Title: In The Darkness We Meet
Written By: Astaldothôlwen
Point Of View: Kairi
Chapter Nine: Dismantled Renewal
Disclaimer: As every other Kingdom Hearts fan fiction writer has claimed and reiterated time and time again; I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I don't claim to own Kingdom Hearts nor do I want to own Kingdom Hearts. Okay that is a lie, but c'mon, we got to keep the corporate people happy, even if I was lying through my teeth.
I saw him.
I saw Sora; but not only Sora; Riku as well. He was disappointed in me; I could see it all over his face. I did this for you Sora, can't you see? His face looked almost pained; it felt strange to see; it felt as though I let him down or something.
'It is these feelings that will make you suffer once more Princess, what you must do is convincing him that this is for the best.'
My dearest friend, the Inner Voice, it is always there for me. It never steers me wrong. It was right, if Sora only understood why I did this, how powerful it has made me; surely his opinion would change would it not?
I did this for you Sora. The Darkness has manifested over body, mind and soul. It has made me powerful beyond reason. Is this not what you wanted? Not some annoying weak girl who couldn't do anything for herself?
'If you only reconsidered, we could rule over everyone; we could be together once more; there would be nothing to stop us, there would be no forks in the road.'
Sighing annoyed to myself, I felt rather frustrated. Sora, the one person I love dearly refuses to see me as I am now. How closed minded is he? Has he changed from the person who was more accepting of people than most people could even think of being? What was wrong with him? Couldn't he just be happy for me?
'Of course he couldn't; he never loved me; I was being lead on a leash unaware of anything I was being dragged into.'
Pacing around Ansem's old chambers; I found my emotions flooding my mind like a cup fills with water under a tap. I was drowning in my own feelings and had no way of swimming out of the river that I was finding myself in.
'This may be true Princess; however, you always have the plan.'
My plan? Yes, that is right, I do have a plan. My plan is flawless; this plan will be executed wonderfully. I can now see both Sora and Riku and I had nothing to worry about.
There is no one here to stop me; no one here to tell me no. However there was some tension and anxiety which have begun to plague my mind. I'm not sure how to explain it, however it was there, the knot in my stomach was forming and I had a feeling it would reside there.
'Princess, they left you alone; alone and depressed. You have risked everything, your home and your life to come see them and what did they do? They were disappointed, if you were to ask me, I would tell them to pay.'
The Inner Voice was right, Sora was disappointed. I couldn't be sure what Riku felt, he didn't move or even open his eyes to look at me. However, I would not be forced to feel poorly about myself because he wasn't happy.
No, I was pleased with myself, and would not second guess anything I have done to make him feel happy. If he didn't like this new me, then that was fine I refused to go back to the weak and old Kairi. This new Kairi was the Kairi which would stay.
I needed time to think things over.
'Leave me alone. I need some privacy.' I thought to the Inner Voice.
When I received no response, I sighed with satisfaction. Walking out of the chambers and down the halls, I found myself looking for the large ballroom with the fountain. Something in my heart wanted to go there, so that is where I was planning on being directed.
The only problem was that I had no idea where to find the fountain. It was bittersweet and almost solemn; I knew I had seen a fountain and that it greatly intrigued me, however I had no idea where to begin to look for it. However, my mind was working overtime. I had complete control over the Darkness; therefore it wouldn't be difficult to transport myself directly to the fountain once more.
But I wanted a challenge. I needed a challenge. The marrow in my bones lusted for a challenge, which would experiment the Darkness to see how powerful I had truly become. Beckoning Heartless in front of my feet I commanded them to search out a fountain in a large room with black floors and high ceilings. When they had found it, they would report back to me. Immediately.
Minutes passed and there was no sign of the Heartless. My shoulders slumped slightly from disappointment, knowing that the Heartless were unintelligent creatures who would take a large amount of time to find the fountain; and then somehow manage to find me once more.
Although to my surprised the gentle squeaking of tiny Shadow had got my attention. It signalled to me that it had found something. I sat there mystified that it understood something, its tiny arms and feelers moving around very animatedly.
It turned around and began to run down the corridors. Its pace was quick for its tiny size; however I only had to walk at my normal speed to keep up with it.
As we continued to walk, I noticed something familiar – the two large statues guarding the doorframe. Smiling to myself, I knew we were here.
"Thank you my little friend, I no longer need you." And with a flick of my wrist; the tiny Heartless was obliterated into dust.
Smirking to myself, I truly was powerful; there was nothing that could stand in my way. The Heartless were powerless and weak against me and my emotions would not get the best of me. And then there was Sora. Would I truly stop such a power for his happiness? What about my happiness? Don't I deserve to have joys in life as well?
Would he truly sacrifice everything I have worked so hard for; because he didn't like it?
Scoffing to myself, I would not allow that to happen. No, I would still remain powerful. I would not become weak again. Jealousy is a horrible thing, and he was probably jealous that I was the strong one now. There was no other explanation.
The poor protector, the all mighty Sora couldn't protect himself from the one who loved him most; for the one who loved him the most was finally his superior.
'I am everyone's superior. No one can belittle me now.'
Grinning to myself, this new found happiness was astonishing. As I entered the large ballroom, it looked much different than I had last remembered it. Walking towards the fountain I had been rather shocked. The two angels were covered in thick, harsh vines with thorns. I could barely make out the figures faces the statues were so entangled within the plants.
As my view was turned downwards I noticed the entire fountain was in shambles. It appeared that it hadn't been taken care of for many years. Dirt and mud was caked onto to snowy white marble, no longer shining brightly.
I sat upon the ledge of the fountain, not caring if I got dirty. As I skimmed my hand along the bottom of the basin, I noticed there were tiny ceramic pieces plastered there. Surprised, I continued to wipe the dirt off of the pool until I realised what had been created there.
'A paopu fruit?' I thought to myself.
Finding it strange that a fruit which was not found anywhere than Destiny Islands would be engraved into a fountain, I shrugged the feeling off. As I got up it was only then I realised that it was not only the fountain which had changed.
I looked around the large room shocked at what I was seeing.
The black marble floors were cracked and chipped. As I walked along them, a loose piece slid from under my foot causing me to fall. I broke my fall with my hands; however the jagged marble cut deeply into them. As I peered down at my hands dark liquid poured freely from them.
I was surprised that what I saw was not blood; but Darkness. The substance had the consistency of blood; it was thick and liquefied; but was not what I had expected.
Life is always throwing a person curveballs, and I found this as yet another ball being hailed my way. I thought nothing of it and continued to scan the room. The large pillars were dismantled as well. Many of them had toppled over and were no longer standing erect.
Those that were still standing like soldiers did not look safe or steady. They appeared as though they could fall at any given moment.
I glanced at the doors which had led me to the library, I wondered if the library was in a run down condition as well. My eyes continued to circle the parameter of the room, when my eyes fell on an old looking door. Walking around the fountain, the door was situated directly behind it; so if you were not searching carefully around the room, you would miss it.
Walking towards the door, I noticed how old and knotted it was. Placing my palm across the rough wood, the door swung open, the ancient hinges crying in pain and agony. Where I found myself, was somewhere particularly shocking. I was in an old hallway, thickly accented with cobwebs and dust.
Down this tiny hall, there was no light amongst the darkness, only pitch black. With the waver of my left hand, I managed to create a makeshift torch. Although the torch was not real; only a materialization of the Darkness, yet it had managed to create enough light to get me down the hallway.
As I walked on, cobwebs stuck themselves to my face and the top of my head was scraping the top of the tunnel; however I didn't mind, I was curious what was in the depths of this area.
As I walked forwards, my torch had managed to catch the light which showed the sides of what appeared to be a doorframe. As I walked through, the hallway had managed to grow into a large room. It appeared to be a prison; a tiny prison which was old. The walls were created out of counterweights and concrete and the air was thick and muggy.
The floor was wet and the skin of my face felt very damp. As I walked ahead I found tiny cells, barely large enough for a grown man.
Searching in the cells, there were two boys at the very end. I didn't need to think twice about who or what it was inside the cell.
As the sound of my footsteps neared, one of the boys looked up at me, his face scarred and bloodied. It was Sora.
"Sora? Is that really you?" My voice seemed so small. It was barely above a whisper.
His face softened when he realised who I was. However his gaze ran all over my body and it scared me. The disapproving look upon his face gave away what he was thinking. This time he would not make me feel badly about myself.
"Kairi. It is so magnificent to know your okay, but what on earth happened to you?" His voice was pained; it was as though these words were taking the life out of him.
This was not my fault. I had become this so that he would love me; so that I would gain his respect and his undying affection.
I couldn't help my glaring eyes; his words filled me with anger.
"If anything, you should be thanking me. I saved you life; I've rid Ansem of this world for good, and you've done nothing but scold me."
His face hardened; if not scolded me, "you are not the person I fell in love with. What happened to the real you Kairi? Your eyes are hallowing, and your face has been tainted. You show no emotion, where have you gone Kairi?" His eyes were watering, and his voice wavered as he spoke those words.
'He doesn't appreciate anything that I have gone through. He still views me as weak. I'll show him how strong I am by the end of this.'
Placing my hand on the lock, the deadbolt clicked slightly; signifying that it had been opened. Backing away out of the tiny door so Sora could leave; I noticed he had no intention of moving. My eyes lowered into dangerous slits.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you see I am granting you freedom from this prison?" My voice was harsh; but I felt no remorse.
In his eyes I could see that I had confirmed something that he had been contemplating, "Yes just as I thought, you are not the girl I fell in love with. Kairi, what have you done to yourself?"
A slight moaning distracted me. Looking past Sora, there was the body of Riku, stirring slightly in his sleep.
My heart felt relieved, I thought he had died.
"Riku?"
Slowly my silver haired friend opened his aqua marine eyes and smiled at me, however, his smile quickly turned into a frown.
"Kairi, you have given into the Darkness, but why?" Ugh, not Riku too! Although this doesn't complicate things, it saves me from having to explain later on.
Sora's face fell, his eyes became solemn and sad, "So that's what happened to you Kai, you've given up your soul and heart, but why? Can you please explain me that?"
I was getting tired of this interrogation and fury of questions. I didn't have to answer anything. Turning around to leave, I stopped, looking at my two friends.
"I have thought of something, you two will be coming with me." My voice sounded commanding as though I was a speaker dictating to a large army.
I walked to Sora and Riku's cell and clasped their hands; Riku recoiled.
"Your hands, their so cold. You have been touched by the Darkness. Kairi, I know how it is, but you must find the light within your heart, or else it will continue to manifest itself on your body! It will lead you to a life of sorrow and disdain; once the Darkness has completely taken over, you cannot be saved."
Scoffing at my silver haired friend he had no idea what I was going through and why I chose this. He had no idea.
"You will come with me. You have no choice." Grabbing Riku's hand and managing my grip on Sora's wrist I transported the three of us back to my bedroom.
When we arrived my two friends looked at me helplessly as though I was a rabbit with its leg ensnared in a trap. I didn't want their pity.
I paced around the room trying to figure out what I was going to do; what I could do. My patience was wearing thin; their eyes followed me around the room, and it was beginning to infuriate me.
"Will you stop looking at me?! What the hell are you staring at anyways? I am the same old Kairi!"
Sora's face hardened once more at this comment, "You are not the same Kairi. You've changed whether you want to believe it or not," he walked towards me, fishing for something from his pocket, "Kairi, please don't be angered. I've done everything I could to get back to you."
Sora had certainly changed since I saw him so long ago. His voice had become much deeper and his body much bulkier. His arms have pronounced muscles and had obviously been worked very hard according to their size. The one thing that hadn't changed over the years on Sora was his eyes. His eyes still had the depths of the sea within them; they were still as blue as I remembered.
Sora continued to fish inside his pocket until he found the item that he was searching for. He clasped my hands, and as much as I wished to recoil from disgust, something inside me prevented me from doing so. He placed a tiny trinket within my hand and turned to walk back towards Riku.
Looking within my palm was the tiny paopu fruit charm that I had given him so many years ago. Although it was worn with use and its colour had dulled some, it had released a warm feeling from within me. The warm feeling had grown into an intense burning and had caused my body to shake from pain. Looking up at Sora, his face looked worried; however I didn't buy this game he was playing.
"What did you do to me!?" I hissed.
Both Sora and Riku ran to me, as the pain continued to surge from within my veins. Riku was nodding, as though he knew what was going on.
"She is going into shock, her body has been exposed to the Darkness for a long time and it is repelling the light from the charm. She'll be fine. I went through the same thing when you found me." Riku explained in a tone to Sora as though he were commenting on the weather.
The light or so Riku called it continued to rack my body as the convulsions went through my body. My eyes felt heavy and I could feel Sora's strong arms cradling me. From the moment he touched me the pain intensified ten fold and I could hear a faint voice inside my head screaming in pain.
Smiling to himself, Riku told Sora that he should continue to hold me that the light from within his heart was slowly beginning to take affect. I watched Sora's eyes begin to droop, as though this process was taking a large amount of energy from him.
'Princess Kairi, you must get away from his grasp, he is killing me!' The Inner Voice was hissing with pain.
'I can't kill him or send him away, he is so warm and it feels so right being in his arms.' I cooed with bliss towards the Inner Voice.
As the Inner Voice continued to scream; slowly it subsided and I could no longer hear it. The heavy feeling in my heart felt as though it lifted from my body. As I looked at my torso, I found that I was once again wearing the white tank top which I had adorned from the Destiny Islands; my black velvet dress was slowly disappearing into a sea of black sparkles.
I looked at Riku; his face seemed pleased. As I glanced over to Sora, his brow was moist with sweat and was breathing heavily; and yet a smile graced his features.
I don't know how he did it; but Sora managed to regain the light within my heart. I no longer felt like I needed the Darkness to live and become a strong individual; being with Sora was enough.
A tiny yawn escaped my lips and I looked into Sora's eyes and sat upwards hugging Sora as tightly as I could. I wanted to make sure that he was real; and that he wouldn't disappear from my grasp.
"Sora, thank you. What I said about the plan, just ignore that. I was wrong to ever doubt your intentions." Closing my eyes I felt my body warm from its new found light, the Darkness no longer prevailing inside my veins. As my eyelids grew heavy, I found myself sleeping in Sora's arms; blissfully unaware of anything around me.
"Sora," Riku paused briefly looking at the young girl within his friends arms, "you must realise, and she isn't completely healed. The Darkness still remains within her. We'll have to watch her very closely to make sure she doesn't fall back into the Darkness once more. The next few days are going to be rough for her."
Sora nodded in agreement, "I know Riku, I know. She has gone through so much, and I'll never let her go again."
Author's Notes:
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew! That was one long chapter! I couldn't bring myself to end it; I just wanted to keep on writing this chapter! I was planning on making Kairi's purification the big event in the next chapter and thought to myself, 'eh, what does it matter? I'll make it in this one.' I know I lost my first-person narrative at the end where Sora and Riku were talking, however I felt as though I needed that information in that chapter! This chapter (not including the replies and notes) was 3,426 words and six full pages on a size ten font! That's huge! The entire chapter notes and all was eight pages and over 4000 words whistles
I didn't want this to happen, and quite frankly, I'm really sad about it, but I think this story might be coming to an end soon. I'm not entirely sure when, however it will be winding down eventually. When the fic gets to about 30,000 point that'll be our way of knowing I think. I don't imagine that I could some how find another big plot-arch without making the story look over-the-top or anything you know?
I'm not entirely sure that after this fic has been completed if I'm going to make another big story such as this one. I might stick to one-shots for a while because it seems that they are better received than this story has been (not that I'm complaining or anything because the support has been exceptional: I never expected any support for my over active imagination).
So this is my question for everyone who has been reading In the Darkness We Meet should I make more one-shots, where I can update frequently more often, or should I create another full fledged story? Your answers will be considered because I would really like to know what you all think .
Anyhow, I am beginning to ramble a bit; I should get on with the replies now eh? Oh wait, I do have one more thing to say! On my profile, I have a link to a webpage I posted with my pictures from Prom and Grad; a few of you were asking to see some of the pictures, so there you are! I have more Prom pictures; however they haven't been developed yet.
Reviewer Replies:
Lyphe: Again, your reviews are so sweet, I'm thinking of mailing you a batch of cookies or something for your unending support hugs Lyphe
HisLight: I'm so happy your enjoying this story! The next two chapters are really long and I hope that you'll enjoy them!
Other Story Replies:
Recollections and Memories:
Lyphe: grins I can always count on a review from you; even if the stories aren't all that great! How did you manage to review twice, I'm rather interested! Were you on more than one pc, or was it because you weren't signed in? Or perhaps a mixture of the two?
Silentchill13: Thank you, I was hoping I wasn't trying to make Riku sound like a melodramatic drama queen or something. I didn't want him to be like "waaah, my name's Riku; I'm so sad, someone pity me!" sorta thing you know? Thank you very much, your reviews are so nice .
The Rain Upon My Windows:
Lyphe: Don't worry, your story was very inspirational, and I was surprised, even though your story was so depressing, it almost made me want to make one of my one-shots happy in the end; which is strange for me lol.
Zanisha: One of my newest reviewers! How exciting! Thank you for your wonderful review! Yeah, it is really hard, my friend, she was perfectly healthy and one of the most happy go lucky people you'd ever meet. I think we should transport ourselves into the game so that we can give Riku his much needed hug; what do you say?
Silentchill13: Thank you for reviewing this fic! I'm glad that I surprised you at the end, I was hoping that it wasn't going to be obvious, and you're the first person to mention that, so thank you hugs.
Final note: I hope there aren't too many typos and gramatical mistakes I only proof read this a few times. Maybe I'm lazy; but it's mainly because I was rather pleased with this chapter!