Hey thanks to everyone who have read so far! It's been a while but this is a very long chapter... Hope you like it :) Thank you to the followers and favorite-ers and the people who have taken time to review and pm me. You all motivate me. Please enjoy... or I don't know what I'll do...
CHAPTER 7
Lea thought of what Braig said. "The moon looks better surrounded by darkness. He didn't mean…"
"Quick!" Ienzo shouted, appearing from nowhere, "We need to get to the laboratory with the giant computer in it!"
"The main lab, but why?" Braig voiced.
"Xehanort told me that Ansem told him to get everyone to report there! Quickly!" Ienzo shrugged and ran off, almost tripping over his lab coat.
'Ansem, huh?' Braig pondered, 'Come to think of it I haven't heard from him in a few days. Xeh's just been relaying orders from him. Is there something that old coot aint telling me?' "Righto, kiddo!" Braig ran off following the tiny Ienzo. He halted and looked behind him at Lea. "Hey, you comin'?"
"Be in a sec. I need to get Isa!" Lea announced proudly.
"Look kid, you don't have time! He's probably already in the lab!"
"He isn't. I know he isn't. I have this bad feeling that he's done something stupid. I have to save him!"
"Ugh…" Braig impatiently groaned. A part of the ceiling fell between the two of them. "Fine, suit yourself!" He waved Lea off and slowly continued to head to the labs. He was going to be late to whatever Xeh was planning.
Lea sped off to find the exit of the castle. 'Where are you Isa?'
Isa seemed to have quite a flair for using a weapon against the Heartless. He destroyed every creature that crossed his path as he searched for Kairi. After a while of slaughtering heartless, there was a silence. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the red stone Lea had given him, which he affectionately named "Aya" which in some ways meant bright or colourful which reminded him of Lea- his personality and light. He squeezed it tight. He was about to put it back in his pocket when he swore he heard Lea's voice coming from it.
"C'mon Is'! Didn't I say not to trust that guy!?" the voice bellowed, "You and I both know that Kairi will be in grave danger if you bring her to him! Just think for a second about this!"
"Lea, I don't think anyone can call themselves safe right now!" Isa yelled at the inanimate object. "It's the only option for everyone right now! If you can think of another way, you tell me!"
"Just who does this pip-squeak think he is?" another voice interrupted, this time from within Isa's heart. Xehanort. Isa held his head in his hands as he was taken to an unknown place within his heart. It was dark and Isa could see Xehanort standing across from him in this darkened place. "Isa, do not listen to this foolish boy. He doesn't understand where you truly belong! This boy is preventing you from reaching your full potential!"
Isa glanced around to see he was not alone with Xehanort. Lea was there too, standing in the only light place in this "room", but he seemed to be behind a barrier that he couldn't get close to him. Lea screamed at the top of his lungs, "Isa do not listen to him! He's done something to your heart! Why else would it be so dark in there!? Snap out of it Isa!"
"Don't listen to this boy he speaks nonsense! You know what you have to do to save us all!"
"Isa you can't do this! Do not bring Kairi to him! That's really stupid! You're not stupid are you? Okay, okay, so I don't have a plan! But you're always the one with the plans! You can think of something that will, at the very least, slow him down! Be the hero Radiant Garden needs! The hero I know you can be!"
Isa snapped out of this weird dream and woke in the darkness torn world of Radiant Garden.
Isa placed the stone in his pocket. "I'm sorry Lea but… I can't." Isa bounded down the road towards Kairi's grandmother's house where he assumed Kairi would be. Heartless swarmed around him and he managed to knock them all down in one burling hit. He panted with exhaustion. Another group swarmed towards him.
"Give me a break!" Isa begged the horde. He stopped his rest and swung the blade around aimlessly, destroying many heartless. He was approaching the destination and he hoped she'd be there. It seemed a lot quieter around this area and hardly any creatures were skulking around. Isa breathed a sigh of relief as he reached the house. He got his breath back, and then sprinted up the pavement to the house. He knocked and then entered and shouted for Kairi. Her grandmother didn't seem to be in the usual spot on her sofa so Isa quickly checked upstairs. There was no trace of anyone. He rushed down the stairs and entered the kitchen where he could see out of the back window. There was Kairi in the garden picking flowers as if nothing was going on. Isa snuck into the garden and shouted for Kairi's attention. Kairi turned around and smiled through her glistening tears. She ran up to him and gave him a hug and presented him with flowers.
"Kairi, where is your grandmother?" Isa asked, concerned about the girl's tears.
"I…I don't know," Kairi sniffed, "I'm really scared, but I have flowers ready for her when she returns!"
"That's great Kairi," Isa said uninterested. "I need to take you somewhere Kairi, okay? I need you to be brave. It's for the good of everyone you know? Do you still have that pendant I gave you?"
"Yes," Kairi nodded, "I kept it well like I promised. On the day you gave it to me, a magical girl with pretty blue hair cast a spell on it to take me to someone who would protect me if I was in danger. Does that mean you are this person she was talking about?"
"Uh…Yeah why not?" Isa smiled, "Kairi, that necklace is the proof of how you will be okay. It will protect you."
Kairi smiled and Isa's heart felt a little more enlightened. Kairi reached for his hand as they walked off to return to the castle. Abruptly, the voice of Lea started arguing with Isa again.
"Isa, don't do it. Kairi needs to be protected here!"
"Shut up! Until you think of a plan, we're stuck with this!"
Kairi witnessed Isa yelling at nothing and showed concern for her friend. "Isa, are you okay?"
"Yes! I'm just peachy!" Isa yelled sarcastically. Kairi lowered her head as they walked.
All of a sudden Isa was thrown back into his little world where Lea and Xehanort still argued.
"Isa, just stop what you're doing and hide Kairi!" Lea screamed from the light corner.
"Kairi is our only hope!" Xehanort roared.
Isa covered his ears and desperately fell to his knees. "Stop!" He did not listen to the rest of the dispute.
"Lea! You are the only one who is standing in the way of Isa's heart becoming a truly dark existence! Every time I fill his heart, he has a moment with you and a part of it is light again! It irritates me!"
"Well Isa and I are best friends. And I really wish he'd been listening there since you just revealed what you did to Isa! Or at least I wish that message would send to the real me so I would run in here and kick your sorry ass! But no! It's not the real me and Isa is not listening! ISA!"
"Calm yourself, he won't listen," Xehanort reasoned, "he's made up his mind. He doesn't want to hear consequences or extra details. Darkness was and always will be Isa's path."
"It wouldn't be if you hadn't forced him down it! Just because you walked your way doesn't mean you have to drag others along with you. If Isa had the choice he'd probably pick neither!"
"That is probably correct. Isa's heart started off as well balanced, darker than other people's hearts, but the ideal heart for the world I wanted to create, where light and darkness were balanced. But my plans for Isa changed. He would become a clone, one of my darknesses, to rival your strong light."
"Now I really wish Isa was listening…"
Isa woke up again to find he had fallen to his knees with his hands over his ears in front of Kairi. Kairi looked petrified. Isa struggled to his feet. Kairi asked, "What's wrong with you today?"
"Nothing's wrong let's keep going!" Isa stated and grabbed Kairi's hand again and practically dragged her since she couldn't walk as fast with her small legs.
"But you yelled 'stop' and fell to your knees screaming. I don't think that's normal!"
"Just…" Isa yelled, but supressed his anger, "…be quiet. We're almost there." Kairi became silent.
Unexpectedly, a flock of heartless grew from the ground. Kairi stayed back as Isa sighed and tiredly wiped them out. It took too much out of him that time so he decided to piggy-back Kairi to the castle so he was able to run, instead of stopping every now and then to give Kairi rest for walking too fast. Another horde arrived so Isa dropped Kairi and readied himself for battle. This time however the blade would not be summoned. Isa panicked as a mob of dark creatures jumped on top of him as he could do nothing to defend himself.
"C'mon Isa!" Isa heard Lea's voice in the stone from his pocket. "You gonna give up that easy? Just coz Xeh isn't giving you his key-blade? You have power of your own you know! Look up!"
Isa stared up at the glowing moon in the sky.
"Isa, although the moon's surrounded in darkness right now, it still shines bright! The darkness only makes its light stand out more! It won't take over it! And I'll be there to make sure it doesn't take over you too!"
Isa reached out towards the moon as the heartless clawed at his back. He could hear Kairi crying. He thought of that time on that darkened beach when Xehanort told him to feel the moon's power. He focussed on feeling the moon. This allowed him to summon a huge weapon, a claymore. Isa turned his body on the ground and whacked the shadows off of his stomach. Suddenly he was floating and lost all control. The flecks in his eyes glowed more gold as he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Be gone!"
Lea was hunting for Isa high and low in Radiant Garden. It took a while for him to convince Ael and Dil to let him go out but eventually they let him when he told them they had to go see Ansem in the lab. Apparently they didn't fully believe Ienzo when he told them to leave their posts so they needed to hear it from someone else. 'Ansem won't be happy they're late. Oh yeah Lea think about that when there's a heartless attack that's just what to do!' He was hoping that he didn't do something stupid. Lea had no other option than to run from the dark creatures when they attacked because, although he hated to admit it, Braig was right. No matter how hard he tried, his Frisbees really couldn't save anyone. Lea broke down in the middle of Radiant Garden. 'So much for mayor of this place. So much for being immortal in everyone's memories. So much for… saving Isa. I can't even save him from himself… How useless am I?'
Lea glanced around at his surroundings. 'This was the old marketplace. Isa and I would get ice-cream here and go up to the hill top to talk about important stuff.' Lea decided to give the hill-top a visit, seeing as it looked as if they were all going to die soon anyway. 'I may as well finish in a place of happy memories!'
Lea climbed to the hill-top and slunk down in his usual place. A vision of Isa appeared beside him.
"Isa, where are you right now?" Lea asked the apparition.
"Lea, I'm a figment of your imagination. I have no idea where the real me is."
"What did Xehanort do to you?"
"He fed me chocolate bunnies. How the heck should I know?! I know just as much as you do!"
"Okay then, what can you tell me?"
"Um… you like sea-salt ice-cream…."
"Ah, so what you're saying is that you're useless…"
"Pretty much…"
"Here I thought I imagined you here for a reason! To give me advice or encouragement! Instead you're just here to remind me that I'm going completely insane! And that I am of no use to anyone, not even myself!"
"Lea, look," the Isa image sighed, "You're not useless. You know you're the only person keeping Isa going? You're giving him hope and won't allow him to be swallowed by the darkness."
"Yeah right…"
"It's true! You know what your power is Lea? That promise you made to save your friends. That is your power. I think you summoned me here to help you realise that."
Lea looked away from the Isa ghost to his hand which was now gripping a chakram. He smiled at the weapon and then back at Isa.
"Now go kick some ass and save Isa!" the Isa vision enthusiastically cheered.
"That's not very Isa-like," Lea scoffed.
"Hey, I'm not the real Isa. At least not anymore," it replied, "See ya!" Isa saluted him then disappeared.
"Isa, I will make you safe!"
Kairi looked terrified as Isa finished off the last enemy. He fell to the ground panting as he came out of berserker mode. Kairi stayed back to make sure he was stable and wouldn't do the same to her. The claymore disappeared from his hands as he took a final resting breath before standing up. He offered his hand out to Kairi so they could continue walking. Kairi was shaking but she hesitantly took his hand as he seemed to be normal again. Well, more normal than he was 2 minutes before. Isa lifted Kairi onto his back as they travelled towards the castle. The sky was growing ever darker as they reached the last path that lead to the castle. Unbeknownst to Isa, another tiny golden fleck appeared in his eye.
Xehanort knew that Isa summoned his claymore. He was deep inside the castle, in the main laboratory, laughing to himself. He also knew it had something to do with Lea's interference.
"That Lea thinks he's done something great in helping Isa build up his power," he cackled to himself, "but he's only playing Isa right into my hands! The more Isa surrenders to his berserker power, the more rage he feels, which means more negative emotions! That only encourages darkness to grow and more likely my heart to grow in him more!" Xehanort walked around the room, admiring the lifeless bodies of his former colleagues on the floor of the lab. He had just removed each of their hearts and replaced them with a part of his (except Braig who already had his). "Our seventh member should be back soon…"
Lea was in the middle of a raging battle with numerous heartless. He threw his chakrams about like they were his Frisbees, taking out many dark husks. When they all disappeared he collapsed to the ground. He was still on top of the high hill. He lifted his head when he thought he saw a flash of blue. Down the hill, Lea could see his friend with Kairi about to enter the shadowy castle. He banged his fists against the grass.
"What are you doing Isa?!" Lea angrily whispered but only he could hear it. "This can't be good." Lea pushed himself to his feet as he forced his chakrams to disappear from his hands. "I should probably save these for later. They're using too much power just now. Xehanort should be the one to face these." Lea began to run in the direction of Isa, who had at this point entered the castle and was journeying towards Xehanort.
Isa noticed Kairi grasping his hand harder at each corner they turned. They were entering the heart of the castle when Xehanort's voice echoed down the corridors from a distant speakerphone. This made the two halt.
"I see you have returned Isa. Well done. Now, bring her to the lab with the machine I told you I was going to use. Do NOT go into the main laboratory. There are… heartless in there."
Isa nodded and tried to get Kairi to start walking again but she refused. Isa grabbed her arm but she pulled it back.
"I don't want to go," she whimpered, on the brink of tears. Isa knelt down in front of her to reach eye level. He smiled subtly and looked deep into her eyes. "I'm scared, Isa."
"This is the time you need to be brave, put your fears aside and do what's best for everyone." This didn't make Kairi any more confident. "I promise you will be okay," Isa reassured, lifting her pendant up, "Remember that this will protect you. Remember that girl's spell? You'll be okay. There's nothing to worry about. I'm here."
"Okay…" Kairi whispered and took Isa's hand. Isa stood and lead Kairi down the hallways towards the lab.
Xehanort stood in the lab next to his machine which he had just finished setting up. He was waiting patiently for Isa and Kairi to enter so his plan could be enforced.
'Any minute now, Isa will return. Isa must still believe it will amplify her light when in fact- it does nothing! It's just an old machine that used to do something but is useless now. If it does anything, it will be to hold her in place while I take her heart. The machine will be a distraction so Isa believes I am amplifying her light when actually I'm ridding her of her heart. Aurora's heart is in my grasp and I can feel myself getting closer to my prize. Kairi's should help me get closer and her heart is the only thing stopping this world and all worlds from plunging into the depths of darkness. Without it, we can say goodbye to all the worlds in the realm of light.'
Xehanort snapped out of his dreams when Isa threw the door open. Isa stepped inside with Kairi clinging to his arm in fear. When Kairi saw Xehanort, her eyes filled with terror. She could sense something bad was going to happen. She squeezed Isa's hand causing Isa to look down at her with reassurance in his eyes.
"Isa my boy! You made it!" Xehanort mused. "And Princess Kairi," he bowed, "welcome."
"Where are the others?" Isa asked. "I never saw them when we were coming in."
"They're in the main lab where I told them to meet," Xehanort answered.
"But I thought you said that heartless were in the main lab!"
"Yeah… they're taking care of the heartless… don't you worry," Xehanort lied, "anyway… we really need to get started or it will all be too late." Xehanort lead the two to the machine. Isa let go of Kairi's hand and Xehanort opened the cubic machine to reveal the comfortable chair within. He signalled Kairi to go sit down. She looked up at Isa for a sign if she should trust this man who had a bad aura. Isa nodded. She could only trust the man as although his heart seemed dark, it had a similar aura as Isa's. And she trusted Isa. She reluctantly waddled over to the chair and- with help from Isa- sat on the chair and got comfortable. Isa looked to Xehanort. Xehanort slammed his hand down on a button which sent metal bars to wrap around Kairi, constricting her from moving too much. This startled Kairi and made her feel uneasy. Isa looked concerned but tried not to show it to her.
"Are you sure she'll be okay?" Isa whispered to Xehanort. "You're frightening her!"
"She'll be just as fine as everyone else here." Xehanort walked over to the buttons on the machine and mashed some of them but knew nothing would actually happen. Isa looked at Kairi, trying to calm her.
Xehanort suddenly summoned his key-blade which made the other two panic. He turned towards Isa and pointed it at him.
"Wait, what are you…?" Isa yelled as Xehanort began to walk towards him with the weapon pointing at him.
"You have been of great use to me Isa, but you'll make more use to me in the next life." Xehanort focussed his energy into his key-blade as he approached Isa. Isa backed up into the wall and saw no way to escape. He couldn't make it to the door on time. Xehanort stopped in front of Isa and smiled. "I'll see you soon." He pushed the blade towards Isa's chest as Isa closed his eyes and winced at the pain he was expecting. Nothing. He heard two clashes and he opened his eyes to find that Lea had freed Kairi from the chair and had thrown one of his Frisbees to knock Xehanort's key-blade out of his hands before it struck Isa.
"Who said I couldn't save anyone with my Frisbees and a bit of courage?" Lea laughed.
Xehanort stood frozen in shock at what just happened while Isa fled to Lea and Kairi, and all three ran from the room. Xehanort snapped out of his bewilderment, summoned his key-blade into his hands and chased after the fleeing three.
Kairi, Lea and Isa were running aimlessly down the winding corridors. Lea and Isa both knew that they had no hope surviving outside and they had no idea if they could survive inside either. They knew one thing though: it was imperative that Kairi stayed alive. That meant that Xehanort could not get her.
The three eventually reached a room in the castle that neither Lea nor Isa had been in. It seemed to be some sort of large storage cupboard. They decided to rest a couple of minutes so they could gather their thoughts and make a plan of what they could do. Kairi was crying. Lea was close to it but kept himself together.
"Was I right or what?" Lea bragged. "Xehanort cannot be trusted!"
"This is hardly an appropriate time Lea!" Isa whispered furiously, sounding meaner than he meant. "Plus, I don't believe he was going to hurt Kairi. He just had another purpose for me 'in the next life'!"
"Isa, are you listening to yourself?!" Lea whispered angrily back. "He was GOING to KILL you! And probably Kairi too if I didn't interfere. Don't be so stupid! Snap out of that little game he has you playing in your head!"
"He said 'I'll see you soon'. What did he mean by that?" Isa whispered, calm again. Lea shrugged.
"I dunno what that psycho goes on about! We don't have time to work out the ramblings of a mad-man! What we can do is find out some way of getting Kairi far away from him so he doesn't harm her!"
"No, I think we should hand her back over to him."
"Are you being serious, Isa!? Did you not see what he was going to do to you!?"
"I know but… he has a plan for me. And Kairi too… is supposed to save this world. I trust him with us."
"Isa you are seriously going out of your mind! I don't care if you trust him! I am not taking any chances with that crazy bastard! We have to save her!"
"What other way do you see us saving her Lea!? Right now we only have Xehanort's word and that's it! In a few minutes it won't matter who was right and who was wrong! We'll all be gone! Kairi is our only hope!"
"I know I know! But we can't trust that guy! For all we know he could be lying about the entire thing! Surely you can think of something else. ANYTHING that can save Kairi… at least for now."
"I…I really don't know how we could do anything to save her now…"
"C'mon Isa, you always came up with the plans!"
"Yeah, and they always worked out," Isa said sarcastically.
"Sure you're plans weren't always perfect and they had errors in their design but…"
Something clicked in Isa at that point as Lea rambled. 'Errors in its design'
"I have an idea!" Isa enthused as Lea shut up. "It should get Kairi away from Xehanort for a little while. It will probably be a failure but it should at least delay Xehanort in his plans."
"C'mon let me in on it dammit! You like to build suspense don't you!?"
They could suddenly hear footsteps about three corridors away.
"I don't have time to explain fully. I'll take Kairi and do what I need to do. You should get out of here or at least see if you can find Ansem the Wise or the others. Apparently they're in the main lab. But watch out, Xeh said that heartless were in there. So be very careful!" Isa grabbed Kairi's hand and headed towards the door.
"Wait Isa, you're not going to just give her back to Xehanort are you? Because if you did I don't think I'd ever be able to forgive you!"
"Lea, I promise. I have a plan. Let's hope it works out."
"I'll see you soon."
Both boys and Kairi hastened together down a corridor that would get them away from Xehanort. There was always more than one hallway to take to get to each room so most of the time they would be heading in circles. The three reached a hall that had a few different corridors attached to it. Lea decided to go down the one to Ansem's study and the main lab while Isa and Kairi headed in the direction of the lab they were in less than half an hour before- this time on a different route. Xehanort was still progressing forward, bursting through each door hunting for his prey.
Isa and Kairi were darting around each corner as Isa tried to remember where the lab was taking this route. Kairi tried her best to keep up and put on a brave face like the two boys had been doing for her.
"Isa, if the heartless are in the main lab, why are there none anywhere else in here?" Kairi questioned.
"Hmm… I dunno actually, maybe they were attracted to the darkness they hold in those labs."
"But shouldn't there be more coming in to get to the labs? Yet there are none here!"
"What, are you complaining!?" Isa hissed. "Do you want me to exhaust myself with more heartless!?"
"No I just thought it was odd," Kairi mumbled. She didn't like this new side to Isa but she forgave him seeing the circumstances. Isa ran faster as they approached the lab again and Kairi followed.
"We're here!" Isa rejoiced quietly. He signalled Kairi into the room.
Lea entered Ansem's study warily. He noticed that this place was a lot messier than usual but he concluded that given the situation he'd forgive Ansem for his sloppiness. One thing that confused him however was the giant portrait of Xehanort that hung proudly on the wall. 'That was definitely not there before. Why would Ansem hang that up there? Or allow Xehanort to hang it? No. Shouldn't focus on how he chooses to decorate either Lea. Just find the guys and get out of here. It is odd though that we haven't heard from Ansem in weeks and then this happens. Has he abandoned us? And did Xehanort know this and set up camp here?'
Lea scanned the walls for a clue on how to open the main lab. As he glanced around though he noticed the many chalkboards that held writing of darkness and the heart of all worlds. 'Did Ansem really love the darkness this much? Did he cause these things to attack us? Is Xeh really the bad guy in all this?'
Isa lead Kairi to the machine that Xehanort had showed him a little while before. The transporter. He gently pushed Kairi into it and told her to calm down as he closed the machine. He didn't give her the remote though, he kept it. She would not return here. When he pushed the button, she'd be gone.
"Kairi I don't want you to panic. You're going to be okay. I promise."
"Isa, what's going to happen?"
Isa grabbed a large scrap piece of paper that lay on one of the counters next to the machine. He grabbed a pen that lay on the floor and- after scribbling on the paper to make the pen work- wrote a message on both sides. He tried his best to write as much as he could in the limited time they had. He handed it into Kairi and closed the capsule door again. Kairi read one of the messages. "If you have one memory of Radiant Garden, I thought it should be this. It should be etched into your heart when you go over there."
'This is the story your grandmother told you all the time:
Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light.
Everyone loved the light.
Then people began to fight over it.
They wanted the light for themselves.
And darkness was born in their hearts.
The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts.
It covered everything, and the world disappeared.
But small fragments of the light survived... in the hearts of children.
With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world.
It's the world we live in now.
But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness.
That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other.
But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open.
And the true light will return.
So, listen, child.
Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be light to guide you.
Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you.
Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away.'
"Sorry if you can't read it, it's rushed," Isa smiled, "Put it somewhere safe. Believe in the pendant. It should take you to where your heart belongs. I'm not actually the one who was to protect you but they're out there!"
Kairi fidgeted to find somewhere to put it and found a zippy pocket on her dress. She folded it and tucked it safely away in it and zipped it up. "I…I'll miss you both. Why do I need to…?" Abruptly Isa saw her expression change to fear. He turned to see Xehanort standing at the door. He was about to press the button for Kairi to go when Xehanort lifted his arm to signal him to stop. Isa obliged and Kairi began to get upset again.
"Now Isa, we don't need to get hasty," Xehanort voiced calmly. He stepped into the room. "Just hear what I have to say and then you can make your decision. You're going down the wrong path my boy."
"Really? And what path is that exactly?" Isa argued back. He knew he should be scared at this moment but he couldn't care less. "Isn't this the path to light? The path you set my heart on?"
'Wow he still doesn't see it, does he?' Xehanort thought. "No matter how light your heart will get, Isa, it is still destined to walk the same path as mine. These hearts of light only cast shadows on your heart. Haven't you been wondering about those mood-swings of yours? It's them that are forcing your heart back into darkness!" he shrieked, throwing his arms up. 'Really they're saving him from the dark but he doesn't need to know that.'
"Is that true? Are they really forcing me into the darkness?"
"Yes. I am the only one who can save you. I am planning to create the perfect world. One that is equal in light and darkness. There will be no light tyranny. Everything will be perfectly in balance. Does that sound good?"
"…Yeah it does." Kairi was shaking her head furiously at Isa's idiocy.
"The ball is in your court then Isa. All you have to do is hand Kairi to me."
"Tell me of your plans for Kairi then. After that I'll think of my answer."
"You drive a hard bargain," Xehanort sighed, "but I trust you enough with my plans." He started pacing the room as he explained his intentions. "In order to get to the perfect world this world and many like it will need to collapse. The girl's heart, and another few princesses' hearts, are preventing that from happening. It may seem like a horrible thing to do, but this girl is the embodiment of what is wrong in this world. She symbolises the tyranny of light. Her pure heart is what everyone else looks up to and inspires to be, yet people with hearts of darkness are treated like vermin. The people born with more darkness in their hearts, you and me for example. No matter how much light we inflict on our hearts, they will always be there to blacken them again as we feel isolated, betrayed, depressed, hatred, envy, anger…Surely you have noticed this too in yourself…"
"I see. So you plan to take Kairi's heart…"
"Exactly, and it won't hurt at all. It's a painless procedure!"
"And having Kairi away from here would force the world to fall to the darkness?"
"It is a sin but yes. I promise it's for the best."
"Right," Isa decided about to hand over the remote to Xehanort who proudly reached over. Xehanort snatched the remote from Isa's hands and patted his head.
However, he was outraged when he saw the capsule begin to make noises and it lit up various colours. Isa put his hand at his mouth and feigned an," Oops!" Xehanort rushed to the capsule and watched as the princess disappeared from the world. He searched on the remote for some sort of reverse button, but it was only for the person on the journey. Xehanort turned dangerously towards Isa.
"You do realise what you have done, don't you?" Xehanort sneered. "This world will fall to darkness anyway without the princess of heart to stop it!"
"Yeah, but it stopped you for now from taking her heart and ending all the worlds in the future. It should at least delay your plans and give us more time. It was either this world or all of them."
"You're a clever boy I'll give you that. I knew you were. You're just like me when I was your age. Give it a few years and you'll be seeing the world through my eyes. But your plan wasn't completely thought through. That was once my plan to use the transporter so she could possibly lead me to the young key-blade wielder from a distant world but I changed my plan as it held too many risks and my new plan would be quicker to unravel. All you have done is slowed me down. Now when I eventually find her, it is likely that the key-blade wielder will be with her and I will see what happens when the two know each other. You will lead me to them both now."
"Well, what can you do?" Isa shrugged walking off but was stopped by a fuming Xehanort.
"Did you really think I would let you get away with this!?" Xehanort screamed at Isa, smacking him in the face. "You are not supposed to behave like this! You are supposed to obey me!" Xehanort lifted him by the throat and glared at him with his golden eyes. "I'll make sure you will not disobey me like this ever again!" he roared and summoned his key-blade into his hand. Isa struggled to escape but it was no use. The man had incredible strength. For the first time in a while Isa admitted to himself that he was scared. Not just because this man had very dangerous, murderous eyes. Not only because his world was crumbling to the darkness. But also because he was in serious danger and this man would surely move his anger onto Lea too. He would therefore not be around to protect him. He was terrified that he could do nothing.
"Please… I…I'm sor…ry," Isa choked. Xehanort snickered.
"Oh you will be," he threatened, summoning a key-blade into his hand. Isa struggled in his grasp. "Calm down. This will only hurt more if you move around. There's no way I'm letting you escape." Isa accepted that he couldn't get away from Xehanort so he closed his eyes when he saw the blade hovering towards his face. He felt the tip of the blade ripping through his skin on his forehead but he kept his screams within by biting his lip to let the man know he wasn't winning this. Plus Lea might hear him being weak. Xehanort laughed at the clear pain in Isa's face yet he wasn't voicing this pain to him. The blade finished creating the diagonal line from Isa's left side of his forehead to just under his right eye. Isa breathed a sigh of relief when he believed the pain was over, just to have it start over again on his opposite side. He could feel blood trickling down his face from the wound and more would be joining it as Xehanort opened another symmetrical wound. His lip also was bleeding from biting so hard. "Trying to be brave, Isa? Gonna pretend that everything's okay?"
Finally the blade left his skin but Isa didn't want to be caught unaware again so was expecting anything. He could tell the danger wasn't gone yet. He was right. At that moment Xehanort conjured up some sort of dark magic into his left hand while he held the bleeding Isa up with his right. Isa still could not escape. The magic built up in Xehanort's hand, and Isa's heart was going crazy about what he was planning now. Then Xehanort placed the palm of magic onto Isa's scar and he could no longer withhold his screams. Agonised screams tore through the room as the dark magic seeped into the X-shaped wound. Tears fell down his face.
"This is the recusant sigil. It will tell me where you are at all times. It should stop you from escaping me. Ever. The sigil is as permanent as that scar now on your face that the whole world can see. You now belong to me."
Eventually the magic ran out and Xehanort's hand left Isa's forehead. He reached for a towel to clean the boy's face gently. Again he had changed back to the "nice" man he sometimes was to Isa. He placed Isa down on his feet but Isa instantly dropped to the ground, sitting in pain. Xehanort knelt down to him and gently patted his head with the towel. Isa winced at the touches since they were coming from a man who just caused him unbearable pain less than a minute before.
"Now we won't be doing that again, will we?" Xehanort said gently. He saw that a few more flecks of gold had appeared in the boy's eyes. Isa slowly shook his head. His face was in agony and he was just trying to hold his emotions together. "Good. I don't see why you let that fool of a boy have such an influence on your heart." Xehanort finished cleaning his forehead when Isa couldn't hold in his tears again. They erupted from him so Xehanort pulled him into a hug and tried to comfort him by patting his head. "That boy will only lead you astray. His heart casts shadows on yours. No matter how much light I gave you, he will steal it away again."
"You're… wr-wrong about L…Lea," Isa stammered through his sobs.
"Am I now?" Xehanort whispered.
"Y-Yeah. H-he's my b-best friend. He p-promised he would s-save me from p-people like you."
"Like me, eh? Well, where is he now? How come he hasn't come to rescue you? How can you be sure he's not run off to safety somewhere or given up on you? How come I'm the one comforting you when you are in pain and the world crumbles around us? I'll let you in on a little secret, Isa. When I told you of 'the next life' I meant it. This is not the end for us." This shocked Isa and he calmed down a little. "But when we return are you going to keep wasting your potential hanging around with that… child, or are you going to accept that you are one of us? You say he is your best friend but haven't you felt that Lea is trying to replace you with someone more like him?! What happens when he does find another friend? What could you do then!?"
"He wouldn't just leave me!" Isa sniffed, exiting the hug. Xehanort cackled.
"Oh, really? Must I remind you of…Ventus?" This caught Isa by surprise and for a second he stopped breathing. "I know he put your mind at ease by acting as if he couldn't remember young Ventus but… he did. Are you saying that if that boy hadn't gone off to continue his journey and stayed with you two, Lea would stay with you? I know you wouldn't want to have Ventus as a friend so if Lea had to choose would he choose you? Over the boy he had so much fun within a few minutes of meeting?! Fun he'd never shown with you?"
"How did you…!?"
"I know a lot of things, Isa. Just think about it. It is your future. People with light hearts can act darkly to others. Just think of our 'great' Ansem the Wise! He has abandoned us all after beckoning the darkness here!"
"What!?"
Lea had eventually "worked out" how to get into the lab from Ansem's study. How he did it- Lea would tell no one- was he was looking for some sort of big button on the table but was unsuccessful, got attacked by a fly, turned around to wave his arms frantically at his attacker and, in doing so, tripped over a pile of books causing him to place his palm on a panel on the wall. This allowed the segment of the wall to vanish resulting in Lea falling flat on his face on the new metal floor. Ouch. He shook it off however and continued his march to find the others while of course ensuring that no one saw him fall. He was astounded by the sight of a huge room of strange cannon like objects attached to the walls. 'What is this place? A factory of some kind?'
However, his determination overwrote his curiosity as he progressed onto the laboratory. His breath was taken away by the sight of his former comrades' bodies lifeless on the floor. He dropped to his knees as heartache befell him. His eyes filled with tears.
"Was this… the Heartless that did this!?" he choked through his tears. 'Surely it could only be that. Why would Xehanort or Ansem do this to their friends? What could they gain? Plus, they're oozing darkness. Surely only the heartless could have that effect. So had the heartless just sunk back into the ground after they attacked?'
Lea scanned the room for heartless but was only faced with more heartache. He saw Braig near the computer and cried harder. 'He was so welcoming to me and became a good friend. I was suspicious of him though.' He turned to see the other four apprentices almost huddled together. "Dilan, Aeleus, Even…Ienzo." His sobs became uncontrollable as he looked from body to body. Dilan and Aeleus who became good friends with him also and showed him the ropes, although they didn't see eye to eye before working in the castle. Even, who he never really spoke to much, was the first person he remembered speaking to here. And then Ienzo who also wasn't that close but knew that Isa got on well with him which was good because Lea was happy when Isa was. But Ienzo was so little… it really hit him that they were all in danger. Including Isa…
Xehanort had just finished lying to Isa that Ansem was the one who caused all this. He helped Isa to his feet and wiped away his tears with his fingers. "No rain falling from those skies of yours." He admired the cluster of gold that had formed in Isa's eyes. He grinned at how his plan was working although it had disruptions. Isa stopped his crying and forced a smile. "A while back I promised you something that could happen in the heartless attack… and I think I'm going to let something like it happen now."
"What… would that be? Sorry, I can't really remember you promising me anything."
"Well just telling you wouldn't be any fun would it?" Xehanort laughed, wrapping an arm around Isa and leading him out the room. They walked in silence for a little while and Isa pondered where they were going. They eventually stopped outside Ansem's study. Xehanort turned to him and smiled. "You know what stops the moon from fading away into the darkness?" Isa looked confused. "The sun," Xehanort said, pulling down the handle to the study.
Lea rose to his feet and concluded that the five were not alive and that Ansem had disappeared. He wiped his tears with his uniform sleeve. He was then startled by hearing someone enter the study next door. He panicked and searched for somewhere to hide but then he heard Isa's voice and gave a sigh of relief.
"Isa I was beginning to think you were never coming! I wouldn't come through here if I were you. Did you save Kai…?" At that moment Isa entered the lab… with Xehanort. Lea could hardly breathe. Then he noticed that hideous scar that was etched on his best friend's face. His heart felt like it broke again. "Isa…what hap…"
"We have no time to answer questions Lea!" Xehanort yelled at the boy. He turned to Isa and continued in a more soothing tone, "Now, Isa, what I promised you was that I would make sure that you would be here to witness Lea's death and there would be nothing you could do to stop it."
"What!?" Isa and Lea shrieked in unison. Lea backed up into a wall.
"Remember what I said about the plan. This is only temporary. He'll be fine." Xehanort summoned his key-blade and both boys filled with dread. Isa had never felt so scared. Even compared to when he got the scar (and he was terrified then). Even when he saw the other apprentices on the floor, he felt nothing but now…he was petrified. Yet his face didn't seem to show it. Lea noticed Isa just seemed to be staring at him, not fazed by what was about to transpire. Xehanort moved closer to Lea. "I wanted you to do it, Isa but I see you have little power left after your outing. No worries though, I'll do it."
"Isa! Just run! Here's your chance! Just go! Find somewhere safe!" Lea screamed as Xehanort closed in on him. Still Isa had no reaction. "I'll be okay!" Nothing. "GO! PLEASE!" He could no longer see Isa because of Xehanort. 'Please say he's gone. I don't want him to see this. I want him to be safe.' Lea glared up at Xehanort who was standing right in front of him. "Just do it," Lea spat.
Xehanort laughed as he punched the key-blade forward into… Isa. Isa had jumped in the way.
"Isa!?" Xehanort and Lea yelled in unison.
"I said… I'd always…p-protect you… didn't I, L-Lea?" Isa coughed. 'I had to do something… but I couldn't summon my claymore because I was so drained of power… something in my heart forced my body to move.'
"But you're not supposed to behave like this!" Xehanort raged, the blade was still stuck in Isa. "This was just completely pointless! Lea will be following you soon! That was just idiotic!" Lea was still in shock.
"We-well this way I'll be first t-to f-face whatever y-you've got in s-store for us in the n-next life s-so it's s-safe for Lea t-to f-follow me," Isa squirmed in pain, yet his face showed no emotion.
"Isa," Lea sobbed, "You didn't need to…I was supposed to… you…"
"Al-always had a way w-with words," Isa half laughed half coughed. "I-it's okay Lea there's n-no point in us arguing. I'll s-see you s-soon. S-so you know L-lea, you will always b-be my b-best friend. Get it memorised."
"You know I hate people using my line!" Lea forced a laugh but switched quickly back to sobs. "I really don't understand! Isa I'm so sorry! Why did you…just don't go! I'll do anything please!"
"I've had enough of this!" Xehanort huffed, pulling the blade from Isa and his heart came with it. Isa's breath hitched and he fell to the floor. Lea automatically dropped to catch him but there was already no sign of life in his best friend. He hugged his friend close to him and grieved over him. Xehanort didn't understand what just happened and was frozen in his spot contemplating. Lea gripped onto Isa and never wanted to let go… but he also wanted revenge on the sick bastard who did this to him. He leaned in closer to Isa.
"I'm sorry I didn't save you," Lea whimpered, "I actually love you man… as a friend." He gently placed Isa's head onto the ground and jumped to his feet. He pulled his Frisbees out and pointed them at Xehanort. Xehanort burst into cocky laughter.
"You really think you and your Frisbees are any match for my key-blade and my skills?" Xehanort mocked.
"Probably not," Lea sniffed. He focussed his power on his presently broken promise. His chakrams appeared stylishly into his hands and he glared confidently up at the now impressed Xehanort. "Maybe I stand a chance now though. Don't ya think I deserve to kick your ass after you completely ripped my heart apart?"
"Not bad, you may even stand a chance against me since your heart is so desperate for revenge. It's funny how your heart is still full of light yet you have these negative feelings. I bet your heart is part of the reason this world STILL hasn't fallen to darkness. It was supposed to collapse after your friend sent Kairi away, but I guess it applies to you too. Only one solution…to get rid of you…" Xehanort admitted, "But I can't let you go to waste either." Lea looked at him in confusion. Xehanort contemplated, 'I guess I could give him a part of my heart too… I would prefer him to be Isa's light when creating the X-Blade, but some things can't be helped. Since his heart is of light, it probably won't work but there's always a chance. Win-win either way.' Xehanort cast an almost fiery spell onto the end of his key-blade. Lea noticed this and wondered what he was doing. He placed his chakrams in front of him preparing to guard. Xehanort feigned pointing the blade towards Lea's head so Lea reached up to guard his head from the attack however at the last second Xehanort lowered his aim at his heart. Lea was only able to block a portion of the attack; the rest sent him flying onto the computer. He clutched his chest and wondered what that was. He shrugged it off and stood in a combat position.
"I'm going to kill you! I don't care what my chances are!" Lea cried. Xehanort looked at something beside him. Lea looked puzzled at what he was distracted by but decided it was probably him trying to throw him off.
"You probably have good chances against me," Xehanort laughed, "but I wonder how you'd do against that."
Lea warily turned around to witness a large heartless climbing out from a dark puddle in the lab. 'A heartless? No problem! Oh…' At that moment he noticed the giant X-shaped mark on the monster's head. 'Isa? Damn.'
"This is what I call a dark-side heartless. They come from people with very…light hearts," Xehanort sneered. "This one's smaller in build. I see you've noticed who this one came from! Show me what you can do!"
Lea was frozen to his spot. He couldn't possibly hurt anything to do with Isa. 'Maybe he can still hear me? Maybe he won't attack me. And if he does… it's better than Xehanort ending me.'
Lea dropped his chakrams and trudged towards the towering creature (that only came to half its height since the ceiling was too low and its lower half was still inside the dark puddle). He started to cry again as he saw the hole where his heart should be which just reminded him of how Isa was taken a little while ago. He wiped his tears again and approached faster. The heartless seemed to be warning him with his eyes. Lea turned around to make sure Xehanort wasn't up to something but he hadn't moved. He was just watched intently. Lea focussed on the heartless and stood right in front of it. Lea smiled at it with tears streaming down his face. The heartless stared back at him and seemed to have this presence that Lea knew was Isa.
"I'm so sorry," Lea whimpered," I let you go. But I told you that you could be a hero."
The heartless still stared but then it appeared startled and it's X glowed purple. Lea backed away a little but the heartless looked again at Lea. It lifted its hand and reached out to Lea. Lea felt that there was danger from that creature yet he couldn't help but get the feeling from it that everything was going to be okay. It emptied the fear that Lea had despite the situation. That let him know that Isa was there with him. Lea smiled as the heartless took his heart away. Lea's body was falling to the ground but the heartless caught him in its hand. It placed him gently on the floor next to Isa's body.
Xehanort cackled to an empty room apart from the giant heartless and lifeless bodies. "Well Isa, I did say that you would see the heartless taking Lea's heart. I also said I wanted you to be the one to do it, didn't I?" The heartless growled. The earth started shaking and the ceiling started collapsing in. The world was being swallowed. "I think it's time to go. I'll let you have your revenge." Xehanort opened his arms so the heartless would take his heart. The heartless refused and sank into the ground and Xehanort smiled. "See you soon."
The world was crumbling around them and Lea and Isa lay lifelessly on the cold floor. There was another quake. The rumbling from this one caused Lea's hand to fall into Isa's hand. They held hands as their world was plunged into darkness.
In a world in the twilight the two would awaken holding hands…
Thank you so much for reading. Think I'll make one more chapter of this. Hope this chapter was good enough and didn't bore anyone. Hope it isn't crap. Reviews are welcome if you have time. Thanks for the ideas some of you have sent me too in reviews and pm's! Hope to see you again soon.