Kingdom Hearts: Warriors of Light
Key Of Light-Chapter 32
Kita lifted herself weakly off the floor and ran as fast as she could to Ti-Day's lifeless body on the stairs. His head was two stairs lower than the rest of his body that was now sprawled out where Siren had dropped him. Kita stumbled to him and immediately put her head on his chest. No more could a heartbeat be found. Hercules walked over to the spot unable to believe that Ti-Day could be dead.
"Ti-Day… come back," Kita cried. Her tears were landing on his face as she held his head hoping he would just open his eyes. He grew colder and colder with each passing second. Hercules watched Kita grieve unable to find comforting words to say. "He was my best friend… why did she take him away?"
"Sora, you can't win! Face it!" came Riku's voice from above. This entire time, Sora and Riku were still duking it out as they were the only ones left beside Hercules and Kita down below.
"No!" Sora fought back. "Maybe I'm just one person, but I'll never let you win! I have to save Kairi!"
"Kairi!" Hercules said. "I should go make sure she's still there!" Hercules darted off towards the little hole in the wall where he hid Kairi when Riku was preoccupied. Kita looked down at Ti-Day. She laid him evenly across one step and then decided it would be best if she moved on to help Sora. Heartless Riku had to be stopped before anyone else was hurt. She ran back to get her key blade. As she picked it up she looked at the heartless symbol keychain. She tore it off instantly out of spite. Hercules reentered the room with Kairi in his arms.
"Keep her a safe distance for now," Kita instructed. "We've got a pest to take care of." Hercules laid Kairi down next to Simba, Donald, Goofy, Pom-Pom and Beast. He then drew his sword ready to head into battle with Kita as they ascended the stairs to join Sora. Upon seeing Sora, they realized he was very tired from battling Riku all this time. Kita thought it miraculous he had lasted till now.
Riku locked key blades with Sora and then kicked Sora's legs out from under him. Sora rolled out of the way quickly, but he was becoming disoriented from fighting so long without a breather. He was finding it difficult to stand up. "Give up yet?" Riku asked looking stronger than ever. He raised his key blade, but before he could strike, he was interrupted.
"HEY! PEEBRAIN!" Kita shouted from behind Riku. Riku turned to see Kita standing behind him. Her eyes were no longer empty and black. Riku turned to the glass jar that was sitting on one of the machines. Kita's heart was missing. "That's right… I'm back and you're gonna wish you were never born!" Kita ran forward to strike, as did Hercules from the other side. Attacking together, Riku was unprepared as he was knocked to the ground. Sora recovered to join in the surprise attack. However, Riku's dark powers were very strong. He flung all three of them off and stood up.
"I'm beginning to lose my patience with you," Riku said. He looked at Kita specifically. "Return to the darkness my princesses." Riku ran towards Kita who was on the ground. She stared up horrified feeling she was about to make another trip to the darkness. However Riku was stopped. Sora had run in the way and blocked his attack.
"You're not gonna hurt my friend!" Sora shouted. Riku looked angry and pulled back. Kita took the opportunity to lift her key blade and shoved it through Riku's chest.
"What goes around comes around!" she yelled as she watched her key blade sink into Riku's chest. He looked like he was in pain as he staggered backwards. Sora, Kita and Hercules watched as he fell to the ground. Light was bursting from the hole where the key blade had entered. Riku looked as though he was dieing slowly. He was struggling to breath and his body was seizing up. He dropped his key blade next to him.
"No! This can't be! Darkness is the only true power!" Riku shouted as he slowed down. Kita watched him as his eyes closed. He then disintegrated into thin air. Kita's key blade fell with a clunk to the ground when Riku was completely gone.
"What just happened?" Hercules asked staring at the spot where Riku had just been.
"I don't know," Kita said also looking confused. "It's just that he did it to me, so I did it back."
"Riku's key blade unlocks the darkness in someone's heart," Sora began to explain. "Maybe yours does the exact opposite. Your key unlocks the light."
Kita picked up her key blade looking at it and trying to figure it out. "King Mickey did say it had a secret power, but only I could discover it. Maybe my will feeds its strength or something."
"Question is what do we do with Riku's key blade?" Sora said looking back to the black key blade lying on the ground.
"Set me free Sora," said a gentle voice.
"Kairi?" Sora asked looking around. "I just heard Kairi." The trio looked over to Kairi's limp body. Hercules took the liberty of bringing her up to the top landing. She wasn't moving or showing any signs of life. "Set me free…" Sora said looking back to Riku's key blade. He picked it up and examined it for a moment. He could feel a warm presence in his heart at that very moment.
"I'll always be in your heart," Kairi's voice said.
"I know Kairi," Sora said. Kita and Hercules looked at him like he was crazy. They couldn't hear what Kairi was saying. Sora moved the key blade in his hand flipping it in the opposite direction so that the end was facing him. Kita looked nervous. She started to get up and held out her arm to stop Sora from doing anything stupid. But without warning Sora lunged the key blade through his chest. There was a dark glow as Sora doubled over, but from his chest came seven hearts. Six of them floated down below to return to the princesses from which they came. The last hovered above Kairi momentarily before sinking into her chest.
Kita and Hercules watched as Kairi's eyes blinked a few times and opened. Sora was watching too, but with great difficulty. Riku's key blade disintegrated into thin air. "Kairi…" Sora said weakly.
"Sora, are you ok?" Kita asked noticing that Sora didn't look so good.
"Take care of her for me," Sora said weakly. He bent over grabbing his chest as he then collapsed on the ground and disappeared.
"SORA!" Kita shouted, she got up and stood where Sora had just been. "SORA, COME BACK!" Hercules also looked and looked, but Sora was gone. He had disappeared into darkness. Kairi sat up feeling a bit dazed, but she too looked worried.
"What happened to him?" Kairi asked quietly.
"I-I think he went to the darkness," Kita said sounding scared. Though Riku had helped Kita to get back, he had no light left to help Sora. "What are we gonna do?" Kita asked. She picked up Sora's Key Blade. It was engulfed by a blinding light and disappeared from Kita's hand. The three of them looked at one another unsure of what to do, but they were then caught off guard by Ansem's booming voice.
"You think you've won! But just you wait," he shouted from an unseen place. "All of you will fall, mark my words! The Key Blade Master is gone and soon you will be too!" A swarm of heartless suddenly appeared around them.
"Dang it!" Kita said pulling her key blade up to battle. Hercules helped Kairi off the ground and told her to stand behind them. There were only a few heartless, but Kita and Hercules were in bad enough shape and now they had to defend Kairi who had no weapon. "Leave us alone!"
"Don't you guys ever quit?" Hercules asked swinging his sword at a few of them. They merely backed away to avoid being hit. One of them ran between Hercules's legs as he swung again at the others. Kita entered the swarm to take them out one by one. She was angry because of Sora's loss.
The stray heartless bounced around Kairi as she tired to back away. But it didn't seem as though he was trying to attack her at all. She looked at it strangely and then got closer to it. "Sora, is that you?" The heartless bounced up and down, unable to do anything else. Kairi looked at him and smiled. "I knew it was you." Another stray heartless came running up to Kairi and heartless Sora at that very moment. "NO!" Kairi shouted throwing herself over Sora to protect him. Before anything else happened, Sora materialized in Kairi's arms. Kita and Hercules turned to see that Sora had in fact returned.
"Sora," Kita whisper, not sure what had just happened. The heartless around them weren't ready to give up just yet. Sora and Kairi however remained in one spot looking at each other as though nothing else in the world mattered.
"Thank you Kairi," Sora said. He smiled sweetly as she smiled back at him. Within seconds more heartless had arrived, now much bigger and tougher than before.
"Um, we gotta go," Kita said turning her back to the heartless and suggesting to run for it. Hercules was the next to second the idea. Sora and Kairi soon caught on that everything was not safe just yet. They followed close behind. Kita ran down the stairs and saw Ti-Day lying on the ground. She stopped.
"What are you doing?" Hercules asked. "We have to get everyone out of here!"
"I can't leave him!" Kita shouted. She bent down to pick him up. Hercules rolled his eyes seeing no point and so turned to pick everyone who was unconscious up into his arms.
"Sorry bout this guys," Hercules said picking up Simba and Donald, then Goofy and Beast, topping the pile with Pom-Pom. Kita was struggling to lift Ti-Day as the heartless came down the stairs to attack her. She pulled out her key blade to fight them off and buy more time.
"BACK OFF! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Kita shouted as she swung her key blade around and around. Hercules couldn't stand to watch Kita fighting alone and so went over to throw Ti-Day on top of the human pile. Kita then took off running behind Hercules as they headed for the door. Kita however, stopped again. "Go on without me!" she said. Hercules wasn't sure what to do, but he couldn't help if his hands were full. He followed Sora and Kairi through the doorway. With heartless Riku gone, the force field had expired.
Coming out in the dark chapel, Hercules dropped everyone and began sprawling them out again. "Where's Kita?" Sora asked noticing her absence.
"She's still back there, I'm going back!" Hercules said pulling out his sword and heading for the tunnel.
"I'll go too!" Sora said, his Key Blade appearing in hand. "Kairi, stay out here. It's safer. We'll be back, I promise!" Sora and Hercules headed back into the room leaving everyone else in the dark castle chapel. When they arrived, they met yet another unwelcoming scene. Ansem had returned. He had Kita's arm binned in his fist. She was struggling to get away, but had no luck. "Let her go!" Sora shouted.
"No!" Ansem answered. "We have some unfinished business."
"No, please. Lemee go!" Kita said struggling to get free. Ansem raised his arm high in the air taking Kita with him. Six beams of light appeared streaming from the princess' capsules. When they met in the middle over Kita and Ansem, a seventh beam burst forth from Kita's chest. "Ahhh!" she shouted as she bent backwards. The seven joined beams pointed to the dark colorful hole in the wall above.
"Yes," Ansem said. "The door is open."
"NOOOO!" Sora shouted running towards Ansem. But Ansem vanished before he could hit him even once. Kita fell to the floor as her arm was released. She was breathing hard as though recovering from being punched in the chest.
"Let them out," Kita said breathing hard. She pointed to the princesses on the wall. "Please, let them out." Hercules and Sora each took one side of the room to release the princesses. Each one fell to the floor looking beat just as Kita had. A huge amount of power from their hearts had just been used to open the door Ansem spoke of.
"Kita, what happened?" Ariel asked as she lye on the floor.
"Long story," Kita said. "We have to get out of here." Hercules carried Princess Ariel since she had no feet, but the other princesses struggled to leave the room quickly. Kita looked back at the hole.
"I'll take care of it Kita," Sora said. He too was looking at the hole. He proceeded over to it. No heartless bothered to appear as he did so. He stood before it and held up his Key Blade. Just like all the times before, Sora's Key Blade locked the world. "That didn't seem so bad." Sora said returning to the group.
"Maybe that isn't the 'door' he was talking about," Kita said. "He's after Kingdom Hearts."