Lightbringer; Chpt. 10- Children of the Storm

Adalai- Alright Dante, Disclaimer!

Dante, Muse of Drama- Adalai owns nothing. Ok!!!! NOTHING!!! Runs away bawling, asking 'god why me'.

Adalai- Ok... that was somewhat unexpected...But I do own the plot and OCs. AHAH! points and laughs at lawyers, singing 'you can't sue me, you can't sue me...ect, ad verbatim.
...

"Hellooo..."

Ellos blinked, mentally fighting the sleep away. Her mouth felt like it was filled with cotton, her head was filled with fuzz. Even after her blackout, she still felt tired and weak. She felt breathless, dizzy, and had a pounding headache and ringing ears. Looking down, she saw her skin was it's usual pallor; not tan. Her waking mind was still filled with a dream she had while in unconscious. She was running, blind yet not blind, in a forest full of bare trees and smooth stone ground, chased by a figure in a brown and black cloak, and a black castle near waterfalls that flowed upwards.

Next to her, the woman poked and prodded at the claw wounds in Ellos' side, flower shaped organ moving and twisting, like a third eye on the side of her head. She spoke.

"Where did you get those Gebo 1 of yours?"

"I've always had them." Ellos replied, realizing that she was talking about her twin S-shaped blades. "What...Who are you?"

The woman smiled at her, a motion surprisingly full of candor on such a usual face. "I have not chosen a new name yet. But I am...what is it that you call us? Ah yes, an Endless."

Ellos blinked, looking at the woman. How did a grown woman not have a name?

"Well...I have to call you something."

She merely smiled. "Your kind seems to have a preoccupation with giving everything a name. Whatever the man called each of them would be its name. Could you think of a name? I would be honored to be named by you."

"How about Carmen, Celeste, Cahya, Cheryle, Camyron, Claibourne?"

"What do those names mean, though? A name has to have meaning."

"Hmmmnnn... Camyron means bent nose"

The woman wrinkled her nose, prodding the wound in Ellos' side with a pair of tweezers, obviously not liking the name.

"Okay...Carmen means garden or field of fruit. Claibourne means 'from the earth'. Celeste means heavenly, Cahya means life, and Cheryle means loved."

"I think I'll take Claibourne. From the earth. And Clay as a, nickname you call it?" Pushing the edged of the wound aside and keeping them apart with pieces of metal, Clay slowly uncovered something dug into Ellos' side. Something black and pulsing.

"The heartless that attacked you and Natalia; how long did they have their claws in you? 5 seconds? Ten?"

Ellos shrugged, not remembering. "Only a few seconds. Why?"

"It only had its claws in you for seconds, but it managed to lay 5 eggs?" Clay grabbed a mirror and tilted it upward, so that Ellos could see the deep lacerations in her side.

The edges of the cut had been pulled apart as much as possible, showing two lumps of black shadowflesh. The middle was shaped like an oval, transparent pouch, each filled with 2 spiked black balls. One end, pointing towards the skin, was funnel shaped, ending in a valve with five flaps, attacked to the skin by thin fibers extending from the tips of the flaps and spreading out in a star-shaped pattern just under the skin. Ellos could see three other star-shaped marks on her skin, where it had healed over the other pouches. The end pointing towards the body was made of tiny, suckered tentacles, which where attached and wrapped around a blood vessel at the bottom of the cut.

"I have no idea what they are" Clay said. "Since they can't be eggs. Heartless don't lay eggs. But probably something very similar. I don't know how to remove them yet; they're wrapped around the blood vessel, and I don't think I can remove them without causing it to rupture and you to bleed to death."

"These marks and pouches; they weren't there before. How?"

Clay prodded the pouches, cutting them open with a scalpel. "It was probably pieces of shadowflesh accidentally ripped off and left in the wounds. But the heartless evolved, and the shadowflesh in the wounds evolved too."

Picking up a pair of tweezers, Clay plucked a spiked ball from one of the pouches in Ellos' side. "They are very sophisticated organisms; they have a nervous system and a circulatory system to pump the blood they take from the blood vessel; see the little heart on top of the pouch, how the vessels on the side pump up and down in a pulse? It's taken a lot of your blood, especially red blood cells, for some reason. That's why you're so pale; anemia. Damn things are like vampires. Wonder what they're doing with all that blood..." She trailed off into murmurs.

Bring the black ball with her, Clay placed it under a microscope, examining it. Ellos, in turn, examined Clay.

Clay was about 7 feet tall, and had the appearance of something that was half human and half sea creature. Her form and body was that of a human; hands, arms, feet, torso, and head. But her skin was different; strips with scales like fish, strips that seemed to be made of pure energy or some kind of aether, rubbery shark skin, clear jellyfish-like skin, faintly luminescent, semi-transparent spotted skin, like that of a baby squid, studded with suckers on the backsides of the arms and legs. Her fingers and toes where slightly longer than normal humans, with transparent webbing between them. There was also webbing from the top half of the upper arms to the sides. In the places that where clear, she could see muscles made of glittering white ropes, multicolored blood vessels, and organs whose use Ellos could not even guess. All of her skin was covered in stripes and whorls and strange abstract figures and tattoos in blue and green. Small fin-like and feathered wings, not wholly flesh and not wholly energy, hung down from her hips, shoulders, elbows, knees, back, stomach, arms, legs, neck, ankles and wrists, making a sort of organic clothing that covered her body. Small plants seemed to grow from her skin covered her entire body. Her body seemed to be too perfect and muscular for that of a normal human, and distinctive features and peculiarities were distinctly exaggerated.

Her hair seemed to be made of short, twisted sticks, tiny plants growing among them, tangled with small braids and curls of orange hair. She also had deer antlers, growing from her forehead and swept back with the rest of her hair. He face seemed to have a spherical, streamlined quality that made it appear more dolphin-like than human, with large, liquid eyes devoid of eyebrows, eyelashes or lids. They had no pupils or whites, like crystal orbs extending endlessly downward, filled with shifting colors and metallic hues.

"Interesting" Clay said. "First hive minds, now symbiosis and synthesis?"

Ellos leaned over as far as possible, trying to see what Clay was looking at.

The black spiked ball was covered in a clear jelly-like material, in which resided small flat worms. "They're using the worms and minerals from the blood to synthesize shadowflesh and fuse it with living flesh. So they can heal from wounds." Clay said. "When they hatch, they take the heart of their host, break it into pieces, and each piece becomes a new heartless, complete with a body made from this new type of shadowflesh."

"Sleepers." Ellos thought. Suddenly, the woman heartless, the appearance of the predator heartless, the infestation of heartless in the lower levels of the city, the appearance of Sora, the disappearance of the edge worlds, emerged as a terrible, looming truth.

'I'm not going to remove the pouches; too dangerous. I'll just remove the spiked balls inside." Clay said, plucking the other ball from the pouch and examining it. She murmured under her breath. "Released from their seals like the horsemen of the apocalypse."
...
"Where one falls, two more shall rise. The Endless." Scion said, tossing an old scroll at Strife.

It contained on one side a drawing of Endless, some human, others animal, some beautiful, others grotesque, some tiny, others human-sized. All had the same flower-shaped organ on the side of the head. They were on a background of strange plants and animals, twining and sometimes even blending seamlessly into it. The back was covered with strange writing.

"20 years ago, the Endless homeworlds were wiped out by an invasion of Heartless and Mindless. No one knows why they were wiped out, or anything much about them; the Nobody and Endless where always at each other's throats, only working together when the Gathering was called. As time went on, we became more and more estranged. Eventually we lost all contact with them, and any NEO who had ever met one is long since dust, except for the Enigmatic man. They alone hold the keys to start the Gathering. Whereas the symbol of the Nobody is the door, the symbol of the Endless is the key."

"We are still unaware of the extent of the Endless power. Legends say they can shape shift, practice necromancy, grant and have healing powers, create demi-keyblades and hearts, manipulate magic like sorceresses do, but to a greater extent. But the most amazing story, and the one which we know they can do for sure, is create new ages and change existing ones."

Tidus leaned over the railing of the balcony the Nobody where sitting on. "But that woman that saved me on Destiny Islands; Ri...Strife, she was as Endless. She told me that herself."

Strife nodded. "The Nobody have been looking for a survivor of the Endless for some time. Even a half Endless would be helpful. That's one of the reasons we brought Ellos here; we thought she might be a half-Endless, but now I don't think so. The fact that she had been brought into Kingdom Hearts when she was young, that she didn't know anything about her birth, her home age, and her parents, and she was born the exact year it happened; it was suspicious."

Scion spoke. "We are going to take her before the Enigmatic man tomorrow, into the In-Between world. To see if she can start the Gathering."

Tidus was confused. The Endless had saved his life, and then brought him here, promising to help him find any survivors from Destiny Islands. The first place they went to, they found Sora and Riku, who had been missing for 4 years and where presumed dead. Riku told Tidus the whole story; how Sora got the keyblade, about Kairi and the princesses of heart, him being possessed by Ansem and finding he was the true keyblade master, and latter being locked into Kingdom Hearts with King Mickey, being found by Ellos, and then escaping into the In-Between world and finding that after he was a Nobody.

"But how could you be a Nobody?" Tidus had asked.

"Nobodies are made from the cast-aside bodies and parts of the heart not used to create a heartless. When I left my body to Ansem, I left a large part of my own heart with him. When he was destroyed by the blast of light, my body returned to me, and I can only guess that Ansem is now dead, or at least very weak.

"If I had been in the In-Between place and or in the Present world, my heart would have probably died and I would have become a shell. But because I was in Kingdom Hearts, My heart fed off the dark energy and became whole again."

"So in essence, I am a Nobody, but at the same time, I'm not. I have all their powers and abilities, but my heart is whole and isn't entangled with theirs."

"Do you still love Kairi?"

Riku looked at Tidus, surprise on his face. "Were we that obvious?"

Tidus laughed. "You might as well have had signs on you, bro."

Riku smiled, a rare thing for him, even if this smile was sad. "It's not a matter of whether or not I love her, but whether or not I'm willing to let go."

Tidus shrugged. "So why this 'Strife' charade?"

Riku looked out the window, hands crossed in front of him. "There are lots of people out looking for the true Keyblade Master; Nobody, the Heartless and Mindless, and god knows who else. King Mickey thought it was a good idea to give me a new name so I wouldn't be as easy to track. Tell me about what's been going on in Destiny Islands, how it fell. It could be important."

Tidus told him about the changes that had happened while he was away, what everyone had been doing, about the battle with the predator heartless on the hill, Strife occasionally asking questions.

"How did you meet the Endless?"

"I was fighting- or rather, trying to fight- the heartless, and she just came out of a heartless portal and grabbed me. When I opened my eyes, we were in this big empty space; one side was white and the other was black, and there was no ceiling or floor. There were just all these clear glass doors. The ones nearest to us went to different parts of Destiny Islands. We went into the Secret Place."

"What did you find there?"

"There was this stream of darkness and light coming out of the Keyhole; but there was something else coming out of the Keyhole; this kind of power, this light; of all different, shifting colors. There wasn't much more of it than just a tiny spark, but it was shining brighter than all the other light from the Keyhole. It wasn't destroying anything; just kind of going along for the ride."
...

"Knock knock."

Ellos turned over, seeing Strife's tall, thin form in the doorway, that infuriating smirk on his face. "Who's there?"

"Strife."

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see if you were ok."

"Right." Ellos said, not believing him for a minute. But she was glad for the company of a friend, insincere though he might be.

"What was that that you where chanting back there?"

"Back where?"

"With Sora. You chanted something and your weapons started to glow."

Ellos scrunched up her face slightly, confused. "I heard chanting, but it wasn't my voice and she didn't remember saying anything."

"Hmmmnnn... Strange. How did it go?" Strife asked, crossing the threshold and standing over Ellos on the bed.

"She couldn't remove the whole thing, but she removed the eggs. All ten of them."

"Owch."

"Yeah, I'm lucky like that."

"What do you think about this? What theory have you concocted now?"

"What makes you think I have a theory?"

"You have that look on your face. When you smile and try to hide it by biting your lip, I just know you've concocted some theory. It's the only thing you can't hide."

Ellos smiled slightly, no longer trying to hide it. "Ok. Think about it; why, if there are so many heartless roving around the city, why do they stay away from the surface? Why have they not found the keyhole yet?"

"And why are the Predator heartless here? The heartless that I killed, the one that looked like a woman; It was too weak to be of much use in fighting. The only use I could find for it was as a spy. And those eggs inside me, they where designed to be sleepers; they are put into the wounds, and people just cast cure over them, not knowing they are there. The eggs weaken the people they're in, and hatch when..."

"When what?"

"When the invasion happens. I know heartless and war tactics; they're preparing to take this age by force."

Strife looked at Ellos, seeing in her face that she was serious. Ellos rarely volunteered information, or spoke about the heartless; so when she chose to speak, Strife knew it was wise to listen. 19 years of experience fighting heartless was not something lightly tossed aside.

Ellos turned on her side, back faced away from Strife, a sign that the conversation was ended. Strife turned to go.

"Do you keep...secrets from me?"

Strife looked at Ellos, her back still turned to him.

"You asked me if I would believe you were doing the right thing for the wrong reasons; I thought I cured you of that tendency a long time ago."

Strife smirked.

"But it is something you would do. You act as if you carry the world on your shoulders. You think it doesn't show, but how can it not? It's a noble thing to do. And tragic."

Ellos heard the door close as Strife left the room, unsure if he had heard her.
...

Before

Clamoring of the rocks, one hand in front to steady her and the other wrapped around her precious package, Ellos climbed up the wall, spider-like, heading for where Strife was reading King Mickey's notes.

"Package for you, Strife." Ellos said, joking even though her face was dead serious.

"Stop joking. We don't have mail of Yul." Strife said, rummaging through the papers.

"Fine. King Mickey left this package for me to give to'Strife', but since you don't want it..."

Strife snatched it from Ellos and tore open the box. Inside was the broken remains of what looked like two keyblades; one red and the other blue, and a green letter with king Mickey's seal on it. Grabbing the letter, he opened it and began to read.

Dear Riku (or should I call you Strife?)

If you have gotten this letter, it means that the worst possible scenario has happened and it may already be too late. I wish I could bear the burden of this by myself, and for almost 17 years I have been able to, but things have happened that can only be rectified by a true Keyblade Master, not simply a Keyblade Wielder. I will try to explain what I know of this situation. I can only hope you will forgive me for my mistakes. If I had been more careful, none of you would have had to suffer as you did.

There are 4 doors; three are the doors between the three worlds, and the door to the light. All these doors are connected to each other, and with the keyholes in the ages; what happens to one happens to the other.

Before 17 years, these doors, Keyblades, and keyholes did not exist physically. They still prevented or allowed travel between worlds, and protected the hearts of worlds from harm, but they did not exist as actual 'doors', 'keyholes', or physical blades that you could physically touch. They where sort of everywhere and nowhere at once, woven into the very fabric of the ages and worlds themselves, everywhere at once and yet unreachable.

The door to the light is different. The true light slumbers, protected by the darkness it generates in Kingdom Hearts; for the closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. All shadows need light to exist, because all light generates shadows. The shadows that light generates protects it from the evil that sleeps, wrapped around that darkness it cannot penetrate, searching for the door to the light.

The door to the light can be made from the Fissure, as it is called by the Endless, who know it's true nature and the nature of the True light behind it, also exists as the doors between the worlds do- in the very fabric of the darkness of Kingdom Hearts.

But I and the Endless, trying to protect this weakness from the End, which is constantly searching for it, made a terrible mistake; we gave the Fissure physical form, a heart and a will. We don't know how; it should have been impossible, but somehow it happened. And it dragged all the other Doors, keyholes, and Keyblades with it, giving them physical existence and making all the worlds and ages vulnerable to Heartless and Mindless. It made it possible to lock and unlock the doors between worlds and ages, because both the keys and the doors could be manipulated by individuals.

The End seized this chance to destroy those closest to it; the Endless. It also managed to break two of the six keyblades. We managed to hide the Oblivion and Oathkeeper on Hollow Baston, The Golden Kingdom Key inside me, and the Kingdom Key inside you so that the Keyblade Master would have at least one Keyblade ready to use when needed. But the Keyblades, now having a will in addition to their hearts, thanks to the Door being physically manifest, moved around from where we put them. The Oathkeeper moved to Destiny Islands, taking Kairi with it. The Kingdom Key, when Destiny Islands was attacked, went to Sora instead of staying with you and protecting you from the darkness.

The swords you see enclosed are the remains of the broken Keyblades; Souleater and Heartgiver. Souleater locks the door between Kingdom Hearts and the In-between place, and is the only weapon that can completely destroy a heart; in part or fully. Heartgiver opens the door between Kingdom Hearts and the In-Between place, and can completely restore a heart that has been damaged or bring back to life a shade or Nobody. In order to remake these blades, you will need the pieces of the Souleater and Heartgiver, a heart shard from a NEO, and your batwing sword. It was made to be itself a sort of demi-keyblade, made by Endless from a heartless' heart, with a little of their own essence in it. You have to make it yourself; only a Keyblade Master or an Endless can make a Keyblade.

Also, you will have to create a disturbance large enough to attract the attention of a NEO and then destroy it so that you can get it's heart.

The only person you can really trust to help you with this is Ellos. I taught her all I know about the keyblades and she is very familiar with Ansem's work with hearts and the Heartless, as well as her own work with hea Also, being a Half-Dead, she knows how to kill a Nobody and is the only one with the strength, skill, and abilities to do so.

I am sorry that you have to be the one to do this, but you have to get to the Nobody; they will tell you what you need to do next.

I only ask one thing in return for this; let the other Forgotten and Ellos come with you and go into the Present World. No one, not even Ellos, should have to spend their entire life in darkness. They should be able to live in light, find their families and be happy. To start a new life, not living a life that forces them to abandon her humanity bit by bit in order to survive. Also, Ellos may have a rare genetic disease called Marfan's Syndrome, which she needs treatment for or else she will die. To provide you with a way out is the least I can do for both of you and all the help and support you have given me.

All my hopes go with you,

Mickey

...

Author's notes

1.)Gebo is the name of a rune, and in this story it is the name of the S-shaped weapons Ellos uses. The Rune Gebo symbolizes gifts and balance. I will put the link to the picture of Ellos' Gebo in my profile so it is easier to get to, under my webpage.
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Adalai- yes, It's don-one! Wootage.

Adalai- and on a side note, some people, for some odd reason, think that this story is about to end. Nothing could be further from the truth; I've barely even gotten started. So this won't end for a while yet. Also, I promise to explain why there are multiple Sora clones in this fic next chapter. I promise. Some people may have already guessed it, but maybe not. And now, time to annoy Dante.

Dante sneaks away, calls in a favor, and is replaced by the real Dante from 'Devil May Cry'

Adalai- tickle tickle tickle! Time to make Dante break-dance on the wood floor! Looks up and sees the real Dante. Eeep!

Dante beats up Adalai for tickling him.

Adalai- that's all for tonight, folks. Now time to go and crawl into a fetal position in a dark hole somewhere and whimper while Dante Sparta eats my lunch. Remember to review.
...

I am wrong
I am right
I swear that I am right
I swear I knew it all along
And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself.

- Vindicated, Dashboard Confessional