Of Red and Yellow

"What is this stuff?" asked Akara curiously, poking some of the magenta magic-like stuff that emerged from broken pipes. Sora was in front of her, his head held almost half-heartedly, and the wooden sword held lifelessly by his side.

"Why does it matter?" said Sora sadly, his head obviously still on the object of his key-sword being stolen by that boy named Riku. "It's not like Heartless are going to emerge from them, or that it's going to try to kill us."

"Wow, you sound cheerful," Akara said sarcastically. "I thought you said that you were going to continue looking for that girl... what's her name?"

"Kairi," Sora said.

"Yeah, Kairi. And you have to remember, even the greatest of monks started out with a wooden weapon," said Akara, quoting her teacher. That quote had always made her laugh, even though it meant that, when Akara was smaller, that she couldn't use a sword or the staff she held now.

"What?" asked a baffled Sora, looking like he was about to laugh.

"I don't exactly know what it meant either. I just thought it would cheer you up. We can't have a hero disheartened, now can we?" They reached the huge double doors that had many designs on them, and Sora reached for the handles.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he answered, and tugged on the door. It didn't open. He struggled, finally putting his feet on the door and pulling with all his strength. "Um, Beast, can you give me a hand here?" asked Sora sheepishly.

"They're locked," was all that Beast said. Sora jumped down from the door and blushed.

"I knew that..." Sora said.

Akara leaned over the balcony, seeing a pipe that lead from the door to the area below. "Hey, Sora, look at this," she said. From a few spots the magenta magic escaped. "Maybe the magenta stuff is Hollow Bastion's power source. Anyway, we should find a way down there..." Akara continued, looking down at the icy-like depths below. Sora suddenly was on the railing that Akara was leaning on.

"Then let's go!" he shouted, jumping off the balcony.

"Sora!" yelled Akara, "Honestly, he's going to kill himself someday."

"How long have you known him?" asked the Beast.

"About twenty minutes," answered Akara.

The Beast looked at her blankly. Akara got up on the fence and followed Sora, but unleashing some magic to soften her fall. To her surprise, Sora was standing safely, waiting for her. Beast followed them soon afterwards. But just as they took a step forward, large creatures made of pure darkness appeared. "The Heartless..." murmured Sora darkly, and he stepped into his fighting stance.

"This is what you thought I was when we first met? You insult me," said Akara as she smacked one with her staff, causing it do disappear. "I'm much stronger than these freaks."

But while Akara was having an fairly enjoyable time defeating the few Heartless that pursued her, Sora was being overrun by them. "Fire!" he yelled, but even the magic attack was weakened by his wooden sword. "Um, can somebody help me here?" he asked, and the Beast roared, destroying the remaining Heartless around Sora. "Thanks."

From there the three navigated through a dungeon with a seemingly million gates that closed or opened a path, causing the trip just to open up the castle gates run for an hour. But finally the group prevailed, just by the simple flick of a switch. The three quickly got back to the gates, where they opened up by themselves. Of course, Sora, Beast, and Akara walked in.

"Be on your guard," warned the Beast, "They're coming. I can feel it. Are you ready for them?" A whisper of silk caught both the Beast's and Akara's attention, and they turned around. "Belle," said the Beast hoarsely, but a pool of darkness appeared under her and consumed her, leaving only a gleeful Shadow. Anger seemed to have been evoked, the Shadow hitting a tender nerve, and the Beast lunged after it. Akara tried to hold him back.

"Come on, we need to help Sora!" she shouted, but the Beast was immune to her calls. As they ran out, Beast to kill the Shadow, Akara to try to stop him, the grand double doors slammed shut. Akara stopped chasing the Beast to look towards them. "Great," she moaned. The Beast roared in the background, the now-common tinkling of munny showed that he had killed the Shadow. Akara sat on the railing and wondered aloud, "What, am I supposed to just wait for him to be killed now?"

"Yeah, I guess that would be your best bet. Then you would have some company when I send you down to the underworld. But it's not like you don't know the place," a voice said from behind Akara.

"When you said you were going to haunt me for the rest of your life, I didn't think it would involve you stalking me into other worlds, Zaraz," Akara said lightly.

"Oh, I'm not Zaraz." Akara turned around to face her opponent. No one was there. The strange feeling started to creep up her arms, and settled where her heart was. "I may sound like Zaraz, but I'm not. But am I right, though? I've heard from certain sources that you could be a ruler of the underworld."

"A ruler of the underworld?" asked Akara, disgusted.

"Yes. Ruler of the heartless and other monsters."

"Whoever you are, show yourself! I am not amused by your petty schemes!" yelled Akara, but a light breeze blew her words away. The unsettled feeling in her heart grew intense, and the a cruel laugh echoed around the area, catching even the Beast's attention.

"You--" laughed the voice, but then it stopped suddenly, "What? The Keybearer won?" The voice sounded a bit scared now, and the haze that had gripped her heart disappeared, and the doors opened. Sora ran out, Donald and Goofy behind him.

"Akara! Are you alright?" Sora said, worry written all over his face.

"Yeah. I'm fine..." she assured him, but then added under her breath, "...now..." A smile spread across Sora's face.

"I'm glad then!" He said cheerfully, and then said grimly, "Let's go." Akara and the Beast followed him back into the looming castle.

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Saphire's notes: Wow, I got past my "chapter 4 writing block!" Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but as previously mentioned, I usually have a writers block on chapters 4 – 6. And also, I'm sorry for this short chapter. So, anyway, review!