Chapter Five. News from Heaven or Hell.
The day after Riku's dramatic reappearance was quiet and subdued. Yuffie stayed in her room for most of the day emerging only to grab some food, and none of the others even left their rooms. Kairi was fixated on Riku and nothing else, and Leon had his hands full trying to pull Cloud fully into the light.
Early, at about an hour after daybreak a loud series of bangs on the door shattered the silence of the little house. Despite the violence of the noise, only Yuffie heard the knocking, and she ran to the door before whoever it was took it upon themselves to break down the door and wake up all her exhausted friends.
When she opened the door, Yuffie was struck dumb. She didn't know who she expected to be at the door at dawn, but she would never have expected to see the river of shining silver hair and emerald eyes of an angel staring down at her. Sephiroth, the One Winged Angel, was standing on her doorstep looking out of breath and wild-eyed.
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The worlds shifted in their alignment. Even an ally of the ascendant darkness was not immune to the evils of the Malevolence, as they liked to call themselves. Sephiroth had seen the horrors that his malicious 'friends' had perpetrated in their bid for conquest and he decided early into their reign that he wanted no part in the slaughter of innocent lives, and the stealing of hearts.
At great risk to his own life Sephiroth contacted the leaders of the resistance to the darkness, eventually becoming one of their most valued spies. In fact, even after the darkness was banished, Sephiroth stayed deep in the confidence of the enemy, reporting when he could.
The balance was shifting again. The Fallen Soldier of Fortune was once again caught between both sides. And this time the news he had could ruin the insurgence of shadow, or it could destroy the resistance utterly.
In coming to Traverse Town and contacting those most likely to oppose the shadows, Sephiroth had committed himself irrevocably to the side of light. He was a marked man in the Darklands and he had to get his information to his real allies as soon as possible. Every extra second he took gave the heartless more time to find him and eliminate him before he even had a chance to warn anyone.
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The look on Yuffie's face as she realized who was in fact standing in front of her, made Sephiroth remember that his change of spots was not commonly known. He quickly placed his battle-hardened hand over her mouth and pushed her into the shelter of the doorway. 'Yuffie, I am not what you think I am.' He whispered roughly. 'I left the darkness to work with the light. I am on your side.'
His hand was so tight over her mouth that Yuffie could barely get out a terrified nod. Seeing her distress, Sephiroth gradually moved his hand away from her mouth, until he was sure she wouldn't scream. 'Look, you have to believe me; I am not with the Shadows. I left at the beginning of it all, and I have worked for the light ever since. See, I'm not holding you, run, scream, whatever. I'm not trying to stop you. I'm just asking you, please listen to me. It could mean the life or death of worlds!'
At that almost frenzied outburst, Yuffie nodded again and stepped back inside, allowing the tall mage into the hallway. She led him to the lounge and gestured to the ratty old couch. 'I'm not going to leave you alone in my house.' She said bluntly, pinching the bridge of her nose to ward off a growing headache. 'Say what you have to say and then I'll decide if we kill you right here. I can't take the risk of any of my friends being hurt.'
Sephiroth eyed the barbed shurikens on Yuffie's belt and gave a wry smile. 'Yeah I understand. If you'd like to tie me up I won't resist, if it makes you feel better.'
Yuffie almost smiled and then caught herself and simply shook her head. 'That won't be necessary. Tell me what you came here to say. It must be important to risk travel between the worlds now that the heartless are back. I'm listening.'
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'This starts in the coliseum.' Said Sephiroth. 'Hades persuaded me to fight for him, he promised me, things. It wasn't long before I realized that he told me nothing but lies. Around that time I also figured out how wrong the rule of shadows would be. In a past life I was a fallen angel, not anymore; I abandoned the lure of the darkness before it had even begun its rule and joined the light as a spy in the enemies ranks.
As the leaders of the light commanded me, so I traveled across the worlds, following the schemes of shadow and destruction. I was there when Sora crushed each dark lord or lady, I was there watching over his battles on every world. Even as Sora fought alone against his best friend, I watched over him for the light.
The shadow rulers had no idea that I was playing them false and they brought me into their plans for overrunning all the related worlds. Gradually I earned their trust and they pulled me deeper and deeper into the plots. This was getting near the end though, because after a time they sent me to guard Ansem, pawn of shadows and puppet to darkness.
That was the one task they set me that I had to fail at all costs. Crucial to the counteractions of the light was Sora defeating Ansem and closing the door to Kingdom Hearts and the shadows. I manipulated events so that when Sora and Ansem came face to face I was 'fighting' servants of the light. Actually I was reporting to my superior about Sora when I heard that he had freed the light and trapped the darkness.'
Sephiroth paused in his narrative and saw that Yuffie was spellbound with his tale of danger and intrigue. Turning his head slightly he saw the light of morning shining through the window and realized that, though it seemed like he had been speaking for hours, it had really only been an hour and a half. Yuffie glanced up to briefly meet his eyes and indicated that he continue with his story.
'That was the most dangerous time for me and my other agents who worked inside the enemy's ranks. Five of our insiders were actually killed by our own men in their efforts to keep up their pretenses. Our leader recognized that even closing the door to Kingdom Hearts would not prevent the shadows from returning in the future, and they somehow knew that the remaining shadow lords would be trying to retain all contacts of our worlds and they would be attempting to rebuild their army as soon as possible.
Yuffie, I am the most highly placed of all our spies and it has taken me over six months to discern the ultimate plan of the hidden shadows. I don't know how to tell you this, so I'm just going to tell it to you straight. Kairi and Sora are the key to the victory of the shadows. Everything that is being planned on the other side of the Shade centers around your group of warriors taking Kairi and Cloud to hunt down Sora and Aeris.'
Sephiroth's face suddenly looked older as he slumped on the couch. 'I think you should go and get everyone Yuffie.' He said softly. 'They need to hear this too. No matter how much it may hurt. It needs to be said, and plans need to be made.'
Yuffie's face took on a stubborn cast and she seemed about to argue Sephiroth's quiet order, when she caught his eye. Ages of pain and sorrow stared at her from the green depths, and the great sadness in them quelled all of her argumentative feelings. Getting up silently she walked off towards Cloud and Riku's rooms without a backwards glance.
The sun climbed through her ordained path as Yuffie roused her friends from uneasy slumber. The fog once again began to close in around Traverse Town and inside Yuffie's little house, an angel shared news from the depths of hell.
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A/N: Shadow – Slightly larger and a lot more intelligent than the heartless of the Kingdom Hearts game. (I just found out that a shadow is a type of heartless, but I don't care.)
Related Worlds – My invented name for the system of worlds in Kingdom Hearts. I just needed to find a quick easy name to refer to the worlds.
Yuffie might seem a bit out of character, but I've never got very far in the game (apologizes for all character discrepancies). And also, the characters are a little older, and hopefully more mature than they used to be.