I meant to update this yesterday, but I ended up not having enough time. Oops! Here it is now, hot off the press.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed! There were TONS! phantombullets240, pandabearmusic, NinjaSheik, animechick247, celtic-roses, Chocoboco, Monkeychicklet23, RedQueen, Ark Angel, TheKeeperofKingdomHearts1, Kokoro Hikari, Lumen, Kuro Neko to Kuro Bara and Hidden Fairy Tale. Loooooveeeee.
Keep reviewing! I'm up to chapter 21 right now and the story, in reality, is nowhere near being done. We'll see what happens.
8 more reviews 'til 160, which I think we are capable of surpassing. Do it up! :)
"We have to get down to the Great Maw," Leon's voice came, snapping Vilixa out of her thoughts. "There's too many. They're threatening to destroy the entire town."
"We'll help!" Sora declared. "Come on, let's go!" He ran out of Ansem's study and up to the Postern, Vilixa trailing behind him alongside Donald and Goofy. They kept on running towards the Bailey, and Vilixa was starting to get worried. Why were there so many Heartless? Where did they all come from?
"Sora!" Vilixa yelled. "What about Ansem's computer? Are we just going to leave it?"
"We have to help the town first!" Sora answered. "We can't just let the Heartless take over again. Come on!"
They had just reached the Bailey. Vilixa could see all of the Heartless in the Great Maw, and for once, she felt frightened. She wasn't sure if it was even possible for that many Heartless to be in one place at one time.
"Leon," Sora muttered, "everybody...hang in there."
But then, to Vilixa's confusion, King Mickey hopped down from a high ledge and blocked their path. "Okay, you guys. You've gotta go find Riku and Kairi."
"But Leon and the others are our friends, too!" Sora protested.
"Don't worry," King Mickey stated. "There's already lots of help here."
"But--"
"Donald, Goofy," King Mickey ordered. "Get Sora and Vilixa out of here!"
Vilixa stared off into the distance at the Heartless that were starting to multiply. Her gaze hardened as Donald and Goofy's voices seemed to fade off into the distance. Summoning her Keyblade, she decided not to think. Just to act. She ran past King Mickey and jumped down the ledge toward the Great Maw.
She thought she would be alone, but to her surprise, Sora, Donald and Goofy followed suit. She looked up at where the King was standing, expecting to see him glaring down at her. Instead, she heaved a sigh of relief as Mickey gave her a soft smile, and a bit of a reassuring nod. He knew he couldn't interfere.
They were about to keep running towards where all the action was when Vilixa heard the familiar sound of a portal opening. She turned and saw Demyx emerging from the darkness.
"Demyx?" she asked, almost inaudibly. "What are you doing here?"
He just sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "You know how Saix is..."
"Demyx, please," she begged quietly. "Don't do this." She walked over to him slowly. "You don't have to go through with this. Please, just go back to the castle."
"I can't," Demyx replied sadly. "I'll be killed either way."
She shook her head, her eyes, strangely enough, welling with tears. "You can run, can't you?"
"I can't," he insisted. "I'm sorry, Vee. But I have to go through with this." He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. After a moment, he pulled away and ruffled her hair.
"Vilixa..." Sora warned. "What are you doing?"
"No..." she pleaded. "Demyx, please, I don't want him to hurt you. You're my friend!"
It was too late.
"Goodbye, Vee," Demyx said as he pulled out his sitar and gave her one last apologetic look before his fingers started to dance over the strings. Water figures emerged from thin air and starting pelting Sora and the others. She knew that there was no looking back for Sora now. This was a fight that he wasn't about to lose.
After all of the water figures had been destroyed, Demyx grinned and charged at him with his sitar. Streams of water burst from the ground and caught Sora off guard, sending him flying into the air. Vilixa was paralyzed in fear, unsure of what to do.
But really, all she could do was watch.
Sora regained his footing and attacked Demyx with full force. Demyx blocked a few of the blows, holding his sitar against his body to lessen the force exerted by Sora's Keyblade. He counter-attacked with water bubbles that exploded from the sitar's neck, but Sora lept over them and drove his Keyblade down, attacking Demyx from above.
Vilixa forced herself to squeeze her eyes shut, trying to block out the sounds of battle that echoed in her ears.
Then she heard someone fall.
She opened her eyes again and looked over at where Demyx was. He was on his hands and knees, panting for air. He looked over at Vilixa one last time and gave her a small, apologetic smile.
"No way..." he groaned before disappearing in a burst of water.
"Anyone from the Organization want to be next?" Sora challenged, barking at the wind.
"Sora..." Donald whispered, pointing at Vilixa, who was slowly making her way over to the small puddle of water that used to be one of her only friends.
"Demyx..." she mumbled, kneeling down, looking at her own reflection on the water's surface. "I'm so sorry." She could feel tears starting to roll down her cheeks. Her hand flew up to her face, wiping them from her eyes. She didn't understand how she was able to cry when she didn't have a heart. Or how she was even able to feel remorse for her friend's death if she shouldn't even have been able to feel.
Sora walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I know that he was your friend...and I'm sorry, but--"
"No," Vilixa shook her head, rising to her feet. "He had no choice but to fight you, Sora. I would have rather let him die with dignity fighting you than be eliminated by a member of the Organization."
Sora just nodded his head. "Come on. Leon and the others need us."
King Mickey jumped down and ran over to the group. "Are you all okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," Sora answered, but he wasn't sure if he was really speaking for everyone.
Above their heads, a Heartless was trying to attack someone else, and it was shooting its lasers at the boulders by the ledge. One stray boulder started to fall and was headed straight for the King.
"Look out!" Goofy cried, pushing the King over and getting knocked directly in the head by the giant rock. He fell to the ground and slid back into a wall of stone, motionless.
"Goofy?" Vilixa squeaked as they all ran to his side. "Goofy? Are you alright?"
No response.
"Goofy!" Sora cried.
"No..." Mickey said in disbelief.
"Hey!" Donald prodded, trying to shake him awake. "You're the King's captain! You gotta get up!"
"Come on, wake up!" Sora begged.
Goofy still laid there, limp and lifeless. "Oh..." Donald mumbled sadly, "Goofy..."
"This is not happening..." Sora stammered. "It can't be happening. It can't..."
Vilixa looked back at the King. His eyes were aflame. "They'll pay for this." He shed his black cloak, revealing a red outfit that looked just like Sora's from when he had awoken in the pod. Summoning his golden Keyblade, he charged for the Great Maw, seeking to avenge Goofy.
Donald let out a huge battle cry and ran after the King. Sora looked down at Goofy hesitantly, and back at Vilixa. She just stood there, a hand over her mouth, trying desperately not to let herself break down.
"Come on," Sora said. "The others...they need us."
"I-I can't--" Vilixa stuttered, shaking her head. "I can't take this."
"Goofy and Demyx would've wanted us to beat the Heartless," Sora said, sounding strong. "We can do it. Come on. I know you've got it in you."
She looked into Sora's pure blue eyes, and for a moment, she saw Roxas.
Come on. You're stronger than this, Vee. You can't let this bring you down. I believe in you.
"Okay," she agreed, regaining her composure. "Let's go."
Keep reviewing! Just 8 more until we hit 160.