Blade of Light: Darkness of the Unknown
Date started: 8/10/06
Date finished: 8/12/06
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's note:
Ah things are starting to get interesting now, although this chapter is a tad less interesting as the last. Sora acts like quite the little emo boy in this chapter. This chapter is filled with much angst, I hope you enjoy it. Thank you to everyone who left me a review, they were lovely. I know most of you probably hate Roxas at this point, but don't be to harsh on him, he's just an angry little emo kid with no heart. So, read, review and enjoy!
"...You don't know what its like to feel empty inside, to know that something is missing, and no matter how much you try to cover it up with fake emotion, its still there, a great empty hole...I've already excepted my fate..."
"You're data is being erased..."
"Tron is...dying?"
"You see Sora? Your foolishness has caused pain and suffering..."
"Sora should not be sorry, Tron was proud to be able to be Sora's friend... I won't be gone forever. I will always be in your heart."
"Sora," someone poked him, "Sora wake up."
Sora opened his eyes reluctantly, and waited while the room came slowly into focus. He was surprised to find Yuffie perched at the end of his bed.
"Yuffie?"
"Kairi's sleeping right now, I promised her I would keep an eye on you."
"Did you have to wake me up for it?" Sora asked, annoyed.
"Leon wants to have a word with you, he's waiting in the hall."
"I don't want to talk," Sora said, a dark look flickering across his face, "Just leave me alone."
Sora turned away from Yuffie and drew the covers over his head. He heard Yuffie sigh and walk over to the door.
"He wont talk Squall," He heard Yuffie say as she opened the door.
Leon sighed and, massaged his forehead, "What do we do now?"
"Hell if I know," Yuffie said, "Aerith was always better at this kind of stuff then anyone else."
"Mmm..." Leon replied, turning to walk away, "We'll let him rest a little longer, but he's going to have to face reality sometime."
"But why Riku? Why did you turn to their side?"
"Please Sora, don't let him kill me."
"You have a heart, I know it."
Sora opened his eyes to find early morning sun light streaming into the room. Sitting up he noticed Leon leaning against the wall opposite the bed.
"What do you want?" Sora asked, giving Leon a cold look.
"To talk, you still haven't given us a reason for your behavior when you returned from Space Paranoids."
"I thought I told you I didn't want to talk about it." Said Sora, standing up and crossing to the door. Sora tried to open the door, but found that it had been locked. "What the...? Let me out Leon!"
"Not until you tell me what happened in Space Paranoids," Leon said, still leaning calmly against the wall. "And why you destroyed all of our equipment."
Sora grabbed Leon by the front of his shirt and screamed, "You want to know what happened! I'll tell you what happened, the Organization won, thats what happened! They lied to Riku, turned him against me, then sent him and Roxas to rub it in my face! Oh, but thats not all, they couldn't just break my heart, they had to go and kill...and kill..." Sora released his grasp on the front of Leon's shirt and sank to his knees, sobbing. "I didn't want to destroy the computer, but it was the only way to stop the Organization from destroying Radiant Garden through Space Paranoids. It was his last wish, he told me it was the only way to save the user world. I couldn't let the Organization win again."
Leon stood uncomfortably against the wall, not sure what to say to the sobbing Sora.
"I...uh...who told you to destroy the computer?"
"He did, my friend...Tron...he just...he just wanted to protect his friends. Its all my fault...everything is my fault." Sora said, a deranged look on his face, "Riku, Tron, Kairi, its all my fault. Riku was right, I can't beat him. I can't beat him or the Organization, I can't even protect my friends. I just cause everyone pain and suffering. I might as well just go give them my heart, at least no one would have to suffer anymore."
Sora stood up and summoned his keyblade. Swinging it above his head he brought it crashing down upon the door. As his keyblade made contact, the door broke into pieces, and then broke free of the door frame.
"Where do you think you're going?" Leon asked angrily, grabbing Sora's arm, "I know you're upset, but you can't just go running off like this."
"Let go of me Leon," Sora growled angrily, turning and giving Leon a piercing look.
"Answer me, where are you going? To give the Organization your heart? I thought you were stronger then tha—!" Leon was cut off as he was hit by the keyblade. Flying across the room, he landed with a thud against the wall.
"Don't try and stop me Squall," Sora said, crossing the room and looking down on Leon. "I'm tired of being trampled on, I'm tired of being beaten down. I just want to end this," Sora walked back towards the broken door and turned back to Leon, "Take care of Kairi for me."
Sora stepped through the broken door and walked down the hallway. Stopping at Kairi's door, he sighed and knocked. When there was no answer, he opened the door to find Kairi still asleep.
"Goodbye Kairi," he said, leaning over to kiss his sister on the forehead, "I'm sorry for everything I put you through."
Straightening up, he left his sisters room and continued down the stairs into the kitchen, which became suddenly quiet at his appearance.
"Leon's upstairs," Sora said emotionlessly, "He may need medical attention."
No one said anything as he walked out of the kitchen and ripped open the front door. Pushing back his chair, Cloud got to his feet and followed Sora outside.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked, glaring.
"Leaving," Sora said, his back to Cloud, "I'm tired of fighting, I just want to disappear."
"Sounds like you're running away to me."
"So what if I am? Its still better then this."
"I didn't think you where the type to run away when things got tough, but I guess I was wrong." Cloud said, turning to go back into the house. "Have a nice life Sora, I hope its what you wanted."
Cloud walked back into the house and slammed the door, leaving Sora standing alone in the street.
"What the hell do you know?" Sora muttered, as he walked towards the Gummi ship hanger.
"I don't know what they told you, but I never stopped looking for you."
Riku awoke suddenly, trying to remember what he had been dreaming about. Untangling himself from a sleeping Roxas, Riku got up and crossed the room to the two chairs that faced the large picture windows. Sitting down, he noticed his black blindfold sitting on the table next to the chair silently mocking him. Picking it up, he tied it around his head, coving his eyes.
"Darkness," he thought, "I see nothing but darkness when I wear this."
Sighing, he pulled the blindfold off and dropped it back on the table.
"Why can't I stop thinking of him?" he wondered silently, resting his head in his hands, "He betrayed me, lied to me and then fought me like an enemy. So why do I still love him?"
"Now key bearer, tell me the password to the DTD or I'll kill your beloved Riku."
Sora looked at the ground, he knew that he had been beaten, "It's the seven princesses of heart. Thats the password to the DTD, Aurora, Snow White, Cinderella, Jasmine, Alice, Belle and..."
"Yes? Go on," Roxas said, still holding Riku hostage.
"and Kairi," Sora said begrudgingly.
"Why did he save me? I hurt him over, and over again. I killed his friend, and he still wouldn't let Roxas kill me. Is Roxas lying to me? Or is Sora?"
Riku heard Roxas rustling the sheets behind him.
"Riku? Come back, you're side is getting cold." Heard Roxas mumble.
Sighing Riku stood up and walked back to the bed, where he saw a very disgruntled Roxas looking up at him.
"I'm sorry," he said, climbing back in and allowing Roxas to snuggle up to him, "I didn't mean to wake you."
"Why were you sitting all the way over by the window?" Roxas asked, wrapping his arms around Riku's chest, "You're cold, how long have you been sitting there?"
"I dunno," Riku replied, resting his chin on the smaller boys bed tousled head, "I was just thinking."
"You think to much," Roxas said, yawning and snuggling closer to Riku.
"Hm, maybe," Riku said, "Hey Roxas?"
"mm?" Roxas replied, half asleep.
"You said all nobodies are the left overs of someone who lost their heart, right?"
"Mmhmm."
"Then who am I from? Who's nobody am I?"
Roxas didn't answer, and when Riku looked down at the younger boy, he noticed that he had fallen asleep.
"Hm, I'll ask him tomorrow," Riku thought, as he snuggled deeper into the covers and started to drift into a deep sleep.
As soon as Riku had finally fallen asleep, the door to his room burst open and Saïx walked into the room.
Roxas and Riku both sat up quickly, each looking equally disoriented.
"Wassamatter?" Roxas mumbled, squinting eyes against the light that came from the hallway.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Saïx said, smirking.
"What do you think ass hole?" Riku grumbled, glaring at Saïx.
"What do you want Saïx?" Roxas asked, his wits finally seeming to return to him.
"Well, I came to inform you that while you two were having a nice lie in, that the prisoner escaped."
"Prisoner? What prisoner?" Riku asked, still disoriented from being woken up so suddenly.
"The traitor, number VIII. Axel."
"Whats up Cloud?" Tifa asked worriedly, as Cloud stalked into the kitchen.
"Stupid idiot," Cloud replied sinking back into his chair, "He's running away."
"Whaaa?" Yuffie said, giving Cloud a confused look, "Did you stop him?"
"No, do I look like a baby sitter to you?"
"Cloud!" Tifa yelled, hitting him over the head with the pan she had been washing, "You're just going to let him run away and get killed!"
"If thats what he wants then let him, what am I his father?" Said Cloud, massaging his head where Tifa had hit him.
"No, but you're still responsible for what happens to him, as is everyone else in this house. Do you even know why he's decided to run away?"
"All he said is that he was tired of fighting, but don't worry I'm sure he'll come to his senses eventually and come back."
"Don't be so sure," Leon moaned, as he made his way tenderly down the stairs.
"What happened to you Squall, you look awful." Yuffie said, rushing over to help Leon into a chair.
"The kid jumped me," Leon said, "and its Leon, Yuffie."
"He jumped you?" Tifa asked, putting down the pot that she had been brandishing at Cloud earlier. "Why would he do a thing like that?"
"I...uh...I'm afraid I may have upset him. I'm no good at talking to people, you know that."
"You must have really upset him for him to jump you like that," Tifa said, leaning against the counter, "Why was he upset Leon? Did you find out what happened in Space Paranoids?"
"Thats what upset him," Leon said, "Apparently the Organization sent Riku to destroy Space Paranoids and he ended up running into Sora and killing one of his friends, Tron or something. Then it seems like Roxas showed up and somehow broke Sora's heart. Thats all I could get out of him before he decided that everything was his fault and decided to run off."
"Tron?" Cid asked, scratching his chin, "You mean that washed up security program?"
"I guess, he wouldn't say much other then that he had been killed by the Organization. And that he told Sora to destroy the computer, it seems as though you're washed up security program saved us for the time being."
"And whats all this about Roxas breaking Sora's heart?" Cid asked confused, "I thought Riku was the one he liked?"
"You got me," said Leon, rubbing his head.
"You two are so thick," Yuffie said, giving both of them a reproachful look, "Isn't it obvious that Roxas has somehow convinced Riku that Sora didn't love him anymore, and then seduced him?"
"Come again?" Leon asked, giving Yuffie a confused look.
"Here let me spell it out in terms you'll both understand," Yuffie said, looking annoyed, "Roxas and Riku are now a couple, and Sora, who loves Riku, is now heart broken because Riku seems to love someone else. Do you understand?"
"Ok, so how does this tie in with Sora running off?" Cid asked, still looking slightly confused.
"I don't know, Leon was the one who talked to him."
"He thinks that everything that has happened is his fault," Leon said, "So now I guess he's going to go and give his heart to the Organization."
"What!" Yelled a chorus of voices.
"What's going on down here?"
Everyone turned to see Kairi standing on the stair case, still looking half asleep.
"Why is everyone yelling at this time in the morning?" She asked, walking over to the table and collapsing sleepily into a chair.
"Your idiot brother's run off," Cloud said, glaring at Kairi.
"What!" Kairi said, her head snapping up from its resting spot on the table, "Did you try and stop him!"
"Well, Leon did, but Cloud just let him go," Yuffie said, giving Cloud an angry look.
"Cloud! How could you just let him run off? Did he say where he was going?"
"To give his heart to the Organization," Leon said sheepishly, "But I doubt he'll make it, we don't even know how to get to The World that Never Was."
"Well we've got to go find him!" Kairi said, standing up from the table. "We have to stop him before he does something stupid!"
"I'd say its a bit late for that little Missy," Cid said, "But I'm with you, we should find him ASAP."
Leon stood up, wincing from the pain in his side, "I'll go and visit the King, I'm sure he'll know what to do." Leon walked over to Cloud and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, "and you're coming with me."
Sora sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, resting his chin on his knees. He was sitting inside the cockpit of his Gummi ship, staring out at the endless mass of space.
"Oh man," he said, closing his eyes, "I'm so lost...and almost out of gas." Sora's stomach grumbled at this and he opened his eyes, "And out of food too. There's gotta be a world around here somewhere."
Sora sat up in his seat and started typing coordinates into the computer.
"Lets see, there should be a world about a mile west from here. I think I have just enough gas to make it."
Sora turned on the engine and flew west towards the mystery world. As he approached it, he saw that it looked like a skull and crossbones.
"Uh oh, that means...pirates!"
As Sora approached the world, an alarm sounded in the cockpit.
"Oh no! I'm out of gas," Sora said, trying franticly to keep the Gummi ship in the air as it was pulled down by the gravitational pull of the world. As the engine went dead, Sora lost control and the Gummi ship came crashing down towards the strange new world.
"Oi!"
Sora felt someone prod him, opening his eyes he saw a strangely dressed man standing in front of him. His hair was in dreadlocks and pulled back by a red scarf. On top of his head he wore a beat up old hat, that looked like it had seen better days. He was dressed in a ragged shirt and vest, and wore a long brown coat. Sora also noticed that he was carrying a sword, and pistol that was tucked securely in his belt.
"Who...are you?" Sora asked wearily, his eyes still on the strange mans sword.
"I think the real question is, who are you and what are you doing on my ship?" The strange man retorted.
"I'm Sora," Sora said cautiously, "And I don't know why I'm on your ship. My...er...ship crashed you see, and I guess I blacked out after that."
"Ah, well then, its been nice talking to you, but I'll have to ask you to GET THE BLOODY HELL OFF MY SHIP!" The strange man yelled.
"Yes sir!" Sora said, quickly standing up and nearly falling off the side as he tried to keep his footing on the rolling ship. "Um, how exactly do I get off your ship if we're in the middle of the ocean?" Sora asked, looking around and seeing nothing but rolling waves.
"You know how to swim don't you?" The strange man asked, giving Sora a sideway's glance.
"Yes sir, but I still don't see..."
"Well then, off you go!" The strange man said giving Sora a cheery wave and wobbling off towards the other end of the ship.
Sora stood dumbstruck as the odd man walked off as if he was drunk.
"There's no way I'm jumping off this ship," Sora muttered, still trying to steady himself, "Maybe I can hid away until we reach land. I've always wanted to be a pirate."
Sora stumbled in the opposite direction as the strange man had gone, and soon found a pile wooden crates stacked at the bow of the ship. Hoisting himself, over the first one, he found a small opening between the crates and slipped into it. He knew that he would be cramped in the morning, but he really didn't care.
"I still don't know why you insisted on me coming along," Cloud muttered angrily, as him and Leon ascended the stairs leading to the King's study.
"Because its your fault that he ran off," Leon replied angrily, "You should have stopped him."
They arrived at the large double doors and Leon knocked twice.
"Come in!" A voice called from behind the door.
Leon and Cloud entered the large room, having to duck down as they went through the small door at the bottom of the large left door. The room was lined with many tall book shelves that stretched upwards out of sight. Tucked behind a curve in the book shelves sat the king at a modest white desk.
"Your highness," said Leon, bowing, "We have some bad news I'm afraid. Sora's run off, and we have no idea where he is."
The king sighed, "I was afraid this might happen, well, tell me the whole story."
Leon told the king what had happened in Space Paranoids and when Sora had woken up, with Cloud chiming in ever once in a while.
"Well, this is all very disturbing news," the king said, "Have you tried to track his Gummi ship through the tracking Gummi you installed in his ship?"
"Yes, but it seems as though he ripped it out before taking off. We've tried contacting him too, but he's out of range."
"Yes, he's no idiot, he would know that you wouldn't be able to contact him if he were out of range. But that must also mean he is out of gas, which means that he's either drifting helplessly in space or has crash landed on a world."
"But how do we find him with odds like that? He could be anywhere!"
"I have a solution," King Mickey said, smiling kindly at Leon and Cloud, "I would like you to meet a very interesting young man that just showed up a few hours before you did. He's not in the best shape right now, but I'm sure he'd be willing to help us." The king turned to a small door hidden behind his desk, "Axel, you can come in now."
Leon and Cloud looked up to see a thin boy, who looked several year's older then Sora, enter the room. He had fiery red hair and wore a black Organization coat. As he approached Leon and Cloud, they could see that he walked with a slight limp and was covered in cuts and bruises.
"Axel, I would like you to meet Cloud Strife, and Squall Leonhart, Leon for short."
The red headed boy merely nodded in their direction as he leaned against a book shelf, his arms crossed.
"Whats a member of Organization XIII doing here?" Cloud asked, eying the strange boy contemptuously.
"He is no longer a member of Organization XIII," the king said, "He was marked as a traitor and imprisoned many months ago. He has only just managed to escape and has come here in hopes of helping Sora."
"Is that so?" Cloud said still eying the red headed boy with a look of distrust, "How do we know that he isn't a spy?"
"That's quite enough Cloud," the king said, sternly, "I trust that this boy is telling the truth, and that should be enough for you."
"Yes your highness," Cloud mutter begrudgingly, "I apologize."
"So, if you're here to help Sora, whats your plan?" Leon asked, trying to change the subject.
"Well, I trust that you've tried to contact him from Radiant Garden, right?" Axel asked Leon, giving Cloud a cold look.
"Thats right, and we also attempted to contact him while on our way here."
"So, my guess is that, even on a full tank of fuel, his ship would have only made it a small distance out of range. Which means that for him to be out of range from Radiant Garden and Disney Castle, he would have to be between these to points."
Axel walked over to the kings desk and pulled out a map of the surrounding worlds, and pointed to two separate points in space.
"How'd you know that?" Cloud asked, trying but failing to be unimpressed.
"When you don't have a heart, you have a lot of time on your hands. Most of the Organization members have picked up strange hobbies in hopes it will fill that empty space."
"And does it work?" Cloud asked rather sheepishly.
"We like to pretend it does," Axel said, folding up the map and stowing it in his pocket. "We seem to do a lot of that, pretending. You could call us the worlds biggest phonies. But most adults are, phonies I mean."
"So do you think you'll be able to find Sora?" the king asked Axel.
"Yeah, he's either drifting in space or on Port Royal. I should be able to find him pretty easily."
"Now hold on a minute!" Leon said, "Why is he coming with us to find Sora?"
"He's not coming with you, he's going with out you." the king said.
"But why?" Asked Cloud.
"Do you really think Sora would come back with either of you at this point? He would probably run away from you the minute you got there."
"Yeah," Leon said sighing, and turning to address Axel, "Ok, but if you harm one hair on that boy's head, I swear I will kick your ass."
"Don't worry old man, I'll make sure he gets back safely."
Sora woke up feeling sick, "Ugh, I never want to become a pirate," he muttered, stretching as much as he could in the small nook where he had spent the night. He almost wished he had jumped off the boat, at least he wouldn't have been as sea sick. Peaking out from the small stack of crates, he saw that the ship had come alive since the night before. Crew men ran back and forth, trimming the sails and scrubbing the decks.
All of a sudden, a large man with outrageous side burns popped up in front of Sora.
"Boo!" The man said.
"Aaarrgghh!" Sora screamed, and scrambled backwards trying to escape. But he felt someone grab the back of his shirt from behind and pull him out from behind the crates. Twisting around he saw a man with a brightly colored parrot sitting on his shoulder was hanging on to him.
"Ah and what have we here?" the man with the side burns asked, "A stowaway, eh? Ah, the captain's not going to like this at all. Mr. Cotton, would you kindly escort this young man to the brig?"
Cotton did not answer, but his parrot let out a horrible squawk and he began dragging Sora down into the bowls of the ship. Sora was finally released into a dirty cell, that housed about an inch of grime on the floor. Grabbing the cell door, Sora began to shake it.
"Hey! Let me out of here!" he yelled, hoping that the old cell door would break free, "Hello!"
"Oi, stop your gabbing!" Said the man with the side burns, appearing from another part of the ship and leading the strange man from the night before. "I found 'em hiding beneath some crates captain."
"Very good Mr. Gibbs," the strange man who appeared to be the captain said as he approached Sora's cell. "Oh not you again!" he said, as he saw Sora, "Look mate, I don't give free rides, savvy?"
"I don't want a free ride, I want to get off this ship! Preferably on land."
"Well, I'm disinclined to acquiesce to you request." Said the captain turning away from Sora.
"What are you going to do to me then?" Sora asked, panicking, "You're not just going to leave me here are you?"
"Oh alright, we'll be in Port Royal in two day's." The captain said, looking annoyed, "You can get off there, but don't expect to be let out of there, you're lucky I'm not making you walk the plank, savvy?"
With that the captain and Mr. Gibbs walked away, leaving Sora all alone in the filthy cell.
Blabbing:
MWAHAHAHA yes! Finally the appearance of Captain Jack Sparrow! Ah, the wonderfulness of it all! And the reappearance of Axel, whom hasn't been seen in quite awhile. Poor thing, he's all limpy and bruised. smacks Riku This is all your fault! But yes, a much less dramatic chapter then the last, but hopefully as good. I like the fact that even though Leon and Cloud are young, they are still older then most of the main characters (Riku, Sora, Roxas, Axel, Kairi) so Axel considers them "Old men". I tried to sneak in some Catcher in the Rye in, but I'll let you guys figure out where that is. So thanks for the reviews and leave some more!