The loam beneath his boot crumbled, and what was once sure footing sent him skidding, thumping down the hill. He didn't even bother trying to clean up his trousers. They were already so full of stains and tears from stumbling about aimlessly in the woods for the last several hours that it wouldn't even make a difference any more. He yanked a thorn from out of the hem of his jacket and scowled, cupping his hands up around his mouth.
"Hey! Stray! You can come out now!"
His words echoed out across the dark forest. Apart from the rustling of some birds in the distance, nothing answered his call.
"You aren't dead, right!?"
Silence.
"I came back for you, so you can come out now. Just like I promised..."
An owl hooted in response before alighting from its hollow stump, startling him. And all at once it felt like the whole forest was glaring down on him, judging him.
They knew how much of a liar he was. The forest had seen it all.
It was getting harder to swallow back the lump in the back of his throat. All he could think about was that eager face, gazing up at him wide-eyed and grinning.
"Wow! You mean you play in the dark woods all the time!? You sure are strong, Riku!"
"Told you so, Stray. And now you gotta prove yourself. Go over to that stump and stand facing it."
"Like this?"
"Yeah. You need to stay by that stump and count to...a hundred while I go hide. If you can wait here by yourself without getting scared and running home like a chicken, then you pass. Let's see how brave and strong you are. Once I decide you've done that, I'll...er, give you a special friendship present and then we can go home together."
"Riku..." The faintest hint of apprehension passed over those bright blue eyes. "I dunno about this. I wanna stay with you..."
"What, are you giving up already? You scared of the dark or something?"
"N-no! It's...it's not good to be alone." He sniffled a little, trying to hold back tears. "I don't wanna lose you."
"Don't be a baby. I can handle myself. Besides, only the strongest kid gets my respect. If you really want to be my friend you need to do this."
"O-okay..." He swiped at his running nose a few times, smearing his teary mess across the sleeve of his shirt.
It was pathetic.
"I'll come back once you've proven yourself. Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I trust you!" Resolve clenched his small fists tight. "I know you'll come back and I'll keep waiting until you do, I promise!"
"Yep. And then...we'll be best friends. For sure."
A gnawing sense of dread crawled up along his back as he struggled to suppress the memory of that innocent and happy face, waving goodbye before remembering the instructions Riku had given him and eagerly clamping his hands down over his eyes to begin counting.
Riku muttered under his breath and swatted at a nearby overhanging branch before marching off to continue his search.
"Stupid kid. Stupid, stupid. This is all your fault!"
Something scampered in the distance and Riku swallowed. Everything in that eerie forest had seen what he had done.
Riku had left him there, never intending to come back at all. Walked away and abandoned him. Night after night that innocent kid had remained alone in the dark forest that no one ever dared to go into because of all the stories of the evil witch who lived within.
It was a foolproof plan, he had thought. Eventually the kid would realize Riku wasn't coming back, would understood he had been tricked and give up. A stray like him didn't deserve to even look upon a family of such status, let alone set foot into their home.
Riku didn't care what happened to him. That's what he had kept telling himself.
The kid was a clumsy idiot, but to his credit there was something weirdly remarkable about how he just kept trying. In the past no matter how many times Riku had tried to shake him, he followed without a complaint. Every day Riku had dragged him into the most dangerous or bustling areas he knew, no place for children to be, but the kid doggedly skipped along after him, laughing, thinking they were playing some game. Even when Riku raced ahead into the crowds and was sure the kid would get lost, he would somehow manage to always find his way back, always praising how fast Riku could run, or asking where they were going to play tomorrow.
Why didn't he just get it that Riku didn't want to associate with such a low class loser? Didn't he understand Riku wouldn't want anyone to ever think an unkempt urchin was his brother? It was almost like he took the statement 'you can't keep up so go away' as some sort of challenge to get better.
Every time Riku yelled at him to go away, he always tried to apologize in some way, always wanting to make things right again.
Clueless.
The day Riku had abandoned him at the stump, the entire way back home he kept casting his eyes over his shoulder, expecting to see the kid chasing after him with that same dopey smile on his face, saying they should play somewhere else tomorrow.
But the entire way back Riku remained alone.
That entire evening, Riku kept stealing glances out the window, still expecting him to come up dashing the neighborhood street like before.
By morning, the goofy little idiot still hadn't returned. He was finally alone, just like he had wanted. Things were silent once more. The house felt...chilly.
Trying to make himself feel better, Riku had marched over and snatched back the toasty fleece blanket his mom had forced him to give over from off the kid's bed, triumphant to finally reclaim it. Yet even snuggled down within that cozy fleece, he still felt unbearably cold.
Riku decided he must not like that blanket any more, and hurled it back onto the other bed. The kid could have it when he got back. It was a dumb blanket anyway.
More and more, Riku had found himself hovering over by the window wondering why this time was different. Why didn't that kid come back yet? Wasn't he the one always cheerfully chirping in that infuriating way that he wanted to stay by Riku's side because they were "friends"?
What a joke. There was no way that kid could ever be Riku's friend. No one ever had gotten to use that title before. Why would that idiot ever make the cut? Riku repeated over and over to himself how much he didn't care, his breath fogging up the window as he stared out into the empty street beyond.
As the days had slipped by without any sign of him, the late autumn nights growing more and more frigid, Riku felt the deep twisting in his stomach only growing worse.
He was missing for a nearly week before Riku couldn't take it any more. Clearly he had been too stupid to find his own way out of the woods and must have gotten lost.
Surely that was it.
Riku had stomped back into the dark of the forest to find whatever hole he had fallen into, ready to give him an earful about making everyone worry. Not knowing if the kid was even alright or if he was even still in the forest, Riku wandered aimlessly through the darkness, calling out, guilt eating him from the inside. He didn't like the kid, but he didn't want him dead. And so he found himself there still, wandering, reliving the past few days while he fruitlessly searched. As hard as he tried, Riku couldn't remember how to get back to that exact clearing with the stump.
"Stray! I know you can hear me!"
"My, my...looking for something?"
Reacting on instinct, Riku spun around while clutching his hand around the nearby tip of a particularly flexible branch, ready to let go and whip it at whoever was accosting him should they appear threatening.
When he caught a good look, he hesitated.
It was a particularly elegant looking woman, wearing a particularly classy and expensive looking dress. Particularly peculiar.
"...what's it to you?"
The thin line of her mouth curved into the slightest smile. "Defensive, aren't we? I could help you find what you're looking for if you only tell me."
A wave of dread swept over him, as if she was bearing invisible claws, reaching out towards him. He could flee. Or he could fight.
Riku strengthened his stance without a thought towards the unseen force pushing back against him. He had no interest in being a coward.
"None of your business!" He yanked the branch back further, threatening to release it in her direction.
The strange sweeping force scrutinizing him subsided a bit, and the woman sighed, glancing down to inspect her long immaculately painted nails.
"It's alright. I know your type quite well. I already know what you are seeking. What you are...truly seeking. It's alright, you can trust me."
There was something warmly soothing about her voice, as if she was cooing a delightful lullaby. It was far different from the foreboding sense from before.
"You want to be strong, don't you? To show the world exactly how exemplary you are."
Riku relaxed, gently releasing the branch from his grip before he came to his senses and bristled again. There was no question in his mind who this bizarrely placed woman must be. He hastily drew the practice sword he always kept around his belt and raised it aloft. It wasn't the ideal weapon to fight someone like her, but it was going to have to do.
"You're the forest witch! I'm not falling for your tricks!"
"Oh, my...such anger inside you. Is that really what you take me for?"
He hesitated, but kept his sword aloft.
"Do you deny it!?"
"Of course some call me a witch but I am far more powerful than some dreary herbalist collecting mushrooms in a damp shack. My true status is greater than any common folk spreading those rumors could ever possibly comprehend. Surely one as observant as you can see that I am so much more than a base...witch."
She nearly spat the word out, speaking of it with such derision that Riku, as stoic as he tried to make his face, shuddered to think of who or what he might actually be dealing with. He said nothing, only watched.
"You have such promise inside my dear, I can see it."
Despite his better judgment, Riku couldn't help but feel a swell of pride at her words. Maybe she wasn't really all that bad. Everyone had said she was a demon, but they all said she was a common witch, too. And that was already proven false.
"What is your name, boy?"
"...Riku. Morizaki. You should know my father is the most distinguished knight of the royal guard."
The mysterious woman's smile depend. "Ah, I knew you were well groomed. It shows. Not every boy would have the courage to stand up to me. Can I trust you with a secret of mine?"
While he knew she was purposefully laying the compliments on thick to gain his favor, Riku couldn't see any harm in just listening to what she had to say. He slowly nodded, keeping his senses alert for any signs of movement. After all, she had never claimed to be alone.
"A very, very long time ago. Far before these grand forests were even saplings I was the ruler of my own kingdom. I sought to pass on my knowledge, and took in a few apprentices of my own." Her eyes burned with emerald fire. "But they betrayed me. Decided they wanted to grow their own empire, using my knowledge for their own gain. And in order to prevent me from tearing their little castle project to smithereens, ended up doing something horrible to the very balance of this world. That doesn't seem fair, does it?"
She waited for him to nod in understanding before continuing.
"A silent one, aren't you? No doubt you like to think before speaking. So I want you to think very carefully about what I am about to reveal to you."
Holding out her hand, something bubbled up to the surface, dark and spiny like a sea urchin. She pinched it between her fingers then lifted it up to the light streaming from between the trees. It pulsed, uttering a faint, almost inhuman squeal and the light around it faded, as if sucked inside its inky maw. Riku stared, both fascinated and horrified at whatever plant or creature it could be.
"This is...think of it like a seed. Once planted, it grows in both form and strength. It is but a fragment of the heart of this very world. A great power indeed, should one be able to control it. But a seed like this needs a host to survive. A host strong enough to contain such a divine presence. In exchange, for giving it fertile soil, the seed will grant its user abilities beyond the imagination."
Riku had many questions, but sorted them all through his head and tried to pick the most important one first. "...its purpose?"
"To restore the world to its former glory."
He exhaled sharply, not feeling completely convinced. But...there was one part of him that fluttered a little at the thought of being someone that important.
"If it's so strong, why does it need a...host? Shouldn't it be able to do all this on its own? Seems pretty weak to me."
She toyed with it in her hand, sighing. "Yes, in it's current state it is weakened considerably. But consider yourself, Riku. As you are now, you undoubtedly are aware of things your current body is incapable of, yes? What of when you grow older? Do you not feel you have potentially limitless possibilities before you? If one such as you, who will undoubtedly become greatly powerful in your own right, became the host for this seed...imagine how much more you could be."
"I would be...stronger than anyone?"
"Naturally."
A creature in the nearby brush took a step out into the clearing and immediately darted away, kicking up dirt and stones beneath its frantic paws. Riku didn't even notice, his eyes far too fixated on the pulsing black mass that was calling out to him in a temptingly sing-song voice.
Chosen one.
As brief and joyful as the life of a soap bubble, bouncing through a gentle summer breeze. The comfort of her presence, once just under his fingertips. Somehow, gone.
Her name and her smile were still the only things circling through the troubled whirlwind of hazy partial consciousness that he couldn't quite struggle himself out of. His eyes flickered open only briefly before he painfully slumped back into the realm of dreams.
For just one night, everything had been...
It was a peaceful quiet as they both gazed up at the streams of stars. Despite the somewhat scratchy crunch of dry grass underneath him, having her there, snuggled up close, was far more comfortable than anywhere else he could've hoped to be.
Vaguely, he wondered exactly how late it had gotten. While he had figured he would still be up quite a while answering her questions, he hadn't expected...everything else. But it was certainly the best distraction he could have ever asked for, that much was for certain. He could have very happily just lived in that slice of time forever with her and never even noticed that the rest of the world around them had frozen still.
Warm and wonderful and sweet.
All it took was the slightest brush of her breath and she had him absolutely flying. The memory of it all was still dancing up a storm inside, kicking up his heart into a frenzied race the more it lingered.
Even then, he somehow felt yawns threatening, as sleep offered to carry him away from that place. He didn't fight it too strongly; safe in the knowledge that even in the world of dreams she would never really be that far away.
But he was wrong. She had been torn away from him.
This was nothing but a dream now.
What was once peaceful memories of happiness became a twisted shadow of fear looming behind him.
What had happened that morning!?
He needed to wake up.
Groaning under the sudden wash of pain that once more assaulted his consciousness, he tried to pull himself back to reality. Slowly, in front of his tired eyes, the faint image of a bare, leafless tree started to become more clear. It was twisted and had odd spikes jutting out across its surface. A very odd tree, all things considered. The more he stared at it, the more he realized there was still something...off about it.
Trees don't usually grow upside down...right?
Sora squinted up at the upside down spiky tree with still-blurry vision, baffled. And why did everything hurt so much? He tried to reach up and rub his face but found his arms inexplicably not responding to him at all.
What...?
He forced his mind to recall, now that it was in far less of a dreamy fog.
Screaming. He remembered the screaming.
Slowly, the pieces began to fall into line, the memory creeping back into focus just as slowly as his vision.
Seifer had shown up unexpectedly. But something had been really troubling him. Kairi had walked over and...before Sora had a chance to move or even react, she was thrown to the floor, crying out in pain. It didn't even look like anything had touched her; it was like the air itself had shoved her to the ground.
Everything was so suddenly nothing but panic that Sora couldn't even think. All he had been trying to do was reach Kairi as she lay gasping on the ground as if some immeasurable weight was pressing into her.
Just before he could reach her side, something ensnared him roughly around the middle and hurled him against the back wall, slamming all the air from his lungs. But instead of falling, whatever it was gripped him tighter and slid him higher up towards the ceiling. His already bruised body, still under so much strain from the ordeals of the last day, folded against his will. Despite his entire mind screaming to stay awake, whatever had its hold on him only squeezed harder and his vision threatened to fade completely into darkness.
He couldn't breathe.
Sora could barely hear himself as he called out for Riku to help Kairi, to get both her, Namine and Ellone as far from this place as possible. With his vision flickering in and out, it was hard to see if they were heeding his advice but he heard Namine's shrieking slowly fading as she was presumably rushed out of the room by her guardian.
He struggled to keep the encroaching darkness away, but he still couldn't breathe at all and the dark spots in his eyes kept growing. Maybe he had but a few seconds left before being overtaken completely. Vaguely, he remembered seeing his friend struggling to pull at some kind of vine-like thing sticking up out of the ground but because it had so much slimy goop dripping off of it, Riku seemed unable to grip it.
The last thing Sora saw was Ellone. She was standing quite still, right behind her brother, watching him with a distant gaze on her face.
Why had she not fled with Beatrix?
She was clutching at her side. There was blood on the floor. Why?
Sora didn't even know what was attacking them.
Everything fell to nothing.
Unwillingly, Sora had slumped down into unconsciousness. He had no idea for how long.
Now his head was throbbing painfully. The colors and shapes of everything were running together that it almost looked like a painter had just unleashed a massive temper tantrum on the world while he was asleep. Blinking repetitively, and with a slightly clearer mind, he tried looking up again towards the bizarre upside-down tree, only to get a solid splat of water in his face.
He reacted poorly, spluttering and trying to shake it off.
"It's about time you woke up."
It sounded like Seifer's voice. But darker. More cruel.
Finally now able to see a bit better, Sora glanced down at his arms to discover they were secured to his sides by a thick twisted vine, almost like he was in the grip of some gigantic ochu. Not only that, but he was dangling high up in the air, his legs kicking out at nothing.
He searched around where he was hanging as he searched for the source of the voice and made a grim discovery. Not only was he trapped, but from what he could see, both Kairi and Riku were being held aloft on their own separate shoots of vines as well.
At least they seemed uninjured. Kairi was slumped over, but was breathing deeply, still sleeping. Riku seemed just as unconscious, so it seemed a bit pointless trying to get his attention at the moment.
Sora felt his relief turn into rage at being so clueless, so helpless. He scanned the ground, spotting that Seifer, at least, didn't seem to be similarly restrained by the weird plant vines.
"Seifer! You still have your sword, right? Can you help me?"
His friend said nothing, just gazed up at him with a frustrated scowl, as if Sora was interrupting something terribly important. Not sure why there was any need for hesitation, Sora kept trying to struggle his own way out, glancing back up at the ceiling where the plant roots restraining him were attached.
"What's going on? What is all of this stuff?"
There had to be some reason behind it all. Something. Anything. His friend strangely smirked and gestured grandly around the room.
"It's just us."
"...huh?" He looked so proud saying so, but Sora couldn't hide his own confusion, glancing over at Riku and Kairi in turn, kicking his foot through the air as he continued to struggle. "What are you talking about? Riku's right over there, and-"
Sora gasped painfully. The vine was began to squeeze him just a little bit tighter, and he noticed Seifer was making some strange motion with his hand below. Was Seifer...controlling this plant thing? No way. It's not like plants were telepathic.
"I said justice you idiot."
"Oh..." Sora considered that that response made at least a little bit more sense, even if everything still didn't make sense at all. "Wait, I don't get it. How is this-"
"Take a look around. Any idea where we are right now?"
Sora tried once more to struggle out of the hold that gripped him but tried to at least examine what he could. From what he could see, it looked like they were in some kind of underground cave, filled with waterfalls and streams flowing all over the place. The water dripped down in several places, sending echoes through the empty cavern. It was also filled with a dark hum, seeming to pulse and emanate from various tall black stalk-like roots twisted around the walls. What Sora had first thought in his groggy state was a bare leafless tree growing down from the ceiling was actually another one of those twisted plants all growing from some unknown source. Whatever it was practically screamed evil. The pure sparkling water, as if frightened or repulsed by the darkness, turned itself upwards to escape it wherever they ran close, literally defying gravity as it chose instead to flow upwards in various places towards the land above.
There was also a massive hole in the ceiling, and Sora could vaguely hear what sounded like whistles echoing in a familiar tune all the way down to them. The same tune that always played around a particular building on the castle grounds.
"Are we...under the temple?"
"Full points so far for observation." Another dark laugh, despite there not really being much to find funny. "Isn't it curious? We always just accepted that the water flowed up the wrong way here because it simply did. Turns out the tangle of dark roots down here were the culprit. The light in the water was naturally repelled. We were told places like this were holy and special, but it was only because they were closer to the darkness."
Sora huffed in frustration and tried to free his arms, baffled about everything and not entirely sure why a lesson on the properties of water was really important when he was hanging, captive, at least fifteen feet up in the air.
"Can you help me down already?"
Ignoring his questions completely, his friend sighed, shaking his head in apparent disappointment.
"There is so much you don't understand. You should consider this a valuable lesson from someone who has achieved true enlightenment."
Seifer extended out his arms again, like he was proudly showing himself off to...who, exactly? Sora glanced over his shoulder to the best of his ability just to check that there was no one else in the cave with them. As if angry at the lack of acknowledgment, Seifer snarled, twisting his hand around. Exactly in turn, the vines spun Sora upside down, mimicking the knight's movements perfectly.
Well, that answered the question if he was controlling them or not. "W-what is this stuff!? How are you..."
Wrenching his arms back and forth, Sora found it impossible to right himself under the sticky grip. And while there were multiple dark slimy gobs threateningly pooling around the edge of the vines above him, they weren't actually dripping. Thankfully. If they decided to start, his face was probably the first thing that was going to catch them.
"An intriguing power, isn't it? Are you jealous? It bends completely to my will."
To demonstrate, Seifer flicked his finger and one errant vine swatted Sora across the side of the face. It stung.
"What's gotten into you!? If you can control it then just let us go!"
"I should have expected you to be like this. So slow. So trusting of everyone. You always had trouble with the basics, let alone anything more complicated. Always had to rely on your hero to come swooping in, holding your hand through everything."
He bobbed his head over to Riku's sleeping form and scoffed. Then, twisting his hand once more, he relayed some other command to the vine. It began to lower Sora down closer to the ground, flipping him back right-side up. Sora breathed a slight sigh of relief at no longer being forced to hang like a bat. Unfortunately, Seifer had kept him frustratingly just high enough above the ground that his feet couldn't quite touch the dirt.
"Allow me to offer the most basic explanation I can so even a simpleton like you will understand. The only thing that has 'gotten to me' is the truth. And the truth has granted me phenomenal power."
Seifer's face twisted almost lustfully as dark blobs began oozing from his own arm like sap. The globs flopped to the ground, quivered, then plunged into the dirt before erupting back up towards the sky like spears, stabbing through the ceiling and crashing into whatever unfortunate structure was above. Sora could hear faint rumbling, as if part of a building was collapsing.
Horrified, Sora watched and listened until the sound died away and the rumbling ceased. A shiver involuntarily crawled up his back. It was like his friend had morphed into something completely demonic. A faint memory tugged at the fringes of his mind. He had seen darkness like this before. It emanated absolute loneliness and pain.
"...w-who...who are you!? The Seifer I know would nev-"
A bit of vine snaked its way around his mouth, gagging him completely. For some reason the dark gag that resembled an ochu vine tasted incredibly salty, and Sora tried to spit it away from his mouth, feeling sick. Strange, considering he normally did like a good fried ochu plate now and again but this tasted like something altogether disgusting, like bitter coffee grounds rubbed in salt. Not that he would actually know what that tasted like, but he could imagine.
"Shut up and listen. I only left you alive because I have the slimmest sliver of hope that you might be willing to help the cause. I know you never did like following their rules."
Sora tried to ask the Seifer impostor again to identify themselves, but it probably only came out muffled, sounding something like 'mmfooarmmoo'.
A soft click, like the sound of high heeled shoes on stone drew his attention away from the fake Seifer and he nearly choked at the sight of the witch now observing from the corner. Despite revealing her presence, she said nothing, and kept her eyes focused on the nearby pulsing dark roots.
Seifer, however, was much more talkative.
"You remember Maleficent, don't you?"
Mockingly, Seifer forced one of the vines to pinch around Sora's chin and forcibly bob his head up and down before dipping it towards the ground as if in a bowing motion. The rest of his body was pulled down into similar compliance until he was twisted into a formal stance of respect.
"That's more like it. You shouldn't struggle so much, it's only delaying the inevitable."
Immediately defying the suggestion, Sora fought to regain control of his own chin, gritting his teeth against the action forced onto him and spat out more muffled frustrations.
"She deserves respect. Because of her, my eyes were opened. She's far more powerful than you realize. She is from the old world. From before this kingdom even formed. But she was betrayed. The so-called ancient deities who founded the gardens used her knowledge to split the very heart of the world in two. One side of darkness, the other side light. They trapped the essence of each in a seed. The dark seed they buried deep beneath the earth, hoping to hide it away. But the light seed? They hid within their own bloodline, passing it down from generation to generation. And now the husk of it lies inside of her."
Seifer gestured grandly over towards Kairi, who was beginning to stir slightly beneath her bonds and Sora couldn't help but feel a pang of worry at the sight. Her face was far from peaceful, slightly wincing now and again from pain. He wished he could at least reach her.
The Seifer lookalike was still insisting on ranting, however, and Sora's arms were still stuck to his side, his feet held just as tight, so there wasn't much he could do. Inwardly groaning, he decided that at least by listening he might get some clue about who this guy even was, and why he was pretending to look like his friend. It was probably just some trick from the witch still skulking around in the corner.
"Clearly by that look on your face you still don't understand what it means. Or you still insist on believing I'm some fake replica or some other nonsense. But I'm the most real thing here. That princess, her father...this entire kingdom is what is fake! For thousands of years they've been lying to maintain their happy little bubble. Do you even know the state of the world outside of the light barrier? It's in shambles. Yet did they ever care? Not at all. Does that seem fair to you? It's clearly all her fault. All the family's fault. Care to admit it?"
Twitching a finger, the fake Seifer loosened the gag around Sora's mouth and he didn't even wait a moment before shouting back.
"How is it her fault at all!? What does whatever happened thousands of years ago have to do with-"
The dark gag slapped itself back just as tight as before, cutting him off. Seifer looked...unhappy to say the least.
"You just don't get it, do you? They have always been content treating us like tools. But they have been lying from the very start. Telling us whatever they want to make us serve them as dutifully as possible. They told me my sister was dead so I would be a perfect little slave for their cause. But they were the ones who stole her from me!"
Lifting up his lapel, he showed off a shimmering flash of a golden pin in the shape of a sparrow. The one he had always kept guarded as his special treasure.
"I've only ever fought for my sister. For true justice, remember? Well I refuse to serve a lie any longer. I'm going to be the chosen one to tear down their corruption and restart from fresh. And I'm going to rescue my sister from the hell they have trapped her in."
Sora felt his heart sinking in his chest. He really didn't want to believe it, not one bit. But only the best impostor in the world could have known about that pin. Seifer had hid it so well from everyone. It could only mean the person in front of him was the most convincing fake ever, or...he really was…
The sudden lack of struggling must have tipped Seifer off that something was amiss, and Sora once more felt his mouth set free from the disgustingly salty vine.
Even then, he still was having trouble finding the words, and remained quiet.
He could still taste something bitter.
In the silence, Sora heard some light mumbling from Kairi's direction and he looked over to see her painfully struggling to flicker her eyes open.
"W-where..."
Sora really didn't like the smirk that was slowly spreading across Seifer's face as he tauntingly commanded one of the smaller vines to whip its way towards her.
"Don't-"
Ignoring Sora's protest, the vine pinched firmly at the sides of Kairi's face and she yelped as it snapped her chin down, forcing her to look over at the two of them.
Seifer grinned darkly. "We were just talking about you."
Her eyes, panicked, were doing everything they could to scan the room and quickly assess the scene in front of her. Sora locked eyes with her, wanting to offer some words of comfort but he really wasn't sure what to say. Her gaze remained on him, and he could already see her choking back tears.
"Sora, are you-" As she tried to move her hand towards him, it was wrenched back forcibly by the tangle of vines around her wrist, manipulating her body like a puppet.
The movement seemed particularly painful for her, but she whimpered only briefly, biting down hard on her lower lip to silence herself, perhaps if only for his benefit.
It broke his heart.
"Stop it, you're hurting her!"
Sora didn't care how tight the binds were around him, there was no way he was going to stay tied up and watch her suffer. Seifer ignored his escape efforts, finding his struggle to even attempt freeing one arm laughable, and focused instead on Kairi.
"Her pain is proof that the other half of the world lies within her. The darkness is seeking it, yanking it closer, yearning to pull the seed of light that courses through her very blood into its depths. It feels like fire, doesn't it? I can feel the slight echoes of it myself. I was gifted but the tiniest fragment of a dark spore. Though, since you have a whole husk of a seed yourself I'm sure your pain is tenfold."
Kairi's breath came out in light rattles, but she tried her best to speak around the deep gulps she was struggling to take.
"You're...using the dark. Please stop...you will only hurt...more..."
"As if you care about anyone but yourself!" He commanded the plant to pinch her face again, wiggling it roughly back and forth. "What a pretty liar. A face like an angel but born from a pit of snakes, and has only ever served to perpetuate vain greed."
Seifer threw a furious arm over in Sora's direction. "I bet you filled his head with all sorts of sweet nothings so he will serve you like the perfect little tool."
Sora managed to finally rip his right arm free, and he continued biting and clawing at the pulsing mass around his waist. "Leave her alone! You're such a coward!"
That got his attention, at least. Seifer immediately zeroed in on him, eyes narrowed. "What did you call me?"
"You heard me! Only a coward would be using these stupid plants to pick on someone who can't fight back! If you're so powerful then beating me should be no problem, right? Why else keep me tied up here unless you're scared!"
He growled and raised Sora back up a few feet above the ground. "I'm not an idiot. I know what you are trying to pull."
While Sora had made some progress in escaping, Seifer flicked his hand and the vines readjusted, coiling around him again to once more render his arm useless. Undaunted, Sora kept tugging and yanking himself back and forth, sending a shower of rock dust down from the ceiling. Maybe he could just detach the plant completely if he kept at it. Or maybe…
Sora glanced around the room and nodded to himself. It was certainly worth a try.
Seifer rolled his eyes. "You never give up, do you? It's hard to accept you were manipulated, I know. But use that brain of yours. Whatever tiny little thing you have in there. Did you honestly think that it's fair to let the safety of a few take preference over the entire rest of the world?"
Getting a steady swinging motion now, Sora kept rocking back and forth, knocking slightly larger bits of rubble down from above.
"I'm not saying whatever happened in the past was justified..."
Lean to the left.
"Maybe it is all true."
Lean to the right.
"But it doesn't matter. I'm not gonna hold Kairi accountable for something she had no part in."
Once more.
"It's not like we pick our family before we're born."
Repeat.
"I want to help people. And if the world really is hurting I wanna help it, too."
Gathering speed.
"But there has to be a better way than pointing fingers and stepping on innocent people to reach your goal."
As he continued swinging, he realized his efforts were now carrying him fairly close to one wall of the cave and he started pushing off against it with his feet to gain even more momentum. The arc of his swing was now taking him back and forth across nearly the full span of the cave.
Evil vines were surprisingly stretchy.
Seifer watched him travel back and forth lazily, arms crossed.
"I don't know what you hope to accomplish by goofing off like that, but it is by far the stupidest escape plan I've ever seen. Actually, scratch that. You probably don't plan anything." He sighed. "If only you knew what having this power could feel like. Just think about it. If you could control the darkness like me then you wouldn't have to resort to swinging around like a monkey. I could give it to you. Don't you want to try? Surely you don't want to stay being so weak and stupid."
"You're stupid!" It was a childish insult, but Sora couldn't really come up with anything better.
Unfortunately, his foot slipped on the rock and his next kick sent him twirling a bit out of control. The room spun, slowing his escape efforts slightly as he tried to correct for it before he got too dizzy. He also tried to tune out the scoffing laughter he could hear from below.
"Yeah, I'm the stupid one, monkey-boy."
In the haze of his spinning vision, Sora thought he could see Seifer briefly touching at the golden pin on his jacket.
"Listen up loser. I'm only bothering with you because sometimes you say things that remind me of my...but in this case you really just don't understand. This is unavoidable. If we don't reunite the heart of this planet it will continue to die. Why do you think the rain has been so sparse? It's on its last legs. I was hoping you would be more agreeable."
Finally regaining some control over his movement again, Sora once more kicked at the wall to regain the speed he had lost.
"I already told you I want to help things. I also think you're wrong."
Seifer grunted. "It's like dealing with a toddler. It's a real shame, too. I was hoping you would make a better decision than all the other fools. I offered Fuu and Rai the chance to help me too, but they...chose poorly. Don't think I won't hesitate to trash you, too."
Sora paused, stunned, accidentally letting himself smack right into the cave wall. "You...you what? Just listen to yourself! Fuu and Rai have been your friends through everything!"
"Were my friends. I don't need anything useless weighing me down any more."
Rage and frustration now coursing through him, Sora glanced back over his shoulder briefly and found the direction he needed to aim for and gave the wall a massive kick.
"Other than being a jerk, what is it you are even trying to do anyway!?"
Seifer continued watching him swing back and forth. "First, I am going to feed that selfish princess to the dark core that hungers for her-"
Sora nearly spluttered in confusion. "F-feed!? Wait, what-"
"-then I will reunite the heart of the world, save my sister and at least rebuild everything so it is no longer founded on lies."
Sora felt his skin prickle. And for a moment he was silent as he continued his swinging efforts, still not really understanding, but understanding enough. He was a whole tangle of emotions, but mostly he just felt sad.
He also knew he was running out of time.
"Seifer, I know you aren't a bad person. You want to help. And I...of course I want to help your sister, too. But...this really can't be the only way. Throwing your friends away? Destroying everything in your path? Surely you know that's wrong! Isn't that why you didn't just get rid of me the first chance you could? Because you know it's-"
"This is the last chance I'm giving you, Sora. As I said, I decided to offer you a chance as a courtesy, but I don't...I don't actually care what happens to you. So just answer me already! Don't be content to just follow their rules! Don't be a slave for the rest of your life."
"Says the guy pledging his allegiance to some plant-thing and a witch!"
"Sorceress." While Maleficent had been staying quiet the entire time up until now, both of them shouted the correction at the same time. Clearly he had hit a nerve with that one.
"I should teach you a lesson for that, you disrespectful oaf." Seifer scowled and drew his sword sharply, the metal ringing through the cave. Kairi whimpered softly once more in protest, but wasn't able to say much else as the pain was obviously still affecting her.
"I'd like to see you try!" Sora's challenge bounced across the cavern walls.
He scoffed. "It seems you'll only get in my way, insisting on protecting the little temptress that seduced you. Very well, I'll be sure to write something meaningful on y-"
With one final kick against the wall, Sora finally managed to reach it.
The vine that was holding him sailed in a wide arc across the room, flying right underneath a very narrow trickle of water pouring down from the temple pool above: exactly what he had been aiming for.
Just like bitter enemies, the moment the two collided they each sought desperately to repel the other. The vine binds around him shrieked and abruptly shriveled towards the ceiling to get away from the sudden shower. And Sora, now slightly damp from brief contact with the waterfall, was like poison. It writhed a moment before hurling him aside.
Sora crashed to the ground of the cave, wet, dizzy, but free.
Gaping, Seifer stared in stunned silence at the twitching withered vine that was desperately trying to recover in the corner, still trembling like a frightened animal.
"Y-you..."
Sora backed up a step, letting the glowing water pour over his shoulder. It was refreshingly cool. And he knew as long as he was in the water, those vines wouldn't be able to pick him back up. Now all he had to do was somehow get some water up to where Kairi and Riku were still trapped.
"Hey, Seifer!" Sora didn't have a weapon, so he could only do the next best thing. He grabbed a handful of cold water from the small waterfall and hurled it straight into his friend's face. "Catch!"
The knight spluttered, wiping the water from his face indignantly, wincing slightly at the touch of the light against whatever dark powers had been stuffed inside of him.
"What the hell are y-"
"Too slow!"
He got another full face of water and roared, stomping towards the edge of the falling stream. "Is this all a joke to you or something!?"
"Of course not. You told me what you wanted and now it's my turn. I'm gonna rescue my friends. And that includes your sister and you, whether you want me to or not. I know the real Seifer is still in there somewhere."
"The real-" Another handful of water cut him off and he glared, furious. "I am the real Seifer! Stop it!"
"So you can spit another evil guy monologue at me? No thanks."
Sora's eyes made a quick sweep of the room just so he could double check what he had to work with. There was basically nothing in the cave but some rocks, some mushrooms, moss and more dark vines. He wasn't entirely sure what would help him launch the water up high enough to break the binds on his friends still hanging above, but he remembered that moss could get kinda wet and slimy sometimes. Not that he wanted to start chucking moss-covered rocks up at them, but what else could he do?
At the very least, the water he was throwing at Seifer seemed to be affecting the plant in a strange way too. The vines were starting to snake and rattle against the walls as if growing frustrated. It was clear that Seifer was connected to the plant, just as it was being controlled by him. Perhaps if Sora could break the connection between the two of them...
Frustrated, Seifer began to pace back and forth around the edge of the waterfall and the small pool that was now forming in the sand of the cave. It almost reminded Sora of a feral cat trying to wait out its prey.
"You can't stay in the water forever, and eventually her blessing on it will run out. Just make it easier for both of us and come out."
"Thanks, but I'll pass."
The knight raised his sword aloft. "Ha! And you called me a coward! Who is the one hiding, huh!?"
Sora gestured over towards the weapon his friend had still raised high, then waved his own empty hand through the air. "Yeah, well you aren't exactly fighting fair. I thought you didn't like cheaters."
Slitting his eyes, Seifer spit in the direction of the water and even despite all his anger, finally seemed to run out of things to say.
In the sudden quiet, Sora could barely hear the light chime of Kairi's voice faintly echoing through the cave. It was faint, with nearly every other word fading in and out, but he was fairly sure he understood what she was trying to say.
She was thanking him.
Seifer whipped around, pointing his sword up at her barely conscious form. "Hey! Don't you dare think this is over. Just because I can't reach him now doesn't mean he isn't completely on the ropes. It's only a waiting game at this point."
"He's safe...because my...ritual..."
Taking a heavy step towards her, Seifer's voice dipped to a growl. He really was like a feral beast now. "So what? It doesn't mean anything!"
"It means...everything."
Despite the obvious anguish on her face, she closed her eyes and began to gently breathe in and out. There was a familiar faint glow around her fingertips, something that Sora remembered seeing when she was blessing the water in the mornings.
Sure enough, the light pulsing around her grew, and the vines holding her writhed and hissed. An unnatural screech echoed from somewhere deeper in the cave, and the plant began to wither away just as it had done when touching the waterfall.
The more the vines pulled away from her, the stronger and less pained she appeared. Yanking her right arm free from the now weakened bond, she began to rip the rest of the trap off of her.
"If we truly hold opposite halves, than my power can fight back against yours just the same!"
Seifer continued stomping towards her, sword aloft as she struggled to shake free before he drew any closer.
"While I need you alive, I don't need you unharmed. Perhaps you'll be more willing to cooperate if I disfigure that pretty little face of yours first."
"Not happening!"
While it would have been far more cool to pull off a more heroic move than brutishly slamming his entire body shoulder-first into Seifer's back, it was undoubtedly effective. Grunting, Seifer got a whole face full of sand while Sora hastily disarmed him and stumbled back up to his feet. Now armed with the borrowed sword, he made sure to stand ready.
His opponent was slow to hoist himself back up, still spitting grit from his mouth and Sora chanced a check over at how Kairi was managing with her escape efforts. Somehow she had managed to shrug off every single vine except one pesky one still snagged around her ankle, which left her somewhat dangling precariously upside down.
"Kairi be careful, you're still pretty high off the gr-"
Her eyes locked with his and she abruptly flushed. "D-don't look right now, please!"
Confused, he returned his gaze back to Seifer who was still brushing some sandy shame off of his jacket, taking extra care to make sure his swallow pin hadn't been damaged in the fall.
Why didn't Kairi want him to look? Either way, he didn't want her getting hurt once she finally got the last thing off her.
"If I can't look how am I supposed to catch you?"
"I-I'll let you know when I'm about to fa-"
He heard something snap and her light shriek. Quickly hurling the sword onto the sand behind him to be safe, he clumsily tried catch her as she tumbled directly onto him.
While he managed to successfully grab her, he teetered off balance and the two of them thumped down into the sand. It certainly could've gone better. It definitely did in his head, anyway. But from the relieved squeeze he felt pinching around his neck, at least she seemed safe enough.
She sat up, glancing over him quickly, tucking and retucking a wayward lock of hair behind her ear in obviously embarrassed fidgeting. "Y-you aren't hurt, are you?"
"No, I-"
He noticed her hastily begin tugging at her dress, attempting to straighten and smooth it back down over her lap. All at once it hit him why she had been so shy. A dress definitely wasn't the best thing to be wearing when hanging upside down. She would've been...
He cleared his throat and tried not to make it too obvious what he was thinking.
"A-anyway...now we gotta get Riku."
Snatching Seifer's sword back up out of the sand, he stood, offering Kairi a hand up as well. She snuggled up close to his side, and he could feel a gentle hum almost pulsing from her body. It was the complete opposite sense he had gotten from the plant roots earlier. If the pulses were more like music, he had a feeling Kairi's would sound like a light woodwind, smooth and pleasant to the ears, whereas Seifer's dark plants would have been more like something barely discernible, just beyond the range of hearing that still could somehow trigger goosebumps and uncertainty.
Sora also noticed that there was some sort of bright golden glow now that surrounded them like an aura. Kairi was clearly the source of it, and she furrowed her brow in concentration.
"Sora, I'll protect you."
Her light was already filling him with a sense of peace, so he didn't doubt she would have any trouble keeping the darkness back. His only worry was if he would be able to be a decent enough shield to keep her safe in turn.
Riku was still completely out of it, so the two of them were on their own with this.
"Thanks. But if things get too dangerous you should ru-"
"I'm not leaving you two behind. I'm fighting too."
The firmness with which she said so left Sora with the distinct impression that it was going to be completely useless to argue. He nodded, and gripped the foreign sword, trying to get a feel for its weight in his hands.
One lighthearted smile from him was all it took to reassure her he was listening. "Heh, did I ever tell you how much I liked your stubborn side?"
"Maybe that's because you're just as bad sometimes." She pressed her forehead into his shoulder, her voice suddenly much less teasing, much less sure. "Please stay safe. And stay close so my light can reach you."
"Don't worry, with the two of us working together I know we can do it."
Sora checked on Seifer quickly, but he was only standing there silently, regarding the two of them with a cold stare as if waiting for something. Sora was about to question him but instead, he heard the distinctive clack of heels on stone and once more remembered Maleficent was somewhere around.
He spun around, sword at the ready to try and find her before she could pull off some tricky magic. To his surprise, he found her relaxing up against the wall as if she was disinterested in the events before her.
"I believe I've seen enough of this nonsense. Allow me to intervene. We kept the boy as a backup for a reason, did we not?"
"Yeah." Seifer answered her stiffly, gritting his teeth. "Sora has a nasty habit of not staying down when he's supposed to."
Maleficent began humming something and the room pulsed once. Twice. The notes combined in a strange chord, something Sora had never heard before and wasn't sure if he ever wanted to hear again. Some kind of ancient and lost discordant hymn momentarily circled the cave then faded once more.
Sora glanced about, ready to charge towards whatever monster she had summoned but found the cave still...well, still. Nothing moved. Kairi flinched and gripped the side of his arm.
"Something feels...different."
Sora nodded in agreement, but was still unsure. Nothing looked any different. Seifer was still standing there with an icy expression. Maleficent once more leaning absentmindedly against the rocks, taking care to polish the green pommel at the end of her staff.
It was all the same, until he saw a faint rustling coming from the vines above where Riku was hanging. His friend very slowly and groggily opened his eyes.
"Riku! Over here!" Sora tried to wave to catch his attention, but it didn't seem to work. Riku had a distant and confused expression on his face and Sora could only assume he was going through what he had been earlier, drifting in and out of the realm of sleep.
"We'll get you down soon, don't worry!"
"Here, let me help with that." Seifer flicked his wrist and the vine released Riku in an instant, dropping him unceremoniously to the sand below.
He coughed painfully and groaned, clutching his hand to his side and Sora immediately worried if the fall or some previous battle had injured him.
Sora rushed forward so hastily he only vaguely realized Kairi had called out to him to wait after he had already made it to his friend's side. Resting a relieved hand on Riku's shoulder, he quickly returned his attention back to her.
"What's wrong? We need to help-"
He never got to finish what he wanted to say.
A/N: Happy KH3 release day everyone! First off, I wanted to apologize for not finishing uploading the entire story before the game officially came out over here, but the ending ended up taking more time than I expected. So, while I said earlier there were going to only be two chapters remaining, I was off by one. Oops.
I just wanted to say that while technically I wrapped up writing everything yesterday and only have to finish editing the final two parts now, I am going to be spending some time playing the game so it will probably still take me a little bit to publish those last two chapters.
Just letting everyone know what's happening on my end! (There won't be any spoilers for KH3 either, as I finished writing before playing the game. If that was something anyone was concerned about.)
I'm looking forward to finishing this tale up and seeing what the future has in store. ^^v
-A. Moth