If we were Together: A year has passed since their separation, and Riku and Sora have grown both in size and in mentality. Sora slept in her chamber regaining her memories while Riku watched over her clouded in the gray spaces between light and darkness.
Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Reality likes to rear its ugly head and drag me away from my writing.
Chapter 13: The True Ansem?!
Sora was sweating, big thick beads dripping from her forehead. The battle was intense, the level of each heartless was stronger, . She'd also never taken on so many heartless at a time before. She and the others were surrounded and the only way to move on was to push through the never ending cluster.
A thousand heartless… unless she was worse in math than she'd originally thought, she'd taken down one thousand heartless in one brutal bout. Her legs wobbled and she let herself fall over once the last of them had vanished so she could catch her breath. She felt Donald's healing power rejuvenating her energy and allowing her to stand up. She let out a sigh of relief and smiled his way. "Thanks."
"Don't thank me just yet. We have a mission to accomplish remember? We have to go after the king and Xehanort's nobody!"
Xehanort.. the man responsible for all this grief. Ever since they'd returned to Hollow Bastion they'd found out more about him than she'd expected. For starters she originally thought "Ansem" was the man's name… only to find out his name was actually Xehanort and he'd been an assistant of Ansem The Wise. Ansem the wise was a researcher whom the king knew personally. He'd gone on to study the heart… the light and darkness.. even Kingdom Hearts. He was also the one who had really written the reports they had found scattered across the worlds in their previous journey.
Ansem/Xehanort's computer had been a hopeful start to finding out more about the heartless and Organization XIII but the data had been corrupted and they were unable to get any real answers.
That's when the chaos had started.
Normally, Sora was a person who preferred positive thinking. It just felt better to find something to smile about rather than feel down all the time. However, at the moment, Sora couldn't find much to be happy about. Riku was still missing, and from the words Saix, an organization member, had spoken of something awful had happened to him. She wasn't sure whether or not to believe Saix at all… but why would he lie? It made her uneasy to think that somewhere out there Riku was suffering.
To make matters worse Kairi had been kidnapped. Hayner, Pence, and Olette had given them the details on the cloaked red headed figure who had dragged her friend into a shadowy hole.
Axel, Sora grimaced at the name, the man… nobody she corrected… was relentless. They hadn't heard a peep out of him since they'd crossed paths at Beast's Castle… but Sora had gotten a sense of a guy who would do anything to accomplish his mission, whatever that is.
"Sora?" Donald waved a hand in front of her face and she snapped out of her thoughts. "You okay, Sora?"
"Yeah, sorry, come on we better go catch up to the King!"
The run was harsh because of the height, but Sora managed to make it up the steep hill. She found King Mickey staring off at Xehanort's Nobody. The two were dead silent, neither moving until a warp of darkness spread out behind the organization leader. He faded into it, Mickey shouting after and pursuing. The moment Mickey dived in the warp sealed, closing Sora and her friends out.
"Oh No! He's gone again!" Any hope she had of figuring out where Riku was just went up in a cloud of darkness.
"Way to fall right into their trap." Axel's voice startled her Sora whirled around meeting his intense gaze. Her Hands gripped firmly onto her keyblade as she rushed over ready to attack… however Axel stayed calm, detached. He walked forward, seeing her become even more tensed the closer he got. "It's a set up by organization XIII… Xemnas is using you to destroy the heartless. That's his big master plan."
"Xemnas?" Donald questioned, wondering why they should know that name.
"That guy you just saw with your King. He's the Organization's leader, X-E-M-N-A-S."
Xemnas… Ansem… little by little this story was being put together piece by piece. So fake Ansem became a heartless and a nobody was created, and that was Xemnas. "You're the one who kidnapped Kairi… you're a member of the Organization. Why are you telling me all this?"
"Yes I kidnapped Kairi… and I'm telling you this because I no longer share interests with the organization's plans. Your keyblade is used to release captive hearts, and that is what the organization is after."
It made sense, though he wore the uniform, Axel's actions hadn't exactly meshed with the other members of the organization they'd come up against. Still…
"Where is Kairi?" When Axel hesitated her eyes sadden and she stepped forward standing toe to toe with him. Shocked by the sudden closeness Axel took her shoulders and looked into those big blue eyes. He felt that familiar presence, Roxas, her presence was so clear in Sora's being. He wanted to hold her, wanted to feel that body up against his again, and feel like he-
"Axel." Saix, the familiar face from Twilight Town popped beside them and Axel's grip yanked from her.
"Uh-Oh!" Blackness began to swarm him as he tried to make his getaway, But Sora's hand gripped his firmly.
"No Axel, please, tell me about is she… Axel!" Her grip slipped and she was taken aback by the painful guilty look on his face as the black covered him up. Saix stepped over his black cloud, staring Sora down.
"Don't worry, we'll ensure he will receive the maximum punishment."
"I don't care about any of that! Just let me into the realm of darkness!" Sora clenched her fist taking a cautious step back from Saix.
"If it's Kairi you're worried about, don't. We're taking very good care of her."
"Take me to her." She watched Saix's expression change a bit, all of his "moods" seemed to highlight in those eyes more than his face. If Sora was reading him correctly, he was contemplating it.
"Is she that important to you?"
"Yes… very much so."
"More so than Riku?"
"What?" Sora was genuinely shocked by the question.
"There are many paths which you can take, keyblade wielder. Your actions determine which roads you will take to arrive at your final destination. So choose your path, do you want to see Kairi? Or do you want to see Riku?"
"Why do I have to choose? I want to see both of them!"
"That road is impossible. Your friends reside on opposite sides of the spectrum. One resides in neverending light, and one is shrouded forever in darkness. You won't be able to see one if you see the other. It's impossible. Riku has already figured this out for himself, and has long given up on ever seeing you again."
Sora's eyes stung, but more so she was angry. She refused to believe such a vicious lie. Saix saw this, and his eyes narrow. "Are you angry? Do you hate me?" His tone was almost amused. "Then take that anger and aim it at the heartless."
He snapped his fingers, heartless surrounding them. "Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts, and yet they not know what true power they hold. Those hearts they gather, and are released by the keyblade string together to create Kingdom Hearts. Only then when that days comes can we Nobodies truly, finally exist."
"What on Earth are you prattling on about?" Familiar flames of Rich green and black flare up. Sora felt the heat against her back and she turned to look at Vincent. "Kingdom Hearts belongs to me. The heart of all worlds, the heart of all that lives… a dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be MY DOMINION!"
Vincent's face twisted with greed, his flames rose up and he summoned forth heartless challenging the Nobody for domination. Sora and her friends were caught between these power struggles. Vincent's breed of Heartless seemed to be weaker though, falling victim to the nobody lackeys. Vincent wasn't ready to go down, not without a struggle. He cut i front of Sora using his flames as a powerful barrier and taking on the nobodies himself. "Do not misunderstand me child. I shall have my revenge on you yet… but while these pathetic creatures still live my plans for Kingdom Hearts will be ruptured. So do as I say, flee now, and find a way to vanquish them forever!"
"Vincent!" Sora rushed forward but Donald grabbed her hand.
"No Sora, he's right we've got to go!"
"But, what about… ah!" She gasped seeing vincent's body becoming overrun and smothered. MOre heartless appeared, surrounding them and closing in. She cut them down, hearts becoming released only to be captured again by the Organization. "Oh no! The hearts!"
What was she doing? Axel was right… all her efforts for defeating the heartless were only helping the nobodies. What was she to do now? What could her or her friends hope to do in this dire situation. "Maybe al that we've done…" Sora's face was filled with pain and confusion. "Maybe it was all for nothing." She clenched her teeth blocking an attack from the heartless. "What am I supposed to do if I can't use the keyblade!"
"Imbeciles! You can't be trusted to do anything!"
"Huh? Vincent… Gah!" Sora screamed as darkness swallowed up her and the others pulling them out of the battle and away from the heartless. For a moment Sora lost consciousness… memories of her first encounter with darkness came swarming back… the fear, the confusion. She remembered watching Riku's body becoming entangled in the shrouds of it, her hand reaching for his in pure desperation… that was when she first held the keyblade, when her heart begged for them to be saved.
There was no light protecting her now. The world they were in was completely pitch black, not a sound… not even a glimmer of warmth to heat the chill running through her. She stirred and sat upon her knees looking out. so this was the world of darkness? This never ending abyss… she'd been here before… but could never really remember much other than falling, and fading away.
She got to her feet, looking in Donald and Goofy's direction as they approached her. "This… is it. It's the realm of darkness!" Shivering she whirled around screaming into the abyss. "Kairi! Riku!"
"Look!" Donald shouted. Sora turned just in time to glance in the direction of the shrouded figure. For a few brief seconds they just stared… a familiar feeling swimming inside their hearts. The figure disappeared and in his place was the white box he had been carrying. The three approached it, examining it first Donald opened up the box despite Goofy's warning… inside was an icecream bar, and a picture.
Sora's eyes fixated on the picture and she picked it up holding it. There were four people in the picture, three were the gang from Twlight Town, Hayner Pence, and Olette… but her eyes narrowed on one face in particular. "Roxas…"
"Huh?"
"You know her?"
"No… but I know that it's her. It's the person everyone is mistaking me for… all the Organization members… Axel. Now I can see why."
"You got a point, the two of you do kinda look a like." Goofy took the picture holding it up and looking between them. While examining he saw the expression on Sora's face and was instantly concerned. "You gonna be okay, Sora?"
"I… I'm not sure. I'm feeling a little confused and overwhelmed." It was all too much to take in. Her head was filled with so many questions she felt as if she was in school trying to take a test. She grumbled and ran her hands over her face, "WHAT'S GOING ON!?"
~Riku~
That had been too close. Riku needed to control his emotions better because he'd nearly blown it trying to give Sora clues to the path she needed to take. He'd been so close to her… she'd only been a few steps away and yet that little bit of distance felt like miles.
He held his chest feeling his heart wrench in agony. God when was the pain going to stop? When was he finally going to fully accept his fate? He'd made his decision, and yet he couldn't stop himself from craving more.
"Sora." He held the star around his neck gripping it firmly. The warmth of the light held inside easing the pain. He took a shaky breath and shook his head shaking away the clouds of regret. He couldn't be distracted by this now. He could sense the presence of an Organization Member… time to get back to work.
God it's been forever, the chapter seriously failed, but reality has thrown wrenches into my creative spirit and more than that I was struggling with this particular chapter because I wasn't sure how much I should have included. I hope this satisfied you til I can get the next one up No worries I'm not a quitter, I shall finish all the stories it just may take some patience. I promise to have the next chapter up faster!
Next Chapter: Spy in Black