OMG I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!!
For some reason wouldn't load this chapter until just now... It sucked. But now it's better! Yay!
And I expect reviews!
Disclaimer: No.
And I only called this chapter "Lacrymosa" because I may or may not have been listening to that song and it's kid of a fitting chapter title, if you ask me. And if you don't like it, you can just bite me.
13. Lacrymosa.
Kairi, Darran, and Axel made their way through the Third District with minimal interference from the heartless. Kairi gasped as they passed the Small House; she remembered staying there after Sora brought her back from Hollow Bastion.
"What, you've been here before?" Darran asked, noticing the look on Kairi's face. She nodded, looking in the windows of the little haven.
"Yeah, when Sora rescued me the first time," she said softly. Darran sighed. Kairi looked at him questioningly, due to the fact that he suddenly looked extremely sad.
"What?" She asked, trying to see his face. He shook his head.
"It's nothing," he muttered, pushing the door open to get into the second district. Kairi shrugged it off and called her keyblade as three shadows and two soldiers arose from small spheres of darkness. She struck one of the soldiers, would-be decapitating it, only to see it disappear in a puff of smoke. A little pink heart fluttered up to the sky. Darran took care of three shadows with one swing, and Axel was merrily burning the remaining soldier. He was whistling as it writhed in pain from the flames surrounding it. Eventually it disappeared as well, and Axel looked disappointed.
"Aww! They always die so quickly... how's a person supposed to have fun?" He asked, his eyes twinkling.
Kairi rolled her eyes. "Has anyone ever told you you're an insane pyromaniac?"
"I might've heard that before..." he grinned.
They walked through the second district, stopping occasionally for Axel to happily incinerate some heartless, until they got to the hotel. The walked to the newly installed desk, where a kind-looking receptionist was reading something off a clipboard.
"Hi, can we see Sora, Riku, and Lifelle?" Kairi asked politely. The nurse looked up with a motherly smile.
"Your names?" She asked.
"Kairi, Darran, and Axel," Kairi replied, gesturing to each in turn.
"Oh! Kairi! Of course, Sora was... talking... about you earlier," the nurse answered, showing them to a room with the words "Green Room" on it. They went in and saw Sora pacing across the length of the room, obviously worried about something. Lifelle and Riku sat on either ends of the bed, facing each other.
"Kairi!" Sora said, looking up at her. She smiled.
"What happened to your head? Are you okay?" He asked, walking to the back of her to examine where there had been a large, bloody wound half an hour ago.
"It's okay, Darran healed me. And then we saw Axel, who had quite a war wound," Kairi laughed. Axel stuck out his tongue at her.
"Darran?" Sora repeated. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the keyblader, who had the same sad look on his face.
"Yeah," Kairi replied, not quite knowing what was going on.
Why does he look so suspicious? She asked, almost wishing for Namine to explain things. He's jealous, moron, Namine answered.
Jealous? Of what? If he liked me like I like him, there's still nothing for him to be jealous of. I don't like Darran like that. And I don't think he likes me like that, either.
But Sora doesn't know that, Namine pointed out.
"Where did you guys crash?" Darran asked his sister and Riku.
"First district, next to the accessory shop," Riku answered. Lifelle nodded.
"Sora? Where did you land?" Kairi asked.
"In the alleyway in the second district, in the water," Sora replied.
Just then, a nurse walked in, smiling.
"You guys are free to go," she said. She left without another word.
"Yes!" Sora said, punching the air. He seemed to have recovered his cheerfulness. The keybladers - and Axel - left the hotel then, the latter yawning.
"Well, seeing as our gummi ship is nowhere to be found, what do you guys want to do while the nearby mechanic is making one for us? I already spoke to him for us," Axel asked.
"I'd love to have a look around," Lifelle said, her wide chocolate-brown eyes roaming the second district.
"I think that's a good idea," Riku added. Sora nodded and looked around the little circle of people. Darran, Axel, and Kairi nodded.
"Lifelle, you want to walk with me?" Riku asked. She smiled and nodded, the two starting towards the first district.
"I think I'll look more around the third district," Darran said, an angry undertone to his voice. Kairi failed to notice Sora mouthing "Go with him," frantically to Axel.
"I'll go with. You know, buddy system and all that," Axel said, twirling his chakrams around. A sulky look from Darran, and the two were off.
"Looks like it's just us," Kairi said, a bit breathless. Sora smiled.
"Come on! I want to show you something," he said. Kairi nodded.
They walked for about half a second until Sora got a mischevious grin on his face. He turned around to face Kairi a split second before saying "Race you!" and speeding off towards the stair leading to the ground level of the second district.
Kairi smiled and ran as fast as she could after him. It didn't take long for her to catch up with him. He turned around and saw how close she was. Instead of the look of alarm she was expecting, an impish grin took over his features. The next thing she knew, Sora was ten feet in front of her, still running.
"How... did you do that?" She asked between breaths as she struggled to catch up to him once more.
"Quick Run!" He called over his shoulder. Kairi rolled her eyes and just ran faster; Quick Run or no Quick Run, she was going to beat him. She raced towards him for about another minute before he ran out of breath. He leaned over, his hands on his knees, panting. Kairi realized they were in front of the Gizmo Shop, close to the hotel.
Wierd... we should have gained more ground than that. We were running for a while... Kairi thought to herself, looking at the 15 feet that covered the ground between the Hotel and the Gizmo Shop.
You circled the second district, you dolt, Namine interrupted, But you were too busy watching Sora to notice.
Ah.
"You okay?" She asked Sora, who was still breathless.
"Yeah... Quick Run just takes it out of you sometimes. Ready to go?" He replied, gesturing for her to lead the way. Kairi nodded and walked into the Gizmo Shop, where numerous shadows and soldiers harassed them for what seemed like and eternity. The two friends finished them off with ease.
"We done in here?" Kairi asked, stowing her keyblade for a moment.
"Yeah, seems like they're gone. By the way, I realized that your keyblade doesn't have a name. Don't you have one in mind?" Sora asked.
Kairi blushed. She had, in fact, come up with a name, but it was so... corny. And there was no way she was going to own up to that.
"Um... Nope, haven't thought of one! I guess I'll just have to keep thinking," she laughed, flashing the non-cheesiest smile she could manage. Sora didn't look convinced, but he shrugged good-naturedly and let it drop.
The keybladers were on the other side of the Gizmo Shop after a last look to make sure no more heartless would reappear.
"Um... Sora, why are we here?" Kairi asked, looking around the cramped, narrow alley.
"I want to show you something," he answered, climbing up a ladder Kairi had never noticed before. She climbed it after him, happy to be up on steady ground when she got to the top. Nothing worse than a wobbly ladder.
"Sit next to me," Sora said as he sat down on a ledge to the left of Kairi. She complied and gasped at the sight before her; the second district of Twilight Town, laid before her eyes under a clear night sky. Seeing the look on Kairi's face, Sora smiled and raised his Olympia-chained keyblade, shooting a blue beam of light into the mural that was below the ledge to the first district. A dozen little fountains erupted from the smooth, clear water and the butterflies in the mural sprang to light, each a small, bright blue dot from the distance.
"How... did you do that?" Kairi asked.
"A little trick I learned from Merlin," Sora laughed softly, "That mural actually hold the keyhole for Twilight Town. After I locked it, Merlin taught me a way to manipulate the light and energy around it."
"Wow... It's so beautiful," Kairi sighed.
Kairi sat there, not daring to breathe. She felt so lightheaded, yet so happy. A small sigh escaped from her. After a while, the little voice in the back of her head (namely Namine) reminded her that now would be a perfect time to get some sort of explanation for the incident that had woken her up after so many years of uncertainty.
"Um... Sora?" She asked, tearing her eyes from the sight before her.
"...Mmm?" He asked; it sounded like she had broken a previous trail of thought of his.
"Remember... th-the other night?" The words were harder to make now; Kairi gulped and felt her breathing become more shallow. She cringed internally.
"Yeah," Sora answered, turning to face her. Nothing showed on his face but polite puzzlement. Kairi's heart plummeted in her chest. She could feel herself spiraling towards misery, drowning in it.
"What... happened?" She asked. Her words sounded hollow, even to her.
"There was an eyelash on your face. I wanted to get it," Sora replied simply. Kairi fought back tears and stood up before her face completely betrayed the internal damage he had caused with that simple, blunt explanation.
"Where are you going?" Sora asked, looking at her concernedly.
"I-I have to go... I don't feel well," Kairi stammered, unable to stop the tears now. One crystalline, glistening droplet landed at the ground at her feet. She climbed down the stairs quickly, biting her lip to hamper the big baby sob that threatened to make itself heard.
"Is there anything I can do?" Sora called, looking down at her. She shook her head and kept running, pushing into the Gizmo Shop. Thankfully, no heartless came as she blundered teary-eyed through the building, eventually getting out to the other side. She didn't bother looking back to see if Sora was following her; just his bewildered face in her mind made her sob harder. The lump in her throat made it difficult to breathe.
"Room... for one, p-please," Kairi said to the kind, motherly-looking receptionist from earlier. She gave Kairi a comforting look, then handed her a key.
"Green Room... it'll be okay," she called, watching the redhead stumble into the room.
As soon as the door was closed, Kairi put her back to it and slid down the wall, tears streaming down her face faster than ever.
It's okay... Namine kept saying over and over again in her mind. Kairi just shook her head, sniffling like mad as she wept.
It's not.
She didn't know how long she sat there, crying like the world had just ended. But it had.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angst-fest! And before you guys kill me for being so emo, I do have a plan! The next chapter will be in Sora's point of view.
Vampire love!