Disclaimer: *sigh* We've been over this. KH belongs to Square-Enix and Disney, you know the drill.
Okay, I'm really gonna hurry up on this story, I'm dying to start writing a sequel, even if nobody is really reading this anymore. Sorry if Sephiroth is completely out of character, I never really got very far in FFVII.
And Riku really isn't trying to be weird, that's just the kind of thing I'm always thinking about. Especially at the wrong time, too. I don't really like how this chapter turned out, but I couldn't figure out how to make it work right. Oh well, better than nothing. Hey, only a day late! I'm getting better! It's moving so insanely slow, I'll try to speed things up a bit now.
Does anyone have any requests for artwork for this story? I really don't have any ideas right now… You don't have to review, you could just email or instant message me, or something to that effect.
~~~~~
Kairi yelped, stumbling past Sora into the small cave opening. She crouched just inside the cave, listening to the sound of Sora fighting with the Heartless just feet away. A high pitched screech could be heard, and moments later Sora scrambled into the secret place and quickly pulled Kairi down the tunnel.
She slammed into him as he skidded to a halt, staring straight ahead at the open doors set into the stone wall. Nothing but darkness could be seen within them, long shadows reaching from its depths and winding slowly around the cave.
"Sora.. The door.." Kairi whispered, unsure of what to say. She glanced around his shoulder to try to see the look on his face, a bit nervous at finding his expression blank.
She tugged urgently on his sleeve, "Sora, hurry, can't you close it?" She glanced back toward the door. Something could be seen moving around inside it, leaving Kairi with a deep sense of dread.
"Sora.. Sora. Sora!" She shook him rather violently, trying to snap him out of his daze. Slamming him against the wall, his eyes finally snapped away from the door and he stared at her in surprise.
"Kairi, the darkness, it's different somehow. Can't you feel it? It's so cold…" He murmured, eyes wandering back toward the open doors as he slid unceremoniously to the floor.
Kairi turned back to look at them, too. A shiver ran down her spine and she turned back to Sora. "We have to close it and lock it! Now snap out of it and help me!"
The hair on the back of her neck began to stand up, and very slowly, she turned to look into the door. Something was definitely moving inside, and it was coming through the doorway! She gasped in fear, scrambling behind Sora and watching as several vaguely familiar Heartless emerged.
They slowly began to glide forward, large shadowed swords trailing behind them and tails flicking dangerously from side to side. Grinning wickedly, the nearest one raised his weapon as he neared the two teenagers.
"Sora, do something! I can't fight these things on my own!" Kairi whimpered, shaking his shoulders roughly as she stared into his face.
Shuffling back from him, she pulled out her own keyblade, taking brief comfort in its slight glow before the feeling of dread returned. She stumbled to her feet, bracing herself against the back wall of the cave and gripping Oathkeeper in both hands.
The Heartless stopped halfway between the door and where Kairi stood against the wall. One glided forward, sword still raised above its head as it advanced on Kairi. Stepping forward, she swallowed back her fear and stood protectively over her comatose friend.
The Heartless suddenly lunged forward, grinning psychotically as it swung its sword at her neck. She shrieked and automatically brought up her keyblade, barely blocking the attack. She was thrown backward from the blow, arms aching already from the impact on her keyblade. Glancing down, she bit back her growl of pain, hoping she hadn't hurt Sora when she tripped over him.
She brought Oathkeeper back up and winced in pain. She tried to struggle to her feet, but found she could barely move. Sighing in pain, she sank back down to the floor and glanced at Sora. Turning slowly to look back up at the Heartless, she noticed it hadn't made another move yet, it seemed to be watching her.
Her eyes carefully slid back to the open door, almost amused by the waves of darkness coming from it. She felt so drained, she didn't care about anything anymore. What was so bad about the Heartless anyway? She glanced back up at the dark figure leaning down to her. She knew what it was doing, reaching its hand down to her chest. It was going to take her heart, turn her into a Heartless, like all its other victims.
Wait, but then it would have her keyblade too, and once she was a Heartless, it would take Sora's heart.. Doesn't sound right at all, Oathkeeper is mine.. Sora's one of my best friends, too.. She thought, finding herself completely unable to move as she struggled to sit up.
Its hand hovered dangerously over her chest, its grin widening as it continued to lean down. Suddenly, a flash of purple exploded overhead, the loud screech of a dying Heartless filling her senses as she struggled to sort out what had just happened.
She managed to catch a glimpse of silver and purple as she felt herself losing consciousness. Another shriek sounded around the cave, then another, now someone was shouting at her.
A rather pale face leaned down over her, something about those aquamarine eyes was disturbingly familiar…
~
"Riku, what's wrong with them?" Arashi asked worriedly, leaning over Sora and trying to get him to open his eyes.
"I don't know, but I get the feeling it has to do with the door." He glanced at the door, looking away quickly when a cold shiver ran down his back and he began feeling slightly nauseous.
Arashi looked worriedly at Kairi, resting a hand gently on the girl's arm. "Can't we close the door?" She asked quietly, doing everything in her power to not look at it.
"No, only Sora can close and lock the door.. Wait, maybe.." He leaned back and began rummaging through his pockets. "Shit! I don't-" He looked around the cave furiously, slamming his fist into the dirt and trying to focus on what to do. "Dammit!" He cursed loudly, staring uselessly at the sand.
"What's wrong?" Arashi asked nervously, jolting up to look at him.
"That damn door, the darkness is screwing with them! I thought I had something to help protect them, but.." He stopped abruptly when he glanced up to look back at her, his eye's dropping down to the cloak she still wore.
He stared at her in slight disbelief, finally snapping out of it and reaching his hand toward her. "Give me back my coat for a sec." He said, trying to hide the relief in his voice.
Her eyes widened in surprise, "Your coat? This is yours?" She laughed, pulling it off and handing it to him. "What are you looking for?" She asked, crawling toward him and watching as he began searching through the pockets.
"This.." He said triumphantly, pulling his hand back out of a pocket and holding up a small drawstring bag.
Emptying the contents onto the floor, he sorted through them, picking out several small rings. He reached forward, grabbing Kairi's hand and slipping two small black rings onto her fingers. Releasing her, he reached over and grasped Sora's hand, giving him one black ring and one snow-white ring. Looking rather pleased, he put the items back in the bag and slipped it back into the cloak pocket, finally handing the cloak back to Arashi.
"What are those?" Arashi asked curiously, playing with one of the new black rings on Kairi's finger.
Riku smiled, leaning over Sora and rummaging through the boy's pockets. "The black ones are dark rings, and the white one is a chaos ring. They'll help protect them from the Heartless." He pulled a potion out of Sora's pocket and scooted forward more. Forcing the younger boy's mouth open, he force-fed the potion to him and ruffled his hair.
"I won them off of Sora last summer when he placed a bet saying I couldn't beat him and Wakka at blitzball." He smirked, leaning over Kairi and placing his keyblade against her chest. A moment later, she was surrounded in a cloud of green sparkles, slowly opening her eyes and staring groggily up at Riku.
"Ugh, that stupid spell is so irritating. I don't see why it couldn't just heal people, why's it so damn bright?" He stood up, glaring at Arashi as she burst into slightly nervous laughter.
"What are you talking about?" Kairi groaned, rolling over and staring at Sora in surprise. "You're alright!" She cried happily, noticing that he was already sitting up. He would have shouted in surprise had Kairi not knocked the wind out of him.
"What do you mean, 'irritating'? It's just a spell!" Arashi giggled, poking Riku in the chest.
"You saw it, it's really bright! What if you were trying to hide from someone, and you were with your mortally wounded friend? So then you try to cast curaga on them, but you get caught because the damn thing gave away your location!" He argued, wondering if it was possible to modify the spell.
Arashi shook her head, "I can't believe you…" She muttered, suddenly getting nervous when she realized that Kairi and Sora weren't sitting there anymore.
Spinning on her heel, she found them examining the open door. "Riku, are you done? We could use some help here!" Sora called from the left side of the door.
"Thanks, Riku!" Kairi said happily as she passed him on his way to the door. Walking slowly, she stopped at Arashi's side, both girls watching slightly worriedly as the boys examined the door some more.
"Here, come on.." Sora reached forward, gripping one of the double doors and testing it before throwing his weight against it. Riku did the same on his side, cursing under his breath from the surprising amount of resistance that met them.
The two girls watched, their anxiety growing as the door refused to come even close to closing. Waves of darkness continued to flow out of it, if not stronger now that it was being challenged.
"I don't understand, how did you close it last time?" Arashi asked nervously, shifting from foot to foot in the sand.
Sora huffed, almost glaring at her, "We didn't." He said dully, turning his attention back to the door.
A deep rumbling slowly began shaking the small cave, sending nervous chills down everyone's spines. It stopped after a moment, only to return after several seconds in a more powerful tremor.
"What's happening?" Kairi asked fearfully, grabbing Arashi's arm as loose dust and small rocks began to fall from the ceiling and walls around them.
The sharp sound of clashing metal followed by a rather eerie echo drowned out any reply Sora had been about to make. Kairi looked up in surprise, finding herself now lying rather awkwardly in the sand next to Arashi.
"What..?" She stared up at the two men glaring at each other where she had been standing moments before.
"Sephiroth?!" Sora almost whimpered, immediately recognizing the man closest to him. Upon hearing his name, he turning toward Sora, giving him a less than significant glance before returning his attention to the man in front of him.
It took Kairi a moment to recognize him, but when she did she felt her heart skip a beat. "Ansem! You're alright!" She said happily, struggling to her feet. "What happened to you?" She asked worriedly, stepping forward and examining him.
His clothes were a bit shredded, and he was nearly covered in blood, most of which appeared to be his. When he turned to look at her, she noticed that even his hair was harassed, falling loosely around his shoulders. In her opinion, he looked remarkably like Sephiroth, until he gave her a weak smile.
Becoming worried about his state of health, she moved quickly toward him, surprised to find him push her back.
"Stay back, and take care of.. Arashi." he said a bit hesitantly, quickly shifting his gaze back to Sephiroth.
Kairi was worried, but obeyed him, turning to find Arashi still laying in the sand near her feet. Crying out in surprise, Kairi knelt down and lifted the girl's head. A deep gash ran across her chest, and blood was seeping into the sand around her.
When she saw the blood, panic began to rise up inside her. What was she supposed to do? Arashi needed a hospital! She cradled the girl in her arms as she struggled to figure out what to do.
She gently reached down, pulling back a piece of ripped cloth and looking at the wound. It must have run at least eight inches across her chest, and Kairi wasn't about to check to see how deep it was.
"Arashi. Arashi!! Oh god…" She held a hand over her mouth, jumping when something landed in the sand next to her thigh.
She gasped in surprise, reaching down to pick it up. It was a potion. She knew at this point that it wouldn't heal Arashi completely, but it would hopefully stop the bleeding. She shifted quickly to look up at Ansem, but his back was still turned to her. Swallowing some of her panic, she gave the potion to Arashi and turned back to the two men standing in the middle of the small cave.
She was a bit startled to find that Sephiroth had been watching her with slight interest, now turning his attention back to Ansem.
"I'm impressed, I didn't know you cared about anything other than your damned research." He said, relaxing his posture and gazing almost tiredly around the small cave.
Ansem continued to glare darkly at him. "Shut up.." He growled, pausing to let out a choked cough. "What the hell do you want?" He tightened his grip on his spear, shifting to glance past Sora to the door.
Sephiroth gave him a look of mock disbelief. "What do you mean? I'm finishing what you so conveniently started."
"Don't give me that shit, I know you aren't after this island." Ansem tore his gaze from the dark depths to watch Sephiroth as he moved around the small cave.
Sora shifted his silent stare between the two men, unable to determine what was going on. He didn't know which man he mistrusted more, Ansem or Sephiroth. Though he couldn't help but notice that everyone else was watching Sephiroth. Had he missed something? Wasn't Ansem the one that had tried to turn the world into pure darkness?
Sephiroth moved back toward Ansem, looking somewhat pleased. "You always were rather quick. How did you catch on this time?" He asked, almost smiling at the other man.
Ansem smirked, "The door is open." He pointed his spear toward it, speaking as though everyone knew it.
Sora spun to look at the door, completely confused and getting impatient. "How does that prove he isn't after Destiny Islands?" He cried, glancing over at Riku for support. Riku, however, was paying no attention to him or Ansem, staring blankly past them to Arashi.
"Because if he was after Destiny Islands, then you never would have seen the door open. You would all be dead already, and your islands would be gone." He growled at Sora, not bothering to hide the distaste in his voice. He shifted his eyes back to Sephiroth, "You're holding the darkness back because you aren't done with the islands yet."
Sephiroth watched him with amusement, "You should be proud, you catch on faster than the keyblade master."
"If you're after the keyblade, then you can forget it! I beat you in the Coliseum, you don't stand a chance against me and Riku!" Sora growled, brandishing the keyblade as he backed up his challenge.
Slowly, the older man turned to scowl at the young brunette. "There were rules in the Coliseum, little boy." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out something clenched in his fist.
"And as for the keyblade, I have no need of yours." Slowly opening his hand, he revealed a small key chain. Holding it up, he smiled inwardly at the reaction he received.
Riku cursed under his breath, gripping the dark keyblade tightly. Kairi leapt to her feet, gasping and covering her mouth with her hands. Sora moved forward, pointing the keyblade at Sephiroth threateningly.
"What did you do with King Mickey?!" He shouted, unable to tear his eyes from the small silhouette key chain.
Sephiroth grinned, "He's fine." He turned to gaze back into the door, motioning with his sword. "He's just, 'hanging out'" he said, laughing softly.
Sora stared blankly at him, not wanting to believe what he had just heard. Mickey was trapped in the darkness? He was a Heartless? He had failed to protect him, what would the others say? He slowly looked at Riku, noticing how his body had tensed. He was closer than anyone to King Mickey, they had nearly spent every waking hour together as they trained and waited for Sora.
Tears began streaming down Kairi's face again, and she rushed forward, too upset to care what happened.
"You bastard! What the hell do you want from us?!" She screamed, pulling out Oathkeeper as she ran forward.
She let out a soft yelp as she felt a strong arm catch her around the waist and lift her off the ground. She continued to curse at Sephiroth, struggling angrily against Ansem as he tried to hold her still. He groaned in pain as Oathkeeper slammed into his arm, leaving a small burn. Reaching down, he held her against his chest with one arm while gripping the wrist that held Oathkeeper in his other hand.
This display seemed to catch Sephiroth's full attention. "Why don't you let her go, Ansem? Let's see what she can do. Or are you worried she'll get hurt?" He smirked in triumph.
Sora really tripped, glancing between Ansem and Sephiroth again. He had been just about to yell at the older man not to touch her, but something didn't seem right at all.
Ansem didn't say anything, simply stared at Sephiroth in hatred. At hearing his comment, Kairi went limp, sobbing softly as she stared at the ground.
"Hmm, interesting. Looks as though everyone has a keyblade these days. I would love to stay, but I really do have things to do." Sephiroth said calmly, toying with the key chain as he turned to enter the door.
"What's the matter? Don't want to stay and fight?" Sora taunted, stepping toward the door as Sephiroth reached it.
He turned to look over his shoulder at the boy, grinning knowingly. "I'm not stupid, Sora. Four against one is hardly a fair fight. And even the girl isn't exactly a pushover. Beside, I believe you're already preoccupied." He paused as another tremor shook the small cave. "Hmm, better hurry." He turned and entered the door in one swift motion, disappearing into the shadows.
A deep silence settle over the room as everyone stared at the door. Kairi managed to choke back her sobs, hugging Ansem tightly as he watched the two boys. "Alright, hurry. This world won't hold long with the door open." He managed to pry Kairi off and moved toward the door.
Sora gripped his double door tightly, casting a cold glare at Ansem before nodding to Riku. "We can do it ourselves." He growled, pushing heavily on the door. It moved nearly an inch before grinding to a halt.
"I can't believe you two!" Kairi growled angrily, turning to face Ansem. "We don't have time for this! Please, help them close it!" She pleaded.
"Why the hell would he want to help us?!" Sora cried, groaning under the effort of closing the door. Kairi resisted the urge to slap him and moved over to Riku.
"Go over to that side.." She instructed, bracing herself against the door as Ansem stepped over to join her.
"Wait a minute-!"
"We don't have a minute! Now shut up and pretend he's Cid!!" Riku shouted at Sora over the rumbling of another tremor.
~*~*~*~~~~
A/N: Suggestions at this point would be handy, please review!!
Okay, I'm really gonna hurry up on this story, I'm dying to start writing a sequel, even if nobody is really reading this anymore. Sorry if Sephiroth is completely out of character, I never really got very far in FFVII.
And Riku really isn't trying to be weird, that's just the kind of thing I'm always thinking about. Especially at the wrong time, too. I don't really like how this chapter turned out, but I couldn't figure out how to make it work right. Oh well, better than nothing. Hey, only a day late! I'm getting better! It's moving so insanely slow, I'll try to speed things up a bit now.
Does anyone have any requests for artwork for this story? I really don't have any ideas right now… You don't have to review, you could just email or instant message me, or something to that effect.
~~~~~
Kairi yelped, stumbling past Sora into the small cave opening. She crouched just inside the cave, listening to the sound of Sora fighting with the Heartless just feet away. A high pitched screech could be heard, and moments later Sora scrambled into the secret place and quickly pulled Kairi down the tunnel.
She slammed into him as he skidded to a halt, staring straight ahead at the open doors set into the stone wall. Nothing but darkness could be seen within them, long shadows reaching from its depths and winding slowly around the cave.
"Sora.. The door.." Kairi whispered, unsure of what to say. She glanced around his shoulder to try to see the look on his face, a bit nervous at finding his expression blank.
She tugged urgently on his sleeve, "Sora, hurry, can't you close it?" She glanced back toward the door. Something could be seen moving around inside it, leaving Kairi with a deep sense of dread.
"Sora.. Sora. Sora!" She shook him rather violently, trying to snap him out of his daze. Slamming him against the wall, his eyes finally snapped away from the door and he stared at her in surprise.
"Kairi, the darkness, it's different somehow. Can't you feel it? It's so cold…" He murmured, eyes wandering back toward the open doors as he slid unceremoniously to the floor.
Kairi turned back to look at them, too. A shiver ran down her spine and she turned back to Sora. "We have to close it and lock it! Now snap out of it and help me!"
The hair on the back of her neck began to stand up, and very slowly, she turned to look into the door. Something was definitely moving inside, and it was coming through the doorway! She gasped in fear, scrambling behind Sora and watching as several vaguely familiar Heartless emerged.
They slowly began to glide forward, large shadowed swords trailing behind them and tails flicking dangerously from side to side. Grinning wickedly, the nearest one raised his weapon as he neared the two teenagers.
"Sora, do something! I can't fight these things on my own!" Kairi whimpered, shaking his shoulders roughly as she stared into his face.
Shuffling back from him, she pulled out her own keyblade, taking brief comfort in its slight glow before the feeling of dread returned. She stumbled to her feet, bracing herself against the back wall of the cave and gripping Oathkeeper in both hands.
The Heartless stopped halfway between the door and where Kairi stood against the wall. One glided forward, sword still raised above its head as it advanced on Kairi. Stepping forward, she swallowed back her fear and stood protectively over her comatose friend.
The Heartless suddenly lunged forward, grinning psychotically as it swung its sword at her neck. She shrieked and automatically brought up her keyblade, barely blocking the attack. She was thrown backward from the blow, arms aching already from the impact on her keyblade. Glancing down, she bit back her growl of pain, hoping she hadn't hurt Sora when she tripped over him.
She brought Oathkeeper back up and winced in pain. She tried to struggle to her feet, but found she could barely move. Sighing in pain, she sank back down to the floor and glanced at Sora. Turning slowly to look back up at the Heartless, she noticed it hadn't made another move yet, it seemed to be watching her.
Her eyes carefully slid back to the open door, almost amused by the waves of darkness coming from it. She felt so drained, she didn't care about anything anymore. What was so bad about the Heartless anyway? She glanced back up at the dark figure leaning down to her. She knew what it was doing, reaching its hand down to her chest. It was going to take her heart, turn her into a Heartless, like all its other victims.
Wait, but then it would have her keyblade too, and once she was a Heartless, it would take Sora's heart.. Doesn't sound right at all, Oathkeeper is mine.. Sora's one of my best friends, too.. She thought, finding herself completely unable to move as she struggled to sit up.
Its hand hovered dangerously over her chest, its grin widening as it continued to lean down. Suddenly, a flash of purple exploded overhead, the loud screech of a dying Heartless filling her senses as she struggled to sort out what had just happened.
She managed to catch a glimpse of silver and purple as she felt herself losing consciousness. Another shriek sounded around the cave, then another, now someone was shouting at her.
A rather pale face leaned down over her, something about those aquamarine eyes was disturbingly familiar…
~
"Riku, what's wrong with them?" Arashi asked worriedly, leaning over Sora and trying to get him to open his eyes.
"I don't know, but I get the feeling it has to do with the door." He glanced at the door, looking away quickly when a cold shiver ran down his back and he began feeling slightly nauseous.
Arashi looked worriedly at Kairi, resting a hand gently on the girl's arm. "Can't we close the door?" She asked quietly, doing everything in her power to not look at it.
"No, only Sora can close and lock the door.. Wait, maybe.." He leaned back and began rummaging through his pockets. "Shit! I don't-" He looked around the cave furiously, slamming his fist into the dirt and trying to focus on what to do. "Dammit!" He cursed loudly, staring uselessly at the sand.
"What's wrong?" Arashi asked nervously, jolting up to look at him.
"That damn door, the darkness is screwing with them! I thought I had something to help protect them, but.." He stopped abruptly when he glanced up to look back at her, his eye's dropping down to the cloak she still wore.
He stared at her in slight disbelief, finally snapping out of it and reaching his hand toward her. "Give me back my coat for a sec." He said, trying to hide the relief in his voice.
Her eyes widened in surprise, "Your coat? This is yours?" She laughed, pulling it off and handing it to him. "What are you looking for?" She asked, crawling toward him and watching as he began searching through the pockets.
"This.." He said triumphantly, pulling his hand back out of a pocket and holding up a small drawstring bag.
Emptying the contents onto the floor, he sorted through them, picking out several small rings. He reached forward, grabbing Kairi's hand and slipping two small black rings onto her fingers. Releasing her, he reached over and grasped Sora's hand, giving him one black ring and one snow-white ring. Looking rather pleased, he put the items back in the bag and slipped it back into the cloak pocket, finally handing the cloak back to Arashi.
"What are those?" Arashi asked curiously, playing with one of the new black rings on Kairi's finger.
Riku smiled, leaning over Sora and rummaging through the boy's pockets. "The black ones are dark rings, and the white one is a chaos ring. They'll help protect them from the Heartless." He pulled a potion out of Sora's pocket and scooted forward more. Forcing the younger boy's mouth open, he force-fed the potion to him and ruffled his hair.
"I won them off of Sora last summer when he placed a bet saying I couldn't beat him and Wakka at blitzball." He smirked, leaning over Kairi and placing his keyblade against her chest. A moment later, she was surrounded in a cloud of green sparkles, slowly opening her eyes and staring groggily up at Riku.
"Ugh, that stupid spell is so irritating. I don't see why it couldn't just heal people, why's it so damn bright?" He stood up, glaring at Arashi as she burst into slightly nervous laughter.
"What are you talking about?" Kairi groaned, rolling over and staring at Sora in surprise. "You're alright!" She cried happily, noticing that he was already sitting up. He would have shouted in surprise had Kairi not knocked the wind out of him.
"What do you mean, 'irritating'? It's just a spell!" Arashi giggled, poking Riku in the chest.
"You saw it, it's really bright! What if you were trying to hide from someone, and you were with your mortally wounded friend? So then you try to cast curaga on them, but you get caught because the damn thing gave away your location!" He argued, wondering if it was possible to modify the spell.
Arashi shook her head, "I can't believe you…" She muttered, suddenly getting nervous when she realized that Kairi and Sora weren't sitting there anymore.
Spinning on her heel, she found them examining the open door. "Riku, are you done? We could use some help here!" Sora called from the left side of the door.
"Thanks, Riku!" Kairi said happily as she passed him on his way to the door. Walking slowly, she stopped at Arashi's side, both girls watching slightly worriedly as the boys examined the door some more.
"Here, come on.." Sora reached forward, gripping one of the double doors and testing it before throwing his weight against it. Riku did the same on his side, cursing under his breath from the surprising amount of resistance that met them.
The two girls watched, their anxiety growing as the door refused to come even close to closing. Waves of darkness continued to flow out of it, if not stronger now that it was being challenged.
"I don't understand, how did you close it last time?" Arashi asked nervously, shifting from foot to foot in the sand.
Sora huffed, almost glaring at her, "We didn't." He said dully, turning his attention back to the door.
A deep rumbling slowly began shaking the small cave, sending nervous chills down everyone's spines. It stopped after a moment, only to return after several seconds in a more powerful tremor.
"What's happening?" Kairi asked fearfully, grabbing Arashi's arm as loose dust and small rocks began to fall from the ceiling and walls around them.
The sharp sound of clashing metal followed by a rather eerie echo drowned out any reply Sora had been about to make. Kairi looked up in surprise, finding herself now lying rather awkwardly in the sand next to Arashi.
"What..?" She stared up at the two men glaring at each other where she had been standing moments before.
"Sephiroth?!" Sora almost whimpered, immediately recognizing the man closest to him. Upon hearing his name, he turning toward Sora, giving him a less than significant glance before returning his attention to the man in front of him.
It took Kairi a moment to recognize him, but when she did she felt her heart skip a beat. "Ansem! You're alright!" She said happily, struggling to her feet. "What happened to you?" She asked worriedly, stepping forward and examining him.
His clothes were a bit shredded, and he was nearly covered in blood, most of which appeared to be his. When he turned to look at her, she noticed that even his hair was harassed, falling loosely around his shoulders. In her opinion, he looked remarkably like Sephiroth, until he gave her a weak smile.
Becoming worried about his state of health, she moved quickly toward him, surprised to find him push her back.
"Stay back, and take care of.. Arashi." he said a bit hesitantly, quickly shifting his gaze back to Sephiroth.
Kairi was worried, but obeyed him, turning to find Arashi still laying in the sand near her feet. Crying out in surprise, Kairi knelt down and lifted the girl's head. A deep gash ran across her chest, and blood was seeping into the sand around her.
When she saw the blood, panic began to rise up inside her. What was she supposed to do? Arashi needed a hospital! She cradled the girl in her arms as she struggled to figure out what to do.
She gently reached down, pulling back a piece of ripped cloth and looking at the wound. It must have run at least eight inches across her chest, and Kairi wasn't about to check to see how deep it was.
"Arashi. Arashi!! Oh god…" She held a hand over her mouth, jumping when something landed in the sand next to her thigh.
She gasped in surprise, reaching down to pick it up. It was a potion. She knew at this point that it wouldn't heal Arashi completely, but it would hopefully stop the bleeding. She shifted quickly to look up at Ansem, but his back was still turned to her. Swallowing some of her panic, she gave the potion to Arashi and turned back to the two men standing in the middle of the small cave.
She was a bit startled to find that Sephiroth had been watching her with slight interest, now turning his attention back to Ansem.
"I'm impressed, I didn't know you cared about anything other than your damned research." He said, relaxing his posture and gazing almost tiredly around the small cave.
Ansem continued to glare darkly at him. "Shut up.." He growled, pausing to let out a choked cough. "What the hell do you want?" He tightened his grip on his spear, shifting to glance past Sora to the door.
Sephiroth gave him a look of mock disbelief. "What do you mean? I'm finishing what you so conveniently started."
"Don't give me that shit, I know you aren't after this island." Ansem tore his gaze from the dark depths to watch Sephiroth as he moved around the small cave.
Sora shifted his silent stare between the two men, unable to determine what was going on. He didn't know which man he mistrusted more, Ansem or Sephiroth. Though he couldn't help but notice that everyone else was watching Sephiroth. Had he missed something? Wasn't Ansem the one that had tried to turn the world into pure darkness?
Sephiroth moved back toward Ansem, looking somewhat pleased. "You always were rather quick. How did you catch on this time?" He asked, almost smiling at the other man.
Ansem smirked, "The door is open." He pointed his spear toward it, speaking as though everyone knew it.
Sora spun to look at the door, completely confused and getting impatient. "How does that prove he isn't after Destiny Islands?" He cried, glancing over at Riku for support. Riku, however, was paying no attention to him or Ansem, staring blankly past them to Arashi.
"Because if he was after Destiny Islands, then you never would have seen the door open. You would all be dead already, and your islands would be gone." He growled at Sora, not bothering to hide the distaste in his voice. He shifted his eyes back to Sephiroth, "You're holding the darkness back because you aren't done with the islands yet."
Sephiroth watched him with amusement, "You should be proud, you catch on faster than the keyblade master."
"If you're after the keyblade, then you can forget it! I beat you in the Coliseum, you don't stand a chance against me and Riku!" Sora growled, brandishing the keyblade as he backed up his challenge.
Slowly, the older man turned to scowl at the young brunette. "There were rules in the Coliseum, little boy." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out something clenched in his fist.
"And as for the keyblade, I have no need of yours." Slowly opening his hand, he revealed a small key chain. Holding it up, he smiled inwardly at the reaction he received.
Riku cursed under his breath, gripping the dark keyblade tightly. Kairi leapt to her feet, gasping and covering her mouth with her hands. Sora moved forward, pointing the keyblade at Sephiroth threateningly.
"What did you do with King Mickey?!" He shouted, unable to tear his eyes from the small silhouette key chain.
Sephiroth grinned, "He's fine." He turned to gaze back into the door, motioning with his sword. "He's just, 'hanging out'" he said, laughing softly.
Sora stared blankly at him, not wanting to believe what he had just heard. Mickey was trapped in the darkness? He was a Heartless? He had failed to protect him, what would the others say? He slowly looked at Riku, noticing how his body had tensed. He was closer than anyone to King Mickey, they had nearly spent every waking hour together as they trained and waited for Sora.
Tears began streaming down Kairi's face again, and she rushed forward, too upset to care what happened.
"You bastard! What the hell do you want from us?!" She screamed, pulling out Oathkeeper as she ran forward.
She let out a soft yelp as she felt a strong arm catch her around the waist and lift her off the ground. She continued to curse at Sephiroth, struggling angrily against Ansem as he tried to hold her still. He groaned in pain as Oathkeeper slammed into his arm, leaving a small burn. Reaching down, he held her against his chest with one arm while gripping the wrist that held Oathkeeper in his other hand.
This display seemed to catch Sephiroth's full attention. "Why don't you let her go, Ansem? Let's see what she can do. Or are you worried she'll get hurt?" He smirked in triumph.
Sora really tripped, glancing between Ansem and Sephiroth again. He had been just about to yell at the older man not to touch her, but something didn't seem right at all.
Ansem didn't say anything, simply stared at Sephiroth in hatred. At hearing his comment, Kairi went limp, sobbing softly as she stared at the ground.
"Hmm, interesting. Looks as though everyone has a keyblade these days. I would love to stay, but I really do have things to do." Sephiroth said calmly, toying with the key chain as he turned to enter the door.
"What's the matter? Don't want to stay and fight?" Sora taunted, stepping toward the door as Sephiroth reached it.
He turned to look over his shoulder at the boy, grinning knowingly. "I'm not stupid, Sora. Four against one is hardly a fair fight. And even the girl isn't exactly a pushover. Beside, I believe you're already preoccupied." He paused as another tremor shook the small cave. "Hmm, better hurry." He turned and entered the door in one swift motion, disappearing into the shadows.
A deep silence settle over the room as everyone stared at the door. Kairi managed to choke back her sobs, hugging Ansem tightly as he watched the two boys. "Alright, hurry. This world won't hold long with the door open." He managed to pry Kairi off and moved toward the door.
Sora gripped his double door tightly, casting a cold glare at Ansem before nodding to Riku. "We can do it ourselves." He growled, pushing heavily on the door. It moved nearly an inch before grinding to a halt.
"I can't believe you two!" Kairi growled angrily, turning to face Ansem. "We don't have time for this! Please, help them close it!" She pleaded.
"Why the hell would he want to help us?!" Sora cried, groaning under the effort of closing the door. Kairi resisted the urge to slap him and moved over to Riku.
"Go over to that side.." She instructed, bracing herself against the door as Ansem stepped over to join her.
"Wait a minute-!"
"We don't have a minute! Now shut up and pretend he's Cid!!" Riku shouted at Sora over the rumbling of another tremor.
~*~*~*~~~~
A/N: Suggestions at this point would be handy, please review!!