Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters.
"It's like hiding a tree in a forest." Zexion said, stepping into the round library.
"Oh mother of..." Axel looked emotionally defeated.
"Demyx, can you set up the camera on your own? It's one large room, so we should be fine." Zexion said.
"Yeah, I'm on it." Demyx nodded, getting to work.
"Okay… we don't need to pull out every book to check it. Just look for any that could have a clover on its spine." Sora said, starting to look over the spines of the books in one section. "It's hard back."
"All of them seem to be." Roxas pointed out.
"Kairi… can you perhaps run your hand across the books?" Zexion suggested. "There could be energy somewhere among them that can lead us to the right one without much effort."
"Let's hope it works." Kairi said. She went to the shelves lining the round room and gently put her hands one some books, hoping to find energy.
"It should go up higher, Luxord, above our line of sight."
"But that would make it harder for the others to find it."
"I know, but we need it safe."
"It will be safe, love. Worry not. Good ol' Luxy has this handled."
"Huh..." Kairi backed off, blinking some. She then went over to another shelf and removed several books. She then pulled out one book that was flat against the back of the shelf and hidden behind the grouping of removed books. "Luxord was clever in hiding it."
"Brilliant work, Kairi!" Roxas cheered.
"But does it have the jar in it?" Sora asked. "It's the jar inside the book that we need."
Kairi nodded and opened it, flipping through some pages before finding the carved out area. She smiled and pulled out the bottle charm, a clover inside of it. "Now to find where these all go." she said, handing the charm to Sora since he had all of the other keys with him.
"A basement of sorts… I remember going down in an area where there was no light in my vision." Sora said.
"Hmm..." Zexion took this moment to sit down and observe his maps more, trying to figure out the cellar. "Hmm… this place is large and there are three entrances, actually." He eyed it more closely. "But… there's one area. A dark area not marked and right in the middle of things…"
"You think that's it?" Axel inquired. He looked around when the room grew dark, all light seeming to be gone, yet they could still each other fairly well, as though there were moonlight or something shining in. "Here, let me get you a light." He brought out his flashlight and tried it, but it didn't work. "Huh? We just put fresh batteries in this morning."
The others tried the same, only to find the same results. "Some things drain batteries. It's believed ghosts could, too, which is where they get some of their power and energy from to perform what some know as poltergeist activity." Sora explained.
"All too often someone would swear because their CD player or Em-pee...three thing would die on them." Marluxia said, though he still went unheard. "We ghosts use the energy to make things happen."
"Let's see..." Zexion fished out a glow stick from his pack and used it's light. It wasn't as good, but it was doable. "Hmm… this dark area… And right above it looks like a very tiny room with a door… it could be a stairwell leading down into that room. Odds are, it's where we need to go." He got back up with Axel's help. "It's to the left of the parlor."
"So, back down the stairs." Demyx said. "Camera's good to go; hopefully they're getting the feed."
"Hopefully." Zexion nodded before getting more of the glow sticks out. "They won't do much, but it'll help a little."
"Better than nothing." Kairi said.
"Though it's dark… we can still see a little… but..." Xion looked to her girlfriend.
"I don't know… nothing is coming to me." Naminé admitted. "Not like I could see what I was drawing if anything did..."
"Not like you do anyway." Xion chuckled. "It's paranormal phenomenon that causes your hand to move, remember?"
Naminé giggled. "Yeah."
"Well, we best go down. Careful on the stairs so no one slips." Zexion said. "If we get hurt, we're up shit creek since the door won't budge."
"Yeah." the others agreed. They kept moving until Demyx stopped, checking one of the radios.
"Hold up, guys." Demyx said. "Hey, hey, you guys there?"
"Dem-zzzt! What's go-zzzt! On?" came Xigbar's voice.
"We're dealing with dimensional planes or something along those in a paranormal way." Demyx said, trying to get through to Xigbar. "We've got what we need and we're going to the next place. Xigbar? Xaldin? Did you hear me?"
"Dem-zzzt! Are you th-zzzzt! Com-zzzt-yx!" And it cut out.
"They can't fully hear each other." Marluxia said, his voice still falling on deaf ears. "Xigbar came in clear as day to me, but Demyx can't seem to fully hear him… and they can't hear Demyx..." He sighed. "This isn't going to be easy, is it…?"
"We should keep going." Zexion said. He checked a little wind-up watch, deciding on that during all of this instead of something with a battery. Thankfully it was still going. "We've already been in here two hours. So we should finish up, hopefully before nightfall. While ghosts don't particularly have a set time of when they're most active, this manor seems most active at night." He sighed. "And more so with Sora here."
"Huh?" Sora was confused. "Me?"
"Our electronics are like little sparks put to a dead frog's leg, creating a charge to make the muscles twitch and spasm." Zexion explained, setting an example that was easy to follow. "You're like the bolt of lightning that brought Frankenstein's monster to life." He shook his head. "This place… I think it's drawing on your energy… which is why we're not getting through to the others… and why everything seems to change regularly..."
"So… shouldn't we try to get Sora out instead?" Xion asked.
"It won't be possible… even if it were..." Zexion looked to his best friend.
"I'm not giving up… I'm staying with you guys to help and free the ghosts and stop Xehanort." Sora said with a determined nod.
"Then let's find this little basement room." Zexion said, going back to leading the way.
"Just take it easy if you need to, Sora." Riku said, his hand tightening around his soon-to-be-boyfriend's.
"Yeah..." Sora nodded and looked around. "I don't… see them fully… but… I see silhouettes..." He then looked back when Naminé sat down again while on the stairs. "Zexion, let's take a break; something's up."
"Right." Zexion nodded as he returned to Naminé. "Nam?"
"Sora, come here." Naminé said. "Zexion said you're a high energy source… maybe I can get a better reading with you."
"Okay." Sora nodded and went over. He didn't move or anything when Naminé took his hand into her left and then used her right to start drawing.
"I get it… Just as Xehanort seems to amplify things using Sora… Naminé is, too." Roxas said.
"Not just that, Sora senses things differently, and she's feeling things through him, like a dowsing rod of sorts." Zexion added.
Naminé kept on sketching until she finished. There, she drew a door with a heart on it. "This is what I saw..." she said. "It was… strange… It's like… I was seeing someone lead me… so many shadows… they were pointing me down the hall until I saw this door… It felt like nothing I've felt before when I do this."
"A door with a heart on it… all of the doors have been ornate in their own ways, as to be expected in this place, but we've not seen a heart yet." Zexion nodded. "Good job, Naminé. You good to keep going?"
"Thanks to Sora, yup!" Naminé nodded as she got up. "Sora, before we set off… I think that's what's keeping us safe. You." she said. "There's this… bright light I could see in my mind as I was drawing. It's like you're chasing away the shadows… and I think that's why some of the ghosts have been staying away. They're confident now… nearing you more. But it's not scary."
Sora smiled. "Thanks, Nam."
"Now, let's find this door." Zexion said, taking the lead yet again, getting them to the first floor and to the correct hall. "Keep your eyes open, we may miss it with all of the other designs."
As they walked, they kept an eye on the doors. Sora and Riku stopped at one. "Hey guys, you passed it! It's back here!" Riku called, opening the door. He was surprised to see that a light was on. "This place gets weirder and weirder."
"I agree." Sora said. "C'mon."
"I'll go first, just keep hold of my hand." Riku said, taking the lead, going down the stairs.
"Huh? Wait, guys! Don't split up! The others didn't hear you!" Marluxia called, going after Riku and Sora. Surprisingly, though, the door shut and he smacked right into it. "What the hell? I'm a ghost… doors don't keep me out..." He put his hands to the door and pushed, hoping to phase through it; then he tried the handle to pull it… only to find it locked. He looked down the hall to see the others continuing down the hall. "Oh shit… this can't be good."
Heyo, lovelies!
I'll admit, the thought of Marluxia trying to go through a door but smacking into it was amusing. I'm so glad it was something I was able to put in. Being a ghost and used to phasing through everything, it must be quite the shock to him. And I know, where Kairi found the book differed from how Sora saw it in his vision. Well, sometimes not all visions are perfect and who knows, maybe the ghosts hid the book again? We'll probably never know.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Until next time!
~chibi