I guess I lied.
I don't own any of the characters or places below. You know what? Hell, why don't you guys just take my computer while you're at it. Hey, I have an idea! Why don't you take my Playstation too! Why not my virginity as well? HOW DOES THAT SOUND SQUARE AND DISNEY? WANNA TAKE MY HUMANITY AWAY AND LEAVE A COLD AND LIFELESS SHELL OF A FORMER HUMAN BEING!
-cough-
Onto the fic…
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Shadow Feather: Chapter 13
Unlock
(small hopes)
Riku, or more accurately, Ansem smiled with an air of superiority at me. He let loose a tiny chuckle and crossed his arms smugly. His Mako green eyes shone in the dim hallway and he cracked his knuckles loudly. Raising an arm, he held his hand out and closed his glowing eyes. There was a small flash and some electricity crackled with the release of energy.
In his hands he held a dark black Keyblade. It wasn't quite the same as Sora's. The part at the top was shaped differently and the handle was red. He held it up to the dim lights above and then smiled adoringly at it.
"I've waited so long for this." He turned to me and lazily swung the Keyblade. "A Keyblade to unlock people's hearts. So very different from Sora's Keyblade. Polar opposites even." He smiled and cocked his head to the left. His eyes flashed dangerously. "I think…that I would like to test the thing out. What do you think?" I stepped back into a defensive stance and drew Masamune. Ansem smiled and took a step forward.
"And what will you do with that oversized piece of junk?" He laughed loudly and slashed the open air with his Keyblade. "Will you kill Riku? This is still his body, you know." I grimaced but held Masamune at the ready. "I can't imagine that you would but who can tell for sure." He stopped several feet away and fell into a fighting stance. "After all…you were just as evil as me once."
His speed surprised me. Ansem dashed forward and brought his Keyblade up toward my chest. After the initial surprise I countered the attack and Ansem ran past me. He turned quickly, Riku's silver hair whipping outwards and swung his Keyblade again. I ducked under the attack and began to thrust my heel towards the boy's chest.
"No! Please don't hurt me!" Riku's childish voice rang through the air. I paused for a moment in my attack. Riku smiled and cut towards me again with his Keyblade. "I guess you're just as foolish as before!" The black blade came swiftly toward my head. In a desperate maneuver, I rolled to the left and under the oncoming blade. Riku was left unbalanced by his attack and I twisted around and aimed a punch for the boy's chest.
"Please! Why are you-" Riku's voice was cut off as my fist connected with the boy's ribcage. He flew across the room and was crashed against a large pillar. He slowly got up, snarling in complaint. Ansem's voice emitted from Riku's mouth. "So you would really destroy the one you wish to protect?"
In my mind, I shouted "no" a thousand times but in hopes to strike fear into Ansem I said, "There is nothing left of Riku. All that remains is you. And I have no problem eradicating that." Riku's face dipped into a dark glower and then straightened up again.
"I suppose I'll just have to take you down right here then, won't I?" I did not let him wait for an answer and instead rushed at him with my blade upraised.
Ansem stepped back in fear and as I brought the blade screaming downward he smiled and screamed, "Come Guardian!" Riku's finger pointed over my right shoulder. In a flash I spun in place and brought Masamune tearing across my six. The blade connected with nothing.
Because nothing was there.
I felt the tip of Ansem's Keyblade tear into my lower back. I couldn't feel any blood fall but as I leapt away I felt the air on a large gash. I fell to my knees and dropped Masamune. The pain in my back was immense but something else hurt even more. I clutched at my left breast and found it difficult to breathe. My wing spazzed wildly behind me, making it difficult to keep my balance.
"The power to unlock people's hearts," Ansem leaned over me and smiled in awe. "It's amazing really. The Keyblade unlocks your heart and lets the darkness flood into it." Air stopped entering my lungs entirely. I pitched over and fell face first into the stone floor. My wing flapped wildly against the floor. I felt Riku's hand pat me on the head roughly. "Well…you'll be a Heartless soon. I bid you farewell." He waved his hand dismissively. "Why don't you go wreak some havoc in Traverse Town after this, ok? I have more important things to do." The world blacked out and I found myself in the Nexus again.
All around me, Heartless danced and jittered. They poured over me and tore at my flesh but I couldn't feel any of it. Unable to move I saw my heart rise from my body until it hovered high above the mass of Heartless. The shadows that had been pulling at me looked up with slavering jaws. They leapt and jumped to get it. They laughed and cheered in an insane ritual as they piled on top of each other to reach the glittering object.
I felt my body lift into the air. Propelled by a force stronger than anything I had ever felt in my life. I was raised above the tower of crawling Heartless and was held limply in front of my own floating heart. The Heartless below stopped reaching upwards and just stared at me as I drifted slowly toward the object.
As I got closer I felt something writhing inside me. Something tearing and pushing to get out from the inside. It thrust and jerked inside me and began to find its way out through cuts and tears that the Heartless had inflicted. A shadowy tendril crept slowly out of my chest and moved toward the glittering object. The darkness at the base of the tendril began to spread across my chest and move outwards, reaching to my fingers and my legs.
The tendril of shadow touched my disembodied heart and wrapped itself slowly around it. The overwhelming shadow slid over my chin and into my mouth. It covered my legs to the feet and slowly moved its way to the scalp. The tendril drew my heart towards my body. The creeping darkness moved around my eyes, leaving them intact and uncovered.
I could feel my consciousness slipping away as my heart grew ever nearer. When it was only a foot away and my entire body was black with shadow, my arms shot out on their own and grabbed it. I felt my mouth open and my hands slowly guided my heart towards the opening. As the last bit of sanity fell from me, the heart slipped into my impossibly wide mouth and down into darkness.
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Running. Running through black. Couldn't stop. No need to stop. I had orders. The one in control had given me orders. Go to the Town. Traverse Town. That was my job. I could not forget. Go to Traverse Town and "wreak havoc." The others stayed out of my way. They knew what they had to do. They have their orders, I have mine.
So I am running. It won't be long now until I reach the exit. Then I can do my job. Then I can fulfill my duty. I didn't have a body. Not in this place. There is no light to make a body for me. I did not need one. All I needed to do was get to the exit. I found it. The exit to Traverse Town. A small world. Lots of us in it. People try and stop us. They can not but they send many of us back. Too hard to take the world with them there.
"Wreak havoc."
I entered the world into the open air. I had a body now. Large like Defender but swift like Neo. I have magic coursing through me. Stronger than the Wizard. I am strong. I can complete my mission. There are people in the area. They are screaming. What do I do? Attack of course. That is my mission. That is what I must do. But how do I do that? There is an object in my hand. Sword. Like Bandit and Pirate.
Use the sword to hurt them. That is my job. I cut the first one. One of them stopped screaming. The heart rose upwards and I devoured it quickly. What an amazing taste. There were still more. Cut them again. Again. Eat the hearts. Taste them. So good.
There is a large door. There are people running through it. They are screaming as well. I reach them and cut again and again. The feeble bodies cave easily. Eat hearts Make me stronger. There is a large area. Different than before. Blue and white. No more people left. Must find more. Need to find more to complete the mission.
I found one.
"Oh shit! Yuffie! Aerith! We got a tough one!" The man has a sword as well. Cut him. My sword is stopped.
"Dammit…Aerith! Gimme some defense! This one is strong!"
"Aeroga!"
Wind. There is wind around him. Difficult to cut. Difficult to get the heart.
"Take this you big meanie!"
A smaller one. Small things flying. They hurt. It would be best to throw them back. Something hits me. I am falling. I hit the wall. There is another man. He has a spear.
"Best you rethink your tactics."
Punch him. The spear hurts. Punch through the spear. It breaks into my arm, but the man falls to the ground. There is no heart. Do I need to cut him? He is still breathing. I need to cut him.
Bright blue light. It's inside me, through me. In my stomach. It hurts. More than the other things.
"Stay the fuck away from Cid!"
I need to cut the brown haired one first. Need to get rid of the blue light. It makes his sword bigger. Need to get rid of that first. Fire? Yes.
"Agh! Dammit!" It hit him. He is hurt. There is no heart. There must be need for more. "Everyone, he knows magic too!"
"Watch out Leon!"
A kick. The brown haired one falls against the wall. Still no heart. There is still breathing. Cut him.
More blue light. Smaller light this time. Star shaped. In my chest. A lot of pain. The smallest one is still there. Wet eyes.
"LEAVE SQUALL ALONE!"
More movement. There's another one. More brown hair.
"Yuffie…look at its eyes."
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT ITS EYES!"
It jumps. I punch. It falls and there is no heart still. Cut them all? It must be done.
"Planet Protector!"
Yellow light, little stars. Golden people. Cutting doesn't work. Fire doesn't work. Ice, Thunder, Flare, Ultima. Nothing works.
"Sephiroth!"
The standing one is there. Open arms. Glowing gold.
"Sephiroth I don't know what happened but stop!"
I cut it. It stands there still.
"I know that it's you! Stop doing this!"
Punch. Kick. Nothing works
"Please! You promised all of us that you would protect us!"
Wet eyes. The gold is fading.
"Sephiroth! Come back to us! Don't be a Heartless anymore!"
The gold is gone now.
"Please…"
I punch it. It falls. Sleeping. There still aren't any hearts. I need to cut them. Raise it up. Bring it down on the one with the spear.
And it stops.
"Hiya Seph!"
Small one. Very small. In his hand…
"I came to fix you up real nice. So don't you worry about a thing ok?"
Something golden.
"You can't remember who I am now or understand what I'm saying…but I'll bring you back no problem buddy."
Key.
Golden light.
Floating Hearts.
Hojo.
Cloud.
Aerith.
Leon.
Riku.
Sora.
Sephiroth.
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Air poured into my lungs. My body was one collective throbbing pain. My head was pounding and my back felt like it was on fire. I sat up quickly and felt strong hands push me down. I struggled against them but the pain that followed the struggling forced me to cry out and lay back in the bed.
"Take it easy there Sephiroth!" Leon stood over me, stoic frown ever in place. Ash fell softly onto my cheek and I saw Cid standing on the other side thoughtfully puffing a cigarette.
"So you woke up?"
I nodded and then winced as the pain in my neck shot fiery tendrils into my brain. Breathing heavily I raised one hand in front of my face.
"You gave us all one hell of a scare," Cid said casually.
"What…what did…"
"You were a Heartless." Leon leaned against the bed and grimaced. "You started tearing people up in the first district and then followed them to the third district when they tried to get us to help them." We attacked you without knowing who you were and you handed our asses to us." Aerith stepped into view and touched Leon lightly on the shoulder. He turned away and stalked out of the room.
"I noticed that your eyes were different than those of the Heartless. I saw that they were your eyes. So I called out to you but you wouldn't listen. In the end you knocked us all unconscious and when we woke up we found you lying there in the same state as the rest of us had been." He looked up and sighed. "You were hurt really badly and I couldn't cure you without risking my own safety so Leon and Cid carried you to Merlin's and he fixed you up the best he could. Even with his magic he couldn't stop the pain physical pain you must be feeling right now."
"It's…not a problem. I have a lot of gratitude for this act of kindness." Aerith smiled and touched my hand lightly. "What were Leon and Yuffie doing back from the Coliseum?"
"The tournament was put off. Something about an ice giant running amok. According to Phil, it should be put back out to the public in a day or two, assuming they can get the situation under control."
"Ah…I see."
Aerith smiled and wiped away the ash that remained on my cheek. Cid inhaled deeply on his cigarette and blew out a long jet of smoke. Aerith pushed a lock of brown hair behind her ear and said quietly, "You've been unconscious for three days now." Before I could raise myself into a sitting position, Cid's rough hands gripped me by the shoulders and held me down.
"Let me up! I need to see Riku! I need to go to Hollow Bastion!"
"Hold on a second you crazy sunuvabitch!" yelled Cid.
"There isn't time for this! I need to find him!"
"Listen for a second! We have word about Riku!" Cid shouted into my face. I stopped struggling against him. Cid lit another cigarette and took a long draw on it. "He's been possessed by Ansem."
"I know that," I interrupted in frustration.
"But he's fighting," continued Aerith. "When Sora confronted him for the last time before escaping Hollow Bastion, Riku managed to take his body back long enough to let them escape. He's still there and there is still a chance to save him."
This new development was amazing. It made my breath come short and inside me something grew warmer. "What can I do to help?"
Leon's voice sounded from the edge of my vision and he said quietly, "If I were you I would give Sora your Keychain that you forged. Right now that boy is the only chance we have at saving the worlds…and Riku."
Aerith nodded solemnly and turned to me with smiling eyes. "But for now the most important thing is for you to regain your strength. And that will take at least one more day. You will meet Sora in the Coliseum when you are able to. In the meantime, rest." Her silver voice filled my ears and though I yearned to go to the Coliseum instantly, I knew that she was right. I closed my eyes and drifted into a dreamless sleep.
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Once again I fear that my chapter has ended on a not so snazzy note. I'm also kinda iffy on the whole Sephiroth as a Heartless scene. It's supposed to be frenetic and fast paced but I'm afraid that it will just come out as being poor grammar and a dumb idea…tell me what you think. I must say that I surprised myself by cranking this chapter out before the weekend. I am proud of myself for that.
Thank yous for xsaturnine and Prinsessa Garnet as well as newcomers(?) Lapse – Raevn and F00l3Al2. Also an apology to you Garnet about my reviews on your story. I hadn't realized that English wasn't your first language. I was thrown off by the seemingly perfect grammar in your reviews and in Thinking in Darkness. I mean the verdict still stands that the grammar makes it difficult to understand the plot but I give you more credit and much more leniency. (I had been afraid you were actually some kind of terrible writer and maybe like stole your other story) I wish you luck on understanding all the craziness about English grammar.
To anyone who actually spent time looking up "apologate"…it's from a subcomic on called MS Paint Masterpieces. (Who am I kidding. No one actually searched for it.) It's an awesome comic if you like Megaman or if you just like old school graphics (go 8-bit!)
I think that by the time I get a new chapter out after this one, I will have gotten 1000 hits on Shadow Feather. So I'ma celebrate now…WOOHOO!
That's all I have to say for now. There will definitely not be any more chapters before Halloween. You have my word this time. Sorry if it seems like a long wait but you guys will be ok. Later! And Happy Halloween!