I promise.
Heads up to im-35, Ex-sama, TrueHeart, Phantazy |
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
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Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten
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