Nighttime Conversations

"Morgan has been released from her prison?" asked King Mickey. The group had filled him in on the developments that Maleficent had elaborated on. "Are you sure about this?" he asked the sorceress. She nodded wordlessly. King Mickey looked at Merlin. "I can't believe you cast an H.R.S., Merlin. Yen Sid himself banned that spell thirty years ago!" he said, shaking his head. "But what disturbs me the most is that Tine is Kingdom Hearts made flesh…we know it's true, now we have to decide what to do with her. She must be protected from Organization XIII at all costs."

"I agree" said Aerith. "But where will we put her? We have all agreed that Radiant Garden is not the place. For one thing, the people would never allow it…and there is the other problem. The one named Nexumair Nevy. What of him? Is it true? Did he really attack you in town?"

"Yes, and he almost won too…if not for the interference of those two girls" the King gestured to Kairi who was asleep with her head on the table, and the back room where Tine was sleeping off the effects of the H.R.S.

"And she killed this Organization member, Your Majesty" said Sora. He explained how Tine had summoned Riot and had called it the "Guitar of Rage". He also explained Demyx's fate. "She completely slaughtered him."

"I don't consider killing Nobodies murder" said Cloud from where he was sitting on the floor, drinking a mug of black coffee to keep awake. "It's more like community service." Nobody had anything to say about this, so they just let the comment go unanswered. People sometimes said strange things when they had stayed up until twelve midnight.

"Where should we take her?" asked Sora. "If we keep her here then the Organization will find her for sure."

"I'm not so sure about that" said Maleficent suddenly. The witch calmly sipped a glass of wine that had been poured grudgingly for her earlier by Merlin. "I was released by a member of Organization XIII who demanded that I tell you these things. Either it is some kind of trap…or the Organization is beginning to fall apart from within. Someone might have heard one of Xemnas' grand speeches. When he told me of his designs in his private office, I was aware that it was soundproofed. In the Dungeons however…" she let the words hang in the air.

"So what do we do?" asked Yuffie. "It doesn't matter if the Organization is having a rebellion or not! Tine's still in danger, so we have to think about that!"

"Maybe Tine's in danger from all of us trying to help as well" said Goofy.

"I have to agree with Goofy" said Aerith. "After what we did to her in our haste to find out what she really was, I think that maybe we should just leave well enough alone."

"But the question still remains" Cloud reminded. They all looked around in silence. What was going to happen to Kingdom Hearts?

Nexumair Nevy walked down the upper hallway of his house, changed back into his everyday clothes. He was only wearing one of his sabers and he was almost getting ready for bed.

"Nexumair" said a voice from behind him.

"Saix" Nexumair said. He looked around, but the Luna Diviner was nowhere to be seen. He could feel Saix's presence though, and it was coming from the closet.

"I hear that Kingdom Hearts is within the Keyblade Master's clutches."

Nexumair nodded. "Yes. I addition, according to the Fencers and Dusks that I have watching the house, Maleficent has escaped from the Castle Dungeons and has made her way to the house. She may have allied with them."

Saix's voice shook with rage. "And how can you be so relaxed about it?! You should have acted immediately, storming the house and killing everyone inside. You could do it easily, with your power."

"I know" said Nexumair, leaning against the wall.

"What is wrong with you, Confident Fencer?!" demanded Saix. "It isn't like you to be so…so…"

"So calm?" said Nexumair. "Yes it is. It's just that I find all this amusing."

"The Keyblade Masters and their lackeys outsmarting us, killing one of our members, our neatly laid plans falling apart, and you find it amusing?!" if there had been a question of Saix's anger before, there was none now.

"From the beginning, as soon as I was part of Organization XIII, I was assigned to this mission: be Captain Nexumair Nevy of the Bastion Knights. Now something new has happened, and I'm enjoying a fight with worthy adversaries."

"Remember" said Saix. "You won't enjoy anything until Tine is captured. None of us will."

"I know that" Nexumair said sharply.

"…I will not report this conversation to Superior Xemnas" said Saix after a pause. "If taken the wrong way…your words could be considered the words of a traitor."

Nexumair laughed. "That's kind of you, number seven."

"Kindness has nothing to do with it" Saix returned. "You are one of the best fighters we have. Besides, you are the only one who's face they do not yet know fully…"

"That could change, my friend" said Nexumair as he felt Saix's presence withdraw. "That could change."

Riku had spent five seconds saying hello to King Mickey when he woke up, and then had gone to the back room to see how Tine was doing. It was a small place, filled to the ceiling with old spell books. A small bed sat in one corner. Tine lay on the bed, breathing gently. Riku watched her chest rise and fall and wondered suddenly just how many hearts she had inside of her. How many memories. He suppressed that thought because it led to thoughts of Merlin's head on a bloody Way To Dawn. "Please, God, let her be alright?" Riku asked. As if in answer, Riku heard Tine mutter something in a man's deep voice. Then she turned over in bed and moaned in what sounded almost like her regular speech. She then began to sit up…and then slumped back down. Riku thought he heard her say "Don't call me small", but he wasn't sure. He wondered if his prayer wasn't working because half of him didn't want Tine to wake up just yet… She's your Kairi Sora had said. But he was wrong! No, he was right…Riku couldn't even think of a response for that, so he had just told him that they should storm the house…was it true? Was she his Kairi? All he knew was that he cared about her. When he had seen the fear in her emerald eyes as they held her down on the floor, he had felt an anger that was hot enough to light a thousand suns. He had left the house because he was afraid that the anger would lead him to do something he shouldn't…like trying to kill everyone there, even Sora, Donald, Goofy…and Kairi. He was sick with fear for Tine when he had seen the lights and heard the screams. It made him fill awful. He hated to hear her scream and shriek with pain and that had made him angrier still at the ones who had inflicted it on her, Sora included. Tine said something else in her sleep/coma (oh, God, please don't let it be a coma, please! Riku thought) and this time actually began to sit up in bed. She rubbed her eyes. Then she sat up and looked directly at him.

"Riku?" she asked in her regular voice. Riku's hopes soared, but he pulled them back to earth. What if the spell had damaged her mind in some way? He had heard of people who went mad from pain. Or, what if it had exchanged one heart for another? What if it had put one of the others in charge of that body? Fear rose in his chest. Would Tine be the same she had been before?

"H-hey, welcome back" said Riku. He knew he had to test to see if this was the one he…loved? Cared about? Was a friend of? "We finally figured out a use for you" he said. "We're going to use you to…fight off the Organization. You'll get to be useful! Isn't that great?"

Tine sat upright in bed and tried to get out. "Who said that?!" she raged. "I'll kill them! I'm not anyone's tool! I---"

"Okay, you're still you" said Riku. "I was just kidding. So…are you alright?"

Tine winced. "I feel like someone's been beating me up for the past six hours…it feels like I've pulled almost every muscle in my body. And my chest is on fire" she groaned. Then she shivered. "I'm really cold too" she added.

Riku thought about the violent thrashings and squirming. "I wouldn't be surprised if you did pull a lot of muscles" he said. "I'll have to get Aerith to use a good Curaga."

"So…" said Tine, leaning weakly back against the headboard. "Was I loud?"

"Maleficent said she could hear you across---" Riku stopped and almost put his hands over his mouth. He felt like biting off his tongue. He hadn't meant to say that!

"Maleficent?" Tine asked. Riku was surprised. She reacted with nothing more than sleepy curiosity. "What's horn head doing here? Is she going to collect me?"

"Are you alright?" Riku asked. "I thought you'd be much more disturbed that your creator is back in the same place you are."

Tine shook her head. "Maybe in the morning. I'm too tired to feel angry. That takes energy…" she stopped talking and seemed to drift off to sleep for a few minutes, and then came back. "My head hurts" she said in a weak voice. And so does my chest. It feels like I've got about a billion people in there. All these memories clamoring to be heard."

"Can you just…ignore them?" asked Riku.

Tine shook her head, and then winced. "It's not that easy…they keep coming back and back again…"

Riku suddenly realized that Tine was on the brink of tears. He got up from the floor and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm afraid Riku" she wept. "Why…why is everyone trying…trying to…" she broke off in sobs. Feeling extremely awkward, Riku gathered her in his arms.

"It's alright, it's alright" he repeated. He felt like an idiot. He wondered what would happen if someone (Sora or Cloud for instance) walked in and caught him like this. It wouldn't be pretty.

"It's not alright!" Tine said. "I don't want to be a part of anyone's goals! I just want to be me!" she tried to pull away from him, but she was too weak. She leaned against him and cried. Riku suddenly realized that she was very, very hot. She was shaking and Riku could see that her arms were covered in goose bumps.

"Uh, Tine…I think I know at least one of the reasons you feel so bad" he said.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, one you've had a really powerful dark spell cast on you" he said. "And two, I think you have a really high fever."

"I do?" she asked, and shivered until her teeth chattered. "I just feel really cold."

"I'll ask Aerith for some medicine for your fever" he said.

"Wait!" Tine said and shivered again. "Don't go yet. Just stay with me."

"But if I get you medicine or healing magic, you'll feel better" he protested.

Tine pulled him a little closer with what little strength she had. "I'll felt better if you just stayed here. We can get it in the morning, can't we?"

Riku looked at Tine and felt her forehead. "Well…I guess it could wait. But if you start to feel really sick, let me know."

"I will Riku" she said, wrapping her arms around him. "I will."

Well! I didn't actually plan on finishing it up like that, but it kind of came to me. Don't worry everyone, Xemnas will show his megalomaniacal face around Radiant in the next chappie. And so will Pete! You don't think I forgot about him do you?