20/02/2008 18:55:00

Chapter 2! Finally...

My slow-moving KH fic

Short chapter ;

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"Wait, why?" Sora called, running after Adelle; Donald and Goofy close behind.

Adelle didn't pause as she continued toward the castle gates. "Leave it alone, Sora, you won't like the answer."

"But I'm asking!" Sora sprinted up to Adelle, and grabbed her arm. "It's obviously important to you, and if it's hearts you're looking for you'll need my help!"

Adelle yanked her arm away from Sora. "I don't need anyone else's help!"

Sora started.

"I already have two people helping me, and I don't need to be in debt to anyone else." Adelle tried to be as nice about as she could. The kid was obviously eager to help, if not desperate, and she appreciated it, but she knew the key-bearer already had enough on his agenda, and helping her search for his heart didn't need to be added to his to-do list. "Please, just keep doing what you're doing."

"How do you know the organization doesn't have it already?" Sora asked, sulking at the thought. "They're collecting hearts, too."

Adelle nodded. "Yes, I know. If they had it, I would be there fighting to get him back."

Sora looked at Adelle quizzically, and folded his arms. "Who are you looking for anyway?"

Adelle started.

His face was still fresh in her mind. His long red hair tied back, his smiling face, his eyes green as the grass they would lie in and watch the clouds from.

"Itcher brother, isn't it?" Goofy smiled.

Adelle smiled. "As I said before, I've been searching since the day after his heart was taken."

A short silence ensued, and Adelle shook her head. "Anyway, I have to go meet Cloud. You guys take care." She waved, and walked down the stairs toward the castle gates.

"Gee, guys, I sure hope Adelle finds her brother." Goofy said.

Sora clasped his hands behind his head. "Yeah, wonder why she didn't want our help. I mean, searching all the worlds takes a long time; we should know. It's taken a couple years for us to get this far, and still nothing." He sighed.

Donald nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah."

"Want it or not, I'm going to help her!" Sora turned right around, and headed back through the Bailey toward the dilapidated castle gates.

"Hey, Sora, wait up!" Goofy called, lumbering after his friend.

Donald stood his ground, but the sound of his friends running off to help the red-haired girl made him growl. "Ohhh!" the duck turned right around, and scurried after his friend. "Wait for me, Goofy!"

The trio arrived at the cliff overlooking the castle to find Adelle and Cloud nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm." Goofy shaded his eyes with his hand like a visor. "Where d'ya think they went?"

Sora crouched down, peering over the edge of the cliff. "Did they go down there, maybe?"

What had to have been hundreds of feet below, heartless swarmed around the castle.

"How come they don't just go in?" Sora wondered aloud.

Donald inched to the edge, squawked in fear, and backed away. "We should go back!" He stomped on flipper.

Sora stood up, and looked out at the dark castle. "Kairi," he murmured. "That's where I finally found you, but...it's seems so long ago."

"Aww, you'll see her again." Goofy patted Sora's shoulder.

Sora smiled, and nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

"So what are we gonna do? We can't jump out there." Donald said, folding his arms, and frowning.

Sora crossed his arms thoughtfully. "If Adelle and Cloud aren't here, they must have gotten over to the castle somehow." He frowned slightly.

"Sora." Goofy said.

"Just a minute, Goofy, I'm trying to think." Sora sighed.

"But, Sora." Goofy said insistently.

Donald walked over to see what Goofy was looking at while Sora wracked his brain over how to get across the chasm to the castle. He saw a slight shift in the light in front of Goofy. He raised a feathered eyebrow, and cackled mischievously. He raised a hand, and slapped the back of Goofy's leg, sending the dog leaping out in front of him. Goofy fell onto an invisible platform, then bounced, and bounced again, and rolled down until he reached the ground in front of the castle.

"Sora, look, it's-" Donald paused, and looked up at Sora. "Heh heh."

Sora raised an eyebrow, and folded his arms. "Mmhmm." He hummed angrily.

Donald landed on the ground in front of Goofy much in the same manner.

Adelle stood on the balcony outside the highest room in the tallest tower. Her hands squeezed the stone railing. "I never thought I would be standing here again."

Cloud walked up. "At least this time you can leave whenever you like."

Adelle chuckled slightly. "If you think about it just long enough, but life seems truly cliché, don't you think? Locked away in the highest room of the tallest tower, guarded by a dragon, enslaved by an evil witch, waiting for my handsome prince to come and rescue me." She looked at Cloud.

Cloud leaned his back against the rail, and folded his arms.

"The only the stories don't tell you is what happens if the queen dies before the girl can be rescued," Adelle looked at Cloud. "That's where you come in, I suppose." She smiled slightly.

Cloud looked at Adelle. "Leonheart found you, I just happened to be here." He started to walk away.

"And Edea just happens to be the dark part of my heart, and I battle her the same way you battle Sephiroth." Adelle said pointedly.

Cloud paused, his shoulders tensing. He clenched his left fist, the leather of the glove creaking with the strain.

Adelle turned solemnly. "You understand me, Cloud. My darkness haunts me, it consumes me a little every day, and all I've ever wanted was for it to just disappear!" She exclaimed.

Cloud didn't look at her.

Adelle composed herself, and turned. "But I can only do that after I find him." She folded her arms.

"You told Sora you were searching for your brother. Why?" Cloud asked.

"To lead him off the scent. Sora pries into other peoples' business; look at what he did to the other worlds." Adelle frowned. "Every world the key-bearer visits, causes pain to the one world he will never see. He is smothering it."

Cloud turned. "I've never been one to give advice," He said. "But if you're so concerned with Sora and the heartless, tell the kid what he wants to know."

Adelle shook her head. "I can't." She said.

"If you refuse to tell him then tell me!" Cloud reached out, and grabbed Adelle's arm.

Adelle gasped, and looked at Cloud.

"You talk about that kid getting into otherworldly business when that's all you do yourself. " Cloud said. "You fight other peoples' battles, you take it upon yourself to help those who don't need any help." He growled.

"You're free now, aren't you?" Adelle asked, unfazed by Cloud's words.

Cloud released Adelle's arm, and averted his eyes.

"Hades tricked you; he never knew anything about Sephiroth, but you were so desperate, you wouldn't even open your eyes to the truth. Even now, you're blind to those who care!" Adelle exclaimed.

Cloud turned away from Adelle. "Who could care about one steeped in darkness?"

Adelle hugged her arms around Cloud. "I saved you, didn't I?."

Cloud glanced over his shoulder. "What about Ven?" He asked.

Adelle released Cloud,. "How do you know that name?"

"Everyone from the Bailey to the marketplace knows that name what with how loud you scream it at night." Cloud said, and walked toward the door.

"I did?" Adelle murmured.

"We should go. If you don't remember anything we should leave, this pace is too dangerous to linger in." Cloud walked down the narrow corridor of stairs. Care all you want, He thought. You'll only die.

Adelle looked out at the town across the great maw. She sighed, and turned. A sharp pain gripped her heart. "AHH!" She fell to one knee.

Flashes of three silver-haired men entered her mind.

"Adelle!" Cloud took a step toward the red-head.

"Get back!" Adelle held up a hand.

Cloud stared at Adelle, his eyes narrowing.

"It's...they're..." Adelle's breath came short from pain. "They're here.

One man with shoulder-length silver hair spoke to her mind. "Do you remember now, mother?"

"I...can't..." Adelle gasped, and fell to the ground. She could hear Cloud calling, but her body was frozen, and her mind had already slipped away to darkness.

The castle courtyard was just as Adelle remembered it. She stood in the middle of a mosaic tile gazebo facing a merlion fountain, water pouring out of the lion's mouth. To her right a path led into the maze, to her left the courtyard stretched to the castle gates.

To anyone who happened by they would only see the lonely princess. She spoke to a handful of people in the court; three in particular, but they were merely commoners in the eyes of the courtiers.

It was like any other day at Radiant Garden, but still something seemed amiss. She looked down at her hands, and saw a keychain clutched in her palm so tight her knuckles turned white, and her palm ran red with blood. Her hand opened as if sensing Adelle's curiosity in the object, and revealed a keychain unlike anything she had ever seen. It was shaped like the symbol of the heartless, but solid, and silver. Her hand bled from the sharp edges of the metal charm. She felt tears streak down her cheeks, and she raised her unscathed hand to wipe them away with her fingertips.

The water stopped running from the fountain, and she looked up at the statue. The mouth was stained red, and the water turned to a thick red concoction not in need of description.

Adelle's eyes widened, her skin paled, and her blood ran cold. "No." She turned away, and saw a desert before her. She looked down at herself, her clothing drenched in someone's blood not her own. Ahead of her two blurred figures in armor stood horror-stricken by the sight of the red-haired woman. They each held a keyblade, which made Adelle's stomach churn. Her arm fell lax at her side, the keychain clinking against the ground at her feet next to an unmoving young boy with spikey dark blonde hair.

Adelle couldn't speak or move at the sight. Her tears ran faster, she took a step away from the boy, and hit the edge of a cliff. As she fell, she saw both figures approach the edge of the cliff, and stare down at her.