Fans: Oh no.
Corita: GAHHHHHHHHHHH!
Sora: Hahahahaha!
Sora53: Yesh, this is where the next part of our little rhapsody begins. Hence the name.
Joe: NOW I GET IT!
Riku Fangirls: RIKU IN THIS CHAPPIE?
Sora53: Uh huh.
Riku Fangirls: -huggles Sora53-
Sora53: AHHH!-
Disclaimer: I don't own KH or CoM. I own Corita and only Corita. Haha.
"Ha, I was right." Corita remarked, surveying the new stranger. "He IS another member of your little club."
"Vexen! Took you long enough." Larxene sighed.
"I was looking into something." Vexen responded cooly, turning away from Corita and Naminé.
"Ah, that's right. Looks like your little toy isn't taking orders anymore after all." Larxene taunted.
"Now Larxene... Shouldn't we give Vexen the benefit of the doubt?" Axel said. "Riku could be hiding as part of some elaborate plan to lure Sora deeper into the castle."
"Oh, of course. Because no experiment of yours could go wrong. I guess I'm just used to you and your research being more funny than formidable"
"What are you talking about?" Corita asked. "Riku? Experiment?"
"That is not for you to know." Vexen hissed.
"Excuse me?" Corita snapped, causing Axel, Larxene and Naminé to look at her in shock. She stepped out in front of Vexen, and glared up at him with hatred in her eyes.
"You and your little minion over there kidnap me, and you don't tell me what's going on?"
"MINION?" Larxene hissed, but Vexen held up a hand to silence her.
"Princess, surely you are aware of your powers." Vexen said calmly. "The power of a pure heart, power only someone like you could wield. As soon as you entered this castle, I knew I had to get my hands on you."
Vexen's unwavering calm disturbed Corita. Usually when she went crazy in front of the black-robed bunch, they got angry and Sora took care of them in battle. But now, Vexen was remaining completely mellow.
"What? Why?"
"Haha, Vexie's come up with a new experiment, after his other one failed." Larxene giggled.
"Hold your tounge!" Vexen hissed.
"Aww, are you sulking? Ha ha, you are so half-baked." Larxene said as she and Axel moved towards the group.
"You're hardly one to talk, you conniving little —"
"That will do." echoed a new voice through the room. Appearing in the room just as the others did, a hooded figure moved towards where the gaggle of robes and teenage girls were.
"Marluxia!" Vexen cried, his voice full of fear and hatred. Corita gave a silent sigh; how many of these robed figures were there?
"Your project has failed, Vexen. Do not disappoint us again." Marluxia hissed, removing his hood. Small spikes of tannish hair, a darker color than Vexen's long tan hair, jutted out from his head. His eyes were filled with a deep darkness, eyes that were watched by Vexen with rage.
"Disappoint you?" Vexen spat. "I am No. 4, No.11, and I will not stand for your snide remarks!"
"Numbers? Project?" Corita thought desperately.
"Yes, you will. This castle and the girl Naminé have been entrusted to ME. Defy me, and you defy the Organization."
"This is absurd." Vexen growled.
"In the name of the Organization, I pronounce your project a failure. This lapse must be reported to the Superior."
"No..." Vexen whispered, desperation in his voice. "Please, don't! I beg of you! Leave him out of this!"
"Haha, Mr. Calm is terrified. That's funny." Corita thought with a grin as she stood by the hooded group and Naminé.
"I will, but under one condition." Marluxia responded.
"What?"
"You must eliminate Sora personally."
"Eliminate him? Why?"
"Just do it."
After this, Marluxia turned away and vanished. Vexen hung his head in defeat.
"You have to do it, you know. You don't have a choice." Axel said. Vexen merely nodded.
"You think I'm just gonna let you do that?" Corita cried.
"You don't have a choice, either." Vexen responded.
"Choice in what?"
Vexen turned to face Corita, whose normally calm, determined, or happy face was suddenly filled with fear. Vexen's eyes filled with a strange emotion as well, and he reached down to grab her arm.
"Come, Princess." He said.
"Hey, let me go! What's going on! Don't make me start stomping on your feet!"
Vexen turned his head to face Larxene and Axel. "I won't be back for a while. After this, I'm off to deal with Sora. Watch over this latest experiment for me while I'm gone."
"Experiment?" Corita cried. "Hey, let me go!"
The last thing Corita saw as she was teleported out of the room was Axel watching her with a strange expression, Naminé hanging her head in sadness, and Larxene's taunting grin. Corita was filled with rage, but there was nothing she could do.
"The tenth floor already... We've come a long way." Donald sighed as they continued up the stairs.
"We've also lost ten floors worth of memories." Jiminy sighed. "We could be forgetting something really important and not realize it..."
"Maybe we should turn back." Goofy suggested.
"No, I can't do that. That would be breaking my promise." Sora said softly.
"Promise? What promise?" Jiminy asked.
"When we were little, I made a promise to Naminé." Sora explained happily. "I told her I'd always keep here safe, no matter what. But I didn't remember until I started forgetting everything else. I can't believe I forgot something that important! But I can still make up for it now. From now on, I'm keeping my promise."
"Gawrsh, if you remembered something like that, nothing we could be forgetting could be nearly as important." Goofy said happily.
"Yeah..." Sora said.
"Well, let's keep going! We've gotta rescue Nahmeenay!" Goofy chortled.
"Goofy, it's not 'Nahmeenay'...just Naminé. One solid word." Sora responded.
"Oh...right then! Onward!"
Corita's tiny head jerked up, away from the tall coconut tree. The sun had almost set completely; had she fallen asleep? Realizing that she needed to be home before the islands were dark entirely, she stood up wearily and brushed herself off. The waves could be heard hitting the island below, so far below...
As Corita moved towards the small path leading to the 'exit' to her special place, the semi-darkness disoriented her sleepy eyes. She moved closer towards the edge...
...and slipped on a small pile of rocks.
Tumbling backwards, Corita's frail arms moved ahead of her, instinctively reaching for the edge. Her small figure fell off the edge of the cliff, and she gripped this edge with all her might.
"HELP!" Corita cried as some rocks and dirt fell beneath her into the sea. She was so high up...every attempt to pull herself back onto the cliff just caused her grip to loosen and more rocks to fall into the sea below.
Corita cried for help once again, and peered beneath her. Peaceful ocean waves were suddenly violent to the frightened child, a beautiful sunset suddenly violently bloody. It must've been hundreds of feet to the water below.
"Hold on!" rang a young voice, and a small hand reached down to meet Corita's. Peering over the edge of the cliff were a pair of teal eyes, looking down at her with fear.
"Riku! Help!" Corita cried. Riku nodded, and gripped Corita's hand with both of his own. With all of his strength, he yanked Corita upward, ignoring the rocks and dirt that threatened to give way underneath him.
After a few minute's struggle that seemed like an eternity, Riku managed to pull Corita to safely.
Panting heavily, Riku sat atop the cliff along with Corita. After catching her breath, Corita smiled at Riku brightly.
"Riku...thank you." Corita said happily.
"No big deal." Riku said, blushing.
Corita reached over and gave Riku a tiny hug, an innocent, pure hug from one child to another. "If you're ever in danger, I'll come save you. I promise."
"Ha, when would I ever need saving?"
"If you were being ambushed by coconuts thrown by Sora."
"Well, then I may need some help."
They shared a small laugh, and stood up.
"We should get going. Our parents will kill us if we're late...again." Riku said cooly, moving towards the path.
"Yeah..." Corita responded. She peered over the edge of the cliff after Riku had left, and a strong shiver went through her back. It was so high...she really could've died...
Corita's mind came back from the peaceful world of sleep so suddenly that she was surprised she'd even gotten to sleep in the first place. Coughing, Corita looked down at herself. Vexen hadn't attached any extra limbs to her, or cut her in half, so she assumed she was okay.
Surveying her surroundings, she realized that she was in a room the same size as the one she'd met Naminé in, but there was something darker about this place, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.
She was sitting, propped up against the wall. Thinking back, the last thing she remembered was Larxene's face, grinning at her as she was teleported away.
Coughing again, she realized that staying here probably wasn't the best idea. Trying to get up, she found her legs unable to support themselves; she crashed to the floor for the second time.
Grumbling, she moved back to where she'd been previously, brooding on her situation.
Then it hit her.
Something...tasted funny...
Sora53: DUN DUN DUN! I love that.
Corita: Heights! NOW I get it!
Sora: Haha, you had to be saved by RIKU?
Corita: Shut up. Sora53, I hate you.
Sora53: Yesh well, if our wonderful fans/reviewer people out there are confused, GOOD! All will be explained in the next chapter.
Fans: Good. WE'RE SO CONFUSED!
Riku Fangirls: Haha, Corita, Riku saved your life!
Corita: What? O.o-
