Kingdom Hearts: Intertwined Souls
By AnimeDutchess
Chapter 14: Tears Among the Ruin
A/N: Yo! School's almost here! Damn! So, who's ready for some fanfiction?
(Yeah, does anyone know when the no-responding-to-the-reviewers rule will be gone from this site? Please tell me!)
Ah, well, it's the thing you came her for: the fourteenth chapter of my biggest success-this fic! Enjoy, all!
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"Uhhh…"
Lilith moaned as she tried to lift herself up. Unfortunately, something was on top of her, and her strength was low, so she slumped right down again. Her vision was blurry, and she could swear she could hear someone calling to her…
"Lilith…c'mon, wake up, Lilith! Are you okay? C'mon, gimme a sign here!"
…Riku?
Lilith's vision cleared, and she tried to pick herself up again, but she slumped back down. She tried to feel what was on top of her; it felt like…a piece of wood? Lilith pushed the wood off her back and carefully got up and looked at her surroundings. She seemed to have fallen through the roof of a dilapidated building. She then turned around, and was face-to-face…with Riku.
"Riku! You're alright!" Lilith shouted. She glomped him. He raised an eyebrow at Lilith's comment.
"Lilith…"
"Yeah?"
"You know I'm not Riku, right?"
"Huh?" She let go of Riku and took a step back, examining him. He did look blurry, but that was the only flaw. "You're not? Then who the FUCK are you?"
"It's me, it's Sora!"
"W-what?" Riku then faded away, and in his place was Sora.
"Why'd you think I was Riku again?" Sora asked, concern etched on his face.
"I-I really don't know, 'cause you looked and sounded like him, and then you changed to you, and now I'm confused and have you found the others yet and-AAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH! I CONFUSED MYSELF!" Sora tried not to laugh at Lilith's rambling.
"You need to calm down," He said reassuringly, putting a hand on Lilith's shoulder, "No, I haven't seen the others yet. But now that I found you, we can look for them together." Lilith nodded.
"Alright, yeah, you're right. Let's go look."
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"I heard what you said on the ship, you know."
"Knock it off, Navi."
"It was the most hurtful thing anyone has said to me, and a lot has been said about me, you know!"
"Hmm, I wonder why?"
"Come on, Donald; can't you just lighten up on Navi?"
"I didn't ask your opinion, Goofy!"
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Kairi was a wreck. A complete and utter wreck.
I tumbled around in a Gummi Ship, got ejected from said Gummi Ship onto a world that most likely got taken by the Heartless, and now…
"Are you alright, Helena?"
…And now Helena is sick. I really need help…
"Yeah, I'll be…alright…" Helena wheezed and clutched her chest. Kairi supported her. They were in the middle of a dark wasteland. Luckily, the Gummi Ship had landed pretty much intact next to them.
"How did you get so sick, Helena?" Kairi asked, her worry for the blonde angel growing with each passing second. Helena coughed.
"It's…the darkness…it hurts…" Helena gasped for breath. "It's worse than…Hell…here…ah…" Helena shook with each breath, and Kairi led her towards the Gummi Ship.
"It'll be alright," Kairi said reassuringly, "We'll go inside the Gummi Ship, and you'll lie down, and it'll be alright." Helena closed her eyes and kept on gasping, muttering the same thing over and over. Kairi, being right next to Helena, could hear every word:
"Help me, Lil…"
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"Well? Is there anything I can do to help you guys? Oh, wait, I know!"
"You'll leave us alone?"
"Donald!"
"What?"
"…Never mind."
"I'll help you guys during fights!"
"How the heck will you do that?"
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Lilith looked around, distraught. She and Sora had been walking through what seemed to be the ruins of a city. Charred wood littered the burnt ground, smoke filled the air, and the sky was a bleak dark grey.
"Pretty depressing, huh?" Sora asked. Lilith 'Tch'ed.
"This is nothing. You should see Hell. Lava instead of water, tortured screams everywhere you go, mortals dying over and over again, dead plants, raining blood once a month, raining water once a week, oh, and you can't forget the constant threat of being mauled by gangs. Still, it IS pretty sad…" The demon girl sighed. "I hope some people managed to get away before all this. Can you believe the Heartless did all this?"
"I can," Sora said, plain and simple, "The Heartless are…well, heartless. They don't care about others."
"No, that's not what I mean," Lilith said, "What I mean is that they have enough power to cause this much destruction? I mean, remember that world we were going to go to? The same thing probably happened there, so that would mean that everything was destroyed instantly." Sora blinked at Lilith's explanation.
"Yeah, that would make sense, but the last time the Heartless were taking over, they had loads of help, but worlds were never taken just like that."
"Well, maybe they have more, stronger help. And it's possible that they can work faster now, because remember when we fought Slade? That world didn't just go 'poof' all of a sudden, but the Heartless there were pretty strong. Maybe they've got more power on their side…and I just screwed up my argument, but what the hell."
"Hmm…maybe, but it won't matter in the end. We'll kick their arses anyway," Sora thought about it a bit more until his foot hit something. He looked down and gasped. He had almost stepped on a gold amulet.
"Lilith, look at this!" He exclaimed, picking up the amulet. It was about as big as a half-dollar on a gold chain. A symbol of what seemed to be an angel in a pentagram was engraved into the amulet. Lilith came over and looked at it, her eyes going starry when she saw it.
"Wow, how cool! It's so pretty!" Lilith exclaimed. She then became serious. "It probably belonged to someone important, seeing that it's made of gold. Why don't we take it with us? You know, to show it to others and see if they're from this world and can tell us what happened?"
"Good idea," Sora said, pocketing the amulet as the two continued their quest to find their friends.
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"Well, I've been watching you guys fight Heartless, and from that and my own personal experience, I'll give you hints as how to bring your enemies down!"
"…That's stupid. So stupid, that…it's a great idea."
"Huh? Donald, why the change of heart all of a sudden?"
"Hey, I give people second chances."
"YAY! OH, THANK YOU, DONALD, THANK YOU!"
"Yeah, well don't get used to it. I still don't like you."
"Now we just have one other little problem."
"What's that, Goofy?"
"We're stuck in this hole…"
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Lilith and Sora had been walking through the ruins for about an hour. It wasn't uneventful; they had encountered and beat the crap out of about fifty Shadow Heartless a few minutes ago.
"That was fun," Lilith stated, grinning slightly and stretching her arms, Key Staff in hand. Sora gave her a look.
"Fun? That wasn't fun; that was annoying!" He exclaimed. Lilith giggled.
"Well, for me it's fun." She laughed again and began to skip along…that is, until she bumped into almost everyone's favorite thing to bash, A.K.A. Navi.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Navi exclaimed as Lilith rubbed her nose (where she collided with Navi).
"It's alright, I'll live," Lilith said, shrugging it off. Sora then ran up to the pair.
"Navi, have you seen the others?" He asked. Navi gasped.
"Yes; Donald and Goofy are trapped in a hole and sent me to find help! Come quickly!" The hyper fairy then zipped off, Lilith and Sora close behind. The eventually came to a muddy hole in the ground, with Donald and Goofy on the bottom. It wasn't too deep of a hole, but it was deep enough that, even standing on each other's shoulders, the knight and the wizard wouldn't be able to climb out.
"HELP US!" They shouted.
"We will, just wait a sec!" Sora shouted back. He then turned to Lilith.
"Here's the plan," He said, "I'll lay down on the ground and you grab my ankles and lower me in. I'll grab Donald and you pull us back up. Then we do that again, only this time we get Goofy." Lilith nodded. Sora lay down, and Lilith grabbed his ankles and lowered the brunette into the hole carefully…
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Kairi watched Helena as she slept in her bed, her breathing labored and ragged. The red-head sighed. This was really turning out to be a crappy day; heck, a crappy experience. She just wished she had some help…or a way to make Helena better. She sighed again.
I'm separated from civilization, and the only other person with me is sick. What the FUCK do I do? She thought. She then decided to check to see if the others were anywhere nearby. She left Helena and Lilith's room, went up the elevator and was about to open the door to the outside when she caught a glimpse of outside through the giant window of the Hornbeam.
Heartless. Tons and tons of Heartless had surrounded the ship. Kairi did the only thing she could think of. She screamed.
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Lilith panted as she sat on the ground, Sora sitting next to her and Donald and Goofy chatting with Navi about something; she was too tired to pay attention. She would never had guessed that getting people out of holes took so much out of a person.
But I'm not as strong as I usually am, she thought, I'd wonder why, but we have to find Helena, Kairi, and the Gummi Ship first. Lilith then perked up at a sound…it was faint…and sounded kind of like…
"Does anyone else hear…screaming?" She asked, cocking her head. Sora 'Hmm'ed and concentrated on listening.
"Now that you mention it…it might be, but this place is obviously lifeless," Sora said slowly, "So who would be…" He then gasped. "It's Kairi!"
"What?" Donald overheard Sora and came over to him.
"Kairi's in trouble?" Goofy asked, coming over to Sora.
"But…how do you know? How are you sure?" Lilith asked.
"Yeah, you got that ESP something-or-other?" Navi asked.
"No, i-it's…I'll explain later. Right now we gotta help Kairi!"
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Kairi couldn't stop screaming in pure terror as she looked out the window at the Heartless trying to get inside.
Do…do they want me? Like last time? She thought. She then looked back at the elevator. Wait, what if they're after Helena? Oh, man…
"HEEEEEEEELP!"
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"C'mon, hurry!" Sora yelled from in front of the others. Lilith, Donald, Goofy, and Navi speeded up, not because Sora told them to, but from the tone of urgency in his voice. They sped through the destroyed city and made it to a barren wasteland, where the most noticeable thing was a giant mass of Shadow Heartless surrounding something.
"She's there!" Sora exclaimed, pointing towards the Heartless. The others gasped at the sheer amount of Heartless.
"We'll never defeat them all!" Donald yelled.
"Yeah we will," Lilith said, "Don't be so pessimistic! Just remember that you've got a demon on your side!" Lilith then closed her eyes and concentrated. Her black-and-red wings burst forth from her back, her fangs and nails grew, and a red jewel appeared on her forehead. The others gasped in surprise.
"Lilith…you're…" Sora was almost too shocked to finish his sentence. Lilith turned to her shocked friends.
"Like I toldja, I'm a demon, so stop gawking and let's kick some butt!" She shouted. She ran a few paces, then jumped and took off towards the mass of Heartless, the Key Staff in her hand. The boys shrugged and ran towards the Heartless, readying their own weapons.
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"HI-YAA!" Sora yelled as he splattered yet another Heartless into oblivion. He was really getting ticked; fifteen minutes of Heartless-Slaying and it looked as if they hadn't made any progress. Lilith was even going all out in her demon form; not only was she using her Key Staff, but her claws, fangs, and a few martial arts moves, too. Donald and Goofy, of course, were doing fine by themselves. Of course, this still didn't make a dent in the, as mentioned, unending attack of giant black bug-things (of course, they're only giant compared to bugs).
"What is this, Never-Ending Heartless Day?" Lilith shouted as she sqeward a few Heartless, "They don't stop! How're we going to reach Kairi this way?"
"How the heck should we know?" Donald yelled back, "None of us are psychic!"
"It's hopeless!" Goofy exclaimed, "We'll never reach Kairi in time!"
"In time for what?" Navi gulped, dodging the Heartless as they jumped up and swiped at her.
"C'mon, don't think like that!" Sora shouted over the din, silently having doubts of his own, "We have to keep going! Who knows what-" Sora's spirit-raising monologue was cut short, however, as the Heartless suddenly…disappeared. Everyone blinked in confusion.
"Okay…what the HELL is going on?" Lilith said, changing back to normal, "Either they're up to something…or the Heartless are really, REALLY retarded." Sora turned to Lilith.
"I was just thinking that," The brunette said. Lilith turned to Sora, stared at him, and looked like she was going to say something, but she shrugged and didn't say it. She then turned towards…the Gummi Ship? And it looked…undamaged?
"…This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder…" Navi commented, flying towards the ship. The others ran after her, and released a long held-in breath when they saw a frightened, but still relieved Kairi staring back at then through the window. She waved and opened the door and tackled Sora into a huge hug that sent both of then flying backwards. The others circled around them, laughing a bit as Kairi smothered Sora with kisses.
"Thank GAWD!" Kairi exclaimed, finally getting off of Sora, who was, albeit crushed, had his face covered in kiss-shaped lipstick smudges. "I was so scared! I was falling pretty fast, but Helena was nearby and grew wings and flew us down to the world, and we were lucky the Gummi Ship landed nearby, because then Helena got sick, and-"
"Wait, she sick?" Lilith asked, panic and concern mixing in her expression. Kairi nodded, and Lilith bolted into the Gummi Ship. Everyone looked to each other, and ran in after her.
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"Helena? Helena! Oh man…wake up, please wake up…" Lilith was trying to shake Helena awake when the others walked in. Lilith whipped around once they came in.
"We've gotta leave. If we don't, Helena will get worse," Lilith said, "Is the ship okay? Did you check?" The others gave her blank looks.
"Uhh…not yet…but I'll go do that right now…" Donald said, noticing urgency in her voice. He ran off to the engine room.
"Uhm," Kairi said, "Helena said something about the darkness hurting her…"
"Yeah, lemme explain," Lilith said, "Angels have a built-in reaction to darkness-corrupted areas. Usually, the ones that fight against darkness would be building up an immunity to it since birth, but Helena was originally going to be a guardian angel, so…she really doesn't have much of an immunity. She acted this way when she first came to Hell, but she got better when I was around. Basically, her holy powers are shot, she's weak, and it hurts her to move and breathe. She must have used up most of her power getting you to safety, Kairi. She won't die, but she's told me that it's incredibly painful, and most angels experiencing this wish they could die. I just wanna leave and make sure she's okay…" Lilith gazed at Helena with deep concern. "She's…my best friend…I wanna make sure she's okay…" Kairi cast a soft gaze at the demon-girl.
"You care so much for her," Kairi said, "Does she?" Lilith looked at Kairi like she grew a second head.
"Why shouldn't she?"
"…Okay, okay, clam down. It's just that…I've never seen someone so devoted to their friends…Well, maybe Sora, but still." Sora looked like he was about to join in, but decided not to.
"You just…looked really sweet for that minute," Kairi explained. Just then, Donald burst in.
"We, without a doubt, have to be the luckiest people in the universe," He said, "The only things damaged are minor and I fixed them."
"Then let's leave," Goofy said, "This place is giving me the willies!"
"No kidding," Sora said, and then he leaned over to Donald and Goofy. "Also, if we don't leave soon, Lilith will probably rip our heads off." The animal-men nodded quickly and ran off to the control room.
"C'mon, we gotta go now," Sora said to the two conscious girls.
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"Where are we going?" Kairi asked as she stepped over to Sora in the control room. Sora turned to her.
"Hey, where's Lilith?" He asked, peering behind Kairi.
"She's staying with Helena," Kairi said.
"Ah. Well, we're going to Traverse Town. We used up a lot of supplies fighting all those Heartless, and I'm sure Sonora will let us stay with her while Helena gets better."
"That sounds good. I'm just worried about Lilith. D'you think she'll-"
"She'll be fine, Kairi. She's tougher…and odder…then she looks."
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Lilith gazed at Helena as she lay in a troubled sleep. She smiled and snickered in spite of herself. Just like last time, huh, Helena? She thought as she felt the room rumble while the Gummi Ship prepared for take-off. I just wonder…how were we so lucky?
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A glowing man stood far away, watching the Gummi Ship take-off into the wild unknown. His hair was platinum blonde, and his eyes were a striking silver. He wore a plain white tank-top, baggy faded blue jeans, and white sneakers. White wings protruded from his back. He smiled.
"As long as those two are safe…" He whispered, and then he disappeared.
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A/N: Plot twist! Cliffhanger! W00T! This is great! I'm sorry about how long it took to update; writer's block, adding and fixing some parts, and preparing for school, which unfortunately starts…tomorrow! Oh, the agony! Oh, the misery! Oh, the horrid fact that my first class is geometry, and anything math is my worst subject! Ah well, it's my punishment for not updating early enough. I really hoped you guys liked this, 'cause I really did work hard. Oh, and jeffiswrongC: The next chapter is for your suggestion! You had a huge point! And Raya: did you like the symbol? I thought it was okay…
So everyone, please review and wait patiently for the next chapter; school will probably screw around with my writing! Ja Ne!-AnimeDutchess
P.S.: I know no one cried (contradicting the title) but I thought it was a good title!