Me: I'm happy today.
Ken: why?
Me: I finally got Star Ocean: Till The End of Time!
Ken: …does this have anything to do with the story?
Me: nope! Not at all!
Ken: …
Takari: Merielle does not own Kingdom Hearts. The day she does is when the Heartless are replaced by mutated squirrels…
Me: warning! This chapter has torture! Well…a little bit.
Ken: …we'll be praying for poor little Kaitsu.
Destiny's Punishment
Chapter 10—Light or Darkness?
"K-Kaitsu…" muttered Kotoro. He fell on his knees, looking at the spot where his brother once was. 'I couldn't save him… He's gone…' Kotoro lowered his head, a tear falling down his face. The other lowered their heads in defeat. None of them were able to save Kaitsu.
"I don't believe this…" muttered Ken. "We failed…"
"Ronin's going to kill us for this," said Ryu.
Kotoro stifled a sob, looking down at the ground. He blinked, seeing Kaitsu's orb on the ground. It was still a dark shade of grey… Kotoro's vision became blurred once more from his tears. He stood up and wiped them away as he put the orb in his pocket.
"We should go. It's no use wasting our time here," said Takari as the unknowns turned to a portal that appeared behind them.
"Wait, who are you four?" asked Sora. Ken looked back at the others before saying,
"We're the Guardians of Light. This won't be the last time we meet…" And with that, the guardians disappeared through the portal. The others stood in silence before Mickey spoke up,
"We'd better go back to the castle. Donald, Goofy," Mickey turned to the two, "I need you two to prepare a Gummi Ship for us as fast as you can once we get there."
"Yes, your majesty!" said Donald as they both took a head start towards the castle.
"Are you coming, Kotoro?" asked Sora. Kotoro shook his head.
"You guys go ahead. I'll catch up." He watched the others walk off until they disappeared in the distance. He pulled out the orb and looked at it before saying,
"Hang in there, Kaitsu. I'll save you… I promise."
"GUARDIANS!!!"
The four froze immediately as the door to the room burst open, revealing a very ticked off Ronin.
"Um…Hiya Ronin," said Ryu. He grinned sheepishly as Ronin glared at him, wanting to strangle him to death.
"You four failed your mission," he said. They were silent for a minute before Ken spoke,
"Please give us another chance--"
"I already gave you a chance! I resurrected you four so you would be able to protect him! But you weren't even able to keep watch on him!!"
"We're really sorry, Ronin," whimpered Seika. "Please…Just give us a second chance."
A dead silence filled the room. You could just drop a needle and hear it hit the ground in that silence.
"Alright," said Ronin. "I'll give you once more chance."
"Thank you!" cried Ryu and Seika.
"But…" He watched them as they fell silent. "If you fail this time, I'll lift the spell…And you'll have to return to your graves. But if you succeed, your lives will be free."
"Yes, sir," They all nodded in unison as Ronin left the room.
"…What do we do now?" asked Seika.
"Simple. We wait," said Ken.
"That's what we did before, and look where it got us," said Takari. "I say we find him and rip him apart. First we tear off his limbs…" Then he went into a very detailed and gruesome description that the others didn't like to hear.
"You always love the violence, don't you Takari?" said Seika.
"Let's set a stink bomb in his hideout!" said Ryu.
"…A stink bomb? What damage will that do?" asked Takari
"I dunno. It just sounded like a cool idea right now…"
"We'll wait. That's the plan," said Ken, ignoring their complaints. He pulled out a small orb from his pocket. The others stopped talking and looked at the orb in surprise.
"Isn't that a Balance Sphere?" asked Seika.
"But…Kaitsu's the only person who has a Balance Sphere. Is that his?" exclaimed Ryu.
"No," Ken shook his head. "This is another copy of the Balance Sphere. We can use this to monitor Kaitsu and see if he's okay. But for now, we'll wait and see what happens."
The other hesitated, but nodded in agreement. Ken placed the orb on the circular platform as they began to plan on what to do when they find the hideout…
Pain…
Dull…Throbbing…Pain…
Kaitsu opened his eyes, but all he saw was darkness. He ran his hands over the smooth marble surface of the floor. Slowly he sat up, feeling a stinging pain in his chest. Ignoring it, he looked around, still seeing nothing.
'Where am I…?' He coughed violently, throwing up a few drops of blood as the pain in his chest grew. 'What's…wrong with me?' He put his hand to his chest, but tensed as he felt a warm liquid oozing onto his hand. He was bleeding.
"What the…" Suddenly a dim light filled the room as the torches on the wall lit up. Kaitsu looked up, seeing a hooded figure standing a few feet away from him.
"You're finally awake…" His voice echoed off of the walls. Kaitsu stood up, summoning his Keyblade to his hand. A small, cold laugh echoed throughout the room.
"Do you really think you're in the state to fight me?" he said. Kaitsu winced at the pain in his chest. He was right, there was no way he could fight him like this. But Kaitsu remained his ground, trying to hide his pain and fear from the unknown.
"…What do you want from me?" muttered Kaitsu. The unknown's red eyes locked with Kaitsu's blue eyes as he said,
"I am only here to guide you on the right path."
Kaitsu's hand clenched tighter on the handle of the Keyblade. "I'd rather die than join the darkness. I'm staying with the light."
He smirked as he noticed the unknown's expression change for a second. Maybe he really could escape from…whatever this place was.
"What has the light ever done for you?"
Kaitsu frowned. "What?"
"All your life the light has give you nothing but pain. It forced you to protect a door for five years, it killed your brother, and it has done many other things to you. But the darkness won't do that. It'll make you forget what pain even feels like. You can live your life to the fullest, and have no worry in the world. Don't you want that?"
Kaitsu gritted his teeth, anger boiling inside him. There was no way he was going to be sweet talked into joining the darkness. Not after what he went through…
"I'll never join the darkness. And there's nothing you can do about it."
"We'll see about that…" A black Keyblade appeared in the unknown's hand as he charged towards Kaitsu. Their Keyblades met as the sound of metal colliding echoed through the room. Kaitsu jumped back and charged at his foe but as he raised his Keyblade to strike, it disappeared. The unknown slashed his Keyblade across Kaitsu's chest.
'Wha…Where'd the Keyblade go…?' Kaitsu tried to get up. Before he could stand, the unknown sent a wave of dark energy at him. Kaitsu was thrown back a few feet and he struggled to get back up. His body was aching in pain. It was almost unbearable. He fell on his hands and knees and coughed up more blood as the unknown stood before him.
"Kaitsu, it's still not too late," said the unknown, his red eyes glaring down at him. "You can submit now, and be freed from the hours of pain you'll have to bear if you don't give up. Besides," he used the end of his Keyblade to raise Kaitsu's head to look at him, "you can't just resist the darkness forever. It's not like your friends will come and save you. They don't even care about you."
In one swift movement, Kaitsu's fist collided with the unknown's face, sending him backwards onto the marble floor.
"Don't you…ever say that. My friends will come. I just know it."
The unknown stood back up, his eyes flaming with anger as he looked at Kaitsu. Before Kaitsu knew it, the unknown had grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against the wall. He knew this boy wasn't going to give up of his own free will. He might as well do it the hard way.
"Poor little Kaitsu…" hissed the unknown as he lightly swiped the Keyblade across Kaitsu's cheek, creating a new cut. "The clock is ticking away…And your friends still haven't arrived to save you…"
Kaitsu winced as the unknown slashed at his left arm. He bit his tongue and glared hatefully at the unknown. There was no way he would give up…
"Maybe they don't even care for you." The unknown slashed at Kaitsu once more. "They just see you as a useless little weapon."
"Shut up," said Kaitsu. "I'll never believe a bastard like you. I won't give up." The unknown's grip on Kaitsu's throat tightened, nearly suffocating him.
Suddenly chains sprouted from the wall and tied Kaitsu's hands and legs to the wall. The unknown let go of him and put his hand on Kaitsu's forehead causing ice cold pain to spread throughout his body.
"I'll do whatever it takes to make you join the darkness…"
The unknown plunged his Keyblade into Kaitsu's chest. He bit back the urge to scream as blood poured down his body. His vision began to blur and he felt the unknown's hand tighten on his forehead.
He pushed the Keyblade deeper into Kaitsu's chest and twisted it, forcing a scream to rise from the boy's mouth and echo throughout the room.
"…And this is only the beginning," said the unknown, a sinister smile visible from under his hood.
He pushed the Keyblade deeper and as soon as it touched Kaitsu's heart, his mind went blank.
Me: (laughs evilly) I am so evil!!
Kaitsu: …ouch…
Ken: you just love to end on cliffies, don't you?
Me: yep! This chapter was a bit tough because of the torture. Hehe, it's my first time writing a physical torture scene. There's going to be more torture in the next few chapters, but it's gona be mental torture.
Takari: Now for the review replies!
Ninja Mage- I don't know the plural of cliffies either… (sweatdrop) Poor Kaitsu…he's going to suffer so much. Especially in chapter—(covers mouth) Gah, I better keep it a secret! Hehe…
The Keyblade Master- yay! A new reader! I'm glad to see you like the story!
Me: That's all for now! Read and review! Oh, and Happy New Year everyone! (grin)
Merielle
