Me: It's the weekend, and I finally have some time to work on the story!

Ken: this story's becoming a bit…demented…

Me: okay, so I drifted away from my main idea a tiny bit…

Ken: (glare)

Me: Okay, more than I expected…

Ken: (glares harder)

Me: okay, okay, so I drifted away from the main plot a lot!

Ken: that's better…

Me: oh, and warning! There's gona be some torture in this chapter! If you don't like blood and painful gory torture, then don't read that part.

Kaitsu: dear god, help me…

Me: mwahahaha! ……ehehe…

Takari: Merielle does not own Kingdom Hearts. All she owns is Kaitsu, Kotoro, Takari, Ken, Seika, Tamorei, Yuri, Sanyu, Nori, and the freaky hooded guy whose name I can't say. She owns way too many OCs…


Destiny's Punishment

Chapter 13—The First Battle

"…I think we're lost."

"Gee, you think?" Riku shot a glare at Sora as they continued walking through the ruins. It had already been an hour.

"Didn't we pass this fountain before?" asked Kairi. The others looked at it and groaned. That was the fifth time they had passed this part of the ruins.

"We are officially lost," muttered Sora and he plopped down on the ground.

"Well, we can't give up now," said Mickey. "Let's keep going." And with that, they continued walking down the path.


"Are you ready Yuri?"

The blonde nodded at the hooded boy standing before her, his red eyes fixed upon her.

"I'll do my best," she said. And with that, she disappeared. The boy turned around, a sinister smile visible from under his hood.

"I doubt they'll be able to get past the four battles. And even if they do, it'll be too late." A cold laughter filled the room as he disappeared too.


"I say we go left!"

"No, right!"

"Left!"

"Right!"

The others sighed as Sora and Riku began to argue on which path to take. Kotoro shook his head, saying,

"Let's just take the middle one."

The two boys thought about it and nodded as they took the center path. After a few minutes they reached a large castle. It was completely black, and had many looming towers of different sizes. There were a few crows circling the highest tower. Just by looking at the castle, it sent a chill down their spines.

"This must be the place," said Kotoro. As soon as he took a step forward a portal appeared in front of the door and a blond girl walked out of it. She wore a black trench coat and a witch hat, and a raven was perched on her shoulder.

"Congratulations! You have finally reached Castle Oblivion." She smiled at them. (That was the only name I could think of. Bear with me here…)

"…Yuri? Is that you?" Kotoro stared wide-eyed, wondering how in the world one of his childhood friends would be here.

"I'm glad you remember me," said Yuri. Her face changed into a sad expression. "It's too bad I can't let you through to the castle though."

Kotoro frowned. "Why not?"

"It's the Master's orders. I'm sorry, but you'll have to fight me to get through."

Kotoro blinked. His own friend had joined the side of darkness and turned on him. He couldn't believe it.

Yuri sighed and extended out her hand, a small fireball forming in it. "I'm sorry, Kotoro. But this is the only way."

And with that, she hurled the fireball straight at them.


"Your friends have arrived."

Kaitsu looked behind him, seeing the hooded man standing there. His red eyes gleamed from under his hood as Kaitsu remained silent.

"You should get ready for the battle."

"I don't want to fight," muttered Kaitsu.

"You will do as I say."

"No!" Kaitsu glared at the unknown, his anger rising. Before he knew it, the unknown had grabbed him by the throat and pinned him to the wall.

"Kaitsu, there are many ways that you can join the darkness. I tried asking nicely…" The unknown summoned his Keyblade and raised it to Kaitsu's throat. "…But I guess I'll just have to force you to."

In one swift movement, the blade pierced into Kaitsu's shoulder. Kaitsu screamed in agony, pain like no other spreading throughout him.

"It's still not too late, Kaitsu. You can still give up easily," said the unknown, the Keyblade still lodged in the boy's shoulder.

"I'll never give up," said Kaitsu, ignoring the blood that now trickled down to the floor.

"I guess I have no choice." The unknown frowned and twisted the Keyblade deeper into Kaitsu's shoulder. Kaitsu gritted his teeth as more blood fell down his shirt. After a few seconds, the unknown pulled out the Keyblade and chains sprouted from the wall, tying Kaitsu's hands to the wall.

The unknown made two more slashes across Kaitsu's chest, the ground around them now covered in blood. Kaitsu closed his eyes tightly, biting back his screams. Suddenly the blade shot through Kaitsu's left arm and something in there cracked. Kaitsu grunted, tears of pain stinging his eyes. The unknown dismissed the raven Keyblade, satisfied with the damage he had done.

"I'll let you rethink your choice," hissed the unknown. "But remember, if you push my limits any further, I'll be forced to destroy your brother's heart." And with that, he disappeared, leaving Kaitsu hanging there unconscious in the room.


Kotoro jumped out of the way as the fireball flew swiftly past them. Before they knew it, fire and ice attacks were raining upon them. Kotoro began to deflect them with his claws, while Sora and Riku used their swords to deflect the attacks too. Suddenly a large barrier appeared between Kotoro and the others.

"This is a fight between you and me," said Yuri. She jumped back as the raven flew off her shoulder and began to fly around her target. She raised her hand in the air and shouted, "Thundaga!"

A shower of lightning bolts struck down on him. Kotoro staggered back, his yellow eyes glowing with rage. He transformed into a shadow Heartless and leapt at Yuri, but was blown back by Aero. The others watched in awe as the Heartless changed into a Wyvern. He flew at Yuri and managed to knock her down, stopping the attacks momentarily. The Wyvern circled around and darted at the blonde for another strike.

"Graviga!" Suddenly the Wyvern was shot down to the ground and he changed back into a shadow Heartless as the spell wore off. Suddenly the Heartless disappeared.

"Where'd he go?" exclaimed Kairi. The others looked around frantically, but saw him nowhere. Suddenly a loud shriek pierced through the air and everyone looked at the sight before them.

Yuri was on her knees, her eyeswide with pain, and Kotoro was standing behind her, holding a crystal heart in his hand. The blonde turned slowly to the half-Heartless, a weak smile on her face.

"You won the battle..." She lowered her head as she began to disappear. "Good-bye…" The heart is Kotoro's hand disappeared as the barrier faded away. Yuri disappeared completely, leaving only a small blue gem on the ground.

"Come on, we better hurry," said Kotoro as he picked up the gem, ignoring the looks of shock on the other's faces.

"But…You just killed her!" exclaimed Kairi.

"…So?"

"Wasn't she your friend?" asked Sora.

"Someone who turns on me is never my friend," said Kotoro coldly. He turned around and walked towards the door. Sora looked at Riku and Kairi, who had nothing to say about Kotoro's comment. Deciding it was best not to anger him, they followed Kotoro as he pushed open the door.


Kaitsu slowly opened his eyes, his head throbbing painfully. The bleeding had stopped, but his body was still aching. He glanced at his left arm, which was hanging limply. He tried to move it, but a sharp spasm of pain shot through it. He closed his eyes, trying to forget the horrible pain.

"Ko tairo des akato… Ko tairo des yu…"

Kaitsu began to mutter the words, a faint smile on his face. Kotoro used to sing that song when they were little. Usually when Kaitsu had a nightmare, Kotoro would just chant the song to calm him down. Now was the time when he needed the song most…

"Kurasi noro hikari… Tori esu nanaki…"

He continued to sing the words softly, feeling a comforting warmth in his heart. 'I won't give up…' he thought.


Kotoro stopped walking up the stairs and looked up at the ceiling. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked Sora. The others stopped and looked back at Kotoro. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling, as though something was there. The others tried to listen too, but heard nothing.

"I don't hear anything," said Riku.

Kotoro shook his head. "Never mind. I must be hearing things…" He continued walking up the stairs, the others following behind him. Mickey lingered behind a few seconds, looking up at the ceiling. "You weren't imagining it Kotoro,"hemuttered, mostlyto himself. "I heard it too..."


Nori stood in the middle of the library, waiting for their "guests". A portal appeared behind him and Tamorei walked out of it.

"Are you ready Nori?" he asked. The silver-haired boy nodded, not looking back at Tamorei.

"This isn't going to be an easy fight… Considering the fact that you're…" Tamoreitrailed offonce Nori turned to him. It looked as though his grey eyes were fixed on him, but there was a distant look in them, as though he wasn't looking at Tamorei at all.

"It's all right. I can still fight them," said Nori, turning his back on the cat-boy once more. Tamorei nodded and disappeared through a portal. The silver-haired boy stood there a few minutes, lost in thought. A long sword materialized in his hand, and he turned to look at it, running his hands over its surface as he muttered,

"Even if I am blind…I can still fight them."


Me: nee! Another finished chapter! I'm so happy. The story's turning out better than it I expected it to. And yes, Nori's blind! But he's not the blind-folded unknown from Deep Dive, if any of you are wondering about that. All the unknowns are just little OCs of mine in the story.Anyway, how's Kaitsu doing?

Ken: um… he's doing…okay...

Kaitsu: pain. hurt. agony. (twitch)

Ken: don't you think you're overdoing the torture?

Me: nope. That never crossed my mind. (innocent grin)

Takari: And now for the review replies.

Ninja Mage- It took me a while to decide who should be the one singing '99 bottles.' XD Thanks weekends! Otherwise there would be no updates… (sweatdrop)

Mikol- Yay, new reader! And you have a crazy imagination too! Wee! (jumps around hyperactively) …okay, I'm done now.

Kai- Make Riku evil? Well, yeah that would be a wonderful twist, but then the entire story might get messed up. Just think of the chaos… hehe… (evil grin)

Risako- All of the characters in this story except for Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey are actually characters I made up myself. It's an OC invasion! XDAnywho, I hope you catch up soon.

Me: oh, and by the way everyone,as for thesecret language... It's a mix between Japanese, Latin, and English that I made up.I'll call it...Jatinglish!

Ken: Jatinglish?

Me: Yep! Neat name, huh?

Ken: …I'm not in the mood to kill your happiness right now, so I'll just leave... (walks off)

Me: Anywho, read and review!

Merielle