Kingdom Hearts Chapter 6

Two sided battle, wills collide

Riku looked up. The ceiling had a glass top, painted with beautiful maidens. The air had a surprising stillness to it. Ahead of them was a white door with a red outline. A place where a card could be inserted was to the side of it. Riku gasped. It can't be…He thought, racing forward with Namine in his arms. This place, it's…

"Castle Oblivion…" Riku whispered. He never wanted Namine to see this place again. It would be best for her to rest until he was able to find a way out. Riku crossed his fingers, and pulled out the card which had saved Namine from death. He slid it through the card slot, bracing himself. The outline around the door vanished and he heard a lock click. With one hand, he opened the door and stepped inside.

The land around him was familiar. It was Neverland. He was within the ship, the ship where Sora had defeated Hook. But something was wrong. The ship was completely destroyed, as if it had been blown up. There was no sign of life, only broken boards and burnt windows. Riku stepped forward and lay down, thinking it over. He held Namine closely; he did not want to ever lose her again. He set her down, but as he did this the floorboards beneath them cracked and gave way, making them fall to the floor below. Riku painfully looked up and he immediately tensed. There he was. Hook. But completely different. He was dripping with malice, as if it was a shadow from the past. The walls around them had banners… banners with Ansems face on it. The room was black. There was no way out or in, except where they fell.

Riku looked up and gasped. The floor was not broken; it had rebuilt itself as soon as it broken and they had crashed through. They both were trapped here. Riku held Namine closer with one hand, but gripped his keyblade with the other.

"The next step in the plan is complete… we have taken over the ship in the most suitable world. Now we can dominate the land, master." The voice came from the shadow, but it was not the voice of Hook. It was the voice of another…

The being glowed blue. "Simple boy. Give us the girl and then we shall kill you. I must follow out my orders." With that, the body of the being cracked and a giant bird beak shot out, dripping with blood. Claws ripped through, as did wings. But the human like legs remained. From the top of the beak came a head with a single red eye. No iris. There was a giant horn protruding from its forehead, and the beak below the neck moved like a birds beak would; it moved up and down as the being spoke. The head moved its lips as a human would. But the lips were black, blacker than death. And there were no teeth, just a giant gaping hole. The body had feathers and scales on it, a chest plate with a humans skull molted into it. The arms came out of cracks in the side, like a bird breaking out of its egg. The claws were drenched with blood, and held a bone sword in each. It looked as though the swords had been made by using human bones, melting it into a liquid, and pouring the liquid into a molting case until it dried and hardened. The legs seemed as though they were just being held together, the bones were jutting out of it, barely breaking through the skin. There were no feet. The wings were human bones as well, and a heart beat in the center of each. The feathers were wrapped around it, but Riku could see it pulsing within. The rest of the wings were made like a ribcage, with feathers all around them and a sharp tip at the end. The being held up the sword and struck it down, the boards breaking as the wood was blown away, and Riku felt himself on the deck of the ship. It was stormy; waves lashed their might onto the sides of the ship, making Riku lose his balance and stagger over, still clutching Namine. The being, however, stayed still. Riku cursed and shook her. Namine woke with a start.

"Riku! What's going on? Where are we?"

"Climb this rope ladder! Hide up wherever it leads!" Riku knew the ladder was tall, and it was risky. It probably led to a kind of lookout, and that was dangerous too. But there was no other choice.

"Right!" Namine responded, a determined expression washing over her face. The being floated towards him, seemingly held up by magic. Its wings did not flap. The strange creature reacted faster then Riku would have expected, its arm jutting forward, stabbing into the ladder right beneath where Namine had stood a moment ago. But she continued to climb, even though the ladder shook from the impact. He had to stop that thing from knocking her off, and he knew that was its prime objective. The wings flapped for the first time and bones shot out of the tips, stabbing into the wood right around where the rope hung.

"Namine, hold on!" Riku said with a terrified expression as pieces of rope fell- she would not be able to climb back down, the ladder no longer reached the ground. The wind blew fiercely, Namines support swaying as she held on tightly and kept climbing. Riku turned from her, towards his opponent which pointed its sword, pushing off with its unsteady legs and leaving the ground. It shot straight at Namine. Rikus fist gripped his keyblade and he leapt up as well, pulling the creature to the ground before it reached her. Riku heard a scream and looked up. A long section of rope fell to the ground, Namine was barely holding on with her hands.

"Be strong!" Riku yelled up to her, leaping at his opponent again. Apparently he had not succeeded in preventing the things attack; it had cut off her only support. Any more… and Namine would fall. She would never survive this distance. Riku stabbed the keyblade at the wing, piercing one of the hearts. The creature howled in pain and flew backward, and then up into the sky, curving its wings and diving at Riku, blood dripping into the sea and onto the ship from its wound. Riku braced himself. He couldn't worry about Namine or he would be off guard. He would just have to trust her safety. He saved her once before, and he could do it again. With a leaping swing, the being cut into Rikus flesh. The bone sword broke partially, splinters of human bone clattering to the broken deck. Namine looked down and a tear fell from her eye, but she kept climbing. She used all her energy to pull herself close enough to where her legs could cling to the rope. She then pushed off with her legs, and continued climbing. Riku winced as his blood dripped onto the deck, then his eyes widened as he saw the tear fall into the black liquid. Namine was in such danger, but she was still worried about him. He would never let her down. Riku ignored his wound and pierced again at the heart, covering his keyblade in blood as it pumped ounces onto the deck. Riku leapt back as the sticky substance dropped, and ran to a more suitable place where he would not slip. He eyed Namine finally pulling herself up onto wherever it led her, and then a piercing scream.

Namine stepped back, but stopped as she saw that she would fall to her death in another instance if she did. Ahead of her was the false Sora, smiling happily. Sora rushed at her with his keyblade, and she leapt to the side. Frantically she searched around for a weapon. A broken piece of wood was shaped quite like a sword, and she picked it up, just in time to block his attack.

Riku below was fighting his best, continuing to slash at the two hearts as the being grew weaker. But many times he had to move to another place, or he would slip on the water brought up by the stormy sea. The blood from before had been washed away long ago. The being kept coming, its bird beak squawking and its one eye glowing. The skull in the middle was glowing as well, and Riku noticed the hearts healing. The feathers simply replaced the wound. Riku thrust at the skull, and the being dodged with all its strength. Riku kept slicing at the skull- if that was its weakness, then that was what he would destroy.

Namine looked on desperately as Sora tripped her and thrust down with his keyblade. She was thrown out of the way as the platform she was on began to rock. Sora noticed this change, and rolled after her in the direction the platform had tilted. Namine pulled herself out of the way as Soras keyblade broke the edge of the platform, showing Namine her victory. Namine charged at him and struck at him with the piece of wood, the imposter losing its balance and falling to the ground below. Namine sighed in relief… then gasped as Sora flew back up, black wings sprouted as he smiled wider.

Riku gritted his teeth and struck inward, piercing his keyblade into the skull. The skull cracked and shattered, and the being gasped. The wounds from the keyblade re-opened; the heart bled profusely. Riku leapt forward and sliced the head off, the bird beak opened, as in a gasp. The head shattered as well, and Riku went for the wings. With a long sweep, he cut the wings off. The body was left as the wings vanished, and the legs staggered backward. What was this thing? It should have been dead long ago!

Riku thought, sweeping out its legs with the keyblade. The legs broke and collapsed, the body hovered in midair. Riku swung at it, but the body dodged. Is it buying time? Riku thought as he swung at it again. Namine screamed overhead. This isn't what the real target!Riku realized as he looked up. The wound on his arm healed… was this entire being an illusion? No, it was able to cut the rope ladder… then what was it? Riku ignored it and looked up at the platform where Namine stood.

Namine ran to the edge of the platform and looked on desperately at Riku. Sora hovered above her, his keyblade raised. Riku saw this and gasped, yelling: "Namine, look out!" Namine looked back and jumped to the side, she was lucky to be surviving at all, let alone still standing. Was Sora toying with her?

"Namine, hold onto something!" Riku yelled, hacking away at the pole which led up to the platform. The platform broke and crashed as Namine hung onto the side, Sora falling into the sea and vanishing. Riku ran over to her as she hovered over the stormy ocean, the platform an inch away from falling in. "Namine, stay there! Don't move!" Riku said, grabbing hold of the pole Namine had climbed up and pulling with all his strength. The pole moved slightly, but not enough for Namine to jump onto the deck. Cursing, Riku searched the ship. Tears fell from Namines eyes, but she did exactly as Riku said, she stayed still. It was inches away from falling into the water…

Riku grabbed hold of a rope from the deck and ran forward, tying it to the pole which was attached to the platform. The ship rocked violently, and the platform tilted, some water leaking up it. The rope shook but did not break as Riku tied more knots to hold the platform in place. Suddenly Riku felt a strike at the back of his head. Sora stood there, grinning and soaked. Riku looked on in horror as Namines grip loosened, and her feet dangled in the water. She couldn't keep holding on! Angrily she pulled herself up and onto a higher place on the platform, grasping tightly. Sora rushed at Riku with his keyblade, slicing at one of the ropes.

"Bastard!" Riku yelled, realizing Soras intent. "Namine, climb up! NOW!" Namine nodded and pulled herself up, the platform rocking back and forth and flooding with water. She gripped onto broken pieces of board and climbed over; steadying herself as a wave almost knocked her off. Sora cut another piece of rope which held the platform and grinned. "Namine, get here! NOW!" Riku yelled, striking Sora into the ocean. Namine nodded and ran up a board, tripping as the wood from under broke away. At the last minute she reached out and grabbed the deck, pulling herself over. Sora flew up out of the ocean and cut the rope, the platform finally crashing into the ocean. Namine pulled herself over and ran to Riku, holding onto him tightly. Riku pointed his keyblade at Sora, but Sora had left. Sighing, Riku grabbed Namine and ran out of the way as the entire ship began to sink, the rudder breaking off and a giant tsunami washing over them. Riku picked Namine up and leapt onto a rope ladder, placing her on the ground. "Climb, Namine!" Namine nodded as they both climbed. The ship slowly went under as they pulled themselves up. After a few minutes, they reached the top. The water kept rising, engulfing the entire ship. Riku swore and looked back at Namine, who was smiling.

"Namine… what is it? Why are you happy?"

"I'm glad to be with you at my final moments…" Riku looked at her and smiled, holding her close. The water was ten feet from reaching them, and they stood there in silence as they waited for fate. Without warning, a hole opened in midair and a hand shot out, pulling them up as they saw the rest of the ship go under. They tried to look up to see who it was, but dizziness overtook them and they both lost consciousness.