Chapter 6: Snatched
The Station Plaza was deserted, corresponding with the rest of the dormant town. Sunset blazed across the homes and mountains of Twilight Town, the only motion besides the subtle wind and ourselves was the trains. It was tranquil, at an alarming setting.
"Hey," Riku gestured to an opening in the wall, adjacent to the steps leading to the station.
I turned my head to see the gaping chasm, Riku pointing to it.
"What is that?" I asked, stepping up towards the entrance, peering inside cautiously.
"It looks like a tunnel…" Riku observed, and then turned his head to read the number displayed on top.
"And it looks like there's more than one, seeing this is number four."
I nodded, and turned to Riku with a puzzled expression.
"Do you think…maybe the memories are in here?"
Riku shrugged, and proceeded ahead.
"There's only one way to find out."
I sighed, running after him and followed Riku into the caverns. It wasn't as dimly lit as I had expected it to be, the walls a yellow concrete with many closed off places by metal gates. The rumble of a train would occasionally be head above us, and our footsteps echoed in the enclosed acoustics. As I walked, I thought back to Roxas. He grew up in a virtual part of this town, and probably knew it like the back of his hand. If he were here, the task of finding the memories could be much easier.
Knowing Roxas was in the hands of the Organization, along with Xion, troubled me. Were they tortured, brainwashed? Killed? I shook my head trying to shake away these awful thoughts. My friends were in danger, and the only thing I could do right now was find the memories.
I was grateful, however, for the safety of Namine and Sora.
Riku laughed, continuing down the concrete maze.
"Come out little memory, wherever you are…" Riku called down the caverns, shaking his head.
I looked around, seeing nothing that could possibly resemble the memory.
"What are they supposed to even look like?" I questioned, turning to Riku.
"Well, when Olette, Hayner, and Pence mentioned 'balls of light', I expected that would be it."
I nodded. "Yeah, that would make sense."
"And that's what they looked like when Sora was stabbed." Riku added.
I immediately winced. Why did he have to bring that up again? Those images, flashed through my mind, tearing at my heart and making me cringe in pain.
"Yeah…" I nodded in agreement.
A sudden rattle came from beside me, as I snapped from my thoughts with a gasp. There was a kind of swooshing noise, one that belonged to another presence.
Who…?
What..?
"Riku?" I questioned with a tone of fear, straying behind him as I looked through the metal gates in a search of finding the third being.
"What?" he stopped and turned around.
"What was that?"
Riku raised an eyebrow, folding his arms.
"What was what?"
I gaped my mouth open, unable to buy the fact that he hadn't noticed anything.
"That…that sound…"
Riku blinked, rolling his eyes and turning around with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"It's probably just the wind, Kairi."
Just the wind?
"No! Riku, it was something big… like another person! The gate rattled-!" Riku immediately turned around, placing his hands on my shoulders and giving me a firm shake of comfort.
"Kairi, calm down. You're letting your nerves get the best of you."
I sighed, frowning.
"But I swear I saw-"
"You didn't see anything. It's just your imagination." Riku met my eyes with a sincere gaze.
I gave up, letting my shoulders sag under his weight, looking away.
"Alright."
I could see Riku smile from my peripheral vision, a small grunt of a laugh coming from him.
"What? Is the tunnel getting to you?" he joked, raising his hand to ruffle my hair like that of a dog. He stalked ahead, continuing his chuckle.
"N-no!" I mustered.
"Suuure." Riku laughed.
I shook my head as I tried to stop a smile from lifting the corners of my mouth.
"I am not scared of tunnels." I stuck my tongue out with a laugh.
"Uh huh, you who's freaking out from the wind."
As I took in Riku's approach to my concern, I relaxed. Perhaps it was just the wind. I mean, we were underground, right? Everything was louder than it would usually be. I was just worried too much. Had too many things on my mind.
"Pffft, whatever." I joined sides with him, punching him playfully in the arm.
Riku laughed, continuing down the concrete maze.
I turned with him, walked with him. I didn't want to cling to him, determined to have some display of bravery in this situation. It would be embarrassing if I acted like a child on this escapade.
"Wait, is that it?" Riku stopped, seeing a flickering object in the distance.
"Does it fit the description of a 'shiny ball of light'?" I questioned with a small laugh.
"Yeah…yeah I think it does!" he then broke off into a run, meeting the little fragment and observing it for a moment before I caught up to him.
"Kairi! It is! It is! Look at it!"
I smiled ecstatically, looking to it and gave a little dance of victory.
"Oh my God! Riku! Pick it up!" I commanded.
"Wait, do we just do that? I mean…"
"I don't know! Try it!"
Riku nodded, cautiously reaching his hand out to take it. In a flash, a white light flooded the room, leaving myself temporarily blind. I looked to Riku, who seemed to be focusing on something fascinating, staring into the fragment. His marine eyes were aglow with wonder, the shining memory glowing in his palm.
"Riku…?" I questioned, peering over to him.
In a few moments, he snapped out of his trance, and smiled.
"Kairi, I saw Sora…and Donald…and Goofy…"
"What?" I asked, smiling with triumph.
"I saw them! I saw them! I… I think I saw their memories!"
"What! No way!" I laughed, jumping and teetering from side to side in a gleeful manner.
"Yeah! I did! Kairi it's a memory!"
"Quick! Put it in your bag!"
Riku obliged, taking out the blue drawstring bag and placing it carefully inside.
"One down, Kingdom Hearts knows how many to go!" he exclaimed, turning on his heel, ready to leave.
As he placed his foot down, the rattling of a metal gate came from behind us, the same 'wind' filling the tunnel and bouncing off the walls. We both stopped, looking around. The following silence was enough to hear our heartbeats pounding.
"R-Riku?" I questioned again.
"I…it's just the wind." He insisted.
"Wind? I take that in offense." A new voice spoke.
I froze. Oh no…
"Who's there?" Riku challenged, looking around.
"Not wind… that's for sure."
I began to panic. I wasn't just imagining things before.
A flying weapon came towards us, burning it seemed, and seared towards Riku's neck. Luckily, he was only trapped by the spikes on either side of his throat, stuck in the wall. An audible gulp came from him, as he stared down at the cooling wheel.
My mouth gaped open as I saw him, the flames dying away to reveal the steel object. I recognized that weapon… a chakram.
No.
"After all, wind is Number Three's specialty." The voice came again, footsteps filling the room with confident clacks. "Not mine." A hooded figure began to come towards us, a lanky figure dressed in black. I stood frozen in fear, the mysterious figure's face shaded. Riku was trapped, as he summoned his keyblade uselessly.
"Reveal yourself!" Riku spat, struggling against the chakram.
I quickly hid my memory bag in my satchel, heart beating faster and faster with each step the mysterious figure took.
"Oh, c'mon. I thought you already had my name memorized." The figure challenged, in feign disappointment, only a few feet away.
Riku became enraged, shaking against his restraint.
The figure stopped, raising his arms to remove his hood. As the shadows on his face disappeared, the cocky smirk was revealed, blazing emerald eyes with black teardrop tattoos underneath. And to complete his identity, spiky crimson hair like a mane of a proud lion, ready to attack his prey.
Axel.
"Miss me?" he laughed, and lunged toward Riku without wasting another second.
He lodged the chakram from the wall, bits of concrete ripped from the wall and falling to the ground as he assumed an attack. Enflaming them both again, he took a strike towards Riku. Riku dodged, rolling past Axel and swiping his keyblade menacingly. He took another swipe at his side, but was countered by a chakram. A spark came, as they pressed against each other.
"What's the matter Riku? Can't handle a little heat?" Axel teased with the same confident smirk. He released his side of the pressure, swiping again at Riku. Riku gave a gasp at this, and countered with another attack towards the fire-wielder. Axel jumped, his coat flaring in the wind as he spun in the air, a flurry of dancing flames encircling him. He landed beside him, his back towards me. Had he forgotten about me? Was this my chance to run?
I didn't think for a second longer, snapping out of my fear and turned on my heel quickly. I ran as fast as I could, bolting from the battle scene as the blur of concrete yellow zoomed past me, metal cages rattling slightly from my pounding footsteps. As I made my way down the tunnel, I skidded to a halt. The memory! I cursed at myself, heading back in the direction where the fight was taking place.
"Burn!"
I heard them still, no one having any serious issues, I was relieved to not have heard any screams of pain from Riku, turning and backtracking my steps as quickly as I could. Riku was strong… he could hold him off as long as he could, right?
My thoughts were immediately proven wrong as I head a gasp of pain, and a collapse. The familiar sound of his keyblade clinking to the ground and disappearing echoed through, increasing my pace.
Riku! He was hurt!
I turned the corner, having returned to the larger area of the underground system. I saw Riku, lying on the ground, unaccompanied. Where was Axel?
No time to think about that! Get the memory, quick!
I raced towards Riku, kneeling down to search for the bag as quickly as possible, scratching up my knees against the concrete ground.
That was going to hurt in the morning.
I was countered though, as I jerked by head up to see the maniacal redhead staring down at me.
"Going somewhere?" he teased, and lunged forward to attack me. Panic surged through my system, commanding me to roll away on the ground. I got up, summoning my keyblade and attempted to gather my courage. I met him, glaring with a battle stance.
Look at me now, from fighting heartless to this guy.
I felt completely inexperienced.
"Oh! Look at Kairi, look at her fancy little keyblade," he observed, scoffing at it, taking in the floral weapon as a total joke. "What, did Marluxia give it to you?" he snickered, and without another moment to spare, swiped his chakram at me.
Marluxia?
I jumped back, caught off balance, and faced him with wide eyes.
"I don't know who you're talking about!" I countered with a strike of my own, which, unsurprisingly, he dodged.
"Oh, you'll find out in time." He said, and made another attack. The flames swept by my face, the heat ready to melt anything it touched. His black leather gloves gripped his weapons with such confidence, his posture was already intimidating without his fighting skills.
"What?"
This guy wasn't making any sense! Marluxia? Find out in time? That was scary. I made another attack, not having the slightest idea of what I was doing. This was an awful situation.
"Just you wait and see…" he smirked with a throaty chuckle, and threw a chakram at me. And successfully, I was rammed into the wall and trapped the same way Riku had been. Disgustingly, I was grateful for his unflawed accuracy. Pinned to the wall, I felt defeated, letting the keyblade slip from my grip and clink to the floor. It faded away, and I panted, out of breath. On top of running and dodging Axel's powerful attacks, I had lost.
A strong, painful grip of leather lifted my chin to meet his green eyes. They were full of victory, complete with his triumphant smirk that he wore.
"Now…if you're a good girl, I won't hurt you. No tricks." He offered.
It was so tempting to kick him, to cause more damage in any way possible. It was so tempting to spit in his face. But I held back the risk, and stared into his eyes with a fading resistance. What good would that do anyways? I felt sadness and defeat course through me. What…what were these? Tears? Now? No! He couldn't see these. I blinked them away in a hurry, facing him with a frown.
"Fine…" I looked away, and unable to let the words slip from my tongue. "You win." I sacrificed, looking downward.
Axel laughed, releasing his grip. I could still feel the pressure from his fingers on my face, raising a hand to sooth my skin.
"Excellent." Axel said, pulling the chakram away from the wall. I immediately ducked under, trying to escape. My wrist was gripped as I flew, stopping me from my emancipation. I was tugged back, pulled against him.
"I said no tricks." He spoke directly into my ear. I wanted to whimper, I wanted to scream.
I felt my body lifted over his shoulder, his hand dangerously close to my rear end.
I wanted to kick, I wanted to pull his hair out, I wanted to run away. But as I heard a portal open, and saw Riku lying on the ground, platinum silver hair a mess against the concrete floor, I felt nothing but defeat. I allowed a single tear to fall from my cheek, slowly, as I held back the sniffles, the whines. I watched his body become farther away, the memory still residing in his bag. I lifted my hand, grabbing the air and wishing I could do something.
The sound of a portal opening was enough to confirm my fate. As I felt myself carried farther and farther away, my outstretched hand was useless. Finally, my throat screamed past that silent tear, echoing through the underground system, pain, suffering, and defeat bouncing off the yellow concrete walls. I screamed violently, as hope drained itself from me. And that was the only sound I remembered before being swept into the darkness.
