Keys of Destiny
Chapter 11
The door at the end of their path stood quiet and still before them. It didn't look much different to the hundreds that Sora opened earlier. Before proceeding further, Riku spoke. "Wait, Sora. I should probably stay behind," he suggested.
"Why?" Sora turned around to face him, perplexed.
"Riku is right. There was a chance Kurix doesn't know we have already found Riku. We can take advantage that," the King said, giving Riku his communication device.
Riku pinned the badge-like device on his shirt. "See you later, Sora," he said, flashing an assuring smile at his best friend.
Sora didn't want to leave Riku behind. But it was necessary. "See you," he said, knowing his best friend wouldn't be defeated easily.
Heart filled with anxiety, Sora pushed open the door. He was stunned by the sight. They were inside a spacious floor about the size of a school hall. Half the space was taken up by an enormous machine. It was oddly shaped, with the main portion looking like a small iron mountain. Surrounding it were numerous long and sharp metal spikes, sticking out from the ground below. The spikes were unorderly, like a fence that went through a cyclone. Sora expected Omega to be quite bulky, but this was substantially different from what he had in mind. Standing about two blocks away from them and in front of the machine was a hooded figure. Sora noted that he wasn't armed. He had his back to them with his hood lowered. Despite that, there was almost no doubt who he was.
Sora was about to say something. Before any sound came out, someone called his name from above.
"Sora!"
Looking up, he found Namine standing on a small balcony about halfway to the top of the enormous machine. Her arms were kept behind her back.
The hooded figure turned around to face them. Sora held his breath for a moment. Though he had been told a few times what he looked like, he couldn't help to be surprised. Not only did he look exactly the same as Riku, the atmosphere around him was the same. He could have been Riku's twin if he wasn't a Nobody.
"We finally meet, Sora," said Kurix, wearing the same teasing smile that Riku always had on his face. "And of course, Roxas, your majesty and his followers," he added. Not to the party's surprise, Donald's protests erupted spontaneously.
Sora didn't realise he was staring at Kurix face until Roxas kicked him on the heel. He flushed red for a split second from embarrassment. "What do you want? Where is Kairi? And what are you going to do with Namine?"
"Which question do you want answered first?" chuckled Kurix, looking amused. "It seems like Kairi's gone out for a walk. I thought you would've met Kairi when you were on your way down here. Well, at least her Nobody is keeping me company."
Brows burrowing, King Mickey stepped forward. "I have brought Sora with me. Now tell us your intention."
Slowly and steadily, Kurix walked towards them. "What I want is very simple, your majesty. You see, I only want my heart back." As they spoke, Sora, Roxas, Goofy and Donald watched with anticipation.
Kurx ran a hand through his fine raven hair, brushing away the long fringe from his eyes. "Since I'm not like Ansem or Xemnas, I won't bore you with a speech. It's much simpler to get straight to the point."
He continued, gaze shifting to Sora. "I want Sora to free Riku's heart with his keyblade. Then I'll give you this piece of paper so you can save the world. Sounds like a bargain?" At some point as he spoke, Kurix had taken out the piece of paper from his hood's pocket.
His words suspended in the air, as if it was hung there long enough for them to read it ten times over. The only sound was Omega's engine humming in the background. Sora felt he had been thunderstruck. Why didn't he think of it before? They knew Kurix wanted to become an existent being using whatever means. Logically, he would need a heart. Since he couldn't just have any heart, he needed to take it from Riku.
Roxas recovered before Sora. "Why Sora's keyblade though? He's not the only one who can use them," he argued.
"Didn't the King or Riku tell you, Roxas? At least the King should know that the only keyblade that can remove the heart completely is Sora's Kingdom Key. All the other keyblades are used for battle and for unlocking purposes. Sora is special. Only his Kingdom Key can remove hearts." Kurix looked down to the small King. "One person's heart can save you the whole world. You shouldn't even need to consider, your majesty."
"Tough luck, Kurix," Roxas snapped. "Riku isn't here."
"That's right! You can't get the heart without him!" Donald joined in, scowling.
Kurix smiled. "No, I think he is."
Sora didn't exactly see what occurred next. It had happened before he could react to it. He felt a gust of wind, followed by the crisp sound of clashing keyblades. He saw Kurix was blocking Way to the Dawn with a keyblade he had never seen before. It was longer than all the other keyblades. Its body was blood red in colour with a silver end. There were patterns embroidered on it. Gritting his teeth, Riku pushed Kurix with his keyblade. Kurix's expression was the opposite, he looked composed and confident. In just moments, Riku had somehow closed up onto Kurix quick enough to be unnoticed by most of them but not quick enough to take his Nobody by surprise.
Sora, Roxas, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey rushed forward to help. They didn't get further than a step before they were thrown back an invisible force, landing them on their backs.
Using the strength of one arm, Kurix shoved Riku back with his long keyblade. Riku steadied himself, eyes stayed glued on his Nobody. Behind them, everyone scrambled up to their feet.
"Do you really not care about what happen to this piece of paper?" said Kurix coolly. "It's time to save the world, Riku," he added mockingly. Riku's grip on Way to the Dawn tightened in anger. But he winced and dismissed his keyblade.
"There we are. Riku's here now, your majesty," said Kurix, smiling satisfactorily.
Sora slowly turned to look at Kurix, and then at King Mickey. "Your majesty?" he whispered, face aghast. The King wouldn't meet his gaze.
"Do it, Sora," said Riku firmly. Sora thought his ears were deceiving him.
"I'm sorry, Riku," said King Mickey in a small voice. Sora wondered if it was guilt that kept the King looking down to his toes. Riku said nothing in return, his expression stoic.
The Kingdom Key materialised in Sora's hand. He examined at it. The had claimed victory for him over many battles. Now, that very keyblade will pierce through Riku's heart. Sora lifted his head to scan the faces of all the people in front of him. All but Roxas looked at him sympathetically. Not that it helped much, Sora felt a tiny bit better to know Roxas understood he didn't want sympathy that moment. Although, he didn't understand how they could be so calm. Were they waiting for him to decide? No, they didn't have a choice. Sora was still struggling to digest the fact that the King wanted him to take his best friend's heart out. How did they come to this? Why have things gone so horribly wrong?
"No!" Namine screamed from above. "Sora, you can't do that! Please don't," tears streamed down her smooth cheeks. "I beg you Sora, don't use your keyblade on Riku, please," she said as she sobbed, choking on words.
Looking through her tears, Namine saw Sora rigidly turned to face her. He looked so lost and confused. Riku stood with his fist clenched. He turned to the side so she couldn't see his expression. Namine realised in horror that her words alone wouldn't stop them. The King had already decided; and Riku would not change his mind once it's made up. She took a deep breath and gathered herself together. Ropes had bound her hands tightly. Her eyes dart about and found what she needed. Prior Sora's arrival, Kurix had been fidgeting the control panel. He seemed to be having trouble with it because he ended up breaking the screens in frustration, shattering glass everywhere. Namine bent down as low as she could so her restraint hands could reach. With a great deal of effort, she got hold of a piece of glass fragment and began to work on the ropes.
Sora looked up to the sobbing Namine. She looked so sad. Never had he seen her more upset. Sora looked back to Riku. His silver-haired friend had a pained expression on his face. He was not any happier than Namine. Words caught in Sora's throat. He couldn't get them out. Somehow, Roxas spoke for him.
"What would happen to Riku if his heart leaves him? I don't think this has ever happened before." Roxas asked the King.
"You're right Roxas. Anything can happen. There are two likely possibilities. The heart may go to Kurix, making him human and turning Riku into a Nobody. Or," the King took a small breath. "Riku will die the moment his heart leaves and Kurix won't get the heart either. The heart returns to Kingdom Hearts."
"Are you guys finished yet?" asked Kurix, looking bored. Holding the paper between his fingers, he waved it back and forth. "I can wait, but Omega won't. The project is close to completion."
"Just do it, Sora!" commanded Riku, ignoring Namine's wailing in the background.
Slowly, Sora lifted up the Kingdom Key, pointing it to where his friend's heart lie.
Without warning, the ground trembled violently. Sora stumbled forward, dropping his keyblade. He watched in terror as a large crack began to eat its way across the floor. The tiles beneath their feet were crumbling into pieces. Everyone was busy trying to stay on their feet and not fall over or crash into each other. Then it stopped. Sora looked around, wondering what was going on. Suddenly the ground vibrated again, throwing Sora off his feet. Roxas caught him by the wrist and pull him upright.
"What's happening?" asked Sora, stunned by the chaos engulfing them.
"I don't know," answered Roxas, looking around anxiously.
Another thunderous sound ripped through the air. Sora and Roxas was stunned by what the sight in front of them. Omega was moving. A metal head emerged from the ground below, ripping apart the tiled flooring as it did so. The metal slope was in fact the body of Omega. It rose up slowly, bringing up front and back legs. Joining the head and body was a long neck, which was made up by sections. The spikes that stuck out from the ground earlier were actually part of Omega's wings. There were four wings in total. It also had a tail, longer and thicker than its neck. Omega looked somewhat like a gigantic robot dragon.
Sora and Roxas stood transfixed with mouth agape.
"What-" Sora began.
"-the hell," Roxas continued
"-is that?" finished Sora.
Neck stretched all the way out, Omega let out a thunderous roar. Sora and Roxas covered their ears. Sora caught a glimpse of Kurix running towards Omega. His attention was diverted when Roxas called him.
"Look, Sora!" Roxas cried, pointing at the direction of Omega's neck. Sora had to look hard to vaguely saw the last page of the Omega project caught between the section joints of Omega's long metallic neck. It wasn't the only thing that surprised him. Namine had somehow freed herself and was climbing up Omega's back. Kurix managed to jump onto Omega, going after both Namine and the last page. Omega flapped its wings, generating strong gusts around them.
Omega's wings began to flap faster. Soon its feet were lift in the air.
"It going to fly away!" cried Sora, squinting to block dirt from entering his eyes.
"Yeah like it's not obvious enough!" yelled Roxas. They were using every bit of strength trying not to be blown away by the strong gusts. Omega was pecking apart the ceiling with its head, sending down shingles to the party.
Sora panicked. They were in a helpless situation. The wind was in their way. Donald, Goofy and King Mickey were busy dodging the shingles raining down on them. At the corner of his eyes, he saw Riku jumped up and held onto Omega's tail with both hands. His feet dangled in the air as Omega rose higher. Sora thought about doing the same, but the tail was out of reach. Just as he was thinking up a solution, the tail flipped and was heading their way.
"Roxas!" Sora called his Nobody. Not needing explanation, Roxas prepared himself for the moment. At the precise moment, Sora and Roxas caught one of Riku's ankles each. They were hurled upwards as their feet were lift off solid ground. The force was so great it they almost loosened their grip. They certainly didn't notice Riku winced as their grip tightened around his ankles. Sora barely heard someone screamed and fell off from Omega on the other side. To his astonishment, it was Kairi. Goofy caught her. Sora had no idea why Kairi was there, but he didn't have time to ask either. So he let himself be carried away by Omega.
"Let go of me you two!" Riku called to the two teenagers dangling below. "Do you know how heavy you two are?"
"Let go!" Sora repeated and laughed nervously, as though Riku was telling some really bad joke. "Do you have any idea how high we are now, Riku?"
Roxas looked down below and swallowed. In a matter of seconds, Omega had crashed through about eight floors and still surging upwards with great velocity. The King, Donald and Goofy were shrinking to very small. "Nope, letting go is definitely not an option."
"Come on Riku, pull us up. I know you can do it!" Sora chirped cheerfully. He hated to admit to Riku, but flying was an incredible feeling. Wind whisked passed his face and everything flied past him with amazing speed. It reminded him of the fight against the flying fish boss in The Land of Dragons.
"Sora, is it just me or you're sounding like you're enjoying this?" Riku clamped his hands around Omega's tail as hard as he could. He might've been joking when he told them to let go; but he definitely wasn't joking at the part about their weight.
"That is disturbing Sora," Roxas said, shaking his head but had an amused expression. "But I'll have to say this is truly amazing. It's not something we get to do all the time. Hey Riku, stop daydreaming and get us up. Namine is in danger you know."
Riku had murder in mind as he summoned all the strength in his body to pull up three people. It seemed almost impossible to do with so much weight on him. He thought he was going to die but eventually they got up to Omega's spacious back.
Author's rambling: Before you guys scream and say "OMG what is RikuNami doing in this story?", I urge everyone to read Chain of Memory's manga. I have no intention to advertise for the publisher, so go borrow a copy or stand and read. It doesn't matter. In my opinion, KHII does a bad job in portraying Namine's character. She is seen as a rather cold-hearted and evil witch. There isn't enough explanation on her actions, since it is told in CoM. But a lot of people didn't play that game before they play KHII, so there is confusion about her character. Namine is quite different in the manga.
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