Me: Bad news people… I won't be able to update any longer during the weekdays.

Everyone: (gasp)

Kaitsu: why not?

Me: …School.

Kaitsu: (shudder)

Me: I'll be able to write, but no internet on weekdays. That means I'll be able to update really fast over the weekends. That's the good part.

Ken: woop-dee-freakin'-doo…

Takari: Merielle does not own Kingdom Hearts. Be happy she doesn't.


Destiny's Punishment

Chapter 14—The Second Battle

It was a demon. It was the son of a devil. Nothing could possibly be worse than this evil creature. No, it was worse that the devil itself.

…It was a squirrel.

Kaitsu stared at it, his eye twitching as it came closer. Apparently, the window was open, and a little squirrel decided to jump in and scare the hell out of poor Kaitsu. The squirrel looked at Kaitsu and scuttled closer.

"Stay!" yelled Kaitsu. The squirrel jumped back and looked at the boy with its round eyes. Even though Kaitsu thought squirrels were strange, this one was even stranger. It had black fur and bright red eyes.

"Get away from me you evil little monster…" muttered Kaitsu, glaring at the evil creature. The squirrel looked at Kaitsu and ran up to his leg, only to be kicked back.

"Three feet distance!" yelled Kaitsu. The squirrel ignored this and scuttled up the wall and jumped on Kaitsu's head. Kaitsu twitched as the furry little creature sat on his head.

"This is the worst day of my life…" groaned Kaitsu, closing his eyes. A few minutes passed and he opened his eyes to see a pair of round red eyes staring at him. Kaitsu screamed, causing the squirrel that was staring at him to fall down. It shook its head and looked up at Kaitsu. After a few minutes it ran around in a circle and jumped out of the window. Kaitsu sighed, relieved that the little devil finally left. He looked up at the ceiling, wondering about his friends.

'I hope they get here soon…'


After half an hour, Sora and the others reached a door at the end of the staircase. They opened it and found a large library that had shelves filled to the ceiling with books. Their eyes fell upon a boy who seemed to be reading a book. He didn't seem to know they had entered, for he hadn't turned around to look at them.

Kotoro's eyes widened as he saw the boy's silver hair. "…Kaitsu?"

The boy jumped and wheeled around at them, his eyes slightly wide from fear. Kotoro's hopes fell as he saw the boy's grey eyes. The silver-haired boy blinked and put the book on the table.

"Who's there?" he said, his eyes narrowing. The others blinked at this. They were standing right in front of him and he was asking 'who's there?'

"Uh… We're here to find Kaitsu," said Sora, uncertain of what to do. The boy blinked once more.

"I didn't expect you to arrive this soon..." he muttered. A long sword appeared in his hand as a determined expression was set on his face. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to fight me to get through."

"And you are…?" asked Riku.

"My name is Nori, and I'll make sure you don't leave this room alive." And with that, he charged at them. Sora summoned his Keyblade and deflected the blow while the other summoned their weapons too. Nori jumped back and charged once more at them. Riku blocked the attack as Kairi began shooting at Nori. He jumped to the side, narrowly missing the bullets, and slashed his sword across Riku's side. Sora took this opportunity and used Strike Raid at Nori. The boy rolled to the ground, avoiding the attack, and stood back up.

"He's fast…" muttered Sora. Mickey's eyes narrowed as he replayed the scene over in his mind. There was something off in Nori's attacks…

Kotoro charged at Nori, his claws ready to strike, but the boy raised his sword and deflected the attack. He jumped back and charged at them once more, delivering several more strikes at Kotoro, Sora, and Riku, while the others watched and healed them from a distance.

Sora threw his Keyblade in Strike Raid once more, only to miss as Nori rolled to the ground again. Seeing Nori caught off guard, Kotoro jumped at him and managed to create a deep gash in the boy's left arm. Nori grunted and jumped back, only to be hit in the back by Riku's blade. He winced and staggered back, a confused look on his face. Mickey's eyes widened as he realized what was going on.

Riku managed to deliver another blow at Nori. The boy jumped back and took a defensive stance. They continued to attack Nori, only to have them deflected. After a few minutes of attacks, Kotoro, Riku, and Sora were tired, while Nori still kept his stance with only a few cuts on him.

"This guy's really strong," said Kotoro. "Is there any way we can beat him?"

"There is."

The three looked at Mickey as he took a few steps forward, a serious expression on his face. He glanced over at Nori and said,

"He's blind."

The others blinked, looked at Mickey, then at Nori, then back.

"You're kidding, right?" said Sora.

"No, I'm not," said Mickey, not at all taking this as a joke. "Didn't you notice that he never attacked you first? He was waiting for you to attack first so he could hear you coming." The others looked at Nori, who was now smiling faintly.

"So you found out my weakness, good for you," he said, taking his stance once more. "But even though I'm blind, I can still hear you."

"What should we do?" asked Riku. The others pondered over this question. Kotoro smirked,

"I got an idea. Leave this to me."

And with that, he changed into a shadow Heartless and stalked silently towards Nori. The others blinked, realizing what Kotoro was doing.

Nori kept his stance, trying to listen to any sound of movement. But no sound came. Unknown to him, a Heartless was able to move silently, and he had no idea that Kotoro was approaching him. The Heartless jumped behind Nori and instantly latched onto his back. Nori jumped out of fright and began struggling. A scream of pain echoed throughout the room as the Heartless' claws bore into Nori's back and clamped over his heart.

But before Kotoro could pull out his heart, Nori raised his sword and struck it into the Heartless' back. It immediately let go and fell to the floor, a small white gem in its right hand. Nori pulled out the sword and grunted, his hand clutching his chest. He took a few steps back before disappearing through a portal.

The others ignored this and ran to the Heartless as it changed back into Kotoro. They winced as they saw the gash through his stomach.

"Cura!" Donald raised his staff, trying to heal Kotoro, but the injury didn't disappear. "What? Why isn't it working?!"

"He must've put an anti-magic spell when he impaled him," said Mickey, examining the wound.

"I'll be fine…" Kotoro tried to get up, but fell back down. He covered his mouth as he coughed up more blood.

"You should go back to the Gummi Ship," suggested Kairi. Kotoro shook his head, trying to stand up once more.

"No. I have to save my brother." He stood up and limped a few steps before Mickey stopped him.

"There's no need to be reckless, Kotoro. You need to rest."

Kotoro growled and continued walking, ignoring Mickey's order. The others sighed, giving up their attempts to stop him, and walked to the next door. Kotoro stopped walking as the others went on.

"Are you coming?" asked Sora as they looked back at him.

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up," he said. They nodded and walked up the stairs as Kotoro lingered there. He looked down at his wound and noticed half of it was already healed.

'Being a Heartless does have good sides too sometimes…' He smiled inwardly. Raising his right hand, he looked at the small white gem he pulled out of Nori's heart. He looked in his pocket and took out the blue gem he had received from the battle with Yuri. He continued to stand there, gazing at the gems in thought.

'What are these gems for…?'


"Nori, what happened?"

Tamorei rushed to Nori as he fell on his knees, his hand clutching his chest. Sanyu looked at the bloody form and smirked,

"The poor thing lost the battle…"

"Now's not a time for sarcasm, Sanyu!" snapped Tamorei as he helped Nori up.

"They got it…" murmured Nori.

"What?"

"Theyhave the gem," muttered Nori. The other's eyes widened as the words shot through the silence.

"I'll go get the Master," said Sanyu, a hint of worry in his voice. Tamorei nodded as Sanyu disappeared through a portal. Nori drooped to his knees, his breathing becoming shallow. Tamorei lowered his head,

"Don't worry, Nori. We won't let you die."


Me: this was a short chapter. Bear with me.

Kaitsu: you tortured me with a squirrel this time?!

Ken: well, there's gotta be some comedy in this pathetically angsty story…

Me: thanks for the support Ken… (sweatdrop)

Ken: my pleasure…

Me: anywho, that squirrel might be a bit freaky, but it's gona be important in the next few chapters. Keep on the lookout for the black-colored, red-eyed squirrel!

Takari: And now for the review replies.

Ninja Mage- To tell you the truth, I've become a bit obsessed with Kaitsu and Kotoro. I drew a picture of them last week and they looked liked bishies! (Japanese for hot guys) XD Anywho, now I'm a bit obsessed with my own OCs… that's weird. (sweatop)

Risako- Poor little Kaitsu… That's what everyone says. And Yes, I want a box of chocolates right now too. In fact, I'll go get one right now! (runs off)

Mikol- Who are you calling horrible? I'm not horrible…hehe… (smiles innocently) Anywho, since everyone was getting depressed by Kaitsu's torture, I decided to add a little comedy by putting in a psychotically cute squirrel in the story! XD

Me: That's all for now! Read and review!

Merielle