Happy Labor Day everyone!!! Man this chapter was pretty long and it took me all day to write! I am going to go ahead and apologize to Kairi fans, Riku fans, and Lauren/Fury fans right now. I hope you still like the chapter though. Thanks everyone who reviewed and if there are any artists out there who are reading this please check out my profile because I'm having a contest that you should consider entering! Enjoy the chapter!
*Sora*
"There will be an interesting twist to this final round!" the commentator announced. People cheered in response. I never broke eye-contact with Lauren. "In this round the goal will be to knock the entire opposing team into the water!" Wait, what water? Suddenly an ear-splitting crack was heard and the ground began to shake violently. The dome was just a large circle-shaped area of black rock. It was completely flat and where the rock ended large stands rose high up into the air where people, monsters, and some minor gods sat watching the battles. The cause of the shaking and the painfully loud sound was the outer part of the fighting area collapsing, revealing a large green colored lake that surrounded the expanse. A disgusting smell rose up from the lake and I was beginning to wonder if I was on some hidden camera show. They seriously expected us to be willing to get thrown into that?! The Underworld's version of a sewer?! Hades had to be crazy. Fury smirked
"Well good thing I can fly" she said smugly. Then she was suddenly knocked backwards by something. When she stood up a thin strip of what looked like black smoke had painfully pinned her wings to her back so she couldn't fly.
"Now that the sides have been evened out" that commentator announced. Fury hissed while Riku laughed and I did my best to hide a smile. "Let the final round begin!" Riku went straight for Fury which I suppose was smart considering she went straight for him. I started towards Lauren but Selphie beat me to it, sprinting straight for Lauren twirling her jump rope around over her head. She swung the jump rope towards Lauren but Lauren blocked it with the Ultima Weapon. The rope wrapped itself around the blade and Lauren spun around a few times before letting the blade go all together. Selphie flew backwards now that she no longer had to strain to hold herself up and stumbled over the edge of the stadium into the green water below. I lunged towards Lauren but she was ready for me and quickly blocked my first attempt at attacking her. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Wakka throw his blitz ball at Fury who just caught it, spun, and threw it back at him, hitting him in the stomach with such force that he went flying backwards and fell over the side of the platform and landed in the water with a loud splash.
I focused my attention on Lauren and did my best not to worry about how the rest of my team was doing. Lauren and I had only been fighting for a minute or so when Tidus came up behind Lauren yelling "SNEAK ATTACK!!!" only to have Lauren punch him in the stomach. Then she did the strangest fighting move I had ever seen. Using her index and middle fingers she hit Tidus on the backs of his legs, his wrists, a few points on his back and on the back of his neck. He fell over and just laid there in the ground, paralyzed as I watched dumbfounded. She lifted up her right index and middle finger to her mouth and blew on them, like she was blowing the smoke off a gun.
"If you're going to perform a sneak attack try not to yell sneak attack as you're doing it. It kinda ruins the whole point" she said before pointing her blade at him. Tidus wasn't able to do anything and I was still trying to process the fact that she had just taken down Tidus without even hitting him once with her blade. In fact she had just rendered him defenseless by using only four fingers.
"Aeroga" and then that was it for Tidus. I hope he doesn't drown.
Actually water is what destroys the paralysis. I have no idea why though.
Weird. Back to fighting?
Back to fighting.
We both fought for who knows how long but I didn't really feel like Lauren was trying her hardest. She would just easily block any attack that I aimed at her.
"Are you even trying?" I asked her. She shook her head in response
"I wanted to tell you what Hades told me. Then I'll kick your ass." She told me, easily deflecting my attack. I laughed and we both fell into a rhythm of casual and easy attacks so Lauren could tell me what was going on.
"So Hades said that there weren't anymore Heartless here than usual other than the ones that are included into the tournaments. He said he hadn't heard anything about the Heartless population in any of the other worlds though either. So basically our main reason to come here was pointless. But I did get to be chosen as a finalist for a tournament. Which is awesome. It's on my bucket list actually." I stopped fighting and the Keyblade disappeared from my hand.
"Really?!" I asked her with a laugh.
"No not really" she said before lashing out at me with the Two Across.
I was barely able to summon up the Oblivion (one of my favorite forms of the Keyblade) to block Lauren's attack. I managed to stop here blade maybe an inch away from my face. I went into Final form and noticed Riku's pissed off expression and Kairi's surprised expression before they both disappeared. Lauren and I fought with Fury watching from a distance. The amount if light I was giving off would probably weaken her if she got too close to me. Lauren was barely able to deflect my blades and dodge my attacks as I came at her relentlessly. I felt my drive gauge and incredible strength begin to falter and I knew I only had another couple seconds. I rose up into the air and pointed my blades down towards Lauren and watched as a huge white light began to appear at the ends of each blade. I let them shoot down and Lauren just managed to back flip out of the way. Time seemed to slow after that.
I fell to the ground and phased out of Final Form just as I landed. Lauren was just finishing the back flip she had used to dodge my attack. Once she landed she immediately jumped back into the air and spun around. The Ultima Weapon disappeared so she only had the Two Across in her right hand. The blade began to glow an electric blue as she spun, her blade parallel to her body. Once she was completely done with the turn she shot her blade outwards and a crescent shaped wall of blue energy blasted me across the stadium. I flew past where Fury was fighting both Riku and Kairi before landing hard on the ground. I managed to get to my feet and braced myself as Lauren sprinted towards me.
*Kairi*
I was panting hard as Fury threw yet another attack from her deadly black sword towards me. I managed to feebly deflect it and thanked my lucky stars again that Riku was fighting with me. I knew I would've been hit into that gross water a long time ago if he wasn't here fighting with me. The attack Riku performed was so fast I could barely even register what had happened. From what I could tell Riku had blocked her blade while spinning around and had reached his other hand behind him and grabbed Fury's free hand. Then using the momentum from the spin he flipped her over his head. She landed hard on her wings and I heard her black wing make a gross popping sound.
Doing my best to cover up my disgust I turned to Riku.
"Nice one!" I said giving him a thumbs up. He smiled at me but a look of horror manifested itself on his face. He pointed behind me and I heard him yell but it didn't really register with me as to what he was saying. I turned just as Fury brought down her black sword. I didn't even have time to raise up my blade to defend myself. All I could to was scream as a searing pain ripped through my body. I felt my knees give out and then Riku's hands gently lowering me to the ground. I saw Sora running towards me with a terrified look on his face, yelling something that I couldn't hear for the world seemed to have gone silent. No more cheering from the crowd, no yelling or the metallic sound of blades hitting. Nothing. The world had gone completely silent. Fury got strange look in her eyes and lunged towards me, only to be restrained as Lauren brought Fury's hands up behind her back. Sora's face blocked my view and I could see his lips moving, but no sounds coming out. My vision was too blurred to make out what he was saying. My sight faded as my hearing had and then everything went black.
*Riku*
Everything was chaos. Was Kairi ok?! Was she even alive? Dammit Sora can you move so I can check?! Lauren's voice rang out through the insanity.
"Riku! I need your help." She hurt Kairi. Half of her could be responsible for killing Kairi. I gently slipped my hands out from underneath Kairi's back and stood up. Sora had used some weird key-like thing that went with the gummi ship and apparently the gummi ship was now on auto-pilot and was coming towards us. I looked at Lauren, to furious to say anything. Fury was still struggling against Lauren's grip but I could see two completely bizarre things in her eyes: pain and desperation.
"Blast me off this rock" was all Lauren said. She said me. So she hurt Kairi. Not half of her. All of her. I pointed my blade at her and shot her off that freaking rock. Both halves of her. I hope that hurt. Then maybe she will get a small idea of how Kairi feels. The gummi ship landed in the middle of the stadium and I turned to see Sora picking up Kairi. We locked eyes and he nodded towards the gummi ship. I started to run. It was time to call Radiant Garden.
It had taken her and hour. Aerith. It had taken Aerith, the best healer in probably all the worlds an hour to save Kairi's life. An hour of healing. An hour wasn't really that long, but when one of your best friend's lives was on the line it was endless. Kairi was asleep now, with both Sora and Roxas at her bed side. Aerith had insisted that she needed rest, and would probably be unconscious for a day or two. But Roxas was constantly asking if they could wake up Kairi so he could see Namine, and Sora just wanted Kairi to wake up so he could see if she was ok or not. In the end Aerith had forced them both into chairs where they had both fallen asleep. Tidus had asked about whether or not we had remembered to grab out trophy on the way out. I think he had been joking. But either way he was now locked in a closet down the hall. I gently stroked Kairi's palm with my thumb. Aerith promised she would be ok but every inch of me was screaming to do something. I know I never told you but you mean a lot to me. I love you like a sister and that's never going to change. No matter what, I promise. I wish I had told you sooner because now I'm afraid it's going to be too late. I felt tears threatening to overwhelm me so I got up and left the room, left the house, left the town. There was someone I needed to find.
The Great Maw? That's what this map told me. It was just a giant plateau in the rough shape of a circle. It was pitch black now with no moon. I could barely see in front of me but that was also probably because of the fact that it had started to rain. A few seconds later it was pouring. I sighed when I heard a clap of thunder. If I didn't head back that would risk Sora waking up, realizing it was storming, and being torn between leaving Kairi to come find me or letting me fend for myself in the middle of the night so he could stay with Kairi. I turned to leave when a large bolt of lightning lit up the sky. It was only for a second, but I was able to make out the shape of a girl standing in the middle of the plateau. I was going to guess that the girl had blond hair. Completely forgetting about Sora I turned around and headed towards her. I stopped when I was about 5 feet away from her. She turned her head ever so slightly to side the side and glanced at me before turning back. Another flash of lightning turned her figure black and I suppressed the urge to attack her.
"Is Kairi ok?" she asked calmly, the anger I felt threatened to overflow
"It took Aerith an hour to heal her."
"Is she asleep now?" the inside of me was complete chaos
"Yes."
"That's good" I can't do this
"Why didn't you come and check on her yourself, if your so curious?"
"I didn't think you guys would want me around right now. After what happened I figured I should keep my distance for a while." She finally said something right. I think I'll be ok, as long as she doesn't-
Lauren turned around to face me.
"Look Riku I'm really sorry about Kairi" -say that
"Don't tell me that you're sorry!" I yelled at her. Her eyes went wide in alarm, but she didn't say anything "You hurt her! You hurt Kairi! You could've killed her and I know you don't regret it! You're some sort of freak that feeds off other people's pain! You enjoy it. I saw that look Fury got. She looked hungry."
"Look I can explain that" Lauren said but I was beyond listening. I was in some kind of rage. I summoned Way to the Dawn slashed the blade across her body, watching as red immediately appeared, instantly seeping through her clothes. I watched as she staggered backwards, gripping her side where I had cut the deepest. Something inside of me was taking control. Something that wasn't supposed to be there anymore. But he was. My anger at him and my anger at Lauren blended until I couldn't tell which was which anymore. The corners of my vision turned red. Or maybe it was just my imagination. The fact that Lauren hadn't fallen over, like a normal person would have, infuriated me. It just proved how inhuman she was, how she was defying the way things should be.
"Why don't you fall?!" I yelled at her, before punching her in the face with such force her head snapped back, her body following. She landed on the ground hard and cried out at pain. I felt a smirk play at my lips. She gently put out her hands and a strange black shield spread out from her hands and completely surrounded her body. Then she pulled a piece of paper and a pen from her bag and began to write. What the hell is she doing? Is this some kind of joke?! She sat there and continued writing before finally putting the pen back. The strange shield vanished and she let go of the paper, letting the paper blow towards me. I caught and glared at her before holding it up to my face. Rain droplets had smeared the writing but I was able to make it out.
Dear Riku,
I'm writing this note because I think if I say anything it will just make you even angrier at me. You guys can all go home now if you want. I'll handle the Heartless problem and I promise I will never go anywhere near your world again. Once I'm done destroying the Heartless there's someone I know who has been looking for me for a long time. I'm sure he'll kill me when I find him. I know you don't want me to tell you this but I'm really sorry for everything. If you want you can just tell everyone that I disappeared and you were out here looking for me. You don't have to tell them I left to find someone who would kill me.
-Lauren
P.S tell Axel and Roxas not to look for me when you get the chance. They'll understand. Bye Riku. I am genuinely glad that I met you.
I looked up to see that she was standing up and wasn't facing me. A black fabric began to weave itself around her until it had formed a black cloak that looked familiar. Ansem the Wise had given me one identical to that. She slowly lifted her hand back and fastened it around the cloak's hood. She pulled it over her head just as another flash of lightning appeared. I imagined that I could hear her sigh before she started walking off. She vanished into the darkness and I was glad to see her go. I just ignored the small sensation I had in my heart as I turned around and headed back towards Radiant Garden. Tomorrow I would be going home.
*Sora*
So Lauren had gone out the night before and hadn't come back. That wouldn't have surprised me except Riku didn't come back until late and I could've sworn I saw blood on his clothes. Cloud had finally kicked me out of the house because I spent all morning asking Aerith every question I could think of about if Kairi would be ok or not and I suppose I annoyed Cloud in the process. He told me I needed to leave the house for one hour before I was allowed to come back. I checked my phone for the twentieth time. I had only been gone twenty minutes. I was almost to the castle where Maleficent had kidnapped the Princesses of Heart to when I saw someone lying on the ground. She had blond hair. I shoved my phone back into my pocket and started running.
*Riku*
Sora had only been kicked out for 45 minutes when he came exploding back through the door.
"Sora Cloud's going to kick your ass because you've only been gone 45 minutes. I promise all Kairi has done is sleep while you were away" Then I saw the girl in his arm's. Oh god dammit.
"Aerith!!!" Sora yelled, looking around frantically. His eyes fastened on mine. "Here hold her while I go look for Aerith!!!" he said before dropping her into my unwilling arms.
"Hey Sora hang on a second!" I yelled after him but he ignored me. He ran back out the door, probably heading for the market. I looked down at Lauren and sighed. She was unconscious, pale, and her clothes were covered in dried blood.
"Cloud was right. You really are impossible to get rid of."
Oh so sad. I did have this scene planned out from the beginning though. I hope you liked it though and I will try to update soon! Oh and just in case you didn't know when Riku meant someone that was taking control he meant Xehanort's Heartless. If you have any questions you know the drill! The next stop is the Pride lands. Review please!!!