Me: I'm officially back to writing.

Ken: (waves flag) woop-de-doo…

Me: And to friends who've been freaking out about the previous chapter… No. Takari did not die. He just… got horrible injured.

Takari: Hm. I should probably kill you for that…

Me: (summons staff) …Just hurry up and do the disclaimer.

Takari: (sigh) Merielle doesn't own Kingdom Hearts. I'm tired of saying this.


Destiny's Punishment

Chapter 20—Plans

"He has to be here somewhere around here," assured Ryu.

"Maybe he's…" Seika trailed off, afraid to say it.

"No," answered Ken. "I can still sense him."

Just a few minutes ago they had heard a scream and saw Takari falling from the tower. Now they were searching in the forest for him.

"Hey, I see something!" Seika pointed to a figure lying on the ground. She ran up to it, recognizing it as Takari. The others followed and helped turn him on his back. They gasped at what they saw.

Blood was dripping from his left arm, and his face was scratched from the tree branches above. His coat was burnt and torn up.

"My god…" muttered Ryu.

"Takari, wake up!" Seika shook him by the shoulders. "Please wake up!"

"Dammit, quit shaking my arm," groaned Takari, opening his eyes to look at them. They sighed in relief.

"Geez, what happened to you?" asked Ryu.

"Kaitsu freaked out again. This time he was close to stabbing me. I… got angry and transformed back--"

"You idiot!" shouted Ken.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have changed back," said Takari. "Once he found out, he attacked me and I fell out the window."

"Did you find out anything new? What about Kaitsu?" asked Seika as she began to heal Takari's wounds with 'Cure'.

"…He's joined their side." The others froze at this.

"I don't believe this…" muttered Ken.

"No offence, Ken, but your plans aren't working at all," remarked Ryu.

"Then I guess we'll try something new…"

"What's that?" asked Seika.

"We'll go by force."


Kotoro continued walking, not bothering to look back. After a while he stopped walking and looked around the dark hallway. Lucky for him, his eyes allowed him to see through the darkness.

Maybe he should go back… Kotoro shook the thought out of his mind and proceeded to walk on, but stopped at the sounds of footsteps. Acting quickly, he changed into a Heartless and hid in the shadows. The footsteps became louder as three figures approached. It was the Dark Guardians.

"They have to be here somewhere," said Sanyu.

"Do you think they'll accept the offer?" asked Tamorei.

"They have to. It's the only way."

They continued walking and passed Kotoro. He sighed, but tensed again when Nori stopped.

"What is it?" asked Tamorei.

"Something's here," muttered Nori. He walked back a few steps and looked in the direction Kotoro was hiding.

"…I don't see anything," said Tamorei, squinting through the darkness of the hallway.

"It's because you can't," said Sanyu. "You have to sense it."

Nori kneeled down and reached out his hand. It was just a few inches from the Heartless when he stopped.

'This is not good.' thought Kotoro as he edged away from the hand. Unfortunately, he made a soft tap as he moved next to a rock. Nori's hand instantly shot out and latches at the shadow's back.

"…What is this?" asked Nori. He stood up and held out Kotoro to the other two.

"It's… a Heartless," said Sanyu. "Whatever. It's not that important."

'What? I'm not important enough for you freaks!' Kotoro began struggling in Nori's grasp, shouting other obscenities at them through his mind.

He froze once he realized the others were staring at him.

"What did you call us?" growled Tamorei.

'Wha… you can hear me?'

"Of course we can hear you, Kotoro," replied Nori, letting go of the Heartless. The shadow landed softly on the ground and changed back into his human form.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked.

"None of the Heartless around here can talk," answered Tamorei. "They're not that smart."

"Now, onto other business…" began Sanyu, eyeing the half-Heartless.

"Um, before you do anything, I'd like to say…" Kotoro went down on his knees and clasped his hands together. "Please don't kill me! Please!"

"We're not going to kill you," remarked Sanyu, earning a confused look from Kotoro.

"Actually, we need your help."


"…No way."

"Takari, you have to."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

Seika sighed and looked over at Ryu with pleading eyes. He just shook his head.

"Sorry, can't help you there."

"Gee, thanks a lot," muttered Seika. Just a few minutes ago they had agreed on sneaking into the castle and trying to find a way to help the Kotoro and the others out. Unfortunately, Takari vowed that he would never go back into the castle.

"Ken, help us out here!" She looked over at Ken, who was currently trying to break the seal of the shield on the door.

"Why should I?"

"Because…. I said so."

"…That's not a good enough reason."

"Yes it is!"

"I don't have time for this…" muttered Ken, turning back to the seal.

"Cynical little piece of shit, isn't he?" grinned Ryu. In the next second he was flat on the ground, a slightly large bump on his head from the rock Ken threw. By now, Ken had already opened the door.

"Takari, you're coming along with us, whether you like it or not," said Ken, watching Seika poke the currently unconscious Ryu with a stick.

"I don't want to go in there."

"You're coming along."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No. And there's nothing you can do to make me."

Ken looked over at Takari. If looks could kill, Takari would probably be screaming and twitching on the floor by now. Fortunately, he had gotten used to the usual death-glare by now. What he didn't expect was what Ken said next.

"If you don't, I'm going to tell Ronin about that one time you talked in your sleep and said--"

"OKAY! Who wants to go in the creepy castle first? I'm going, for sure!" Takari forced a nervous smile on and walked past them into the castle. Seika and Ryu looked curiously at Ken, who just smirked and walked in.


"You want my help? Why should I listen to you?" exclaimed Kotoro.

"Be quiet!" hissed Sanyu, looking around to make sure Yasuko wasn't by chance there. "Since you gave the gems back to us, we're willing to pay back the deed."

"Besides, you want your brother back, right?" said Tamorei. Kotoro nodded.

"Good. Go find your friends and bring them back to this spot. We'll take you guys to where Yasuko's keeping Kaitsu."

"One question… I know you aren't doing this just because I gave back the gems. What's your real reason?"

"Because…" Sanyu stopped, eyes widening. A sudden chill swept throughout the entire hallway. "Oh no…"

"What is it?" asked Kotoro.

"…He's escaped."

"What? Who?"

"Your brother! He's escaped from the tower!"


"Where could he be?" asked Sora, looking around the hall.

"He has to be here somewhere," replied Riku. "He couldn't have gotten far."

"I hope he didn't run into anything…" muttered Kairi.

"Don't worry, you three, he'll be just fine," said Mickey. "Besides, we need to be careful too. Who knows what could happen in a castle like this…"

They nodded and continued walking, not at all aware of the two red eyes watching them in the shadows.


Me: phew. Another chapter finished. I'll be updating more often now that school's coming to an end. Yes, you're all going to be in for a big surprise in the next chapter. Hm. I'm not sure how long this story's gona last...

Takari: And now for more review replies.

Ninja Mage- Yasuko will become much more evil in future chapters. Heheh….

The Keyblade Master- Thanks much. Heh, every writer has a type of block.

Supergrl26- Yeah, school always gets hectic at the end of the year. And as for the shard, it's a very, very tiny piece of Kaitsu's heart. Actually, it's the darkness of his heart.

Me: Hm… There's one more review… (reads it) …um, I don't need to read this one aloud—

Takari: What's it say? (takes it and reads it) Hm… It's from someone named Mikol. (continues reading) …… (looks at Merielle with evil grin)

Me: um… now, now, Takari, no need to be grinning evilly.

Kaitsu: (summons Keyblade)

Me: ….uh-oh…

Takari: Thanks much for the idea, Mikol!

Ken: Please review while Takari and Kaitsu have their violent revenge on Merielle.

Merielle