Author's Note: Wow..Five chapters..not much else to say except that
Disney and Squresoft- or is it Square Enix now? Well, those two own all the
characters and stuff except for Ryo, she's mine, no one else's.and it's
gonna stay that way, she could be borrowed I suppose...but that's it
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Ryo was sitting on the staircase in the library in Hollow Bastion. She was recalling everything that had happened in Neverland. Her head was in her hands as her elbows rested on her knees. She stared out into nothing as a red book rested in her lap waiting to be read. The girl's expression was not all to pleasing as it looked like someone had offended her deeply and she was responding with one of those if-only-this-look-could-make-you- suffer-a-fate-far-worse-than-Death-and-torture-you-for-all- Eternity looks. The battle between Hook and Sora replayed in her mind and then fast forwarded to when she and Riku arrived back to their base as one might say.
Riku had used so much energy trying to get him and Kairi back almost forgetting Ryo who was lucky to have been brought back by Maleficent. The thing that really bothered her though was what he had said afterwards to Maleficent. Those words pierced and wounded her heart more than any doubled-edge sword could. The other edge of that sword was all the time they spent together and him making her think and feel that there could be something between them. The words kept repeating in her head over and over again. "I don't care if what I did was foolish, I didn't want anything to happen to her, and no one or anything is going to take her away from me."
The girl's head shot up when she heard a door opening and closing. She looked behind her and saw her teacher walk up to her.
"I've been looking all over for you; there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," said Maleficent.
"I know, we lost again but Sora won't be coming for awhile, I saw the expression on his face after the battle and he's going back to the Coliseum to train before coming here, he'll need it," Ryo responded.
"That's not what I wanted to talk about, it's about you're training my dear," she said with a slightly warmer tone than usual.
"Is there something I need to do to prepare for his arrival?"
"No, it's about how rapidly you were able to learn and master your magic, and it's not because of your necklace, no, it's beyond that."
"Then maybe it has to do with my lineage."
"I thought as much, tell me, who were your parents?"
"Well, my father was a well known Dragon Knight and my mother. . . she was a powerful black sorceress. She was very powerful but she didn't really use it for evil or anything, she just wanted to be the best at something and she did so," said the younger girl with a bit of a sad sound. She looked up with a confused expression for her mentor. "But how did you know that-"
"That you are an orphan? It wasn't that hard to figure out considering you showed no interest in finding a way back to your home, any child wouldn't want to stay away from friends and family too long."
"Heh, what made you not think that I was just a loner?"
"Even a lone wolf has someone in their heart as they walk an isolated path from everything and everyone they want away from them. Besides, it's amazing how much information magic can bring you, I'm sorry but I couldn't stand back and let someone I knew hardly anything about just come and learn magic under me be they powerful or not," explained Maleficent. As much as the Fairy of Darkness would hate to admit to herself she was saddened when she saw the shocked expression on her pupil's face. "I can understand if you are to trust me even less," she said as she awaited the words to be unleashed from the girl's mouth. But the thing that surprised her was the response.
"That's not why I have this face, I have this face because I'm surprised you were so honest to me, that whole 'lone wolf' stuff I can understand coming from you, but the fact that you admitted reading my memories leaves me flummoxed a lot," Ryo replied.
"Well if we are to have a strong relationship as teacher and student wouldn't it be best if we leave no lies told between us?" continued the fairy. Even she couldn't help but smile as she saw the look of mild joy on Ryo's face after hearing those words. Maleficent could only imagine what it must've felt like for her to hear what Riku said and she thought it best that these words would cheer her up a bit, and it would also be good for herself to relieve the pressure on her shoulders about her little secret.
"And besides," she started to add, "It's the least I can do for a fellow 'Maleficent'," she said with a smirk. If Ryo was an anime character she would've done a classic face-fault but just choked and jerked her head forward and looked back up at the other person.
"You.you saw that part too?" asked the shocked girl. Maleficent chuckled and sat next to her and placed her staff leaning against the stairs next to her as she looked at the girl.
"It's almost frightening to compare how much in common we really share isn't it?"
"Heh, yeah, even the whole 'Aurora' ordeal also, only mine isn't a princess, just some rich guy's daughter, almost worse if you ask me."
"I suppose. Did I catch you at a bad time?" she asked. Ryo looked down at the book in her lap and shook her head.
"Oh no, I wasn't planning on reading it anytime soon, it's nothing that important. . ." she replied. Although when Maleficent looked at the title of the book she knew right away that Ryo was just being polite. After all, if anyone had gone through the same things as Ryo, no one would want to read a book titled 'Getting through Love and Mana'. "But it's funny, every time I wanted to curse Arora out I would just shout out 'May you prick your finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel without the protection of blue fairies!' and I would point my index finger at her. But I don't know what made me be polite enough to refrain from showing the other finger to her." Ryo started to laugh lightly and Maleficent did the same enjoying the threat
"Well, that is one way to put it."
Riku was standing at the castle gates looking down upon the Rising Falls. He could sense Sora coming and he would be their waiting. But he sensed someone else already here. He jumped down and went to see who it was. He could see a transmogrified figure charging up to him, he had horns like a bull but fur like a wolf and face almost human, but too beastlike to be recognized as one by any other person. His purple cape flapped in the air as he landed in front of Riku growling yet panting.
"No vessel, no help from the Heartless... So tell me, how'd you get here?" Riku asked.
"I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here. I will have her back!" exclaimed the beast.
Riku looked over to see Sora and his friends ready to jump in but he ignored them for now and turned his attention back to Beast.
"Take her if you can," was all he said. The Beast roared in anger and charged at the boy. What he didn't expect was for him to dodge and counterattack. Riku knocked him back leaving him winded and deeply injured with a swift hit of his Shadowblade.
"Stop!" shouted Sora as he arrived just in time to witness every thing that had happened.
"So, you finally made it. About time. I've been waiting for you. We've always been rivals, haven't we? You've always pushed me as I've always pushed you," said Riku.
"Riku."
"But it all ends here. There can't be two Keyblade masters," he continued.
"What are you talking about?" asked the confused Sora.
"Let the Keyblade choose...its true master," he said. With his hand before him he watched the weapon in Sora's hand shake and disappear. Riku smirked as it reappeared in his own hand and paid little attention to Donald and Goofy's shout of shock. "Maleficent was right. You don't have what it takes to save Kairi. It's up to me. Only the Keyblade master can open the secret door...and change the world," he said. He was also glad to see and listen to Sora's disheartened remarks of disbelief.
"But that's impossible. How did this happen? I'm the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade!" Sora shouted.
"You were just the delivery boy. Sorry, your part's over now. Here, go play hero with this," Riku said while tossing Sora his old wooden sword.
While all of this was happening outside Maleficent and Ryo were in the chamber with all the princesses. Maleficent stood in the center of the captured girls and Ryo watched from the side as usual remembering this scene.
"O purest of hearts! Reveal to me the Keyhole!" bellowed Maleficent as she spread her arms out. A purple beam of light emitted from each girl including Kairi who was kept in a capsule on an alter in another room connected to the hall the other six princesses were held in. Ryo sighed and thought back to the moment she and Maleficent had shared just hours ago talking. She feared for her teacher's fate especially now after what they had said. "Why don't you fear the Darkness?" Ryo asked again in her head replaying their moment in her head.
"My heart is strong and over powers the darkness, you should worry for your own sake, I do.sometimes," replied Maleficent.
"You should practice what you preach sometimes." she said. Maleficent chuckled and stroked Ryo's hair letting her hand rest on her shoulder sensing her concern.
"I have nothing to worry about, the darkness has no power over me and no one can defeat me nor will anyone in the future, well, near future at least," she smiled at Ryo sending her silent note and the girl smiled a little.
"It will take a long time for me to get that strong, but I would never hurt you."
"Nor I you my child," Maleficent replied softly and stood up to leave.
Ryo snapped back to reality and spoke softly. "Even though we are near to where I left off in the game, I still know what will happen-no. . .might happen. I won't let him hurt you Maleficent-sama."
Riku was running down a hall way after his defeat with Sora. The new key bearer lost to the old one and now ran with anger losing again to his rival. "Why, it was. . ." shouted the infuriated boy as he continued running.
"Know this," started a strong, deep voice from out of no where. Soon a hooded figure appeared behind him in a light brown cloak. "The heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade," he finished.
"What? You're saying my heart's weaker than his?" asked Riku turning around the face him.
"For that instant, it was. However, you can become stronger. You showed no fear in stepping through the door to darkness. It held no terror for you. Plunge deeper into the darkness, and your heart will grow even stronger," said the hooded man.
"What should I do?' asked the boy.
"It's really quite simple. Open yourself to the darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself," he replied.
Riku looked at himself as a dark green aura started to engulf him. He looked back up and saw the man gone and soon his usual yellow shirt and blue pants disappeared and was replaced by a skin-tight suit with black, dark blue and red colors swirled into it and a heartless symbol on his chest. He could tell Sora and his friends were on their way to the Chapel so Riku made his way there to meet up with Maleficent and Ryo.
When he entered to room he saw Ryo standing on the upper level near the railing. She saw him and kept her face emotionless as she watched him. The new Riku looked at her with cold eyes but there was still something inside of him that urged him to say something to her. He might have done so if it wasn't for the task at hand. He turned away from her as he walked with Maleficent to the doorway. "So, I see the path has emerged at last," he spoke with an evil sounding voice echoing his own.
Ryo choked out a gasp as she remembered what had happened. The scene played before her mind's eye; watching him run down the hall and that man, yes, that darkness-obsessed man who now resides in the young male. But this wasn't the only thing that surprised her. She had to work hard to breathe now as she remembered something about this hooded stranger. Ryo went back to the room of her memories and saw the man in her classroom when she was all by herself.
"Their taunting is something you can no longer take. You feel as though you'll snap at any moment and might do something you'll regret," spoke the man.
The brown-haired girl who had been looking out the window turned to face him with a stunned expression on her face. "Who are you? When did you come in here?" she asked doing her best not to sound scared.
"Just a person who wants to help," he responded.
"As chivalrous as that sounds I can't just believe a random person who just walks into my classroom, besides, how did you know I'm the class 'dart board'? You have a bug on me or something?" she said with a bit of a harsh tone.
"You're questions I can understand, but I think there is something much greater for you that you would not be able to find here," he said. The hooded man looked down on her desk and scattered the papers a bit with his gloved hand so he could get a better look. If the girl could see his face she would completely be sure he was smirking as he stared at a rather decent drawing of herself to look like Maleficent and another to look like the girl she would unknowingly later become. "You just need help on getting to that place where you can reach your full potential," he finished.
"Full potential? What are you talking about?" she asked while walking closer to see if she could get a better look of him but he took a step back.
"You will see in do time, your pathway has not been revealed yet even though you have it," he continued. He turned his head to look at her and saw her confused expression and he chuckled. "I'll just tell you that you shouldn't take your passion for video games for granted, you'll be amazed by the new worlds they'll take you to."
"Great, this whole time I thought I was talking to some mysterious old wise man and it turns out you're just a spokesman for the new game Kingdom Hearts. Look," she started before she took a deep breath to obviously repeat a review she read for the game. "I know this game is a wonderful new adventuresome fantasy RPG that features all of your favorite Final Fantasy characters combined with the classic and new Disney characters you grew up with. If you love games or just a good story in general you need to buy this game just for the fact that it's from Disney," she replied then took another breath for her tired lungs. She looked confused again as the man chuckled deeply.
"Kingdom Hearts, so that's what they named it.Well, I guess I have nothing left to say except that you better take care of that necklace of yours, because one day it will take care of you," he said
"Wait, why is it so important? Who are you anyway?" she asked but her attention was diverted to the window after the bell rang signaling the end of their lunch break. She turned again to look for the man but he had disappeared with out a trace.
Ryo, now breathing heavily watched as Riku and Maleficent stood before the entrance.
"Yes. The Keyhole to the darkness," answered Maleficent to the boy's statement.
"Unlock it and the Heartless will overrun this world," he continued with his altered voice.
"What do I care? The darkness holds no power over me. Rather, I will use its power to rule all worlds," she replied.
"Such confidence," was all he said as a dark keyblade appeared in his hand. Maleficent stared in stunned anger.
"Oh! Impossible! The princesses of heart are all here!" she exclaimed then turned to look at Kairi lying in mid-air behind them. "It must be her."
"Without her heart, she will never be able to release her power," said Riku. Ryo listened closely to their conversation and realized this is exactly where she had left off. Sora was in the castle now and Maleficent was going to fight him and.
"The king's fools are here. I'll deal with them myself. You stay here and guard the princesses," Maleficent said.
"Wait!" exclaimed Ryo. "Please Maleficent-sama, let me take care of them," she pleaded.
"No, I can't allow you to fight him; he is stronger now considering what you said is true. I will fight him and defeat him," the concerned master said to her apprentice. Ryo jumped down from where she was and landed right in front of Maleficent and grabbed onto her robes looking up at her with desperate eyes.
"But I can't let you fight him. This is exactly where I stopped and I know what will happen if you go out and fight him. Besides, if you don't let me fight him then all my training would be for nothing," she finished while still looking at the person she now looked up to's eyes. (he he, double meaning) Maleficent looked down at the girl and paused for a moment thinking back to their conversation and how Ryo admitted to being weak compared to her.
"If you are so concerned then you may come with incase something does happen. But you must understand I can not ignore this fight, after all the boy has come so far and it would be rude of me to disappoint him," she said with a smirk and started walking to "greet" her guests. Before Ryo followed her she looked back to Riku with a sympathetic look. Riku's expression changed from emotionless to surprise. Inside he was trying to fight for control over himself against the other man inside him, fighting against Ansem. Riku wanted to say something before she left and started walking to her to do so but he stopped and grabbed his forehead in pain and leaned against his keyblade for support.
"Riku-" she started before he cut her off.
"Just go," he breathed out barely without the sound of the dark tone that recently echoed his voice. Ryo started walking to him but he looked up at her and shouted with his own voice still: "Go before you get hurt!" She looked at him with grief and turned around to join Maleficent in the fight against the Keybearer.
Maleficent stood before Sora, Goofy, and Donald. Ryo, who was still thinking what Riku meant by "leave before you get hurt," stood beside her and watched as Sora drew his keyblade ready to fight.
"I'm afraid you're too late. Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is unstoppable," stated Maleficent.
"We'll stop it! After coming this far, there's no way we're gonna let that happen!" shouted Sora as he was preparing himself for what he hoped to be the final fight.
The Dark Fairy glared at him and spoke with eyes wide from his over confidence. "You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat me? Me, the mistress of all evil?" she exclaimed while throwing her arms into the air. Ryo watched intently since she had always imagined how Maleficent would fight head on without turning into a dragon like she had done against Prince Philip. But before she could tell what was going on a disc made of stone lifted her up into the air. The young girl looked down to see Maleficent looking at her then she too was uplifted by a disc made of stone only it was twice the size of the girl's.
Sora and his friends charged at her ready to fight but were cut off by a barrage of Defender heartless. Maleficent cackled as she flew around the room on her disc firing thunder spells onto her enemies after they had defeated her first wave and collected their HP/MP spheres and munny. Sora however managed to jump up onto her disc and started attacking her. Ryo glowered at him but decided it was best to see how her master could handle his situation.
Maleficent grunted as she tried to deflect all his blows with her staff. She was able to only block a few of them but Sora was faster and managed to get a few hits in. Finally she decided that the best defense was a good offense and started to whack at him with her staff with one hand. But this was doing no good for her so she turned into a small orb of green light and made the disc float to the other end of the Castle Chapel. As the disc started to move it also spun around knocking Sora off.
Ryo was starting to get worried and tried to jump down from her position but was knocked back by force field Maleficent had put on her disc much like with all the lift stops. Ryo leaned against the field and watched apprehensively at the battle below.
"Meteors of Heaven! Answer my call!" shouted Maleficent in her normal state. She had her arms over her heads and soon a huge blue, blinding light appeared before and huge blue rocks were hurling towards Sora and his friends. Sora dodged around the room only getting hit by one as Donald and Goofy ran around frantically trying their best not to get hit. The boy grimaced after getting hit by one of the meteors and started firing his own magic spells at the fairy. The disc moved around the room trying to avoid the attacks making Sora follow it hoping to get onto it again to fight her head on since that was his strong point.
After a few more spells from Maleficent, Sora managed to get back on the disc after using Strike Raid and started attacking again. This time Maleficent used both hands to wield her staff since she would have more strength and was able to knock him off the disc again after she took in a few more hits. Sora ducked under the disc as it flew over him and Maleficent looked around to try to find him before he could make his next move.
"BEHIND YOU!" shouted Ryo as loud as she could to her mentor. Maleficent turned around with her staff parallel with the ground and above her head to block Sora's jump attack. She was able to deflect his first assault but what she didn't expect for him to do was to swing from the side making a huge gash on her chest. When he had done this he re-opened her scar that she received from Prince Philip from their fight just outside of King Stephen's kingdom.
Maleficent screamed out in pain causing her concentration on all her spells to break as she started to fall backwards and off of the disc. Ryo fell to the ground but landed on her feet just before jumping over to Maleficent and caught her in time. The girl fell back slightly from the momentum but stood back up helping the fairy to her feet. The woman clutched her chest tightly and was gasping for air. A black and purple portal appeared behind them as all the thorns in the room burst into green flames and diminished as Ryo helped Maleficent into it and they both disappeared into another room. Sora stayed back for a moment to pass potions and ethers around before they would chase after them.
"Maleficent-sama, you should've let me fight them, you're seriously injured now and you can't fight," cried out the concerned girl as she walked the injured Maleficent deeper into the room. Riku appeared out from black and blue portal from behind and walked up to them. "Do you need any help?" he asked with his voice echoed with the older man's again.
"Do not fret my child, this is what I wanted to prevent from happening to you and I am glad this happened to me instead," she replied weakly as she started to slowly sit on the stairs to rest.
Tears were starting to form out from the corner of Ryo's eyes. Soon the girl gasped seeing the amount of blood that was coming from the wound and onto Maleficent's hand. She looked around hastily until she ripped part of Maleficent's sleeve off from her robes and started to wrap it around her chest.
"Sorry, but it was the only thing long enough that I could find. I'll just cast a curaga on it before I take you to the healing chamber so we can fully heal that gash of yours," she said while preventing anymore blood to be drained. Maleficent was shocked not by losing part of her robes but to see Ryo jump so quickly to help her and smiled softly to know that someone had cared so much for her. Tears were starting to form at the corner of her eyes for the first time in a very long time as well and she touched the droplets on her cheek in shock that she was doing this. But she wiped them away quickly before Ryo or Riku could notice them.
Ryo had just finished wrapping up the wound and placed her hands near it ready to cast her spell. "Curag-" was all the girl could say before Sora exploded into the room.
"Riku!" he shouted as he entered the room. Donald noticed the object the possessed boy was holding and came to a state of shock when he thought it could be another keyblade.
"Is that-" was all the duck could say before Riku broke him off.
"Yes. A Keyblade. But unlike yours, this Keyblade holds the power to unlock people's hearts. Allow me to demonstrate..." said Riku as he walked over and shoved Ryo away knocking her almost to the ground if she hadn't braced herself just in time. Ryo's eyes widened in fear as she saw Riku thrust his keyblade towards Maleficent's heart and shouted: "Behold!"
"Wha-" started a shocked Maleficent. Her eyes were wide with fear as the blade had pierced itself into her heart.
"Now, open your heart, surrender it to the darkness! Become darkness itself!" shouted Riku. He pulled his keyblade out of her heart and disappeared.
"This is it! This power! Darkness. . . The true darkness!" exclaimed Maleficent as she started to gain power with an eager open mouthed smile. Her usual green aura surrounded her as the power was building up inside of her as she dropped her staff beside her. But then she started to realize what was going to happen to her and she looked over to the horror-struck Ryo. Soon that same expression came over Maleficent the second before she started changing.
The power was so overwhelming to the sorceress she couldn't contain it all in her current form. Soon she started cackling and raised her arms above her head as her signature green flames engulfed her and grew as she did while changing into a magnificent black dragon. There was too much smoke at first to see her features but everyone could hear her laughing.
Ryo gasped in alarm and awe for seeing her master take on such a form right before her eyes. She watched as the smoke started to clear up and the dragon's toothy grin could be seen. The girl had to look for a safe place to hide knowing the true final battle between Sora and Maleficent would begin. As she looked around she saw a small clearing behind a huge branch of thorns near a wall and ducked between them. Ryo peered over the branch breathing hard from excitement and fear as she watched the battle.
The dragon arched her neck releasing a loud roar then with the speed of a viper jerked her head foreword snapping at the boy. Sora dodge rolled out of the way just in time and started to strike back at her mouth. The dragon tried to time his movements and attempted to snatch his weapon in her mouth the through it away, but it was no good. Sora proceeded to use Arns Ancrum striking her as many times as he could. This infuriated her and she started to shoot green fire at him surrounding him completely and watched with amusement as he ran into the fire disoriented and blinded by the light. She used this opportunity to swing her body around and knocked the boy and his friends against a wall with her tail.
Sora yelled in pain as his back hit the thorn branch just missing a sharp thorn by inches. Ryo looked at the boy as he slumped to the ground but got up hastily to charge at Maleficent. The dragon responded to his action by stomping on the ground repeatedly causing shock waves to attack Sora and trip him while inflicting a great amount of damage as well.
Ryo was relieved to see her master have the upper hand in the beginning and continue to hold it. But soon her luck started to change as Sora summoned Simba to help him fight. Sora stood still for a moment charging him and his partner up in just enough time to dodge another fire blast and released a power blast using the might king's roar to take out an enormous amount of health from the dragon. The boy continued to do this until his magic ran out leaving him only to fight with regular attacks.
Donald and Goofy were able to come up from behind and attack the dragon at her head to catch her off guard. This managed to inflict some damage and distract her as Sora used an ether on himself to replenish some of his magic. Ryo could see that Maleficent was starting to lose her strength and Sora was getting ready for his final attack while Goofy and Donald kept the dragon away screaming as they climbed the thorn branches as the dragon continuously snapped at them.
The girl wasn't going to sit back and let this happen. She jumped out from her hiding place as she saw Sora charging. The dragon could hear his footsteps and turned around only to see a blues and purple flash with the sound of a loud clang.
Ryo had jumped in front of Sora and was blocking his keyblade with her dragonblade. Sora was pushing with all his might grunting now and then to get Ryo out of the way but she didn't even flinch as she stared in down with a frozen glare.
"What are you doing!?" shouted the boy. "I have to defeat her! She'll spread darkness through out all worlds!" exclaimed the boy.
"I can not allow you to kill Maleficent-sama. I know you want to stop the darkness from spreading all over but not if it means killing her," said the girl with a deep and unwavering voice.
"Kill her?" asked the confused boy; but he shook his head to focus on the event that was happening now. "You don't have to do this! I can help you find your light and escape from the darkness. Can't you see Maleficent is only using you like she is Riku?"
"No you're wrong! Maleficent-sama has only helped me ever since I arrived to this world. The darkness has no power over me and I am here to keep it away from the two people I care about. Step aside Keybearer and just do what you came here for...to save your friends" she said slowly but kept her blade up incase he tried to do something. She looked back up at the dragon with steadfast eyes. "Please Maleficent-sama, stop this now before the you are consumed by the darkness," she pleaded. (Oy, I'm starting to sound like Ansem now, at least it's not just one person saying darkness)
The dragon looked down to the girl with a thoughtful look then to the boy with anger. She huffed with smoke coming out from her nostrils and turned her head away. The girl smiled in relief then looked back to Sora who looked at her with a judging look. He looked deep into her eyes to see if he could trust her, but even if she was he couldn't take a chance at letting all the worlds fall into darkness and be under Maleficent's rule.
Sora pushed against Ryo and took a step back and ran past her in a flash. Ryo saw this in shock and watched as Time started to slow around her. She hurled her dragonblade at him hoping to knock him out but he took an extra big step barely missing her attack. As Ryo started to fall foreword with her heart pounding deeply in her chest and her breath was coming short as she saw the dragon turn her head eyes wide with alarm as Sora stabbed her just below her chest.
Maleficent arched her head back letting out a loud agonizing scream of pain. Ryo's memories of Malicima taking a spear just to save her and shortened her life severely because of it rushed through her mind. All the thorns in the room started to burst into green flames and disappear just like they did in the previous room. Finally Time started to catch to her and air was starting to enter her lungs again just in time for her to scream.
"NOOOOOO!!!" shouted the girl as she saw the dragon fall over to her left and landed on her stomach in the center of the room. Ryo was frozen for a moment as she watched the one she saw as a mother figure to her for the first time since he own mother die fall to the ground in pain. The girl rushed over to her as fast as she could leaving Sora and his friends watching dumbfounded and disheartened at the same time.
Ryo dropped her dragonblade near her and fell to her knees as she wrapped her arms around the dragon's neck and buried her face into her hard yet smooth scales and cried. "No, Maleficent- sama, please don't go," pleaded the grief-stricken girl. The dragon opened her eyes and started to glow a dim shade of green. The girl released her neck and leaned back as she watched Maleficent turn back into her normal form and turn onto her back to sit up leaning against one hand as the other held her fresh cut.
Ryo put an arm around her shoulder to help her up and looked at the wound; it wasn't as bad as the first one but it still left her pretty weak especially since even after her unlocked heart filled her with power her previous wound wasn't fully healed. Maleficent looked to her left to see Ryo looking at her with tear- stained cheeks that were still being covered in fresh streams.
"Just hold on Maleficent-sama, I'll help you to the healing chamber and you'll be all better, just like when you helped me," said the girl with a shaking voice. Ryo used held out her other hand in front of them and summoned a portal just like the one from Sora and Maleficent's first fight.
"Wait, where are you goimf-" started Donald but Goofy clamped his beak and put a finger to his mouth to shush his noisy friend.
Ryo helped her gasping and coughing master to her feet and slowly walked her through the portal. As Maleficent's robes dragged across the ground they left behind a smudged trail of dark matter. Just as the two left the room Goofy looked over to Sora who still had on his emotionless face after seeing this happen.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to let them go like that? What if Maleficent comes back to try and stop us again?" he asked.
"Don't worry, I know she won't be able to fight for a long time. . ." the boy replied.
"What about that other girl?" asked Donald.
"She'll be too busy looking after her before she wants to come after us," he replied.
"And what about me? Did you forget me again Sora?" came a voice from nowhere.
The trio looked around and saw Riku coming out from a portal and step over the smudge Maleficent left behind.
"It seems that the Heartless were using her in the beginning. She failed to notice the darkness in her heart eating away at her. She probably would've died if she didn't have feelings for that girl. Hmmm, so Ryo was the light for Maleficent. . ." said Riku. He looked over to Sora then disappeared. Sora and his friends followed after him.
Maleficent was in the same stone bed with the gel-like healing substance that Ryo was placed in before. The young girl was sitting by her side watching over intently hoping she would be alright. "Hang in there Maleficent-sama, you're going to be okay," whispered the girl.
The woman opened her eyes half way and smiled as she saw Ryo's face above her. She started to sit up clutching her new wound from the boy and leaned back against Ryo's scolding. "Its fine Ryo, I'll be fine," she said.
"But you shouldn't be sitting up like that, I'm surprised you've made it this far with all those wounds you've received; but I'm glad that you have made it this far," Ryo replied.
"Even so I doubt I'll be able to go on much longer," gasped out the weak fairy just before clutching her teeth in the throbbing pain. Ryo jumped up from her seat and was leaning closer now with tears forming at the corners of her eyes again.
"This is why you need to lie down," stated the girl.
"Even if I do go I won't die, I have prepared for this. My body is what can not stay anymore, however my heart will continue on with you," Maleficent said while giving a tired and weak smile.
"What do you mean?" asked the confused apprentice.
"There is something else I've been hiding from you. . ." the woman had to stop now and then to catch her breath before speaking. "When I put you in this chamber to heal you and gave you some of my blood while you were unconscious. There is a spell I learned a while back on how to cheat Death as one might say. When I leave this 'plain' I will still be able to live in another body, but it has to be one that shares the same blood. It'll be only a short time before I regain my energy and can reform my body and I will be back to my full state. I am sorry if I made you feel as though you were being used Ryo. I care for you very much and I didn't want us to be separated by some 'technicality'. But you do not have to accept this task if you don't want to," she said still smiling her weak smile.
The girl took her necklace in her hand and stared at for a moment then looked back to Maleficent smiling. "I would be glad to share my body with you if it means you'll be brought back Maleficent-sama," said the girl softly. The woman slowly reached up and wiped the girl's tears away gently with her index finger feeling the warmth of her flesh and coldness of her tears. Ryo smiled and held Maleficent's hand close to her cheek with her own hand for a moment then released it.
"One thing I would like to ask you first is why you've been ending my name with that word lately," said Maleficent.
"In my world, when you add 'sama' at the end of one's name it means you consider them you're leader, or something like that," she replied.
"Well if that's the case then you don't have to call me that any longer if you do not wish it."
"Heh, I just started getting use to it and you're asking me to stop? Well, it might take awhile but I'll try."
"Alright."
"Forget it! There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" shouted an angry Sora with his keyblade drawn ready to fight Riku. The possessed boy just smirked and charged at his rival ready to fight. As their keyblades clashed against one another sparks and jolts of energy were sent throughout the entire castle.
Ryo and Maleficent could feel them in another room which was starting to make the fairy worried.
"Ryo, go and bring me my staff, I need it before I go," requested Maleficent. Ryo answered with a nod and started to leave. She looked back once then took off towards the Castle Chapel. When she arrived there she looked everywhere but was only able to find the green orb that was attached to it and started running back to the chamber Maleficent was in.
When she entered the room she half gasped half choked when she didn't see Maleficent in the bed. She wanted to scream out when all she saw in the bed was a black and purple smudge much like the one she remembered seeing near the end of Sleeping Beauty. But before she could even make a move she heard a voice inside of her telling her to go to the Main Hall. The girl paused for a few seconds then did as the familiar voice requested of her to do.
The moment Ryo walked in she saw Sora falling to the ground as all of the princess' hearts, including Kairi's, was heading back to their rightful owners. Ryo watched as Sora fell to the ground and Kairi ran to try to catch him but only ended up grabbing yellow particles of magic. The girl started to feel sorry for them but stopped her emotion as she remembered and figured out what Sora had done to the only two people she had cared for in a long time.
"So, you have awakened at last, Princess. The Keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose. But now it's over," said a tanned man with long white hair and amber eyes as he appeared out of nowhere. Donald and Goofy readied their weapons as the man started to approach.
"Do you think we can stop him all by ourselves?" asked Goofy.
"I don't know!" shouted Donald. Ryo rushed over to them with her dragonblade in one hand and the orb in her other.
"I'll help you fight him. Especially after what he has done to Riku," she said. The two fighters were surprised to see her helping them but looked over to Ansem as he started chuckling.
"So you have changed after all. You look quite nice with your new look; even better compared to your old one," he said with a smirk.
"Shut up! Give Riku his heart back you bastard!" she shouted.
Ansem continued to walk but stopped suddenly and tried to move. "Impossible. . ."
An image of Riku appeared in front of him but he was transparent. "No, I won't let you use me for this!" he shouted. "Now go! The Heartless are coming!" he shouted again.
Kairi, Goofy, and Donald started to run away but Ryo stood there. "Riku. . ." she said.
"Ryo you have to go! Leave this place before you are hurt," said Riku.
"No, I'm not going to leave you!"
"You have to go now; I won't let anything happen to you Ryo. . .I care for you too much."
Ryo's eyes started to fill up with tears when she heard him say this. Her legs slowly started moving her over to him as she ignored the struggling Ansem and only saw the faint image of Riku before her. Riku gazed at her with sad eyes as he lifted his hand and reached out to touch her cheek wanting to wipe her tears away. He couldn't stand to see her cry like this; but what made him want to cry was when his hand went through her even when she tried to take it into her own.
"Promise me we'll see each other again," asked the saddened girl.
"I promise. . ." he said softly as he watched her with sorrowful eyes. Ryo nodded and started to run away with the orb close to her heart letting a trail of tears fall behind. Riku held his arm out and his hand outstretched and saw that she was so far away now her image could fit in his hand. He kept his arm out like that and smiled softly before he faded away leaving an amused Ansem to witness this heartbreaking scene.
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Yes! The fifth but not final chapter! I am so glad I got another review too, and hopefully I'll get more after this one. Sorry to all Sora fans if I made him seem too evil at some points, but oh well, he did and said those things and there's no turning back now. Hope you have fun with this one, again please R&R, ja ne.
Ryo was sitting on the staircase in the library in Hollow Bastion. She was recalling everything that had happened in Neverland. Her head was in her hands as her elbows rested on her knees. She stared out into nothing as a red book rested in her lap waiting to be read. The girl's expression was not all to pleasing as it looked like someone had offended her deeply and she was responding with one of those if-only-this-look-could-make-you- suffer-a-fate-far-worse-than-Death-and-torture-you-for-all- Eternity looks. The battle between Hook and Sora replayed in her mind and then fast forwarded to when she and Riku arrived back to their base as one might say.
Riku had used so much energy trying to get him and Kairi back almost forgetting Ryo who was lucky to have been brought back by Maleficent. The thing that really bothered her though was what he had said afterwards to Maleficent. Those words pierced and wounded her heart more than any doubled-edge sword could. The other edge of that sword was all the time they spent together and him making her think and feel that there could be something between them. The words kept repeating in her head over and over again. "I don't care if what I did was foolish, I didn't want anything to happen to her, and no one or anything is going to take her away from me."
The girl's head shot up when she heard a door opening and closing. She looked behind her and saw her teacher walk up to her.
"I've been looking all over for you; there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," said Maleficent.
"I know, we lost again but Sora won't be coming for awhile, I saw the expression on his face after the battle and he's going back to the Coliseum to train before coming here, he'll need it," Ryo responded.
"That's not what I wanted to talk about, it's about you're training my dear," she said with a slightly warmer tone than usual.
"Is there something I need to do to prepare for his arrival?"
"No, it's about how rapidly you were able to learn and master your magic, and it's not because of your necklace, no, it's beyond that."
"Then maybe it has to do with my lineage."
"I thought as much, tell me, who were your parents?"
"Well, my father was a well known Dragon Knight and my mother. . . she was a powerful black sorceress. She was very powerful but she didn't really use it for evil or anything, she just wanted to be the best at something and she did so," said the younger girl with a bit of a sad sound. She looked up with a confused expression for her mentor. "But how did you know that-"
"That you are an orphan? It wasn't that hard to figure out considering you showed no interest in finding a way back to your home, any child wouldn't want to stay away from friends and family too long."
"Heh, what made you not think that I was just a loner?"
"Even a lone wolf has someone in their heart as they walk an isolated path from everything and everyone they want away from them. Besides, it's amazing how much information magic can bring you, I'm sorry but I couldn't stand back and let someone I knew hardly anything about just come and learn magic under me be they powerful or not," explained Maleficent. As much as the Fairy of Darkness would hate to admit to herself she was saddened when she saw the shocked expression on her pupil's face. "I can understand if you are to trust me even less," she said as she awaited the words to be unleashed from the girl's mouth. But the thing that surprised her was the response.
"That's not why I have this face, I have this face because I'm surprised you were so honest to me, that whole 'lone wolf' stuff I can understand coming from you, but the fact that you admitted reading my memories leaves me flummoxed a lot," Ryo replied.
"Well if we are to have a strong relationship as teacher and student wouldn't it be best if we leave no lies told between us?" continued the fairy. Even she couldn't help but smile as she saw the look of mild joy on Ryo's face after hearing those words. Maleficent could only imagine what it must've felt like for her to hear what Riku said and she thought it best that these words would cheer her up a bit, and it would also be good for herself to relieve the pressure on her shoulders about her little secret.
"And besides," she started to add, "It's the least I can do for a fellow 'Maleficent'," she said with a smirk. If Ryo was an anime character she would've done a classic face-fault but just choked and jerked her head forward and looked back up at the other person.
"You.you saw that part too?" asked the shocked girl. Maleficent chuckled and sat next to her and placed her staff leaning against the stairs next to her as she looked at the girl.
"It's almost frightening to compare how much in common we really share isn't it?"
"Heh, yeah, even the whole 'Aurora' ordeal also, only mine isn't a princess, just some rich guy's daughter, almost worse if you ask me."
"I suppose. Did I catch you at a bad time?" she asked. Ryo looked down at the book in her lap and shook her head.
"Oh no, I wasn't planning on reading it anytime soon, it's nothing that important. . ." she replied. Although when Maleficent looked at the title of the book she knew right away that Ryo was just being polite. After all, if anyone had gone through the same things as Ryo, no one would want to read a book titled 'Getting through Love and Mana'. "But it's funny, every time I wanted to curse Arora out I would just shout out 'May you prick your finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel without the protection of blue fairies!' and I would point my index finger at her. But I don't know what made me be polite enough to refrain from showing the other finger to her." Ryo started to laugh lightly and Maleficent did the same enjoying the threat
"Well, that is one way to put it."
Riku was standing at the castle gates looking down upon the Rising Falls. He could sense Sora coming and he would be their waiting. But he sensed someone else already here. He jumped down and went to see who it was. He could see a transmogrified figure charging up to him, he had horns like a bull but fur like a wolf and face almost human, but too beastlike to be recognized as one by any other person. His purple cape flapped in the air as he landed in front of Riku growling yet panting.
"No vessel, no help from the Heartless... So tell me, how'd you get here?" Riku asked.
"I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here. I will have her back!" exclaimed the beast.
Riku looked over to see Sora and his friends ready to jump in but he ignored them for now and turned his attention back to Beast.
"Take her if you can," was all he said. The Beast roared in anger and charged at the boy. What he didn't expect was for him to dodge and counterattack. Riku knocked him back leaving him winded and deeply injured with a swift hit of his Shadowblade.
"Stop!" shouted Sora as he arrived just in time to witness every thing that had happened.
"So, you finally made it. About time. I've been waiting for you. We've always been rivals, haven't we? You've always pushed me as I've always pushed you," said Riku.
"Riku."
"But it all ends here. There can't be two Keyblade masters," he continued.
"What are you talking about?" asked the confused Sora.
"Let the Keyblade choose...its true master," he said. With his hand before him he watched the weapon in Sora's hand shake and disappear. Riku smirked as it reappeared in his own hand and paid little attention to Donald and Goofy's shout of shock. "Maleficent was right. You don't have what it takes to save Kairi. It's up to me. Only the Keyblade master can open the secret door...and change the world," he said. He was also glad to see and listen to Sora's disheartened remarks of disbelief.
"But that's impossible. How did this happen? I'm the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade!" Sora shouted.
"You were just the delivery boy. Sorry, your part's over now. Here, go play hero with this," Riku said while tossing Sora his old wooden sword.
While all of this was happening outside Maleficent and Ryo were in the chamber with all the princesses. Maleficent stood in the center of the captured girls and Ryo watched from the side as usual remembering this scene.
"O purest of hearts! Reveal to me the Keyhole!" bellowed Maleficent as she spread her arms out. A purple beam of light emitted from each girl including Kairi who was kept in a capsule on an alter in another room connected to the hall the other six princesses were held in. Ryo sighed and thought back to the moment she and Maleficent had shared just hours ago talking. She feared for her teacher's fate especially now after what they had said. "Why don't you fear the Darkness?" Ryo asked again in her head replaying their moment in her head.
"My heart is strong and over powers the darkness, you should worry for your own sake, I do.sometimes," replied Maleficent.
"You should practice what you preach sometimes." she said. Maleficent chuckled and stroked Ryo's hair letting her hand rest on her shoulder sensing her concern.
"I have nothing to worry about, the darkness has no power over me and no one can defeat me nor will anyone in the future, well, near future at least," she smiled at Ryo sending her silent note and the girl smiled a little.
"It will take a long time for me to get that strong, but I would never hurt you."
"Nor I you my child," Maleficent replied softly and stood up to leave.
Ryo snapped back to reality and spoke softly. "Even though we are near to where I left off in the game, I still know what will happen-no. . .might happen. I won't let him hurt you Maleficent-sama."
Riku was running down a hall way after his defeat with Sora. The new key bearer lost to the old one and now ran with anger losing again to his rival. "Why, it was. . ." shouted the infuriated boy as he continued running.
"Know this," started a strong, deep voice from out of no where. Soon a hooded figure appeared behind him in a light brown cloak. "The heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade," he finished.
"What? You're saying my heart's weaker than his?" asked Riku turning around the face him.
"For that instant, it was. However, you can become stronger. You showed no fear in stepping through the door to darkness. It held no terror for you. Plunge deeper into the darkness, and your heart will grow even stronger," said the hooded man.
"What should I do?' asked the boy.
"It's really quite simple. Open yourself to the darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself," he replied.
Riku looked at himself as a dark green aura started to engulf him. He looked back up and saw the man gone and soon his usual yellow shirt and blue pants disappeared and was replaced by a skin-tight suit with black, dark blue and red colors swirled into it and a heartless symbol on his chest. He could tell Sora and his friends were on their way to the Chapel so Riku made his way there to meet up with Maleficent and Ryo.
When he entered to room he saw Ryo standing on the upper level near the railing. She saw him and kept her face emotionless as she watched him. The new Riku looked at her with cold eyes but there was still something inside of him that urged him to say something to her. He might have done so if it wasn't for the task at hand. He turned away from her as he walked with Maleficent to the doorway. "So, I see the path has emerged at last," he spoke with an evil sounding voice echoing his own.
Ryo choked out a gasp as she remembered what had happened. The scene played before her mind's eye; watching him run down the hall and that man, yes, that darkness-obsessed man who now resides in the young male. But this wasn't the only thing that surprised her. She had to work hard to breathe now as she remembered something about this hooded stranger. Ryo went back to the room of her memories and saw the man in her classroom when she was all by herself.
"Their taunting is something you can no longer take. You feel as though you'll snap at any moment and might do something you'll regret," spoke the man.
The brown-haired girl who had been looking out the window turned to face him with a stunned expression on her face. "Who are you? When did you come in here?" she asked doing her best not to sound scared.
"Just a person who wants to help," he responded.
"As chivalrous as that sounds I can't just believe a random person who just walks into my classroom, besides, how did you know I'm the class 'dart board'? You have a bug on me or something?" she said with a bit of a harsh tone.
"You're questions I can understand, but I think there is something much greater for you that you would not be able to find here," he said. The hooded man looked down on her desk and scattered the papers a bit with his gloved hand so he could get a better look. If the girl could see his face she would completely be sure he was smirking as he stared at a rather decent drawing of herself to look like Maleficent and another to look like the girl she would unknowingly later become. "You just need help on getting to that place where you can reach your full potential," he finished.
"Full potential? What are you talking about?" she asked while walking closer to see if she could get a better look of him but he took a step back.
"You will see in do time, your pathway has not been revealed yet even though you have it," he continued. He turned his head to look at her and saw her confused expression and he chuckled. "I'll just tell you that you shouldn't take your passion for video games for granted, you'll be amazed by the new worlds they'll take you to."
"Great, this whole time I thought I was talking to some mysterious old wise man and it turns out you're just a spokesman for the new game Kingdom Hearts. Look," she started before she took a deep breath to obviously repeat a review she read for the game. "I know this game is a wonderful new adventuresome fantasy RPG that features all of your favorite Final Fantasy characters combined with the classic and new Disney characters you grew up with. If you love games or just a good story in general you need to buy this game just for the fact that it's from Disney," she replied then took another breath for her tired lungs. She looked confused again as the man chuckled deeply.
"Kingdom Hearts, so that's what they named it.Well, I guess I have nothing left to say except that you better take care of that necklace of yours, because one day it will take care of you," he said
"Wait, why is it so important? Who are you anyway?" she asked but her attention was diverted to the window after the bell rang signaling the end of their lunch break. She turned again to look for the man but he had disappeared with out a trace.
Ryo, now breathing heavily watched as Riku and Maleficent stood before the entrance.
"Yes. The Keyhole to the darkness," answered Maleficent to the boy's statement.
"Unlock it and the Heartless will overrun this world," he continued with his altered voice.
"What do I care? The darkness holds no power over me. Rather, I will use its power to rule all worlds," she replied.
"Such confidence," was all he said as a dark keyblade appeared in his hand. Maleficent stared in stunned anger.
"Oh! Impossible! The princesses of heart are all here!" she exclaimed then turned to look at Kairi lying in mid-air behind them. "It must be her."
"Without her heart, she will never be able to release her power," said Riku. Ryo listened closely to their conversation and realized this is exactly where she had left off. Sora was in the castle now and Maleficent was going to fight him and.
"The king's fools are here. I'll deal with them myself. You stay here and guard the princesses," Maleficent said.
"Wait!" exclaimed Ryo. "Please Maleficent-sama, let me take care of them," she pleaded.
"No, I can't allow you to fight him; he is stronger now considering what you said is true. I will fight him and defeat him," the concerned master said to her apprentice. Ryo jumped down from where she was and landed right in front of Maleficent and grabbed onto her robes looking up at her with desperate eyes.
"But I can't let you fight him. This is exactly where I stopped and I know what will happen if you go out and fight him. Besides, if you don't let me fight him then all my training would be for nothing," she finished while still looking at the person she now looked up to's eyes. (he he, double meaning) Maleficent looked down at the girl and paused for a moment thinking back to their conversation and how Ryo admitted to being weak compared to her.
"If you are so concerned then you may come with incase something does happen. But you must understand I can not ignore this fight, after all the boy has come so far and it would be rude of me to disappoint him," she said with a smirk and started walking to "greet" her guests. Before Ryo followed her she looked back to Riku with a sympathetic look. Riku's expression changed from emotionless to surprise. Inside he was trying to fight for control over himself against the other man inside him, fighting against Ansem. Riku wanted to say something before she left and started walking to her to do so but he stopped and grabbed his forehead in pain and leaned against his keyblade for support.
"Riku-" she started before he cut her off.
"Just go," he breathed out barely without the sound of the dark tone that recently echoed his voice. Ryo started walking to him but he looked up at her and shouted with his own voice still: "Go before you get hurt!" She looked at him with grief and turned around to join Maleficent in the fight against the Keybearer.
Maleficent stood before Sora, Goofy, and Donald. Ryo, who was still thinking what Riku meant by "leave before you get hurt," stood beside her and watched as Sora drew his keyblade ready to fight.
"I'm afraid you're too late. Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is unstoppable," stated Maleficent.
"We'll stop it! After coming this far, there's no way we're gonna let that happen!" shouted Sora as he was preparing himself for what he hoped to be the final fight.
The Dark Fairy glared at him and spoke with eyes wide from his over confidence. "You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat me? Me, the mistress of all evil?" she exclaimed while throwing her arms into the air. Ryo watched intently since she had always imagined how Maleficent would fight head on without turning into a dragon like she had done against Prince Philip. But before she could tell what was going on a disc made of stone lifted her up into the air. The young girl looked down to see Maleficent looking at her then she too was uplifted by a disc made of stone only it was twice the size of the girl's.
Sora and his friends charged at her ready to fight but were cut off by a barrage of Defender heartless. Maleficent cackled as she flew around the room on her disc firing thunder spells onto her enemies after they had defeated her first wave and collected their HP/MP spheres and munny. Sora however managed to jump up onto her disc and started attacking her. Ryo glowered at him but decided it was best to see how her master could handle his situation.
Maleficent grunted as she tried to deflect all his blows with her staff. She was able to only block a few of them but Sora was faster and managed to get a few hits in. Finally she decided that the best defense was a good offense and started to whack at him with her staff with one hand. But this was doing no good for her so she turned into a small orb of green light and made the disc float to the other end of the Castle Chapel. As the disc started to move it also spun around knocking Sora off.
Ryo was starting to get worried and tried to jump down from her position but was knocked back by force field Maleficent had put on her disc much like with all the lift stops. Ryo leaned against the field and watched apprehensively at the battle below.
"Meteors of Heaven! Answer my call!" shouted Maleficent in her normal state. She had her arms over her heads and soon a huge blue, blinding light appeared before and huge blue rocks were hurling towards Sora and his friends. Sora dodged around the room only getting hit by one as Donald and Goofy ran around frantically trying their best not to get hit. The boy grimaced after getting hit by one of the meteors and started firing his own magic spells at the fairy. The disc moved around the room trying to avoid the attacks making Sora follow it hoping to get onto it again to fight her head on since that was his strong point.
After a few more spells from Maleficent, Sora managed to get back on the disc after using Strike Raid and started attacking again. This time Maleficent used both hands to wield her staff since she would have more strength and was able to knock him off the disc again after she took in a few more hits. Sora ducked under the disc as it flew over him and Maleficent looked around to try to find him before he could make his next move.
"BEHIND YOU!" shouted Ryo as loud as she could to her mentor. Maleficent turned around with her staff parallel with the ground and above her head to block Sora's jump attack. She was able to deflect his first assault but what she didn't expect for him to do was to swing from the side making a huge gash on her chest. When he had done this he re-opened her scar that she received from Prince Philip from their fight just outside of King Stephen's kingdom.
Maleficent screamed out in pain causing her concentration on all her spells to break as she started to fall backwards and off of the disc. Ryo fell to the ground but landed on her feet just before jumping over to Maleficent and caught her in time. The girl fell back slightly from the momentum but stood back up helping the fairy to her feet. The woman clutched her chest tightly and was gasping for air. A black and purple portal appeared behind them as all the thorns in the room burst into green flames and diminished as Ryo helped Maleficent into it and they both disappeared into another room. Sora stayed back for a moment to pass potions and ethers around before they would chase after them.
"Maleficent-sama, you should've let me fight them, you're seriously injured now and you can't fight," cried out the concerned girl as she walked the injured Maleficent deeper into the room. Riku appeared out from black and blue portal from behind and walked up to them. "Do you need any help?" he asked with his voice echoed with the older man's again.
"Do not fret my child, this is what I wanted to prevent from happening to you and I am glad this happened to me instead," she replied weakly as she started to slowly sit on the stairs to rest.
Tears were starting to form out from the corner of Ryo's eyes. Soon the girl gasped seeing the amount of blood that was coming from the wound and onto Maleficent's hand. She looked around hastily until she ripped part of Maleficent's sleeve off from her robes and started to wrap it around her chest.
"Sorry, but it was the only thing long enough that I could find. I'll just cast a curaga on it before I take you to the healing chamber so we can fully heal that gash of yours," she said while preventing anymore blood to be drained. Maleficent was shocked not by losing part of her robes but to see Ryo jump so quickly to help her and smiled softly to know that someone had cared so much for her. Tears were starting to form at the corner of her eyes for the first time in a very long time as well and she touched the droplets on her cheek in shock that she was doing this. But she wiped them away quickly before Ryo or Riku could notice them.
Ryo had just finished wrapping up the wound and placed her hands near it ready to cast her spell. "Curag-" was all the girl could say before Sora exploded into the room.
"Riku!" he shouted as he entered the room. Donald noticed the object the possessed boy was holding and came to a state of shock when he thought it could be another keyblade.
"Is that-" was all the duck could say before Riku broke him off.
"Yes. A Keyblade. But unlike yours, this Keyblade holds the power to unlock people's hearts. Allow me to demonstrate..." said Riku as he walked over and shoved Ryo away knocking her almost to the ground if she hadn't braced herself just in time. Ryo's eyes widened in fear as she saw Riku thrust his keyblade towards Maleficent's heart and shouted: "Behold!"
"Wha-" started a shocked Maleficent. Her eyes were wide with fear as the blade had pierced itself into her heart.
"Now, open your heart, surrender it to the darkness! Become darkness itself!" shouted Riku. He pulled his keyblade out of her heart and disappeared.
"This is it! This power! Darkness. . . The true darkness!" exclaimed Maleficent as she started to gain power with an eager open mouthed smile. Her usual green aura surrounded her as the power was building up inside of her as she dropped her staff beside her. But then she started to realize what was going to happen to her and she looked over to the horror-struck Ryo. Soon that same expression came over Maleficent the second before she started changing.
The power was so overwhelming to the sorceress she couldn't contain it all in her current form. Soon she started cackling and raised her arms above her head as her signature green flames engulfed her and grew as she did while changing into a magnificent black dragon. There was too much smoke at first to see her features but everyone could hear her laughing.
Ryo gasped in alarm and awe for seeing her master take on such a form right before her eyes. She watched as the smoke started to clear up and the dragon's toothy grin could be seen. The girl had to look for a safe place to hide knowing the true final battle between Sora and Maleficent would begin. As she looked around she saw a small clearing behind a huge branch of thorns near a wall and ducked between them. Ryo peered over the branch breathing hard from excitement and fear as she watched the battle.
The dragon arched her neck releasing a loud roar then with the speed of a viper jerked her head foreword snapping at the boy. Sora dodge rolled out of the way just in time and started to strike back at her mouth. The dragon tried to time his movements and attempted to snatch his weapon in her mouth the through it away, but it was no good. Sora proceeded to use Arns Ancrum striking her as many times as he could. This infuriated her and she started to shoot green fire at him surrounding him completely and watched with amusement as he ran into the fire disoriented and blinded by the light. She used this opportunity to swing her body around and knocked the boy and his friends against a wall with her tail.
Sora yelled in pain as his back hit the thorn branch just missing a sharp thorn by inches. Ryo looked at the boy as he slumped to the ground but got up hastily to charge at Maleficent. The dragon responded to his action by stomping on the ground repeatedly causing shock waves to attack Sora and trip him while inflicting a great amount of damage as well.
Ryo was relieved to see her master have the upper hand in the beginning and continue to hold it. But soon her luck started to change as Sora summoned Simba to help him fight. Sora stood still for a moment charging him and his partner up in just enough time to dodge another fire blast and released a power blast using the might king's roar to take out an enormous amount of health from the dragon. The boy continued to do this until his magic ran out leaving him only to fight with regular attacks.
Donald and Goofy were able to come up from behind and attack the dragon at her head to catch her off guard. This managed to inflict some damage and distract her as Sora used an ether on himself to replenish some of his magic. Ryo could see that Maleficent was starting to lose her strength and Sora was getting ready for his final attack while Goofy and Donald kept the dragon away screaming as they climbed the thorn branches as the dragon continuously snapped at them.
The girl wasn't going to sit back and let this happen. She jumped out from her hiding place as she saw Sora charging. The dragon could hear his footsteps and turned around only to see a blues and purple flash with the sound of a loud clang.
Ryo had jumped in front of Sora and was blocking his keyblade with her dragonblade. Sora was pushing with all his might grunting now and then to get Ryo out of the way but she didn't even flinch as she stared in down with a frozen glare.
"What are you doing!?" shouted the boy. "I have to defeat her! She'll spread darkness through out all worlds!" exclaimed the boy.
"I can not allow you to kill Maleficent-sama. I know you want to stop the darkness from spreading all over but not if it means killing her," said the girl with a deep and unwavering voice.
"Kill her?" asked the confused boy; but he shook his head to focus on the event that was happening now. "You don't have to do this! I can help you find your light and escape from the darkness. Can't you see Maleficent is only using you like she is Riku?"
"No you're wrong! Maleficent-sama has only helped me ever since I arrived to this world. The darkness has no power over me and I am here to keep it away from the two people I care about. Step aside Keybearer and just do what you came here for...to save your friends" she said slowly but kept her blade up incase he tried to do something. She looked back up at the dragon with steadfast eyes. "Please Maleficent-sama, stop this now before the you are consumed by the darkness," she pleaded. (Oy, I'm starting to sound like Ansem now, at least it's not just one person saying darkness)
The dragon looked down to the girl with a thoughtful look then to the boy with anger. She huffed with smoke coming out from her nostrils and turned her head away. The girl smiled in relief then looked back to Sora who looked at her with a judging look. He looked deep into her eyes to see if he could trust her, but even if she was he couldn't take a chance at letting all the worlds fall into darkness and be under Maleficent's rule.
Sora pushed against Ryo and took a step back and ran past her in a flash. Ryo saw this in shock and watched as Time started to slow around her. She hurled her dragonblade at him hoping to knock him out but he took an extra big step barely missing her attack. As Ryo started to fall foreword with her heart pounding deeply in her chest and her breath was coming short as she saw the dragon turn her head eyes wide with alarm as Sora stabbed her just below her chest.
Maleficent arched her head back letting out a loud agonizing scream of pain. Ryo's memories of Malicima taking a spear just to save her and shortened her life severely because of it rushed through her mind. All the thorns in the room started to burst into green flames and disappear just like they did in the previous room. Finally Time started to catch to her and air was starting to enter her lungs again just in time for her to scream.
"NOOOOOO!!!" shouted the girl as she saw the dragon fall over to her left and landed on her stomach in the center of the room. Ryo was frozen for a moment as she watched the one she saw as a mother figure to her for the first time since he own mother die fall to the ground in pain. The girl rushed over to her as fast as she could leaving Sora and his friends watching dumbfounded and disheartened at the same time.
Ryo dropped her dragonblade near her and fell to her knees as she wrapped her arms around the dragon's neck and buried her face into her hard yet smooth scales and cried. "No, Maleficent- sama, please don't go," pleaded the grief-stricken girl. The dragon opened her eyes and started to glow a dim shade of green. The girl released her neck and leaned back as she watched Maleficent turn back into her normal form and turn onto her back to sit up leaning against one hand as the other held her fresh cut.
Ryo put an arm around her shoulder to help her up and looked at the wound; it wasn't as bad as the first one but it still left her pretty weak especially since even after her unlocked heart filled her with power her previous wound wasn't fully healed. Maleficent looked to her left to see Ryo looking at her with tear- stained cheeks that were still being covered in fresh streams.
"Just hold on Maleficent-sama, I'll help you to the healing chamber and you'll be all better, just like when you helped me," said the girl with a shaking voice. Ryo used held out her other hand in front of them and summoned a portal just like the one from Sora and Maleficent's first fight.
"Wait, where are you goimf-" started Donald but Goofy clamped his beak and put a finger to his mouth to shush his noisy friend.
Ryo helped her gasping and coughing master to her feet and slowly walked her through the portal. As Maleficent's robes dragged across the ground they left behind a smudged trail of dark matter. Just as the two left the room Goofy looked over to Sora who still had on his emotionless face after seeing this happen.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to let them go like that? What if Maleficent comes back to try and stop us again?" he asked.
"Don't worry, I know she won't be able to fight for a long time. . ." the boy replied.
"What about that other girl?" asked Donald.
"She'll be too busy looking after her before she wants to come after us," he replied.
"And what about me? Did you forget me again Sora?" came a voice from nowhere.
The trio looked around and saw Riku coming out from a portal and step over the smudge Maleficent left behind.
"It seems that the Heartless were using her in the beginning. She failed to notice the darkness in her heart eating away at her. She probably would've died if she didn't have feelings for that girl. Hmmm, so Ryo was the light for Maleficent. . ." said Riku. He looked over to Sora then disappeared. Sora and his friends followed after him.
Maleficent was in the same stone bed with the gel-like healing substance that Ryo was placed in before. The young girl was sitting by her side watching over intently hoping she would be alright. "Hang in there Maleficent-sama, you're going to be okay," whispered the girl.
The woman opened her eyes half way and smiled as she saw Ryo's face above her. She started to sit up clutching her new wound from the boy and leaned back against Ryo's scolding. "Its fine Ryo, I'll be fine," she said.
"But you shouldn't be sitting up like that, I'm surprised you've made it this far with all those wounds you've received; but I'm glad that you have made it this far," Ryo replied.
"Even so I doubt I'll be able to go on much longer," gasped out the weak fairy just before clutching her teeth in the throbbing pain. Ryo jumped up from her seat and was leaning closer now with tears forming at the corners of her eyes again.
"This is why you need to lie down," stated the girl.
"Even if I do go I won't die, I have prepared for this. My body is what can not stay anymore, however my heart will continue on with you," Maleficent said while giving a tired and weak smile.
"What do you mean?" asked the confused apprentice.
"There is something else I've been hiding from you. . ." the woman had to stop now and then to catch her breath before speaking. "When I put you in this chamber to heal you and gave you some of my blood while you were unconscious. There is a spell I learned a while back on how to cheat Death as one might say. When I leave this 'plain' I will still be able to live in another body, but it has to be one that shares the same blood. It'll be only a short time before I regain my energy and can reform my body and I will be back to my full state. I am sorry if I made you feel as though you were being used Ryo. I care for you very much and I didn't want us to be separated by some 'technicality'. But you do not have to accept this task if you don't want to," she said still smiling her weak smile.
The girl took her necklace in her hand and stared at for a moment then looked back to Maleficent smiling. "I would be glad to share my body with you if it means you'll be brought back Maleficent-sama," said the girl softly. The woman slowly reached up and wiped the girl's tears away gently with her index finger feeling the warmth of her flesh and coldness of her tears. Ryo smiled and held Maleficent's hand close to her cheek with her own hand for a moment then released it.
"One thing I would like to ask you first is why you've been ending my name with that word lately," said Maleficent.
"In my world, when you add 'sama' at the end of one's name it means you consider them you're leader, or something like that," she replied.
"Well if that's the case then you don't have to call me that any longer if you do not wish it."
"Heh, I just started getting use to it and you're asking me to stop? Well, it might take awhile but I'll try."
"Alright."
"Forget it! There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" shouted an angry Sora with his keyblade drawn ready to fight Riku. The possessed boy just smirked and charged at his rival ready to fight. As their keyblades clashed against one another sparks and jolts of energy were sent throughout the entire castle.
Ryo and Maleficent could feel them in another room which was starting to make the fairy worried.
"Ryo, go and bring me my staff, I need it before I go," requested Maleficent. Ryo answered with a nod and started to leave. She looked back once then took off towards the Castle Chapel. When she arrived there she looked everywhere but was only able to find the green orb that was attached to it and started running back to the chamber Maleficent was in.
When she entered the room she half gasped half choked when she didn't see Maleficent in the bed. She wanted to scream out when all she saw in the bed was a black and purple smudge much like the one she remembered seeing near the end of Sleeping Beauty. But before she could even make a move she heard a voice inside of her telling her to go to the Main Hall. The girl paused for a few seconds then did as the familiar voice requested of her to do.
The moment Ryo walked in she saw Sora falling to the ground as all of the princess' hearts, including Kairi's, was heading back to their rightful owners. Ryo watched as Sora fell to the ground and Kairi ran to try to catch him but only ended up grabbing yellow particles of magic. The girl started to feel sorry for them but stopped her emotion as she remembered and figured out what Sora had done to the only two people she had cared for in a long time.
"So, you have awakened at last, Princess. The Keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose. But now it's over," said a tanned man with long white hair and amber eyes as he appeared out of nowhere. Donald and Goofy readied their weapons as the man started to approach.
"Do you think we can stop him all by ourselves?" asked Goofy.
"I don't know!" shouted Donald. Ryo rushed over to them with her dragonblade in one hand and the orb in her other.
"I'll help you fight him. Especially after what he has done to Riku," she said. The two fighters were surprised to see her helping them but looked over to Ansem as he started chuckling.
"So you have changed after all. You look quite nice with your new look; even better compared to your old one," he said with a smirk.
"Shut up! Give Riku his heart back you bastard!" she shouted.
Ansem continued to walk but stopped suddenly and tried to move. "Impossible. . ."
An image of Riku appeared in front of him but he was transparent. "No, I won't let you use me for this!" he shouted. "Now go! The Heartless are coming!" he shouted again.
Kairi, Goofy, and Donald started to run away but Ryo stood there. "Riku. . ." she said.
"Ryo you have to go! Leave this place before you are hurt," said Riku.
"No, I'm not going to leave you!"
"You have to go now; I won't let anything happen to you Ryo. . .I care for you too much."
Ryo's eyes started to fill up with tears when she heard him say this. Her legs slowly started moving her over to him as she ignored the struggling Ansem and only saw the faint image of Riku before her. Riku gazed at her with sad eyes as he lifted his hand and reached out to touch her cheek wanting to wipe her tears away. He couldn't stand to see her cry like this; but what made him want to cry was when his hand went through her even when she tried to take it into her own.
"Promise me we'll see each other again," asked the saddened girl.
"I promise. . ." he said softly as he watched her with sorrowful eyes. Ryo nodded and started to run away with the orb close to her heart letting a trail of tears fall behind. Riku held his arm out and his hand outstretched and saw that she was so far away now her image could fit in his hand. He kept his arm out like that and smiled softly before he faded away leaving an amused Ansem to witness this heartbreaking scene.
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Yes! The fifth but not final chapter! I am so glad I got another review too, and hopefully I'll get more after this one. Sorry to all Sora fans if I made him seem too evil at some points, but oh well, he did and said those things and there's no turning back now. Hope you have fun with this one, again please R&R, ja ne.
