A/N: My showcase is over, and so I can finally post up and update and write and stuff, thank the deities! I kicked butt in my performance, YAY!
Rozen: Thank you very much for that long and lengthy review, I worked hard on this chapter, so please enjoy it. Oh yeah, I will be using those two quotes if you don't mind, they really help my story move along, so thank you once again!
Sorasheart281: I'm not going to show her dying, but I've got tissues if you need them! I don't know about the chapters, hopefully about a couple more of them!
Xejicka: I love Flyleaf, and I have heard that song! Thank you so much for your review, yeah I didn't think I'd get Amaterasu to do that, but somehow she ended up doing it, or rather it just popped into my head.
A friend: Hey, THANK YOU so much for everything buddy, I mean it a lot. Well um, yeah I don't want to make this all mushy and stuff… I kicked butt on these two performance nights, so go me!
Thank you so much my loyal readers and reviewers, I'm so happy!
Now if I may… On with the story!
Chapter 36: Suscitatio ut Affectus accersitus…(Awaken that Emotion called…)
"A wonderful caricature of intimacy…" the girl managed to remember a song that had been plaguing her thoughts for several days. She stared up at the sky, the clouds doused in the twilight, signaling the night that would soon come. "What am I doing here? Why am I doing this…?"
'It's the only thing you know HOW to do…' the mind said thinking back to everything. All her actions, all her intuition, and down to the fiber in her being. 'You were created like this, when you gave your body to science, remember?'
"That may be true, but can't I be allowed to live like a human? I have a heart, so why can't I just live like them?" the girl asked watching the clouds move about her. "Does it really make that much of a difference if I have an artificial heart? Am I considered not human now?"
'Possibly, I do not know what to make of it, and I am a part of you. This is what you want to hear, correct? Fused with a young Heartless that has seen its fair share of battles, no doubt your brother is more prone to the blood lusting nature, you have a tolerance to this. Do you regret this?'
"No regrets…" the girl said sitting up. She looked at the pant legs, noticing a slight orange tinge on the blue fabric. This was blood, from a mission several weeks ago. She was not able to take the stain out, and so it showed her how she lived, each time she wore it. "It took a while to lessen the stain, blood landed on the fake Keyblade and it went everywhere, you were there."
'Indeed. So you have no regrets now?'
"This is my job, and no one else's…" Amaterasu said letting her body hit the grass again. "For a Heartless you ask so many questions."
'Common nature, I'm going to be with you till you lose your life.'
"That's nice to know…" the young girl said closing her eyes for a moment. "Strange though, Xehanort is upset with me for doing this. But when I knew him, this had already happened, you can't change the past… But you can…"
'Change the present course of time… Is that what you want to hear?' the Heartless said growling for a moment. 'To be doomed within the body of an ageless child of 16 years of age now… One good long year, and more to come, that's wonderful…'
Lightning sighed for a moment watching Amaterasu lay in the small patch of green grass. Princess Aurora's castle was covered now in thorns, signaling Maleficent's return to the townspeople. The pure maiden's 'hearts' had been transported to the hidey-hole, hooked to a machine, suitable for transportation to Sunset Horizon as soon as the last heart was collected. It had taken Amaterasu a while to grasp the concept for taking their hearts like that.
Technically it wasn't the heart that was taken, but the body as well. While the darkness began to spread through the heart the body went into this hibernating mode, to try and fight off the darkness. Yet up to this point the bodies went into shock, absolutely defenseless at this point, so there was no issue with the darkness spreading over the pure untainted hearts. Using the power of the tainted hearts from the Princess of Heart, and securing it within his own heart, the Dark Keyblade master had done this a long time ago, which had led to the destruction of most of Elusion-Ilusion's structures.
"Are you all right, Amaterasu?" the Heartless asked noticing that the girl was unresponsive for several minutes. Lightning placed a gentle palm on the girl's shoulder and she turned over to her side.
"I don't feel too good…" the girl said worriedly feeling the scent around her mix with blood now. Her nature came back to what it had been long ago. "Do I have blood anywhere on me?" she asked afraid of what Lightning's response would be now.
No blood stained the girl, but she seemed to be paranoid about the whole deal now. "Not that I can see." Lightning said noticing the girl stir up, hugging her knees at this point. "We… We should probably leave this place now, and look for the last heart."
Amaterasu shook her head vigorously. "No! We can't, not to her… We can't! We cannot… She… I know her. She's… or rather was my friend. I don't care if the witch gets mad at me, but no harm will come to her."
"Amaterasu, I can't follow that order, you know that. Maleficent calls the orders now, not you…" the Heartless said feeling some pain within the empty area of her heart. "I really wish that it was the other way around."
"Sora and Riku…" the girl felt her heart twist in pain at the thought of the other two. "No, I don't want them to be mad with me. I don't…"
'It's too late to feel guilt…' the second voice in her mind responded. 'Trust me you can't go back, you'll die…'
"Let me evolve…" the girl muttered to herself avoiding Lightning's gaze for a while. "Let me try, I don't care if I die…"
'If you go and try to help, you'll lose his trust, his love, his friendship everything you worked so hard for. Do you want that?'
"If I go and try to help, maybe I can prevent that…" the girl said fighting with her inner mind, she wanted to break away from that nature more than anything.
'Darkness can't evolve; it can either extend or diminish. What you will do will end your life, at the hands of the one you love.'
Amaterasu stood up, and looked back at Lightning as she sat down, looking at her with those blue eyes filled with no soul at all. She extended her hand to the Heartless and she took it. "Does this mean we are going to Twilight Town?" the Heartless asked. Amaterasu nodded and looked back at the vast village beneath the area they rested in. The civilians didn't seem to walk about the streets now, Heartless moved across the streets tearing at the flesh of all the living, including the livestock. 'Is this what darkness brings? If so why did I embrace it so quickly, and early? What did I want? Absolutely nothing but acceptance from it, that was a blind thing to do and I'm paying it with my life…' the girl thought looking back at Lightning.
They walked down the empty streets, Neo Shadows patrolling the sidewalks for any signs of a pulse from a heart wielding object. Lightning detested the Heartless for disrupting the lives of the people, but it wasn't in her place to speak out, because she was a Heartless, with a somewhat developed conscience now. A smaller lesser Heartless walked alongside Amaterasu, and the girl carefully picked it up.
"What are…?" Lightning looked a bit confused at the fact of what the girl did. Amaterasu hugged the creature, noticing that nothing happened. The Heartless did not dare claw at the heart beating within the girl's chest. Darkness finally shielding her heart from the attacks of the dark beings. "Amaterasu…" Lightning understood what the girl had done now. "You gave in…"
"A friend of mine told me once, even in the deepest depths there's a light that never goes out…" the girl said sadly placing the lesser Heartless on the floor watching it scurry along. "I'm not going to dwell on the fact that my heart is tainted with darkness, because I picked it, and I understand."
The two of them did not say anything for a while, noticing that another Heartless found a victim, and Amaterasu cringed watching the crimson stained claws rise up in the air. "Stop!" Amaterasu said commanding the Heartless to cease its attack on the body, but the claws buried themselves deeper within the body. "Stop!" the girl ran past the human Heartless pushing the Neo Shadow away from the limp body. "That's enough!"
The Neo Shadow jumped back noticing the girl for a moment. In the mind of the Heartless she was registered as an ally, but was still confused in nature by her action of having a sort of 'kind' heart. The Heartless tried to move again, going for its prey, and Amaterasu stood in front of it, growling slightly. Lightning watched from a couple of feet away, wanting to see how it would end. 'You're being torn apart by it, aren't you?' the Heartless thought watching her 'client' pull out her Keyblade.
'It's starting to eat away at you… After a week of our stay here.' Lightning's blue eyes noticed Amaterasu protecting the limp body now. The human body on the grass was left a bloody mess. Gashes on their arm, and deep, long wounds running down the thighs of the limp body. The Neo Shadow before had no choice but to react and attack at the weapon drawn before it. With a swift and powerful motion Amaterasu ducked under the attack of its kick, and the Keyblade neatly hacked the head clear off of the shoulders. Several more Neo Shadows emerged reacting to the presence of the Keyblade at hand. Lightning couldn't take it at all anymore feeling 'compassion' for the Heartless being attacked now.
"That's enough…" Lightning said walking down to where Amaterasu stood. The Neo Shadows stopped their advance towards the girl, and looked up at Lightning. Lightning emitted a low hiss, and the antennas from the others drew back in fear. Amaterasu looked back at the female Heartless and withdrew her weapon. "They won't adhere to what you have to say." Lightning said informatively, "As long as Maleficent is here, they go under her command."
"Let's just go…" Amaterasu said looking down at the limp body. The body's heart remained untouched, but as soon as she would leave the Heartless would try once again to steal the heart from the limp, almost deceased body. As soon as the dirt road met with their shoes, they continued onward down the thoroughfare. Amaterasu looked back, watching the Heartless gang up on the defenseless body. Her stomach churned slightly, and she covered her mouth, the scent of blood and tears mixed into the air, and the wind carried it down the long and winding road before them. The girl noticed that the blue eyed Heartless had a point, as long as Maleficent was around Amaterasu wouldn't be able to call the shots.
"It's not your fault…" the Heartless said trying to provide mimicked words of comfort. The girl shook her head and looked down at her feet, noticing each step she took. She took a step away from the dark reality, leaving that behind to her, only to walk forward into another problem that would prove to be far greater than the last incident. Amaterasu looked back up at the sky; crows seemed to gather around the area of the thorn covered castle. 'All they did was signal the end of my luck,' the girl thought looking to the side of her. 'Why did I think a bird like that would bring me luck…?' she clutched the necklace around her, and felt a small needle jab her heart once again.
"What I'm about to do, is my fault." Amaterasu said breaking her silence. Lightning looked at her for a moment, their steps in synch now. The girl had finally accepted the terms of her punishment, she didn't want anything bad to happen, but it was impossible to please so many people. Amaterasu remembered why she didn't commit to memory so many promises; it was because she knew she couldn't keep them all. "I could've stopped this. Maybe I should've persuaded the witch to stay back in Radiant Garden… But it's too late for that now, so I have to do this. I want to change it, but I mean this is all I know in the end…"
"Once this is done…" Lightning didn't know whether she should remind the girl once again. "Will you still keep your promise to me?" Amaterasu's eyes widened for a moment stopping her body from moving for a moment. "Or will you break it?" the girl looked away from her, and crossed her arms over her chest. Amaterasu cleared her throat, another promise finally catching up to her. Amaterasu walked past her for a moment, trying to figure out what to say to her. The Heartless followed after her, and stopped her from advancing ant further. She placed a strong grip on the girl's shoulder, enough to probably get the girl to stop. "Will you?" the Heartless asked once again.
"I…" Amaterasu felt her bottom lip tremble, for a moment her heartbeat was racing. "I intend to see that promise through," the girl looked back at the blue eyed Heartless, "even if it kills me somehow, I won't give up on giving you a heart." Out of all the promises this was probably going to be the one she would not give up on and the one she would see through in person, instead of someone else doing it for her.
Twilight Town
"The girl sent this," Yen Sid handing King Mickey a sphere of some sort. The king looked at it carefully, examining the surface of it, watching something faintly, like a scene, playing across the surface of its round surface, "Pete, he said that she wanted you to have this." The royal mouse looked at the sphere then back to his former master and teacher. "This has been the sphere you've been looking for isn't it?" King Mickey said nothing but gave a solid nod. "The other sphere, where he sleeps has not been awakened yet."
"I know," the king said softly looking back at the sphere. "She's not going to return now." The king said referring to the girl, the one called 'Amaterasu'. "This is her last promise to me, and now she's off to do whatever she pleases." The king sighed for a moment and placed the sphere back on the table, near Yen Sid. The old master and teacher understood what the king meant by that, seeing as how he had been present when the promise was made a long time ago. "I fear we can't keep history from repeating itself. Too many of the pieces have already gathered together. It's only a matter of time before they search for Kairi, and her heart."
"I would not doubt if they are on their way as we speak. It should be best to inform the young Princess of Heart, as soon as possible." Yen Sid said noticing King Mickey stand up pausing for a moment, before his gloved hand reached the brass doorknob. The royal mouse turned around and sighed for a moment. "Do you know her location?" Yen Sid asked his former pupil. King Mickey had no answer at this point, and stood there for a moment.
"I'll find her and inform the others as well…" King Mickey said taking the brass doorknob and opening the entrance that acted as an exit. With that the door closed, and the mouse went off to search for the princess and the Keyblade's 'Chosen One'.
Roxas and Naminé panted for a moment looking at the people in back of them. They ran up to the sight before them, staring out into the sunset Twilight Town had to offer on that romantic gazing spot. Kairi, Sora, and Riku followed behind gazing at the sight before them. This place was called 'Sunset Hill' mostly known for its beautiful and scenic view of the sun as it gave into the night. "Isn't it romantic?" Kairi asked looking over the ledge, the wind gently blowing in their direction. The sunset was something that couldn't be matched by any other world, not matter how hard it tried.
"That's something Selphie would say," both Riku and Sora said, thinking back to their friends they left on the island. "You should bring Amaterasu here one day." Sora said patting his good friend on the back. The silver haired teen let out a small laugh, slightly in discomfort. "I'll try…" Riku said feeling something in the back pocket of his pants. He pulled out the item, noticing that it was a familiar amulet. 'The summoning amulet…' the boy thought holding it out for a moment longer.
"She wants you to have this." Riku said handing the brunette an amulet of some sort. "It's a little gift from her." The boy said noticing Sora take great interest in the amulet now. "It's an amulet for this creature thing, it's sort of like a summoning." Riku said placing his arms on the ledge, and leaned out a bit. Sora placed it on one of the clips underneath his belt, gazing at the rest of the amulets he had received during his travels. Once the worlds were in order they went back to their homes. "It's a Shadow Hound convene."
"That thing that knocked me out?!" Sora asked almost falling backwards. "Out of all the things she could've given me, she gives me that weird looking dog!" Sora said thinking back to the massive teeth, powerful paws, and strange fur and body structure. "It better not try and steal the Keyblade again…" Riku just sighed and hung his head for a moment, exhaling again in a louder tone.
"You miss her a lot, don't you, Riku?" Kairi asked, she couldn't help but notice the condition her friend was in. He didn't seem all that cheery now, as he possibly couldn't stand being away from her for so long. Naminé watched Riku for a moment trying to read the expression on his face, but all she could make out was guilt. 'Why does he feel guilt, what did he do?' Naminé asked herself, but nothing could answer her now.
"I feel bad, for leaving her." Riku said folding his hands, still leaning on the ledge of the area. His heartbeat was slow now, as he tried to relax himself for a moment, trying to think of positive thoughts. 'She's doing fine; Lightning is taking care of her… Nothing bad's going to happen.' His thoughts wanted to keep his sanity happy now. "I worry about her." He said honestly, "I don't feel comfortable leaving her like that." He stuffed one hand into the front pocket of his pants, pulling out the mp3 player. 'I promised I'd give this back to you,' he looked down at the necklace hanging around his neck; delicately he placed a hand on the blue and black ring that clinked alongside the friendship piece.
'How do you know if she is all right? How do you know she's not betraying you?' the Heartless returned from its short slumber, and Riku brushed off its taunts. There was no point trying to answer the Heartless' question, since it would ask more and more after he answered. Riku sighed and moved aside from the group around him, trying to figure out what to do now. 'I feel like something is going to happen…' he looked back at his friends, they seemed so happy now, laughing and joking around now. 'How can I tell them?' he wanted to know how he could tell them.
'I can't…' he thought to himself. He wanted to leave and go and find the girl. Riku wanted more than anything to take her away from there, and that was all he wanted to do now. The silver haired teen wanted that to be his plan of action, but he would wait for her to come back. 'I know you'll come back once your done, I know you will,' he didn't let any doubt come into mind at this point now.
Sora and the others watched Riku's behavior for a moment. He seemed a bit more distant now, after coming back. The two girls noticed the boy take a small earpiece and place it in his ear; he seemed to have his eyes transfixed on something. Kairi and Naminé knew something was wrong, because of something in the manner of his actions. Call it women's intuition, but something was going to happen. "We should probably head back now…" Naminé said looking back at Sora and Roxas, Kairi nodded, agreeing to what her Nobody said.
As they began to head out, Riku stopped in his tracks for a moment. He took the earpiece off, and placed the item back, securely in his pant pocket. 'That smell,' he thought looking around the area. Everything had gone quiet now, something didn't seem right, and Riku's own intuition would come into play. "Heartless?" he asked himself aloud remembering the scent now. For some reason he detected the faint scent of cherry blossoms. 'It's just my mind playing tricks on me…' he thought to himself.
"Kairi!" two voices called out. The Nobody and brunette called out hurriedly. Dark blots formed around the young Princess of Heart, and Sora jumped in front of the girl, brandishing his weapon of choice. Roxas pulled out Oathkeeper and stood near Kairi and Sora, trying to protect her as well. Riku blinked in surprise, and ran forward whipping out his weapon to vanquish the enemies.
Entrance of Twilight Town
Two figures wearing dark hooded clothing walked through the gummi port, into the entrance of the town. One figure sighed mumbling something while the other just looked back at the shorter and younger figure, shaking their head in disagreement. "If you were going to act like this, then why bother to come at all?" the taller one asked, in a rather cold tone.
"What else was I suppose to do…?" the younger one responded rubbing their right wrist slightly. The figure felt uncomfortable just being here, even breathing the air. "Right now, they're fighting with them even as we speak."
"That'll be enough to just slow them down, then…" the taller figure sighed noticing again the behavior of the younger figure. "You're making me feel bad about this now." The figure said, feeling a frown etched across their face, but the hood prevented from the action being seen. "He's going to see you. He'll remember who you are, even with the disguise."
"We're keeping out of sight, remember?" the younger one wanted to remind the taller and older looking collaborator. They kept on walking down the orange tinged walkway, leading to the residential area of it all. The younger figure looked back to where the gummi ship was docked, and made a face of disgust. "I hate how they smell…"
"Yeah well, cherry blossoms cancel the scent out a bit." The other said chuckling for a moment at that fact. A gloved hand went down on the head of the younger one. "Let's just keep out of sight for a while, and then strike at the right time."
The other one nodded, and clutched something that hung around the side of the dark hooded coat. Something cold as metal met the gloved hand and the figure gently stroked the item, fighting off the urge to make a sound of dejection. "Pick up the pace." The older one said motioning to the younger one to walk around the corner. "The clock tower will give us a better view."
"He's going to find me…" the figure said sadly. "What will I tell him? How can I? I can't face him if he does find me!" the younger one said loudly, not caring if people stared at the two of them as they walked down. The other figure just shook their head and walked down to where the clock tower was stationed.
R i k u
"To your left!" I called out attacking Heartless on my side of the area. Sora hurled his Keyblade to the left side of the area, decapitating about five of them. Kairi and Naminé stood back to a distance casting spells to try and keep the momentum going now. Roxas pulled out Oblivion and parried with the surrounding Neo Shadows that ganged up on him.
'It still smells like those flowers…' I thought jumping back, and neatly slicing a Heartless, it moved for a moment, and then fell to the floor with a loud thump. They were inexorable, that's how Heartless acted. A bigger type of Heartless had to be commanding them, but the leader wasn't in sight, which was weird, Heartless don't act like that at all. I dashed forward, narrowly missing a claw, and hacked the arm clean off, the Heartless moved again trying to attack with one arm, but it stopped, and disappeared. In its own way it seemed to pass out from the pain.
Kairi placed a 'Firaga' spell, the flames sprouted from the type of the Keyblade she held in her hand. The flames roared as they came into contact with the enemy. Bodies disintegrated when the emitted spell scorched the bodies. Kairi knew how to handle her magic; after all she trained under Yen Sid. Amaterasu had been right; she was suited better for magic than fighting.
I panted for a moment trying to catch my breath. A Neo Shadow caught me off guard when I moved, I didn't notice it had jumped to the side, and it tried to hack my head off. 'Thunder,' I thought commanding a lightning bolt to strike the Heartless head on. I placed one foot forward and used the burst of speed to strike the enemy down. More and more where starting to come our way, and it was up to the point where everything was just a sea of black.
"I thought you closed this place, Sora?" Roxas asked using Lightning Strike. The Heartless was paralyzed and Roxas took the executing modus operandi. Sora looked back at Roxas for a moment, not really sure of what to say. He just attacked a couple of more Heartless, trying to protect his heart and us. "Riku, behind you!" Roxas yelled out trying to my direction.
As I rolled to the side I felt something claw at my leg, and something made a clunk sound. I looked up slightly, watching the Heartless feet stop directly in front of me. I noticed the item that fell to the floor. 'Her mp3 player…'I thought scrambling to make it past the Neo Shadows. Fire roared past me, hitting the desired targets. A Keyblade went through the air cutting two opponents in half. A Neo Shadow stood in my path, and with a quick motion of my arms the body disappeared from sight.
"No!" I yelled hurriedly noticing a Neo Shadow pick the device up with its clawed black paw, or arm, whatever it was. 'Jeopardizing your life for that apparatus?' the other voice called out in my mind. I chased after the Heartless, as it moved into the crowd of Neo Shadows. 'I made her a promise…' it was the only thing I could manage to rebut with. I slashed and flung Heartless in several directions, letting my one desire come to mind, to get the mp3 player back. 'If you want that object back so badly… use the darkness to get it back, but don't miss up, or…' the other voice paused for a moment. "Sora, use the Shadow Hound amulet!" I said blocking the claws of a Heartless.
Within moments of the suggestion a huge beast drew back its lips, revealing menacing fangs to the Neo Shadows. The Heartless hissed and growled in their own way as the beast advanced, a dark aura surrounding the charging animal. Several Heartless were knocked in the air as the attack of claws and teeth were enough to send them flying. Sora took that moment to go into Anti-Form, and as a mass of a black tinted figure, he went into the air mercilessly attacking, and shredding the air-borne enemies.
A m a t e r a s u
There was nothing I could find to keep my mind preoccupied, and all I could think about was him. I felt guilty, and it showed, Lightning said so, and well it did give the impression of it being true. The smell of Heartless got to me a bit, and it was enough to get me a bit dizzy. Being this close to the Heartless, it was something that wasn't use to at all, but at one point of my life I had gotten use to, for it had been a while back when I had once sided with the dark creatures. 'I hope Sora puts the amulet to good use,' I thought to myself watching the twilight colored sky. I fumbled around with the black coat, finally taking the hood off, letting the cool air brush up against my cheeks. "And paying in naivety…" I said softly looking down at the buildings.
A massive sea of black dots covered one portion of the area, and little particles of red, blue, and yellow hit several black dots. I looked to the person sitting beside me, and sighed for a moment. Lightning took off the black hood, and shook her head, hair was obscuring her view of the fight taking place down there. "When are you going to call them off?" she asked looking back at me for a moment. I shrugged for a moment and then I opened my mouth, but I had nothing to say. "Just call them off before they end up killing the girl."
"Yeah…" I said dejectedly not really focusing on anything. The Heartless were feeding off of the emotions I had stirring within me, guilt and confusion, and they loved that feeling to no end, and they used it to their advantage, sort of like a moral booster as they attacked. "There's an opening…" I heard Lightning say, pulling her hood back up, as she started to disappear before my eyes. "Be…" there was no point telling her as she seemed to be down there already. I looked at the ground scanning my eyes for a moving black object. 'There she is…' I thought noticing her move to the pink figure moving about.
A Neo Shadow reappeared from the darkness of the clock tower, handing me a little blue device, it made little hisses and growls. 'This is…' I took the item and dismissed the dark creature back it its job. The words 'Build God, Then We'll Talk,' ran across the screen, the pause symbol placed on the corner of the screen. 'Riku…' I thought fighting back more emotions that stirred in my heart. The little device went into my pocket, and I looked back down to try and find Lightning, something caught my eye while peering down there.
"No…" I thought to myself pulling my hood back up. Sora had found her out. "Damn it…" I muttered cursing out loud.
A cold feeling came over me as I reappeared a couple of feet away from Lighting and Kairi. Sora moved forward ready to strike at Lightning, but she moved back making it seem like child's play. The Neo Shadows stopped moving and stood still, as I walked forward. Lightning placed a gloved hand over the girl's mouth and Sora stopped for a moment looking back at me.
"Let go of Kairi!" the boy said trying to threaten us. "You're outnumbered 3 to 2." I tried not to laugh at that.
"Last time I checked," Lightning said in a cold voice, "we're the ones with an army of Heartless." She motioned to the Neo Shadows standing around us. "Be a good kid, and let us do our job." I looked back at Sora and Kairi, they had called back their Nobodies, from what the Heartless had told me earlier, when that Neo Shadow dropped off the mp3 player. I sighed for a moment and opened a black portal in back of Lightning and Kairi.
"I'll hold them off for a bit." I said hoping that Lightning would go and take Kairi into the portal. She shook her head, and I growled for a moment. "Use the Heartless." She suggested and I looked back at the Neo Shadows. 'I don't want to…' I thought to myself as I heard my own two fingers snap. The Neo Shadows whizzed past me, and charged in a straight line. I heard a beast growl, and I looked off into the distance. 'It's the Shadow Hound…' I thought to myself. "Let's go!" I said making a dash for the portal.
"Kairi!" both boys called out trying to advance, but the Neo Shadows blocked their path. I heard something fall in back of me, but I didn't think anything of it. Lightning took Kairi and ran through the dark portal, and I followed behind them.
Twilight Town Manor
"Let me go!" the girl yelled loudly, trying to struggle out of one of the hooded figures grip. It was no use, the girl ended up exhausting herself out. She stopped protesting and looked at the two dark hooded figures. "I thought Sora defeated you guys!" the two black hooded figures looked at one another, and a laugh could be heard from the younger looking one. "What's so…?"
"You think we're with Organization XIII?" the younger one asked, laughing at the thought that had crossed Kairi's mind. "That's rich… Even you should know that they're all gone now. Us? With them?" the younger one couldn't help but laugh again. "You're sadly mistaken this time, Kairi," the figure couldn't help but let the girl's name sound melancholy.
"Besides a Heartless has no place with Nobodies." The other figure said letting Kairi go from the grip that was placed on her. Kairi struggled against the dark material that wrapped around her wrists. "You can't break that stuff," the other figure said, laughing at the sight, "but I know you'll try to break out of it anyway."
Kairi made a face of discontent and thought for a moment. 'I can't materialize Naminé now, these chains won't let me. That and well even if I did have a chance she's still learning how to fight… I should've just tried a bit harder, but somehow I don't think they'll hurt me.' The brunette female sighed and slumped back against a chair, leaning forward so as not to hurt her wrists. 'These two are weird, they aren't even trying anything, I could run, but the taller one seems really strong from what I sense,' she sighed again, and the younger figure looked back at her for a moment.
"Raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses…" the younger figure carried out a little melody, and Kairi noticed that the hooded figure had little head phone wires coming down from her hood. 'Why does it feel like I know this one…?' the girl thought for a moment and shook her head, 'it's probably just my head playing tricks on me… But still the voice it sounds so familiar, but why?'
"Quick question," the young figure said putting the headphones on their lap. Kairi looked at the hooded figure trying to make out the face behind the hood, but she had no luck. "Where's King Mickey?"
"Why should I answer you?" Kairi retorted with another question, and the taller figure looked down at her for a moment. "I'm not telling you where he is." The younger figure sighed and snapped her finger, and one small Heartless appeared. The Shadow type Heartless walked clumsily towards the younger hooded figure, and the figure whispered something to the little Heartless, and it disappeared in a ball of black mist. "What did you…?"
"I'm just giving it some suggestions about where he could be…" the younger figure said pulling out the little mp3 device again. Kairi's eyes widened for a moment, 'That's Amaterasu's…' the girl couldn't help but look at the younger figure now. "Your face got kind of pale," the figure said noting the pale color etched on the blue eyed girl's face.
"It's nothing," Kairi said asking her head for a moment. Again she couldn't help but feel that somehow she knew this younger figure. It was beginning to bug her now, "Listen, have we meet before?" she finally asked trying to peer into the darkness of the hood, but that seemed to be impossible.
"I've met a friend of yours, she calls herself Amaterasu." The younger one said laughing. The taller one looked down for a moment, somehow as a reaction to the sentence. "She talks about this Riku guy, Sora, and you."
"'Met her?'" Kairi couldn't help but reiterate that phrase. "You…? Did you do anything to…?" she could feel her heart stir with anger for a moment.
"No," the taller said shaking her head. "Let's just say that she's a bit preoccupied with something." The younger one couldn't help but laugh.
"She's with you guys?!" the girl couldn't help but blurt out. "Damn… Riku's going to be pretty pissed off at you guys…"
"We didn't brain wash her if you think that's what we did…" the younger one said cutting her off. 'I'm sorry, you guys…' the younger one couldn't hide it anymore, but stopped for a moment, feeling the gloved hands on the hood. "She decided to go of her own accord."
"The darkness never really leaves you completely…" the taller one said sounding a bit remorseful about the fact. "Anyway listen…" the younger cut the taller one off. "We really should stop wasting time, we've got two sphere's waiting for us, and you're going to tell us where they are!" Kairi flinched back, feeling steel press against her neck. The taller one had a strange weapon in their gloved hands.
The Train Station
Riku fell back as the last Heartless fell to the ground, his arms had scraps, and his right leg had a deep gash. Sora leaned against his Keyblade for support, and made his way to Riku's injured side. Sora muttered a 'Cure' spell, watching the deep gash close up, and Riku cringed in pain for a moment feeling the flesh stretch for a moment. The Shadow Hound walked up to them, placing its ears to the side in disappointment. It held something in its mouth, and placed it by Riku's side, "I think it wants you to have it…" Sora said flopping down to the ground, it did hurt a bit to sit down after the fight.
"This…" Riku sat up slightly, feeling the Shadow Hound push him up slightly. He looked at the item by his side, 'this is… No, it can't be… This is…' he picked up the little item, and flames and black angel feathers protruded forming a shape of a Keyblade. "This is her Keyblade…" Riku said feeling a bit of anger rise in his throat. "What are they doing with her Keyblade?"
"Who knows…?" Sora said looking at the Keyblade a bit closer. "You think she's around here?" Riku shrugged for a moment he looked at the Keyblade for a moment, and withdrew it back to its keychain form.
"But I know her; she wouldn't just leave it lying around here. Unless if they took it from her, but she wouldn't let anyone touch it, let alone taking it from her, she loves Keyblades…" Riku said holding the keychain in his hand. The Shadow Hound whimpered for a moment. 'That's right, this was her dog…' Riku thought back for a moment she had mentioned it once, but it seemed like a far off distant memory. "I wonder…" Riku placed the keychain to the hound's nose, "can you find out if she's here?"
The Shadow Hound growled for a moment watching another figure walk into the area. 'It's the king!' both of the boys thought watching the royal mouse walk towards them. The Shadow Hound growled once again, and Sora told it to be quiet, and it let out a heavy sigh in annoyance, and obeyed the order from its new master. "Where's Kairi?" the king asked, and both boys looked down for a moment.
"Two dark hooded figures took her," Sora said trying hard not to remember that now. He felt his heart break off for a second or two. The king cursed among himself and looked back at the two boys. "We should hurry then." King Mickey said. He eyed the Shadow Hound for a moment.
"It's a gift from Amaterasu." Sora said standing up for a moment. Riku pushed himself up and the hound sat by Sora's side, as if to make itself known. "We got her Keyblade." Sora said taking Riku's arm, and showed the keychain that the boy held in his grasp. "She's got to be around her somewhere!"
"About that you two… Never mind" the king didn't know what to say about all of this. "Listen, we don't have time, they might have taken Kairi's heart by now…"
Yen Sid's Tower
"This brings back a couple of old memories…" the younger one said, as one gloved hand felt around for something in the dark coat's pocket. "Shit…" the figure said cursing rather loudly. "I dropped it!" the younger one said looking at the taller one.
"What do you…? Are you sure?" the figure asked their partner, and the partner nodded in reply. "Think about where…"
"Back over there…" the figure said referring to the train station. "It must have been when we ran through the portal." The figure paced back and forth around the entrance to the white tower. "I'm an idiot…" the figure whispered. 'I really hope that someone picked it up at least; I have to get it back. That's the only one I can use…'
"What about the Moogles?" the taller one asked.
"You really think the Moogles will want to help someone like me? Especially if it's for the dark side…" the figure thought for a while. 'There's a way to get a new one… but you'll have to go deeper into the darkness…' the voice popped into the mind of the younger one. 'You want to try?' it asked. "I don't know…" the younger one said to themselves.
"What did you lose?" Kairi asked looking back at the two of them.
"If I told you…" the younger one said, "it'd awaken a pretty bad emotion in you. Which means you would know who I am…"
"Wait so we have…" Kairi wanted to find out who this person was now. "We have met before, haven't we?"
"You just tell yourself that…" the younger one said rather coldly, taking the gloved hand out of the coat pocket. It was frustrating, without that weapon it didn't feel rather complete, or rather the figure didn't feel like their heart was complete without it. 'There's another point as to why my heart doesn't feel complete…' the figure thought to themselves for a moment, sighing heavily. "Forget it for right now. You," the figure motioned to Kairi, as the taller figure held their weapon close to the girl's neck, "… You're going to tell us where those two spheres are at."
"I don't know." Kairi said feeling rather annoyed at this point, it was the second time they had told her that, and it was the second time she repeated her answer.
"The look in your eyes say something else," the taller one said noticing the blue eyes widen in fear for a moment.
"Why do you guys need me anyway?" the girl asked trying to move away from the weapon drawn close to her neck. The younger figure just shook their head.
"Princess of Heart, does that ring a bell to you?" the figure pointed to her. "I can't really tell you why, because it's confidential…" the figure said looking up at the twilight sky for a moment that covered this part of the world.
"I think I know where I've met you from…" Kairi said slightly, looking down at the ground for a moment, the weapon was still close to her neck. "You…"
"No!" the younger figure said angrily. "You don't know me…" at that point Kairi felt as though a link to the chain of a friend's name, from her heart, fell deep into the darkness.
"That's right…" Kairi said a bit awkwardly for a moment. "I just feels like I do…" somehow the girl knew that something was wrong. 'Why can't I remember, I just had the name a minute ago. The voice, it's so familiar… If I can just put a name to it, maybe when the guys find me they'll know who this person is…'
Within moments of the little event, the taller figure forced Kairi into Yen Sid's tower. Their mission was simple, to go and raid the tower and find the two spheres. Somehow the younger figure had a bad feeling about the whole idea, but it quickly changed when she noticed that the little Heartless from earlier appeared from underneath the shadows of one of the staircases, it held something in its clawed hands. "What did you find?" the younger one asked in a gentle tone to the little creature of pure darkness.
It made several hisses, and the antennae protruding from the head moved in synch as it tried to tell the scenario it was in. Somewhere along the lines the younger one understood that it had to wait for Yen Sid to leave at least one sphere alone, which was the one it held in its hand. "Do you know which one it is?" the younger figure asked. The Heartless had no idea which one it was. "Right… that's not what I asked you to do… Sorry," the figure apologized to the shadowy being.
'I need a Keyblade…' the younger one thought for a moment, looking back at Kairi as the taller figure kept her from moving. 'This is going to be a bit tough without it… but still there is the other option. I'll just need to go deeper into the darkness, but I don't want to lose my heart to it…'
A/N: You know what to do one review please!