Reckoning Of the Wizards

The next morning, Cloud went in to check on Riku and Tine. He opened the door with some difficulty. It was hard to open a door when you're crouched and holding the Buster Sword for dear life. After what he had seen and heard last night, Cloud wasn't taking any chances. "Tine!" he called."Are you...are you awake?"

"Shhh!" said Riku. Cloud's mako green eyes widened and his face went bright red. Riku was lying on the bed next to Tine. His arm was wrapped around her waist and Tine was asleep. Her face was flushed and she shivered occasionally, but she was smiling. Cloud thanked God that they were both dressed. Without a word he left the room and shut the door behind him.

When Cloud entered the room where everyone was getting up and ready, he went over to Aerith who was making pancakes for everyone on Merlin's stove. The black candles from yesterday night had all been thrown in the trash. Merlin had made a deal with King Mickey to get rid of all of his black magic books in exchange for the King not telling Yen Sid about the H.R.S. The two mages were on the same level, but Merlin did not want to have to explain why he had used a forbidden spell…even if he was the great Merlin. Cloud whispered into Aerith's ear. The leader of the Healer's Guild became alarmed.

"Hold this, would you Cloud?" she asked and passed the pancake pan into the surprised warrior's hand.

"Uh…I think breakfast's ready!" Cloud called as soon as she was gone.

Aerith entered the room and stood looking at the pair with her hands on her hips. "Just what do you think you're doing, Riku?" she demanded. "Are you crazy?"

"It's not what you think!" Riku said, realizing what was wrong with Cloud, and what Aerith was thinking. "Look, Tine's still recovering from the spell" he said. "And she's sick. She has a fever and she was cold, so I…I…"

"Just lay next to her to comfort her?" Aerith said. "You had better not have tried anything, Riku" she said. "I may not be able to cast any dangerous magic, but I can still swing a mean staff." She shooed Riku off the bed and shook Tine. The girl groaned and opened her eyes. Seeing it was Aerith, she shut them and rolled over.

Aerith pulled Tine into a sitting position with surprising strength. "Wake up, young lady" she said firmly.

"Oh, it's you" Tine said darkly, but she obeyed and got out of bed, sitting on top of the covers. To Riku, following Aerith's orders without more of a fight was an almost sure sign that Tine was ill. Aerith felt Tine's forehead and neck and whistled.

"Well, you're certainly burning up. And look at your face" she said, looking at Tine's flushed face. "You're as red as a tomato. You're sick alright. But how?" she asked. She looked suspicious. "You're not making yourself sick, are you? We grilled Maleficent about all the details of your creation, but we might have missed something."

"No, I'm not making myself sick" Tine muttered, shivering. "Can I get back in bed now? I'm cold and I hurt all over." She began to slink under the covers before Aerith had said yes, or no.

"Yes, you can---for a little while longer. After that, you can sit at the table with us and we will discuss where you are to be kept until the Organization is dealt with. Since you seem to be an independent person who likes to decide their own destiny, you can be included."

"Oh, joy" Tine sighed. "Riku said you could give me medicine or magic for this fever. Could you?" it hurt her pride to ask these people for help, but Tine had never been sick before and it was miserable and painful. In some ways it was worse than being injured. She had felt pain then, but not this overwhelming helplessness.

Aerith's face softened as if she understood what Tine was thinking. "Yes I can. Just wait here."

When Aerith got back out of the room, Riku with her, Sora and the others pounced.

"What's going on?" asked Sora.

"Is Tine alive?" asked King Mickey.

"Is she still sane?" asked Goofy.

"What's she going to do now?" asked Donald.

"How do you feel?" asked Kairi.

"Did you really do it, like Cloud thinks?" asked Yuffie (she was shushed by Leon.)

"Yes to the first two, she's still in bed, Sora, and I don't know what she's going to do now, and no I didn't do it like Aerith thought" said Riku. "I had to convince Ms. Healer that it didn't, so I think I can convince you all---"

"It's been a long time, Riku" said Maleficent from where she was sitting.

"Not long enough" said Riku through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?"

"My own business" the witch responded. "Not that you would actually care to hear it. Where is Tine?"

"Nowhere for you to get your hands on her!" Riku said, drawing Way To Dawn.

Sora stepped in front of him. "Riku wait! She's…on our side?" he asked, looking at Maleficent. "You are, right?"

Temporarily, I assure you" Maleficent said, not looking up from the tea that she was drinking.

"You won't get her!" Riku said again---and Tine and Aerith walked out of the back room. Tine looked dazed and exhausted from her fever and Aerith who looked like she had figured something out.

"I think I know how you got sick, Tine" Aerith said.

Tine flopped into a chair with a tired sigh. "How?" she asked.

"When you fixed the weapon shop, I remember the owner's son had a fever like yours. He was hanging around and he touched a lot of the tools you used."

"Well, why didn't you tell me?" Tine asked, as she rested her aching head on the table.

"I didn't think to" Aerith said. "Sometimes, even we Healers can mess things up."

"Whatever" said Tine. "Just use some magic or something to make me feel better."

Aerith sighed. "Unfortunately, magic only works on injuries. But I do have medicine that will make you feel better, and speed your recovery." She handed Tine a small blue bottle. Inside the bottle, a red liquid splashed around.

"What is it?" Tine asked. She uncorked it and sniffed. "It smells like flowers."

"It is a potion that will help you. Now, never mind what it is. Just drink it if you want to get well."

As Tine poured it in her glass, Sora saw that there were now small gray streaks in her red hair. He silently pointed them out to Merlin. The wizard nodded. "She went through a lot of stress. I'm surprised that she doesn't show any more aftereffects than a few gray hairs and a sickness."

"Huh?" said Sora.

"A Heart Redemption Spell puts tremendous stress on the body. Sometimes all a person's hair may turn white…or even fall out. Tine has a few gray streaks….and she's sick. As you might expect, as a genetically created being, she has a superb immune system. The stress of the spell compromised it, and allowed her to catch whatever small germ the boy from the weapons shop had."

"Whoa" Sora said. That…that spell is incredible! he thought to himself in awe and horror. He was glad he hadn't been there to see it cast, even though he could hear it.

Tine sipped the potion. It tasted the way it smelled, which was light and flowery. As soon as it went down her throat, Tine felt the aches in her head and limbs lessen, and she felt a little warmer and was able to stop shivering. It even seemed to make the crowded feeling in her chest feel better. "Thanks, healer" she said.

"Here, have some of these. You have to eat as well if you want to feel better" she said as she served Tine a plate of pancakes she had just made.

"Hey!" said Leon, the bandages removed at last. "Mine were all doughy and some had water in them. How come the experiment gets the good ones?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Aerith. "I wanted Cloud to give them a bit more time."

"Well…that is…sorry, I suck at cooking" said Cloud.

"That's okay" said Kairi. "I'm just glad everything turned out okay. I thought that Tine---" but what Kairi thought about Tine, no one would ever know, because it was at that moment when the house two houses away from Merlin's exploded into flame. There was a loud boom and all the windows in Merlin's house exploded into shards of glass.

"What was that?!" Yuffie asked.

Maleficent's head snapped up from her tea. Merlin spat out bits of Cloud's bad pancakes and they coated his beard. They all rushed outside.

"Oh, no" said King Mickey. In the sky, a crimson cloud was floating in the sky. It was as big as the thunderclouds that caused huge storms on the Destiny Islands at home, Sora, Kairi, and Riku thought. Except that the thunderclouds on the Islands didn't make sounds like a million screaming children. They also didn't look blood red. A bolt of blue flame slammed down from the cloud. It struck another house. The bolt of energy seemed to drill through the shingled roof and right into the foundation. As they all watched in frozen horror, the light seemed to come from the windows. Then the house exploded. The smell of burning flesh filled the square. All around them, other people were beginning to get out of their houses and run into the streets. Other people were locking their windows and shutters, as if that would help them. More lightning---it actually seemed to be more blue flame than lighting---was crashing down and striking buildings and people. Yet no thunder emitted from these flashes, only pulses of heat. Nor did any rain fall.

"What is happening?" asked Leon.

At the same time, a voice came from the computer in Merlin's house. "Guys! Hey! People in Merlin's house, do you read?!"

"Yes, we read!" said Cloud, rushing over to the console. "What is it?!"

"Cloud, is that you?!" asked Cid from the computer.

"Yes, damn it, but never mind that! We're having the weirdest thunderstorm I've ever seen!"

"If this is a thunderstorm, then I'm a Moogle" said Cid grimly. "This is some kind of magic, though what magic I can't say. I don't know why. The Craftsman's Guild HQ is right at the top tower of the Castle and I can see everything from here. This God cursed cloud is concentrated above your area of the city, where Merlin's house is!"

"How is that possible?" asked Cloud.

"How the hell should I know?!" responded Cid. "You tell me! It has to be magic though. The pixies ran off. I don't know where they are, but they won't answer my calling. It's like they're afraid of something."

Cloud raised the Buster Sword and ran outside. "From what Cid's saying, I don't know whether it's safer to get back in the house, or not" he said. He looked at the ruined houses and burn marks on the street that used to be people. Both seem like a bad idea. "But he also says that this thing is only above this area. Maybe if we run to a large building like the Guild Castle, where all of you should be, then we'll be alright."

Merlin shook his head, and when he spoke, it was in a voice that none of them had heard before. It was deep and ancient sounding and resonated with power. "No" he said. "Nowhere in this town is safe. It is not safe because she is here. She is causing this death storm."

"Who's here?" asked Goofy.

"Morgan le Fay!" said Maleficent. One of the bolts struck the ground near them, sending up chunks of molten stone and sparks of blue light.

"Let's get out of here!" Donald yelled.

"I'm with you" said Yuffie and she took off in another direction.

"Yuffie, no!" Leon yelled. "It's too---" but it was too late. Another beam of light crashed down from the cloud and slammed into a house. The structure exploded into rubble which crashed down onto Yuffie Kisaragi. The ninja was completely buried in the rubble and cloud of dust.

"No!" shouted Cloud and Leon at the same time.

"Oh, Yuffie" whispered Aerith her hands over her mouth, tears trickling from her eyes.

"Th…this isn't happening" said Sora. Suddenly, Kairi screamed. Sora whirled to see Kairi dodge out of the way of one of the peculiar bolts from the red cloud. It hit right where she used to be, sending up sparks and chunks of stone.

"Notice that it doesn't hit anywhere near us" said King Mickey. "Kairi was standing on the outer perimeter, but it doesn't strike anywhere near this house or us."

"That's right" said a voice near their left. As they turned, a red portal of energy opened in the air. A girl walked out of it, her white high heeled boots clacking on the cracked and melted cobblestones. She looked like Namine, the Roxas in Sora noticed. She was wearing a black dress and her silver and blond hair hung in front of half her face although it could still be seen. The other half of her hair was held away from her face by a blue clip made out of crystal. The bangles and bracelets on her arms jingled and her red eyes regarded them with cruel amusement. She looked at them huddling together, trying to not get struck. "Merlin the Enchanter, Dream Reader" the girl said in a quiet voice. She smiled evilly. "You look pathetic, sting there with tears drying on your wrinkly face. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"You monster" Merlin whispered, looking at the place where Yuffie had met her death. "Why are you here? Is it me? What does this town have to offer to your interests?"

Morgan laughed. "You flatter yourself Merlin. Do you think I have any interests in you and the non magic insects you've gathered around yourself. I'll eventually come for the girl, the Kingdom Hearts…but first I came to scout out the opposition."

"And you will not have her" said Maleficent. She stepped next to Merlin. "It took a larger group of mages who were far more powerful than I am to imprison you eight centuries ago" she said. "But we can try now."

Morgan shook her head. "That won't work on me now. Even if you managed to find the power to do it." She reached in a small black purse that had appeared from nowhere. She took out a small gem which gleamed with all colors and none.

"Don't look at it!" Maleficent shouted to all of them. "It will drive you insane if you stare for too long!"

"Very good Maleficent" said Morgan. "I see someone paid attention in their dark magic classes. How does it feel to know that the person who invented many of the spells you were taught is standing before you?"

"Not as good as I thought it would" said Maleficent, and Sora was surprised to hear her voice shake slightly.

Morgan sniffed at the air. "I can smell an H.R.S." she said. "Who cast it? Oh, it had to be you" she said to Merlin. "It has your aura all over it. You doddering old fool, did you think that you could control dark magic? You are strictly a mage of light. You said so yourself during the war."

"Lux Ultima!" Merlin cried. The ground around Morgan split and cracked. A ball of yellow light formed around her and exploded. It demolished more buildings in the area, and sent everyone except for Merlin and Maleficent flying back into opposite ends of the square.

"I applaud you" said Morgan. "But all you are doing is shortening my life." A black figure appeared, wreathed in blue fire. It began to twist and shift until it formed into Morgan. Maleficent gave a sharp intake of breath. "As if that would hurt or kill me. I was curious to see what would happen if I allowed one of your pathetic spells to hit me head on. No effect I see."

"Th-this is crazy" said Leon. "What can we do against her?! Did you see that?" he said, grabbing Cloud. "She regenerated from that like it was nothing! I've never seen Merlin cast a spell that powerful before!"

Cloud threw Leon off like he was an annoying fly. "She killed Yuffie" he said. "I can't let that go unpunished!" Without another word, Cloud flew at Morgan, the Buster Sword raised to kill. He swung down on the sorceress. "Braver!" he yelled. His blade descended on Morgan le Fay---and was caught in her hand.

"Don't get in my way, SOLDIER" she said, and tossed him away. Cloud slammed into the front of Merlin's house, cracking the wall. He slid down and did not get up.

"Cloud, no, please no" Aerith cried. She knelt next to the fallen warrior and threw herself over his body.

"Do you care for him? Well?" Morgan asked. Her red eyes flashed with evil amusement.

"Morgan no!" Merlin cried. "Don't harm them. Harm me instead! It was I who lead the Conclave that imprisoned you! I, Yen Sid and Jafar before he fell to evil! Go after us, not them!"

Morgan ignored him and walked over to Aerith and Cloud. "Die" she said and pointed her finger at them. A beam of pure green light flew out and went whizzing toward them. Aerith still did not move from Cloud's side, nor did she look up at the speeding death that was coming their way.

"Nooooooo!" cried Goofy. He tried to run across to knock them out of the way, but the square was too wide.

The beam flashed toward the warrior and the healer---and was blocked by a clear blue shield the color of a calm ocean. It dissipated.

"What?" asked Morgan. She looked at the doorway to Merlin's house. In the doorway stood Tine. Her face was still slightly red from fever, and she was shaking…but Riot was clutched in her hands by its double necks and she looked ready to fight.

Morgan smiled. "So this is Kingdom Hearts! And you've even given it a human form! Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" she laughed, throwing her head back in amazement and mirth.

"Lady Morgan, what are you doing?" asked a voice behind them.

"Aw, man not more enemies" Sora said, readying his Keyblade. He looked as Saix materialized in front of them. The Luna Diviner looked very worried. "We must get back to the Castle before the Superior---"

"Before the Superior what?" asked Morgan. "Before he yells at you?"

"Well…yes" said Xemnas' right hand man, looking very embarrassed. "We must hurry…please."

"Alright" said Morgan. "I guess I'm finished with you all. Moon Man! If he says anything, tell him I was…scouting out the opposition."

Saix turned pale. "But that's exactly what Superior Xemnas said he didn't want you to do! He wanted you to be our secret weapon, and---" he stopped as Morgan turned her bloody gaze on him. "Only if you wanted it to be that way, of course."

"Morgan le Fay, working with Organization XIII" said Merlin. "This is low…even for you."

"Who are you talking to, Merlin?" said Morgan. "Me or the Man in the Moon here?"

"Both of you" said Merlin. He turned away.

"Bye, bye for now" said Morgan. She and Saix disappeared inside a Dark Corridor. When it faded, Merlin slumped to the ground. As the crimson death storm above them faded, it began to rain. Merlin's shoulders shook and it took everyone a few minutes to realize that he was crying.

It felt wrong to leave the old wizard crying out there in the rain, but as Sora was about to go and comfort him, King Mickey shook his head. They all headed back inside. Aerith explained that Cloud was unconscious, and he would have a bad headache, but he was alright.

"At least one thing's good" said Riku. He had been silent, even through the whole Morgan thing.

"That was…that was horrible" said Kairi as she hugged Sora.

"Uh…yeah…yeah it was" Sora said as he blushed uncomfortably as she held him. Just shut up and enjoy it…oh yeeeeeaaaahhhhh" said Roxas as he cuddled closer to Namine.

"What do we do now?" Donald asked.

"I think we need a break" said Sora. "Why don't we find out how our friends are doing? We haven't seen them in a year. Where she we go next?"

"We'll go to Agrabah!" said Goofy.

"Yeah, I like that" said Sora.

"We're going home" said Riku. "Back to the Islands."

"Good" said Sora. "Take care of Kairi for me---"Sora stopped as Riku shook his head.

"No Sora. I'm sorry" he said. "I can't do that anymore for you."

What do you mean 'no?' Take care of her before I show you what an Oathkeeper and Oblivion combo looks like! Roxas yelled, stepping out of Sora's body. Riku took a step backwards. If you don't, I'll---hey! Wait, what are you doing? Hey! Sora grabbed Roxas by the back of the head and stuffed him back inside. "Sorry about that Riku" he said, embarrassed.

"Gotta learn to control that" said Riku with a small smile. "But like I was saying, I can't do it anymore. I have my own girl to watch out for."

"You don't mean…" Sora said.

"Yeah" said Riku. "Damn straight I do." He stood up on the table suddenly. "Listen up everyone!" he yelled. "You were all wondering where to keep Tine safe! But I have the answer!" he looked around at all of them. "I'm taking her with Kairi and me to the Destiny Islands. It's a far away world, isolated from almost everything except the darkness. Tine will be safe there. Meanwhile" he gave Sora, Donald and Goofy noogies, "I'll be counting on these three losers to deal with the Organization. You can do it guys" he said.

"You bet we can!" said Goofy. "We won't fail."

"And they won't be alone!" yelled a voice from the doorway. Everyone's mouths opened as Pete strode into the room.

"Cap'n Pete?" King Mickey gasped.

"Pete!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy gasped. "I thought we told you to stay with Ashe!" said Donald angrily. The irate duck jumped up and down. "How did you escape anyway?!"

"Like this" Pete said proudly and opened a Dark Corridor. Then he shut it. "How do you nitwits think I got to the Underworld anyway? By Gummi ship? Not with Maleficent's budget!"

"And what is wrong with my budget, Pete?" Maleficent asked coldly.

"Maleficent!" Pete said looking as if he was either going to hug her, run away, faint, scream, or die. Sora wasn't really sure which of them he was going to do. He did neither of them. Instead, he put his foot down. "I'm gonna help Sora and his friends now" he said.

"You will do no such thing" she said, rising from where she sat. "Instead, you will help me, while I find ways to eliminate Morgan le Fay." When Pete frowned, she said "She is working with the Organization. Consider it help behind the scenes."

Pete thought about and then said "Okay!"

"Tine" said Riku. "Are you alright with us going to the Islands?"

Tine nodded and took Riku's hand. "Sure I am" she said with a small smile.

"Then take this along with you" said Aerith. She handed Tine a small pouch.

"What is this?" Tine asked.

"It's a pack of illness potions to finish off that infection. And it's also a recipe for pancakes that I make. Maybe when you're at Riku's house, you can make them for him and his family" Aerith explained.

Sora winced, Kairi looked away.

"Ha, ha" Riku laughed a little. His hair hid his eyes. "Sorry…but my dad's almost never around… and when he is, he's not very nice. You can make them for me, though. I'll appreciate them for sure."

"Then it's a deal" said Tine, walking away with Riku and Kairi. The three stood in the Gummi Port for a minute waving at Sora…and then they were gone.

"There they go" said Aerith.

"Wait! Did I miss them?" asked a voice from outside. Staggering in, with Merlin's help, was a very dirty and bloody Yuffie.

"Yuffie!" Sora said. "You're alive! You're alive!"

"Hmph, stupid ninja, had to go let a house fall on top of you" Leon muttered, but he patted her on the head and his eyes were moist with tears of happiness.

"There is still much to be done" said Leon. "But I think that what we've accomplished is enough for now." Everyone agreed. For it had truly been an interesting day.

I'm so sorry about not putting Xemnas in this chapter! But I did get Pete in there! Boy that was a long one, meeting Morgan and all that…Riku's got it bad doesn't he? Finally the True Quest can start…this my friends is going to be a very long story…I thank all of you who have reviewed and hope you stay tuned! Mechanist out!