Chibi: Well, hello there people!! ( nervous chuckle) I know I haven't updated in an eternity, but now I'm back on track!! So then, for this chapter I'll provide a short summary, in case you forgot what the story was about during my hiatus (sweats) Hehehe…and I also changed my username to Chibi-Requiem, but I'm still Chibihachi inside, so nothing's really changed at all. Now then, here we are. There won't be much randomness in this chappy because…hmm…I really don't know…
Shiloh: Well it's your story…
Chibi: … Hush up… Smart aleck (presses button on remote and large screen comes down with summary)
Shiloh: (snickers)
Story So far: The three friends have finally fulfilled their dreams of leaving destiny Islands, but only to have their world swallowed in darkness, and the four friends separated. Sora and Shiloh reunited in Traverse town, made two newfound friends, and found out that Sora was the wielder of the mystical Keyblade, and Shiloh the wielder of the Heartscepter.
Among corrupted worlds, and heartless, they started to search for their friends, Kairi and Riku. Although, when searching in the world called, the Olympus Coliseum, Shiloh was taken by a strange character named Hades, and unbeknownst to Sora, she met up with Riku. So, now as Sora continues his duty as Keyblade master, and Shiloh tries to cope with the ongoing events, what will become of our heroine and hero?
Chibi: AAd there it is, I'm terribly sorry if It sounded cheesy. (giggles) Oh one announcement, I am changing Shiloh's hair color to green. (shifts eyes toward Shiloh) A lime green to be exact.
Shiloh: W-WHAT?! (backs away slowly) You can't do that-- I don't really look that way in the fic so…
Chibi: But It'll make you look vibrant! Riku'll like it…(raises eyebrows)
Shiloh: O.o…You do know that still didn't change my mind, right?
--POL--POL--POL--
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Squaresoft, or…sigh just Shiloh and the Heartscepter…I wish I was famous…Ah well, enjoy the chappy. (reads Kingdom Hearts manga)
Chapter 10- A Touch of Regret
The hallway, lined with marble floors, seemed to stretch endlessly on, as the young girl walked through it. She looked quite intimidated, in comparison to the numerous people walking up and down the hallway. They paid no heed to the small girl, and kept their eyes fixated on the many papers they carried, and their destinations toward the door behind her. Her hands folded in front of her as she walked, she took small, timid steps toward the door, and avoided eye contact with most of the men. Navigating through the crowded hallway proved to be a bit difficult for her short, trivial being, but nevertheless she continued to inch slowly, but swiftly towards the door..
When she finally was just a couple of steps from the two brass handles of the door, she stretched out her small hand, and grasped the handle firmly. Her knuckles seemed to turn white, as she gripped the handles with such force. She sucked in a deep breath, and opened the door.
He sat on a chair across the room, lifting his head up slowly upon the girl's arrival in the room. His lips pursed, and hands folded, he didn't bat an eye when she stood motionlessly at the other end of the room.
Intimidated once more by the space of the room, she stared at the figure that sat in the chair at the other end of the room.
"Sit down, Shiloh," he instructed, his words bouncing off the silent walls.
All the noise beyond the door that the girl had previously heard seemed to be ceased into an eerie silence.
She slowly made her way over to the chair, and sat down on it, cautiously. The man stood up abruptly, causing the young girl to flinch, and clasp her hands together tighter.
Once more, he showed no emotion, as he began to walk across the room, towards her. The quietness of the room was briefly halted, as the click of his boots filled the room.
He walked at an even pace, neither slowing down, nor rushing.
When he finally reached her, he knelt down, to her short level, meeting his eyes with hers. She cringed slightly, as he held out his hand to her. His emotion less face suddenly curved upward in a menacing smile.
"Tell me Shiloh, would you like to know the truth?" he asked.
Shiloh looked down at his outstretched hand and her eyes flickered with uneasiness.
"About who you really are?"
"No! I don't want to know!" yelled a now awake Shiloh.
She sat up in her bed, the white sheets tossed over messily on top of it, showing signs of restlessness. She started to pant heavily, then quickly covered her mouth, remembering that Riku was still asleep. She hoped he hadn't heard her scream just now. She waited a few moments, expecting Riku to come in on an account of her waking him up, but there was nothing, just silence.
She slowly released her hand from her mouth, letting out the short, quivering gasps of breath flow freely. She touched her forehead, which was drenched in a cold sweat, and she expected that her hair was probably a mess. She continued to gasp endlessly, wrapping the comforter over herself.
"Not another one…" she whispered, burying her head in her pillow.
She'd already been plagued with these troublesome dreams on the islands, but now, they were about her. How could the dreams be of her when she didn't remember anything about her past? She wanted answers, right now.
But where to look if one knew nothing?
She clutched the pillow to her face more tightly, as she began to relax physically, but mentally, her head began spinning with questions.
"W-Who was that man?" she asked aloud once more.
Suddenly, she clenched her fists in anger. "Oh brother. Now I'm talking to myself," she added.
Frustrated, she grabbed the remaining part of the comforter; that wasn't on the floor, and threw it over her head. She lay there, taking in the warmth of the sheets against her body, and not letting any light fall through an opening, basically cocooning herself in a bundle of covers, and then slowly sat up.
She sighed- it seemed a bit early to get up, plus she did have the habit of just lazily laying in bed all day, when she wasn't dreaming farfetched dreams. I wonder if Riku's up…maybe, later I should talk to him about it… she thought, hopefully.
She sunk back under the covers, preparing to lay there for a good hour.
Hmm…I wonder how Soras' doing…I really want to go see him, and I want to bring Riku with me she thought.
Suddenly, she felt the urge to go explore the castle. She was lazy at times, but her adventurous side got the better of her lazy side. Besides, it was better than just lying around doing nothing.
Tossing the sheets to the side, she sighed, and sat up in bed. She scanned the amazingly quiet room, only to hear the wind howling outside the glass balcony door, and to see numerous white piles of clothes on her dresser.
Wait, white clothes? She asked herself, turning her attention back to the dresser. Indeed, the clothes where all white; complete with sets of shoes on the floor, but how did clothes get in her room if she was asleep and didn't hear anything? Shiloh grew quite alarmed at this finding, and for some strange reason, let out a shrill scream.
At this, the door burst open, revealing a quite shocked Riku standing in the doorway.
"What? What is it?" yelled a startled Riku.
At Riku's sudden appearance, Shiloh screamed again, and flew back into her cocoon of covers on her bed. Seeing nothing was really wrong, Riku sighed, then looked down at himself.
He hadn't bothered to change into something exquisite the night before, not that he had much of a selection in his all black clothing. The long t-shirt seemed to trail down to the base of his waist, and his long black pants seemed to drag onto the floor.
As Shiloh revealed herself from beneath the covers, she smiled a bit sheepishly at Riku.
" Um, hi Riku! Sorry to wake you," she said. She really had no idea why she was acting so jumpy today.
"No that's all right, I was pretty much awake," he answered plaintively.
Shiloh adjusted her position on the bed, so that her legs remained under the covers, and sighed.
The two teens sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to think of what to say, to relieve the awkward situation. Riku stared at the base of his pants, just as unsure of what to say as Shiloh.
Suddenly, Riku lifted his head, a question coming to mind.
"Hey, Shiloh, you sleep all right?"
--POL--POL--POL--
The group returned to see the heroic Hercules being cornered by Cerberus. The large beast growled a low, fierce growl at him, as it prepared to finish him. Suddenly, hearing the patter of feet behind it, it turned around to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy making their appearance. As they took their battle stances, Phil yelled out, in a shrill voice "Kid, I got two words of advice for you, ATTACK!"
Cerberus roared, and its heads began to nip at the air in front of them, in hopes of biting one of the three heroes. Sora and the group rushed forward, jumping up to hit it on one of its large heads.
Narrowly escaping an ebony paw slamming him to the ground, Sora dodge rolled once again. He was getting a bit tired of himself having to jump up every time Cerberus slammed its enormous paw with such power that he was forced to jump into the air, and counter the impending strike.
Donald and Goofy were doing their best to keep the entourage on their toes, but the huge beast was definitely not an easy match. Whirling around, Sora hurled his Keyblade at one of the dog's heads, in hopes of stunning it, and unleashing a flurry of attacks upon it. The head, whipping around to see the item flying towards it, was unprepared for the attack, and was struck in the snout by the magical key.
The head, whipping its neck around in pain, bumped into the other head beside it, causing that head to bump into the third and final head. This collision of heads caused the three-headed beast to lose its balance. Its heads swaying dizzily, it toppled over on its side with a loud thud, along with Sora's Keyblade, which clanged to the floor next to it.
Sora blinked, caught in a bit of an awed state. Wow, I can't believe that worked… he thought, looking from the Keyblade to the unconscious Cerberus several times.
"Sora!" Donald's voice yelled, breaking him from his bewildered state. "It's not over yet! We've got to finish him!"
Sora, contemplating what Donald just said, nodded rapidly, and bolted over to his Keyblade to retrieve it. He gripped it firmly in his palms, and began to strike the middle head rapidly, still triumphant over his success in knocking them over in the first place. Donald and Goofy added their additional attacks as well for support as usual, hoping to completely finish Cerberus at his point of weakness.
They had actually got a good number of hits on it, but suddenly, one black paw began to twitch. Realizing the sign, Donald and Goofy backed up a bit, to avoid extra damage when it got up. Unfortunately, Sora was too caught up in his winning streak to halt and notice the sign, and was still bashing wildly at the paw with his Keyblade.
The paw twitched again, and swiftly inched towards Sora.
"SORA! LOOK BEHIND YOU!" screeched Donald, making Goofy plug his ears briefly.
Sora, finally realizing the impending danger, stopped striking the paw, and cautiously looked over his shoulder.
--POL--POL--POL--
Shiloh, slipping on her short, black miniskirt, kept her eyes fixated on the pile of white clothes on the dresser. Whoever brought me them was very kind….but I don't want them anymore…she thought. Even after she made such a fuss about it; but she decided she just wouldn't accept the offer.
Her mind darted back to the previous conversation with Riku, and she ran a hand through the top of her hair in a frustrated motion. After Riku had asked her his question, she had replied completely without thought. "How about I tell you while we walk downstairs or something"—were her words.
Riku gave a sharp nod, and turned around to leave. He said nothing after that. I'm so bad at expressing my feelings…so how am I supposed to…She sighed, and stared determinedly at the wall. Parting her hair in the middle with her mere fingers, so her pink bangs hung in her face, she pumped a triumphant fist in the air. OKAY! I'm gonna find a way to reunite my friends today!! I'm sure of it!, She thought, marching toward the door.
She stepped out into the hallway, her steps ringing through the walls, and then dieing out slowly. It was so silent in this place…so quaint. She took a couple more steps toward the staircase, which seemed to wind endlessly down the inside of the castle.
She looked to the far side of the staircase to see numerous doors plastered to the wall on that side. As if this place wasn't big enough already she thought, her curiosity arousing. She turned to face that way, and prepared to perform a mischievous "door opening" spree, but something suddenly appeared in front of her.
It seemed to be a dark vortex of some sort, spewing small bits of dark energy. Alarmed, Shiloh's eyes widened, and she held out her hand, summoning her Heartscepter. It immediately appeared in her hand in a sudden flash of light, and she gripped it firmly, staring at the dark ball. It started to spew dark bolts of energy, while growing larger, almost to the size of herself, but a little taller. Just as she took a step back, the figure fully appeared, and it wasn't a heartless, as she had expected, it was a person.
--POL--POL--POL--
Sora, digging his knuckles deep into the sandy ground, tried to ignore the pain that now lingered at his side. He had taken an immense gash out of Cerberus' energy span, but he had indeed gotten injured in the process.
He wasn't paying attention, and he scolded himself for a mere second for it. Indeed, if it wasn't for Donald and Goofy, he would've had even more injuries, but for now he had to cope with what he'd partially caused. No use dwelling on the past… Sora thought, using his Keyblade to try and stand himself up with the other hand.
He could hear Donald cast a powerful sounding Thunder spell behind him, and slowly tried to fully stand without initiating any more pain in his side. Donald, thinking Sora was taking his sweet time, screamed at him angrily "Hey Sora! We could use some help here!"
Sora sighed and pouted, lifting his Keyblade. "WORKING ON IT!"
He rushed at the creature once more, preparing to finish off this massive dog for good this time. It's now coordinated heads snapped and writhed with energy, and anger as it tried to sidestep Donald's spells, and Goofy's shield attacks. Sora began to strike in the heads a few more times, still maneuvering as best as he could.
The group jumped back, as Sora received a generous Cure spell from Donald, to his delight. Cerberus looked as if It were about to collapse, but they could tell it had one last attack to perform. It stood as straight-legged as it could, and held its heads high. One by one, the three heads opened their mouths to release pulsating, crackling, crimson, orbs of energy directly at them.
"Run!" instructed Sora, as he dodge rolled away from a nearby orb.
Donald and Goofy ran under the large beast, as the orbs could not reach them there. That gave Sora yet another bright idea. He quickly ran under the middle head of the large black dog. It frantically scanned the area, moving around a lot and searching for his troublesome enemies. Scrambling like ants, Donald and Goofy attempted to stay out of the beast's sight so
Sora could administer his plan, without being trampled. Sora stood under its head, and stared up at its wide jaw. He pointed his Keyblade upward, and jumped up as high as he could, using his legs to propel himself athletically. The Keyblade bashed the beast in the jaw, and it s head immediately jolted upward. Stunned, it was caught off balance once more, and its heads flew backwards, along with its body.
It landed with an even louder thud than before, and briefly shook the coliseum. Donald and Goofy had luckily moved out of the way just in time, as not to be squelched by the beast. Sora first stared at the beast, awestruck, then grinned triumphantly.
"HAHA!! Did It again!" he exclaimed, happy about his third victory.
"Nice job Sora," complemented Goofy.
However, Donald merely growled under his breath, he walked over to Sora, and knocked him upside the head with his staff. "YOU'RE SO RECKLESS!"
--POL--POL--POL--
Shiloh stared at the figure in front of her. He was a man, who had just randomly appeared out of nowhere. He just seemed to stare at her, with striking, strange, golden eyes. As she stared closer into them, she could've sworn she saw swirling bits of black within them. He looked just a couple years older than her, and probably older than Riku too.
His black bangs fell just above his cheek, and dipped low over his eyes. Of course, his attire was black; seemingly that was everyone's favorite color here. For several minutes they both just stood there, staring at each other, awkwardly, which didn't help the situation at all.
She saw his eyes suddenly dart to her Heartscepter in her hand, and examine it deeply. She tightened her grip on it, and suspiciously stared at him, in case he would decide to try anything. Suddenly, he spoke, as if he planned this or something. "So, you're her…the girl…"
His voice was flat, but thin sounding, like cold ice. She swallowed a little, and was about to ask what he exactly meant by that, but they both heard a door open a little ways from where they were standing. Out stepped a curious looking Riku, walking slowly out the door and admiring his new black t-shirt he had on, then when his eyes fell on the new being in front of Shiloh, his eyes narrowed. He started to slowly trot over next to her, and he stared the boy directly in the eye.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The boy's eyes darted swiftly to meet Riku's suspicious gaze, and he plaintively answered. "My name should not concern you at the moment. I've come to announce that Lord Ansem requires both of your presences downstairs,"
Shiloh blinked, and looked at the ground in thought. So, the master is here…
Riku opened his mouth to reply, but the boy simply took one step back, making Riku close his mouth immediately. He took one last long gaze at Shiloh, before Riku stepped in his path with an unsatisfied look planted in his features. He finally held out his palm, and let the darkness slowly encircle him, like a magic trick; in seconds he was gone.
Riku whipped around so fast, Shiloh was actually startled and stared at him like he was crazy.
"What happened? Did he hurt you?" he asked.
"Um…no," she replied, standing tall and straight. "Please Riku; I can take care of myself,"
He smiled, and gave Shiloh a little push. "Sure you can,"
She sighed, and leaned on the rail to the stairs, pressing her back against it.
"So, your dream?" he asked.
Shiloh felt herself freeze inside, just a little. She inhaled a bit, and looked at him
" I dreamt of me, when I was younger. It was like a flashback dream, almost. Like…It was so real," she started, staring up at the ceiling.
Riku, listening attentively and nodding, noticed her go into a dreamy state at the end, and poked her in her cheek. She snapped out of it, once more, and rubbed her cheek angrily. "Ow…what?"
"Another question,"
"Okay, shoot,"
"What is and where in the world did you get that?" he asked flatly, pointing to the Heartscepter, that had been clutched Shiloh's hand the whole time. She blinked again, and looked at it.
"Oooh! This! It's called the Heartscepter. I aid the Keyblade master in restoring peace to the worlds, and um…" she started, but couldn't quite remember what else she could really do.
"So…you…" he started.
Shiloh decided quickly that it would be best to tell Riku about these things later on, and quickly grabbed his arm, interrupting him.
"Well then! That's enough of the interrogating inspector Riku! How about we pick up your investigation after we meet the master of this place, okay?" she exclaimed, literally dragging him down the stairs. Riku, baffled, simply followed her, and let himself be dragged down the stairs.
--POL--POL--POL--
Chibi: Well then!! There we go!! I shall try to update waaay sooner, I promise, no more hiatus, but I'll be on vacation for a while, so I'll do my best.
Shiloh: Now, about the hair…
Chibi: And once more I'm sorry about the hiatus, and hope I didn't lose you, thank you so much for your support so far everyone.
Shiloh: Hair…
Chibi: And, new Deviantart pics of Shiloh will be up when I draw really good ones. And in general I hope you liked the chappy.
Shiloh: HAIR!!
Chibi: And, the next chapter will be named Regret part 2 because I couldn't exactly fit everything in this one.
Shiloh: GRAAAAH!!
Chibi: (pets Shiloh's head) okay, time for a nap.
Shiloh: (scowls)