Kairi sat on the balcony of the terrace outside the Hollow Bastion library, her legs dangling over its side and swinging in the cold air. Far below, a bright ribbon across the earth, were the glass falls, sun hitting and breaking across the surface in brilliant shards. Wind blew, rustling in the folds of her skirt and playing with the russet tendrils of her hair. She shivered slightly, but not from a chill. The Ansem reports lay by her side where she had placed them earlier, her mind still running over the last lines that had been written in the studies.
She was trying not to worry too much about Riku and Sei and what could be happening in Verus.
"Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing. My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness."
Sei had said that the reports were incomplete... but how could this be? Hadn't the studies and their records ended when Ansem gave himself up to the darkness? Of course, so many things about even that were confusing. Her mind wandered back to those words spoken only a little while before.
"There were thirteen reports-I can only find ten of those here...I'm certain that the remaining three hold vital information about Ansem's studies of the heart."
Leon had appraised the young man coolly at this statement, and then said what must have been on all of their minds.
"And you know this...how?"
Sei had shrugged and gone into his "enigmatic-man mode"-his mouth a closed, steel trap. Doing so had obviously loaded some distrust upon him, but that's Sei for you...
That probably wouldn't have been the end of that, but a messenger had burst into the library shortly afterwards with terrible news-the city was under attack from an army of Heartless. A hole in the air had opened up in the Theater District, from which the Heartless had begun to pore out of.
This, Kairi reflected, sounded a lot like what had happened in Traverse Town. She hadn't really thought about that day since, but now she wondered if there was somehow a connection between the two.
Riku and Sei had rushed off immediately the aid the city. They had told her not to come with them, that it'd be far too dangerous. She might have disregarded this warning had not just about everyone else told her the same. She gripped the side of the balcony tightly.
~Gods! I hate this...
"Kairi! What are you doing?!"
Kairi looked over her shoulder as Aerith ran out onto the terrace.
"Do you have a death wish or something? What if you slipped and fell?"
She crossed her hands over her chest and looked at Kairi reproachfully. Then her expression softened.
"Anxious about those boys down in Verus?" She asked. "Don't worry-I'm sure they'll be okay."
Kairi didn't respond immediately to the words. She climbed off the railing, her feet landing lightly on the cold stone.
"You know what you need?" Aerith said. "Something to keep you busy and take your mind off all this anxiety. Come on; make yourself useful and help me ready the supplies down in the Healers' ward. We'll need them when our fighters get back."
Aerith beckoned, and the two young women disappeared within the walls of the castle.
###
Both Riku and Sei had arrived to a scene of utter pandemonium. Nothing like this had occurred in the streets of Verus since the capture of the region by Maleficent fourteen years earlier. The people were trying their best to defend themselves against the sudden invasion, but it was clear that the entire city would fall if something was not done soon.
Several winged Heartless were shot from the sky as a flying, silver blade cut through the air. Sei caught the keyblade deftly as it returned to him in a narrow arc, and then rotated in his seat with his weapon at ready. Riku was mounted on the chocobo at his side, the two of them working off the other as the Heartless continued to come in waves, all claws and teeth and sinewy dark bodies.
An Armored Heartless leapt to attack Riku, only to be shattered by a brilliant flash from a lightning spell. A tall, pall woman stood at ready behind this. In one hand she held a moogle stuffed doll.
"Keyblade bearers, my name is Lulu!"
She had to yell to be heard above the din of metal striking against metal and the explosion of magic.
"I can lead you to the break!"
Riku rode over to her and helped her onto the back of his chocobo.
"Don't disappear on us again." Riku called to Sei as Lulu steadied herself behind him. The platinum-blonde youth spared a quick glance in Riku's direction as he struck away a Dark Ball.
"...I won't."
Riku waited for Lulu to get a firm seat on the golden, flightless bird, before starting.
"Which way?"
Lulu pointed towards the direction they were to take and they were off, Sei following just behind. The Heartless continued to attack and snap at the heels of their mounts, but were held at bay by a barrage of spells and quick stabs of keyblades. Lulu was an adept black mage and Riku found himself becoming very grateful for the extra hand. Every once in awhile, a familiar face could be sighted among the chaos, fighting against the swarms of Heartless, but Riku forced himself to focus on navigating the anarchic streets.
The number of Heartless began to swell as they delved farther into the city and closer to their destination. Their progress slowed as this occurred, but they persisted to push forward. Finally, they were at the base of the stairs leading up to the Theater District. Chocobo claws clicked sharply as they struck against the stone steps leading up and then-
Riku and Lulu ducked just in time as to keep their heads from being taken off in the downward flight of a Heartless. Riku looked up as it spun in the air to face its targets. This one looked almost like a wyvern, only double the size and in a shade of purple so dark it was almost black. Riku thrust upward with his keyblade as the Heartless made a second pass about them, raking it across the belly. A burst of flame shot through the air as Lulu aimed a Firaga spell at it.
Sei, still a little ways behind them, paused indecisively as he took in the conflict. Riku waved him forward.
"Sei; seal the hole! We'll take care of this Heartless!"
Sei nodded, and spurred his mount ahead, the opening glowing in the air before him.
As in Traverse Town, the break between worlds appeared like a chunk of Ansem's Heartless insignia floating in air. Or was it bigger? Sei was nearly upon it when a shadowy creature burst from the opening, a wolf-like Heartless with buttery yellow eyes and bright white fangs, which it displayed in a malevolent grin. The chocobo shied back as the Heartless snarled and snapped its teeth. Seeing that the bird would be more hindrance than help, Sei jumped down to meet the Heartless on foot.
Sei hesitated only for the moment it took to gauge the strength of the Heartless, then charged forward, the distance between the two combatants disappearing rapidly. With lightning fast movements, Sei executed a flurry of cuts that utterly demolished the creature; its smoky remains curled and blew away as Sei wasted little time and raised his keyblade to seal the door. This one closed as easily as the last had. However, even as the last traces of the opening had faded away, Sei stood examining the space narrowly.
"Are you going to keep standing there looking at nothing?"
Riku asked this lightly. Lulu was behind him, rummaging in one of the bags strapped to his chocobo.
"Because that's all that's there-nothing. I'd be able to see it now if the Heartless had left anything nasty. We shouldn't waste any more time here."
"You two aren't going anywhere just yet."
Both youths turned as Lulu approached with a potions bottle in one hand and several squares of clean cloth in the other, apparently pilfered from the chocobo saddlebags.
"I can't let you leave until we've had you cleaned up first." She informed them calmly.
She pored some of the clear liquid out onto the cloths and gave them to Riku and Sei, both of whom which accepted the cloths and began cleaning their various injuries. Leon and Cloud arrived just as they were stowing the items away. Hollow Bastion's king surveyed the area, his hand resting carelessly on the hilt of his gunblade
"I'm glad to see that was taken care of quickly."
Riku unscrewed a water bottle that he found within a bag and took a gulp of the contents.
"How's the situation going elsewhere?" The young man asked.
He passed the bottle to Sei, who took the drink gratefully.
"The number of Heartless has thinned dramatically," Leon replied. "I'm assuming that would be on your part. What was left is being taken care of."
Despite his easy words, there was no hiding his agitation about the very sudden occurrence.
"I wonder," Cloud remarked. "If this has anything to do with your arrival today."
Riku glanced at the older man sharply.
"Possibly." He conceded noncommittally. The possibilities that this implied ran inside his mind.
The Heartless could have been breaking through the worlds on their own... or someone could have been helping them. An image of Ansem's face surfaced in his mind, but he brushed it away with a mental snarl. Ansem was gone, dead, defeated by Sora five years ago at the door of Kingdom Hearts. The man served as a bitter reminder of what Riku had succumbed to, and of which still lingered inside him. The idea that Ansem was somehow involved with this again... it was out of the question.
But, it was possible that someone or something else was meddling with the Heartless again. Perhaps this mysterious new enemy, assuming there was one, would reveal themselves soon?
###
The hours passed quickly after the Heartless attack on the city. Once things had calmed down somewhat, Riku and Sei returned to the castle.
The first signs of dusk began to show in the sky, a darkening about the edges of the blue dome. Sei stood in a small practice yard beneath this dappled light, a sword strapped to each side of his waist.
Two silver blades glittered in the declining sunlight as they were pulled out of their cases. Their wielder paused for a moment, tested the weight and balance in each hand. Satisfied, he fell into a guard stance and then began an elaborate pattern with the dual swords. Although much time had passed since he had last executed these movements, he could feel himself fall into the familiar steps, limbs shifting with a fluid ease.
Block... right-cut, left-cut... jump-spin, forward-cut, forward-cut... down and side-cutting...return to guard, and...
He finished the form, spinning the swords twice with a rotation of his wrists and gracefully returning them to their casings. A figure stood in the pale shadows, leaning against the wall and watching the performance.
"Impressive work..." Cloud said casually. "For someone who usually fights Heartless with a giant key."
"Heh...thanks." Sei flicked back tendrils of blonde hair that had begun to fall in front of his face. "Although, I'm not sure whether or not to take that as a compliment."
A male voice spoke from behind Cloud with mocking indignation.
"I should hope that was a compliment."
Riku climbed onto the wall and was perched there, one leg pulled up onto the stone and the other hanging over the edge.
"It takes a real man to fight evil with blunt objects."
Cloud smirked, his hands crossed over his chest.
"Is that so?"
"Without question. Who needs a Buster Sword when you have the Giant House-key of Doom?"
Sei rolled his eyes with a slight smile at Riku's jest, then returned to his drills.
A moment of companionable silence proceeded between the two spectators, broken only by the sound of metal through air before Cloud spoke again.
"You're still tied to the darkness."
Riku looked sideways down at Cloud, his face unreadable.
"...so you could tell. I suppose blindfolds won't hide it from everyone."
He sat up and put his hands together on his knees.
"But... there's a shadow over your heart as well... a brush with the darkness? I bet there's a story behind you."
Cloud shrugged.
"You could say that."
A pause as they watched Sei finish with a back-kick towards an invisible enemy; he then pivoted on his heels as to finish another with a cut from both swords.
"Your friend Sora has probably come a long ways as a fighter by now."
Riku thought about the Sora he remembered from long ago, a radical smile on such an innocent face. That Fate had chosen such a person to be a fighter and light's paladin... it was sad, really. What a life to force on someone so young. Then again, fate had done a lot of things in its history he couldn't say that he had any love for...
"You two have met?"
"We fought twice in the Olympus Coliseum," Cloud said with apparent indifference. "Five years ago in a tournament."
"You're kidding."
Riku tried to envision the scene in his mind.
"Don't tell me he won."
It really was too much, this image of fourteen year-old Sora matched against a man with a bad-ass sword literally larger then he was.
"Then I won't."
Riku stared at Cloud. Then he realized Cloud was laughing: silently, albeit, but laughing all the same.
"Do you honestly believe I'd let a fourteen-year old best me in a fight... and with a key for a weapon, no less?"
Riku grinned and pretended to mull this over.
"I don't know. You might have felt sorry for him. Otherwise though, I'd have to say the poor guy never would have had a chance..."
Cloud just shook his head, stick chuckling. Riku simple lay back down the top of the wall, a smile lightening his face.
###
Aerith had insisted that Kairi borrow a nice outfit to wear to the dinner that night. She was, after all, a princess of heart and a special guest of Hollow Bastion.
"And with that in mind, you'll most definitely have to look the part." Aerith told Kairi firmly as she led the girl into the room. The older brunette threw open the closet door, switching on an over-hanging light with a deft finger.
"I can probably find you something in here."
The light danced upon racks of beautiful cut and designed skirts, dresses, and blouses. Footwear was lined in tidy rows at the bottom, and a pile of silky ribbons and ornamental pins were stored in a box near the top.
"Something simple, but elegant." Aerith murmured. "And some purple would look lovely with your hair."
"Are you sure about letting me borrow any of this?" Kairi stammered. "I mean, it's all so nice, I couldn't possibly-"
Aerith turned to giver her an incredulous look.
"Don't be ridiculous. How would I look if you showed up in anything less than the best of what we could offer?" Aerith demanded, thrusting aside a brilliant red skirt. "Just, sit down on the bed over there while I take a look through these-"
Kairi meekly did as she was told, watching Aerith's back as she hunted through the piles of garments. There was a knock at the door, and Yuffie poked her head in with a smile. Her dark hair looked rumpled, and her face had a faint sheen of sweat. When she stepped in, Kairi found that the ninja's outfit was covered with a fine layer of dust.
"Just wanted to pop by to see how you two were doing." Yuffie announced.
Aerith barely spared her a glance as she continued her search.
"Fine; I'm just getting something for Kairi to wear for dinner." Aerith threw a dress onto the bed, and then eyeing a pair of sandals at the bottom of the closet thoughtfully. "How did the training go today?" The sandals went onto the bed as well.
Yuffie's job was to train the new recruits in unarmed combat, and then a few of the more advanced trainees in fighting with throwing stars. She was notorious for being absolutely merciless in her drills, although she was not completely unpopular with the students themselves.
The young woman shrugged, and plopped down onto the bed beside Kairi.
"As usual I guess." She examined the small pile of clothing next to Kairi with interest as she spoke. "Their numbers will be thinning soon, no doubt, with the slackers leaving when they figure out they can't handle a little hard work."
"Thanks to you, probably. And get off the bed," Aerith ordered absently. "You're filthy right now."
Yuffie stuck her tongue out at Aerith's back and didn't budge. She turned to Kairi instead.
"So, living with two guys for the past several weeks-I bet it can be a real pain sometimes, right?" Yuffie asked. Then she added with a wicked grin, "But I suppose, in compensation, at least they're two very *attractive* guys."
Kairi shrugged, smiling slightly in amusement. "It's not as bad as you make it sound. The kind of life-styles they've probably had these past several years has made them really mature-they seem so different from those boys back on the island."
Yuffie sighed in understanding.
"I know what you mean. Squall changed so much after the whole thing with the Heartless and our Hollow Bastion."
Yuffie eyes followed Aerith's movements across the room for a moment, and then she stood up, stretching towards the ceiling.
"Well, I'd better get going." Yuffie declared with a yawn. "Can't eat at the front table with Squall looking like this."
"And it's about time." Aerith agreed, shutting the closet door.
"Blah, blah, blah." Yuffie muttered cheekily as she left.
Aerith strode over to pick up the outfit she had chosen, displaying it for Kairi's approval. "This all right?"
"It's perfect." Kairi said sincerely. Aerith smiled in satisfaction.
"Good." She laid the clothes back down beside Kairi.
"I need to get ready myself, so just get dressed and I'll meet you down in the dining hall. You know where that is, right?"
Kairi nodded.
"All right. See you in a bit, Kairi."
Kairi waved as Aerith exited the room, then set about changing her attire.
The dining hall had been built to accommodate all the residents of Hollow Bastion. The evening meal never had been anything very formal-even if most of the older inhabitants had been interested in doing that sort of thing every night (goddess forbid so many stuffed-shirts beneath one roof), the population of kids in residence would have made that quite impossible to carry out. The design of the chamber, however, seemed to imply the exact opposite of this reality: the architecture was the stuff of dreams, with its elegant carvings and columns and walls of rosy marble. Not, Kairi thought, unlike much of the rest of the castle and its surrounding lands. Several chandeliers hung from the ceiling, orbs of white mage-fire suspended between the glass and metal and well lighting the room.
Riku was already standing near the front table, looking vaguely uncomfortable behind the band of his blindfold. He turned his head and caught sight of Kairi.
"You're looking very pretty tonight."
Kairi blushed, smoothing imaginary wrinkles on the front of her skirt with an absent movement of her hands. She was wearing a pale lavender dress, sleeveless, with white and dark purple trim; her hair was done up with plain silver pins and a purple blossom.
"Thank you...you look very nice too."
She looked around, searching for the other member of their little group.
"Where's Sei?"
"Not here yet, is he? He said he was hungry..."
He paused, and then shrugged carelessly. "Last I heard from him, he said he'd head up to the library for a little while before dinner; maybe he lost track of time."
"Do you think maybe I should go get him?"
"I wouldn't worry about it...he's probably on his way right now."
They took their seats at the table. The room gradually filled, and people found their places for the evening meal. Despite the passing time, Sei's chair remained empty. Kairi gazed at his unfilled place for a moment before making up her mind and standing up from her seat.
"Riku...I'll just be a minute, okay? I'm going to go get Sei; whatever he's doing, I don't think he meant to miss dinner over it."
Riku looked up from playing with his glass, his fingers still clasped around the delicate stem.
"All right; try not to take too long. Do you know the way?"
Kairi nodded and began to walk briskly out of the room and through the wide halls. The sky outside had darkened into dusk, and bright lamps had been switched on to lighten the empty corridors. The library was not located too far from the dining hall, and it did not take her long to reach its doors.
At first the room seemed unoccupied; Kairi looked around in disappointment, wondering if perhaps she had just missed Sei or if he had wandered off to some other room. A cool wind drifted through the chamber, teasing at her hair and skirt. She raised her eyes towards the side of the room and for the first time noticing the open terrace doors. As she approached these, Sei fell into her line of vision. His back was to her, so he did not immediately recognize her presence. Kairi opened her mouth to call him, but her voice died in her throat before any sound had left it.
~Oh...my...God...
A tall, silver-haired figure swept into view, burning red eyes surveying his adversary mockingly.
"So we meet at last."
Sei returned the gaze with icy coldness.
"I was searching for you too. Although my existence is limited, I can still feel you... the darkness that existed in front of my own eyes. You are my darkness."
Kairi gasped, but Ansem only laughed calmly, procuring a darkly colored swallow and swinging it in a smooth arc.
"If that is so, then I shall draw you deeper into that darkness from where all hearts have come... and all hearts shall return."
Sei unsheathed two silvery blades in response to these words and
held them in a guard stance. The faded outline of a single white wing appeared
from his right shoulder blade. A black, leathery one emerged from Ansem's left.
This vision quickly faded as the two opponents leapt to battle.
"Sei!"
Kairi ran forward with no thought in her mind except to somehow help Sei. Neither combatant seemed to hear her, though the moment she crossed the door, an opalescent force field of some sort had appeared to block the only exit. She looked back at it with the feeling that she had just made a terrible mistake. The sound of steel clashing against steel brought her attention back to the battle at hand.
###
The glass crashed to the ground, shattering, as droplets of garnet-colored liquid clung and spread on the tablecloth. Yuffie turned her head to the side in concern, wondering if the lit room had been too much for Riku's "special" eyesight and if he had accidentally knocked down his glass.
"Don't worry about it Riku-"
Yuffie broke off as she took in Riku's rigid frame and tightly clenched fists. He was swearing and muttering under his breath.
"...he's here...Gods, I can't believe this..."
Then something seemed to click inside his mind, and fear abruptly crept into his voice to replace the former vehemence.
"Oh no..."
"Riku; what is it?"
But Riku had already stood up from his seat and rushed out of the room, ignoring Yuffie's inquiry.
"Leon!"
Yuffie touched her fiancé's shoulder to get his attention.
"Leon, I think something's wrong-Sei's gone, Kairi still hasn't gotten back, and now Riku's run off...I'm getting a bad feeling about all this."
"What?"
Leon looked past Yuffie and, sure enough, all three seats were empty.
"Damnit, this day just keeps getting better and better doesn't it?"
The two of them, joined by Cloud and Aerith, hurried out of the hall. They arrived only just after Riku. The silver-haired youth rammed a fist against the clear wall separating them from the three on the balcony.
"No!"
He hissed in pain as his fist hit the force field.
"Don't waste your energy." Leon stood next to Riku, observing the events unfolding before them behind the screen. "The wall probably goes all around the area and there'll be no way for you to breach it. You'll just have to trust your friends to get through this one alive on their own."
Riku glared venom at Leon-or, tried to anyway. But the older man was right, much as he hated to admit it, and he could only watched with growing anxiety as Ansem and Sei continued to exchange blows.
It appeared at first that neither side would gain an upper hand. The two fighters were perfectly matched against each other, both of them refusing to show any signs of weakness as they struck again and again. Sei's dual swords made it easier from him to balance protecting himself against and attacking the other man. Watching this, however, Kairi still found it strange that Sei had chosen to battle with these rather than his keyblade, Oathkeeper.
Sei advanced forward, feinting with one sword while cutting sideways with the other. Ansem caught the edges of the swords with the side of his swallow, and then reversed the arc to strike in return at the slightly smaller youth. Sei jumped back and to the side, following this up with a right-cut.
Then Ansem caught the side of Sei's head with the flat of his blade. Disoriented from the blow, he was pushed back and down as he was forced to revert to a defensive line. One hand braced his body up as he was pressed to the ground. The other arm held his sword up in a block against Ansem's blade. But Ansem never did make that final blow... instead, he held out one hand as if to take a hold of Sei...
...or as if in invitation.
"Yield yourself to the darkness!"
Sei flinched away, his eyes narrowed and his mouth set in a thin grimace. Ansem merely chuckled at this gesture of defiance and reached down.
"No!"
A voice had risen before Ansem could touch Sei; it was faint, as if heard through a distance.
~It sounds so familiar...
Ansem looked down at Sei in fascination.
"This is impossible-"
A dim, glowing figure stood before Sei, his arms outstretched as he shielded the youth. He was clothed entirely in black, with even his face hidden in a black hood. Only a pale sliver of his profile was showing.
"This one will not be claimed by the darkness."
None of the figures moved. Time seemed to stop... and then Kairi knew.
~I'm coming Sora
She ran towards them. As she touched Sei, her body seemed to pass through his. The air around them blurred and Kairi, the unknown, and Ansem vanished.
Sei's eyes glassed and his body fell to the floor. At this point the force field vanished, but there was nothing more that anyone could do, but wait.
Riku crouched down beside Sei's prone body, feeling what seemed a hundred conflicting emotions storming inside his mind, but voicing only one.
"Don't get yourself killed Kairi..."