So while I've been studying for my exams (which I'm actually in the middle of at the moment), I've been writing (albeit quite slowly) to my own pace so I could upload this whenever. I didn't want to keep you in the dark for that much longer, so here it is for you to enjoy! We're going to focus a bit more on Riku, Kairi and Max in this chapter for some of that character development so have fun!
Chapter 32
All's Fair in Love and War
If anyone were to be informed that a tornado would soon hit the archery contest and leave nothing but ruin in its wake, they would have simply dismissed this information as nonsense. It was the perfect day. With a cloudless blue sky and rather warm weather it was almost like nature could see nothing going wrong. There was also very little wind to the fortune of the archer's participating.
Of course for an expert archer like Robin Hood, wind was hardly a factor that was going to stop him from winning this contest and Maid Marian's heart. He studied each of his arrows carefully, placing them in his quiver after nodding at them. It was as if her was judging them and approving them accordingly, Sora noted as he watched Robin, who was currently in disguise as a stork knowing full well that if there was ever a peaceful day as this, then a hungry evil would not be too far behind.
"Robin, what are you doing? An arrow's an arrow, isn't it?" Sora cocked his head to the side as Robin shook his head at one of the arrows and dismissed it to the side.
"Now, Sora, a good archer knows where his best shots lie. I have certain arrows for certain days and the ones I've selected, well, let's just say I have a good feeling about them," Robin replied somewhat condescendingly.
"If you say so," Sora said nonchalantly. He was fiddling with the Oblivion and Oathkeeper keychains in his left hand almost unconsciously now.
"I do. Well, it's time, wish me luck," Robin said.
"I thought you said you already knew where your best shots lay?"
"Touché." Robin curtsied before stepping fully from the shade into the eyes of all who would be attending the tournament. Some of the members of the town had even come to witness the spectacle about to take place.
On one side of the open field, Stephanie was happily talking with the new friends she had made. They were taking a big risk by bringing her along to something that could easily go wrong but it was much better than leaving her by herself.
"You enjoying everything so far, Stephanie?" Sora asked after making his way to her.
Stephanie nodded eagerly. "You guys should've come with us to Skippy's birthday, it was really fun!"
"I haven't been to a birthday in a good while. Guess what though, Luna's birthday is coming up pretty soon so how about we have a party in the you-know-what when the time comes?" Sora asked being careful not to mention the Gummi Ship in front of Stephanie's friends.
"Yay! As long as I'm in charge of the decorations. You, Donald and Goofy can make the cake!" Stephanie said.
"I'm… not quite sure how that'll work out but I guess it can't be that hard to make a cake. Alright, you're on. You get the decorations, we get the cake but you have to keep it a secret," Sora said raising an index finger.
"I'm good at keeping secrets." Stephanie nodded at the finger with a smile.
"What secrets?" Her rabbit friend, Tagalong, asked.
"Shhh, we're holding our own birthday party for our friend, but don't tell anybody. It's a secret," Stephanie whispered. Sora would have laughed at this, except the competition was about to begin.
Luna sat down next to him and whispered into his ear. "I just came back from scanning the area. No mad clown in sight, or anything that's suspicious really."
"Well, let's keep our eyes peeled for now. Where were you last night by the way?" he asked.
"I met someone."
"Already? A bit too soon for that, don't you thi-"
"Not like that." Luna rolled her eyes at Sora's jest. "It was a child. His name is Tim and he and his mother aren't exactly in the best position right now. They're suffering, Sora. I can't believe the nerve of this guy sitting on his throne completely disregarding the needs of his own subjects."
Within the confines of his own safety and shade, Prince John was currently welcoming the competitors and blabbering on about how it was such a momentous occasion. Sora wasn't really paying attention. Like Luna had rightly described, the guy seemed to be going on and on in love with the sound of his own voice and hardly seemed aware of his unpopularity, that or he was and didn't care.
"Well at least someone cared, and that can make all the difference," Sora said.
"Thanks, but I wonder, what happens after we leave? Can we really just let everyone suffer like this?" Luna asked.
Sora looked at her as if she were crazy. "Oh no, please don't tell me you're thinking of doing what I think you're doing."
"Well that would depend on what I was thinking," Luna said acting innocently.
"Luna, an arranged marriage is one thing-"
"It was forced, not arranged, there's a difference."
"Whatever. There's a difference between… forced marriages and dethroning kings-"
"He's technically a prince."
"I'm sure he is," Sora said through gritted teeth. "BUT that doesn't change the fact that we might end up making matters worse if we do interfere. We're protectors, not revolutionaries."
"So you wouldn't change your mind even if something really bad happened that you couldn't look away from?" Luna asked.
Sora diverted his eyes away from the contest and smiled at her. "One thing at a time, Luna," he said.
"I'll take that as a yes then." Luna smiled back at him and she left it at that returning to watching as one after the other, the challengers stepped up to win a maiden's heart.
The most interesting thing about the tournament was the difference in personality between each person. It seemed the more smug and overly confident they were the less accurate their shot, or at least that's what it seemed like. Finally it was Robin's turn. Where there were murmurs and whispers here and there for the other competitors, a complete silence washed over the townsfolk as if magic had been cast upon them. They all knew who this 'stork' was and how he was one step ahead of any other challenger on the field.
As if to prove this point, he lazily lined up his arrow with his bow, pulled back and released. Just as he did so, the Sheriff, who had also been competing in the tournament, gave Robin a slight nudge. It was enough to change the direction of the arrow as it was being released sending it higher than was required to hit the target.
"You rotten cheater!" Sora called out among many others protesting the Sheriff's action. Robin quickly recovered however and fired off a second arrow. This one hit the first arrow, redirecting its course and sending it straight for the target. The arrow hit dead center and the audience applauded and whistled loudly in praise.
"Good luck next time ole' chap. Oh, I suppose there won't be a next time," Robin said to the Sheriff, masking his voice in a different accent. He gave the fuming wolf a wink before presenting himself to Prince John.
"That was awesome! He just redirected his shot like it was nothing? Maybe we should bring him along with us and leave Donald here," Luna quipped looking behind her where Donald and Goofy were sitting.
"That wasn't funny," Donald replied.
"Well I don't think she said anything about it being a joke, Donald," Goofy joined in with a chuckle.
"We'll even hold a vote. All in favor of Donald staying?" Sora was about to raise his hand when a beeping sound started emanating from Luna's pocket. It was sound they would probably have to become familiar with quickly.
Luna pulled the communicator out of her pocket and held down the button. "Jiminy? What is it?"
"I… do-… everyth-… fuzzy… fog in your…-atch out!"
"Jiminy? Jiminy!" Luna called but the voice had completely dissolved into nothing but crackling noise. "Should we head back?"
"Yeah, it sounded pretty serious. We should make sure they're safe just in case," Sora said. He was about to stand up when one of the guards in particular caught his attention. It had been so well hidden amongst the other guards that Sora hadn't noticed earlier; after all he would not have dared to stare into the intimidating eyes of the rhino guards nor would he have expected it. He alerted the others to his findings quickly.
"Waaak! A Chimera?"
"Shhh, not so loud!" Sora whispered while taking in the number of people there. "What do we do?"
"We need to evacuate everyone from the premises before we even think of engaging that thing, right? Then again it's not going to be an easy feat, we'll just end up drawing attention to ourselves," Luna replied.
"Well we have to start somewhere. Stephanie," Sora called tapping her on the shoulder. "You need get your friends far away from here as possible. Find the friar and ask him to evacuate everyone else, and make sure you stay with him, okay?"
Stephanie nodded and was about to pass on the message to her Skippy and the others when they overheard an unexpected commotion from Prince John and the winner of the archery tournament. Turning back, they watched the undisguised Robin Hood holding onto Maid Marian's hands and Prince John demanding his capture.
Of course this would happen now of all times, Sora thought. He produced his Keyblade and aimed for one of the nearby tents. Fire shot out of the Kingdom Key and ignited the cloth sparking the initial chaos that would encourage everyone to evacuate.
Noticing the confusion, a confused gaping mouth formed on his face. It didn't take him long to find the culprits responsible.
"Guards, after them!" He yelled pointing at Sora and the others. Sora, somewhat fuelled by a sense of heroism perhaps, jumped in front of his friends and parried an overhead swing from one of the rhino guards. Luna swept in under Sora's arm and knocked the vulnerable guard back with a powerful swing of her own but two more came in to take his place.
Giving them a quick warning, Sora and Luna stepped aside to allow Goofy to spin into both of the guards with his shield taking them out. A third guard who appeared was quickly taken out of the equation by Donald's Ice magic.
A final few more guards came after them at the same time. Sensing it was time to try a new trick, Sora imbued his Keyblade with Aeroga magic. He could feel the wind against his hand, lapping back and forth violently like a raging storm at sea. He drew back his hand before flinging it forward with a circle raid. At first the Keyblade only circled them like an annoying wasp buzzing around its prey. All too soon this changed. A huge tornado was created from the spinning object, lifting the 700 kg guards into the air. They spun around and around until a bright light from the Keyblade dispersed the wind, and sent the guards flying off in different directions and distances along with it.
"Show off!" Donald said as the Kingdom Key reappeared in Sora's hands, although he could not hide the clearly visible smirk on his face no matter how hard he tried.
"Well before you can say that, we still have one more thing to deal with." Sora spun around pretending to aim his Keyblade at Prince John. If he could have, the prince would have retrieved back into his chair but with hardly any space left and Robin Hood right near him, he curled up into a little ball and started… sucking his thumb?
"Uh, well I… I just… that's just sad." Sora shook his head before aiming it instead at the correct target, the shrouded figure that stood alone where the rest of the rhinos would otherwise have shielded it.
The tall cloaked figure stood, simply watching. Its blue eyes, though shining, were also inhuman and beastly at the same type. They bulged around in the most frightening of manners, so much so that Sora could see red veins that looked like wiry hands caressing both irises. Its hands were cupped and resting where its stomach would be like a priest.
"It's just… staring. Guys, be careful. I have a bad feeling about this," Sora warned keeping his Keyblade trained on the Chimera. Asb'el, the watcher, suddenly switched targets with a quick flick of its strange eyes. Its and Luna's eyes met and suddenly she felt her heart beat faster. She could hear it, the pounding of drums in her ears. She felt strangely tipsy.
"Luna!" Sora yelled and caught her before she fell to ground. "Luna, are you alright?"
"Sorry, I don't know what came over me. I'll be fine, really," she promised him. In fact she was anything but fine. For some reason her chest was hurting, as if her heart was ready to burst out at any second. But she could ignore the pain for now. If the problem was the Chimera side of her own heart coming into contact with another Chimera's heart, then she couldn't allow that to prevent her from fighting.
"You can fight?" Sora asked as Luna used his shoulders as support to stand up.
"Oh yes I can," Luna replied confidently. Sora nodded at her before nudging his head at Donald. The duck began firing off its own multiple arsenal of magic. Strangely enough Asb'el did little to dodge these attacks. In fact, it didn't do anything at all. All of the spells connected successfully with an ensuing shriek from the creature. Even with this, it stood in its place and did not retaliate. Its eyes were still on Luna. Her heart beat yet faster.
Luna panicked and before she knew it she was rushing at the Chimera despite the cries from Sora, Donald and Goofy.
Why do you keep looking at me? Stop looking at me!
Luna made powerful but slow slices, slashing vertically and horizontally in a fury. It was as if it had been staring into her very soul… judging her. It had made her realize how much she hated it. As for why she hated it, well, there was probably no reason other than the fact that she hated that she was one of them. So when it had looked at her, it didn't need words to tell her that she was on the wrong side.
She felt arms close around her and pull her away from the Chimera but she tried to wrestle and break free. It didn't work, Sora's grip on her was too strong and only after remembering that she was with Sora, Donald and Goofy did she stop struggling.
Luna and Sora watched as Asb'el writhed in pain before quieting once again and appearing as if nothing had happened.
"I don't know what came over me. I was just so… angry," Luna tried to explain after reading the lines on Sora's face to know that expected answers. Sora could tell that she was choking on the words but before he could tell her that she didn't need to explain, she was already trying to force the words out. "It just kept looking at me and… no… it's still…" Luna backed away from Sora as the watcher's eyes fell on her once again. She felt the first signs of water welling up in her eyes and before Sora could see them, she took off in the opposite direction, running into the forest as quickly as her legs could carry her.
"Luna, come back!" Sora yelled. He was about to follow her when an arrow landed at his feet. He turned in the direction the shot originated from to see Robin with bow aimed at the Chimera. "What are you doing?"
"No need to be so imprudent. You still have much to learn about a young woman's heart it seems," Robin replied.
"Well yeah, I'm only sixteen."
"Hardly an excuse. The heart needs time to accept and move on. Whatever demons she may have, you can be sure she won't give in to them, that is unless you don't trust Luna."
"Of course I do!" shouted Sora quickly.
"Then come. We deal with this troublesome thing first," Robin said before firing off a rapid succession of arrows. They came down upon Asb'el like rain and stabbed themselves into various parts of its body. It was at this moment that the Watcher finally decided to act.
It glided towards Sora slowly at first, for it had no feet. Sora was hesitant to attack. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was unusually weird with this Heartless. It had taken most of their attacks without doing a thing, and while it had appeared hurt, he had the sneaking suspicion that it had been deceiving them from the very beginning.
Suddenly a scythe materialized in its hands and Sora found out quickly how right he had been. Asb'el lunged forward at him though Sora was ready for it and parried. He tried to apply force and push back but the Chimera stood unmoving.
"Sora, back away!" Upon hearing Donald's voice, Sora jumped away from the Chimera just in time to see a mixture of Ice and Fire hit it, but this time it didn't seem to hurt the Heartless. It had done the exact opposite.
"It absorbed them?! But how?" Sora asked in disbelief. A frustrated Donald blinked before throwing another barrage of spells, all of them being taken in by Asb'el as if they were nothing.
The cloaked figure breathed in deeply, Sora could see its chest rising to indicate as much, before firing off shots of the spells Donald had used. Sora dived behind a nearby log and listened as the magic bullets smacked against his cover. A flying arrow soaring towards the Chimera halted the attack only for it to be caught with unusual speed and snapped like a twig. It was still enough for Sora to warp out of his cover and by Donald, Goofy and Robin's side.
"What is this thing? My magic doesn't work!" Donald shouted.
"Maybe it absorbs magic?" Goofy tried to provide a reason while scratching his head.
"Maybe, but that's doesn't explain why it didn't do it before."
"Because it was just watching then," Sora said thoughtfully. "I think it was just studying us before. The Chimera act differently from regular Heartless so…"
"You think it mighta been gatherin' information on us?" Goofy asked.
"It seems like it. I just thought it was weird how it didn't try to attack us until just now, and then he was able to catch Robin's arrow without looking at it so it's not just magic. Let's just end this quickly," Sora replied. He activated Ars Arcanum before landing several hits with a warping Sonic Blade attack.
Asb'el was knocked back by the repeating blue ember wisps before stabbing its scythe into the ground into the ground. A red circle with a diameter of half a meter surrounded the Heartless. As soon as Sora crossed this red circle to attack again, he felt the sensation of knives stabbing into his body. He yelled out at this pain and quickly used Aeroga to throw himself away from the circle landing some distance away.
"Sora, are you okay?" Goofy asked moving in front of his friends to cover him from any incoming attacks. Donald propped up his staff and cast a healing spell on him. The feeling of being stabbed in multiple directions soon subsided, and Sora let out a relieved sigh.
"This thing isn't playing around, that's for sure," he admitted with a frustrated chuckle.
Riku smirked as the slack-jawed Max looked around the city of Paris for the first time. He had not been near him unfortunately when they had left their home, but it was a face that Riku very much imagined Sora having when he had stepped foot in another world.
He put his hand on Max's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "And to think, you'll be able to tell your friends all about this once you get back."
"Huh? Oh… yeah, I… guess so," Max said stiffening somewhat.
That was weird, Riku thought before dismissing it. He was probably just nervous. Instead, Riku looked towards his other companion. Kairi had just come out of the Baker's shop after informing him that they had found Luna. Settled on her wrist was a basket full of bread which Riku was surprised to find out was given to her for free.
"We must officially be his favorite customers," Riku said grinning at the bread.
"That and he may just get the feeling that we're not from around here. He mentioned something else that was quite interesting. He's seen others like us that don't look like they're from around here," Kairi informed him.
Riku stopped walking and frowned. "Moira's Crescent or Kefka and that Ice witch?"
"Either way, we oughta keep an eye for them. Just thinking about what they did to Sora… Kairi, if it comes to a fight, I'll make sure you're safe," Riku promised.
"I'll keep you safe too, and you as well Max. I'm sorry you had to get caught up in our mess but I promise that you've made the right choice. Riku and I both no how to party hard," Kairi said.
"Well I wouldn't know about that but it's better than studying," Riku said.
"So where exactly are we going?" Max asked.
"There." Riku pointed diagonally upwards towards the great looming beast known as Notre Dame Cathedral. It was usually the thing anyone would probably look at as soon as they left their houses in the morning, or at least it still would have been if a great Ice pillar rising up had not taken its place as the most fascinating thing there. To think that they had been there to see its creation was, well, it was like making history itself, though it certainly had not come to pass by choice.
Riku led the way into the town square, through the cathedral doors and up the stairs on the immediate left after entering. The closer they got to Quasimodo, the more anxious they began to feel. What if the antidote failed to work? Quasimodo's hope or what little left of it there was, depended on one small vial in Kairi's pocket and hadn't even been tested. And then… another dreaded thought! What if it was too late? This thought encouraged Riku to move faster, heading up two steps at a time as opposed to one. Max, the amateur on their journey, surely must have been wondering what the hurry was, but neither Riku nor Kairi had the time to explain.
They soon reached the bell tower and Kairi knocked gently on the door.
"GO AWAY!"
Kairi and Riku exchanged worried looks. The former leaned in closer. "Quasimodo, it's us, Kairi and Riku!"
"Please, just… stay away from me," Quasimodo pleaded. "It's for your own good."
"Well, we can't do that," Riku muttered before giving the door a push. It gave way and allowed the three to see what horror awaited them. There sat a kneeling Quasimodo, his head lowered but still visible, enough so that they could see his face. Half of it was gray and cracked like clay, while the other half was as it had always been, but signs of stress of frustration were showing. This was telling by the dark circle under his eye and the sweat protruding down his face.
Beside him was Esmeralda, with a wet cloth and bowl of water lying next to her. She attempted to clean Quasimodo's face but he instead swatted her away stubbornly. Esmeralda gave him a look before setting the cloth in the bowl.
"It wasn't working anyway." She sighed and turned to Riku, Kairi and Max. "It started yesterday in the evening, he told me. I don't think there's much time left. You said that I could be his light and help him but I don't think I'm enough. It was foolish to think that."
"A fool would have given up at first instance, you didn't," Riku told her. "So I'm hoping you don't give up now, for the both of you."
"Why should she have to hope for me when mine has probably faded by now?" Quasimodo murmured darkly. "You see me now, don't you? This is what I am, what I've always been. I tried so hard to make up for lost time, I really did. I thought that with ma- Frollo gone I could be free of my shackles, but I was wrong. I can't go out there now, not like this. You've been looking after a monster Esmeralda, a demon, something that shouldn't even be. You should leave me. I wouldn't blame you… it's okay."
To everyone else surprise however, Riku rolled his eyes and pretended to yawn. "Are you done yet?"
"You weren't listening to a word I was saying, were you?" Quasi asked.
"After spending a lot of time doing it myself, you kind of get bored of it," Riku said.
"You have to trust him on that one," Kairi added as she reached into her pocket. She produced the vial in her hand. It was the one hope Quasimodo had left. "No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within. That's why we have to keep hoping Quasi, and even if we fail this time, I'd rather suffer a thousand failures to find the answer than give up. Being brave means knowing that you won't always be successful and having the courage to get back up despite that."
Esmeralda smiled appreciatively before looking at Quasi. "So, are you ready to give life another shot Quasi?"
"Well… I'm sensing you're not going to accept a no so I'll do it!" Quasimodo said. He was a little more confident than he had been previously. This in turn inspired confidence in the rest of them, though they reminded themselves to keep a ceiling on their expectations.
Treating it almost as if it were the most precious item in all the worlds, Kairi carefully and gently handed the vial over to Quasimodo. Likewise, the receiver took great care in pulling open the cork and cautiously lifting it up into his open mouth. The liquid at first looked as if it wanted to retain its container form, struggling to stay in to drag on the excruciating moment. Finally, natural forces took their course and the liquid fell into Quasimodo's mouth and disappeared. Riku couldn't help but stare at the empty vial in his hands instead of the actual drinker.
"Well? I don't see anything different," Esmeralda noted after some time of observation.
"I don't exactly feel any different either," Quasi said, his disappointment clearly rising.
"Hold up guys, we have to give it time. Maybe it just has a slow effect. I say we wait and see what happens overnight," Riku said. He refused to say there was no rush, because that would have been a lie.
"He's right. Get some rest Quasi, I'll stay with you." Esmeralda smiled gently as Quasimodo settled his head on her lap. It was a peaceful moment that Riku would not have disturbed had the question not been important.
"Esmeralda, you met a guy with spiky red hair called Lea, right? He's the one you helped to search Frollo's house," he reminded her.
"Ahah! I knew there was a connection. He was rather hesitant to confirm one but I think this settles it. Yes, it was something about an Atlantis. As a gypsy I've travelled around, probably more so than the average Parisian but, I've never quite heard a story like that before," Esmeralda told them.
"It's what we're here for aside from Quasi. Lea mentioned that Frollo had some interest in this cathedral. Do you know much about him?" Riku asked.
"Not really and I don't want to know," Esmeralda replied with a lack of enthusiasm. Having been treated as some object for his desires, Riku wasn't surprised she didn't want to talk much about him. With that in mind he skipped past Frollo's past.
"You mentioned that you travel around more than the average Parisi- pari- er- person so have you heard any rumors about the cathedral, like a secret passageway or anything like that?"
Esmeralda shook her head. "That would be an even weirder story. I can't say I've heard of it, I hardly ever came inside here before Quasi. Your best chance would be the archdeacon but I doubt even he knows much."
"Wait… you mentioned a secret passageway?" Quasimodo asked shifting his head while on Esmeralda's lap to look at Riku and Kairi.
"Yeah, do you know anything? I mean a secret passageway is a little farfetched mind you but…"
But Kairi's assumption of a secret passageway being an absurdity was not so much the case in Quasimodo's eyes.
"No, it may actually be closer than you think. Before I had the courage to step outside the cathedral, while I thought that I was forever indebted to Frollo… I used to walk around the cathedral and watch things happen… just watch. It was an innocent enough act, at least that's what I thought, but one day while I was walking around the upper level I saw him by the altar. He was pacing back and forth and he looked very frustrated, probably the most frustrated I'd ever seen him. He also said something out loud at the time. I remember it because it was very out of character for someone like him," he said.
"What did he say?"
"I really didn't want to listen but what he said was too interesting not to look away. He said: "Damn it! It has to be here!"' Quasimodo glanced up again after he had told them to find a pensive Kairi and an incredibly confused Max.
Finally Riku relayed his own thoughts. "Well that's better than anything, where he was more so. Alright, thanks Quasi, we'll check it out."
It was Kairi who led the way downwards this time, filled with a buzzing energy that hadn't been there before. Riku was considering telling her to lower her expectations when he also realized that poor Max had come the entire way without a single explanation given to him. He quickly explained to Goofy's son about Kairi's fascination with the mythical city, to which even Riku still hardly understood himself. Furthermore, he filled Max in on the group of Keyblade wielders who were going after Sora and how they were trying to intercept their plans.
His long explanation had taken them all the way to their destination, at the back of the main cathedral where the altar was that Quasimodo had mentioned. Maybe it had been too high an expectation, but Riku had almost wished that upon arriving there the answer would automatically reveal itself. Clearly they would have to work a bit harder than that.
"Sorry to point out the obvious but someone had to. Considering this Frollo guy wasn't able to find it, what makes you think we will?" Max asked.
"Max, you're being too pessimistic about this. You have to think of the bigger picture here. Maybe there are things that we'll be able to see that Frollo couldn't, and seeing as we're not from this world, I don't see why that can't happen," Kairi said.
"Let's pull our heads together and think about this one step at a time. If we find nothing, then that's the end of it, but it's a bit too early to be giving up just yet," Riku agreed. "Now if I were a secret, where would I be hiding?"
Kairi's eyes wandered across the area she was in before finally resting on the stained glass window at the very back of the cathedral. Within each colorful arcature was its own represented person but the image that drew Kairi's attention in particular was the only woman among them, frozen tears on her pallid face.
"Noticed something?" Riku asked following Kairi's gaze.
"It's… sad. Why do you think she's crying?" Kairi asked.
Surprised at this question, Riku shrugged. "No idea. That's just the way the artist pictured her, I guess?"
But now Riku was wondering it too. Surely there was no reason for her to be crying in particular unless it was the artist's relative or beloved. Maybe he had captured her in an emotional moment. In any case, Riku failed to see how this was all important.
In any case, Riku found himself drifting downwards to her hands, or more precisely the object that was in her hands. It was a gold chalice, but rather than holding it upwards like one would naturally expect, it was pointed downwards. If he was hoping that this was all one big "Look down there" sign, it wasn't exactly obvious.
Still, it was curious… like it was daring him to hope even further. He quickly pointed the irregularity out to Kairi and Max.
"Good point, yeah, that is weird. What do you think it means?" Kairi asked.
"Well if we take it literally, it's probably just a reversed cup. The only way it would ever make sense to do something like that is if the cup was already empty," Riku provided.
"Or maybe she was emptying it? If we take it literally anyway like you said," Kairi replied.
"Or maybe she's mad that someone spilled her drink? That's even more literal since she's crying," Max quipped.
"Hey, no use crying over spilt milk, right?" Riku couldn't help but join in. The moment was too perfect. The two exchanged laughter while Kairi rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, well if you guys are done you might want to look thataway." Kairi's finger directed them to an erected stone sculpture of a figure right behind the altar itself. Inspecting it from the front revealed that it was undeniably the same woman and though the tears were not as pronounced on her face, the similar clothing and cup in her hands was enough to match them.
"Well it's certainly a match, there's no doubt about that. If it does anything is something else entirely," Riku said while tracing his finger around the sculpture. "Just one little discrepancy. The cup itself is right side up."
"That's more like a big discrepancy to me," Max said. Riku nodded and wrapped his hands around the cup before pulling. There was quite a bit of resistance at first as if he and the sculpture were wrestling to gain control but soon the chalice was in Riku's hands. "If you just broke it, I'm so not with you guys."
"Too late, Max," Riku said. He flipped the cup and placed it back in her hands. Once again, they were left disappointed. "Nothing. What was I even thinking?"
"I suppose this is what they call vandalism," Max said.
"Well it popped out easily enough. That can't just be it," Riku replied. He refused to believe that he wasn't on the right track here. There had to be a connection otherwise why the same woman?
"Yeah, popped out… that's not the way I saw it," Max said. Riku winced and instead turned to Kairi for a spark of confidence. The auburn haired girl had pulled the chalice away from the stony hands and was now examining it closely. Riku dared not disturb her, for he could tell she was deeply in thought about something.
Kairi blinked. Once. Twice. Way too many times. Water welled up in her eyes and soon she was, crying? Tears trickled down her face and dropped, settling within the confines of the chalice.
This time, something did happen. The stone chalice glowed brightly for a second before turning into a chalice made of complete gold. Riku and Max exchanged uncomfortable looks with each other. Their bafflement only partly stemmed from the fact that Kairi had been able to figure something like that out. It also arose from fear for what this even meant. The probability of some secret had just become all too much of a certainty.
"Kairi, how did you…"
"One moment Riku. Let me just try one more thing…" Kairi proceeded to flip the cup upside down again and placed it back in the sculpture's hands. As she had probably expected, the gold on the chalice had spread, almost like an infection. The stone figure soon turned to gold but it was not the only thing that changed in the area. The floor underneath Riku and Max glowed brightly as well and Riku had to quickly drag Max away with him to the duller area so who wouldn't fall into the path that had just opened.
When Riku looked back, both altar and respective part of the floor that had glowed was gone. In its place was a bunch of stairs descending deeper and deeper into a pitch blackness of uncertainty. Feeling some liquid in his mouth, he forced himself to swallow down before turning to Kairi.
"Kairi, if I have ever doubted you before, now's a pretty good time for me to repent I guess."
Next time we'll be seeing where this passageway goes, whether Sora and the others can defeat this Chimera, and finally a bit more on Astra's return to Moira's Crescent. Stay tuned and be sure to leave a like and review if you're enjoying things!
