Ok here it is. An actual new chapter. :Audience faints with surprise: Yes, I know. First off before we continue I would like to thank my reviewers: CodeLyoko, Miaku-Astradah, Rurouni Saiyan, and Yu Mutou. And once again, thank you Sora53 for your support of this fic. Now, on to the tale.
Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts or any Disney items that may be used. However, original characters and places are mine, so please don't steal them.
He spun around, looking for the source of the voice. Back in a dark recess stood a cloaked figure. Some how, Sora wasn't surprised. Of course there would be a creepy figure hiding here, of course he'd be subtly warned of impending doom by someone who would most likely try to kill him later. At least, that's the way it happened before. But this certainly wasn't Ansem: the voice belonged to a woman.
"Who are you?" he ventured.
"I know where he's gone."
Sora's eyes narrowed, "Where have you taken him?"
"I can take you to him."
He stepped towards the figure, stopping at arms length. "Where is he?"
"Take my hands." Two definitely feminine, ivory hands appeared from beneath the cloak. He looked at them, then back at the entrance to the cloak's hood.
"Why?"
"Please, don't make this difficult." Her tone was not threatening, trying to frighten him into submission. It was pleading, almost … helpless.
Sora came closer and lifted his hands. Taking one last look over his shoulder, he set his palms on hers. Then the bottom dropped out in a sweep of wind and darkness.
The first thing Sora was aware of was the cold, hard stone beneath him. Wait, Cold? Nowhere on Destiny Islands is it cold. He cracked his eyes open and stared at the high vaulted ceiling. The room was enormous, a great hall, though entirely devoid of furnishings. It was shaped like a simple decagon, and where each of its stone walls met another, a large, round column ran up the wall into the shadows that obscured the ceiling ages above. Several feet up, a balcony ran all the way around to room. The only exit led off from that level, though there was no visible way to get up. He stood to survey the marble floor beneath him, with its intricate pattern in muted colors.
"Well, look who finally decided to join us."
Sora whipped around to see…
"Riku! Your alright!"
The older boy nodded. "Of course I am. How about you?"
"Fine. What are you doing here?"
"Same as you, I guess," Riku replied.
"I came here looking for you."
"Guess not then."
"But how did you… How did I… Where are we anyway?"
"In the Sanctum. As for how, don't you remember?"
Sora thought back to the two ivory hands peeking out from beneath a dark cloak, but it didn't make any sense to him. "Who was she?" he asked.
Riku's brow furrowed. "She didn't tell you?"
"No."
"Tell you anything?"
"Only that she could help me find you."
Sora paused for a moment to think about these details.
"The Sanctum. So, wait, you mean we're not on Destiny Islands anymore!" exclaimed Sora, shocked.
Riku nodded his head.
"Sora," Riku stopped abruptly, "You wanna have a go?" The wingblade materialized in his hand. Sora looked uncertainly at his friend. It had been so long since Riku had even considered competing with Sora, especially in swordplay.
"Don't you think we should use wooded swords?"
"Come on, I know you've been wanting to get that Keyblade out for some exercise for a while now."
Sora hesitated. Since they had arrived back on Destiny Islands, he hadn't heard Riku mention the Keyblade even once, and anytime he had been asked to fight a round, he had flat refused, despite being pelted with Tidus's and Wakka's most offending banter.
"I promise I'll go easy in you," Riku smirked.
Sora smiled, glad that his friend seemed to be getting back to his old self. The Keyblade materialized in his hand and he stood in ready stance. "Ok!"
The two stood for a few silent moments, Sora crouched and ready for anything, Riku standing tall, apparently unworried about the coming skirmish. Each waited for the other to make the first move. Then Sora's impatience got the better of him and he launched himself forward. The maneuver was clumsy, and Sora knew Riku would be able to dodge it easily. He anticipated the side step, and swung around, expecting his Avalon Keyblade to catch the white haired fighter in the stomach. Surprisingly, he met only air.
Stopping his momentum, Sora came about, looking around frantically. Riku stood a few feet away, sword still at his side, as though nothing had happened. Sora was bewildered. Riku had never been a sluggard, but was never that fast.
"Well, would you like to start the fight?" said Riku with a smirk.
Sora smirked back, not about to let the taunt get to him. "Let's," he replied.
With a bit more caution, Sora came towards Riku. When he was an arms length away, he made a swing. Riku blocked it and the game was on. Both fighters went at it with gusto, dipping, weaving, parrying, spinning, and slashing with all their strength and skill. The blades sang through the air as they became little more than a bright blur of color and noise. As he met the resistance of the wingblade once again, Sora chanced a glance at his friend. Neither boy was willing to let up his assault, though Sora was certainly feeling the effect of it. He was throwing every ounce of speed and strength behind every move. He could see that Riku was breathing a bit harder than usual, meaning that he was working hard, but Sora couldn't help thinking that he should have worn him down by now. His white hair companion seemed faster, stronger, more assured of his abilities, but it was impossible that he could have improved so much since the last time they had faced each other. After all, Sora had been continuing to practice since they had returned, while Riku hadn't even so much as considered it. None of it made sense.
Then suddenly they broke, both standing apart, chests heaving.
"You've gotten good, Riku"
"Your not too bad yourself," Riku replied, "but I'm afraid I'm going to have to end this now."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" yelled Sora. He had just realized the advantage he had over Riku. Magic. Sora could use all kinds of magic, while, with the exception of the dark powers Maleficent had given him, Riku had never bothered to learn. Lifing his Keyblade high over his head, Sora shouted the incantation for the spell he knew would give him the upper had in the match, "Gravigra!"
As the large violet sphere of crushing magic energy formed above his head, Riku lifted a hand and said something that could not quite be heard.
Sora blinked once, twice. Were his eyes tricking him, or was there a transparent dome radiating from Riku's hand, like some kind of force shield? Sure enough, as the Gravity spell fell, it merely slid of the sides of the dome and dispersed, rather than flattening its intended victim.
Riku lowered his hand and the force shield dome disappeared. He waved a disapproving finger at Sora, "Tsk, tsk, trying to gain the upper hand are we? Oh well, guess that means it's my turn."
He suddenly crouched into a fighting stance, with his left foot forward, and grasped his sword with both hands, pulling it back over his shoulder like a bat. Silver electricity seemed to gather around his hands and climb up the length of the wingblade. Then, with a yell, he stepped forward, making a diagonal slash through the air with the empowered sword. The slash sent forth a line of magical power, flying straight forward with incredible force. It slammed into a dumbfounded Sora, who was lifted bodily from the ground and thrown against a wall, sliding back to the floor into a crumpled heap.
"Sora! Are you alright?" Riku rushed over to his friend. Sora looked up at him and lifted a hand to show he was fine. Or tried to, but found that he couldn't move, or even feel, the rest of his body.
"Riku, I can't move."
The older boy bit his lower lip nervously, "Yeah, sorry about that. Paralysis inducing spell. Guess I got a little carried away." He kneeled beside the immobilized keywielder and placed a hand on his head. An incantation was muttered, and Sora felt a flowing warmth wash over him. Riku stood and offered a hand. But Sora didn't need it, he jumped up, stretching and bending his rejuvenated limbs. He felt great, stupendous, like he just woke up from a good nights rest, instead of just finishing a tough fight.
Sora turned, intending to unload a barrage of questions on his white haired companion, but stopped as the sound of clapping rang through the air. Riku looked up to the entrance leading off from the balcony. Sora followed his gaze to see a girl standing beside the railing, applauding alone. She had long hair braided to a crown upon her head, two belts hanging from her hips and a black rod at her left side, and Sora knew instantly that this was the face behind the cloak. He looked instinctively to her hands, which despite being covered with black fingerless gloves were undoubtedly the same hands that had brought him here.
"Well done," she said.
"Glad we've entertained you," retorted Riku jokingly, "Why don't you come down here? I have a friend I want you to meet."
She leapt onto the railing, then jump off into the open space below. As she fell, Sora felt a slight breeze pick up in the room. The wind seemed to congregate beneath her feet and when she neared the ground, it slowed her decent allowing her to land lightly on her feet. She walked over to where the two boys were standing. She cast Riku a brief slight smile before turning to Sora.
"Keymaster," she said, before sweeping into a low bow.
Sora shot Riku a curious look. He shrugged. She rose to look at them both. There were a few moment of silence before Sora cleared his throat awkwardly, "Erm, Hello."
Riku started slightly, "Oh, Sora, this is Melee."
Sora extended a hand to her, "I'm Sora."
She took his hand, saying, "I know." Then she turned and strode back in the direction of the entrance.
Sora leaned towards his friend to whisper, "She knows? What all have you told her Riku?"
"Nothing," Riku hissed back, "Didn't have to. She seems to know everything already."
Sora was surprised, "Everything?"
"Well, every thing about us and the fight against the darkness."
"How?"
"Beats me."
They dropped their conversation as they reached the place where Melee was waiting for them. Sora look up at the balcony, "Ah, how do we get up there?"
Melee put her hand on the wall and pushed in a section of the stone. A corresponding section of the railing above slid away from the balcony, down, and tucked itself under the ledge, leaving an open section.
She turned to the bewildered keywielder. "We jump."
He looked up. It was a long way. Sora could jump pretty high, but knew he could never clear the space. He looked back at Melee, puzzled. She sighed, "Here let me show you."
She bent her knees into a tense crouch, then straightened them, jettisoning herself into the air. She has good height, thought Sora, but she'll never make half the distance.
Then Sora felt the slight breeze nipping at the edge of his short-sleeved jacket and the tips of his spiky brown hair. The wind seemed to be lifting her high, enabling her to reach the edge of the balcony easily and swing herself up. She looked down at the astonished look on Sora's face. "You know," she said with an odd half smile, "It's not polite to gape." Sora quickly shut his mouth, which had been hanging wide.
Riku laugh. "It's not really that hard, you know."
"Bu-but, I've only ever used Aero for defense," the keywielder stammered.
"It's not really that different," his older friend continued, "Get yourself in the same mind set as to cast the spell, but don't. Then concentrate on the air right beneath you feet. When you jump, use the magic to will the wind upward."
It took Sora a few tries, but soon he was swinging himself up onto the ledge. Melee nodded to him, "Good, you are a fast learner."
"Yeah, good thing too," said Riku, who had just pulled himself up beside them, "for your sanity's sake."
As they started to walk down the hall that led away from the great chamber, Sora turned to his friend, "So that's how you got so strong all of a sudden. She's been teaching you new spells and attacks and stuff."
Riku nodded, "Yep, Melee is an excellent fighter and really good to train with. She showed me whole different brand of magic, though I still can't do a whole lot of it. And there are some things that she can do that I know I never will be able to."
"That's not your fault though," Melee said over her shoulder, "People are just different, everyone has their own gifts and specialties. There are some feats you will accomplish that I could never hope to achieve, and the same goes for everyone else as well."
"Yeah," said Sora, "but still, you must be a really good teacher to have helped Riku improve so much in just a few hours."
Riku stopped walking. Sora stopped too, looking back at him. His eyes were narrowed in thought. "A few hours?" he echoed.
Sora turned to him thoughtfully, "Well, from the time Kairi and I noticed you were missing, till I came here. It couldn't have been more than six hours."
"Then why have I been here for three days?"
They both looked over to Melee, who had stopped walking. "Oh, did I never mention that time flows differently in the Sanctum?"
"No," they both replied flatly.
"Well, it's much faster." Then she continued to walk down the corridor.
"Hold on, how? It seems the same." Riku shouted after her.
Turning with a sigh, Melee looked at the two boys and explained, "Ok, look, on all of the other worlds time is in sync. A day on one world is the same as a day on another. But this world is different. It feels like a regular day while you're here. But compared to everywhere else, a day is only about two hours. I think its because this world is in some kind of time rip in space. Which would explain why there is no way out."
"No way out?" exclaimed Sora.
"This building has no windows, no doors, no exits at all. And the walls are impenetrable. A building that's a world within itself."
Sora gasped, "So you're the only way out of here. We're prisoners here until you say we can leave!"
She only chuckled, "Hardly prisoners. I'll be happy to take you home whenever you like. But for now, I suggest you stay here and train."
"Well, ok," replied Sora, "just so long as you get us back home by morning. Don't want anyone to worry."
Melee nodded turning away from them. "Of course."
She proceeded to show Sora around the Sanctum. It was enormous, with hundreds of corridors and rooms. Sora silently decided to stick with Melee, who alone seemed to know how to navigate the place.
After being introduced to the fourth library, he decided to ask a crucial question, "Hey, where is the kitchen. I'm starving." Riku shook his head, and Melee looked between the two of them, then shrugged and turned to lead them down a staircase.
A few minutes later, the three of them were standing in a spotlessly clean and gigantic kitchen. "Wow," mouthed Sora. "But, hey, where's all the food?"
Riku and Melee looked at each other for a moment, before twin malicious grins split their faces. Melee lifted two fingers to her mouth and blew. An earsplitting whistle rent the air, followed by a crash and a yell.
"Gosh durned it, Melee, how many times I gotta tell ya not ta come in her' whislin' and scarin' the beezles outta me? How'm I supposta get anything ready when yur always bargin' in and makin' me drop all of everything?"
A young man came out of a larder stock with his hands on his hips. He had thick, heavily buckled black boots and worn cargo pants. A leather vest covered a thin white t-shirt, and there were leather throngs tied about his wrists. His unruly strawberry blond hair was slightly held down by a pair of riding goggles, and, Sora smiled to notice, reminded of Cid, he had a toothpick clamped between his teeth.
"It's no fault of mine if you're a bit jumpy, Caltrup," said Melee.
Caltrup opened his mouth to retaliate, but closed it as he spied Sora. Walking up to the group, he held out a hand, "Hey there, name's Caltrup, four time winner of the Sentse annual bull riding and roping tournament and one heckuva cook, if I do say so myself, which I do."
Sora smiled, instantly taking a liking to the irrepressible cowboy, "Hi, I'm Sora."
"Sora, eh? So, you're that Key-thing-wielder-master that Melee's been so anxious to find," he turned to Melee, patting her on the back, rather hard, "Looks like you finally nabbed him."
Melee raised an eyebrow, "Caltrup, I did not 'nab' him, he came of his own accord."
"I don't know," said Sora, baiting her, " kidnapping my friend to get me to come could easily be considered trickery."
"I didn't kidnap Riku," she said seriously, "he agreed to come."
"She's got you there," Riku put in.
Caltrup leaned over, scrutinizing Sora. He picked up one of his wrists, measuring it with his thumb and middle finger. "Geez, you sure are skinny. Guess that just means that I'll have to feed ya up."
Melee looked at him with exasperation, "He is the Keybearer, and he's a whole heap stronger than you will ever be. You need to show some respect."
"It's alright, Melee. As long as he's cooking good food, he can call me whatever he wants to." Sora eyed Caltrup suspitiously. "Well, with in reason."
Caltrup burst with booming laughter, "I like this new friend of yours. I say we keep'em. Sure beats being stuck with you sticks in the mud."
"Excuse me?" said Riku, glaring at him.
"Melee's too darn serious about everthing. And you, well yer better, but not by that much. Ya'll need to cut loose sometime, ya know? Life only lasts so long."
"You're right." And with that Melee seemed to fall into her own thoughts, gazing down at the floor, though not seeing it.
Sora shot Caltrup a questioning glance. "Don't worry about her," answered the cowboy, "she's a little off sometimes." He swirled his finger around his temple. Riku elbowed him.
"Better watch what you say about her," said the white haired fighter, "or you could find yourself stranded somewhere you don't want to be."
"That's true," replied Caltrup as he walked towards the larder. He looked up at the shelves packed with food. "Now, what should I make first?"
Ta-da, if you please. Took long enough, didn't it? Oh well. See you all next time. Eventually.