Chapter 23: The Blue Flame
Ansem bowed low. Skye gritted her teeth. She knew very well what was going on, but she was worried about Gaden. However, she hadn't gotten a chance to speak to her younger brother alone since they'd arrived. They'd only been inside the fortress for a few hours, during which Skye and Gaden were prepared to join Ansem's royal court. Skye was wearing a sweeping black dress, and Gaden was in full princely regalia.
"Welcome to my court." Ansem said, showing them into a grand room full of rich-looking people. He'd been treating them like royalty. Indeed, they were royalty, but that didn't change the fact that Skye still knew what he was up to; he wanted to lure them into joining him through showing them the luxuries of royal life. Then they would become entangled in some court politic, giving Ansem complete power over them. But still Skye smiled at him and his guests. She'd play the ignorant girl until they could find their way out. She was just worried about Gaden. He was young, and she couldn't tell whether or not he was falling for the scheme.
"Lords and Ladies!" A voice called out over the mass of people. Quiet fell over the room, lined with marble and engraved with gold. "Please welcome my dear son and daughter, Prince Gaden and Crown Princess Skye, heirs to my throne." Ansem announced. There was applause. Skye felt sick to her stomach. She didn't want to inherit anything that belonged to Ansem. But still she smiled at the people, casting her eyes around the room. Something was strange: there were no guards. Not one in the room. But before she had time to contemplate this, she and Gaden were led down the steps into the main room and Rio was there an instant later.
"May I have this dance?" He asked, offering his hand to her. The very idea was revolting, but all eyes were on her. From now until their escape, she had to play the part. She glanced at Gaden and plastered a fake smile across her face.
"I'd be honoured." She managed to say, placing her hand in his. He led her into the middle of the dance floor and she glanced back to where Gaden was. Ansem was speaking with him...and now leading him towards the side of the room. Rio held one of her hands in his and wrapped his other arm around her waist, uncomfortably tightly. He started to lead her in dance and his hand on her back began to wander lower. She cleared her throat and adjusted her posture to force his hand back up again. She glared at him, a silent warning. He smirked, but she ignored the look on his face and chose to look around at the other people around her. Her eyes fell on another familiar face, and as she looked about the room, her heart leaped into her throat. Nearly all of the people there were somehow related to the resistance. Many of them were secret supporters, some of them were men and women she recognized as ally ship captains from her days hunting slave ships, but all of them were somehow connected to the Rebel City. Her eyes found Ansem again, but this time Gaden wasn't there. There were two guards, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, standing discretely near her little brother, who was waiting where Ansem had left him moments ago. Something was wrong...
"If you'll excuse me, I feel slightly faint." Skye said apologetically to Rio, pulling away from him. He, however, kept his grip on her hand and around her waist.
"Let's just finish this one dance, m'lady." He said, with a hint of a threat in his voice. Her eyes narrowed at him.
"But I feel..." She began to argue, but her eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp, collapsing into him. He nearly dropped her, unprepared for her to fall. Alarm was written all over his face. The other couples around them stopped and tried to help. The commotion caught Ansem's and Gaden's attention. Ansem started to make his way over, and Gaden followed, tugging at Ansem's arm.
"Is it Skye? Is Skye okay? What's going on?"
"Not now." Ansem ordered, pushing Gaden away and making his way through the people to the center where Skye was lying on the floor, with Rio standing over her.
"I-" Rio began to say, but Ansem interrupted him.
"What did you do to her?" He growled in a low tone so none of the others could hear.
"Nothing. She said she was feeling faint and wanted to sit down. I thought she was catching on to the plan so I told her to stay, and she collapsed." Rio whispered in reply.
"Skye!" Gaden cried, pushing through between people's legs and running up to her prone figure. Skye's eyes flickered open for a moment, catching sight of Gaden near by, and closed again, so quickly that only Gaden noticed and he thought that he had imagined it. Then the blinding white light that Gaden would recognize instantly anywhere, shone for a moment next to Skye, but no one else appeared to notice. Not surprising though, as that light signified the coming of a spirit. Gaden squinted for a moment and then blinked in surprise.
"She's alright." Daisy murmered. Gaden stared at the spirit.
"Daisy? Why are you here?" He asked in a whisper. One of the more distinguished looking men standing in the group around them gave him a strange look, but he ignored it.
"I'm here to warn you. Skye's throwing a wrench into Ansem's plan."
"Plan?" Gaden asked, choked.
"Something bad will happen here, and she'll protect these people as best she can, but no matter what you do, you can't listen to Ansem or Rio. They'll try to take you away from Skye, but stay with her, understand?" Daisy asked urgently. She looked up at Ansem and Rio, who were busy discussing whether Skye had really fainted or what she was planning if she was playing at it. Gaden nodded and Daisy disappeared in another flash. He could overhear Ansem and Rio's whispered conversation.
"We can't alarm the guests, at any rate." Ansem said.
"What do we do?" Rio asked, glancing around at the unnerved looks of the people.
"We go on as planned. If she'd really fainted, she won't get in the way, and if she hasn't then it won't be any different from how we were planning to proceed originally." He answered. Then, he lifted his hands and the murmurs throughout the room quieted.
"Everything is going to be just fine. The princess is tired, as she has traveled a long way today, and it looks like her exhaustion has gotten to her. There's nothing to worry about!" He assured everyone. This seemed to satisfy the group and Ansem leaned over to speak to Rio.
"Make it look like you're carrying her out, but make sure you stay where you need to be. And send Gaden over to me once your ready. That will be the signal that everything is ready to start," he muttered before walking away. Rio bent over to pick her up.
"Don't touch me." Skye ordered, her eyes snapping open. Rio was shocked into silence for a moment. Skye seized the chance. She jumped to her feet, knocking Rio over in the process, and grabbing Gaden by the hand.
"EVERYBODY OUT! RUN!" She cried. Many people turned to stare at her. She continued. "Ansem is worse that Dax ever was! He kidnapped Gaden and I! And he's planning something terrible! RUN!" She cried, pushing people towards to door. A few screams echoed through the hall, but Ansem let out a booming laugh.
"Please, everyone relax! Skye is prone to night-terrors. My apologies for her behaviour. Everything is alright. Often it is hard to tell where dream ends and reality begins with night-terrors." He announced. There was a moment's hesitation is the crowd when Skye pushed her way through towards where Ansem was standing.
"How would you know if I had night-terrors? You've never even seen me before today!"
"I'm sorry that I haven't, truly. It's not as if I didn't want to spend time with my children. I'm just a very busy man, and your mother wanted you to have a quiet childhood outside of court life."
"You're right, you are a busy man. You've been busy with trying to destroy the worlds, possessing Riku and trying to kill Sora and Kairi! And then of course, you've been dead for the past 3 years, so I can't particularly blame you for not spending time with us. Though it seems that Dax wanted you fatherly attention much more than Gaden and I ever did." She growled, letting fire grow on her hands. A few of the people there who'd known Skye personally were edging towards the doors. One woman let out a cry.
"They're locked! We're trapped!" She shouted. The hall was plunged into chaos. Rio grabbed Gaden's arm.
"Come on, I'll take you to safety!" He offered, pointing towards one of the closed doors. Gaden almost agreed, but then remembered Daisy's words and pulled away from Rio.
"No! I'm staying with Skye!" He cried, running towards her. Rio grabbed his arm and forcibly tried to drag Gaden away with him.
"You're coming, boy!"
"NO! SKYE!!" Gaden cried. Skye whipped around and practically tackled Rio to the ground. Rio let go of Gaden to wrestle her off, and managed to roll over so that he had her pinned beneath him. His smirk grew lecherous and his hands started to wander. A moment later, he let out a cry of pain and Skye took advantage of his disorientation to kick him off of her. Upon standing up, the fact that his pants were on fire became visible.
"I told you I'd burn it if you tried anything again." She stated, though clearly Rio wasn't listening. She helped Gaden up from where he had fallen, amidst the chaos around her. Then there was silence. Ansem was standing in front of her with an enormous heartless sprouting from his back.
"Sign your allegiance to me in blood and these people will live. Otherwise, you all die." He stated bluntly. Skye glowered at him.
"Don't lie. You'll kill them all anyways, and if I sign my soul away to you, you'll probably make me do it." She spat back at him.
"How would you know what I would do?" Ansem asked, amused.
"I came up with the sickest thing I could think of, and figured that it wouldn't be far off from you actual plan."
"Well said. But you've doomed all these people to their deaths." He said. The eight spidery arms of the heartless shot upwards and burrowed through the roof before dragging chunks of it back down with it again and collapsing the roof over the them. Screams filled the room, but a huge explosion drowned out all other sound, blowing the roof completely off of the hall and sending the rubble flying in many directions, far enough away that no one was endangered. This was shortly followed by the doors around the outside of the room bursting into flame and being reduced to cinders with in seconds. Skye was standing in the very center of the room, fire dancing on both of her hands, Gaden standing just behind her. People were pouring out of the room, and Skye, Gaden and Ansem were the only ones staying still.
"Congratulations. You gave them all another day to live. Most of them won't make it out of the fortress. My guards will see to that. Those who are left will be hunted down once I'm finished with you."
"You assume that you'll win." Skye shot back angrily.
"Of course I'll win. I know the extent of the power of your fire. Where do you think you inherited that power from?" Ansem asked in reply. "Your powers might be incredible compared to the other people on this planet, but the talent with fire that you inherited is nothing but a diluted version of the power I possess. You stand no chance."
"Just like the 14 year old Sora stood no chance."
"Touche. That, however, was a simple mistake in planning on my part. Sheer luck that the boy won. You won't." As he spoke, the Heartless reached out an impossibly long arm and clawed at her. She stepped back out of the way and burnt it to a crisp with no effort. A moment later, however, the arm grew back and Skye paled. Ansem let out a cruel laugh. "You see? You can't defeat me. And then when I'm finished with you, I'll rip your little brother apart piece by piece... and perhaps I will let Riku and Gaden die together." He added cruelly.
"No!" Skye shouted, throwing her hands forward. A massive ball of fire exploded outwards from where Ansem was standing, engulfing him. It swirled around him, condensing back into an impossibly small and bright flame. When Skye finally let it go out, she saw Ansem still standing before her. His clothes were tattered and shredded by the attack, but he and his Heartless were unscathed. "How...?" She breathed, surprised. Ansem let out a laugh.
"I told you, you have no chance. Do you think that your power being with fire was by chance? It came from me. Your fire has as much affect on me as it does on you." He told her with a smirk. "My fire however, will have an adverse effect on you..." As he spoke, a flame unlike anything Skye had ever seen gathered in his palms. It was a flame so black that it gave off no light. Then, without warning, he threw it at her. She gasped, shoving Gaden out of the way, but getting hit herself. She'd never experienced what it felt like to be burned, but the sleeve of her dress had caught on fire and was burning with that darkness. She let out a cry and instinctively put her hand to the wound, though only managed to burn her hand while she was at it. She doubled over and used the bottom of her dress to smother the fire. It worked, but her arm was badly burned. She glared at him. He smirked. Gaden scrambled to his feet and ran over to her.
"Skye! Are you okay?!"
"I'll be fine, Gaden, you have to stay out of the way!" She replied quickly. He ignored her instructions and rested his hands on her arm. She let out a surprised gasp and stared at him as the burning pain suddenly cooled. Her skin seemed to rework itself and it healed completely in seconds.
"That's fairly impressive, little prince. You know, it's really too bad that you didn't agree to join up with us. You'd have made a great asset to my empire. But since you didn't I suppose that I'll have to deal with you the same way as I will deal with Skye. I don't like the idea of having to kill both my children in one day... perhaps I'll just kill Skye and I'll wait until tomorrow to kill you." Ansem said, smirking at Gaden. Skye got to her feet and stood between them again.
"Shut up." She ordered furiously. Ansem answered by throwing another ball of dark fire at her. She countered with a ball of her own fire and they destroyed each other half way between them. Ansem growled at threw a stream of dark fire at her, which she again countered with her own stream. There was a massive explosion once they met, and a continuous shockwave emitting from the point where the fires met pushed her slowly back, like a strong wind. Gaden was standing just behind Skye, and from where he was, he could see Ansem's black flame was slowly overtaking Skye's. Gaden watched with worry, wondering how he could possibly help. He was blinded completely for a moment, and a voice that he's never forget whispered into his hear.
You're powers are that of light. Only light can ward off the darkness.
It was Daisy. Gaden nodded, blinking as his vision returned to him. He stepped out in front of Skye, underneath her outstretched arms, and wrapped his hands around her wrists. There was a flash and Skye's red-orange flames gained a purple tinge, which grew more blue, and slowly lighter, until it became blindingly bright white. And without warning, another huge explosion sounded, throwing both Skye and Gaden backwards a great distance, engulfing them in light. Skye collided with a wall and hit the ground hard, sliding across a section of broken glass, slashing up her arms and torso fairly badly. Gaden hit the ground in a spot full of rubble, bruising but otherwise unharmed. The light faded, and Skye sat up, groaning.
"Gaden?" She asked, crawling towards him. He got to his feet and stumbled towards the place where Ansem had been. He was gone, no evidence of him ever having been there, except for a small Heartless shield brooch that he'd been wearing on his cloak. It was all that was left. Gaden picked it up and walked back over to Skye, rubbing his eyes and yawning. She crossed her legs, drawing in a sharp breath at the pain. Gaden bent over her.
"I can fix you." He murmured, clearly exhausted. He placed his hands over each of her legs. The cooling sensation of healing was very subtle, almost non-existant. He managed to heal most of her worst wounds on her legs before collapsing into her lap, fast asleep. Skye smiled tiredly, hugging him close and nearly falling asleep herself. The heartless pendant slipped from Gaden's hands and onto the floor. Skye picked it up and then placed it on the floor in front of her. She passed her fingers over it, a blue flame rising over it. It melted readily before burning completely, disappearing in a matter of moments. A loud bang at the door drew her attention. She looked up, still holding Gaden gently, and watched with only a mild interest as the banging continued. After a minute or two, the door burst open.
"Skye!"
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Riku was pacing the deck of the ship, staring out over the water. The coastline, with the Fortress looming over it, was just visible on the horizon, but the winds had died completely and there was nothing to do but wait for a breeze to pick up again. Sora was standing at the bow, arms crossed, watching Riku pace back and forth.
"If it makes you feel any better, I know how you feel. But Kairi was okay in the end, and Skye will be too. She can take care of herself." He said.
"Yeh, well, hate to tell you, but it doesn't make me feel much better." Riku snapped. Sora sighed and Riku looked at him. "Sorry I just..."
"I know, it's okay." Sora answered. Lodi came out onto deck and let out a long, frustrated breath.
"If the wind doesn't pick up soon, we may try dropping anchor here and rowing a lifeboat into shore." He said, squinting out towards the shoreline.
"We can do that?" Riku asked anxiously.
"Sure, but it would take hours to row that far..."
"We're not getting anywhere just waiting here! How many people can fit into one of these boats?"
"Six, but only two can row, so the fewer, the faster." Lodi answered.
"Then I'll go with Riku." Sora offered. Lodi crossed his arms.
"You can't talk on an entire army! Ansem's full force is inside that Fortress! You two can't stand up to that alone!"
"Watch us." Sora answered simply, grinning ans following Riku to the lifeboats.
The boat reach the shore just over an hour later.
"Alright?" Riku asked Sora, breathing heavily.
"We should probably rest here for a minute. We've been out on the water for an hour, and it's no good trying to take on the soldiers when we're already so tired." A massive explosion sounded overhead, and bits of rock and wood rained down around them a moment later. Sora stared up at the fortress. "Okay, scratch that idea." The said, climbing out of the boat and setting off at a run with Riku towards the front gates of the fortress. They encountered a pair of guards standing at the gate, who drew their swords as Riku and Sora approached.
"His majesty is having a private ball. I'm sorry, but I can't admit you." The elder of the two soldiers told them, masking contempt with apology. Riku blinked.
"His...majesty?" He asked slowly. The soldier stared at him, wondering if something was wrong with him. Then Sora burst out laughing.
"Ansem is 'his majesty'? Hahaha! He's only been alive for a week and he's crowned himself already! He's so full of himself!" Sora continued to laugh helplessly until the younger guard poked him with the tip of his sword.
"Don't mock his majesty." He said firmly, slightly angrily. Riku chuckled and crossed his arms.
"He's not that majestic you know." As he spoke, the sound of terrified voices echoed through the castle's walls. The younger soldier turned around.
"The guests?" He asked quietly, thinking that Riku and Sora couldn't hear him.
"Looks like the princess is more of a problem than we'd imagined." He replied, keeping one eye on Riku and Sora. The princess? Riku wondered. Then it occurred to him who they meant.
"What is he doing to Skye?" He demanded, this Keyblade instantly in his hand. The younger turned and stared at him.
"You're rebels!" He exclaimed, holding his sword out warily at them. Riku knocked the weapon aside with his Keyblade.
"We are, and you're going to keep quiet about it, got it?" He said threateningly. As he spoke, the gate burst open and people in clothes fit for royalty began to pour out. The two guards tried to stop as many as they could, slashing indiscriminately at the terrified mass. A larger group of guards followed the crowd out, stabbing and slashing with intent to kill as many as possible. Sora cast a sheet of ice across the ground, sending many soldier's feet flying out from under them and causing a great deal of chaos, allowing a number of the crowd to escape. Sora, along with a few of the men from the mass who had regrouped and drawn weapons, stood between the still-confused soldiers and the fleeing crowd.
"Riku! Go find Skye and Gaden! I'll come find you once we're finished here!" Sora shouted, motioning for Riku to go on.
"She's in the main hall with the King! It's on the second floor of the main keep!" One of the men standing against the soldiers alongside Sora offered. Riku thanked him and ran into the castle. The fortress was nearly deserted. He reached the doors of the main hall, and found them locked tight. A second, larger explosion sounded. The sonic wave from it, even through the door, made Riku stumble backwards. He jumped to his feet and ran at the door, trying to break it down. It gave way, but didn't open fully. He smashed into it again. The already weakened door burst open. A badly injured Skye was sitting in the center of the room, holding a sleeping Gaden.
"Skye!" He shouted, running into the room and dropping to his knees next to her. She smiled up at him and he pulled her into a tight embrace. Gaden squirmed.
"You're smushing me." He murmured. Riku pulled away, allowing Gaden to crawl out from between them, before pulled Skye back into a proper embrace. She smiled, returning the hug, despite the cuts and burns still covering her body. When Riku loosened his arms around her, looking into her eyes, he could see that they'd filled with tears from the pain of contact against her injuries. He gasped.
"Skye! Are you alright?" He asked, inspecting her arms. Her dress was tattered and a few of the cuts were visible through the holes in the fabric.
"I'm fine." She lied, hissing in pain as she tried to stand. Riku helped her to her feet, supporting her with arms around her shoulders. She held her own weight for a few seconds before her legs gave out on her again and she nearly fell, but Riku was able to catch her in time. He lifted her completely off the ground in both arms. She buried her face in his shoulder to hid her grimace. Gaden started to lead them out, but nearly collapsed from exhaustion. It seemed that he'd completely spent all of his energy on helping and healing Skye. Riku paused, wondering how he was ever going to help both Skye and Gaden outside, much less deal with any guards they might encounter. Sora burst through the door a moment later.
"The guards are starting to figure out that Ansem's dead. They're all giving up." He stated to Riku, who nodded thankfully. Sora then looked at Gaden, who was getting to his feet and mumbling something about showing them the way out. Sora leaned over so that he was on eye level with the boy. "How about I give you a piggy back and you tell me which way to go to get out, okay?" He asked. Gaden grinned sleepily and nodded. Sora turned around and lifted Gaden on to his back, and he and Riku started the trek back to the boat.
Lodi and Jade were standing on the deck of the ship, having only just made it to the docks at the fortress. The wind picked up shortly after the first explosion, and they made the best use of it that they possibly could, making it to the dock in a surprisingly short time. The crew was tying the ship down and preparing to invade the fortress. Each Lodi and Jade were wondering what Sora and Riku were doing and how close they were to finding Skye. As they prepared to land, Sora and Riku appeared at the top of the cliffs above the docks. Gaden was fast asleep on Sora's back, and Riku was carrying a very battered-looking Skye.
"Bring them down here!" Jade called up to them. "I'll need to look at the both of them!" She paused before smiling and adding, "Well done boys!"
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AHHHHHH!!!! That was my last real chapter! Next one is more or less an epilogue, but it will involve some fluffy cuteness and humor worth waiting for, so be sure to check it out. Next up: my first yaoi fic! Here we go!!!!