Kingdom Hearts Third Act: Reunion
~Thanks for waiting! Editing this episode took a LOT longer than I'd hoped... Hopefully, the quality makes up for it, yeah?
Today's chapter introduces:
* Yiruku - A character created by SilverStarGirl of our forum.
* JAX and LUNA - Two characters from the mind of our forum's very own Katana001.
*Rahkshata - A character thought up by Yours Truly.
Don't forget, you can join us at our forum and toss in a character or two of your own. After all, EVERYONE'S invited to the End of the World!
- Project 13
"Vanitas..."
"What now...?"
"Look sharp; It would appear you'll soon be having company."
"Company, huh? Well, I don't plan on sticking around too much longer... Not my kinda place, y'know?"
"As soon as you've done your job, get back to Castle Oblivion immediately, is that clear?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's clear, alright? Now let me get back to work already..."
"Disrespectful little- Just hurry it up..."
Vanitas sighs in frustration as the vague features of Shadow begin to vanish from the doorway. Today's job must've been extremely important for Shadow to speak to him in person. Whatever. His only task at the moment is to re-awaken security in his area; The underground manufacturing lab beneath the corridors of Hollow Bastion. Presently, he has traversed many hallways and encountered many humanoid robots lying inactive about the floors. Vanitas kneels beside one of these robots and fumbles with its controls. With no power source, and no knowledge of the robots' inner workings, this would prove annoyingly difficult...
His mind absorbed in the task at hand, Vanitas does not notice a feminine figure wearing a white porcelain feline mask enter the room behind him. The figure reaches a gloved hand out toward Vanitas from the doorway silently, but a voice from down the hall seems to ruin her plans. "I think it was this way!", the voice calls. Upon hearing it, Vanitas stands quickly, turns toward the door and vanishes in a plume of black smoke. The masked woman groans with irritation and hurries off down the hall, bumping into a masculine figure in her haste. She stares up at the figure, her eyes open wide in shock beneath her mask. The man raises a suspicious eyebrow at her, but a voice from behind him derails his train of thought.
"Yiriku...", Aerith says, approaching them with Alex and Raven close behind her. "Why'd you stop? Did you find something?" The line comes to a halt at the sight of the masked woman, and Aerith tilts her head curiously. "Did you fall into the abyss and wind up here, too?", she asks. The woman in the feline mask simply shakes her head, signaling 'no', and pushes her way past them without a word. "Hm...", Alex remarks. "She seemed to know where she was going. She couldn't be lost, could she...?" Raven folds his arms and returns his gaze forward, staring down the hall. "She's none of our concern...", he replies. "We're only here to re-supply so we can get moving again..." The masked girl fades out of view, and Aerith turns to Yiriku. "Yiriku, the way she stared at you just now...", she begins, taking point at the front of the line. "Did you know her, by any chance?" Yiriku scratches his chin and ultimately shrugs in defeat. "She seems familiar.", he answers. "But she couldn't be who I think she was... Not in a place like this..." Sensing the vexation in Yiriku's voice, Alex puts a sympathetic hand on his companion's shoulder, which prompts Yiriku to assure the group that the matter is nothing to be concerned about, and from thereon continue to follow Aerith, who enters the room that Vanitas and the masked woman were just standing in.
Upon entering the room, the first thing the group notices is the large number of inactive robots strewn about the floor and corners. Many of them sit upright, their heads lying cheek-to-shoulder, like old, discarded dolls. The room is dark, lit by a lone weak bulb hanging above the center of the floor, flickering between life and death. In one brief flicker of the bulb, Raven's eye catches a glass cylinder- completely intact- protruding from the ceiling on the far side of the room. A figure shrouded in shadows floats docilely within. "Hey...", he says, lightly tapping Alex on the shoulder. "I thought the old Bastion's labs were for robot development." Alex nods, slightly disturbed that Raven was showing him any sort of camaraderie. "Yeah, that's what all the reports said...", he replies. "What made you bring that up?" Instead of answering verbally, Raven points to the glass cylinder across the room. Aerith is the first to approach it. Inside is a feminine figure, seemingly unconscious, and without clothing.. Here was a survivor of the deactivation of the lab. Aerith surmised that she slept soundly, totally oblivious to the world crumbling to dust around her. She couldn't help but feel envious of the girl inside the glass. Suddenly, a light comes stabbing through the glass from the inside. The girl within opens one eye and the light intensifies as it darts around the room, piercing the chests of Aerith, Yiriku, Alex and Raven. Each of them (with the exception of Raven) flinches as the light pierces their hearts and weakens them. With a quiet detonation, the glass cylinder explodes outward.
The light growing unbearably bright, the group is forced to turn away from the cylinder as shards of red-hot glass and scalding water are flung throughout the room by the explosion. Alex, who was previously shielding his eyes, now blinks rapidly as the light begins to die. He jumps backward and falls over in surprise, as the girl inside the cylinder is now standing inches from his face, blankly staring forward. Yiriku materializes his keyblade and trains it on their new guest, but she doesn't react to his hostility at all. She simply stands in place, staring at the wall, never blinking and never uttering a single word. Ten minutes pass, as everyone stares at her in curiosity. Aerith boldly approaches her and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Hello there.", she says in as gentle a voice as she could manage. "Would you mind telling us who you are?" The girl finally responds, turning her head to face Aerith so quickly that everyone jumps in place. "Would you mind telling us who you are?", she mimics. Yiriku scratches his head and leans casually on his keyblade. "Does she even understand us?", he asks, half bored and half impatient. "I think she's having trouble registering what's going on", Aerith suggests after a minute of silence. "Maybe if we introduce ourselves, she'll slowly come around." With that, she bows respectfully to the memetic girl and introduces herself. "I'm Aerith Gainsborough", she says, stepping aside as Alex follows suit. "Name's Alex.", he says with a polite nod. "I'm Yiriku.", the third of them says as he approaches her. As Yiriku steps back into place, the trio turns to Raven, who looks them all over and folds his arms. "This is stupid...", he says. "You don't really think this'll work, do you?" Alex shrugs and gestures toward the girl. "Well, Mr. Raven...", he begins. "We don't have any other ideas, so it's worth a shot, right?" Raven rolls his eyes beneath his mask and exhales sharply. "Fine...", he says, approaching the girl at last and waving lazily. "My name is Raven..."
The girl's eyes suddenly widen, and she begins to shake uncontrollably. In one fluid motion, she lets out a terrified shriek and takes cover behind Aerith. "See, this is why I don't do things like this..." , Raven groans. Alex scratches his chin in contemplation. "Hmm...", he observes. "She seems to be afraid of Raven for some reason..." Yiriku nods justly. "Well, can you blame her?", he replies, gesturing over to Raven. "Look at him, he's just downright scary!" Yiriku looks at Raven, only to find him staring back, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Er, no offense, of course, Raven.", he says with a nervous chuckle, to which Raven simply groans and turns his back. Aerith lightly pats the girl's head in an attempt to calm her down. "There, there...". she says soothingly. "What's the matter?" The girl points to Raven with a trembling hand. "Darkness...", she croaks. "Darkness, darkness, darkness..." To this, Raven folds his arms and says nothing. "I get it...", Alex says, presumably thinking out loud. "She must be able to see the darkness within a person's heart. I don't mean to offend anyone, but Mr. Raven definitely seems like he'd house the most darkness in his heart. I guess that level of darkness was enough to scare her." Raven turns and walks quickly toward the door. "I get it already...", he says, passing the doorway and turning down the hall. "Maybe it'd be better if I just went and looked around by myself..." Aerith raises a hand to stop him, but lowers it after realizing he was likely out of earshot by now. Spying a cloth lying in the corner, she quickly makes her way over to it, unfolds it and drapes it around the girl to cover her up. The girl clutches the cloth tightly, as if it made her feel safer. "That's only temporary.", Aerith says to her. "Until we get out of here and find some real clothes."
"Wait a minute...", Yiriku says. "If she can sense the darkness in peoples' hearts, could it be possible that she awakened because she sensed our hearts? " Alex nods while examining a scrapped robot in the corner. "I thought about that too.", he replies. "She seems to respond to the heart more than anything else, so that's likely the case. Why do you ask?" Yiriku shrugs and begins to pace the floor. "Because if it turns out to be true...", he begins. "Maybe there are more like her down here... Those who are awakened by the presence of hearts..." To this, Alex transitions into a whole new train of thought. It was entirely possible that others like this girl existed in other remote parts of the lab, and it was also entirely possible that just the simple act of being in the same room as the other ones would breathe life into them. "Do you really think there could be?", he asks out loud. As if on cue, the entire underground structure begins to shake violently as a tremor passes through from a far away area, prompting Aerith, Yiriku and Alex to brandish their weapons and form a triangle around the girl. "You had to ask, didn't you...?", Yiriku mutters as another tremor passes through.
No more than a second later, A loud metallic CLANG resounds through the underground, and a dark blur goes flying by in the doorway. Aerith leads the group out into the hall in time to see Raven slide down the nearest wall. On the opposite side of the hall is a large hulking robot, steam billowing from it. From its wrists protrude two mighty hands, and its eyes seem to be fixed on Raven, who stands quickly, scythe in hand, and growls. "What is this thing?", Alex exclaims, his grip on his keyblade tightening. The girl, upon entering the hallway, lays eyes upon the massive robot and immediately becomes energetic. "Father !", she exclaims happily. The huge robot at the opposite end of the hall takes notice of her and its rage only seems to intensify. Raven and Alex step forward to engage it. "Ms. Aerith...", Alex says, his stern tone masking his confusion. "We'll put this thing down. You and Yiriku take the girl and look for a place to hide! I think it's after her..." Aerith nods dutifully and complies, taking off down the other end of the hallway taking the girl by the hand with Yiriku close behind. A low mumble can be heard from Raven's direction; too low to be directed at anyone. He carries on talking to himself for a few seconds, then turns slightly to cast a glance at Alex. "I don't think that's quite right...", Raven says. "He's not after her, he thinks we're after her."
"How do you know that?", Alex asks. Before Raven has time to answer, the gargantuan robot charges them, and swings a powerful arm at them, dislodging parts of the ceiling as the two duck beneath it. With its other hand, the robot returns with a straight punch that sends them both tumbling down the hall. Alex is the first to stand. "Okay, now...", he says, his eyes trained on the approaching assailant."Care to explain this theory of yours?" The robot begins to beat its chest dominantly. "The girl we found in the chamber...", Raven says, not quite yet standing up. "She looked at this robot and seemed to recognize it instantly... She even called it 'Father'. It's possible she knew it long before now, and was probably used to its protection. This guy was just awakened, and I guess he assumed we were trying to take her from here." Alex nods in comprehension and begins to tense up. I get it...", he mutters, seemingly to himself. Then how do we convince him we're not the bad guys?" Raven scoffs and slings his scythe over his shoulder. "That part I haven't figured out yet...", he replies quietly. "In the meantime, I suggest we cut the conversation short and try hard not to die, sound good to you?" Alex takes a deep breath and nods. In tandem, they turn their attention back to the robot.
The hostile giant charges with the momentum of a freight train down the hall toward its targets, both fists in position to deliver strikes that may very well prove instantly fatal, should they connect. Alex holds his keyblade in a defensive stance with both hands and raises a barrier of lightning from the ground, covering the entire section of the hallway with it. The robot pays it no mind and rams right through, forcing Alex and Raven to retreat further down the hall. Enraged by the ineffective attempt to stop it, the robot emits a deep hiss, steam emanating from its joints. It lets one of its fists fly, winding up and unleashing the blow with shotgun force at Raven, who turns just in time to catch its fist with both hands and push back. Never letting go of the Robot's hand, Raven is sent skidding backwards down the hallway on his feet until the end of the corridor finally comes into view. "Alex...", Raven says with an indifferent tone. "I'd hate to sound critical, but if there was ever a time to do something, now would probably be it..." Alex is now thinking frantically. Suddenly, an idea pops into mind. Without a moment's hesitation, he chases after the deadlocked pair of Raven and the mechanical giant, leaping onto the latter's back. "I hope he's not as durable as he looks...", Alex says beneath his breath as he imbues his keyblade with a magical red aura and drives it into the robot's back before quickly jumping off. Immediately afterward, and the red aura ignites in a brilliant fireball, the explosion causing the robot to spiral toward the wall even faster than before. Now in danger of being crushed between the wall and the robot's fist, Raven allows himself to drop to the floor as the robot flies by above him, barreling headlong to the end of the hallway and breaking clean through the wall. "I... I got him...", Alex stammers. Raven stands and dusts himself off. "I can see that...", he says, staring blankly at the massive gaping hole in the wall. "Um, we'd probably better follow him... He might be trying to follow the others." Alex nods and follows Raven through the gap...
Elsewhere in the underground, A woman with long blonde ringlets, a black, high-collared cloak and a violin tethered to her back makes her way into an empty lab. "Ugh...", she utters. This is exactly what I need, non? Not a sign of life for miles in any direction... How did I end up here in the first place...?" Fighting back a yawn, the woman prepares to continue onward, when a massive flaming robot crashes in through the eastern wall and forces her to dive to the side in evasion. It crashes through the western wall and disappears from sight soon after. Raven dashes in through the hole in the eastern wall and stops in the center of the room, shortly followed by Alex. "Damn it!", Raven exclaims as he notices the hole in the western wall. "He still hasn't stopped flying!" Alex shakes his head in disbelief. "I think he's still riding the tailwind of that explosion!", he says. "We'll never catch him at this rate..." They prepare to resume chasing after the giant, but are soon halted again by the voice of the woman in the corner. "Mon Dieu!", she exclaims, standing and shaking her head. The first signs of life at all in this place, and they're both crazy! What are you two doing?" Raven's eyes dart rapidly from the woman, to the robot's trail of destruction many times. "We don't have much time for explanations...", he says finally. "But I assure you we're not crazy." Alex nods in confirmation. "That's right!", he says. "We just have to follow the big flaming metal man through the hole in the wall and convince him we're not here to kidnap the girl in the glass tube!" The woman raises a disturbed eyebrow and nods slowly. "Okaaaaay", she says after a long and incredibly awkward silence. "Well, seeing as how you two are the first living people I've seen down here, I'll tag along and lend a hand, yes?" Raven nods impatiently and motions for her to follow. The newly-formed trio makes their way through the hole in the western wall after the robot.
As they try to close the distance between themselves and the elusive giant, the trio takes time to quickly survey the areas the robot has been through. Decimated rooms, crumbled walls, hardly anything left standing. This robot, they surmised, was the very epitome of fortitude. "excusez-moi...", the woman says, her voice breaking the silence. "But can either one of you kindly tell me where this is...?" Raven tilts his head inquisitively. "We're in Hollow Bastion...", he says. " Wait a minute, you don't know where you are...? Then how'd you get here?" The woman shrugs innocently. "Je ne sais pas...", she replies. "I was with a friend in Traverse Town, the last thing I remember. Then, an earthquake shakes down the district, and the next instant, here I am..." Evidently, the tremors and fissures that had claimed Aerith, Alex, Drake and Raven were still ravaging Traverse Town even now. The very though causes Raven to pause and think about how many other worlds could have been affected by the tremors. Alex's voice breaks his concentration. "Er, Mr. Raven...", he calls, uneasiness altering his tone. "Do you remember how we figured out those robots were activated because they sensed Darkness...? What if it wasn't just the darkness in you that they detected...?" Raven turns to give Alex a dubious look from beneath his mask, but finds both Alex and their new companion's attention occupied by a group of druid-like clawed figures floating toward them through the most recent hole in the wall. They are as dark as night, with stars and constellations decorating cloaks giving shape to their slender bodies. "Heartless...?", Raven puzzles out loud, reaching for his weapon. "I don't think so...", Alex responds, following suit. "They look way too organized to be Heartless, and I don't see an insignia anywhere..." The woman suddenly materializes a keyblade from a beam of white light from the palm of her hand. The keyblade is pink and white, a treble clef at the guard, and musical notes scattered around the hilt. "So, Xittan was right...", she says. They are following me... "
Meanwhile, Aerith, Yiriku and the girl from the damaged lab finally catch a glimpse of sunlight around the corner from the hall the have just entered. "That's the way out!", Yiriku exclaims, speeding up at the sight. "We're almost there, let's go!" Aerith begins to slow down as Yiriku takes point. "I don't like this...", she says, looking over her shoulder at the nearer side of the hall. "Shouldn't Alex and Raven have caught up with us by now...? I'm starting to get worried." Yiriku turns his head slightly, never once slowing his pace. "Aw, don't worry about it.", he says, offering a half smile. "They're probably on their way right now... I bet we won't be seeing that big robot ever again!" No sooner do these words leave his mouth than a massive blur bursts through the floor in front of him. Yiriku jumps backward, tumbles and stands quickly, keyblade in hand to see the huge robot from the lower halls, standing mere inches from him. "Er... Right...", he says with a slight shudder. "Forget what I said..." The girl, upon catching sight of the robot, immediately breaks into a run at him, leaving Aerith's side. "Father!", she cries again. The robot reaches both mighty arms outward toward the girl, and Yiriku raises a hand to stop it, but quickly realizes there is no need. Both he and Aerith give a relieved sigh as they watch the giant embrace the girl with a surprisingly gentle hug. "He was protecting her all along...", Aerith observes with a smile. "Alex and Raven should be safe then." Upon releasing his little companion, the robot suddenly jumps, as if remembering something. It hisses with steam and whistles loudly, all the while, pointing to the empty hall behind Aerith and Yiriku. "I think he's trying to tell us something! ", Yiriku says, rubbing his chin. "It has to be about the lower levels, seeing as how that's the only thing behind us." The girl studies the robot's noises and gestures intently, nodding as if the two were having a casual conversation. After several minutes, she turns to Aerith urgently. "The two...", she says, joining her large friend in pointing at the end of the hall. "The Nothing has found them! The Nothing!" Aerith gasps as the realization dawns on her. "She's talking about Alex and Raven!", she exclaims, confusion and worry becoming evident on her face.
The robot leads the group back down to where Alex and Raven had pursued him hours ago. They walk interminably, retracing the robot's steps, and eventually coming across a hallway that seems familiar to him. There are signs of a fresh struggle everywhere in the hall. Black, scorched walls, still scorched from recent magic, wide claw marks, torn deep into the ceilings and parts of the floor, strange energies surging through the room, filling the air with a tint of melancholy. Aerith surveys the walls and floor intently, and is so focused on doing so that she jumps in fright when she feels a tug at the fabric of her dress. She looks down, relieved to see the girl, staring up at her, holding something tightly in one hand. She presents her discovery to Aerith, who takes it and examines it in horror, instantly recognizing it as Raven's mask. "Too late...", the girl says slowly. "The Nothing took them..."
"Took them...?", Yiriku repeats in a combination of shock and curiosity. "Took them where?" Before his question could be answered, a gruff voice cuts through the atmosphere in the room from the side of the hall leading to the surface. "Aerith! It's you after all...", a familiar voice calls. "So the topside reports turned out to be accurate..." Aerith turns in immediate recognition of the voice. Standing at the end of the hall are her fellow members of the restoration committee, Leon and Yuffie. It was Leon's voice she'd heard seconds ago. His stern, unchanging expression distinct, even at a distance. Yuffie stood beside him, a satchel at her waist, and a file folder in her hands. All her attention seems to be focused there for the moment. "Leon! Yuffie!", Aerith calls to her associates, still shaken up. "Have you seen two-"
Leon holds up a hand to interrupt her. "They're gone, Aerith...", he says, folding his arms. "Come with us... You may not like what you're about to see, but we've got a serious problem..."