N.Neo: Thanks! Oh yeah don't worry I did read your new chapter, but I'm a bit tied up at the moment to review.
Sorasheart281: For a moment I almost had them kiss in this chapter but no, because I'm evil like that! And yes I do need to post more because I think that's where the writers block is coming from.
DJ Diddy Dog: Thanks for the review man! But I think my writers block is going away.
Hey you guys summer is almost here! But…
On with the story!
Chapter 33: Second Step Another Departure
"He is requesting your presence once again," the guard said stopping short to where King Mickey stood. He looked at all of those who were present and bowed formally before the group. "At this point he asks only that you come as soon as possible."
The round eared king looked back at Amaterasu and she scratched the back of her head. "Are you sure it's all right, your Majesty?" she asked curiously, waiting for the order to transport them. King Mickey nodded and she relaxed her shoulders. The others gathered around her as a black portal came into view.
The guard stepped bravely into the portal and the group followed behind feeling a blanket of ice cover their whole body within the darkness the portal provided. The guard's faceplate kicked into a sort of night vision goggle, with the blue visor glowing faintly. The readings on the walls of the transportation were not readable on the charts of the current technology used for darkness level readings.
"Just keep walking straight." Amaterasu said noticing the guard look around the whole area. It was just a swirl of black, crimson, and a deep shade of purple that paved the way to their destination. "Don't focus on the moving walls you'll get yourself lost."
Riku looked at the path before them and noticed that it changed colors once in a while along with the walls. He had never before paid attention to the surrounding area of a dark portal when he was younger, but now that he did he just found it a bit strange. King Mickey had no trouble navigating through it since he walked calmly alongside Amaterasu. Goofy on the other hand got a bit sidetracked and Amaterasu stayed behind to get him.
The heir was dressed in a sort of royal outfit that had considerable fashion for temporary times, styled in a sort of Victorian outfit for men of his high stature. Versus sighed tapping his finger on the arm rest of his personal chair. His hair was a bit damp from the quick shower he took to refresh his body after the battle. 'I know King Mickey isn't walking back here…' he began to think about the sewers, 'Heartless couldn't have advanced that far down, they didn't even get into the capital.' He rested his head against the chair looking up at the gothic archways of his home.
His arm, from the wrist ascending to the elbow was wrapped in heavy bandages, a flesh wound was hidden underneath the medical bondages. The ape like Heartless had taken a hold of broken automatic firearms and drove the metal to cut the heir's arm. With that attack it was enough to get the heir into his Berserk mood, a mood only noticeable because his eyes blazed in crimson.
The portal appeared across from him and he watched carefully as a black boot set foot on the floor of the room. The blue eyed Heartless stepped out carefully moving to the side as Donald appeared. Yomigami and Gabriel came out next and looked back noticing another person come into view. Riku stepped out and sighed heavily feeling the icy sensation leave his body. The guard sent to find them stepped out and excused himself from the room, no doubt to throw up since he felt this weight on his stomach when he walked back out into the earth's atmosphere.
"Where are the other three?" Versus asked in his regal voice. Lightning came forward and bowed to the man for a moment and addressed the current situation to him. "So then we're waiting for a while longer…" he sighed feeling some annoyance now. He just wanted to get rid of the sphere now so that it would be somebody else's problem.
King Mickey and Goofy walked out and Goofy bowed awkwardly apologizing for his actions. "Didn't mean to make ya wait for so long, King Versus." Goofy turned his gaze to Amaterasu as she walked out sighing heavily and the portal vanished from sight. "Sorry, Amaterasu." Goofy said laughing, "A-hyuck!" The girl just shook her and said it was no problem at all.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, your Majesty." Amaterasu said sweetly bowing for a moment.
"Sit." Versus said using his mind once more to pull out chairs for his guest. "I'm not too fond of having captives in the meeting room like this," his eyes traced back to where Yomigami and Gabriel sat, "but I shall make an exception, even with this one." Versus was talking about Gabriel. "Now, to get this all underway." The sphere hovered over the table for a moment. "The Heartless are responding to this, which means whoever holds it in their possession will be at risk for oncoming ambushes and such."
"We would be glad to take if off of your hands, Versus." King Mickey said looking back at the others. "Wouldn't we fellaws?" and the others agreed in unison. Versus raised a suspicious look on his face for a moment. "I assure you that nothing will disrupt your kingdom, again."
"We'll see… If history repeats itself again, I'll put the blame on you, no offence your Majesty." Versus said leaning into his chair for a moment. "I trust that the current three Chasers will be in your hands?" King Mickey nodded in agreement to this fact. "I see…" Versus noticed that Amaterasu was wearing Riku's coat. "Emotional involvement, I don't want that to be a factor for the second Keyblade War."
Amaterasu and Riku both flinched in their seats when Versus said that. "Such things like that, are best left after the battle." Both of the two teens nodded and noticed Versus grin for a moment. "Then you two are…?"
"King Versus…" Amaterasu said softly for a moment and spoke up this time. "Be serious for a moment… Right now…" Versus raised his hand and the sleeve moved back flashing the medical bondage wrapped around his arm. She held her tongue and sat up straight in her chair.
"I understand, Dark Princess Amaterasu. There is no need to tell me how to do my part. I was simply just trying to lighten the mood, but…" Versus stopped himself, and decided not to continue that sentence. "If the second coming of that event does come no doubt my countries Nokia, Ometry, Linden, and Pasena will be thrown into that war. I'll prepare the squads in each country and leave the rest of the training to the higher-ups within the country." The sphere finally landed in front of King Mickey and the mouse took his gloved hand and grasped it. "Surprisingly the sphere hasn't gone berserk, which means that Riku is not the one to start it."
There was a wave of relief coming from the royal mouse, Amaterasu, and Riku himself. Still Riku would one day become the second Dark Master, not now but later, that was far into the future. "Still there is always the possibility, so you'd best be on your guard, Riku." Versus said cautiously. "Don't let the darkness in your heart tempt you."
"It'd be best if someone just took out the darkness in my heart…" Riku muttered, but Versus caught his voice as it trailed around.
"That would be even more dangerous, it'll take form and grab hold of the sphere containing him." Versus said. "I want to part on good terms with you all, so I won't keep you here any longer, but if you wish you may stay a while and rest up, and also restock on supplies. Again, my deepest apology on the death of your brother, Amaterasu."
"What did you do with the body?" she asked looking down at the coat that wrapped around her. From what she heard Versus had ordered for his body to be cremated. King Mickey was left out of the factor so the news came as a bit of a shock for him, he didn't seemed that pleased that Gekigami had died. He had done nothing wrong and his death seemed unexpected.
"That is all I have to say now." Versus said standing up. The others followed his orders and rose from their seats. "I bid goodbye to all of you." With that he bowed and opened the doors of the room, and he walked out with an elegant stride, the two females bowed as Versus left the room.
To Amaterasu she still couldn't believe that the sphere was finally in their possession. It was like a dream come true for her. 'After all these years it's finally in our grasp!' but the reality was that there was almost no one else who could understand how she felt. All she had now was Yomigami, and herself. 'I really wish you guys were here…' her sigh became long and she stayed behind for a while.
Lightning first noticed that her 'client' had stopped moving and quickly moved back to let the others continue their path to the outside area of the castle. "Isn't this what you wanted?" the Heartless asked trying to figure out why the girl would be sad at a time like this. Amaterasu nodded and sighed again resting her head against the glass of the window. "But then why are you…?"
"It's just me and my brother…" Amaterasu said softly and Lightning leaned in a bit to catch the tone in her voice. "We have no one else who knows how we feel, except for Gabriel but he doesn't like the fact that King Mickey has the sphere in his grasp." She thought back to the promise she and her siblings had made to King Mickey the second time around when everything was still good. "We had promised him that we'd get the sphere for him one day…"
"Then I don't…" Lightning paused for a moment and placed a reassuring hand on Amaterasu's shoulder. "Listen you did your part, and with that came sacrifices."
"I wasn't ready to give them up… neither one of them wanted to die!" she said moving to the side from the Heartless' grip. "We were supposed to finish this job like a family!" she said slumping down to the ground. "It's not fair! Gabriel screwed up our chances, now look at us! Distance! That's all I'm getting from my own brother…" she said looking up at the blue eyed Heartless. "I wouldn't expect you to understand, I don't hold it against you but still…" she flinched as Lightning hugged her.
"Sshh…" the Heartless said in a soothing tone. "It's all right now… You're not alone, look who you have with you. You have one family member alive, you have the King who has decided to trust you, myself and with my protection, and Riku, the boy who gave his light to you." At that point Lightning had found something that set her apart from other Heartless. "I have something most Heartless will never have… A good friend."
Her words seemed so sincere to the girl and she couldn't help but feel sentimental. 'A good friend…' the girl thought hugging Lightning back with enough force. The Heartless felt another spark within her empty shell of a heart, but the spark lingered a while longer. "You feel better now?" Lightning asked in a tone that sounded like a mother asking her child. Amaterasu nodded slightly and looked up at the gothic design on the ceiling. "I never thought a Heartless would call me a friend…" Amaterasu said smiling at the Heartless.
"There's a first time for everything. This is just the first step to getting my heart." Lightning said helping Amaterasu up to her feet. "Now you want your heart?" Amaterasu asked looking curiously at the blue eyed Heartless. Lightning gave a small smile and nodded reassuringly. The two of them walked out together laughing for a moment at the whole idea, but the Heartless wasn't joking about the whole idea. "You did promise after all, Amaterasu. I want you to keep that promise for me."
Outside on castle grounds
Roses were in mid bloom even though it was still snowing, somehow they managed to sustain their beauty and growth. 'It's the magic in this place…' Riku thought walking through the garden. "Your coat…" someone said softly in back of him. He turned around and paused for a moment. Amaterasu had his coat in her hands. "It's sort of warm here so… I don't need it now." She said smiling for a moment. "Where are the others?" she asked walking with Riku around the garden.
"Probably in town…" Riku went on to talking about the capital for a moment remembering to some places he had been to since he was 'freed' so to speak.
The turquoise eyed teen looked at one of the roses in his sight. It seemed like a different shade of blue, something magnetizing to his view. It was in full bloom, something rare for this time of year within the capital. Amaterasu watched the rose taking in essence its beauty.
"Something you don't see at all…" Riku said watching Amaterasu smiled for a moment. She shook her head and was she was about to walk Riku held her hand for a moment. "Here," he said plucking the rose from its safe haven.
"Riku, you… what if it dies by the time we get back to the castle?" she couldn't help but ask as she took it into her hands. The silver haired teen told her to push thoughts like that away from her mind. "But what if it dies? The magic in this world is keeping it alive and…" she got cut off as Riku placed his hand over her mouth. She protested again but her voice was muffled.
"Oh… What's that?" Riku asked placing his free hand to cup his other ear. "Oh, I'm sorry I can't hear you." He said jokingly. "But come on Amaterasu lighten up, it's not going to die." She nodded against his idea. "We'll have Donald keep it nice and frozen."
"FROZEN?!" she couldn't help but push away his hand. "It'll get frostbite!" she said pointing to the elegant blue rose in her hand. "The petals will get burned from the cold. And besides what if Versus finds out you plucked this rose?"
Riku couldn't really win the argument with her, since both of them wouldn't back down. The silver haired teen just pulled her along following the snowy path of the walk around the garden. Amaterasu sighed in defeat and placed the blue rose in her hair looking back at Riku with this sort of look; 'are you happy now?' was all that the turquoise eyed teen could make out from the expression of her face.
"It looks good on you," Riku said softly placing a gentle kiss on her cheek.
She made a gagging sound. "Don't go too mushy on me…" Amaterasu said looking up at him, "Besides emotional attachment should be left after the battle." She said pulling him along this time. Riku rolled his eyes and ignored the words coming from her mouth for a moment or two. "Hey… Look I know it's taken you a long time to…"
"You haven't said it though…" Riku said stopping in his tracks. "I told you, but you haven't told me yet."
"After the battle…" Amaterasu said giving a big grin. "So you have to wait even longer!" she said feeling Riku pull her closes to him.
"I don't think I can wait that long…" Riku said placing his face dangerously close to hers. "By the time the whole battle is over I'd probably be dead…" he smiled watching her eyes dance around with life. He moved in for the kill, but in that spilt second Amaterasu moved her frame slightly.
"Lightning!" she said nervously feeling Riku stop in his tracks. Lightning watched the two teens for a moment and sighed heavily covering her eyes for a moment with one hand. Riku turned on his heels to look at Lightning but somehow instead of looking at the blue eyed Heartless he found himself staring at the falling snow. To make matters worse he had dragged Amaterasu down with him. "Ouch…" she muttered lifting her head up a couple of millimeters from his chest.
"You're heavy…" Riku whispered trying to sit up, but the girl didn't move for a while. "Amaterasu…" he poked her for a moment until she groggily moved to the side shaking her head for a moment. He flopped back down onto the snow covered ground and sighed looking at the world upside down.
"I thought I'd find you two here…" Lightning said walking towards the two fallen bodies. She looked at her surrounding area and smiled a bit looking at the different roses and other types of flowers growing in this cold weather. "I hope the two of you weren't planning on pollinating here."
Riku's face turned bright red against the color of the snow and his hair. Amaterasu sat up slightly laughing hysterically at the double meaning joke. The girl shook her head and couldn't find any air for her lungs. "I… can't…" she couldn't stop laughing. "Breathe…!" she said finally trying to clear her throat. She panted for a moment and looked back at Riku for a moment. "Why is your face all red?"
"It is?" he asked feeling his face turn crimson. "Forget it…" he said sitting up and looking down at the ground. 'Come on, just let me kiss her just once…' he begged to all the gods in the world. But somehow they seemed to enjoy watching him fail at that one act. "Hey does this mean that King Mickey's ready to go back?" Riku asked looking back at Lightning.
The Heartless nodded and helped the two teens up. For some reason though Lightning held a rather sad expression that was plainly visible on her facial features. Amaterasu couldn't help but look at her for a moment and titled her head for a moment. "What's wrong?" the girl couldn't help but just ask her.
"King Mickey is asking for you to spy on Maleficent but we won't leave until midnight," Lightning whispered directly into Amaterasu's ear. The girl felt her eyes widen for a moment and looked back at Lightning with a look of pure disbelief. "He says it's better that someone from our side stays behind to keep track of the enemies movements."
"But I thought we were all going back together…" Amaterasu said sadly watching Riku walk ahead of the two.
"I'll be staying with you, we'll depart from her forces once King Mickey has found a way to unlock the sphere's content. It shouldn't take that long." The Heartless said trying to lighten the spirits of the girl. "Do you want me to tell him?" she asked looking at the look on Amaterasu's face.
Amaterasu shook her head and sighed heavily for a moment. "You know it was nice while it lasted, being close with Riku again." The girl said watching a snowflake fall onto her boot. "I know that we'll see each other again, but it might be pretty long if Maleficent starts attacking the worlds again. You know who's going to have to do it." Amaterasu said motioning with her finger herself and Lightning. "You know I really hope Sora finishes with his training soon, so that way Riku won't be alone."
A m a t e r a s u
With the sphere finally in our grasp I thought things would be nice from here, maybe have some good luck bless us in someway. I thought wrong though, as humans we just pray and hope only to have reality come crashing down on our little frail minds and bodies. Still I mean I'm doing this for a good cause, that's what I've been telling myself anyway.
I've spent time with Riku for a couple of months now, and I've learned a lot about him, no doubt he's learned a lot about me. He's still the same guy I know from the islands. He can be a bit hard on himself at times, but I'm like that with myself at times. 'He loves me…' that's the only thing going through my mind at this point. Being away from him will probably tear my frail heart apart.
"Riku…" I finally was able to get him to stop. He turned around giving me that warm smile he always gives me. "Um… There's something I have to tell you…" I said shyly pulling him away from Lightning. She understood what I was going to do, so she didn't object to it at all.
"What is it?" he asked looking at me for a moment. I wonder if he can sense it in his heart. I can, I can somehow feel his heartbeat ring in my head, he's nervous about something. I pulled him along for a moment and just enjoyed walking around with him in the snow.
"I…" I can't bring myself to say it. I don't want to make him worry. I want to stay with him for a long time. I don't know how long I'm going to be gone for, but I can pray, I can hope that it won't be for a long time. "It's under King Mickey's orders." I said trying to figure out how to say it all at once. "I've been ordered to spy on Maleficent to notify and possibly stall her attacks as King Mickey tries to get the 'content' out of the sphere." I shook my head and looked down. "I don't want to leave… I feel like I just got here, and now I have to go!" I said shaking my head again. "I… I don't want to be away from you." I said looking up at him.
I hate goodbyes because it makes it seem like I won't see that person for a long time. I've never been good at giving goodbyes, and this one is by far the hardest I've had to do now. I want to scream and protest against it, but since I wasn't raised that way it's just foreign for me to do something like that.
'I don't know when I'll get another chance though…' I thought to myself looking at his turquoise eyes. They were filled with confusion for a moment and a small glint of despair. 'In times of war love is the thought furthest from the mind, and once it's over it becomes the first thing on the mind.' That was something the deceased Lucifer once said to me when I was 'younger'.
"When do you leave?" he asked taking my hand in his. I told him it was at midnight, and he sighed for a moment. "That only gives me a little time to prepare…" he said trying to get me to laugh a bit.
"Wait!" I said remembering why this sounded familiar. "I'm supposed to prepare, since it is my leave."
R i k u
Why is destiny so cruel to people?
That's the same question I ask myself from time to time, and I've had a real good answer for that. I told her I love her, and it seemed like it'd be a good from there. Still I never should've thought that positively since I'd probably end up jinxing it or something. 'She leaves at midnight…' that's the only thing that got through my head now.
"You have any idea one what you're going to do?" I asked her and she shook her head. It was like her, but I think the news was given to her on short notice.
"Sorry!" she said rubbing the back of her head for a moment. "Um… Let's just walk around the capital. From what you've told me it's a really good place to go to at night."
I nodded and the two of us kept on walking for a while. I never thought that the last sphere would be the thing that would keep us apart for a while. 'Just when we'd gotten through our other problems…' I thought to myself when we stopped walking.
Lightning waited for us and she went ahead of us as we started to walk in her direction. She was taking us back to where King Mickey and the others were at. It was probably back to the gummi ship that King Mickey has under his possession.
"You know how long you'll be gone for?" I asked her and she said she didn't know. "I just hope you take care of yourself."
"I will…" she said looking back at me for a moment. "You take care of yourself too."
I smirked for a moment and kissed her cheek, it felt warm even with the cold weather. "Have I ever told you how good you look in a skirt?"
"Don't start with that again…" she said rolling her eyes. "I don't like skirts…"
"Then why do you wear them? You know jeans are fine… Nothing is good too…" I said watching the look on her face.
Current Scene
The Heartless heard an inhumane scream come from in back of her. She turned around quickly and all she could see was Amaterasu walking away. Riku on the other hand had seen better days as laid on his side clutching the injured body part cursing loudly due to the pain.
Still somehow this little act was able to make the Heartless laugh for a moment. They were able to take their minds off other things for just a moment, and it was worth it. 'Something tells me they're trying to make the most of it, somehow…' Lightning thought for a moment and then saw Amaterasu help Riku up to his feet.
"Are you trying to kill me?" Riku asked letting Amaterasu help him to his feet.
"Something like that…" she said laughing at him. "But that was disgusting…" she said referring back to what he said.
"It was a joke…"
"Damn you'd better not tell your kids jokes like that." She said thinking about it for a moment. "In a way I was kinda saving your future wife from bearing your children."
A/N: You know what to do one review please!