A.N: Enjoy!
Riku let out a hushed curse. Pieces of broken glass were spread all over the floor, along with fallen chairs, tables and scattered papers. The bodies of a man and a woman lay unconscious, while a ten-year-old-looking girl held onto both of them, crying inconsolably as she hid her face in the chest of the woman. A different man stood in front of them, blood flowing from his brow and covering half of his face, as the glow in the wand he held up slowly faded.
An army of Neoshadows stood menacingly, fixating their sinister gazes on the man they'd chosen as their next prey, stepping ahead little by little. The light protectors ran next to him and took a defensive stance. As if waiting for them, the man passed out.
But the Heartless were the least of their problems.
Five three-meter tall humanoid beings covered in black cloaks hovered over the floor. Their presence so ominous, cold and dark, that the silverette couldn't help but be reminded of those infernal and vivid days he wished he could simply erase from his past. Days in which he lived completely surrounded by darkness in its purest form.
And that's what those creatures were.
Rapunzel looked at the girl and ran to kneel beside her, before putting a hand in her shoulder. "Hey, everything is going to be fine. We'll protect you. I promise". She said firmly and the frightened girl bit her bottom lip and nodded weakly, her cheeks streaked with tears. Only then, Rapunzel recognized her and the two adults as the family from before. The happy family that left Ollivanders right before they entered. She ignored the increasing sadness in her chest and determination took over. Giving the girl one last reassuring look, she stood to take back her spot next to Kairi.
Her stomach flipped. Al least now she knew those things were Heartless, but even though she now had a wand and could do something to defend herself, their presence sent shivers down her neck to her back. Could she really keep her promise? As soon as the thought came she discarded it. She was going to have to try. NO. She would do it. Besides she had help and one that she had plain faith in.
Between Kairi and Riku, Sora gulped silently, sensing the deep and never-ending darkness that came from the terrifying beings, pretty much like his best friend did. "What kind of Heartless is that?" Sora whispered, as he pointed his wand towards the cloaked monstrosities.
"I've no idea" Riku mumbled back, further unsettling Sora, and they all stared at the dark monsters, not making any move.
"Then let's find out" Lea said with a smirk, as his wand turned into his flamboyant Keyblade and shot a strike at one of the creatures. Riku called out to him to make him stop, but it was already too late: hell had been unleashed.
"Expulso!" Riku screamed and a couple of attacking Neoshadows were thrown back. Confusion hit him for a split second but knew better than to let it take over him in a battle situation, so he just flowed with it. Random words kept escaping from his mouth along with random wand movements and the same thing seemed to happen to Rapunzel, Sora and Kairi.
"They keep going straight for Rapunzel!" Sora yelled, disintegrating two Neoshadows at once. "Ugh! This is no good!"
However, he wasn't the only one getting frustrated. "Why are they doing this?! I don't get it!" Kairi kept throwing spells and did her best to protect her newest friend. Neoshadows surrounded Sora, Riku and Kairi as they hindered their way to their true goal, working as a protecting wall to Rapunzel behind them, who threw spells from there and saved them every now and then from fatal blows. "Where is Lea?!" Riku groaned as more Neoshadows managed to leave deep cuts in his skin.
The battle was fierce; every time they killed a Neoshadow three more came to replace it.
Rapunzel noticed it wasn't as easy for her as it was for the others since she never had training in combat and wished, not for the first time, she could do more. She glanced at the girl who seemed more frightened with every passing second and then at her parents. Suddenly something came to her mind.
"Use your Keyblades!" She yelled.
"WHAT?!" Her friends answered in unison, fighting their way to survival. "You know we can't!" Kairi shouted back.
"No one's here to see you! It's the only way! I'll guard the door!" Rapunzel sprinted towards the entrance, driving the Heartless crazy as she increased the distance between them. Without a choice, the wands of the Keybladers turned into their respective weapons, making the job a lot easier. Rapunzel kept shooting spells, but her aid was now minimal compared to massacre of Heartless her friends were carrying out.
Riku panted after taking out the last Neoshadows, resting his hands on his knees. "Where's L-"
"LEA!" Kairi and Rapunzel cried and ran to their friend in the corner. Riku and Sora looked up and both of their hearts sank.
His pale and almost lifeless body rested on the floor, lips parted, and it was surrounded by the atrocious cloaked Heartless. Riku and Sora followed after Kairi and Rapunzel, whom were just in front of the insidious things that had already left Lea and changed their focus to them. Kairi's keyblade returned to its wand form, and raised it just as Rapunzel did with hers. Riku's eyes widened. "WAIT! Don-"
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" They screamed at the top of their lungs and a strong and silver light emanated from their wands, merging as one final blinding light. Sora and Riku covered their eyes, dazzled by the intense glow.
However, the light chased the darkness away and for a moment, so it did their worries.
Riku could feel his heart going lighter, and the vivid memories from his dark past were suddenly a faint and scattered bad dream, that was replaced by joy, happiness and something different he vaguely recognized as… peace. Memories of his best friends and him spending time in the islands came to his consciousness, along with King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Naminé, Cid, the others and… Her….
Then everything went back to normal.
"LEA!" Rapunzel ran and kneeled beside him along with Kairi. The cloaked Heartless were long gone.
Riku remained in a state of shock, the voices and sounds around him in the back of his mind, and slowly turned his head towards Sora, who looked just as dumbfounded as he was.
"Heal!"
"Lea! Can you hear me?"
"Did you feel that?" Sora breathed, locking his eyes with his.
"…HEAL!"
"It's not working!"
"Y…yeah." Riku said.
"Lea, please! WAKE UP!" Kairi pleaded, snapping both Keyblade bearers out of their dreaming state. Both jumped a bit and mentally agreed to discuss later whatever was that happened, before joining the girls immediately.
"What's going on?!" Sora's stomach clenched at the sight of the newest Keyblade wielder.
"I don't know! It's no use!" Kairi replied, her eyes starting to moisten.
"Heal!" Riku tried several times, and so did Sora, but nothing happened. Tension hung in the air. Rapunzel's eyes widened, took her ear to Lea's chest, straightened herself and nodded determinately to Kairi. It took the redhead two seconds to understand the message.
"Listen! Here's what we're gonna do. You guys take care of everything and everyone around here. Rapunzel and I will meet you here in 20, got it?"
Before anyone could say anything, Kairi and Rapunzel got to work, placing each of Lea's arms around each of their necks and dragged him out of the place. Sora and Riku observed them leave at lightning speed and, without much of a choice, they casted healing spells on the parents of the girl and took care of the other man…
#
"Just drop him here!"
"Ok!" Rapunzel replied, carefully taking Lea's arm off her neck and putting him on the ground, swallowing a lump in her throat. Lea looked even paler. They'd found a dark and lonely alley that wasn't nice in the slightest, but it'd have to do. Who knows how much time they had left.
"Do your thing, I'll keep watch!" Kairi stood up and ran to keep anyone from discovering them.
Rapunzel unbraided half of her hair with shaky hands and hurriedly let it rest upon Lea's chest. She took a breath and just as she was about to start singing, his eyes flew open.
"ROXAS! ROXAS, WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Rapunzel jumped back as the redhead breathed heavily and repeated several times the word she didn't recognize, summoning his Keyblade and frantically trying to get up, failing miserably every time. His body was weak and his haunted eyes revealed he had completely lost sense of space and time. Rapunzel tightly placed her hands in his shoulders, avoiding the attacks he threw to the air.
"Lea, look at me! It's okay! I'm here, I'm your friend!" She spoke with a new found voice, her grip on his shoulders tightening "It's over, you're safe now!" Lea finally calmed down a bit, letting his keyblade fall to the ground and disappear.
"MY FRIENDS! ROXAS! XION, MY FRIENDS, I...-" Tears glistened his eyes, sparkling in the faint light. His nails dug into his palms, as he continued to breathe heavily, and sweat poured down his face. "My friends I… I'm so sorry". The quiver in voice dissolved into tears before he buried his face in Rapunzel's shoulder, his body shaking as he emitted soft whimpering sounds. The blonde was motionless and her mind went blank, feeling heartbroken at the scene and not knowing how to react. Nonetheless, she forced herself to put her arms around Lea and held him tight.
"I'm sorry…" He choked softly against her skin, his voice full of regret, but Rapunzel had a feeling his words weren't meant for her.
Right before he hid her face, she saw something in Lea's eyes she thought would haunt her forever. The usual sparkle in his gaze had been taken away, leaving his now dull eyes etched with sorrow and torment. The layers of his history and the protecting walls he'd put around himself had been forced to fall, only to reveal what he'd so hard tried to run away from.
"I'm here…" She whispered, closing her eyes, and allowing herself to comfort her friend in silence, feeling his body slowly relax into her embrace. She prayed that whatever was that haunted him, would just go away.
Kairi came back a few minutes later and gasped at the scene. "Lea! Are you okay?" She spoke softly kneeling beside both of them. When he didn't reply, she turned to Rapunzel.
"I don't know" She mouthed.
Kairi looked at them, smiled slightly and joined the hug.
Rapunzel didn't know how long they remained in that position. Eventually Lea's shoulders began shaking again. Rapunzel's heartbeat accelerated, until she realized he was chuckling. Not his usual playful, cocky chuckle, but a weak and sad one.
"Very well" He sniffed as he wiped some tears away from his cheeks, not meeting any of their eyes. "I think we've had enough of the support group for today." He broke the hug, and attempted to stand on his own, faltering a little. Kairi and Rapunzel helped him to his feet.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Rapunzel inquired.
"Hey, I'm a tough guy." He cleared his throat in an attempt to stabilize his voice. "Got it memorized?" His index finger touched the side of his forehead and forced a smirk.
Rapunzel nodded with a small smile, even though a part of her was still worried about him. 'No' She thought to herself. "I know Lea will find the way. And we'll be there to help him"
"We're here for you, Lea. And not just us." Kairi grinned and motioned between herself and Rapunzel. "That's right" Rapunzel said.
"I know" He sighed. "Thank you. Both". He ruffled the hair of both girls. "But I do kinda have somethin' to ask of you…" Lea scratched the back of his head and Kairi grinned knowingly, before rolling her eyes.
"We won't say anything."
"Thanks. I have a reputation to think of, you know? It could completely ruin it"
"Ah. We wouldn't want that" Rapunzel raised her eyebrow playfully.
"A fake reputation is all a man has" Lea shrugged and Rapunzel chuckled lightly.
"We should get going" Kairi sighed. "Sora and Riku must be worried-sick"
"Don't you mean you want to run straight into Sora's arms?" Lea pushed her lightly with his elbow, wiggling his eyebrows. Rapunzel was glad to see bits of his friend slowly coming back.
"W-where did that come from, huh? They were actually worried about you and tried to bring you back to life"
"Oh, now you're just trying to avoid the topic"
Rapunzel noticed Kairi's cheeks grow redder and swore she saw the hint of a smile in her face.
"Let's just go, shall we?" Kairi smirked "Or else". Lea laughed.
"It seems I've taught you well. Well played, Kairi, well played" He patted the top of her head lightly. "Now I've got to train Rapunzel".
The three of them made their way out of the alley at a slow pace, Rapunzel and Kairi offering Lea support every now and then. They soon reached the Leaky Cauldron, where Sora and Riku awaited, anxious as ever.
"Oh there you are! Lea!" Sora exclaimed and threw his arms around him.
"Woah, slow down. You think a couple of Heartless are going to stop me? Puh-lease!"
Sora let him go, and smiled widely.
"Hey, what took you so long?" Riku half-grinned, lightly punching the redhead in the arm. "Next time you wanna go on a suicide mission, you might wanna send us a memo so we won't spoil it"
Lea laughed. "Oh, so Mr. Keyblade Master was worried about me? I'm so flattered"
Riku half-smirked, and turned to Rapunzel and Kairi, the slight mirth vanishing from his face. "I don't know how you managed to solve this, but we all need to have a very serious talk at Merlin's"