4. Haunted
There stood a lonely mansion near the western coast of Destiny Islands with only the withered trees as company. It was a location that the island's children were always told to stay far away from. No one quite remembered who once resided in the house.
Some said it was a monster and others would've sworn it was a mad scientist. To the children it was a place of untold horrors used as a staple setting to any campfire story.
Kairi especially disliked the place. There was a wrongness she could feel in her bones ever since she saw it as a young child. Despite all of this, there was an inherent draw for her to come here. Looking at the mansion always brought flashes to her mind about her time before landing on the islands. As much as she loved her current family and community, she ached to know more about the life she had before she had fallen to Destiny Islands.
The pull of the place had finally become too much and she resolved to explore the abandoned mansion. For the sake of moral support, she had taken Sora along.
Despite the importance of this task, she felt rather disappointed with herself that this would be their first outing alone since his confession. It wasn't as though this was a sudden decision; she had longed to come here. It just so happen that Sora had expressed her feelings during this time. Kairi would definitely make this up to him later. She shifted her eyes to her companion.
Sora was swiping the wooden sword he often practiced and sparred with. She found the item unnecessary, but Sora would be Sora she supposed. "Why are we here without Riku? He's not grounded anymore," he asked.
Her eyes sank to the ground. Seems like it was too much to hope he wouldn't question her decision. It brought a tinge of guilt that she was having trouble shaking off, "I didn't want to bring him." Kairi hadn't intended for her voice to come out so timid. There was nothing for her to feel sorry about, "Ever since we agreed to the raft idea, he's gotten too… intense for my taste. It's a little scary."
Sora's whimsical smile turned contemplative. He laid an appreciated and comforting hand on her shoulder and assured, "I don't know what's going through your mind, but you can trust Riku. He can get pretty out there about traveling to new worlds, but it's his dream. I don't think he's trying to be scary, just passionate."
A sigh escaped her lips, "I'll try to. Let's go in for now." She pushed open the door that had been loosened by the other children years ago now.
Inside was just as unappealing, if not more so, than outside. A thick layer of dust obscured so much of the inside that she wanted to step right back out. Stale air that carried the scent of rotten wood made her eyes water and she struggled to get used to it. Yet beyond the disgust was a growing terror that was gripping her heart causing her to shiver rather visibly.
"Are you alright? We can go back if you want. It doesn't look that interesting," Sora suggested.
She wore a smile with confidence she lacked," I still want to check the place out."
He actually frowned and really looked at her before puffing out his chest, "Then don't worry. I'll protect you no matter what."
"How sweet, you're my personal knight," she played along as her mood improved. Seeing nothing interesting on the lower level, she eyed the old staircase. Taking a deep breath, she began her ascension with Sora following close behind. Kairi already felt the terror returning with every creaking step. It was like her heart was screaming for her to leave, but she knew that this place had to have an answer of some kind for her. No one had seen any form of activity in this place for years and any creature would surely have perished by now. There was nothing to be afraid of, yet her heart did not settle.
On the second floor there were rows of doors in a hallway. These doors were in pristine condition in stark comparison to the rest of the estate. There weren't even any dust. Her breath hiked. Could there be someone here keeping the doors clean?
Controlling her anxiety, she attempted to open every door, but they were firmly locked, Even with Sora's help they couldn't make a single one budge. The final door in the hallway had a heart symbol etched onto it and just like the rest it wouldn't budge. Growling in frustration, she kicked the door, "These doors got to be ancient. They shouldn't be this hard to open."
She leaned onto the door while releasing a sigh of defeat. A light momentarily blinded the two and then she promptly stumbled in. Somehow the door had opened while they were distracted.
"Whoa," she heard Sora say and she could agree with his amazement.
The room was like a mixture of a lab and an armory. Armors of all sorts stood at attention into two long parallel lines. The walls were littered with diagrams and charts depicting hearts of all things. Ornate tables were pushed together with more diagrams stack haphazardly. Throughout the room were pedestals with glass beakers filled with a tar like substances that she could swear were moving.
Worst of all, the terror had redoubled. All of her breath was knocked out of her like she was submerged in thick sludge. Now her vision was going and she couldn't stay steady. When she finally fell, she knocked over one of the beakers.
Instead of slime falling out or some chemical gas being released, a short armored covered imp like creature burst out. Kairi could hardly force herself up to observe the creature. It felt as through her very heart was rebelling against her. All she noticed was that it too had a heart emblem like the door. Her eyes now flashed to some deeply buried memories. All around her people were screaming as shadows came to life and attacked. Kairi could only shut her eyes, curl up and block out the screams.
Sora jumped into action. He wildly whacked his wooden sword at the creature. To his dismay, it had no affect on it. Instead, the creature tossed him aside into one of the armors causing a loud enough ruckus to make Kairi at least aware enough to crack her eyes open.
She wanted to scream for him to run but she was too paralyzed and dazed to utter a word.
The creature turned towards her and rose its claw to strike her down, but Sora got in front of her and blocked it with the shield he took from the armor, "Back off! I'm not going to let some sorry excuse of a monster hurt Kairi. You hear me! I'll protect her with all of my heart."
A bright light engulfed the room. When it dimmed, the shield was gone and in its place was a sword with a key in place of a blade. Kairi felt immediate relief and hope at the sight of it, despite seeing it for the first time.
"Keyblade," she whispered to her surprise.
Sora heard her, "Alright Keyblade, help me out." He screamed and put all of his force into a slash that reduced the creature to ashes. A lone heart fluttered and faded away.
Once he was sure no other creature was hiding, Sora rushed to help her to her feet. She leaned on him for support lest she fall again.
"Let's get out of here. I think this place really is haunted like everyone says."
Before he guided her out of the room she cried, "Wait! Let me get something." With his help she got a single item she had noticed before the whole battle. It was a journal of some sort. She had no desire to further explore the mansion, but perhaps the notebook would have information that would jog her memories.
Once she had picked up the journal, they made their way outside and slammed the front door shut.
"And to think I wanted to come here alone," she said in a tired voice.
Sora looked alarmed, "Alone!? That's it. You're not allowed to go on any more dangerous quests without me."
Kairi couldn't look him in the eye, "I promise I won't. I was stupid to think I could go alone. When that thing attacked I completely froze and became dead weight. The fear gripped me completely."
"It's fine to be afraid," he assured with a gentle maturity, "To tell you the truth I was afraid even after I said I would protect you and you called me your knight. You probably didn't see it, but I was shaking in my boots. I have never seen a real life monster before. All I knew, deep in my heart, was that if something happened to you I would never forgive myself. That pushed me to be brave. If I could do it I know you can too. Next time you'll definitely be able to conquer your fear and show them who the boss is."
It was both amazing and humbling that he could have such faith in her after her abysmal showing earlier. She vowed to do better in the future in appreciation to his belief.
Apparently her resolve had been visible for he smiled in good cheer, "Come on, I'll walk you home."
Being walked home was a nice end to a rather trying day.
