Chapter XLIII: Off Course: In the Ruins of Mosel

Nightshroud: That's too bad about not being able to hear them, Mr. Fipp. My computer used to be just as bad, until we got DSL. Yay! I'm glad you thought the blood element was original. And it was nice to see Namé take on someone herself. I realized that she hadn't personally defeated any bosses in the story, so I decided to change that. I'm glad you liked Reyna's halo move too. 8D Okay, on we go.
The gummi ship flew smoothly through space. The three of them were unusually quiet, probably because they were expecting to finally confront Amnael. There was a beep on the console and Tyson looked at it.

"Radiant Garden is coming up soon," he announced. The stared out the window as the world slowly started to come into view.

"There it is!" Reyna exclaimed.

"Uh, guys..." Namé started before she was interrupted by a warning sound and a flash of red lights.

"What's going on?" Reyna said as a portal opened on their right, and they were rapidly drawn into it.

"I...can't steer away!" Tyson said as he battled with the controls. They were sucked into the portal, before another ship flew in after them, and the portal closed.

The portal opened up and they found themselves being hurled towards an unfamiliar world.

"Tyson, do something!" Namé yelled.

"That portal must have fried the controls! It's not responding!" he yelled back. They entered the planet, rather dark and gloomy, and crashed into the murky water. The ship deployed its floating mechanism and they climbed out.

"What happened?" asked Reyna as she inched away from the edge of the ship upon seeing the area around them.

"I don't know, but I think that was deliberate," said Tyson with a frown. Namé was silent, as she was closely taking in there surroundings.

"What is it, Nam?" asked Reyna.

"We seem to be in some sort of ruins. Probably flooded by water. Should we take a look?"

Tyson shook his head. "We should just see if we can fix the Highwind and get out of here."

While Namé and Tyson argued, Reyna peered into the water. As she looked, she suddenly got a strange feeling, like something was coming nearer.

"Guys...I think we should get away from here..."

The two stopped their arguing and looked at her. "Huh?" Tyson asked.

"I said-"

Suddenly out of the water shot a huge tentacle. Namé screamed as it swung forward and smashed into the gummi ship, sending them into the water.

When Reyna resurfaced, she frantically tried to find land. She spied a ruined bridge and swam for it. The thought of being in that water didn't sit well with her, and sent a panic through her. She saw Tyson reach there first, with Namé closely behind him.

"Reyna!" Tyson yelled. She turned to see a tentacle shoot out of the water and lunge at her.

"Strike Raid!"

Tyson hurled Lionheart and sliced through the tentacle, dropping into the water with a large splash. Reyna swam and scrambled onto the ruined stone bridge.

"Hurry, we have to get inside!" said Namé. The three ran down the bridge as fast as they could, tentacles shooting into the air after them. The bridge led towards a section of the ruined structure. They ran down the steps as a tentacle came after them, collapsing the doorway in.

"Is everyone all right?" asked Reyna.

"Yeah," Tyson sighed with relief.

"No getting out that way," Namé said, gazing at the ruined doorway. The other two nodded solemnly at their predicament.

"Well, there's nothing to do but take a look around here," said Tyson. He stood up and walked down the dimly light tunnel, the bleak light from outside filtering in through some unseen crack. They were in a small sort of entrance hall. The walls, pillars, and ceiling seemed to be made of a grayish stone, carved with old runes. They walked down the length of the room and came to a flight of stairs. They followed them up till they came to a landing,then took a passage left. It lead them out into a wide room, with a bridge running from doorway to doorway, with water covering the floor below. There was a flight of stairs leading down into the water, since at one time it must not have been flooded. They crossed the bridge cautiously, then passed through the doorway.

They were led into a somewhat narrow hallway, which was flooded with water. The three had to wade almost up to their necks in order to cross through.

"It's kinda strange that we haven't seen any Heartless," said Namé.

"That's true. This place just seems so...dead."

They came out into a hall (as in like a grand hall, not a hallway) with several passages leading from all directions. Unfortunately, all of them seemed to be blocked up with rubble.

"Hey, I found another passage!" called Tyson. They went through the doorway and stopped short. The stairs led down into another room, flooded all the way to the top.

"It's completely submerged," said Namé after a moment.

"Guess we've got no choice but to turn back," Reyna said heavily as they turned and backtracked through the tunnel. They reentered the gloomy hall and set up for the night. Tyson gathered some wood and material to burn and Namé lighted it with a fire spell. They wrapped themselves in cloaks that they had put on when they left the ship and huddled close to the fire. Namé and Tyson drifted to sleep eventually, but Reyna continued to stare into the fire. Memories invaded her idle mind, and she forced herself to replay them.

Kai and Reyna sat on a palm tree (the one Sora, Riku, and Kairi sat on) on the Destiny Islands eating Sea Salt Ice Cream.

"It's too bad Tyson and Namé were too sick to go to school today," said Reyna as she took another lick of her popsicle.

"Yeah," Kai said "We should visit them."

They silently ate their ice cream. Kai stole a glance at Reyna, then suddenly blushed when she turned to look at them.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Uh...nothing. Listen, I...uh...wanted to give this to you."

He handed her a necklace, made of different colored seashells with a little paopu fuit charm attached at the end.

"Kai, it's beautiful! Thanks."

"No problem," he said uneasily. She smiled and grabbed his hand.

"C'mon, let's go see Tyson and Namé. I can't wait to show them my necklace!"

She ran in front of him, pulling his hand as he smiled warmly at her.

Reyna smiled at the fond memory. She missed those days. More memories came to her, these instantly dampened her mood. The were memories after Kai had joined the Organization.
Kai was standing at the table, inspecting a beautiful rose in a jar.

"It's beautiful," he said quietly. She didn't reply, but felt something different in his attitude.

"It reminds me of you," he continued. She didn't know why, but she felt herself unconsciously blush. He looked at her, and seemed to have sad, almost regretful, look on his face.

"I wish it hadn't come to this," he said.

"Then why are you doing this? C'mon, Kai, come back with us."

He shook his head. "I can't do that. It's not possible anymore."

"What do you mean?" she asked, taking a step forward.

"Darkness runs in my blood. I can't escape that fact."

"But your dad was dark and he came back!"

"That's because he had King Mickey's light to bring him through the darkness. I don't any light like that. Or at least, not any more."

"What happened? Who was your light?"

"Amnael said that I had someone who was my light, but they forgot about me, and discarded me in the darkness."

"Who was your light?"

He looked at her sadly. "You don't know?"

"Did he mean me? Was I his light?" she said softly. Another memory from Beast's Castle came to her.

He opened a portal to vanish from the castle, when Reyna ran up and hugged him from behind. She buried her face in his back, and whispered to him.

"Please, Kai. Don't leave again. I need you."

No one was close enough to notice, but Kai's face looked like he was in deep pain. He uttered a choked, "Sorry," and disappeared.

"I should have done something. I could have helped him if I tried."

She hung her head and sighed. She was startled when she heard a noise. She looked up to see a few rocks fall down on of the blocked doorways. She stood up and walked closer to it. More rubble fell away, causing her to step back in alarm. She moved her head closer when the mountain of rubble suddenly exploded outward. She fell backward as clumps of dirt and stone fell around her. Tyson and Namé sprang up in alarm, looking around. The three looked through the doorway and saw Heartless emerge from it. They seemed to be clay figures, having no distinguishing features besides their arms and legs. They bore a Heartless symbol on their backs.

"Heartless!" Tyson said, summoning his keyblade. The Prometheans surged through the doorway and attacked the heros. Reyna slid her whip down through their legs, then pulled up and sliced them in half.

"Blizzaja!"

Namé sent a blast of large ice crystals that speared through the Promethean Heartless, creating a path for them.

"C'mon, let's go!"

They dashed past the Heartless and through the newly opened doorway.

Nightshroud: Good chapter? I hope so. I have a reason for all the flashbacks too, and there will be more next chap too. The next part is another Organization fight! A bit of an unexpected turn of events too...hehe. Well, review and let me feel the love! 8D

Next chapter: Alister Takes Action