I've been looking forward to this chapter for months.
And I'm so glad I had a week off to work on it.
I hope you guys like it!
Kingdom Hearts (c) to Disney and Square Enix!
Sasuke (c) to Yamichaos27!
Other OCs to me!
Chapter 17: Climax
"You're annoyingly easy to talk to."
Ivan laughed. "I'll take that as a 'you're welcome'."
"You can take that however you want." Patria huffed, though she still smiled.
Ivan stood up, offering her hand. "Wanna head back?"
"Sure."
The boy helped her stand before squeezing her hand slightly. "You know, I don't think you're psycho, no matter what Brim says."
"Well, thanks."
The two walked, after letting go of each other's hands, out of the caverns. The sun hung low in the sky as the light motes fell over Radiant Garden. "This town sure is beautiful. Isn't it, Tria?"
"Yeah..."
"Welll," a female voice drawled, "look at this! Has the little demon found herself a boyfriend?" The two turned around, only for a crossbow bolt to hit Ivan in the shoulder; another followed, hitting Patria in the left shin.
"BRIANA!"
Said princess sat up on a ledge, twirling her crossbow on one finger. "Yes, yes. It's me. You hate me, I know. I kidnapped your brother... blah, blah, blah." Her face split into a grin. "Speaking of your brother... I have some information for you. That is... if you can catch me."
Standing up, Briana turned, leaping across the rooftops with a laugh.
Wrenching the arrow from her leg, the girl snarled. A cure spell fell over her as Ivan touched her shoulder. "Sounds like a trap to me."
"I could care less."
The boy sighed. "If that's how it's going to be, then I'm going with you."
"Fine by me."
"My lord! Heartless are attacking the square!" Tron alerted.
Kairi leapt to her feet. "Come on, let's go!"
All the parents, and the kids tore from the castle, and down to the square. Kairi saw her husband batting away an Angel Star Heartless.
Angel Stars, Red Roses, Parasol Beauties, and Dark Wisps(1) moved about the square and up the streets, searching for victims.
Aqua immediately took charge. "Blaze, contain the Heartless and hold the perimeter! Justin, Xally, take out the ones on the outskirts! The rest of you, stop them here!"
"ON IT!"
Blaze slammed her hand onto the ground. A wall of fire burst from the ground, trapping the Heartless inside the square as the others brought their weapons down upon the dark creatures.
"Sora!" Kairi slashed a heartless to pieces, "did you find Patria?"
"No, and we have another problem, and I'm assuming these Heartless are connected." The man jumped away at the Angel Star unleashed a strong wind spell. "Get rid of them first, then we'll talk."
"Alright."
Pith paced around his cell. He'd woken up to no Angel and that... it scared him. What would they do to her? What would they make her do?
"Worried about your cellmate?"
The boy glanced at the bars, eyes narrowing at the sight of Braig. "Buzz off."
"Oh, but I just got here." He laughed, warping inside. "Did you like my little game. I turned off the cell forcefield so you could try and escape. But boy did it backfire on you. Luckily you can still walk."
"Lucky me..."
The man held up a hand, an orb appearing. "Here, want to see your family?"
"My family?" Pith stared into the orb before he was able to see a moving image. An image of his parents in Radiant Garden, fighting Heartless. "Mom! Dad!"
"I don't think you should worry about them..."
It didn't take long to dispatch all the Heartless. With Blaze keeping them contained it was almost too easy. Sora dismissed his weapon, frantically glancing around. "Did you guys see Patria?"
"No." Kairi sighed. "You didn't find her?"
"No. But I did find Briana."
Everyone glanced in his direction. Xion however spoke first. "Briana can only mean bad news."
"And she said something... she called it a riddle. She said it was about Patria and Pith. 'One is covered in red and smells of death, and the other soon nears the door to Hell.'"
"Perhaps you're not as stupid as Father says. I mean, you actually remembered that." Briana shot overhead, landing on a lamppost, firing off crossbow bolts in every direction. The group scattered, backing away from the projectiles. "Looks like the Heartless did the trick. Everyone is here. Well... almost."
She warped away as someone slammed into the lamppost.
"There you are." The princess cooed from a rooftop.
Patria, clinging to the lamppost with one arm, snarled. "Get back here!"
Briana warped again as bullets flew toward her. "Oh, you came too." She glared at Ivan as the boy reloaded his gunblade. "Sorry, tough-guy, but this is a private party!" Sweeping her hand aside, a barrier appeared between Ivan and the rest of them. "Now... we can begin. See, I told the little red demon over there that I had some news on little Pith, and it would be rude just to tell her and not the rest of you." Her grin widened. "How 'bout it? Want the news?"
Sora and Kairi looked at one another as Patria jumped down by their sides.
No one spoke.
The air felt still.
No birds chirped.
No wind howled.
It was as if the entire world held its breath.
For this news alone.
Beside Briana, the air moved. Parting. For the girl in white who landed beside her.
"Angel..."
Ryǒ glanced at the Fahrenheit siblings as he pulled the miracle fruit from his pocket. His eyes met the glazed eyes of the controlled girl, who stood with her wings wrapped around herself, hiding the view of her entire body.
Briana sat down on the edge of the roof, letting out a long sigh, sounding annoyingly content. "See, little Pith has been sharing a cell with Angel over here. Let me tell you, ever since red abandoned her to be recaptured back in Hazy Hamlet, she's kinda lost it."
Patria's breath caught in her throat.
What... did she mean?
"I mean, sharing a cell with the person who left you for dead is hard." The princess snickered. "Hate to say it, but she... snapped. And boy was that one heck of a mess to clean up. And it's really too bad..." she fixed her eyes on the Kumo family with a wide smile, "as a dead hostage is of no use to us."
"Wh-what!?"
Angel's wings parted. The girl, stood there, her dress covered in red stains. In her hands, she held a white and green striped shirt.
Red.
Torn.
Pith's clothes.
Sora's heart seemed to stop. His body froze as his mind raced.
There was no way...
It couldn't be...
No.
No.
No...
Kairi choked out a scream as her knees collapsed, sending her to the ground. One hand clutched the fabric over her heart, while the other grabbed her hair so tight one might wonder if she was pulling it out or not.
Everyone else stood, riveted in place.
Their eyes glued to the bloody girl and clothes.
No...
No..
No.
"No..." Patria hissed. The first to speak.
She was not still.
Her entire body trembled.
"You... you..." The trembling stopped.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
The girl shot off the ground, slamming into Angel. The girl in white took to the sky, pulling the red-head up with her. Patria tore her brother's clothing from Angel's hands before grabbing her collar. "YOU WILL PAY!"
In her other hand, Patria summoned her Keyblade. With a single thrust, she stabbed Angel's left wing, her Keyblade going through the feathers.
Angel screamed as the wing gave out, spiralling the two of them toward the ground. She managed to shove Patria off and wrap her undamaged wing around herself as she slammed into the pavement. Pushing herself up, the haze faded from her eyes. Cander pulled back his spell... but why?
She looked down.
Why... why was she in her bloody clothes? The ones she wore when she treated Pith's wounds.
"You're going to die for this!"
She turned, staring up at Patria. The red-head holding Pith's bloody clothes.
So that was the plan.
"N-no! Stop!" The girl in white cried as the Keybearer advanced on her. "I-I didn't do anything! They hurt him! I-I tried to save him! Please! H-he's-" She stopped as Patria began to drip dark wisps.
No... this was the plan.
And she was the bait.
Darkness pulsed off Patria, snapping everyone out of their shock.
"PATRIA!?"
"Patria stop!"
Terra ran toward the girl, but a flash of darkness threw him back.
Dark tendrils wound around Patria's arms and legs. Her tears turned pitch black as she imagined her brother's dead corpse. Slowly, a darkness began creeping up her arms and legs, staining them black. Her fingers changed to a deep red. Red as blood(2).
"You belong to the darkness. You belong to me."
The voice spoke clearly in her mind. But... she ignored it.
It was right.
For now.
She didn't care.
Pith was dead.
And his murderer would pay.
Angel crept back until she sat against a wall, unable to run. "Stop!" Patria's Keyblade drove once more into her wing, pinning the girl to the wall. "WAIT! PITH IS ALIVE! HE'S ALIVE!"
"Why should I believe you...?" The red-head snarled, the darkness now spreading from her limbs to the sides of her face as her eyes changed. Fading from blue to a deep yellow.
"All I want is freedom. A world with no more night..."
Angel sang.
She sang Pith's favorite song.
The gold faded from Patria's eyes. "How...?"
"He taught me the song. He's alright! I swear!"
"NO!"
Patria stumbled back as the voice rang in her head.
Her eyes turned pitch black.
"I WILL NOT LOSE THIS CHANCE! YOU BELONG TO ME NOW!"
Patria screamed as she felt the voice, the invader, reach into her mind. He wanted control.
The darkness around her thickened. The tendrils spreading out, spawning Shadows from each one, before the tide of darkness swept them up.
They swirled around the girl.
Trapping her in the center of a tornado of darkness. A dark red orb crackled into existence around her.
Trapping her.
Alone.
"You are mine..."
Sora and Kairi watched their daughter snap.
They watched the darkness take hold.
They... were afraid.
Not of her.
For her.
Sora ran to her side, only to be thrown back each time by the darkness.
Kairi tried.
Glowing with light.
"PATRIA!" Kairi screamed as light enveloped her. She sprouted wings of light as her Aura form took over.
But even this did nothing.
The tornado of darkness shoved even this away with ease.
"No..." Sora clenched his fist. "I won't lose her. I refuse!"
Sheathing Dawn's Might, he grabbed his wife's hand. In her Aura form, her white eyes stared back blankly. He took her hand and closed her fingers around Key to the Kingdom. His hand closed over hers as the weapon shone brightly.
"Ethereal! Grant us strength!"
The couple glowed a deep yellow light, tinged with a rainbow of colors.
"ARRECTIS LUX! VENI FORAS! DA NOBIS VIAM VINCERE TENEBRIS!(3)"
A beam of light, blue, yellow, and pink, erupted from the Keyblade, tearing through the tornado.
Sora saw the red orb in the bottom center of the storm. Dropping his Keyblade, he ran through the opening! The darkness began to close in around him, the winds of darkness tearing at his skin and clothes.
As he reached the orb, he drew Dawn's Might and stabbed it.
"GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER!"
His body glowed with light as cracks appeared in the surface of the orb.
Kairi's Aura form faded as Sora ran inside the tornado. She fell to her knees, staring after her beloved husband and daughter.
"Please..."
CRACK
The base of the tornado shook as light built up inside it. A beam of light, erupted like a geyser from the top of the tornado, scattering the Heartless and the darkness in all directions. The winds and Heartless fading away after mere moments.
Leaving what looked like red eggshell pieces scattered around the two figures in the middle.
Sora, his clothes in tatters, bleeding from many cuts, knelt on the ground, holding the shuddering figure of Patria.
The girl clutched at her father's shirt.
Her body trembled as tears spilled from her eyes.
"Daddy... Daddy..."
"Shh. I'm here, sweetheart. Daddy's here. Daddy's got you."
Kairi, barely getting to her feet, stumbled over, collapsing in front of them as she threw her arms around them both. She choked, trying to speak, but only cries sputtered from her lips.
Cries of relief.
Cries of fear.
Cries of pain.
The others watched in silence.
"Patria... I-I didn't know her darkness was that strong." Terra whispered.
"Look at her body..."
The girl's arms and legs were still black. And her fingers still the deep red.
The darkness left its permanent mark on her.
"What about...?" Blaze turned.
Angel and Briana were nowhere to be seen.
Xion wrung her hands, worriedly. "Angel said Pith was alive... but..."
"He is." Lea assured. "They wanted this." He pointed at Patria. "This was to get her worked up. Why, I don't know. But they wanted her to lose it. He's alive. I know it."
"Yeah..."
"AUGH!" Braig, eyes black, stumbled back.
Pith couldn't help but smile. "You tried... but she still won!"
"For now!"
"My sister is stronger than you thought!"
"As are your parents. I had hoped that seeing their daughter loose herself to the dark would frighten them. But their spirit is too strong for that."
Pith crossed his arm. "What are you going to do with me now? I assume this was the plan."
"The plan is not over." The voice chucked darkly. "We are far from finished. And your part has not yet begun."
Braig's eyes flickered back to normal. "Now, if you'll excuse me, we have an angel and princess to welcome home."
He warped from the cell, leaving Pith behind. The boy finally fell to his knees, body shaking. "Tria... Please be safe. Angel... please be alright."
"I have never seen this before in my life." Master Yen Sid's pupil, Maryushaka, stood over Patria. The girl lay in the lab, unconscious.
Soon after her father pulled her from the tornado, the girl fell into a deep slumber. But the darkness staining her skin remained.
Even looked up from the scanner he held. "It's not a biological affliction."
"And it's not really magical either." Mary sighed. "My assumption is that it's one of the heart that has spread to her body. The darkness that tried to completely take her over has manifested physically. It... must be incredibly strong to do this to her. I will be back. I need to ask Yen about this." She vanished in a cloud of black smoke. Even left as well, leaving only the three members of the Kumo family alone.
Kairi sat by her daughter, stroking the girl's hair. "I... I'm so sorry..."
"For what, Kai?"
"I just... broke down. I-I thought I'd lost both of my babies." She looked up at him, her eyes glittering with tears. "I couldn't do that again. If I lose these two... it will probably kill me. After Maleficent took our little Jun(4) from us... and after Xehanort nearly killed Patria and Pith... Sora. I can't take this anymore." She fell into his arms as her hugged her.
She hated feeling so weak and helpless.
She absolutely hated it.
But... when it came to her children, it was as if she was always helpless.
She couldn't save Jun.
She couldn't save Patria and Pith.
"I'm worthless as a mother."
"Stop that." Sora spoke sharply, but his words were kind. "You did all you could. You are the best mother our kids could ever hope to have. I know you feel helpless. I do too. But we can't give up, for their sakes. Pith still needs us... and Patria. She really needs us now." He kissed his wife's forhead before pulling her head to his chest. "I-I feel bad too. Patria was suffering and we couldn't do anything to help her. We both knew it, but we couldn't do a thing. But we can help her now."
"Yeah. You're right."
"Th-thank you." Both of them jumped at their daughter's voice.
The girl lay, looking over at them with tired eyes. "Patria!" They both pulled her into a hug. "We were so worried."
"I'm sorry... I let him get to me..."
Him?
Sora pulled back. "Who?"
Silence.
The girl looked into her father's eyes, and he saw fear. "I-I shouldn't have said that!"
"No." Kairi spoke up. "Tell us everything. We want to help. Tell us..."
"O-ok..."
Sora stood before all the others, including Yen Sid and Mary, who had arrived not long before. "Tria says... that the man who possessed Xehanort and Braig is behind this. Apparently, he's been putting external darkness inside her for years, until now she's practically a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at the slightest provocation. She says, the only way she prevents that is by letting some of the darkness out, by means of hitting people, or doing things that are wrong. Which... explains a lot. She found this out last year, when she went after Maleficent; at the time, Pith pulled her out of the darkness, and she made him swear to keep all of this a secret. When Xehanort almost killed her and her brother, Patria made a deal with this man to bring them both back, but she was to give herself up as a vessel and servant to him in exchange. She agreed, but tried to back out later on. Now, he's trying to break her, so she'll give in. Pith's kidnapping. Her nightmares. Today... all of it was to try and break Patria, so she'll give this creep what she agreed to."
Silence.
Mary finally spoke. "Yen... what should we do?"
"I do not know who this person is, nor what his larger intentions are. But we must keep Patria out of his grasp." The old wizard looked at Sora. "She must learn to use the darkness inside her in order to keep him at bay and to keep herself from 'exploding'. There is only one person who might be able to truly help her. Someone who uses the darkness, but is immune to it."
"Riku!" Sora smiled. "Good idea! I'll take her to him when she's feeling better. The rest of you, keep going. We'll catch up when this is all figured out."
Aqua nodded. "Alright. Patria takes priority right now. We will take our teams and go to the two worlds Ienzo told us about."
"Yeah."
"Good. Then let's go."
Patria's secret is out!
Please review!
Footnotes:
(1) Angel stars are from "The End of the World" in KH1. Red Roses are from KHUX. Parasol Beauties are from Kingdom of Corona and Arendelle in KH3. Dark Wisps are also from KHUX.
(2) Similar to what happened to Aqua in KH3, and is similar to a certain Heartless from UX.
(3) This is Latin for "Piercing light. Come forth. Grant us a path to conquer the dark."
(4) Maleficent forced a miscarriage of Sora and Kairi's first baby. Jun is a unisex name since they didn't know if the baby was a boy or a girl. Jun is also the name of the other SoKai fankid I have for my canon-universe fankids. So, if their first child had lived, the child would be Jun from my other universe.