Note to Disclaimers: This is pretty standard by now, don't you think so? I mean seriously, if I owned Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Squaresoft, etc. all sorts of things would've happened differently in the first one and the sequel would already be out! But be realistic: I own nuthin, cept' Cyra so don't sue me for anything. This is for entertainment purposes only, not profits…not that it'd make huge amounts of profits or whatever…
Author's Note: At last, ne? School just got out on Christmas as of Last Thursday, which was nice. Anyhow, I was able to sit down and have alook at Chapter 20, and have a little discussion with my newly present Muses! So, here it is, Chapter 20! I'm hoping it's up to par, cause honestly…I had fun writing it, and enjoyed the new happenings. Things are a little strange but this story itself is so…not such new information, I think. Anyway, let's get on with the fic shall we? R&R if you can? Enjoy!
Word Coding:
Everything else
'Thoughts'
"Speaking"
Thoughts of Zephyr
Nothing but darkness surrounded them as Selphie awakened to the sound of pitter-patter around them. 'Is that...water dripping?' She wasn't quite sure where they were, or when they arrived at the given place, but she did realize it was cold, rancid to smell, and quite loud with the dripping liquid. Heaving a sigh, she made to move her injured leg but hissed in pain when she remembered it was damaged. To her side Tidus was still out cold, his hair having been singed by the electric bolts of Riku's Oblivion. Every now and then he would twitch from the shocks but other than that, he was out like a broken light bulb. For her, the agony of being awake as well as alone was something she was finding hard to cope with as they were in unknown territory, and the sound of dripping was beginning to get on her nerves. Releasing a long breath, she managed a slight crawl, figuring she'd try to find the source of the annoying sound. Halfway through her crawling she felt her fingers touch something wet; she cried out in pain as her fingers burned. 'Heartless blood...that's what the noise is...we're in a heartless chamber.' Panic shot through her as she tried frantically to find Tidus in the darkness where her eyes could not seem to adjust. "Tidus?" She called out his name in vain, knowing he was most likely still passed out from his attack; but she called out to him all the same. "Tidus? Tidus, wake up! We need to get out of here!"
"There is no exit. I have made sure of this. You are vital to my plans; I cannot allow you to leave."
Selphie's head rose slowly as she glanced around, already knowing full well whom the voice belonged to. "Cyra?"
"Silly girl...you are right in your assumption about this being a heartless chamber...a chamber full of dead heartless. I usually don't do anything with their carcasses anymore; it is such a tedious task." Cyra snapped her fingers and light flooded the once dark room, causing Selphie to blink from the brightness. The Queen of Darkness smiled as she landed two feet away from Selphie, her olive skin glimmering in the light. Selphie flinched visibly at this, her hand falling to Tidus. Cyra raised a brow. "You think I will hurt him? Such a silly thought when I need you both to release the Darkness. I believe some part of you has always known what you were. Am I correct Selphie?"
The girl in question lowered her head in thought as she absently stroked Tidus' hair. "Yes," she whispered. "Some part of me...knew that I was valuable. Some part of me knew that it was part of the reason I was able to travel through the walls this time...unlike the first time. I suppose it wasn't the time...for you were not fully awakened yet. You had no prior knowledge of your fate; that is why I am here now and I wasn't there then." She suddenly felt rather pitiful as she watched Cyra's feet travel across the floor, her flowing dress fluttering with each step as she circled them. "That's what you wanted to know, right?" Cyra stopped in front of them just as Tidus began to stir. Selphie immediately turned her attention to her battered friend. "Tidus, are you awake now?"
"My head hurts..." Tidus grumbled. "What happened to me? Why do I feel like someone fried me with electricity?"
Selphie granted him a weak smile. "Someone did."
"Well, I am glad to see you back to the realm of the living Tidus. It seems my plan can now be set into motion, once I have retrieved Riku." Her eyes glowed like the darkest, most brooding rubies Selphie had ever seen as a snarl graced her face. "It would appear as though he has disobeyed direct orders...and he will pay dearly for that. But, I shall let the Keybearer of the Oathkeeper defeat him-it will be a crushing blow. Then I shall collect the remnants of his soul and utilize them for the most useful purposes." She glanced at the pair on the floor. "In the meantime, you might want to exchange last words, as this will be your end." She turned to leave them, floating in the air as a black and violet aura shone about her.
"But wait!" Tidus' voice rang out loudly through the echoing chamber. Cyra threw him an utterly hateful look as she paused for the briefest of moments, indulging in their last wishes to speak to her. "Don't you love Riku? Why would you use him for horrible purposes, even after all this time when he has helped you so much?"
"Mortals...you'll never understand what true darkness is when you think like that. Riku is simply but a tool...within darkness there is no love. I do not feel, as you should very well know. I do not know love. I only know Hate. Besides...his foolishness shows he has 'unworthy emotions' to help me rule. He has proved himself a failure. I do not allow failure." Her smile was eerie as she continued on her way. "Carry on, foolish young ones. You're time is coming to an abrupt end."
As she left them in their misery, Cyra journeyed to the chamber where she heard battle cries and shouts of anger; Riku was fighting Sora. Her sadistic grin did not go unnoticed by Sora or Riku as she entered the room, her presence only recognized by the cold chill that went down Riku's spine, causing to him pause mid-battle. Sora paused as well, not believing in unfair fights. When she had entered, Riku had been mid-recovery from a damaging blow delivered by Sora, having caused him to fall flat on his back. All thoughts of recovering fled when his Queen materialized from nowhere, his confidence gone because she had seen him down against his opponent, an opponent he had promised he would never fall before. With a gesture to carry on their fight, Cyra glided her way towards Riku, her eyes sparkling mischievously as she landed next to him since he had not resumed his battle. "Riku, why do you not resume your fight? I have indicated to do so." Cyra's voice was acidic. Riku froze up even more, his mouth barely able to move, which angered Cyra more. "RIKU!"
After having snapped out of it, Riku fell to his knees in a bow, Oblivion at his side as he began murmuring. "Yes, my Queen. Whatever is it that you ask, I shall do."
"Look at you...truly pathetic. You disappoint me Riku. I have trusted that you would heed my words and do as I said--that you would lead my armies to victory; but you have failed me Riku. You have failed us. We do not permit such insolence and misbehavior in our plans. You are finished here Riku. Leave the Keybearer and me to ourselves." Riku hesitated and Cyra's anger flared to unimaginable heights. "GO!" When he refused to move, Cyra found her anger beyond the boiling point where Riku was concerned. Grabbing him roughly by his neck, she threw Oblivion to the side as she looked into his quickly changing aquamarine eyes. The color drained from his face as they stared at each other, Riku in blatant fear and defeat, Cyra in disappointment and undiluted rage. She chanced a glance at Sora, who had fled to check on her fallen sister, Kairi, with mild interest. 'I shall deal with them later.' Focusing her attention back on her Prince, who was shuddering in her grasp, she slowly began tightening her grip around his delicate neck. Riku's heartbeat quickened, his fingers clenching into fists but his arms never trying once to free himself. Cyra let a lazy smirk play across her carnelian lips. "Why do you not struggle?"
Turning his head to the left, Riku managed to match her smirk as he chose his next words. "Would you have me do such?"
Cyra scowled indignantly. "Fight me; fight me with everything you have!"
He only shook his head in reply. "I have been freed from the darkness. I am no longer obligated to you Cyra." He glanced at his brown-haired friend who was still attempting to shake Kairi in to consciousness, eyes withering with emotion. "My friends...Sora..." Cyra's grip began to tighten ten-fold. "No longer will I be used as a tool to hurt others..." He choked out. With a ghost of a smile, he let his breath start to leave him at an increasingly quickened rate.
Snarling with disgust, she threw his almost lifeless body carelessly to the ground as she walked towards Oblivion with one purpose in mind. Preoccupied by her task at hand, she took no notice of Sora as he ran to his fallen friend. Kneeling down, Sora gently reached for Riku's head, taking it in his lap. "Riku...you have to pull through...I'll stop her...then-then we can fix things."
Riku coughed violently, gasping for air. "No Sora, I don't want to risk myself again. Twice is enough, don't you agree?" Sora's eyes were concerned as he allowed a slow nod. "There's just...one thing I want to know."
"Yes...anything," Sora replied with fervor.
"Do you forgive me? Do you forgive me...for everything?" Riku's eyes pleaded with him as the silver-haired youth clutched the fraying hem of Sora's pants.
"Yes Riku...for everything." He grasped his hand as, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Cyra begin to walk in their direction. Determination in his eyes, the Keybearer slowly rose from his kneeling position as Riku coughed again, facing his foe with Oathkeeper in hand. "Leave him be Cyra. You've had your fun. He is about to die as it is. Don't you think you've had quite enough?"
Seemingly offended by his declaration, she slid into a fighting stance with Oblivion readied in her fingers, itching for an opportunity to slay the Keybearer. "Move, you thoughtless boy. What happens to that fool is my decision and mine alone. I advise you step away."
Sora didn't budge. "Never. You'll have to go through me first you witch."
"That," Cyra's lips twitched, "should be rather easily solved." With the flick of her wrist she sent him flying, like a rag doll, to the opposite side of the room, far from Riku's body. He slammed into the rock ledge, which would surely have knocked him out had he not bounced off it with his feet just in the knick of time. She hadn't appeared to notice this. Heaving an irritated sigh as Sora collected himself, she continued on her way to Riku's fallen body. "That was such a waste of time." Placing her hand atop him in the air, Cyra levitated his body upwards so that it was right in front of her. With a smirk she leaned in closer to Riku's face. "Riku...tell me something...what is your last wish before I rid myself of your weak spirit?"
Riku did not seem affected by her harsh comment. Instead, he tilted his heads towards her, emerald eyes shining with fresh tears. It had been a while since he'd cried; the last time being when he thought Sora was dead, to be exact. Needless to say, she was slightly taken aback. With all the strength he could gather from his beaten body, courtesy of Sora, Riku spoke the only words he thought meant anything to him and anything to Cyra. "Yes." Cyra nodded impatiently. "I wish you the best...my Queen."
His selfless wish caused her eyes to widen, rage blinding her vision as her hold on him faltered. He fell to the ground with a loud, sickening crunch, which signified that he had broken something, though she was not sure what. With a last bitter cry Cyra plunged Oblivion's tip deep within Riku's chest, embedding it in the soft flesh of his heart. He released a strangled gasp as the cold metal tore through his life-sustaining organ, blood erupting from his pale lips and spilling over his white skin. Cyra stilled herself over his body as he heaved his last breath, the outline of a bright pink and gold heart rising from his body before disappearing into thin air. Sora watched in horror as his friend's body began to fade away in wisps of golden light, purified; Oblivion trembled and sucked in the rest of his soul. Sora chanced a glance at Cyra, who was still kneeled over the spot Riku's body previously occupied, and saw that she was shaking, her body trembling so hard that Oblivion was digging a dent into the stone ground. Surprise washed over the Keyblade master as Cyra stayed stationary, not moving save for her constant shuddering. Taking it as a sign that she was partially paralyzed at that moment, he rushed over to Kairi and began shaking her. She murmured something incoherently and clasped Sora's shirt within her clammy hands as her eyes fluttered open.
Her amethyst spheres blinked a couple times before she grinned at him. "Sora...I'm alive. But how...? Riku said that I would die."
Sora shook his head as he helped her into a half-sitting position. "Yes...but..." His expression became downcast in an instant. "He's no longer with us...his power over you has faded..."
"But the heartless warriors are not gone, are they?"
"No, but I'm sure you're little friends are having quite the time with them!" Cyra, still in her crouched position, cackled menacingly. When she turned to show them her face, it was contorted hideously into a mask of a truly insane person. Her eyes were alight with a maniac's fire, lips in the most frightful smile with her teeth bared viciously. Her fingers were gripping Oblivion so tightly that Kairi could see the blood sliding down its edges to land on the ground. Suddenly she didn't seem so human anymore, her appearance giving way to something more feral and animal-like. Kairi thought her to be a vampire seconds before hand. Wobbling as she stood, the Queen of Darkness regained ability and control of her body. Rising into the air, Cyra began to ascend until she was practically hitting the ceiling, which left her two enemies below, baffled. Sensing this, Cyra laughed hollowly again as she began to disappear through the barrier. "Don't worry...it's all about to end now. With Riku's soul and both the Keys, I shall open the gate to the Darkness...I shall unleash it, all of it, and I shall rule. I will make my reign terrible...and nothing can stop me now. Enjoy yourselves while it lasts...Sister."
Kairi stared after her, puzzled by her words. "The Keys..." Pure terror etched itself across her face as her hands flew to Sora's collar. "She is going to kill them! She's going to kill Selphie and Tidus! Sora, we have to stop her!" She forced herself on both legs as she began a feeble run towards the chamber's exit, Sora hot on her heels. Her mind was screaming in worry, pulsating rapidly in fear and anxiety. She cared for nothing but saving her friends, not even about how long Sora would be with her or if he would help her in battle. 'I have to stop her...only I can...'
All was silent. To Aerith's left, Yuffie was clutching her conformer nervously, shurikens hanging to her hip belt as Leon readied his Gunblade. Ansem hung back behind them as Aerith raised her Ancient's Staff before her in fighting preparation. She could see the approaching outlines of ten figures, two that appeared somewhat human in form. Immediately her gut twisted harshly as she recognized the two human figures as their former allies. Once the Darkness faded and revealed their identities, everyone's eyes hardened except her own. She could not find it in her heart to protect herself against them; yet she knew she had to or risk losing her life in the next moment. Stopping a mere four or five yards away, Sephiroth, eyes blank and glazed over in a purple color, pointed his Masumane blade at the flower girl's face. She stepped back a few feet in fear at the sight of Cloud, who was standing next to his former captain with the same blank stare, holding his Buster Sword tightly within his hands as if prepared for attack.
His morbidly empty gaze settled itself on Yuffie, who was perched behind Leon.
In seconds, he was snarling at his old friend like an. Ansem eyed the eight heartless warriors behind his two former colleagues as they awaited their orders. They did not appear to have a strategy to deal with the Princess of Heart's friends; either that or Cyra had not a care what happened to them. The latter sounded more likely. His mind was wary but the renewed hope he had regained before entering the gate came back in a rather powerful surge when he felt Kairi's power peak through the darkness enshrouding his soul that threatened to turn him if he tried to help. Inevitably he knew he would turn; it was only a matter of time. Wisely, he remained silent to the side of the battle, which he knew was about to take place whether either side wanted it or not.
His thoughts were shattered when he heard Yuffie's shrill scream echo around them. He turned only to meet the sight of Leon with his left arm holding his right where blood was pouring freely from an open wound the size of half his arm. The lionhearted warrior's weapon lie to the side by Yuffie who was begging Aerith to cast a healing spell of Curaga before the two warriors had the chance to attack them again. The traumatized flower girl was nodding vigorously as she placed her staff to Leon's injury. A soothing, warm emerald light surrounded his cut arm, hissing madly as it healed before disappearing to leave him with a rather large scar but no bleeding. Relieved, Aerith wiped her forehead and turned just in time to have Sephiroth's blade embed itself right through her stomach. She had heard the wind part at the swiftness of his sword but knew she had not nearly enough time to avoid such a blow. She saw his face; it held a hollow smile as her blood began to spread across the front of her pink dress, staining it with trails of familiar carnelian. 'Not again…' her thoughts were short lived as her delicate hands flew to her abdomen, pain written across her face at the sense of dejavu. She fell to the ground in agony as the crimson liquid of her life spilled out of her, forming a dark, ominous pool beneath her battered body.
Cloud hung back, Buster sword dripping with Leon's blood as he watched—impassively—as his captain once again murdered his only connection to the World of Light. Aerith lay curled in fetal position upon the dirt ground, Ansem speaking to her though she appeared not to hear him. Yuffie's hysterical shrieking heightened as she leaned down to cast her own Curaga spell. Though not nearly as strong as Aerith's, the healing power was enough to seal the young woman's wounds enough for her to sit up—the pain, however, did not vanish so easily. As Aerith glanced at Sephiroth, she found his facial expression to be one of blatant dissatisfaction. Knowing the worst was yet to come, she summoned all her strength, barely able to block his next attack with her staff. Yuffie and Leon had barely managed to keep Cloud away from themselves. He was throwing attacks quicker than they could return them; luckily, they had not yet received any more injuries from his deadly sword, which had begun to shed its trademark bandages in return for their blood. Ansem chanced another glance at the heartless warriors; they were slowly forming a circle around his friends.
He whipped around to face them, yelling that it was a trap but was silenced quickly. All at once the Heartless pounced the three warriors, half of the creatures grabbing Leon, two others tackling Yuffie who had somehow managed to flip over them at first lunge. Sephiroth and Cloud jumped back as Cyra's minions swarmed the helpless defenders, instead directing their attention to Ansem who was no longer trying to intervene. It seemed that as soon as Ansem had reached out to Aerith, that he had sealed his fate sooner than anyone anticipated. He looked at them without any hint of emotion as Sephiroth approached, snatched him by the arm and disappeared into a mist of purple and black—shortly afterwards Cloud followed suit. Seeing that their masters had fled, the heartless warriors began to maul their prey viciously as though they had previously been restrained by Cyra. Yuffie cried out in pain as the heartless' claws tore through her skin, drawing multitudes of vermilion. She kicked, screamed, even bit one, but nothing seemed to faze them. Spitting out the acidic yellow substance, she looked to her left to see Aerith lying on the floor, still as death as Heartless marred her. She was truly terrible in appearance, for she had not bothered to fight back from the pain of being stabbed. Her pale skin leaked everywhere; her mahogany hair was matted and tattered, dried with crusted particles of dust and blood. Her dress was torn in so many places that Yuffie thought it might fall apart with one more rip. To her own happiness, Aerith had passed out, which the heartless seemed to sense, for they had suddenly stopped their assault on her prone form.
Leon didn't look any better, she noted. There was blood on him as well, everywhere too, including his white shirt, which was now a startling pink color from the stains and sweat. His leather pants and coat were slick, shiny with the gleam of wet blood and his chestnut hair had mounds of a bloody dirt mixture encrusted within its depths. His face was soiled with liquid the color of sanguine, his scar reopened, and his face in a feral expression as he fought off the creatures that were trying to mangle him to death. Suddenly he turned his head and their eyes met; he had left her, his iced-blue eyes empty. His submission was noticeable—but Yuffie wouldn't call it giving in; she believed he was truly defeated. Her lover would never give into anyone. She faltered as she felt warm blood trickling down her forehead, leaking into her eyes to blur her vision as she lost the feeling in her legs and arms. No longer able to fight back against the creatures she hated, Yuffie strained her head to look once more at her fallen comrades. She could feel her hair soaking up the blood from her own skull, her clothes damp from sweat and her skin stained with her own tears of defeat. Giving herself into the feeling she feared, she felt consciousness slowly begin to slip from her grasp. She vaguely heard Leon calling to her through her fuzzy hearing, not sure where his voice had arisen from considering she had just seen him fall away, but everything just began to fade around her. She welcomed the ebony clouds that dominated her vision, her pain ebbing away as she finally drifted away from reality.
Not too far away, Kairi and Sora had burst through the only hallway they could find that had not been occupied by heartless armies. They both skidded to an abrupt halt when they found Selphie and Tidus bound to two separate pillars, both struggling to free themselves. In the middle stood Sephiroth and Cloud, bound by chains to two elaborate floor pieces made of stained glass and tile. All four shapes--Kairi realized--were parts of the heartless symbol that resembled the clasp Ansem wore to hold his cloak closed. She gasped when she saw Ansem standing before Cyra, bowed with his hands fastened tightly, within the confines of dark magical bindings, behind his back. Cyra did not appear to notice them as she raised Oblivion above Ansem's head, ready to strike him down. He didn't appear to care, nor did he plead with her to stop what she was about to do. Sora cried out despite himself as the tip of Oblivion crashed down upon Ansem's head, right through his platinum hair. Half expecting blood to spurt from his wound, Kairi fell backwards into Sora as a swirling black mass erupted from the head of the Former Ruler of Darkness, manifesting itself into the shape of what appeared to be a man as Ansem's body fell to the floor. Cyra's chuckle awakened them from their shocked state as the figure stopped beside her, its sparkling black figure making bizarre hand motions of communication with the deranged Princess-turned-Queen of Darkness.
Whirling around to face them suddenly, completely ignoring the fallen figure of Ansem, Cyra beckoned for them to come closer. Not hesitating or caring about what might happen, Kairi pushed away from Sora and made her way towards her sister, shocked and enraged at what had transpired. She stopped short when the figure came into better view, a horrified gasp escaping her throat. "Father?" Cyra's amused snorting echoed off the stone walls as the figure nodded at his daughter. "But why…?"
"You wanted to know what true darkness was, did you not?" Cyra's tone was pleased as she clasped what appeared to be an electric contraption, made from her own powers, around their father's neck. Kairi nodded hesitantly. "Well, Father was the true Darkness in our parent's relationship. You took after mother in power, which is why you possess the Day staff. I possess the Night staff thanks to Father. When he married mother, they both knew the consequences of having a child. However, they did not expect to have two. You see," she circled their father like a vulture inspecting falling prey, "if they had borne one child, ultimately it would have destroyed itself because of the power raging inside of it. At least then there would be no power struggle, it simply meant that mother and father would have lived miserably without a child. But because they had two children, it threw off the balance the world has kept for centuries. You and I were separate, a fortunate event, if I do say so myself."
Kairi's eyes were ablaze with animosity. "If all is as you say, tell me, sister…how is father alive when both he and mother died in that crash when our planet was overrun years ago? Tell me how grandma and uncle did not realize this? Tell me why Father would do that when he married our mother, the Princess of Light, because he loved her!"
"It's all very simple, as I have said before. Grandma knew, as did uncle that there was something strangely familiar about Ansem when they were living in Hollow Bastion. However, when Ansem discovered what he did about the Heartless, Father—who has lived inside of him for years—began to feed off of that drive to know about the darkness. Father has been residing in Ansem because as Darkness, he always hungers for power; he only needed the proper host. The very first time Kingdom Hearts was opened, well, that instance was father. He was helping Ansem achieve something that he knew would not be entirely successful. He knew that Ansem's downfall would be his rise to power again. In a sense, Ansem had long been dead, only kept alive until now by Father. You must remember my dear, mindless sister, that Father was TRUE darkness…he could never become good, even if he married mother. But because he shared himself with Ansem, when Kingdom Hearts destroyed part of that foolish man, father lost half of his power. Ansem and Father are now two souls, both having lost half of their original, meshed into one soul. That is why I am TRUE darkness now. Whatever power Riku thought he held could have been shared with me, at least for some time," She sniffed the air in obvious boredom. "However, Riku proved a nuisance easily dealt with."
Tears welled up in Kairi's eyes as she took in everything from her sister's betrayal of Riku to her Father standing before her. His face was expressionless as the power inhibitor around his neck flashed purple when it seemed as though he wished to escape. As the present True darkness, Cyra held control over all Darkness, including their father. 'Combined,' she thought bitterly, 'they are unbeatable.' She watched in sheer uncertainty as the Night Staff of Darkness materialized in Cyra's hand. Her eyes took on an apprehensive look as Cyra eyed her with sudden interest. 'Why is she looking at me like that?' Her question was answered briefly when a white staff materialized in her own hands. Kairi stared at the ivory staff in amazement. "The Day Staff of Light…" she trailed off as she felt it begin to slip from her finger. "What the…" She shouted in horror as the staff flew from her grasp and right into Cyra's where it slammed into the Night Staff. A dull gray light burst as the staff's mingled together, temporarily blinding all the in the room. When the light cleared, Kairi stared on in awe at the staff that floated in thin air before her and Cyra. 'The Nodia…' Knowing fully well what it could do, both young women lunged for it, only to collide with each other as the staff clattered to the ground beside them.
Shaking her head to rid herself of the dizziness, Kairi made another lunge for it as Cyra lay on the floor, still disoriented. Plucking it from the ground, she felt the power of it surge through her veins as she was encased in a warm golden light. Halfway through the process Cyra looked up, dumbfounded, as she realized what had happened. "Give it to me sister. It is useless in your unskilled hands!" Cyra's shouting startled Kairi and she whirled around to face her sister who was snarling and spitting like a vicious animal. Kairi's eyes widened. "Why do you stare, foolish girl? Give it to me!"
"Never," Kairi spat back, pointing the staff at her sister in rage. "You will pay, pay for everything you have done to us. You will pay for hurting my friends…for abandoning me…for betraying Riku's heart. I will make you pay."
Behind Cyra, their father began to walk forward as his figure flashed sporadically—Kairi took this as a signal that he was trying to break free of his power limiter. Cyra glanced back as their father stopped by her, kneeled and gave her his hand. She glared at him before roughly pushing him away as she tried to stand on her own. "I do not need your help. I am quite capable of doing things on my own. You are my servant, used solely for the purposes of your energy. I do not need you for anything else—father." Her sarcasm towards him seemed ineffectual as he gave her no response while he stood there, awaiting her to stand up again. Raising herself up with her good arm—the other appeared limp—she managed a steady walk forward towards Kairi who was holding the Nodia tightly with her pale fingers. Cyra bore what little fangs she had come to possess. "Come then girl, give us the Nodia. In your hands, it might as well be useless...its powers go beyond your reach. It is impossible for you to control it."
Kairi shook her head vigorously. "No, I will not relent and give in so easily. I possess the staff now." Raising it above her head, she shot Cyra a malicious glare of her own as the staff shimmered, glowing menacingly in the darkness. "I will restore all that is good in this world…even your heart, sister."
"Kairi…you cannot do that." Sora's voice cut through her like a knife.
"What?" She whirled around to face Sora, eyes wide in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"SHE was never pure of heart to begin with..."
"Love can never be an act!" Kairi retorted in anger. "How can you say that? Her love for Riku…how could that be fake?"
"It wasn't, her love was never an act…but Kairi, Cyra—your sister—is dead. She is no longer among us." Sora's eyes were watering in the light as he dropped Oathkeeper, falling to his knees at her feet. "I'm sorry Kairi, my princess…I couldn't save her. I couldn't save her. Believe me…I tried, we all did…but I couldn't. I didn't have the knowledge…I didn't have the power or the ability. I am sorry. I couldn't do it…I couldn't do it…"
"What are you talking about?" Bewilderment had spread across Kairi's gentle features as she stared at Sora's trembling form beneath her. "Tell me!"
Sora lifted his eyes to his Princess; each sapphire sphere had begun to release tears of blood. "Her pure soul…it rested in Hollow Bastion. Do you…remember?" Kairi nodded at the thought of her sister residing in Hollow Bastion where they had enjoyed a few joyous moments, though brief. "She…has died…Belle could no longer sustain her life force. She is comatose…a coma she will not come out of. Soon, she will begin to fade away, just as I did on the gummi ship. I have failed you my princess. I couldn't save her for you…for us. She is gone. And now…I will cry her tears …and Riku's…I will cry their sorrows, their pains, their disappointments…I will cry it all…I will cry their blood!"
"What are you saying?" Kairi kneeled down next to him in panic as Cyra looked on in surprise. Kairi's heart raced in fear at the sight of her Protector crying blood from his ocean blue eyes, tan skin stained with trails of the liquid running down his cheeks and chin. "What do you mean?"
Sora grabbed her shoulders as he braced himself for what he was about to say. "I'm saying she is dying…but soon, very soon, she will be dead."
"No, that's impossible! She's right there!" Kairi pointed to where the Queen of Darkness was standing frozen in place, not quite sure of the situation. "That is Cyra! That is her, right over there, by my father! Can't you see her?"
"No…that is the Queen of Darkness…Cyra is no longer amongst the living. Her temporary body still lives…but her soul is wandering. She is lost. We cannot save her!" Sora's frantic shouts had now reached Selphie and Tidus' alarmed ears. They stopped their struggling as Sora held onto Kairi like an anchor for dear life; he seemed so fragile suddenly. "You don't understand Kairi…they are gone…we are gone…we no longer have that which should sustain us. We no longer are alive…we are The Lost…The Wanderers. We, who have no body to inhabit because ours can no longer sustain us, have become that which will wander the earth."
From her position of holding her broken lover, Kairi's eyes blinked rapidly, tearing slightly at what she was hearing, as though she couldn't quite comprehend it all. "What...I don't...what do you mean Sora?"
His expression did not change nor did he stop raving incoherently. He simply sunk further to the ground as Cyra's sadistic laughter echoed around them, his body resembling a useless heap on the ground as he wept at Kairi's feet. Nobody moved; all was still as death at the revelation that was anything short of a nick in Kairi's original plans to save them. Sephiroth and Cloud, both, who were no longer under Cyra's spell, appeared to have been listening intently. For his part, Cloud had, too, collapsed to his knees; silent tears trailed down his cheeks at the information spilling from the keybearer's lips. He felt lost in the darkness again; only this time he could not sense the light of his beloved Aerith anywhere. Sephiroth, just from looking at his younger counterpart, sensed the automatic trauma encompassing the young warrior. He searched too, unknown to anyone else, for the light that he craved as a curse from the Cetra. His body felt weak, as though nothing was keeping it from dissipating into meaningless junk on the tiled floor. It was only after moments of searching that he realized what had happened to the Ancient. "She is gone. She has…faded."
Cloud's iced-blue eyes hardened at the assumption, glaring at the one-winged angel before him. "What?"
Sephiroth's voice was firm. "I said, Strife, she has died. She is not with us anymore. Her light has been extinguished."
"Impossible!" The headstrong blonde refused to believe that his light has been disposed of. "But she's a Cetra..."
"I killed her once, did I not Strife?" Sephiroth countered in blatant annoyance.
"That's not what I meant. You're connected…wouldn't you have died too?"
"No…I am connected, but no longer to her. I was unbound by the Council if I agreed to retrieve her," he replied viciously. "But it seems I have placed myself in a worse fate. It appears the Council thought it suitable that I be bound to someone of much more importance…and much more grief." Cloud blinked stupidly in his general direction, which caused Sephiroth to throw him another of his infamous irritated glances. "Don't you get it Strife? Did you not wonder why I cared not what you thought of me taking your precious Ancient away? Didn't you ever wonder why your anger was so great with her that you did not understand it all? Did nothing cross your mind about the abnormality of your situation, and the sudden reappearance of me?"
Cloud huffed angrily. "I knew you had been restored—though how and why, I still don't. And for me, I thought it fortunate that that was the extent of my given knowledge. I never questioned it because Aerith led me to believe it was the call of the Cetra. I had no a particular interest in anything having to do with a murderer. What would you have me think?"
Sephiroth let out an anguished sigh at what he thought was Cloud's most creative show of stupidity. "It is true that the Cetra did call the Ancient and I back into the realm of the living at the same point in time that Ansem discovered the Heartless. That is why she reappeared in Traverse Town. But, throughout the entire tournament at the Coliseum, did you not even stop to think why you actually had only one wing, and why you even had a wing for that matter? Don't tell me you thought it had anything to do with yourself. Have I taught you nothing Strife? Honestly, you should have realized it by now that there are always higher powers at work, ones you never knew about. You should have noticed the similarities."
"What similarities?" Cloud's fists clenched sporadically, anger coursing through his veins at what he was being told.
"Think Strife, think hard, and take a good look at your captain," Sephiroth spat at him. "And tell me, now, what do you see?"
Seconds after he spoke, Cloud found himself staring at Sephiroth in horror. "You've been bound…to me…your fate is my fate."
"Glad to see some of your brain still functions properly, even after all these years. And here I was, thinking you had learned something from all those years of intensive training." The platinum haired angel turned away, voice dripping with disgust at what he considered one of the highest possible insults. "It would seem that the Cetra thought it a nice joke to pull on me after all these eons, especially the Ancient's mother, cruel woman. You may have noticed, at least by now, that we are the splits of one person. I am the darkest side, and you are the lighter side, though at this point, I'm sure you no longer are. That is why I cannot harm her, that is why I cannot kill her again; because of your sickening love for her. It has…caused me quite the affliction."
Somewhere between Sephiroth's fit and Cloud's revelation, his former student managed a small chuckle. "Wow…the almighty Sephiroth brought down by the emotions of a lovesick young man. No wonder you took a liking to our beloved evil princess. She was able to break through all your lies and barriers, wasn't she? And this was all because your heart was only half your own. Seems rather ironic, I think." Sephiroth growled but Cloud merely shrugged. "Well, I guess that means we were both puppets."
"Well, I'm glad that you find this rather amusing, and at a time like this, when the Queen of Darkness about to use us for something I'd rather NOT participate in," Sephiroth barked back at the amused Cloud. "I may be a murderer with a lust for blood, a menacing, sadistic, malicious angel from the deepest bowels of hell…but even I refuse to be used for something that benefits me in no way. I see no profit in this. You shouldn't either."
"I don't," snapped Cloud viciously as he turned away, eyes closed as he crossed his wing over his chest defiantly.
"Are you two through now? I do need to finish this little plan of mine or else we'll be here all day, and quite frankly, I do not have all day." Cyra's voice cut through them like a razor sharp knife-edge, one that had been placed in a chiller, causing their blood to run cold in their veins. She threw them a look of utter hatred as she had to Sora before she had brutally disposed of Riku. Cloud only nodded, not willing to fight back anymore as Aerith had been killed. Sephiroth resigned himself to his fate as well; simply turning away from his once-loved princess, regret filling him as she began the process of conversion. "I no longer have a need for the pathetic Nodia. Without the knowledge of how to use it, more or less, it is useless and you pose no threat to my plans any longer."
Kairi glared back at her, twirling it in her hands as Cyra clamped Sephiroth and Cloud back into their shackles, bolting them to the ground. When they didn't refuse her, Kairi gasped in confusion and terror. "Fight back! Cloud, Sephiroth, fight back! You cannot let her use you like this!"
"They have nothing to fight for anymore Kairi…you must understand." Sora's soft voice slipped through her temporary anger at her fellow teammates. "Aerith is dead…she and the others have perished. All their hope lies in you now…please, don't let them down...don't let us down." He stepped back, his figure suddenly beginning to fade from her view, basking him in a golden light that was all too familiar to her. From the corner of her eye, she could see Cyra pause and watch in awe at the slowly fading image of Sora. "Remember this Kairi, Princess Heart, for it is crucial. You shall be the one to defeat Cyra, and only you can. Use all your power, combine it with your friends' hearts; they can never be untrue."
Kairi reached out in desperation, her hands grasping for any part of him that was solid. "Sora…no, Sora! Please, don't leave me now! I need you now, more than any other time! God…Sora, please!" Her calls landed upon deaf ears as the last of him disappeared, the only thing imprinted in her mind being his sweet, trademark, and boyish grin. In his place lay the only remnants left of him. She reached out a shaky hand for the metal key that resembled everything their love stood for, what he stood for. Cradling it to her, she released a strangled cry. Her body shook uncontrollably, her legs wobbling and hands trembling as though she had no more will in her to fight against all the evils of the world. Cyra continued to stare at her sister in awe, ignoring the cries of Kairi's friends shouting at her. As for Kairi, she sobbed, her small frame wracked with each sob, tremors running throughout her body as she crumpled to a heap upon the stone ground. Nothing was said or heard with the exception of her echoing sobs; heart wrenching and heartbroken sobs that shook inside everyone's heart. Even Cyra felt a shiver run down her spine at the spectacle her sister was making in the middle of the room, delaying her plans for domination.
Kairi felt pathetic, suddenly, as she wept on the floor. Her mind was clouded with pent up despair and sadness, the same feelings that occurred when Sora had been taken from her for the very first time. Feelings she had never been able to express properly. She wasn't sure how long she'd weep but her heart was clenching and turning as though someone had stuck a knife through it and twisted it in the core of her arteries. 'Love hurts…' Her mind and heart were fighting an epic battle as she sat there, hugging herself with everything she had, her heart feeling violated by anything and everything around her. She was feeling betrayed in every aspect of the word as she continued to hiccup in pain, physically and emotionally. Mentally, she felt as though someone had removed the happiness part of her brain, taken it right out from its socket and left only her bitterness and hatred part. 'I'm no different than Cyra…no different…so why does it matter if she wins? I should just let her win.'
'But it does matter, doesn't it?' As she eyed Oathkeeper, which sat comfortably nestled against her chest. She could have sworn she heard Sora speaking to her. 'If I lose…everything, everyone will die…and your efforts will have been in vain, right Sora?' The Key glowed as though it understood. 'You're all I have left…' she began to rise, slowly and steadily. 'And I'll be damned to hell if I lose that much more of you!' She faced her demented sister who had already raised the circular pieces that held Sephiroth and Cloud up to the core of the darkness. Selphie and Tidus too had been aligned with them, all encircling the middle platform where her father stood, motionless. 'No…I won't let you win…I can't let you win. Everyone is counting on me…' She let her gaze wander, for the briefest of moments, back to the keyblade that had been with her along—Sora. 'Here goes nothing…the world is counting on you girl…' Heaving her last unsteady breath, Kairi began a calm walk forward. "Cyra, it is time for us to end this."
"Indeed it is," her sister answered nonchalantly as she continued with her task, ignoring Kairi coming towards her. As Kairi stopped a few feet away, Cyra whirled around, her eyes glowing yellow-red. Kairi watched in renewed surprise as heartless antennae sprouted from her sister's head, folding out from underneath her hair. Her once short hair grew like magic, stopping right below her shoulders. Kairi took as step back as Cyra's robe fell away, replaced by another outfit that resembled something Riku had worn before. Dark marks spread across her cheeks, glistening in the dim lighting that the chamber produced. Cyra laughed as the Night Staff rematerialized in her hands once again. She stepped into the full light given off by the Day Staff. Kairi screamed in horror. "Today, my lovely sister, is the end of all worlds."
TBC...
(Um…now just so you realize this before I get any unwanted flames, it's a chapter away from being fully completed. The prequel and sequel are in progress—the sequel is almost done. It probably only be about three chapters. The sequel might be a bit longer! Personally, I loved writing and thinking up this particular chapter. I think, at some points, it could've been a better…but my muses demanded it be written this way. I have some fanart that I will scan to show you what Cyra looks like…unless it doesn't get colored as I wish. But other than that, please R&R to tell me what you think and constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome but NO flames cause that is rude!)
DarkKairi1