beyond a heart's REDEMPTION
WARNING; This fanfic contains massive amounts of slash and an original idea for my version of Kingdom Hearts that follows Kairi instead of Sora. So if you're one of those Kairi haters or just do not approve of such fictions as these DON'T READ THE STORY! And please please please no reviews that chew me out about my disgusting ways and vile writings, although I do appreciate constructive criticism so I'm open to mostly everything you'd have to say and PLEASE don't be afraid to say it. DISCLAIMER; I (unfortunately) do not own Kingdom Hearts or any related material. Kingdom Hearts copywrite Disney and Square Enix.
Chapter II : An Echo, A Stain
Falling forever, black night shrouded their vision. Falling through darkness. Thick oblivion. No backward glances. It seemed an end to their games of make-believe. Past all thought of "if" or "when". No use in resisting. Abandoned thought, let the dream descend. What raging fire shall flood the soul? What rich desire unlocks its door? What sweet seduction lies before them?
Ty fell unknowing of his surroundings, a wingless bird tumbling through the pain of knowing that he was now past the point of no return, the final threshold. The sudden rush of icy water enveloped his senses as he regained consciousness. Without breath, he struggled to break the surface then his mind became clouded through the effort and everything went black. What warm, unspoken secrets they did not learn was that the icy waters in which they lie in invisible graves was none other then the rising falls of the infamous Hallow Bastion. A flicker in the night sky and the stealth of an unknown soldier brought the figure down upon them. Leaping swiftly from each platform of ice that floated high above the falls, to the other with a force of determination. And in the blink of an eye, the warrior had pulled the trio from the frosty void.
H o u r s l a t e r . . .
Deep within the waterways under the castle, Ty felt the warmth and glow of a roaring fire at his feet. He came to and sat up slowly, stretching and yawning on his way up. He soon after grimaced at the shooting pain in his leg. He looked down to see his pants spilt and the flesh slit, only before he could scream he saw that Kairi and Kyan had not fared as well as he had. He muffled a cry then began to rock in place, moaning softly, hoping to ease the pain.
Scanning his surroundings he saw a figure sitting with its head down, gazing deep into the fire. He admired the person's long, silvery moonlit hair that was pulled back in a tight ponytail and flung over her shoulder so that it fell into the space in her crotch. The woman soon reached up with one of their gloved hands and pulled off her pilot's cap that highly resembled the scalp of a twisted Shadow Heartless. Ty gasped when he noticed the woman was in reality a girl about his age. She was clean, yet dirtied up enough to look like she had been stuck there a while. Although she wore tatty army boots the slender form of her alabaster legs clung tightly to the forest green daisy dukes she had on.
"Uh . . . hello?" Ty said quietly to grab her attention, but she showed no signs of movement. He started to speak to her once more when she threw back her head and pulled out a long pistol from her side and aimed it at Ty. He cringed and flinched, yelping, as he heard her take off the safety and cock it.
"Good to see you up, now empty your pockets!" she said smirking.
"Excuse me?" Ty inquired in uncertainty.
"You heard me, now gimme all your munny!"
"I'm sorry I don't have any mun-."
"Sorry, wrong answer. Too bad though, 'cause now I have ta' kill ya!"
"WHAT!?"
"BAM!" she screamed and Ty shrieked like a little school girl. Dropping her gun, she began rolling over with laughter. "That's not funny you scared the crap out of me!" he reprimanded her after realizing what had been the point of hysteria.
"I'm sorry dear. Didn't mean ta' get your shorts wet here that leg looks like it hurts. Don't move, okay?" She stood up and pulled a vial out from one of the pouches on her belt. Pulling the cork out with her teeth, she poured a green crystal powder into her hand and she pursed together her full voluptuous lips and blew it over the trio. Every scrape, scar and tear had now faded from their bodies as they were nursed to full health in a split second.
"You know, you look awfully familiar to me. What was your name, kid?" the girl asked.
"I'm Tyler, or T-."
"Ty!?"
"Erm . . . yes?"
"Don't you recognize me!?" Ty studied her once more and when he connected with those piercing baby blue eyes and it instantaneously hit him.
"Kane!? Oh my god, it's been years! How are you!?"
"Okay I guess, but uh... how did you wind up here?"
"Well it's a funny story actually . . ." then he began to tell the short story of Maleficent's arrival and Kyan diving into the door and so on while Kyan and Kairi sat there without words or thought. Ty assumed that they were still taking in the surroundings. By the time he had finished Kyan came over and sat down behind him, wrapping his arms around his torso and resting his head on Ty's shoulder he gave him a little peck on the cheek.
"Oh, who's this?" Kane questioned, breaking away from the conversation.
"Kyan, and you are?" he raised an eyebrow at her whilst gesturing in her direction from over Ty's shoulder.
"Be nice! This is Kane the girl I was best friends with until the... wait what happened to you anyway?"
"It's hard to explain but-."
"The Destiny Islands were abolished." Kairi uttered flatly from behind without glancing up from her zone. "Eradicated to the extreme . . . everything – lost. When I was sent back, I had to rebuild our islands from my own memories. It was strange really and I still do not understand how that worked but . . . I thought so hard for everything I could ever hope for but I knew that I couldn't bring him back. If it weren't for me, you two would never have found each other."
The silence tightened itself more so around the necks of the quivering strangers. On this night of fate where all worlds crossed over into the other, the bonding of friends once lost would stand strong to shake the ages. However you could cut the tension in the air with a knife, if only someone would speak up. "True," said Kane said, blinking. "but I would not have put it so bluntly. I was taken with the storm along with Kairi, Riku, and Sora." Kairi looked up now and opened her mouth to speak but was not able to bring forth words as she held back a tear.
"Kairi, what's wrong?" Kyan asked placing a hand on her leg. The silence was absolute, not a word was uttered besides the muffled sobs from Kairi. Even now it was a struggle to control her emotions. The mere thought of Sora was like getting the wind knocked out of her, a hard blow to the chest. The distant echo of a leaking pipe could be heard in the distance through the unchanging quiet that rang throughout the surroundings.
"Sora loves you." Kane said after a long and indefinite pause that seemed to last an age through the echoes of the still aqueducts. "He loves you with every fiber of his being. Why else would he have sent you home, if not only for your own safety? He is still alive and he's fighting his way back to you. I know . . . he told me."
"Wha-how? Whe-when did you speak with him last?" Kairi asked in astonishment.
Kane found it hard to speak. She knew the truth – Sora was dead, but she had to give her hope. She needed to find out on her own. Kairi had been through so much and it would pain Kane more to reveal all her secrets then to let her follow her own path. "Two years ago . . . when I was taken from the islands, naturally, I followed in pursuit of my brother, Riku. I surveyed the whole of Kingdom Hearts and never found him until I came across this rusty old pile of bricks. I came in, on my guard no less, when I found him. He looked at me with total disgust and told me that he never had a sister and spoke of his longing to be the source of ultimate darkness. And when I pleaded in tears as to why he chose this crooked path he told me of Maleficent and her persuasion to exterminate Sora and save you for himself. Then he said that I talked too much and tried to kill me." here she paused, and broke down.
"My own brother, tried to KILL me! That's when I swore on my life that nothing would stand in my way until I had rid my brother of this tormenting evil and kill whoever barred my path. A year later, after Kairi was sent back, I found Sora here in Hallow Bastion fighting once more with Riku but this time, to the death. Sora . . . came out triumphant. And as I collapsed he told me that nothing would stand in the way between the two of you... nothing."
"Kane, I don't know what to say. I can't believe he's... dead, I'm so, so sorry."
"Oh by all means, don't be!" Kane shoved the air and wiped back the tears. "After only so long, a new evil breached the borders into our world and an unknown emperor took his throne up upon this castle. One day I overheard the two discussing the current state of our universe. All the worlds borders have disintegrated and have merged together. Impossible I know, but surprisingly this was a natural disaster and not a manmade effort. Then they talked of the heartless and the advantages they could take with the keybearer's work having been undone."
"Wait a sec, what do you mean by; 'the keybearer's work having been undone'?" Ty finally questioned after sitting back and taking in the angst.
"The worlds have once again been unlocked, but their conditions are worse than before. They have all blended together and they are bewildered by the merging of differences and some have declared war upon each other thus destroying one another in their entireties. Anyway, they resurrected Maleficent but she has not come back to full power, only to conduct the heartless once more and bring you three to him."
"Well then, there's no time to waste! Let's go kill the bitch!" Kyan said and jumped up without hesitation.
"Hold on a sec I don't think you fully understand yet." Kane warned without budging.
"No worries," said Ty. "We've got a pretty powerful black mage in our hands."
"She's building an army!" Kane shouted to get them to stop dead in their tracks. "An anonymous breed of men have been transported here to erect her a militia of mutated heartless. The men have tampered with the genetic makeup of their structure to make them more powerful than ever before. They're cross-breeding them with machines. Maleficent maybe General but Riku is second in command." They listened to her, turning slowly around to face her dour words. "We don't have much time" Kane lead the party with caution into the waterways and though Ty followed behind, a few paces slower, through the encircling shroud of the night. So much torment and ruin had infected these people. So much, political awareness was thrown at him in his first visit to the other worlds it still hadn't caught up with him. As the far off spatter of saunters through the never-ending waterway reverberated back to him, Ty stood there taking it all in as the fire died out. Kairi had hidden herself in the shadows while Ty reflected with himself. She tried to ponder her own issues but only one continued to rear its ugly head into her line of vision. If Riku was dead how could he still be in Maleficent's' power?
S o m e w h e r e i n t h e c a s t l e . . .
"My sovereign king, they have escaped. They are loose somewhere here in the castle." Maleficent said with an unusual quiver in her voice. She then grasped a lower part of her staff and kneeled before the thrown in the castle chapel. Behind the shadowed figure she paid her respects to the rusting Heartless insignia still hung in memoriam of the chaos and agony it had inflicted upon the countless worlds it had conquered in its wake. Although the mighty Maleficent herself was shaky in front of this supposed new king there was an uneasy emotion that clung to the air like a suffocating victim of the last Heartless invasion.
"Why must you always fail me? What was the point of resurrecting you when you cannot even manage the simple task of transporting the maggots and the girl?" the figure spoke in a warped tone that sounded like the eerie wheeze of several uninvited guests in his mind that controlled the actions and thoughts of this unknown monarch. He spoke dignified and yet he spoke lighter when he mentioned the girl. But it did not matter to lowly Maleficent she needed to think of a good reason and stat.
"I-I do not know, my lord. Forgive me please I do not wish to offend your eminence in any way, I only wish to-."
"Serve me! Save your breath for the bereavement you've foreshadowed on your own behalf. Stop fawning over me and do something about the state of affairs that have yet to be resolved!"
"But, my lord, what is there to do? I cannot find the little brats anywhere; they do not appear to me in the seeing dais. It is impossible to locate them in this damp and dank, abandoned stronghold."
"Have you sent the Heartless after them?"
Maleficent froze and her eyes grew wide. Why hadn't she thought of that? It would have been so quick and simple and then she wouldn't have to waste her efforts on getting this fool of a commander to respect her for once. With a single thought several figures came into view in behind her.
"They're on their way."
Deep in the heart of the waterways, where Kane had made a quaint little home for herself, she allowed the part a breif piece of peace at long last. The grotto reminded Ty of a hidden treasure cove of some unnamed pirate. Countless mirrors lined the walls and towers of candelabras flooded the area with a flickering glow. Swimming across the velvety drapes that were thrown around the furnishings, the radiance of the candlelight seemed to shimmer. There was a broken rowboat that overflowed with pillows and blankets which Ty assumed was her bed. Many chests and armoires overflowing with objects, there was no way that a girl could look so poor and have so much. On the walk from the campsite Kairi seemed to lower her guard, she dropped the defenses and opened up a little more.
Kane strolled over to a vanity where she put her cap on a broken mannequin head and took off the belt that held her pistols. Flouncing around the room she invited them in as she rummaged through her collections to find some form of clothing that would help them blend in a little more. Kairi, for the first time in a long time, sat down at the vanity and took off all of her black makeup. Every last safety pin was thrown away, and all chains and belts were done away with. Strolling along the walls of mirrors admiring herself, she felt safe. What Kane had told her not too long ago filled her with a warmth that she hadn't experienced since her final contact with Sora. She knew she would find him, even if it killed her. Kane had bestowed many articles of clothing and defensive arms upon her new company and instructed them to change quickly and adapt for they would be on the move at first mornings' light. In the dim glow of the candle warmth Ty and Kyan slipped off with Kairi to dress.
Sometime later Kane had prepared a small meal in the deserted room. It seemed anomalous for a moment as she sat alone with her food, until an unfamiliar figure emerged from behind the corner. She sat back and set down her plate scanning the room with a glower. Only the slow drip in the distance was heard for quite a while until quickened footsteps were sounded. Twisting her head she pinpointed the location of the intruder and waited to see if it was in fact one of her companions.
But when the flicker of drawn metal flashed in the air she reacted with cat-like reflexes. In an instantaneous notion Kane jumped up and flipped backwards grabbing her pistols and firing them at the stranger. The stranger had a similar reaction while at the same time he jumped backwards spinning uncontrollably, ricocheting the rain of bullets off two katanas the stranger wielded. Then every last bullet flew from him and shattered every last mirror in the vicinity. All this happened in a slow motion crossover that seemed too much like a shower of shattered glass than it had been a battle.
The dust settled through the unchanging silence as Kane crouched behind a half broken mirror keeping her pistols raised shoulder high and panting in a bemused alarm as the stranger sauntered near. She tried to peer around the corner without disturbing her surroundings and caught an all too close up view of his tattered and scuffed, white-laced boots. She panted angrily and glared up at him keeping one pistol directed at his heart. As she scanned him up and down she began to have second thoughts.
He wore some tight jeans that were torn at the knees. His freshly pressed black dress shirt was buttoned up to the securely fastened black tie that he tucked into the black and purple striped sweater he wore over his garments. He huffed a little chortle and turned around to place the two katanas crossing, through his back belt loops. But the most weakening flaw was his jet black hair cut short on the sides and allowed his lengthy bangs to lie gently over his right eye. He smirked when he saw her fawn and laughed out loud.
"Wait a minute . . . Ty!?" she inquired with intrigue. "The one and only!" he replied as she immediately replaced her pistols and flew up to embrace him.
"How'd you come by those mad fighting skills?" she questioned further.
"Kairi." said Ty. "Kairi did it all, the hair, the knowledge of warfare, and the cat-like reflexes."
"Well she's quite the little mage, isn't she?"
"Yah she's got this nifty little book… what was it called again... the, the, the Grim-."
"THE GRIMMERIE!?" she practically squealed.
"That's the ticket, yah we found it ages ago back on Destiny Islands. It (literally) dropped out of the sky! It's quite a textbook, that is."
"Indeed! This will only make the battle more interesting."
"Battle!?" Ty asked in a little shock but Kane did not include a response, she offered him something to eat and the two sat down to enjoy the small rations they had. Enjoying the company and basking in the ambience they waited longingly for Kairi and Kyan to return. And Ty was floored when he saw Kyan reemerge from behind one of the splintered mirrors. And as much as Kyan was confused by the sea of glass shards he could not get over Ty's manifestation either. Ty stood in silence as Kyan smiled radiantly, that divine and lustrous grin he so desired to take in. In dumbfounded laughter they ran and embraced kissing so fiercely time would stop only for this sanctified reunion of unadulterated devotion.
Eventually they stopped kissing and sat around joking about it for quite sometime until they heard the faint resonance of approaching footsteps in the distance. It could have been Kairi it also could not have been for the instant they turned to look another mirror exploded in a fiery wrath that ejected flames outstretching to the oblivious trio. Dodging it quite lucratively they heard a little giggle and they gaze upon a decorous, and magnificently classy, young woman. She took a hand and tossed her long red-brown hair and as it fell every last aspect of her unblemished new beginning was inspirational to the final touch. She simply wore a tan trench coat/dress with off-white pumps on the ends of her sinewy sensual and slender legs that stood profound and faultless where a faux fox fur trim greeted her knees with the puffy skirt hem. The same trim was worn around both the cuffs of her sleeves and her collar. What she wore underneath was a mystery. She felt a little self-conscious with everyone staring at her in awe like that, she fidgeted with her spellbook and pulled the cuffs of her coat over her wrists.
The metamorphosis of hearts was at long last absolute. Kairi had become a new woman, Ty a new man having found his dear friend after so many years, and Kyan was just happy to be alive and still held unyielding in the arms of his knight in shinning armor. This was indeed a day to remember for tomorrow everything they detained so prized to their hearts would vanish in the flick of a light and a twist of smoke in the final conclusion and the launch and mooring of a new quest.
As the never-ending night drew to a close, after all the laughing and ballyhoo, Kane and Kairi parted with Kyan and Ty to get some rest before they dove into the hunt to find Maleficent and hopefully get some answers. Although Kairi may have taken off the mask of depression and plastered up a grin of enlightenment, deep inside her heart still ached as if it would never feel warmth again.
She knew what lie ahead, although she did not confess it to the others, something bad, a terrible tragedy that would lie heavy on their shoulders till the end of this remarkable journey. As bloody as the new day would come to be, not a word was spoken about it. Kairi had not only discovered a new look for herself in the barren waterways of Hallow Bastion but she found a magic seeing glass. It was stained with swirls of rainbows and drops of starlight within its dazzling shell and yet she seemed to get lost in it when the apparition came to her. She had this vision almost like a prophecy; more than one enemy and army lie before her companions. A gory casualty would pursue this onslaught of intended demise, no turning back now. She had her book at her side and the patchwork manifestation of her love in her palm. The distant land of slumber lie dwindling in the far reaches of her mind, tomorrow she would have her revenge and find her highly anticipated answers.
Kane on the other hand was entirely oblivious of the morrow's deliverance; she was content enough with the raging mêlée she esteemed to go through with. Prepared as she was, she was still utterly ignorant of as to where this chosen path would guide her. Her road of good intentions would not lead to where roads habitually would. Her heart ached as the reassurance of her confirmed allegiance painfully awoke her. The Heartless were on the move and in hot pursuit of their whereabouts.
Ty was shaking with exhilaration, he had dreamed for so long about the worlds of Kingdom Hearts and now he would follow in Sora's footsteps with Kairi and the love of his life at his side. He was only gratified of Kairi's countless revision of his icons' expedition. And to think they would find him at long last and finally restore order in the universe was a hope to make hearts soar. Kyan shared Ty's feelings exactly but only mixed his with the negative notions of what could possibly happen on the pilgrimage to undertake. What if they were separated? What if one of them died!? It was time that he brought forth the most sincere and passionate side of him just for this moment… just for this night, before destiny took their hands and led them headfirst into the unknown. And as they brought this perfect finale to the curtain call what they did not know was that in the near reserve they were being watched. The crunching of steps on broken glass could not be heard over the lover's held reverie but a scout of the adversary had sited them with fierce green eyes that glowed in the obscurity.