Chapter 10
That was it. He did it. The power from the Heartless keyblade rose from within him and into the keyhole, sealing it. Sora put his arms down and couldn't believe what he had just done. The trees swayed back and forth, as if laughing at him.
What just happened...?
"Excellent, Sora. Excellent." Phanta said, grinning. Fotia clapped her hands and jumped for joy, with sparks flying everywhere.
"...Sora?" whispered Kairi. Riku got up slowly and felt his muscles ache. He looked around and saw the floating keyblade. But something was happening. Yellow shoes started to appear, then soft tan skin, and a red jumpsuit. It was Sora. He was looking back at his friends with a saddened face, some of his cuts from the fight moving with his expressions.
"Sora!" Kairi shouted and hugged him.
"I'm sorry..." he whispered. Selphie looked at him.
"It's ok, as long as your safe." she said. Phanta then suddenly laughed menacingly.
"What did you do?" Sora shouted.
"I did nothing. You're the one who did it Sora."
Suddenly, the sky grew dim and the sea became a dark purple, its waves slapping against the shore almost malevolently. Heartless started popping up all around, like truffles coming up to the surface unnaturally.
"This does not look good for us..." Selphie said, raising her spiked rope. All the kids grabbed a weapon and Sora reached for the Heartless keyblade. Phanta and Fotia laughed, the kids being gladiators at the coliseum, and them the amused spectators. Sora then struck a heartless.
It grew.
"Sora, the heartless keyblade makes them grow, it's useless!" Riku shouted as he fought off heartless with a thick branch. Sora nodded and dropped the keyblade and looked for something else, as his friends fought off the monsters.
"This is perfect, things are going so well." Phanta said, eyeing her bubbly friend. "Things will get better.."
It wasn't long before the heartless found to be victorious. Their weapons didn't stand a chance and the kids were surrounded. They backed up into a wall, it seemed over for them.
"No...This cant be." Tidus whispered. Their weapons either broke or just had no effect. Kairi ran to Sora and hugged him tightly.
"I guess the darkness won this time..." she whispered into his ear. Sora shook his head.
"No, that's impossible.." he said back to her.
"Then where is the light, Sora?" She pleaded. "Where is it?"
It wasn't long before the heartless found to be victorious. Their weapons didn't stand a chance and the kids were surrounded. They backed up into a wall and it seemed over for them.
"No...This cant be." Tidus whispered. Their weapons either broke or just had no effect. Kairi ran to Sora and hugged him tightly.
"I guess the darkness won this time..." she whispered into his ear. Sora shook his head.
"No, that's impossible.." he said back to her.
"Then where is the light, Sora?" She pleaded. "Where is it?"
Sora said nothing. He starred into the eyes of one heartless. The yellow, beady spheres made Sora sick. Kairi started to sob into Sora. A tear rolled down her cheek and down her neck, wetting both their garments near their hearts.
Then all of a sudden a beam of light shone from between them, and Phanta's eyes widened in horror. The beam of light reached into the sky and looked like it would never end. Then another beam shot down and hit the heartless' keyblade, rising from its spot. The black color started to peel off like rust. Under, was a perfect white color, with a yellow handle. The light brought the keyblade over to Sora and Kairi. They backed away. The others looked on in astonishment. Sora gripped the keyblade tightly and bowed. He then raised the blade high and spun around, striking all the heartless nearby.
"Sora!" Kairi said happily, her face lighting up. Sora stopped and raised it once again, striking more heartless finishing off every last one in a battle cry. He then turned around to face Phanta. "I have a bone to pick with you."
"I know you do, Sora." she said. "So what? Do you think you won just because you can show off with that keyblade of yours?"
"Be quiet." he told her. She scowled.
"Don't you dare tell me to be quiet! Besides, I already have the Island. It's already too late for you."
"What will the Island do for you?" he shouted. Phanta grinned.
"Are you completely clueless? You didn't know that the Destiny Islands are the center world of all the worlds, did you? Sealing this keyhole with the power of darkness...it'll run on and spread slowly to the other worlds. It'll engulf them as well. You played your role, keyblade master, and you played it rather well."
"You sicken me!"
"I sicken many people," she said. "Now with the darkness taking over, the worlds will belong to me...I will succeed!" Phanta laughed evilly.
"What?" Fotia said, with a confused look on her face. "What do you mean belong to you? Isn't it fo-" and suddenly Fotia was interrupted by the touch of the Grim Reaper. Phanta had taken out a knife she had hid under her sleeve and stuck it deep into the once-giggly heartless girl. She with drew the knife and dark liquid poured out of Fotia's wound. Fotia started to cry, tears running down her face, as it slightly burned her, and smoke began to rise. She fell onto her knees, then down to the floor. The kids looked on, shocked that Phanta had just killed her, "friend." She laughed again.
"One thorn removed from my palm." she said. Sora found this a perfect opportunity and ran at her, hitting her side powerfully with the keyblade. Phanta fell to the ground, but quickly rolled over and got up in the blink of an eye. Due to the power of darkness. "Wasn't that a lesson to you? Never interrupt my plan!"
"Why did she do that though?" Sora thought. He then remembered. The diary he read in the purple room, it must have been Phanta's.
"You had this planned all along." he said. Phanta smiled.
"And what if I did?"
Sora swung at her again but she spun around quickly, her white hair twirling.
"Another thorn in my palm." she said. Suddenly a strike hit her from the back. It was Riku.
"Make that five thorns, bitch!" Kairi shouted angrily. Phanta looked around at them, smiling. They didn't know what it was, because Fotia wasn't exactly nice to them. Hell, she tried to kill them. But seeing Phanta kill someone made them all enraged.
"Don't you see? As the power of darkness spreads to the other worlds, its power growing? It does the same to me. The power of darkness is inside me, also spreading slowly. I can feel it, the darkness. The true darkness! You are no match for me!"
She then raised her arms, and pushed them back with the power of darkness. The kids fell, and Phanta got up swiftly.
"Agh! No!" Riku shouted, getting up again. "We can't let her get away!" It was too late though, Phanta ran by him quickly and disappeared amidst the trees, in a puff of purple smoke. Sora got up slowly, and looked at the smoke angrily.
"I wonder what she's planning..." he whispered. Kairi got up and leaned on to him. She then looked at Fotia's body laying there.
"Do you think she could have lived happier?" she asked. Sora shrugged. "She already chose them. Maybe it's meant to be that way."
Phanta was extremely pleased with herself. She had got rid of that bubbly pest. She just had a few more to go.
"My plan is slowly beginning to start. But what will I do about Fotia? I'll say one of the kids killed her..."
Yes, that's what she'll tell the king. Perfect. She opened the doors and entered the king's throne room.
"Where are the others, your highness?" she asked in a disturbingly pleasant tone.
"Why they went to look for you, Phanta my dear. But I'm sure you handled Destiny Island on your own." he said back to her. Phanta laughed inside of her and then lowered her head.
"Well, I have bad news...Fotia is dead." she said changing her voice into a sadder tone. The king leaned back in his throne.
"What?" he said, astonished. "Who could have done such a thing?"
"It wasn't one of the kids, so it was...one of us. There's a traitor among us, your highness..." Phanta said in a lower voice than before. The king backed up farther into his chair, and stayed silent for a while.
"A traitor you say?" he said. "When they return, I'd like to conduct a meeting." Phanta nodded her head and turned around to walk away. She smiled as she slept closer to the mighty doors. She felt very accomplished that her plan would go her way. "Oh, and Phanta." She spun around.
"Yes, your highness?"
"This does not exclude you from being a suspect." he said. Phanta felt her stomach shrivel up, she wanted to scream 'How dare you!' but she knew she couldn't. It was her fault, after all.
"I know, your highness. I never said such a thing. But I assure you, I'm not the one." she said back. The king nodded and she walked out, her hips swaying.
The island was still a dark place. The sea was ebony, and the sky was still dim. The heartless swarmed all around. The kids were all huddled up in their hideout, and Sora was outside fighting the creatures off.
"Sora, don't give up!" Kairi shouted. Sora was too tired to think really. He had been fighting them off for the longest time. As he swung the keyblade, killing off the heartless, he thought he would drop dead at that moment.
"Is that all of them?" Tidus asked from inside. Sora looked around and no more heartless were approaching. He then collapsed onto the ground. Kairi ran to him.
"Sora, get up!" she said to him, sorrow in her eyes. "Come on!" He got up slowly with her help, and she led him inside. He dropped the keyblade on the stone floor and lay down.
"He put up a tough fight..." Riku said. "He deserves rest."
"Thank you Sora..." Kairi whispered and rested on him. She slowly began to fall asleep. Selphie got up from her spot, huddled in the back with fear. She walked close to Riku and Tidus then sat down next to them.
"So now what?" she asked. They both turned to look at her.
"I guess we just wait." Riku said.
"Wait for what?" Tidus asked. Riku looked at Tidus.
"The worst to happen." he said in a voice that sounded too nonchalant for that statement. Tidus gulped.
Time passed, and Selphie wondered as on what to do next. She already drew on the walls, daydreamed, played hangman with Tidus, and tried to sleep. She found that she couldn't sleep, she just couldn't. It was uncomfortable for her to sleep at a time like this. Everyone else didn't seem to have a problem with it, though. She sighed and walked out, looking both ways out of the cave as if crossing the street. When she noticed everything was clear and all she heard was the sound of waves, she walked outside. Looking at the water, she wished she could open it up, just like Moses, and make a path for herself and her friends to walk through. To go somewhere else, somewhere with less horrible memories, with more people, with homes, where they can have a calm life.
Then she heard a noise.
"Whose there?" she said, terrified. She spun around quickly and looked around. Something was moving in the bushes. How cliché, she thought. Cliché or not, though, she really didn't want to see what was in there. She picked up a rock, and threw it in, only to hear a screech that made her jump. Out of the bushes leaped a furry brown cat.
"...A cat. It was a cat." she said, relieved. The cat then screeched again. When she turned around to see why, it was gone. Selphie decided she had enough, and walked quickly towards the hideout. Just then, rocks poured out of the ground near the entrance, like a geyser. She stumbled backwards and fell onto the sand. Rising from the ground was a figure with sharp spikes, jetting out of it. "Please get away!" she screamed.
Smash! The figure stomped towards her. It was a heartless, it had rocks coming out of its body. The thing looked at her, and took out a spike from its palm, and threw it, Selphie quickly dodged it and screamed. When she got up to run, she was blown back down by a powerful gust of air. When she turned back she was yet another heartless who seemed to be floating, and laughing.
Sora then suddenly ran out of the cave and slashed the earth one hard. He awoke hearing Selphie's screams. The heartless fell and the other used wind to try and knock Sora off his feet.
"Selphie, get back inside!" he shouted. Selphie nodded and ran quickly. Inside she saw that everyone was awake.
"What's going on out there?" Riku shouted.
"There's these two heartless, Sora is fighting them off! But they aren't ordinary..."
"You mean like those other two that could talk?" Kairi asked. Selphie nodded.
"Yeah, and from what I can tell what controls earth and the other wind."
"That's not good." Riku said. He ran out and saw his friend fighting with all his might. Riku grabbed a sword he made out of wood and left over steel from the rubble, and ran forward. "I'll help in anyway I can."
Sora just nodded to this and continued to attack. The female one started to back away and began to strike Sora with little whirlwinds. He tried to avoid them as much as possible, and attacked with every opportunity he had.
"You're not bad," she said. "Don't let that go to your head."
"I don't take flattery from filth anyway." he said to her. She glared evilly and struck him with a blow that knocked him down. Sora struggled quickly to get up and hit her so hard it sent her flying to the ground herself. She screamed.
"You'll pay for that, boy!" she said and blew wind onto the sand so she could blind him. Sora backed away a bit rubbing his eyes. She then struck him again, powerfully.
Whoosh!
Sora just wanted to end this now and he thought of what to do. An idea then struck him. He ran towards the trees and stood in front of one. He then pretended to charge at her, and she smiled. She blew a powerful gust but Sora quickly rolled over and dodged it, and he wind hit the tree. With a loud crack like lightning, the tree started to fall. Sora then got up from behind her as she was distracted.
Get it right, Sora
He struck her powerfully, causing her to tumble in the trees way, and it fell on her, muffling her scream. Sora breathed in and out, then turned to see if Riku needed any help.
They didn't seem to be getting anywhere. Riku was just attacking, and managed to hold him off. Sora ran and joined in, attacking the heartless from behind.
"I'll finish this now." the heartless said. He jumped and when he fell onto the ground, an earthquake was triggered. He sunk into the ground, laughing.
"Sora, in the cave now! Before everything falls on top of us!" Riku shouted. Sora nodded and they both ran quickly, dodging falling trees and rocks, which fell from the jagged hill. They tumbled inside, and everyone huddled around.
"What's going on?" Kairi asked.
"He triggered an earthquake! That bastard!" Sora shouted.
"We should get out of here, what if it collapses inside?" Tidus said with worry. They all agreed. They ran, one behind the other careful not to be pummeled by anything. The earthquake came to a sudden stop, and the kids ran a bit more before they stopped as well.
"I guess it's over. Is everyone alright?" Riku asked. They all nodded.
"We seriously need to get off this place…" Sora said.
"Why don't we try building a raft?" Kairi asked. She brought it up before in one of their evening talks, but everyone was too scared of what would happen at sea.
"Maybe." Riku said. "Just maybe…"
A large, spacious room with a curvy black marble table and black chairs with purple silk seats were occupied for the conference room. The kind sat at the end, with everyone else sitting at the sides. The room was decorated with sculptures of famous people in history, from Athena to Julius Caesar. Yee walked into the room with Era.
"She's alright now." he said. Era nodded.
"I can speak for myself Yee, thank you." she sat down. Yee frowned, and sat next to her. Neero sat quietly and the king began to speak.
"It appears that we have a traitor among us, in this room." he said. Era's eyes widened.
"A traitor?" she asked. "And where is Fotia?"
Just then, a dark portal opened up from above the table and dropped Fotia's lifeless body onto it with a bang. Yee and Neero backed away quickly, and Era screamed. Phanta also screamed so she didn't seem to be the guilty one.
"What happened?" Neero asked. The king turned to look at him
"Someone here has killed her." he said. "I'd like to know where everyone was, if you were together at all."
"I was with Era the entire time, we didn't see Fotia at all." Yee said. Era nodded.
"Yes, and Yee didn't do anything suspicious. I was with him." she said. The king turned to look at Neero.
"Hey, I didn't do it. I saw no one." he said in a rather calm tone. Phanta pointed to Era.
"You never did like Fotia. And Yee wasn't fond of her either. What if the both of you killed her?" she said harshly.
"Phanta always did hang out with Fotia. I doubt she did it too." Neero said. Era slammed the table.
"Don't you dare ever accuse me you filthy witch! If it was anyone I never liked here, it was you! You act like you own the place. And since your always with Fotia, weren't you two together? Wouldn't you know what happened?" she shouted. Phanta kept herself from screaming back by scratching the table loudly so Era could lower her voice.
"I was with her, yes. But we decided to split up because she wanted to attack the girls alone. I went for the boys at their hideout. That was the last I saw of her." she said.
"You reacted pretty sharply to being accused Era." Neero said, arms brought to his chest. "Are you hiding something?"
"I've had enough." she said and got up, the chair screeching, almost falling backwards. She headed for the door but something caught her and threw her back towards the wall. Phanta got up from her seat with her arm raised.
"You staying right here." she said. The king got up.
"Enough, all of you! We do not yet have enough evidence to surely accuse anyone of this! I just wanted to hear your stories. What I know now is that we have to bring at least one of the kids up here and see if they know anything. The person who will do that is Phanta, as I trust her the most right now." the king spoke. Era scowled and Phanta grinned evilly at the fools she's in the room with.
Julius Caesar seemed to be upset.
Back at the island, the kids were working hard on building a raft. It was the only option they had left, and the island was going to soon shrivel up into nothing.
"Hand me that piece of wood, Sora." Tidus said. Sora got up from hammering, and gave Tidus said object.
"What do you think of building this?" Sora asked. "Do you think we'll make it?"
"Yeah, Sora! We'll make it to some land, far away from here." Tidus said cheerfully. Sora lowered his head.
"I hope you're right."
When the raft seemed just about done, they all gathered and looked at each other. The sea was calm enough but they all were still frightened.
"Well, I guess we get on." Kairi said.
"I'll push you guys into the water and hop on." Riku said. They all sat onto the raft, made with a little fence around it as well so they wouldn't fall off. Riku pushed as hard as he could, the raft being as heavy as it was, plus with all the kids on top, was quite a workout. He managed to get them in the water and he jumped on. Sora grabbed a paddle, and Tidus grabbed another, they went out farther into the water. Kairi looked back at their childhood, her face saddened. The island looked like hell on earth, but she could see the beauty of it behind the grotesque shield..
About an hour passed, and the kids all took turns paddling. They brought up different topics, but they were usually silent, and their faces grim. To their surprise, something hit their homemade boat with force.
"What was that?" Selphie asked, holding on to the edge as the raft shook. Riku bent over the side.
"Probably a wave." he said. Then something else hit, and it was indeed a wave. But a more powerful one.
"A storm?" Kairi asked. Waves then started to hit the boat furiously, and the kids screamed and hung on for their lives. Sora then spotted something in the distance. It was an oddly shaped figure.
"What is that?" he asked and pointed. Everyone turned to see. It looked like Aphrodite rising out of the sea foam, her hair dancing in the wind. But it was the opposite of good and beauty. Phanta was the one in the distance, sitting on Neero's back who was swimming like a torpedo through the water.
Phanta managed to persuade the king into letting Neero come with her. She needed help to get across the water after all. Plus, she knew who the traitor was anyway.
"How would I get them to not say it was me?" Phanta thought. She planned on what to do about this, as Neero continued to hit the kids with waves.
"Not you again!" Riku shouted. "We've had enough!"
"You're coming with us." Phanta said. With a twirl of her hand, darkness flew around them and covered them completely. They vanished.
The water soon calmed down again.
The kids awoke in a room that Sora was familiar with. It was that same purple room. He was the first to get up, and he saw his friends scattered on the floor and bed. It looked like the results of an after party. He ran to all of them, waking them up.
"Guys, get up!" he said. Just then, the door opened gently, and Phanta stepped in. She started to clap and closed the door.
"Wake up, children!" she said. They all looked at her angrily.
"You're a little late." Sora said. Phanta picked his chin up and starred into his eyes, but he quickly turned away.
"What a shame, the next time you comment on me, I'll have to snap your neck." she said. "Now, I've come here to tell you that you'll be asked who killed Fotia by the king."
"You killed her!" Selphie shouted.
"But you won't say that. And if you do, I kill you all in a flash. I swear, I will."
Angry faces all looked at her and she smiled. "Now stick to that plan, I must go before they know I was here. And to who killed her, you will say Era and Yee did." With that, she exited.
"She's a real bitch…" Riku said.
"We have no choice, I surely don't want to die!" Tidus exclaimed.
"We'll just have to come up with something to finish her off then." Sora said to them. They all nodded and waited to be called. The king sat on his thrown, and Neero, Era, and Yee were all standing near him. Phanta walked inside.
"Let them in." the king said. Phanta nodded, and opened the doors, and the kids were standing at the entrance. They looked around at the wide room which smelled like an old museum. "Don't be scared, step up."
Sora led them up to the throne and they all stopped as Phanta closed the doors behind them and went into her position near the others.
"I'm sure you know why you're here." The king said. They all nodded.
"Before you go on, I have some questions." Sora shot up and said. They all looked at him, bewildered. The king nodded.
"Fine, go ahead." he said.
"Where are we, and what are you planning to do?" Sora asked bravely.
"Well, you are in the Heartless Airship. Quite a beautiful place, isn't it? And what we're planning to do? Bring the worlds to darkness of course."
"Where are you headed then?"
"That's enough." Phanta shouted. Sora glared at her.
"Now I have a question. Fotia was killed. Did you see this happen?" the king asked. They all nodded. "Excellent. Then just tell me who did it."
They all swallowed uncomfortably, and Phanta smiled at them. Riku stepped forward, he would say it for them.
"It was...those two. The air one and the earth one."
Era and Yee's eyes widened in horror, ready to tear Riku apart. The king then took out a blade from the side of him. It was a long, sharp sword, which was extremely powerful.
Two more thorns in Phanta's palm have been removed. Phanta and Neero were in the lounge of the airship. Neero was watching TV, and Phanta was lying down.
"I knew it was them." she said. "It was obvious."
"I thought so, too. I can't believe it though. He just finished them off right there." Neero said, who appeared to be calm despite of it all. "What are we going to do with the kids anyway?"
"Well," Phanta continued and sat up a bit. "We're headed to the end of the World now. There, the leftover darkness will have gathered for our use. We will gain ultimate dark power while the other worlds suffer...but we might need the boy to open Kingdom Hearts for us."
"And his friends?" Neero asked. "Cant we just kill them?"
"There's no need to be harsh just yet. Saves us a mess. And besides, there are too many curtains and blankets in there, there's no use in him being left alone without them." she responded. Neero nodded.
The airship was nearing End of the World, and the king decided to land as near to Kingdom Hearts as possible. The sooner he got there, the better.
Sorry for the long wait...