ianua -ae f. [door; entrance , approach].
Act I, Scene Five: Ianua: Approaching the Door
They had gotten ready For Real this time.
Riku had gone back to the underground locker where he kept his few belongings and returned to Avarielle's place with them. He ultimately selected an outfit proper for the duration of any battle. He first put on a long sleeved, silky black shirt with long sleeves and turtleneck, whose ends fit under his familiar gloves. On top of that he wore a sleeveless blue-black shirt, and below came a pair of pants of the same color. These were loose enough to be comfortable and to allow freedom of movement. On his feet were short boots of light and dark blue edged with black, their tops buried beneath the folds of his pants.
Avarielle adopted a very different look compared to the one she had taken last time. She was wearing a long-sleeved v-neck shirt of white. Her silver-edged purple crystal pendant hung down to rest just where the shirt began. She was wearing a long, slender white skirt that flared at the ends into a design that could only be described as purple fire. Her footwear consisted of knee-high black boots with two-inch heels, although the shoes were almost completely obscured by the beautiful skirt.
Avarielle had most of her hair down, although she had pulled back the top part and wrapped into to a bun, sticking into what looked like two metal chopsticks. She had painted her lips crimson and her eyelids violet, and the whole affect was quite pleasant for Riku.
Avarielle was also wearing a slim black belt, to which she attached a pouch filled with her munny and a few other necessities Riku didn't question. He knew what they needed most was faith.
The woman put everything in the apartment in good order, locking away anything that could possibly be stolen. She and Riku ate a hardy meal and drank plenty of water. They did not know what was coming, but they could do their best to prepare for the worst.
As they left the building and began heading down toward the Door, Riku tried not to let on that he was, in fact, scared as hell that he had no Keyblade. He had secretly tried to summon it with his heart, but to no effect.
Avarielle marched at his side steadily, her pendant bouncing up and down with the vigor of her stride. Her dark skin was clean and soft, shimmering nicely in the light reflected off the concrete. Her raven waves served as a cape, coming down to wrap about her shoulders and cover her back.
Riku knew that she was still hurt by his comments from before, and this was a wedge that might cost them dearly. But even though things didn't seem to be going smoothly—even though he had no weapon—he felt more driven than ever to pursue the Door and the Heartless around him.
It was the Night of Fate.
"We're going to get out of here, Riku," Avarielle said. "If we fight to get out of here, then we'll do it."
Riku tried to concentrate on the goal, but he found himself distracted. He hated himself at that moment, hated the insensitivity that he of all people had shown to Ava, hated the doubts of an overactive mind that had probably driven his Keyblade away from him.
A shrieking erupted over them. Riku looked up to see that a cloud of winged Heartless was quickly approaching.
Avarielle closed her eyes, leaned back slightly, and crossed her hands over her chest. The crystal pendant shone bright and true its purple light. From within the woman's body, she was instinctively pulling at the massive, pulsating energy. The top of the Keystaff materialized right outside of her, the gem inside spinning at an accelerated pace. She grabbed what was there of the handle and began to pull the staff outward, hand under hand to drag the seven feet of it out.
Riku's eyes were wide and his heart was racing as he watched the spectacle.
Her weapon present, Ava adopted a battle stance. Constantly shifting her weight from one foot to another, the crouched woman watched the approaching enemies and gulped.
The man saw that the enemies were about three feet tall and possessed the merest yellow slits for eyes. They had long, bat-like wings stretching upward from their backs. Legs were nonexistent and chubby little hands stuck out from their fronts.
Riku suddenly felt wind whipping around him. It was a spell! It was like Vortex, the wind spell Sora had constantly used to reduce damage…
"Shield yourself!" ordered Riku.
"I'll do what I want," responded the woman, throwing up the same barrier over her body. Riku wondered if she had been experimenting with her magic when he wasn't around…
Riku dove out of the way when the first monster struck. Damn, was all he could mutter, even inside his mind.
"I don't think we can bother fighting these!" he told Avarielle. "There's plenty more by the Door!"
Avarielle nodded. She raised her staff and down came a blast of wind, which momentarily stunned the enemy. Her eyes met Riku's, and the message was clear: Run.
They did, and it was not easy to escape the Heartless by taking a small tunnel the two had discovered the other day. It was murky and smelled strongly of sewer, but it was relatively safe and swift.
They burst out on the other side into a crowd of Heartless.
"We're surrounded," mumbled Avarielle, stumbling around in circles as her eyes passed over the dozens of monsters poising to strike.
Riku went to her, standing in front. He could sense her fear almost as vividly as he felt his own. Their heartbeats were probably loud enough to shake all of Caelestis. Riku knew that their hearts and Avarielle's Key was more than enough to draw the Heartless after them. "We'll do this together," he said.
Ava gulped loudly for about the tenth time that night. "Riku, I'm sorry for being mad—"
"This isn't the end!" he cried, hearing the remorse in her voice.
And then he fell, doubled over, as a birdlike Heartless rammed him straight in the chest. The wind knocked clear out of him, he could barely speak. "Have to…hang on…or we'll never…" He coughed, sputtering up blood in the process.
But as he did, he also felt something warm around his torso. The chains were back.
"Riku!" screamed Ava. He wondered if she was getting attacked too. No; she was doing something different. She was holding up the great Keystaff, it's bottom end linking up the giant padlock on Riku's back.
There was a sensation inside Riku's chest—his heart—that he'd never felt before. It wasn't that painful, but it was strange. He felt like something was physically turning, unlocking. As it happened, this lurching feeling, there was a click sound resounding in his ears.
It was overwhelming. His vision went blurry, he began to stumble, and there was something heavy on his back. Not another Heartless…
"Riku! The Keyblade—it's back!"
The Heartless were closing in now, bird ones swarming above and some others sporting armor and as big as bears charging on the ground… Riku saw their shapes vaguely…
His eyes were drawn to a shimmering light. He could make out the Door, and he could make out that it was opening, some sort of rainbow-colored light emanating from the widening crack.
"Dear God, Riku! The Door is opening! Help me, Riku!" The sound of her voice came in soft and loud chunks as she was drawn this way and that by monsters eager to taste blood.
"We'll do it together," breathed Riku slowly, coming to a near-standing position. He reached back and took out the Keyblade, its weight still a welcome burden to weary arms. His face was being swatted for all directions, but something had happened…
He turned, and there was Avarielle, her Keystaff raised to defend herself. She was coming for him through the throngs of enemies, her eyes filled with distress.
They touched.
The Keyblade and the Keystaff touched, each person holding out his weapon. The Door began to swing steadily open, and the Heartless ran for it. Riku felt a great force on his body.
He was being sucked in.
"Ava, don't let go of the Key," he ordered. Somehow, he knew it was important that they kept this link through their Keys.
The Door was now wide open. The Heartless had almost all passed into its prism-like interior.
Both Riku and Ava held tight their two great Keys, holding them up to press against one another. They used their free hands to grasp for each other's fingers.
"Avarielle…I think we're getting our wish," were Riku's last words before they, too, were drawn into the Door.
[End Act I]
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wau. that was a lot of writing. this chapter and the last (which i chose to separate since they were about five thousand words together) have been the product of about five straight hours of creativity. if there's any mistakes, keep in mind that the editing was done at—let's see—one-thirty in the morning. X_x *dies*
well, i have so far resisted the urge to put up any author's notes with this story. why? this is a very serious tale and i am working hard on it. so hard, i hope it can stand on it's own without my babbling excuses. it honestly doesn't seem that many people are reading, though. i guess i can't compete with the massive amounts of soraXriku fics that seem to fill the screen every time i check for updates. maybe my writing is an acquired taste (yes, yes, beth; that sounds much better than boring).
look forward to act ii, if you will. i am all of 15% sure what will happen next. but that could just be lack of sleep…*snores*