By: Naela
Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.
Chapter Seven: Searching for the Light
The boy had grown limp by the time Sephiroth had pulled his sword out. A quick glance down was enough for the warrior to know that the boy was dead or at least close to death. The child's eyes were rolled to the back of his head, and his life force was beginning to drain out of his body. Smiling, Sephiroth slashed at the air with the Masamune, watching as flecks of blood flew off the sharp steel.
Sheathing his weapon, Sephiroth turned away from the body and stared up at the ceiling, narrowing his eyes. He willed for a portal to open and saw the momentary flicker before an opening tore through the air, forming another exit within the library. Now that he was done with this little entertainment, he could get on with his real business. Sephiroth felt his wing tense, and his feet left the ground as he began ascending towards the portal. A hand snaked upward, snatching at his boots, and pulled him down. Sephiroth stumbled backwards, nearly tripping down the stairs. Regaining his balance, Sephiroth placed a hand on his sword, but his eyes were staring directly into the dull blue gaze of the Keyblade Master, Riku.
Sephiroth wasn't surprised. In fact, he should have seen this coming. This wouldn't be the first time he'd fought an enemy who'd returned from the dead. He'd been warned about the boy's abilities. He shouldn't have taken him so lightly.
Watching the boy, Sephiroth saw Riku tense for an attack. He drew his sword and side-stepped a clumsy lunge from the boy. He saw him trip over a step and fall, sprawled over the stairs. Instantly Sephiroth was behind Riku and grabbed a handful of the boy's hair, pulling him to his feet. Riku cried out and swung wildly with his keyblades. Unimpressed, Sephiroth shoved the boy forward and watched him tumble the rest of the way down the stairs, hitting the floor hard and leaving a trail of blood behind on the dark carpeting of the steps. The boy didn't move from his position, and Sephiroth leapt into the air. He drew his sword and slashed at the boy's neck the instant his feet touched the ground--only to have his blade be driven into the library floor. The boy had rolled away and was back on his feet, both keyblades at the ready. Sephiroth felt his lips twist into a menacing grin and gave the boy a nod of approval. He grinned wider at the scowl Riku returned.
Straightening, he pulled his sword free and took one step back with his left leg. His right shoulder was facing the boy, and his sword was aligned with the child's chest. This time, he'd rip the boy's heart out if need be. He rushed forward and saw the boy staring in shock before reacting and jumping away. Sephiroth's sword slashed across the other's chest in a diagonal cut.
The Keyblade Master grunted and spun around, trapping the Masamune in between the arc and hilt of the black keyblade. Sephiroth twisted his sword, trying to free his weapon. The boy began running at him, his other keyblade poised for attack while his black keyblade kept the Masamune in place.
Sephiroth flew into the air and felt the keyblade hit its mark. His leather outfit was cut, and underneath the severed material was a red gash. With his freehand he touched the bloody skin. It'd been a while since anyone had been able to cut him and he knew that this wound would leave a scar. He felt a guttural growl escape his throat. Placing both hands on the Masamune, Sephiroth lifted the sword and pulled the boy up with his keyblade. Kicking, the boy jerked, trying to yank the sword out of the one-winged angel's grip. Sephiroth couldn't help but smile at the boy's persistence.
Sephiroth shook the sword hard, waving it back and forth trying to loosen the boy's grip. The Keyblade Master crashed against a bookshelf and let out a groan as he lost his grasp on his keyblade. He fell to the ground in a crouching position and tossed the Kingdom Key from his left hand to his right.
"Come on, you can do better than that," Sephiroth goaded. He grinned when he saw the boy's eyes narrow.
Placing both hands on the Masamune, he held it level with his chest and rushed forward, leaving a trail of black feathers in his wake. The boy's eyes widened at his fast attack, and at the last moment the boy managed to roll aside and jump onto his feet. The one-winged angel stopped short of crashing into a bookshelf and spun around, bringing up his sword to block a swing from Riku. The boy was not deterred and shoved his sword back, giving Riku enough momentum and time to spin around for another attack. Sephiroth blocked the blow, and their weapons locked, trembling under the pressure of two powerful forces coming against one another.
Flapping his wing, Sephiroth flew upwards. The boy stumbled forward, growling audibly. Jumping on top of a bookshelf, Sephiroth held the Masamune by his side and held out his hand, beckoning for the boy to attack.
The boy glowered at him and then glanced from side to side. Catching sight of the Oblivion, he ran for it. Sephiroth smirked and watched him dive for the weapon with his left hand. With both hands armed, he faced Sephiroth and brought the keyblades together, crossing them. Energy crackled and travelled up his arms, but the boy didn't flinch at the power pouring through the keyblades and into him. He ran forward, his feet barely touching the ground as he climbed up the side the bookshelf, the force of his ascent tipping the bookshelf forward.
Sephiroth leapt onto an adjacent bookcase as the other bookshelf crashed to the ground, sending books and dust flying. The boy balanced on the shelves of the fallen bookcase and held up both keyblades, throwing them forward. They flew straight towards. The swordsman brought up the Masamune, knocking both keyblades aside but was unprepared for the third attack. Riku rushed at him and plunged a red sword into his gut. He groaned through gritted teeth and pulled back the Masamune, bringing the sword into the boy's shoulder. The boy cried out, but his grip on the red sword refused to loosen.
Taking one hand off the hilt of the Masamune, Sephiroth grabbed onto the blade that was in his gut and took one shaky step back. He heard the sickening sound of blood and other body parts being jarred as half an inch of the red sword was pulled out. He ground his teeth and took another step and another. The boy was wincing as the Masamune was slowly being pulled out of his shoulder. No longer being able to take the pain, Riku jumped backwards, off the bookshelf and onto the ground. Sephiroth went into a crouching position, his hand over his gut. Pulling his hand away, he saw the blood that covered his glove.
"Riku!"
Both fighters faced the door and saw the trio that had run in. A man with brown hair and muscular build rushed forward, both hands holding the hilt of a sword. His appearance had changed, but Sephiroth recognized him: Squall. From his memories, he knew that Leonhart was no pushover like the boy.
Stepping up beside Leon, holding a sword nearly as big as his body, was Cloud. He hadn't changed since the last time Sephiroth had seen him. The one-winged angel sneered at the sight of the man. He ignored the pain in his gut and stood.
"Sephiroth," Cloud growled. He brought his sword down, slicing the ground. "Leave the boy alone and face me."
"As much as I'd like to, Cloud, I have better things to do with my time," Sephiroth said, giving the blonde warrior a smirk.
Cloud scowled at the man and stepped forward, ready to charge when a hand held him back. He glanced up to meet the warning gaze of Leon, who shook his head. Turning to face Sephiroth, Leon pointed his gunblade at him. "What are you doing here, Sephiroth?"
Sephiroth sheathed the Masamune and wiped his blood-covered hand on his coat. "You have no reason to know anything, Leonhart."
The silver haired man's eyes fell on the third party member and nearly laughed at the sight of her. "Rinoa! Leonhart, I thought you'd be smarter than to bring the woman you love into the middle of danger after that little debacle with Aerith."
Energy crackled around Cloud at the mention of Aerith. "You have no right to say her name!" he shouted.
"Calm down, Cloud," Leon commanded, though he had taken a step closer to Rinoa.
"Riku? How are you?" Rinoa called out.
The boy scrambled to his feet, one hand on his shoulder while the other held onto his bat wing sword. "I'm fine, Rinoa," he replied, keeping his eyes on Sephiroth as he slowly made his way to the others. The man made no attempt to stop him.
"It was an entertaining duel, Keyblade Master, but I've wasted enough time here," Sephiroth said. A glowing portal opened behind him. "I have other matters to attend to." He jumped backwards, and the portal closed before anyone could take a step forward to stop him.
"Is he gone?" Leon asked, glancing towards Rinoa and then to Cloud. The blonde warrior had his eyes closed, and he shook his head.
"No," Cloud replied, opening his eyes. "He's still here. He's moving towards…" He stopped and suddenly cursed. Turning on his heel, he kicked the library doors open and rushed out of the room.
Leon glanced towards Rinoa then towards Riku, and then met her gaze again. The girl nodded at him. "Go," she told him. "I can take care of Riku… and I can handle Sephiroth if he comes back."
"Thank you," he said softly, leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead before turning and following Cloud.
Rinoa approached the boy and saw him surveying the damage of the library. The boy shook his head. "I'm sorry about the library."
"Don't worry about that. No one ever uses the library except for Aerith," Rinoa said, waving dismissively at the books. "And I'm pretty certain she'd be more concerned over your well being than a couple of books."
"I should have been smarter than to face off against him alone," Riku murmured. He leaned against the wall for support. "I could sense that he was powerful."
Rinoa smiled at him. "Well powerful or not, I'm impressed. The fact that you were able to go up against Sephiroth and hurt him proves that you're a great warrior. The only two people who I know that could do that are Squall and Cloud."
Riku winced as he brought a hand up to his chest. "I don't think hurting him was worth it."
Stepping up to him, Rinoa held a hand over his chest. She frowned as she studied the wound. "This goes straight through your heart."
"Yeah… I know," Riku replied. His eyes drifted across the library, refusing to meet hers. "I felt it when Sephiroth's sword went through my heart. It stopped for a few minutes, actually. Then I just woke up, and it was working again."
Stepping back, she stared into his eyes and smiled softly. "You're not a normal boy, are you, Riku?" she asked.
The boy shook his head. "I guess not… that's what I've been told."
Holding a hand over the wound, Rinoa's hand started glowing green. The soft light spread from her hand to Riku's chest. The boy closed his eyes and felt the familiar presence of a healing spell entering his body. His wounds began to slowly close while all weariness and fatigue seem to wash away.
The glow faded, and he opened his eyes. He saw Rinoa glancing towards the door with a frown. Looking towards the door and then back to Rinoa, Riku held out a hand, catching her attention. "What is it?"
"It's Sephiroth," Rinoa replied. "He's surfaced again, and Cloud and Squall are near him…"
Riku pushed himself off the wall and began heading for the door. "Where are you going?" Rinoa called after him.
Riku paused at the door. "I'm going to help," he replied.
Rinoa frowned and shook her head. "You'll never make it in time," she replied. She held up her hands, and his two keyblades rushed into them. She glanced down at both and tossed them at him. Riku caught them smoothly and willed them away. She ran up to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him into a wall and then through the wall.
"This way is quicker," she told him as she pulled him through another wall.
Riku frowned and glanced behind him, touching the wall they'd just walked through. It was solid. "You're not quite normal either," he noted.
Rinoa laughed as she led him through another wall. "That, Riku, is something I've always known."
Every resident of Hollow Bastion had their own individual room to live and claim as their own. They were allowed to decorate it in any matter that they wanted and do what they wanted with it. Most residents liked using their rooms as their sleeping quarters. Some, such as Cloud, had transformed theirs into a sparring room. Cloud instead used Aerith's quarters to sleep in. They usually slept side by side, holding each other. It was in this room that Cloud let himself become vulnerable. Aerith was the only person he allowed to see the side that he considered weak.
Half of the room had been decorated to his tastes, which wasn't much, a few swords on the wall here and some cloaks hanging off chairs there. It was really up to Aerith to bring some taste into the place. She held a hand over her stomach as she sat in front of the mirror, combing her hair. Cloud had told her before that he didn't care for her appearance, that he loved her for the way she was, but she did like making herself appear presentable for him. With people like Tifa in his past, she really did feel a tinge of jealousy that she wasn't quite as pretty as them.
She felt the baby kick and laughed softly as she put the comb down and placed both hands on her abdomen. She had a feeling that the child would be as energetic as Cloud. She heard the door creak open and gestured towards the door with one hand.
"Cloud, come here and feel this! The baby's kicking."
A gloved hand reached forward and rested itself against her abdomen. She felt a chill run down her spine as the hand smeared blood across her dress. She glanced up and jerked away as she met Sephiroth's gaze. Nearly falling out of her chair, she tried to back away.
"Sephiroth!" she gasped. The man gripped her shoulder with both hands and pressed his lips against hers. She struggled, pounding on his chest and trying to push him away. Bringing a leg up, she kneed him in the gut and heard him groan into her mouth before shoving her away and clutching onto his stomach. Aerith stared at him in confusion, then glanced down at her blood stained knee.
She took the opportunity and fled to the other side of the room, grabbing the Princess Guard off its rack, and began to slowly edge towards the door. Sephiroth's face snapped around in her direction, and his gaze seemed to hold her still. Getting up to his feet, the man began approaching her.
"Stay away from me!" Aerith exclaimed, holding up the Princess Guard.
"For what reason?" Sephiroth asked. He stopped inches away from her and laughed. "In your condition, you can't fight… or use magic." His hand reached forward, about to touch her abdomen when Aerith brought the Princess Guard on his hand, smacking it away.
"I can fight, Sephiroth," Aerith warned. "And I'll continue fighting rather than let you touch my baby."
"Your baby…" Sephiroth's eyes stared at her bulging belly. "Yours and Cloud's… "
He turned away, his hand reaching for the Masamune. "You've been tainted by that scum… you can't be the Princess of Light."
"What?" Aerith questioned.
Sephiroth pulled the Masamune out of its sheath and pointed at her belly. "But I can make you pure again."
Aerith trembled underneath the Masamune. Dropping the Princess Guard, she held both hands over her belly and shook her head. "Don't do this… Sephiroth, you weren't like this before."
"I never had my heart ripped out of my chest before either," Sephiroth retorted, his eyes gleaming with glee.
The door flung open, and Cloud rushed forward, the Buster Sword knocking aside Sephiroth's weapon. He stepped in front of Aerith and glared at the silver haired man.
"Aerith," he said, never turning his back on Sephiroth. "Get out of here."
"Cloud…" Aerith said softly. She knew better than to argue and nodded before running out of the room.
"You have a lot of nerve," Cloud growled. "Is this the reason why you came back? To win her back?"
"There is no winning, idiot," Sephiroth snapped. "She loves you… that dog loves YOU!"
"Don't call her that!" Cloud glared at him.
"Ripping out my heart… running to you, isn't that what you call a woman who does that?" Sephiroth asked, flicking the Masamune from side to side.
Lowering his sword, Cloud relaxed from his stance and shook his head. "Get out of here," he said, meeting Sephiroth's gaze. "Just leave."
The silver haired warrior stepped back, the maniacal smile still on his face as he gave Cloud a salute with one hand. A portal opened below him, swallowing him. Cloud frowned, realizing that Sephiroth had given up too easily. His thoughts went to Aerith, and his eyes widened.
"Sephiroth!" he exclaimed, running up to the portal in time to see it close. He growled and shot out of the door. There was the Aerith, just down the hall, standing in front of the floor to ceiling window. She was standing so that he could see her profile, the bulging of her abdomen standing out. She turned away, noticed him and waved.
"Aerith!" he shouted and began running towards her.
"Cloud?" she called back, confused. "What's wrong?"
He stopped halfway down the hall when he saw the portal opening above her head. His heart stopped for a split second before he regained his senses and bolted down towards Aerith. She stood frozen, watching him in confusion, oblivious to the danger over her head.
"Goodbye, little princess," Sephiroth whispered as he dropped from the ceiling, sword poised over her.
With his booted feet pounding hard against the ground, Cloud kicked himself into the air with one foot, his hands reaching for Aerith. Grabbing onto her shoulders, he shoved her aside and felt the sword slide smoothly through his back, through arteries and the wall of his heart, then through his chest. He gasped, taking in a sharp breath and heard Aerith scream. His worried eyes searched for her and found her on the other side of the hall, trembling with her eyes wide as she reached for him with one hand.
At least I was able to protect her this time.Cloud groaned as he felt the sword slide out of his chest. He glanced up to see Sephiroth, no longer smiling, no longer gleeful. A portal opened behind him, and he backed away into it, disappearing from sight as it closed. Aerith was immediately by Cloud's side, holding onto his hand and cradling his body. He glanced up at her, his sight blurring. He forced his eyes to focus and saw the tears in her eyes. Slowly the world faded into darkness.
"No…" Aerith choked out as she felt his hand go limp. "NO! Cloud… this… this can't be real!"
She heard footsteps approach and didn't bother to glance up. She couldn't take her eyes off Cloud. She buried her face into his shoulder, sobbing.
"Aerith…" Rinoa approached her side, her hand held over her mouth. She glanced over to see Riku clenching his fists.
"Cloud's gone," Aerith whispered into the fallen warrior's shoulder. "Cloud will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry… or get angry…" Her hand went to her abdomen. "What about us? What are we supposed to do?"
"Please, Aerith," Rinoa kneeled beside her, trying to pull her away from Cloud. The woman in pink sat up, still clutching Cloud's hand fiercely.
"What about my pain!?" Aerith asked. "My fingers are tingling, my mouth is dry… my eyes are burning!"
Rinoa stood up, noticing Riku turning on his heel and marching away. She glanced hesitantly towards her companion and then ran towards the boy. "Riku!" He paused, allowing her to catch up. "Riku, don't blame yourself," she said, stepping in front of him.
"I should have done something more," Riku snapped, his eyes hard, refusing to allow any emotion to slip through. Rinoa shook her head. Reaching a hand out, she tried to place it on his shoulder. Riku moved away, shaking his head fiercely.
"There's nothing you could have done," Rinoa tried to soothe him. "You did your best!"
Riku glanced over his shoulder towards Aerith, who was still leaning over the body. "I still can do something."
"There's nothing you can do about death!" Rinoa exclaimed.
Shoving past her, Riku walked away. "That's what you believe," he muttered, hand held over his heart.
::Sneaks onto the stage hiding behind her shield::
Ah heh… PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!! Sephiroth made me do it! He wanted to get Aerith so badly, but Cloud wouldn't have it! ::sniffles:: Okay so I've become extremely cruel to my characters… but here's part two of Riku's little story arc. Now what's he going to do? Ah hell I think I made the solution a little too obvious.
Oh and if it ain't too obvious now… No, the Cloud and Aerith and the rest of the FF7 crew from this game are NOT actually from the FF7 world. They are like they were in Kingdom Hearts, the same basically goes for the rest of the Final Fantasy characters. Still, I won't mess with certain untouchable pairings (Tidus/Yuna, Cloud/Aerith, Squall/Rinoa)
BTW: Anyone seen Matrix Reloaded???? OMG I LOVED IT!
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Koorino Megumi: Such a darling for beta reading my fics and also for helping me with a certain scene in the fic. Go kiss her feet people!! Oh and I'm certainly not the first person to put Rinoa into a KH fic… hopefully when KH2 comes out Rinoa will be in it!! I absolutely adore Squinoa!! ^_^
Cynthia Chen: Yeah, I get the lack of internet connection, it was horrible!! And as you've most likely read about… Riku's fine!! *G*
Chibigenius: HEY!! Enigma doesn't like to be glomped! Yes, writing about illusiony Sora was fun, the little tyke!