Kingdom of Chaos
Chapter 19: Paradigm Shift
Author: Sketchy Sunshine of OSTOCOM
Rating: PG-13, just to be on the safe side
See chapter one for summary, disclaimer and other goodness. Otherwise, here's chapter nineteen! XD
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Larxene blinked at Marluxia as if seeing him for the first time. Axel and Marluxia stared back with equal shock, their weapons still clenched in their fingers. The entire world seemed to stand still.
Axel finally dropped his rings and gripped Larxene's shoulders. When Marluxia didn't move, he slowly pulled her off the blade. Larxene's legs finally gave way, and she collapsed into Axel's arms. Axel's jaw twitched somewhat as she breathed in rasping gasps.
"You…you stupid bastard…" Larxene wheezed.
"Who's stupid?" Axel tried to hide the growing anxiety in his voice. "What the hell possessed you to get between us?"
Larxene sucked in several shallow breaths. Axel could feel blood soaking through her robes. "I told you…I wanted in on it. I'm tired of being a nobody," she finally gasped.
At the other end of the room, Sora, Riku and the others watched in shocked silence. Kairi in particular felt a strange numbness settle over her…she had never witnessed anything like this before. Something in her compelled her to pick up the sketchbook and begin drawing.
Axel looked up as Marluxia finally made a move. He lowered the scythe, and pulled a bottle of elixir out of his robes…the only means by which Larxene could be healed. "I'll give it to her…" Marluxia said evenly. "If you give up on your plan."
Axel did not answer for a moment. A few drops of blood splattered onto the marble floor. "If you think I'd let you get away with black-mailing me, you're mistaken," he said behind clenched teeth.
Marluxia withdrew the elixir, but with great reluctance. "Your choice."
Before anyone else could speak, Kairi finished her drawing. All three Organization members watched in confusion as a soft light appeared over Axel, taking the form of a heart. The light slowly sank into him, spreading across his shoulders in a fine mist.
Axel nearly dropped Larxene as a sudden jolt coursed through his body. His new heart burned inside him, seethed with righteous anger at the darkness already occupying him. He felt his heart trying to purge itself of the darkness, and it took the form of a crushing guilt of everything he had done since his creation. The overwhelming weight brought him to his knees, and he lowered Larxene to the floor.
Marluxia's face showed no signs of pity. "You see? The only thing a heart has to offer you is weakness."
"Weakness, yes…" Axel gritted, struggling to hold onto his sanity. "But also existence. Which is more than you'll ever get."
Larxene coughed violently, bringing Axel's attention back to her. She looked back up at him with a smile somewhere between loathing and resignation. "I'm not back in this castle two minutes and I get killed again. This is all your fault." Her image began to flicker.
Axel tried to hold on to both Larxene and his sense of humor. "You can't blame me for getting yourself stabbed."
"Watch me…"
Larxene flickered again, and finally faded from his arms. Axel stared down at his blood-soaked hands…and sat in shock as his newly-received heart squeezed tears from his eyes. When Larxene had descended back into the void the first time he hadn't felt a thing…but now, his deal with Kairi came with a price.
"You want to exist? Exist with that," Marluxia sneered. "If you destroy the Kingdom of Chaos now, she'll never return."
Axel looked back up at Marluxia with freshly-fueled hate in his eyes. "And neither will you."
The castle's continued deterioration interrupted them once again. The coarse spires of Hollow Bastion cracked through the floors, spraying rubble into the air. At last, the three figures that had entered the scene moved farther apart: it was Ansem, DiZ and Mickey. Ansem turned, and faced the Organization members that remained. Even Marluxia and Zexion couldn't help but shrink back at his presence.
Ansem's fiery eyes were emphasized by a directionless rage. Everything that he had worked for, everything that he wanted, was lost in the chaos that he tried to control. "All of you…leave this place! This fight is for me alone!"
His opponents took the chance, and split up. Out of the swirling mist, the shorter figure ran towards his friends.
Donald, Goofy and Riku recognized him immediately. "Your Majesty!"
Mickey caught up to them, gasping for breath. He was still dressed in his black robes. "Golly, am I glad I finally found you all!"
Even Sora was surprised by how relieved Riku suddenly became. The silver-haired boy knelt down so that he was face-to-face with the king, a broad smile on his face. "I'm glad to see you, too…and without the blindfold this time."
Mickey grinned back, hiding any weariness he might have received battling Ansem. "I knew you'd do fine on your own. You don't need to hide your eyes in order to use your power…but I think we both know that's something you needed to learn on your own."
Before Riku could get in another word, Donald and Goofy pushed their way through, eyes wide and both talking at once.
"Your Majesty, we finally found you—"
"We've looked through so many worlds—"
Mickey laughed and held up his hands for silence. "I'll explain everything, guys! But there's no time right now." He turned to Sora and Toshi with more seriousness. "You two need to get back to the Door of Darkness and open it!"
Sora's jaw gaped. "Open the Door? But that means…"
"…All of the Heartless will get out again!" Donald finished.
Mickey nodded. "Yes, that's true. But opening the Door will also allow us to get back into the Kingdom of Existence. And that's where we can begin to do some good."
"If you beat the Heartless once, then we can both do it again!" Toshi said with resolution.
"He's right!" Goofy agreed.
"What about Ansem?" Sora asked. He would have asked how Ansem was alive in the first place, but at this point it seemed irrelevant.
Riku's face set into an expression of cold fury as he stared back out at the split meeting room. "I'll deal with him."
"You'll need my help," Mickey said. "It's more than just him now."
"Axel won't help," Kairi said sadly. The red-haired man walked away slowly from where Larxene fell, ignoring the barrage of words that were coming from Marluxia, Ansem and DiZ.
"If the king's gonna fight, then we're gonna help 'im!" Goofy exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Donald said as he and Goofy joined Riku's side. Sora couldn't help but notice the irony…after all the time he had spent with his two friends, necessity now tied them with Riku.
"But…if we go to Kingdom Hearts and open it again, we'll become separated!" Sora cried. "And we've spent so long looking for you!"
"And we'll meet again," Riku said with more confidence than he realized he had. "I know we'll all go home…and we'll go together."
Sora locked eyes with Riku, and felt a sincerity that he had never seen before. He realized that Mickey brought out these qualities…and in his heart he knew that Riku needed to stay. Sora nodded slowly.
"Go!" Riku said decisively. The group split: Riku, Mickey, Donald and Goofy rushed back down towards their foes, weapons bared. Sora turned to Toshi and Kairi as pieces of the ceiling crashed down around them.
Sora's face set. "I think I know where we need to go!"
The next few moments passed by in a blur for Sora. Out of the shifting marble and contorting stone, a path appeared in Sora's mind. A road of dry chalk in the darkness, seeping out of the merged reality of Hollow Bastion and Castle Oblivion. The sound of his friends in combat faded as Sora followed the path with Toshi and Kairi at his sides. He used the Keyblade to guide the way, knowing that it was drawn to the power within Kingdom Hearts. It seemed the Door had been there all along, hidden behind a thin veil of Chaos, waiting for him.
Before he realized it, they were before the Door once again. It was the same as before: the deathly still air, the endless blackness, and the white-framed door itself. Except now, he was going to open it.
This door was intended for you, and for you alone.
Sora and Toshi raised their Keyblades.
Kingdom Hearts connects all things: light, darkness, existence and chaos.
A bright light shone around the twin blades, and touched upon the cold stone doors.
All things wish to return to where they came from…light and darkness alike.
All three could feel the swarming darkness behind the Door: thousands upon thousands of Heartless, waiting again to be released. But with them also lay a path to all worlds; a connection between existence and nonexistence.
The twin doors cracked open.
…And you will be the one to return them all.
A blast of wind and howling roar left Sora blind and deaf. He felt a pounding darkness on all sides of them, thick and choking…only to be dissolved by a light that followed. The light encompassed him as if it were his own.
When Sora opened his eyes again, he saw swaying palms and heard the sound of the sea.
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Ouch, this chapter was tough…but it's done! I believe next chapter shall be the last one. Still needs to be written, but it should be up soon.
Thanks for reading and reviewing! XD
