A/N: Late arrival tomorrow, so i decided to update. Finally. :3 I'm glad no one was too upset about me killing Larxene. xDD
Disclaimer-I don't own Kingdom Hearts, okay? Dx
"Whoa, she killed Larxene?" It was hard to tell which Axel was more of, happy, surprised, or amused.
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Shut up." Stefa's bitter voice called from outside. She had received a Megalixir, so she was alright for the most part, but now she felt just sick to her stomach at the thought of what had happened. Quince, who had been giving her another piggy-back ride, dropped her off in front of the door.
"You're killing my back, Stef." He joked. Already night had fallen in the Radiant Garden, but as usual, the Committee was still awake. Aside from Merlin. Well, no one really knew what Merlin was up to these days...
Roxas, Nalani, and Ceron had arrived at the garden first, and now Quince, Naminé, and Stefa were back, too. It wouldn't be much longer for the last three to arrive. "Stefa!" Nalani ran across the room and practically tackled her friend to the ground.
"Ouch, Nala," Stefa grunted although she was smiling a little. Naminé had just gotten through explaining to Ceron, Roxas, Leon, Yuffie, Tifa, Cid, and Axel what had happened.
"You know," Nalani said thoughtfully, "That that's the name of a Queen Lioness in the Pride Lands?" Stefa smirked at this.
"Then you are nicknamed after a Queen Lioness, be proud." For the remark, Stefa got a light punch on the arm.
"I can't believe we're back already," Ceron mused. Obviously he didn't like being cooped up in the Radiant Garden so much.
"Yeah, we were just here a little bit ago." Roxas agreed.
"But you all need your rest." said Tifa with a small smile. "So you may as well catch up on what you can."
"An' besides, the End of the World still hasn't showed up, an' I need to add another Gummi piece so that y'all can get there." stated Cid with his strange southern accent.
"End of the World is right by here, though." Sora's thoughtful voice called from outside.
"Maybe it is, maybe not." Naminé's soft voice said. "It still hasn't showed up on the radar, so we don't really know anything."
"But you guys definitely have to stay put this time." Yuffie stated as she stuck out her lower lip. "You need the rest."
"Number XII has been eliminated, then?" Xemnas asked of Reixka as he looked around the table; There were now four empty seats. Marluxia growled and slammed his fist against the marble table.
"They're picking us off," He stated through narrowed eyes. "We should take them out."
"I actually agree with the Grim Reaper's Homosexual cousin." (A/N: I got that from an image, obviously. xD) The free-shooter said to the Superior. "It might make it easier to get to Kingdom Hearts..." Xemnas waved this off as unimportant.
"It doesn't matter."
"They'll come after us before we can accomplish anything, though." Marluxia tried to say, but he knew that Xemnas knew he didn't care about accomplishing anything; All he wanted was to avenge Larxene.
"I, quite personally, think that we're better off with Number XII," Luxord said in his english accent, "She did kill of Vexen, after all."
"That wretched scientist got what he deserved." Reixka murmured quietly. After Vexen had given her a few dozen death threats, Larxene and him had had a small chat that had ended in his death. (A/N: Sorry, guys. xDD)
"Silence." Saïx's cold voice cut through the chatter that had begun. "What the Superior says goes, got it?" He narrowed his eyes as he looked around at the others. They all nodded solemnly, some of them with anger apparent in their eyes.
"When will we be going to Kingdom Hearts?" Xaldin asked Xemnas after several minutes of pure silence.
"Soon enough, Number III, soon enough."
Quince and Riku had taken Stefa's drawn-out silence to be that she was scared that the Organization might hunt her down for what she had done. She hadn't done much to steer them in the other direction since that was one worry she didn't mind them knowing about. Stefa was sitting at the table in the kitchen, staring blankly at the lime green wall that she was facing. Quince had gone to bed two hours before and Riku had gone to bed an hour after that. Nalani quietly slid into the kitchen and sat beside Stefa at the table.
"You aren't worried about the Organization that much." It was a statement. Nalani knew her too well. Stefa nodded her head.
"You're right." She agreed quietly.
"So what's got you?" Stefa, who had apparently been waiting to be asked this question, turned to the side so that she was facing Nalani and began to talk immediately.
"It's what Larxene said." she admitted. "I'm glad Naminé didn't say anything to anyone... If she heard, that is. I'm terrible for loving both Riku and Quince."
"I wouldn't call it terrible." Nalani muttered, but Stefa didn't believe her.
"Horrible, then." sighed Stefa. "I don't know what to do, or who to choose... Riku's been here for me lately a lot more than Quince has... and back at school, Quince only came around if he was worried, which was only a few times." The mage bit her lip, thinking quietly.
"I think that Quince is planning to leave things up to you." She told the princess after about five minutes had passed. "So you can decide who you like more when you have to," She emphasized the word. "In the meantime, you have other things to worry about, so I think that we should both go to bed." The wooden chair squealed against the wooden floor as Nalani got up. Stefa nodded and also got up. She put an arm around Nalani's neck.
"Thanks."
Riku found himself on a familiar snowy-like path. It winded all the way up to a huge white door. "Kingdom Hearts?" He asked himself; Why would he be here again? He continued along the path, nearing Kingdom Hearts. There was a body laying on the ground... She had vivid and short red hair. Her clothes were a tank top and a short purple skirt. "Kairi?" Riku exclaimed, running forward and bending over her. Her eyes were closed, and she looked like she had the first time that she had lost her heart. "Kairi!" He shouted her name as he gently grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her; Suddenly, he felt like Sora. Guilt welled up inside of him as he released her and gently set her down on the ground.
He got to his feet and continued down the path. Something wasn't right here... Wait, he was nearing another body. This time, a chocolate-haired boy with hair spiked in odd directions and turquoise and indigo clothes was laying on the ground; No one had an outfit like that other than... "Sora!" Riku shouted, running toward his best friend this time. He had never seen Sora without a heart... Why did he still have a body? He should have been a heartless by now. "Maybe he's just knocked out?" He wondered, putting an ear to his best friend's chest. There was no rhythm of a beat.
"Damn it! What the hell is this?" Riku exclaimed as he got to his feet once more and called upon Way to Dawn. He ran forward, nearing Kingdom Hearts until he was right before it. The doors were open quite a bit. Allowing his curiosity to get the best of him, he peeked inside. Stefa was not without a heart, but it looked like she was having a bit of trouble fighting off the various heartless that lay within the door. "Stefa!" She turned around, swinging her hair over her shoulder, and smiled her brightest-a smile Riku hadn't seen in so long. He held out his hand to her.
She began to walk toward him, allowing her Keyblade to disappear, and ignoring the heartless behind her. Big mistake. Several of the shadows jumped her at once and stabbed her in the back before they began to dig into her back. "Riku!" She desperately cried as she fell forward; The doors of Kingdom Hearts were beginning to close. They weren't opened enough for him to get through.
"Wait! Stefa!" He shouted, trying to pry the doors open with his hands. The last thing he saw was the Keyblade princess's body disappearing in a shower of light.
Riku awoke with a start. He was covered in a cold sweat that had caused his bangs to become plastered to his face. After taking a few deep breaths, he rolled off of his bed, still fully clothed, and exited his room. Stefa's was just down the corner, and to make absolutely positive that it had been a dream, he opened her door a little. She was laying on her side on the floor. One of her blankets were pulled over her and she was rolled up into a small ball. He couldn't help but laugh quietly at the scene; She looked so innocent.
He entered the room and walked over to where she was sleeping. With ease, he picked her up bridal style and set her back on the bed, throwing sheets over her body. Her face, that had been a little bit pale, flushed with color. Her lips turned up in a smile. "Riku, don't leave..." Once again, he chuckled quietly and sat beside her, grabbing one of her hands gently.
Kingdom Hearts was not as beautiful as Sora had made it seem. On the inside, it was dark even though it had emitted such a light that had 'destroyed' Xehanort's heartless. Why did she keep having dreams about the place? She defeated a shadow with one slash of Shadow Heart. How long had she been fighting these things now? The Darksides that had rose from the back of the door were slowly making their way toward her, and the doors were closed; There was no escaping.
"Die, you stupid heartless!" As she destroyed yet another shadow, she realized something. What if one of these shadows had been Kath's? Or her aunt's? What about other family members or just people from school? Horrified, Stefa dropped Shadow Heart, and slowly backed away, only to have it return to her hand. Larxene appeared before her, the fatal wound still bleeding from her stomach, and laughed at her stupidity.
"What's wrong? Aw, you didn't kill one of your friends, did you...?" She cooed sadistically. So much blood... It was forming a pool under where the Nymph stood. "You killed me and now you've failed your friends..." Larxene looked up, smiling brightly. "Oh, did I forget to mention? You missed your friends. They came here before you, and... they didn't fight so well. Sora, Kairi, Roxas, Naminé, Quince, the mage, and the warrior... But that's not the best part." Her jade eyes glowed like jewels. "You've already destroyed their heartless. All of them."
Stefa stared at her dumbly before she turned around and ran for the door. She pounded on it, but, of course, it didn't budge. Shadow Heart. Stefa extended her arm and waited for her Keyblade to unlock the door, but nothing of the sort happened. "Don't leave me in here..." She whimpered. Something hit her in the back. Although it was unnecessary, Stefa turned her head to see Larxene with a handful of kunai; It seemed that the Savage Nymph had decided to play darts.
This only caused Stefa to pound on the door harder and kick it. Nothing happened, still. She leaned her body against the door, and it slowly began to open. Looking up, she noticed that the door had opened enough for her to fit through. A hand was right before her, too. Stefa's eyes followed it back to its owner and Riku smiled. "Come on," He said with mock impatience, "I told you that we'd go together."
Stefa awoke with a start. "Sorry," Riku's voice sounded. Sun had only just begun to fill the room with some light. She looked at him with confusion. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with his head turned toward her. "'Morning." After rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she sat up and enveloped Riku in a hug.
"What are you doing in here?" She asked, mentally adding, 'Even though you just saved me from a nightmare...' Riku sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks turning a slight tint of red.
"I came to check up on you last night, and when I put you on your bed," At her confused look, Riku chuckled, "You fell off. After I put you back on, you told me to stay, so I did." Stefa giggled.
"Good. I'm glad."
"Stefa, everyone's waiting for you downstairs, I'm going to get up Riku so you guys can-" Leon paused as he noticed the two sitting on her bed. "I'm going to pretend like I didn't see this," The normally strict Leon stated. "Get dressed and get downstairs." Stefa burst out laughing and did the two-finger salute as Leon pulled out of the room. Riku's cheeks were even more red, as were Stefa's.
He left to allow her some time to get dressed.
"What's going on, guys?" Stefa asked as she and Riku descended the stairs, her hand in his. The chain that hung from one belt loop to another jingled with every step she took.
"Cid's finally finished the Gummi Ship," Axel told them. "End of the World finally showed up."
"I don't see why we don't just take a portal." Ceron muttered.
"Because none of us who can use portals knows where this place is." The fiery redhead snapped.
"Does that mean Axel's coming with?" Riku asked. It was hard to tell if he was happy about this or put-off.
"We're all going," said Nalani. "We all have homes that we want to save."
"So, Kingdom Hearts has to be sealed again?" asked Quince, looking at Sora. He nodded his head.
"I'm not sure exactly how it could have come unsealed, but I guess we'll find out when we get there." Stefa blinked.
"Wait. We're leaving now?" The others stared at her as if she were crazy or really slow.
"Yes, Stefa." Kairi answered. Stefa whirled around, desperate.
"Hey, you guys haven't seen Marlene or Denzel, have you?" Tifa's voice called as she walked down the stairs. Everyone shook their heads.
"They're probably off somewhere." Naminé assured her. The martial artist frowned, but nodded in agreement. She shrugged.
"You're probably right. So, are you leaving for End of the World already?" She asked, looking at the others sadly. They nodded once again.
"Sorry, Tifa." Roxas muttered, rubbing the back of his head. She shook her head.
"Don't be. You do what you've got to do, right?" She asked, smiling a little. "Just be sure to come and visit before you guys head home."
"And if you have trouble while you're there, you can always come back and rest up." Yuffie added, smiling a little. "Man, I wish I could come, but I think you guys have enough people..." The others laughed.
"Yeah, I think so, too." Sora agreed.
The group arrived at End of the World in nearly no time at all since it was so close. They exited the cave and found themselves staring at some kind of sea that was surrounding them on all sides. "Are we going to have to swim?" Axel asked with a hint of annoyance. Sora laughed.
"Let me show you." He said, taking a step forward, toward the water. Surprisingly enough, his foot did not go through. He put his other foot on, too, and that didn't go through, either.
"What kind of magic is that?" Ceron asked with some surprise as he came up beside Sora. When he jumped up and down, water still came up like he was jumping in a puddle. The others followed suit although Axel was still a bit reluctant.
"This place is kinda creepy." Kairi stated as she looked around. There were other signs of rock in the water, and up ahead there was a huge vortex looking thing.
"It's like the Nobody of worlds." Naminé mused as she also looked around.
"But there are still heartless here." Sora warned them as Fenrir flashed into his hand. "Nobodies are probably here by now, too."
"I feel like God." Nalani stated as they began to head for the vortex; Stefa laughed.
"You are very Godly." she said. Both Riku and Quince shook their heads.
"You two are crazy." Quince stated.
"And you're not used to it, yet? Silly Quince." said Nalani with a smile.
"I thought you said that there are heartless here, Sora." Riku said a little later when they had just reached the vortex. He shrugged.
"There were when I was last here. Boy, was that a nightmare." He murmured recalling the Invisibles, Angel Stars, Wizards, and Wyverns with a shiver. Then, he stepped into the vortex first, closely followed by Kairi, and then the rest of the group.
"So this is where a world is sent when it's destroyed." Stefa murmured. "Definitely like a Nobody." They were now standing in a weird place. It was a lot darker here, and the walls looked like they were made of dark blue bricks. The ground beneath them kind of looked like it was covered in snow, but when they kicked it up, it came up as something close to pixie dust.
"Now what, Sora?" Kairi asked, peeking over the edge with a bit of nervousness. It was a long way down.
"Follow me." He simply answered, taking her hand, and jumping downward. The rest of the group stared in horror.
"Has he finally lost it?" Axel exclaimed, as they ran to the edge of the 'snowy' platform. Sora and Kairi were floating down toward a bright light, where they then disappeared.
"Cool!" Ceron chimed. Unconsciously, he grabbed Nalani's hand before jumping off of the platform, too. The mage's face had turned a light shade of pink. They, too, disappeared into the bright light.
"I was always told never to go toward the light, but then again, this adventure seems to be all about the light." said Stefa as she turned around and looked at the others. She smiled widely and brightly. "Let's end this!" Riku, Quince, and Naminé smiled. Stefa took a deep breath, turned around, gently grabbed Riku's hand as well as Quince's, and the three of them jumped down.
"Don't either of you know what lies beyond that light?" A slightly nervous Axel asked of Roxas and Naminé, "Sora and Kairi are your somebodies, after all."
"I can't remember all of his memories anymore. I have to remember my own, too." Roxas replied with a smirk. Naminé grabbed his hand and grabbed one of Axel's. Wordlessly, the three of them jumped off of the platform and floated toward the light as well.
Donald Duck quacked in outrage back in the Radiant Garden. "Wak! They went to the End of the World? Without us? Why couldn't they have waited?"
"Gawrsh, d'you think they'll be okay?" An anxious Goofy asked his King. The Mouse King smiled.
"I think they'll be alright, fellas, they'll all help each other." He replied.
"But only Sora's been to the End of the World, and only once, a few years ago!" Donald reasoned out. He had called upon Save the Queen in hopes that the King would let them go to End of the World, too.
"They'll be fine." Yuna insisted. "And they'll come back to show us as much." Tifa burst inside of Merlin's house with a frightened expression.
"I've officially looked everywhere in the Radiant Garden. I can't find those two anywhere, one part of the Radiant Garden had a lot of blood, and to make matters worse," The woman fumbled with her pockets for a minute before pulling out a pink ribbon.
"This is... odd." said Quince a few minutes later when he, Stefa, and Riku had appeared in front of a pillar of light.
"And suspicious." Stefa stated, staring at the pillar with deep distaste. "Where did everyone else go?"
"Only one way to find out, right?" Riku asked as he took a few steps forward and disappeared through the pillar. Stefa stared dumbly.
"It doesn't burn, at least." Quince tried to say in a cheerful voice as he took a few steps forward and also disappeared.
"Stop leaving me!" Stefa complained before she also stepped through.
"We're in the rabbit hole thing?" Nalani asked as she looked around the area; It definitely resembled it. "Are we in the real thing or what?"
"I'm not sure," Sora answered, shrugging. "I'm pretty positive it is, but it might not be."
"It's a real relief when the leader knows the answer to such an important question." Nalani muttered quietly under her breath. Suddenly, something that came from above, fell on top of her. The mage grunted in pain.
"Thanks for catching my fall." said Stefa with a grin.
"It's about time." Quince said, rolling his eyes, and holding out a hand to help her up. Before she could grab his hand, Nalani got onto all fours, knocking Stefa off of her back. Small black puddles began to appear on the ground.
"Heartless!" Sora growled, calling upon Keyblade. These heartless were not shadows, but they were the larger neoshadows. As Roxas landed cat-like on his feet, he destroyed a few of them with his Keyblades.
"Oh, boy, my favorite." Riku smirked at this.
"You and me both." He added, destroying two of them with Way to Dawn; The way that they were talking, it seemed that they were talking about something only they knew about. Sora, Naminé, Axel, and Kairi exchanged looks, but quickly waved it off as they moved in to fight off the heartless.
"Just shadows?" Asked Stefa with a smile. "What a relief." Something heavy and hard knocked her on the back just as she finished her sentence, and it knocked her into one of the walls. With blurry vision, she turned around and found a large body standing in front of her, pounding its chest. A flurry of flames surrounded it before it could do much else, and it disappeared in a cloud of darkness, a captive heart floating upward. "Thank you, Axel." A gloved hand grabbed her own, and pulled her to her feet.
"Don't let it happen again." He said, ruffling Stefa's hair before setting off to destroy more heartless. The neoshadows and Large Bodies were defeated in less than a few minutes, to everyone else's relief.
"That was fun." said Ceron brightly as his sword disappeared into a flurry of light.
"Now what?" Kairi asked, turning to Sora. He grinned.
"We keep going forward." He answered as he walked toward the door that led to the Bizarre Room.
"Wait! Doesn't that lead...? Oh, forget it." The auburn-haired girl murmured as she trotted after her boyfriend. Instead of appearing in the Bizarre room, they appeared on the other side of the pillar, before a new portal. Once again, Sora stepped forth and disappeared into it.
"You know, this really is getting kind of annoying." The usually optimistic Naminé stated. They had been through several pillars since Wonderland: Olympus Coliseum, Atlantica (which was hard for the people who weren't used to being sea creature), the Pride Lands, Halloween Town, and Deep Jungle.
"I second that." Nalani agreed. Now, they were standing before a different colored pillar. They had just come from the World Terminus where they had been able to heal. "Then again, I didn't mind Atlantica all that much." She added quietly, red covering her cheeks as she remembered Ceron as a merman. He was surprisingly good looking underneath that shirt...
"At least we feel stronger." Sora the optimist tried to say; Needless to say, no one really believed him.
"So where does this one led?" Asked Axel, who was apparently getting entertainment out of winding up in a weird world every time they stepped into the pillars. Sora put his hand to his chin as he thought. Suddenly, he looked up.
"It used to go to Ansem... I mean, Xehanort's Heartless' lab..." He answered, clearly not wanting to continue forth anymore. "It probably won't anymore, though."
"What's got you so weird about it?" Ceron asked out of pure interest. Sora smirked darkly.
"'Ones born of the heart and darkness, devoid of hearts, ravage all worlds and bring desolation. Seize all hearts and consummate the great heart. All hearts to be one, one heart to encompass all. Realize the destiny: the realm of Kingdom Hearts. The great darkness, come back to the eternal darkness.'" Sora quoted, looking at the others emotionlessly even though their faces were worried. "'For the heart of light shall unseal the path, Seven hearts, one keyhole, one key to the door. The door of darkness, tied by two keys. The door of darkness to seal the light. None shall pass the shadows, returning to the darkness. Ones born of the heart and darkness, hunger for every heart until the dark door opens.'"
"...What was that?" Nalani asked, staring at Sora as if he were crazy.
"A poem. Or story. Or both." He replied. "Anyway, now you can see why I'm so weird about it. Maybe this will automatically take us inside of the volcano." Since the boy wasn't elaborating on anything that he was saying, he sounded like he was speaking nonsense.
"Someone shouldn't be allowed to go to Wonderland." muttered Stefa, receiving a small laugh from Naminé. After three minutes of just staring at the pillar passed, the dirty blonde girl sighed. "Well, standing here isn't going to return our worlds, but I'm definitely not going in alone." She grabbed Nalani's hand, and dragged her into the portal.
"That's safe." Axel stated, staring at the spot where they had disappeared. Quince shook his head.
"We'd better go. Either the two of them are going to get themselves into deep shit, or they're going to start a heartless rodeo." He stated as he rested Maybe Memories on his shoulder and also stepped through the pillar.
As Sora had thought, they had not been transported to the lab; They had been sent straight into the volcano type thing. "You thought we would start a rodeo?" Asked Nalani thoughtfully. "Hm. I never thought of that. Thanks for the idea!" She added as she jumped down one platform to the bottom of the volcano. "It's surprisingly cool in here for a volcano."
"Maybe that's because the Chernabog has been dead for so long?" Roxas suggested as he also dropped the bottom, and held out his arms to catch Naminé as she jumped after him.
"I could always re-light it." Axel stated, snapping his fingers and causing some fire to appear. Nalani put up both hands as she took a few steps back.
"I wasn't complaining. Just because I use fire magic doesn't mean that I like it."
"How close are we to the door?" Kairi called up to Sora as he jumped to the bottom and landed beside her.
"Right through there." He replied, pointing his finger at a whole past a greenish looking frozen lake place.
"Are there going to be a shit-load of heartless through there?" Ceron asked, looking at the area with deep dislike. Obviously none of them wanted to fight if their passage was clear.
"I wouldn't be surprised," stated Nalani as she also stared at the area, "You know how in a video game, when you're right near the final level, that you always have to do extra annoying shit."
"Nothing like that would ever happen in worlds like this." Quince said, rolling his eyes as he stepped into the area first. He took a few steps through with nothing bothering him. "See? What did I tell you?"
"I don't recommend getting too cocky." Naminé called as she pointed behind him. A wall of Invisibles, Wyverns, Angel Stars, and Darkballs were rising behind him.
"That's happy." said Nalani as her staff of EaKaze appeared in her hand and she ran forward to help her childhood friend.
"More fun." Roxas murmured under his breath as Oathkeeper and Oblivion reappeared in his hands when he joined the fray.
"I hate heartless." Stefa whined as she entered the fray as well.
"That's the life of a Keyblade wielder." Riku said, laughing without humor as he also entered the area.
It seemed like the heartless were never planning to go away. Every time you thought that you had defeated one type, about five more of said type reappeared. "If that door isn't right beyond here, Sora," Nalani said, pushing a berserk Darkball off of her staff, "I will kill you." Sora laughed nervously as he destroyed one of the Wyverns.
"Then I hope the door didn't move somewhere else." He joked. Apparently Nalani didn't find this funny, for she sent an ice spell at his back.
"I'm so tired of this." Stefa murmured under her breath as she pointed Shadow Heart at Quince's arm, which was bleeding a little. "Cure." He looked back at her with a surprised expression.
"That was unnecessary." He became thoughtful for a minute. "And a waste of your little bit of magic."
"Just say thank you and take it like a good little boy." Stefa said, smiling a little. Out of pure agitation, Sora used several thundaga and graviga spells to clear out the remaining heartless.
"Let's go before more heartless come." He growled as Kairi put two hands behind his back and pushed him along.
"Or before you go insane." She added as he climbed through the entrance. The final rest was a peaceful looking place in comparison to the rest of the End of the World. It had pure looking water sitting in craters or falling from the ceiling. There were a set of pink doors up ahead.
"Is this it?" Axel asked, observing the water with distaste.
"It's healing water, Axel." Naminé giggled at her friend's look.
"This is it." It was Riku who answered the pyro's question, not Sora. He walked up to the doors and put one hand on them.
"We can do it, Riku." Stefa tried to assure him as she put a hand on his arm.
"The last time I walked through these doors, I wasn't me." He muttered quietly so that only she can hear.
"And this time, we're all going together." Kairi announced as she put her free hand on Riku's other shoulder. Sora and Riku pulled open the doors. It was impossible to see what lie beyond them aside from the bright white light.
"That's not safe." Nalani stated. "But let's do it anyway." The group entered (or at least tried to) as a whole, so that no one would be somehow left behind.
Stefa found herself standing on a pier of some sorts. It was wet, obviously with the water from the salty ocean below. She looked around; It was completely empty. Sighing, Stefa muttered something about 'I thought we were supposed to go together'. "Good, so it worked." Reixka's voice was enough to snap Stefa out of her reverie, and put her on guard. "Whoa, there. Someone's a bit paranoid."
"Well, sorry, but you've only tried to kill me several times." Stefa growled, holding Shadow Heart defensively. Reixka waved her off.
"This is the fight to end it all." She replied as she turned around and leaned against the front of the pier, staring out at the ocean.
"...What do you mean? You're not Xemnas." Stefa stupidly said, feeling rather alarmed. Reixka giggled quietly; Another surprise. Reixka sighed and turned around, slowly.
"What I meant is that we're going to settle our little battle." She stated, pointing at Stefa. "I know, I know, 'it's not polite to point'." Reixka was smiling, and it was weird for Stefa to see this.
"Sorry if this comes out wrong, but why are you happy and with me of all people?" Stefa asked, staring at her other weirdly. Reixka gave her a look that suggested she had no idea where she was going with this. The Keyblade Princess sighed. "That is to say that I killed your, I'm guessing, best friend? I would rip your throat out if you ever were to kill Nalani." She shuddered at the mere thought of it.
"Because it wasn't really your fault." Reixka muttered as she stared at her feet. "I'm trying to come to terms with all of this, okay? But before I join you or whatever..." She looked up, and it was then that Stefa noticed that her other was no longer wearing an Organization cloak. She was now wearing ripped blue jeans and a red t-shirt with a black and white broken heart in the middle. Her hair was still tied back in the long braid. "I want a real fight."
"Where are we?" Asked Ceron as he looked around. They were on a white path with darkness surrounding on them; It looked like they were nowhere.
"We're either very near Kingdom Hearts or very near Castle Oblivion." Riku replied as he also glanced around the area; It seemed familiar. Kairi also looked around.
"There won't be any sending me back home, right?" She asked wearily as she remembered the last time she had been near Kingdom Hearts. (A/N: I love the excuse for why she wound up there in the Kingdom Hearts manga: "One minute I was with Leon and the others, and the next, I was here!") Sora and Riku both laughed, but the others didn't, not completely understanding.
"Don't worry, Kairi. And besides, Kingdom Hearts would have to be sealed first." Sora said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Speaking of, how are we supposed to seal Kingdom Hearts?" Asked Roxas as he checked out the surroundings with dislike. "Don't you need King Mickey?" Sora thought for a minute as he slowly turned around to look at Riku.
"I think Way to Dawn will work." He replied with a small nod. Suddenly, a bright light appeared behind them, slowly advancing toward where they stood.
"We've been separated again." Nalani pointed out to find her best friend once again MIA.
"And I think it's about to happen one more time." Naminé added as they were engulfed in the light...
"Destiny Islands?" Riku, Sora, and Kairi said together. Sure enough, they were standing right before the pool. Something looked off, though. The sky was darker, and no one was on the island. "Don't trust anything you see." Sora growled, calling upon Fenrir in a flash.
"Why?" Kairi asked, fearfully, as she called upon Angelic Destiny. "Where is everyone?"
"This must be the Organization's idea of how to get rid of us." Riku murmured as Way to Dawn appeared in his hand. "This world has been connected, so one of the members are probably around here somewhere."
"We're... home?" Nalani asked, confused, as she found herself standing before the huge mound that was Wood-chip mountain.
"Somehow, I doubt that." Quince stated, shaking his head, and holding Maybe Memories in a defensive stance. The sky was dark, but not the kind of dark that it is during the night.
"Very clever," Xaldin's voice called from the top of the mountain. "You've played your parts, and now it's time to get rid of you annoying brats."
"Can you really be a brat at seventeen?" Ceron mused as he held up his long-sword.
A/N: Good chapter? I hope so. It took a while to get this one up. I had to put up that little poem/writing thing of Ansem's from KH1, I kinda always liked it... Anyway, see you all next chapter. :3