Disclaimer: not mine
Wow! Chapter 20 already.
Chapter 20
Riku watched the ship take off and then turned to Sora who had pulled out the black coat and was holding it out to him. "What's with the coat?"
"Protection," Sora answered, pushing it at him, and Riku took it hesitantly. The material felt strange to him.
"From what?"
"The Darkness in the Corridors. You used them when with Maleficent, right? That's how you got off Hook's ship."
"Yeah." He held it up, seeing it would be short, but at Sora's expectant look he tried to put it on, surprised to find that despite the differences in their builds, it fit like a glove. Had it changed to fit him? Okay…and suddenly he was wearing full hand gloves. Very strange.
"Well it's dangerous, the Darkness in them can corrupt your heart and the more times your exposed the worse it gets."
"Wait, I can't use your coat," he went to take it off. No way was he endangering Sora! He already had Darkness in him so one trip shouldn't be too dangerous, right? Even if it was, better him than Sora.
"It's fine," Sora promised. "I've always used the coat so I have no previous exposure, you do. I'll leave you with Kairi and wear it to retrieve my ship, promise."
"Alright…just this once," Riku agreed reluctantly, and Sora reached out to pull the hood up.
Sora then held his hand out, opening the Corridor for them.
Riku tensed slightly as they stepped in but felt nothing, the coat really did protect him. He looked at Sora but he seemed okay, still Riku pushed for him to walk quickly and Sora didn't argue. Travelling through the Darkness brought back memories he didn't want to examine.
Before he knew what was happening, his booted feet were sinking into dry sand, the tropical sun beating down on him, and he took in a shaky breath. He felt Sora squeeze his hand even as he forced himself to breath and look around. It looked…exactly how he remembered it, there was no evidence of that night and the storm to be seen. Sure, it'd been over a year but there should be evidence of damage…and yet the Play Island was completely restored, so likely all the Islands had been too.
"It's okay Riku, no one remembers anything but that there was a bad storm and we went missing," Sora's soft voice reached through his building panic and he clung to his words.
No one knew except Sora…and Kairi. He felt Sora's arms wrap around him and he sagged against him, holding on tightly. He hated being so weak…but trying to be aloof and strong had been the cause of everything, so maybe it was good?
"Riku?" Sora sounded worried, a hand rubbing his back.
"It's really all back?" he asked, and Sora nodded against his shoulder.
"Promise," Sora murmured, and Riku forced himself to straighten up, taking deep breaths.
He stepped out of Sora's arms and looked around, it really did look just as he remembered.
"You okay if I go get Kairi?" Sora asked, and Riku nodded, needing a moment alone to get his emotions under some kind of control.
"Yeah…wait, how, there's no boats," he looked at the dock.
Sora grinned and winked, then vanished. Okay…that was new. Riku moved up the beach and jumped up to sit on the edge of one of the wooden walkways.
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Kairi gave an excuse to Selphie, running off down the path. She could feel him, Sora! She may not have managed any of the magic form the book but she had worked out how to sense Sora, through her heart mostly. She reached the beach and looked around, but then he stepped into view and she threw herself into his open arms. "Sora, you came!"
"Well I promised to bring him back," he grinned, and her eyes widened.
"Riku?" she asked hopefully, and he nodded.
"He's waiting on the Play Island."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" she crossed her arms, mock glaring at him, and he laughed and then they were on a different beach. She looked around and then she saw him, his hair a lot longer and dressed in unfamiliar clothes…but it was him. "Riku!" She yelled, running towards where he was sitting.
He looked up at her and she saw him tense, even as he dropped to the ground, wary, but she didn't care. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his waist hearing him gasp softly.
"Riku," she whispered, and she felt his arms slowly wrap around her in return. "I've missed you so much, even when I couldn't remember, I knew someone was missing." She let go enough that she could look up at him, seeing the shock in his wide eyes.
"Kairi…I…"
"LOOK OUT!" Sora screamed suddenly.
Kairi felt herself spin around, belatedly realising that Riku was shielding her with his own body, hearing his grunt of pain and then the sound of weapons clashing. "Riku!" She felt him slump against her, staggering under his solid weight.
"Run," he gasped out, but they were on a tiny island, where could she go?
She felt him go totally limp, easing him down as carefully as she could ,and looked up to see Sora fighting someone wearing a black coat like the one he often wore even as strange beings formed on the beach.
She got to her feet, standing between Riku and the approaching beings, were they Nobodies? They didn't feel like Heartless. What could she do? She didn't even have a wooden sword!
Then the group burst into flame and another man appeared, this one with flaming red hair. He saw Riku and grimaced, holding two round weapons with flames licking at them. "How bad is he hit Princess?" the man asked, and Kairi stared at him, wary because he was wearing the same black coat.
"Axel?" Sora glanced their way, as did his opponent.
"What are you doing here Axel?" the stranger demanded.
The redhead smirked. "Making a choice Xaldin." He then stepped between her and more approaching Nobodies, tossing her a bottle. "Potion, give it to him, then stay back."
She looked at the bottle in her hand and then at the stranger…who Sora had called by name. She hesitated, but then knelt to give it to Riku, at least he could fight if healed. She cried out as her wrist was grabbed, stopping her.
"Luxord," Axel's voice snarled from off to the side.
She heard Axel curse even as she struggled against the hooded figure. He yanked her up and she drew her leg back, landing a kick right between his legs, hearing the pained noise as he let go of her wrist. She scrambled back and felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her further away. Her attacker looked from her down to the unconscious Riku, and she tried to run forward as she realised what he was planning, but Axel's grip was too tight.
"RIKU!" She screamed in denial as the man grabbed him and vanished into one of the Corridors she'd seen Sora use.
"He's alive! They don't want him dead, that gives you time to rescue him," Axel told her before having to go back to fighting. Not that it lasted long, a few attempts were made to grab her, but Axel defended her, and soon Sora's opponent disappeared into the Darkness as well.
Sora was suddenly beside her and she fell into his arms, crying. "Thank you, Axel," he said, and she felt him press a kiss to her forehead. "We'll get him back, I promise," he whispered, and she wiped her eyes.
"I'm coming with you," she demanded, hearing Axel chuckle.
"Don't think she'll take no for an answer," he offered.
"Okay," Sora agreed.
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"Where would they have taken him?" Sora asked the Nobody.
"Back to base in the World That Never Was," Axel answered without any hesitation. "They won't kill him. They were after the Princess first, as bait for you, guess he ended up the easier option."
Kairi slowly pulled out of his arms, looking at Axel curiously. "How do you know?" She asked, and Axel shifted, seemingly nervous, glancing at Sora.
"Axel used to work for the Organisation. He's the one who fought with me in Castle Oblivion and he took Naminé away from DiZ. Did you come to warn us?"
"Heard them talking about wanting leverage to make sure you'd keep fighting Heartless, leverage you wouldn't know about till it was revealed. They know you're the Imposter now, you were seen fighting with the Keyblade. I've done a lot of icky jobs for them but…" he shrugged.
Kairi surprised the redhead by walking up and hugging him briefly. "Thank you Axel. If Sora and Riku hadn't been here…"
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"I'd have grabbed you and stashed you somewhere safe till I could tell them," Axel told her.
It was weird but…it was the truth. He guessed he'd made his choice, he would help Sora and his group against the Organisation, even if it meant never gaining a heart. Though…the kid seemed to think he already had one.
He looked at the Princess and then back to Sora. "She'll need gear and we need another coat for her."
"Hollow Bastion first, we can get what we need there," Sora put his hand out, opening a Corridor.
He really wanted to know how he'd learnt to do that or even how he could. He was the Keyblade master, how did he have enough Darkness in him? And then he was putting his own black coat on the Princess. She held his hand as he led her into the Corridor and Axel shrugged, following them inside.
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Xemnas stared at the now healed teenager who lay restrained under the influence of a sleep spell. So this was the boy that Ansem had possessed, who had managed to fight him long enough to save his friends once, whose heart had been strong enough to come back from the Darkness after the possession was complete.
Despite that, there was still Darkness within his heart, in fact…well, that made things very interesting. There was no need to turn the boy into a Heartless to bring his Nobody into the organisation when his Heart held the remains of his own Heartless, Ansem. His method of gaining control of Kingdom Hearts had failed and now he would help Xemnas with his. While theoretically, the boy would be easier to control, he would also need to be trained which would take more time then he was willing to commit to. They would draw Ansem out and he would help, or he would be destroyed, right in front of Sora to give him extra motivation to fight. After all, destroy Ansem and the boy would die with him if Ansem were the one in control.
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Naminé stared at her drawings in horror. No…not after everything they'd already been through. Her first thought was to go to Sora but…he wasn't ready to face the Organisation on their home ground, not yet. She had to do something though, which left one option, if she had the courage.
Sora would do it, Kairi would too, so she took a deep breath and opened a Corridor, hoping she wasn't going to her death. She wanted to meet Kairi before re-joining her, to say goodbye to Sora.
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Cloud frowned and then quickly made his way across town. Sora was back, at least that better be Sora but…he'd never felt what he was from him before. Bloodlust and rage were not a good combination in a vampire! He found Sora with a girl about his own age, that had to be Kairi, but also a man dressed in the same black coat Sora used to traverse Worlds…the same the Organisation wore.
"Sora!" he called, relieved the kid was keeping control, for now.
He'd never actually seen Sora lose it before and he wasn't sure he wanted to after all the training he'd been doing. No, the illusion appeared calm but beneath it…Sora's eyes were definitely more red than normal, barely any sign of blue in them. He could see the barely controlled snarl of anger that he was keeping from the other two, obviously not wanting to scare her.
"What happened?" None of them appeared wounded, although it was possible Sora needed to feed.
"They took Riku," Sora's hands were balled into trembling fists.
"It's my fault," Kairi said. "He shielded me with his body and the got him while he was unconscious. They were trying to get me first."
"Axel knows where they've taken him, but Kairi needs gear."
Cloud nodded, eyeing Axel who looked very vaguely familiar but he shrugged it off. "Stuff you've been collecting is at Merlin's."
They began walking that way, Cloud casually shifting to be between Sora and the others. He could take a lot more damage than the girl could after all, he wasn't sure about Axel but he was probably the same. Surprisingly, the didn't run into any Heartless on the way and he wondered if that was because of Sora's mood.
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Kairi stared at her reflection, surprised by the image. The Fairy Godmother had made her new, magical, clothing to keep her safe. She wore a skirt to her knees that flared so it didn't restrict her movements but it also had attached shorts that sat at mid-thigh so that she didn't have to worry about flashing anyone, especially in a fight. It was dark purple with white trimming along the hem and she wore a white shirt with short sleeves as well. Over that was a jacket that matched the skirt in shade of purple although it had some patterning in red and dark blue instead of white…shades that matched the colours Sora tended to wear. Her boots matched the outfit which was nice and she also had a belt and fingerless gloves to protect her hands.
She stared at her hair, wondering if she should just cut it but in the end she tied it back so it wouldn't get in her way. The only jewellery she wore was the necklace she'd had for as long as she could remember, although Yuffie and Aerith had mentioned getting her more, useful pieces that would help with magic and healing. It had been a shock to realise even Sora had his ears pierced so he could add accessories for battle.
Sora…Leon and Cloud had taken him off as soon as introductions had been made, saying they needed him to deal with a Heartless problem on the outskirts of the town. She thought they were lying, or at least using it as an excuse. Sora had been very tense since the fight and she thought maybe they took him to let him take out his frustration on acceptable targets.
She was doing her best not to think about Riku and what had happened because if she did…well, she didn't have time for that. Riku was strong, he'd probably rescue himself before they reached him, but if he couldn't then he had to know they'd come. She was scared about fighting those people but she would do what she had to, to save him.
Axel had been acting odd since they'd arrived, or at least it seemed odd. A few people had given him second looks too, like…he reminded them of someone. Maybe he was originally form Hollow Bastion, before becoming a Nobody? Could he have family or friends in the town? That would be painful. Or maybe the place just reminded him of something?
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"No, Sora," Merlin crossed his arms, glaring at his apprentice who glared back.
"We can't just leave him there!" the young vampire snarled in return.
"Of course not! But if you try to go now, you will likely fail and then what will happen to Riku, to all of you?" Merlin demanded, and Sora looked away. "You aren't ready to face them on their home ground dear boy. Kairi most definitely isn't and will need a lot more training."
Sora sighed and moved to slump on the couch. "He needs us," he whispered, tears of frustration in his eyes.
Merlin lay a gentle hand on his shoulder. "He will understand, he would not wish you to be captured as well or die in the attempt. Once Goofy and Donald arrive, you will leave with them to continue your work, continue learning. Kairi and Axel shall remain here and we will use the same time spells, especially for the Princess."
He had recognised young Axel immediately, although that was not the name he had known the boy by. So many had gone missing when their World fell and now Lea had returned, but as a Nobody. He wondered what had happened to his friend but he would not ask. The boy was very jumpy, obviously worried about being recognised. They had been good if mischievous boys, like so many who had been lost.
"Once they are ready, the five of you shall go and save young Riku," Merlin promised.
He only hoped they truly would be ready.
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Goofy was shocked to see Sora slouched on the couch when they entered Merlin's home. "Sora?"
The boy looked up and Goofy was terrified by his expression, what had happened? Sora was usually good at hiding his emotions behind a smile but now… "They took Riku," he said, and Goofy rushed to his side, Donald on his heels.
"Who took him?" Donald demanded.
"The Organisation. They were aiming at Kairi but Riku got knocked out defending her so he was an easier target."
"Kairi?"
"Training with Yuffie and Aerith. They won't let us go after Riku, said we're not ready. She keeps…blaming herself, because Riku got hurt using himself as a human shield."
"And you're blaming yourself," Goofy told him, and Sora shrugged.
"It's not your fault Sora!" Donald chided.
"Isn't it? Axel said they wanted leverage, they targeted Kairi because of me."
"Axel?" they both asked.
"We met him in Castle Oblivion, he helped us beat the guy in charge. He also helped me get Naminé to safety just before you guys woke up. He was going to take Kairi and hide her from the Organisation and he defended her in the fight," Sora explained.
"We'll get him back!" Donald swore, and Goofy nodded.
They had seen Riku as they searched for Sora, seen the desperation. And they'd dealt with Sora's before when he had been trying to find both of his friends. It wasn't fair that the three kept being split apart by things out of their control. The Organisation was going to learn not to mess with Sora's friends.
Sora offered a shaky smile. "Thanks." He stood and Goofy yanked him into a hug, Donald grumbling but joining in. "Merlin and the guys think we should keep travelling like you were with Riku to train and get more experience."
"Well…I guess that makes sense. If they wanted Kairi as leverage then maybe they'll be more relaxed if they know where you are," Goofy offered. It made sense, if they thought they knew where Sora was, then their security may relax, giving them an easier way in.
Sora nodded, almost pouting. He obviously understood the reasoning but was also fighting instinct that would be screaming to save…what exactly was Riku to his vampire instinct? Potential mate? Member of his group or family, whatever vampires called them? At least he wasn't out there killing anything he could in his rage. Sora was angry but it was banked, controlled, for now at least.
"So when do we leave?" he asked.
"Day after tomorrow," Sora answered firmly.
It didn't give them long to stock up and rest, but they'd rested on the flight. They would be ready.
TBC…
