Yes indeed, Med, time for the real journey to start... Well, kinda...
Note: Any names of places that actually exist and appear here have no relation with each other. For example, the kingdom of Pasadena and the actual city of Pasadena have no relation whatsoever.
The Spirits Within
Chapter 7 – To Kill a King
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It had been a few weeks since our strange initiation, and our search for Naminè has so far been fruitless. Its not that we weren't trying hard enough, but the fact that we didn't have many search options available. We couldn't exactly put posters in milk cartons and stuff like that. The only thing we knew about her was her appearance, and the fact that she is still inside the city.
How do we know, you ask? Well a few days ago, when the earthquake first came, the King of Arkane ordered a blockade to stand outside the city so that no one could get in or out. The only way to get past was permission from the king himself, which, in the current crisis of rebuilding the city, was very difficult to get.
"Maybe she knows we're looking for her." Mikel said.
We we're sitting at our usual lunch table at school. School. After all that has happened and all that we had learned, school seemed incredibly meaningless. But on the other hand, if we suddenly abandoned school people would start to ask uncomfortable questions, and since the enemy could be anywhere, no one could know about our secret.
"I don't think so." Sora replied. "I mean, if she is truly inhabited by a seven hundred year old spirit, then wouldn't she have found a way to get out by now?"
"Probably, but we still have to count on the fact that they don't want to draw attention to themselves for now." Kairi said.
I had remained quiet for the whole discussion. I wans't thinking about anything at all. Not some brilliant plan to capture Naminè, nor the Math test I had just failed. I was simply disconnected. Not paying attention.
"Miikaaauuuuuuu…"
Suddenly I woke from my daydream. Everyone was staring at me. "What?"
"I asked," Kairi said, "what you thought about this whole thing?"
"What I think?" I said, " I think that we're approaching this the wrong way. I think that if we keep looking for her, we're never gonna find her."
"So you want to flush her out?" Mikel asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Not exatly." Suddenly, I saw the goth kid I mentioned before staring at us, like if he was trying to hear our conversation. "Listen, let's continue this later," I said, and nodded towards the eavesdropper. Mikel turned and at the same time, the kid looked away. Mikel nodded.
X X X
After school, we gathered at my place to plan our next move.
"Well?" Mikel said with a look of expectancy.
"Well." I replied, "It's kind of easy. We need to think about what she wants, what she's willing to do to get it, and what's the thing that she's most likely to do. So, we know that she want's to get out of the city, and we know that the only way to do that is to get permission from the king."
"She ain't gonna wait for permission." Kairi said.
"So she'll try to force it out." I replied.
"P-p-possession?" Sora looked horrified. His face was contorted with fear just by thinking of what our enemy was capable of.
"What's wrong with you? You knew they could do that." I was puzzled, but not surprised by his reaction.
"Yeah, but imagine if they just took over kings! There would be no need for open war, no need to expose themselves. They could just take over the world right beneath our noses and we would never know about it… until it's too late…"
I nodded. Our enemy was not only powerful, but cunning and ancient. Just thinking about it scared me too, but it was my job to be strong. "We need to protect the king."
"And maybe, just maybe," Mikel added, "Naminè will be there too."
"We need to set up an audience with the king." I said.
"What for?" Sora asked.
"To warn him, of course."
"What good will that do? All we do is get him worried, but it's not like he can avoid it."
"Who knows… I still have to tell him."
"Ok," Mikel said, with a face of 'your funeral', "But we go together."
X X X
It was only after three days that we actually got an audience with th king. It was a sad, deppressing day. Cloudy as hell, and the weatherman predicted a heavy storm.
Today was the big day. I had my mother help me choosing clothes for our audience with the king. She thought I was going on a cultural visit to the castle, not to see the actual king. Also, I had combed my hair for the first time in almost 2 years. I looked stupid, but I couldn't exactly walk in to the most important place in the city with the usual mess that was my hair.
I was wearing some of my father's old clothes because, according to my mother, mine we're to juvenile or something. Ever since the events at the temple I had been carrying the Gemstone in my pocket, just in case. Also, I had spent many sleepless nights repeating the words of liberation.
In the name of The Holy Trinity…
I was finally ready. With my father's clothes, and armed with his sword, I looked like a true warrior. Felt like a true warrior.
We had arranged to meet on the street right outside the castle thrity minutes before our assigned hour to meet the king. And that's where I was right now, waiting. I was staring at the superstructure that rose in front of me. An architectural wonder of ancient art. Home to the ruler of one of the biggest country in the world. Second only to the great kingdom of Pasadena, which lay at the center of the modern map.
Suddenly I heard a slight giggle behind me, followed by a snort and another laugh. I turned around and saw Kairi, Sora, and Mikel standing there, all seemingly amused by something.
"What?" I asked, puzzled.
"Dude," Sora said between laughs, "Your hair… It's… it's just… hilarious!"
And everyone broke down in giggles again.
I looked away and turned around. "C'mon. We're gonna be late…" And in we went.
The castle was just as spectacural in the inside as in the outside. Columns rose from the floor all the way to the sky-high ceiling. Ancient paintings lined the walls, as well as beautiful statues and pedestals with tiny statuettes. The four of us walked through the entrance hall in twos. People went to and fro in the hall, from door to door, corridor to corridor, like busy little ants. We reached the end of the hall and stood before a myriad of doors: one led left, another right, the one in front of us led to a staircase that went up into the next floor, and another door beside it led down to the dungeons.
"Did the king ever think of signposts? I mean not everyone who comes here lives here." Complained Mikel, " I mean, we're in the modern age, we have T.V! We have telephones! Why the hell do we still have monarchy and why do we still fight with swords!"
I think everyone present in the hall turned to look at him. We also decided to ignore him.
"That one." I said, pointing to the one that led up. And so we ascended the stairs. After going up, we walked down a long corridor and at the end there was a large wooden door. Beside it was a plaque that read: "Audience Hall".
"Happy now Mike?" I said smiling.
"I… well… What's the use for it now anyway? There's only one door…" he said, defeated.
"Yeah, yeah, let's just go in." Sora shoved me towards the door.
We walked into another way-too-large room. The walls were lined with gigantic stained glass windows, and between those, golden chandelabrums hung. From the ceiling hung big chandeliers maxe of what I think was glass, since they were so clear.
All along the floor a thin, red carpet lay all the way to two thrones, were the king and queen were sitting, midway through a meeting with what seemed to be a young knight.
The Knight was short, real short, wearing full-body armor so I couldn't see if it was a he or a she. Beneath the helmet I thought I caught a bit of blonde hair. I had a bad feeling about this, so I stepped forward.
"Hey! Where do ya think yer goin'?" It was one of the guards. "Wait fer yer turn!"
I stopped and turned to the king, who had looked up at us. He turned back to the knight and nodded. He or she or whatever turned on his/her heel and walked towards the exit. Towards us. And believe me, he did not look pleased. As he/she passed, a sudden, strong smell entered my nose. I can't really explain it, for it was beyond words.
The smell of darkness… A voice in my head said.
It was her. Naminè. I had been looking for her for almost a month, and now she passed beside me and I had been unable to do anything. I stood there frozen until a voice snapped me back to the real world.
"Ok ye can go now." The guard said. So I quickly stepped forward and was halfway trotting towards the king when he stood up, and with surprising speed he walked to me, and we met halfway across the room. I stopped short.
The king was a man in his mid-40's, with a brown beard and equally brown hair. He was thin, tall, and had the look of royalty. Just by looking at this man I knew that he was a great king.
So he walked up to me, and once we met he simply stood there, staring at me.
"Your Highness, I-" He raised his hand in sign of silence, so I stopped talking. He walked closer to me, and with a fast movement he grabbed my sword and took it out of it's scabbard (that's how its said no?) before I could do anything.
"The Sword of the Gemknight." He said, after examinating it closely, "invincible courage, a sword of terrible destruction… How did you come by this?"
"I-I didn't steal it if that's what you mean." I said shakily, not really getting what he had just said.
"Indeed not. You have eyes of someone who is truthful. What is your name?"
"Kinoarashi, sir. Mikau Kinoarashi."
"Kinoarashi? Ah, I know your father well."
He looked up as he saw the others approaching. "And who are they?"
I stood back to let him get a better look. His eyes stopped the most at Sora, and widened a bit when he saw Reginleigh, the whip, and Kairi's staff. Sora's keyblade had dissapeared and would only appear at Sora's request. "Sora Granz. Mikel Chormag. Kairi Leda." I said, signaling the owners of the names. "We are the Knights of The New Covenant."
"Indeed." The king murmured, staring at our each of our faces closely. "Well, why have you come?"
But my attention was elsewhere. I was staring at the Queen. She resembled someone I had seen before. Recently. Her face was pearly white, and she lookd tall, though I couldn't tell since she wasn't standing. But I had seen the face before. Suddenly it dawned on me. "Agnes." I said out loud.
"What?" The king stared, and so did the queen. "No. This is Helena, my wife. And your Queen." He stated, puzzled. The Queen just stared, her face expressionless.
"My Lord." I said, "I came to warn you about an attempt on your life."
The king chukled. "My son, you waste your time. I have a pretty good security system around here." He pointed to the guards at the door, and the guards stationed around the room.
"There's also an issue regarding signposts, my Lo-" Mikel started to say, but was cut off by a loud explosion downstairs.
Everyone's attention in the room turned to the door; perhaps this is why nobody noticed the Queen exit through a back door.
Sora immediately summoned his Keyblade, I drew my sword, and both Kairi and Mikel drew swrods we had bought earlier, for use as a primary weapon, while the staff and whip would remain secondary. The King also drew a beautiful, jewelled sword.
"It's them." Sora said. I knew that even before he said it. We all did. The stench was the main giveaway.
"At the ready knights!" Yelled the King to his guards, and they all drew swords and shields, and barricaded the doors.
I breathed heavily. We had no fighting experience, except for the brief swordplay lessons we had taken at the Arkanian Academy of Swordplay.I felt the adrenaline creep through my veins as the doors were suddenly thrown open, sending all the guards flying.
There stood Naminè, helmet gone. Her face was expressionless, her deep, purple eyes, cold. "Kill them." She said in an unnaturally deep voice. Throught the doors flew a small battalion of the darkest creatures imaginable. They were about Mikau's height if they stood upright, had long antennae and bright, yellow eyes. All other body parts were the purest black. They were The Spirits Within the gemstone.
"Well… Let's do this." I said, as the creatures dashed towards us. We were all at battle position, but far from ready. We never thought we would have to fight so soon. But the time had come.
The first of the creatures leaped, claws outstretched, towards my face, but with one movement of my sword, it had impaled itself in it, and dissapeared. The others were also slashing and stabbing, and had destroyed some of the creatures, but they seemed to have no end. The guards and king had also joined the fight, but they seemed to be causing no damage at all.
Suddenly, I felt pain in my cheek, and something warm creeping down. One of them had scratched me. The son of a bitch had scratched me! I was angry. And a sudden, flagrant passion burned inside me, and, combined with the adrenaline, gave me new strength. I slashed and diced. I stabbed and impaled. I was unstoppable. We were winning.
I had of course received many more scratches and wounds by the time we the battle ended. We had all sustained damage. Some guards lay on the floor, dead. I looked around, searching the room for the king.
"This isn't over." A deep voice said.
I whirled around and saw the king being held with a knife to his throath. The knife was held by no other than Naminè.
"Naminè, wait!" Kairi cried, desperately. "Please, don't do it. Search within you! I know you're still in there, somewhere."
"Don't you get it yet?" She said, coldly. Or rather, the spirit inside of her did. "This IS me! And what I am about to do, may you all take it as a warning. A warning coming from he who is called Ansem."
Mikel, who had hidden behind a column when she wasn't looking, lunged towards her. But he was too late. By the time Mikel pinned her to the floor, the blade was protuding from the King's chest.
"NOOOO!" Kairi and I cried in unison. I ran to the fallen king. "No… Please, my lord, don't die. Not now." I cried. Kairi wept and looked away, hiding her face in horror.
"Power… sleeps… within you…" The king whispered. "If you… give it… form… it will… give you… strength…"
"What? Who- who are you?" But it was too late. He had closed his eyes for the last time…
X X X
Every guard in the room knelt in respect. Some wept. I wiped tears from my eyes and turned to the assassin, who was still pinned to the floor. I knew my eyes were blazing with hate and anger. The spirit itself looked faintly scared.
"You are dead." I told the spirit.
It laughed. "No matter, my mission is now complete, my message… delivered." It said with a dark look.
I took out the Gemstone. I held it in front of it's face, and the Stone shone with a brilliant light. Suddenly, the spirit let out an earpiercing scream. It was in terrible pain, caused by the light of the Stone.
I wanted to cause it pain. I need to. But I knew what had to be done.
"In the name…" I started.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" It cried desperately.
"…of the Holy Trinity, and by the power vested in me by the Shiekra…"
It screamed and screamed in agony.
"… I declare you… FREE!" I yelled the last word.
The light of the Stone consumed Naminè's body and when it went out, she had passed out…
X X X
Beautiful dawn
Lights up the shore for me,
There is nothing else in the world
I'd rather wake up and see with you…
I had learned something that day.
I had learned that the beauty of life did not lie in material things. I knew then that it's real beauty was in it's fragility. It's tendency to shatter when you least expected it.
See, I have begun to believe that humanity is scared of nothing. Nothing except the unknown. Why does a child fear darkness? Because he knows not what lies in it. We fear death because we don't know what happens after it.
Beautiful dawn
I'm just chasing time again
Thought I would die a lonely man
In endless night
It is human fear that leads us to search for that which is divine, beyond our understanding. It leads humanity into doing terrible and beautiful things. All in the name of that which we have been led to believe. All because of fear. Most people only believe in God because of their fear of going to Hell.
But I belive God is not an authority who watches over us and punishes us if we don't live like He wants us to. God is love. God is that which binds all of us together. That invisible force that keeps us united. God is Life. That little electric synapse that makes our brain function. That is the real God. And fear is nothing but human weakness. Weakness the Darkness will exploit. That is why I am commited to this fight. To erradicate that which makes us turn away from the truth. Fear. Darkness. Evil. Against Light, none of this shall prevail…
But now I'm high; running wild among all the stars above.
Sometimes its hard to believe you remember me…
The song is "High" by James Blunt. R&R.
