Within moments, Kairi, Namine and Kael were completely surrounded by the creatures. Kairi frowned.
"Sorry." She whispered. Namine shrugged.
"It made perfect sense to me, anyways. It could have been the same anywhere else you said to meet." She answered. "Besides, you're friend's on her way right?" She asked. Kairi smiled slightly.
"There's seven of us." She answered. Kael breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good news if I've ever heard it." He said. Kairi was about to speak again, when one of the wolf men snarled at them.
"What are you yapping about?" He demanded, pointing his sword at Kairi. Kairi glared at him.
"None of your business." She snapped in reply. His eyes narrowed.
"You should have more respect for someone with the means to kill you." He spat. Kairi snapped her fan open and began to fan herself, looking more or less like a damsel in distress.
"Oh dear, I suppose you're right." She said. The wolf man glared at her, not sure whether or not her tone was mocking or truly fearful. He looked at his comrade, a pig woman standing to his left, to see how she took Kairi's words. Kairi took the chance and pointed the open fan at them. A second later, the wolf man, pig woman and three others were on the ground with Kairi's now not-so-hidden knives protruding from them. She ran for the gap in the ring, Namine and Kael following her. They didn't get very far when a shapeshifter stepped in their path. Kairi skidded to a stop, surprised, as the other two almost ran into her from behind. The shapeshifter raised his fist. A gun shot sounded, along with the sound of smashing glass from high above them, and the shapeshifter collapsed. Kairi spun around and saw Gippal standing in the doorway, grinning almost arrogantly.
"Thought you might need some help there." He noted. Kairi smiled, nodding. A voice shouted down to them.
"It's his fault we took so long!" Rikku cried, jumping down from the window pane she had broken and landing square on the shoulders of another shapeshifter. It dropped under the force of her drop. Gippal frowned at her.
"Why is it my fault?" He asked, shooting at a fate beast that was approaching him. Rikku had stepped off the creature she landed on and was fighting with another, not realizing that the first was still partially conscious. He was getting to his feet, but was down again thanks to a sharp whack in the head from Baralai. He leaned on his weapon, grinning at Gippal.
"It's your fault because you make a good scapegoat." He answered. One of the dog creatures leapt at Baralai, but Paine cut it out of the air, smirking.
"You know I can't always be around to take care of you Baralai." She stated, fighting off another fate beast. One saw the chance, with her busy, and started to attack her from behind, Luckily, Emma walked in and cut it down.
"And I can't always be around to take care of you." She stated. Paine finished off the monster she was fighting and gave Emma a death glare. Kairi, Namine and Kael were caught surrounded again, thought admittedly, the ring was much thinner. A black ball appeared about six feet off the ground, growing slightly and sucking a handful of the creatures that made up the ring into it, before dropping them to the ground again. One of them landed very badly, and wouldn't be getting back up again. The others attempted to stand up, but a quick burst of song from Namine sent two of them flying into the wall, while the other was attacked by Kael, Kairi and Sora at the same time. The creature dropped to the ground, leaving Kael and Sora face to face. They stared at each other for a moment.
"Woah." They said in unison.
"That's weird." Sora noted. Kael nodded, then blinked, looking at Kairi.
"That's like you and Namine! You two look the same too!" He stated. Sora scratched his head.
"Wait a minute, wasn't it someone named Namine that made you remember?" He asked.
"You two know Namine?" Kael asked. Kairi shook her head.
"Only I do." She answered. Kael and Sora both asked a question at the same time, neither understandable due to the girls trying to listen to both questions at the same time. Gippal cleared his throat.
"Can we talk later? There's more of these creatures on the way." He told them. Sora nodded.
"He's right, we have to get moving. The Celcius is outside the castle walls. We couldn't find anywhere to land inside." He agreed. With that, the group walked out into the entry hall, peeking out the front doors and slipped outside. Moving through the shadows, the group slowly but surely made their way down through the streets of the city contained within the castle walls. They hadn't gotten very far when Paine heard footsteps.
"Someone's coming." She stated. Each of them scrambled to find somewhere to hide. Rikku crouched behind some barrels just inside an alleyway. Paine, Baralai and Gippal hid in the shadows further down the same alley. Kairi and Namine hid in an arched entryway to a manor house. Sora and Kael hid in a similar place across the street, while Emma hid underneath a set of wooden stairs. Just as they had suspected, a number of fate beasts turned a corner and started to walk up the street towards the castle. There had to have been a dozen of them. Once they were sure that the pack was well out of sight and earshot, Emma peeked out of her hiding spot.
"I guess we'd better be careful." She noted quietly.
"You can say that again." Rikku answered with a frown. Paine gave them a look that quieted them, and the group slowly crept down the street. They barely went anywhere when they heard another set of footsteps approaching. Again, a pack of fatebeast passed while they hid, scarcely breathing. It happened twice more. The first time, they hid, just like they had. The second time, however, they were walking through the temple district. Thye could hear footsteps, and looked helplessly around. All that was around was tall, carved marble walls, the space between each temple barely big enough for a cat to fit into. Looking to Kael and Namine for help, they frowned.
"What do we do? These temples are all dedicated to the Ladies. They'll have more power over us in there than anywhere else, and the fatebeasts belong to them." Namine whispered hurriedly. Kael looked around, then let out a small gasp, grabbing Namine's hand, and starting to run back towards the way they came, motioning for the others to follow. Slightly bewildered, they did so. Not far behind them, at the beginning of the district, was a series of statues. Three women, very majestic looking. These statues, however, looked a little bit out of place. The whole street was lined with tall marble walls, but there was this one break in the marble, with these statues filling it. It looked rather asymmetrical, to say the least. Kael pulled himself up onto the base of one of the statues.
"Hurry, follow me." He walked around the statue and dropped down onto the ground in the space on the other side. Quickly, each of the others scrambled over the base of the statue, to the other side. Emma was the last over. She stepped just out of sight between the shadows as the group of fate beasts entered the temple district. Hidden behind the statues was a small courtyard. The cobblestones were nearly lifted out of the ground, it was so badly overgrown. On the other side of the tiny courtyard was a small temple, just as badly overgrown. The only sign of recent life was the fairly new boards that had been put across the entrance. Kael kicked it in.
"I discovered this place when I was little, when I saw some shapeshifters come in here. This is one of the old temples, from before the Ladies' arrivals here. The other old temples were torn down, but this one was left. Things kept going wrong when they tried to take it down, and then the Ladies' ordered that the temple be hidden, but left here. That all happened hundreds of years ago, but I was told about it when I was a page by my history tutor. He mysteriously disappeared two days after that. The fate beasts come here every few years. Who knows what they're looking for. But anyways, we can hide here until they pass." He stated. Kairi bit her lip.
"These Ladies…they're not the Fates are they?" She asked. Namine shrugged.
"They go by many names. Everyone hates them. They rule Pandora with an iron fist." She answered. Paine crossed her arms.
"Pandora?" She asked. "Isn't Pandora the girl with the box? The one who released all those negative things into the world?" She asked. Kairi sighed.
"And hope." She added.
"Those are the stories." Kael said. "But the legend isn't quite right. Pandora is the name of this planet. There is a box, though, and all the negative things came from it. See, the Fates were once just mortal witches. They gained a little bit too much power, and before they died, they built a box where they would be reincarnated as immortal goddesses."
"After that," Namine continued, "they rebuilt their box into a loom, where they weave destiny. They live on this planet, though no one knows where."
"I know how we can find out." Emma stated. They looked at her. She didn't say anything more. Instead, she walked over to the entrance and peered inside between the wooden boards. "I wonder what's in here? What could keep the Fates from demolishing it and then catch their interest enough to keep it?" She asked. All she could see inside was a corridor that faded into blackness not far it. It was certainly dark in there. She jumped when Paine came up beside her and kicked the wood. A few pieces collapsed and a small space opened.
"Let's find out." She said. She and Emma worked together to pull off the next piece. Sora grinned.
"Move over girls, I'll get us in." She stated. Paine looked at him, raised and eyebrow, and moved as he said. Emma followed suit. He lifted his Keyblade and shot a fireball at the wood. It burst into flames, though the fire settled after a few moments, all that was left of the wood being ashes. Kairi grinned.
"Very good." She said, linking arms with him. Sora grinned back at her.
"I'm glad you're impressed." He answered. Emma was peering inside again.
"Check it out?" She asked. Paine nodded, and the two girls led the way inside. They had expected to find some inner chamber with some sort of alter, as was the case in most temples. It certainly wasn't big enough to house much else. However, all they found was a set of stairs leading underground. Paine used her black magic to light a few torches, and they continued down the steps. At the bottom, they came into a huge underground chamber. The walls were smooth and covered in simple relief carvings. The room was entirely empty except for a large door on the other side of the cavern. It looked like it was made entirely out of silver. Rikku skipped up to the door, her torch casting flickering shadows everywhere. She grabbed the handle and pulled. It didn't move. She put down her torch and pulled harder. It still didn't budge. She struggled with it until Gippal came over, snickering.
"Want some help?" He asked. Rikku pouted at him. He grabbed the door handle and tugged, expecting that Rikku was just being Rikku, but it didn't move for him either. He pulled harder. It still didn't move. Rikku started laughing at him.
"Haha! You can't open it either." She stated. Kael walked over, rolling his eyes.
"That might be because it's locked." He told them. Gippal and Rikku both looked at him as if her were brilliant. He held his hand out, and what else but a Keyblade appeared in his hand. Kairi, Sora and Baralai all started talking at the same time, but they didn't even get a full syllable out of their mouths when Kael interrupted them. "Don't ask me where I got this from, I'll explain later." He stated. Sora walked up beside him, held his hand out and his Keyblade appeared in his hand, next to Kael's. Kael looked at him, his eyes wide. Sora shrugged. Kairi and Namine looked at each other.
"We're connected…" Namine started to say.
"Maybe they are too." Kairi finished. Sora turned around.
"Connected?" He asked. Kairi explained as best she could.
"You remember what happened when I remembered, right? I said I was falling, and I saw Namine. It's like she's my shadow or something. I think you and Kael are the same." She said matter-of-factly. Sora and Kael looked at each other.
"Oh." Neither of them understood what she was talking about, but both decided they'd talk about it later. The two of them held their Keyblades towards the door. A flicker from one of the torches revealed something to them. Hidden in the intricate carvings on the door were three images of a keyhole. Sora frowned.
"…three?" He asked. Everyone looked at each other. Emma swung her sword around. Sora propped his Keyblade on his shoulder. By chance, her sword lined up with his, and she gasped. Everyone looked at her. She was inspecting her blade carefully.
"I…think this is the third one." She noted. It was then that everyone suddenly realized the shape of the blade. Emma walked up to Sora and Kael, looked at the two of them, and pointed her blade at the door. The two guys did the same. A white fire started to glow in the center of each of the keyholes, spreading through the carvings until a new image was revealed. Heart and Soul intertwined, reaching for the door handles. Kairi and Namine looked at each other. They had a new suspicion about their connection.
"A princess of Heart."
"And a princess of Soul." The two girls smiled at each other and grabbed the door handles. The two of them pulled gently, the doors swinging open silently. Everything quieted. Rikku peeked inside.
"It's dark in there." She noted. Gippal looked inside after her.
"So, why did we open this door if it doesn't lead anywhere?" He asked, sounding unimpressed. A small smile crossed Emma's lips.
"Because it does lead somewhere." She answered, walking forward. She walked through the door, just inside, and looked around. "Hello?" She called. There was a shuffle of movement from outside their view inside the door and Emma turned to see what it was. Her eyes passed through the darkness, and then she smiled. "We did it!" She said, running towards the sound. Paine poked her head inside, looking to see where she'd gone. She frowned.
"Who's that?" She asked. Before anyone could answer, Sora and Kairi had walked up to the door and looked inside. Both their jaws dropped.
---------------------------
Glancing towards the shuffling sound, Emma grinned. Riku was walking towards her, looking slightly confused. She took a step towards him.
"We did it!" She told him, before setting off at a run towards him. She hit him with such force that they both nearly fell over. She threw her arms around his neck and let out a quiet laugh. He smiled, one of his arms going around her waist while the other tilted her chin towards him.
"First, tell me you're not dreaming again." He said quietly. Emma smiled at him.
"I'm not dreaming." She answered. Riku nodded thoughtfully.
"Good." With that he closed the gap between them and kissed her. A pair of gasps caught their attention. Looking towards the door, they saw Kairi and Sora watching them, their eyes wide.
"…Riku?" They asked, their shock apparent. Riku smiled at them.
"Hey Sora, Kairi." He paused, not sure what to say. What can you say to your best friends after not seeing them for more than two years? "Umm…long time no see." He said slowly. Kairi grinned, walking slowly towards them. Once she reached them, she leaned towards Emma.
"We'll need to talk later." She whispered. Emma started to blush.
"I guess I never told you, but this is how I remembered." She answered. Sora grinned as he approached them.
"Riku! It's so great to finally see you again!" He said. Riku grinned back at him.
"I see you've been taking good care of Kairi." He noted. Sora crossed his arms.
"So, does this mean you can come with us?" He asked. There was a long silence.
"I hope so." Riku answered finally. Together, the five of them walked back to the door. Everyone else stared at Riku, partially because he was a random guy who just appeared from the darkness behind the door, and partially because he was hand in hand with Emma. Sora and Kairi walked back through the door. Emma followed, and turned around to face Riku. He paused, reaching uncertainly forward. It was as if he expected to find the doorway covered in glass. When his hand passed through, relief passed over his face. Emma paused.
"Hang on a sec." She looked at Riku. "Can we use the crystal to see the Fates?" She asked. Riku thought about it.
"I don't see why not. It's not that far from here…" He stopped, hearing a noise. There was a long silence, and then the thud from about them sounded again.
"Do you think someone else is coming in?" Baralai asked, peering up the stairs. Paine shrugged.
"If there is, we'd better find this crystal thing fast." She answered, glancing at Riku. "Where to, Riku?" She asked. Rikku's eyes went wide.
"Hey! My name's Rikku too!" She said, giggling. Gippal nodded.
"That's great, now let's get out of here before whatever's upstairs comes down."