It'd been two weeks, and The Queen was getting angry.
"How can we just not know if they're dead or alive?" she screamed at Maleficent. They stood in the dark and shrouded halls of The Queen's Castle. The other villains had begun their journeys back to their home worlds to scout for the Key Bearers. Maleficent held herself all the same, her eyes traveling lazily over the dusty volumes of witchcraft and sorcery (a rather out-dated bunch compared to her collection). She clicked her long staff on the stone ground and her fateful bird, Diablo, came soaring in from the rafters. He landed with a scrape of his claws on the orb at the end of the great Witch's staff.
"Their world was once again distorted and destroyed by the Darkness, Queen Grimhilde," she replied, her long fingers stroking the raven's feathers in a cold, thoughtful manner. "They could have been killed in the process, or—such as they did last time, may I remind you—live through it, and end up in any world any where in the galaxy. We've sent everyone in our circle to patrol, and that is all that we can do for the time being. We also have the girl, may I remind you."
The Queen sneered. "That little wretch will never be able to truly help us. She is just greedy right now; soon her heart will go back to its same sickeningly sweet ways. She still loves the boy you know you can feel it too. Her heart practically singsit." The Queen gave a shiver of disgust and clutched her hands on her wooden table laden with spell books and dried frog toes. "She will never turn against him," she concluded with a cold clench of her hard jaw.
Maleficent gave a wicked smirk and turned towards the wide, gapping window before her. The land below had once been a prosperous kingdom. Now the Heartless kept the good creatures of the forest in check along with the dwarves and peasants. This was the start of a new age. "Oh, but we don't need her to hurt the King of Blades. We just need her to hurt my little Riku. They will take care of each other from that point onward."
The raven gave a caw and flew over the dark lands, his cry echoing the cackle of his master.
Kairi kept the cloak tightly around her face as she hurried through Traverse Town. She'd not only heard of Goofy and Donald's being there as well, but she'd also seen them speaking to the man Leon, whom she'd stayed with while Sora searched for Riku without her. Unconsciously, the redhead's grip on her cloak tightened. She hated the thought of that silver-haired freak. A part of her mind fought in her; trying to argue there was once a time she admired Riku and respected him greatly for his coolness and skill. Nothing ever used to faze him. Kairi shook those thoughts away. No. Riku was her greatest enemy for doing what he'd done to her. He knew that Sora loved her. But that didn't stop him. Just as he knew that she and Sora cared about him, but he went to the darkness anyways.
Kairi rushed past the gummi ship repairer, Cid, hoping that her cloak hadn't slipped. She snuck down a hidden alley and slipped into the hotel where she roomed under the name Yuna. She pulled off her cloak, revealing the change in her. Instead of her usual pink and happy colored outfit, she wore black stockings that reached her thighs, large purple boots with a vast amount of buckles on them and a midnight purple form-fitting dress with a black sash around her waist. Upon the chest was the symbol that once made her flesh crawl, but now she accepted as a part of her. A peculiar black heart with a blood-red border rested there, displaying her true colors. This was the symbol of the Heartless.
With two dark gloved hands, she reached over to the only thing that made her hotel room feel like a home; a small picture of Sora and here, each licking ice creams on the Paopu Island as small children. In the background, she could see Riku looking on jealously. This was her reminder of how Riku had tried to hurt her since she was young. This was her reminder that Sora could be hers, that she didn't have to follow Maleficent's plan all the way through. She could destroy Riku, and Sora would return to her. He had to.
With a sigh, she placed her potions and elixirs she'd gotten form the Items Shop today with her supplies of other things she'd need when she would leave the next morning. There had yet to be a report, but she knew that they weren't in Traverse Town. Sora would have survived the world going into darkness, but she didn't know if Riku had it in him without succumbing to the power of the darkness. Tomorrow she would set out and start searching worlds. But for now, there was nothing to do but sleep. She pulled off her boots and crawled into her bed. She fell asleep, falling back into memories.
For once, Kairi and Sora were sitting alone watching a sunset. Riku had mumbled something about having to tell his parents that he was leaving tomorrow on the raft. Leave it to him to leave something like that to the last minute, Kairi thought with a role of her pretty blue eyes. She sat beside Sora on the dock, her shoes were off and she let the waves skim over her toes as the aqua of the water faded to a soft pink and then into a lighter purple and then into a dark purple abyss that stretched on to the places the three friends were soon to explore.
As she swung her toes over the foam of the crashing waves, she thought about what she was about to say. Finally she started the only way the young girl could think of, "You know, Riku has changed."
The brunette beside her looked up from his task of teasing a few fish with his toes as they tried to nibble at his feet. He blinked, the naivety so readable on his face. "What do you mean?" he asked, looking back out at the waters.
Kairi bit her lip and stared long and hard at the grains of the dock's wood as she mumbled, "Well…" She never finished her thought as Sora waited patiently with his eyes now back on her.
"You okay?" he asked. Hesitating, he reached forward and gently placed his large, gloved hand over Kairi's petit fingers.
Kairi paused, then pulled her hand away before standing up quickly, nearly knocking their shoes into the water as she stared out at the horizon. It reminded Sora a lot of the look Riku had had on his face just the other day. Kairi's mind was racing. How could she say that she didn't trust Sora's best friend, and was even jealous of him?
"Sora, let's take the raft and go—just the two of us!" she finally blurted, letting the adrenaline that came from that thought flood through her. She longed to stretch out her arms and let her fingertips touch the sky. To be free from that terrible feeling that Riku was emanating, and to have Sora all to herself was like touching the sky. So close, and so far.
"Huh?" Sora replied, unsure of what to make of Kairi's very out of character behavior.
The reality of her words sunk in, and she put on a face and giggled, turning back to Sora with a smile. "Just kidding," she laughed. Sora gave an uneasy laugh that turned into a real one once he realized that she wasn't being serious.
Still chuckling, Sora commented, "What's gotten into you? You're the one that's changed, Kairi."
Slowly, the smile on the redhead's face faded a trace. "Maybe…" she replied, her eyes far off in the distance once again. "You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go, or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?"
"Yeah, of course!" Sora promised, smiling up at her. He was the only one who wouldn't mind staying, it seemed. He'd love to see the worlds, but he was happy with his friends. He decided then that he'd go to the ends of the universe for Riku and Kairi. Because he didn't have to be here at the islands to be at home, he just had to be with them.
"That's good," Kairi said with a tiny laugh, as she seemed to come back to actually being beside Sora. He slowly stood up as well and grabbed their shoes. She looked him over and felt warmth from her heart spread throughout her body right to the tip of her still wet toes. "Sora, don't ever change," she said quietly. She never wanted to have that feeling that was coming off of Riku to come off of Sora. She never wanted to see him become a person she could not recognize.
"Huh?" Sora said, and not for the last time when it came to speaking with his friends.
Kairi laughed and shook her head, catching Sora's attention with all of her innocent beauty. She tried not to think of what Riku was becoming, and what that could do to her and Sora. Once they left on their adventure, they'd never have to worry about that. She smiled and said, "I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great."
N/A - Hey everybody! I'm ACTUALLY POSTING!! I'm so excited. xD Thanks for those of you who were waiting so kindly. Next chapter might actually be up soon as well, and this one will actually have more Riku and Sora, promise. -wink- Thanks for reading, and PLEASE REVIEW!
-Jacqueline Out.