CH 21

The week was almost over. That fact did little to calm the Light inhabitants of the castle, for they had two more weeks to ponder their fate, and more importantly, Sora's.

For the keymaster himself, time seemed irrelevant at this stage in his new adventure. He wandered around, seeming aimless but was actually doing his own bit of research. So far, he determined that his prison was gigantic, and had many hidden passageways which begged to be explored at his leisure. Maleficent forbid him wander too deep, for the drive she had saddled him with would only protect him in the shallows of the castle. He had a feeling that his prison was directly linked to the Realm of Darkness, and thus going too deep would result in him falling into the dimension.

At the present, Sora was exploring the east wing, and discovered that there were guest rooms here. He grinned a Cheshire grin. Here was some fun! He entered Hook's room first, using the Keyblade to enter the locked guest quarters. Here was a map of Neverland, marks ticked on by what looked like tiny feet. He smiled again and erased some of the ticks, placing them in a different path.

Having pulled one prank, the keymaster left, locking the door behind him with a gurgling giggle. Hook had scratched him pretty badly for no apparent reason other than to make him yelp, and he felt justified in his choice of payback. The map would now lead the pirate to the open jaws of Tic-Toc. A tinkling noise alerted the boy, and he once again entered the room.

Ears perked, eyes open, Sora wandered the room until the noise led him to the closet, wich he opened. He shielded his eyes with a soft hiss as light blinded him for a split second before revealing...Faeries! Twenty Faeries to be exact, all in little bottles. Sora growled disapprovingly and set them all free. He doubted very much that even Maleficent would approve of Hook's collection. Evil or not, the witch had to have some affinity for her own kind right? After all, she could destroy the three good faeries from her world easily enough, yet she let them be.

His task complete, the boy went in search of more rooms to prank in. Unfortunately, it was almost time for the nightly feasting at his expense, and he was expected to attend. Sora groaned inwardly before remembering that his friends also had to attend the festivities. Therefore, when he felt the witch pull on his mental chain, he went with a slight spring in his step towards the dining hall. He could already feel Roxas and Kairi, and he knew Riku was sure to come again.

Riku...

How Sora wished he could speak and tell his brother how glad he was that he'd chosen to honor Maleficent's veiled threat, and not misinterperet the meaning! How he wished for words to tell his friend how greatful he was that the silver teen was taking care of things in a subtle way. Riku's gut reaction, Sora knew, was to form a resistance, storm the castle, kill Maleficent and free him from this degrading and frankly pathetic existence. After all, that was the plan decided before they even set foot on the Islands to rescue Roxas.

But the plan changed the minute Maleficent sent Diablo with her invitation. Sora had actually seen the terms on the paper, and he was immediately cowed again. Unsure of what the plan was anymore, he opted to ride out events as he always did, and hoped everything would work out favorably, at the same time preparing himself for the possibility that events would lead to his death or permanently being as he was now.

As he scampered on all fours into the dining hall, he made a point to snap at Hook in displeasure, then dodged the inevitable boot strike as the villain lashed out at him "Scurvy brat! What's gotten into you?!"

Satisfied with his handiwork, the hero continued his scampering. He didn't mind being on all fours, but at the same time, it was degrading. Still, considering the alternative, it wasn't that big of a deal. Besides, it made travel slightly easier and faster than walking through the crowd of villains upright. It also made getting his food much more convenient, as the more abased he made himself, the more likely food would be thrown at him, or handed to him under a table. Again, humiliating, but convenient and crafty. He did enjoy being crafty!

As he made his way from table to table, he sensed Kairi reaching out for him with her heart. Something was bothering his Light, and he scampered to her to find out what dared torment her. As he approached, he marveled at her beauty, her light nearly blinded him. Was she always so bright?

He snarled as he saw what darkness lurked by his Light. It was the vizier, Jafar. He was hissiung and murmuring in her ear, and whatever he was saying was causing her undue stress. Sora crouched, a growl of warning in his throat. Jafar didn't see him, so he growled louder. The vizier finally realized his choice wasn't the best one, and moved off. But the hero wasn't letting him off that easy. He had made it very clear that Kairi was to be left alone, and Jafar ignored his warning.

So Sora attacked him.

Jafar tried to hit him with stopga, but missed, and got tackled by the angry keymaster. Snapping his jaws and growling in an open mouthed snarl, Sora used his drive's powers to create claws that he swiped the vizier mercessly with. In his frenzy, it seemed nothing could calm his rage...nothing, except one voice.

"Sora no! STOP!"

That voice, plus the strong hands of his brother, plus the "What's going on here?!" of his mistress, snapped the raging teen from continuing his rampage. His eyes locked on to his Liht and never left as Riku pried him off of the shaken vizier.

Kairi embraced him as soon as he was free "Shhhh...I'm alright, Sora, see? I'm not hurt. It's ok now..."

Sora curled around the girl, his blue eyes scanning everywhere at once for more threats. Jafar sneered as the hero gave him a glare and a hiss, curling even tighter around Kairi, needing to protect her above all else.

"The boy attacked me! He should be punished severely."

"You fool." Maleficent sneered, pointing a gnarled finger accusingly at the wizard "Did I not warn you that interactions with Sora's Light would spark violence in my pet? I specificly told you to leave her be!"

"I was simply engaging in conversation!" Jafar huffed "I cannot help it if the topic at hand made the girl uneasy."

Riku glared daggers "In other words, you know something about Sora that you used to taunt Kairi, she got upset, and as a result summoned Sora, who then made good on his warning earlier in the week and defended her."

Sora growled, blue eyes sparking in fury. Kairi stroked his back, calming his rage again. The keymaster lay his head on her shoulder, a purring groan escaping his tortured throat. Kairi's strokes shook, and tears were in her eyes as she recalled mentally what Jafar had boasted "It can't be true" she murmured repeatedly "It just can't."

"What in Darkness did you reveal, you blundering bafoon?" Maleficent snarled.

"I simply told her a growing truth." The wizard said. "One can't be dressed in Darkness and be immune to all ill effects...or absorbsion."

Riku knelt down to his brother and took a whiff of him, then shuddered. He shook his head sadly and said gently "He was telling the truth."

The witch smiled slowly "Ah, so it's begun finally. Yes, I knew that this possibility might rear its head eventually. The pigheaded vizier is correct. My gift to Sora is beginning to have an effect. This changes many things. Of course it all depends on how my pet reacts to the growing Darkness that is being absorbed from the very clothes he wears."

Riku snarled "You knew this would happen, yet you said nothing to the rest of us."

"Bear in mind that I had previously planned on ending his life, Riku. What the Darkness did to him until then therefore became irrelevant. I did not mention it because it had no bearing on his fate at that time."

Kairi turned frightened eyes to the witch, then to her friend, "It's not true! Sora would never turn to the Darkness, not even to protect me!"

"As I told you, princess, he hardly has a choice in the matter." Jafar said, stroking his staff, "He's literally dressed in the stuff. It was bound to effect him sooner or later."

Kairi looked at her hero, then began tearing franticly at his clothes, an act wich he tolerated for a few minutes before protesting softly in a whine, shaking his head.

"Don't give me that! " she scolded sharply "If these are what's sucking your light away and clouding your heart, I'll remove them!"

"Kairi." Riku said softly, gently grabbing her wrist "It's no use. Even if he wanted to, Sora can't get rid of his clothes, or rather, the Darkness weaved into his clothes by Maleficent. It's a drive form, and one that has no revert, save for when she chooses to deactivate it."

"I am delighted to say that he is correct, child" Maleficent said with a rather gentle but victorious smirk "I alone can remove that particular drive, and I see no reason now why I would ever desire to do so."

"You witch!" the girl sobbed, flinging herself onto her hero, who embraced her "You've taken everything from him! His voice, his home, his humanity...do you really need him to lose his heart too?!"

"The irony" the witch said smugly "Is too perfect to ignore. This is vengeance, child. And from where I'm standing, it is very sweet indeed."

The witch left the two alone with her pet, and called a meeting with the other guests in another hall, no doubt holding a council to announce events and decide on a new course of action concerning Sora's fate. The League of Evil Villians had much to discuss.

Throughout all this, Sora hadn't been deaf. He wondered though, how deep the Darkness had seeped. He came to the conclusion that it hadn't actually done much more than stink up his being, for now. He certainly didn't feel any different. He was no fool though. If the Darkness creeped across his being now, it was only a matter of time before it would find its way into his heart. He looked towards Riku. Surely his brother would have some words of wisdom concerning what to do. No one had more experience conquering their own Darkness than him.

Riku gave him a small smile and pat his head "Don't worry Sora. We'll get this under control. I promise. The Dark won't taint you, not when I can help tame it"