Kingdom Hearts: Re: Chain of days
Chapter 8: Traverse Town
Karma's Slave
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts
Warnings: Spoilers for Birth by Sleep, 358/2 Days and Chain of Memories.
Warning: Scene by Scene
The fake Maleficent-dragon roaring for the last time as it disappeared within its green flames upon its defeat.
Maleficent was an easy opponent for Riku, he remembered from when he was observant of the fight Master Aqua and Sora had with Maleficent in her dragon form back in the real Hollow Bastion.
Dismissing his dark keyblade, he headed to the pair of double doors, that appeared before him; heading over to them, taking a card and opening the doors. Upon his entry into a new room, Riku realized he was back into the white hallway of wherever he was.
"Why do you shun the darkness?" the voice asked upon the boy's arrival, Riku let out a small snobbish snort at the question, "Hmph, Come on I know you heard me, every word I said to Maleficent."
"Darkness is your weapon. It is time you learned to accept that." Spoke the voice.
"What do you mean?" Riku's tone of voice rising.
"Stop resisting, accept the darkness. You have choice…" and right before Riku's eyes in a flash of purple and black, appeared. Ansem, seeker of darkness! "…If you are to serve me again!" he said with his arms crossed.
"I thought it was you, Ansem" said Riku, as his hands clenched upon the sight of the monster in front of him.
"Oh! You don't seem surprised" said the villain.
"You gave yourself away; all you've been talking about is the darkness. I can only assume you want to pull me back in so you can play puppet master." Riku's hands becoming fists.
"Clever boy. I knew you'd be the one to most appropriately serve me, after all you were chosen by that fool who also disappointed me."
"What, chosen? He couldn't possibly mean…" thought Riku
"And now surrender to me again!" yelled the former master keyblade wielder.
"You're crazy! Not a chance" Riku summoning his keyblade before charging Ansem head on. Riku jumped to the air with his batwing like keyblade held high, ready to bring it down on Ansem, to make his first strike against him.
But Ansem had blocked the attack sending Riku on to his back, "Did you really think you could do me harm?" asked Ansem "a weakling like you couldn't even beat Sora! And you had the darkness on your side." taunted the heartless humanoid.
"Excuse me…for being weak" panted Riku as he tried to pick himself up from the floor.
"You're weak. You need the darkness. Surrender. Bow to darkness. Bow to me"
"That's not going to happen" wincing Riku.
"Only darkness, can give you the strength you need" Ansem raising a hand and gesturing his fingers into a fist.
"You're wrong!" came high pitched voice as a ball of light had descending past Ansem and over to Riku. The ball of light now circling around Riku, "That voice…King Mickey?" spoke Riku.
"That's right! Remember Riku, you're not alone." The ball of light dissipating into Riku; Riku put a hand over his heart. "Listen close Riku, The light will never give up on you. You'll always find it, even in the deepest darkness!"
Riku took the words of the king in, "I got it" he said as the boy got up from the floor. "Hear that? I'm not losing to the darkness today, Ansem."
"You think that feeble little light can save you from the darkness that I command?" Riku didn't say anything to Ansem; all he did was take his stance with his Keyblade.
"You shall my dark powers…in your bones!"
"Give me all you got; I'll give it right back" said Riku with high confidence.
"That all you've got?" said Riku as he defeated his former oppressor but not enough for him to be vanquished.
"It seems you are intent on resisting the darkness. Very well see with your own eyes." Ansem shows Riku some cards.
"What are those?" asked Riku
"They are cards crafted from your memory. Advance through the worlds they beget, and you will come to understand... Chasing the light will not distance you from the dark. You cannot run." Explained the figure of darkness,
"Who's running? Give me the cards. I'll enter those worlds. And in the end, if I haven't given up...I'll win." Ansem throws Riku the cards.
"I have one more gift for you." Said Ansem with gesture of his hand, a ball of darkness appeared over Riku's chest and then sinking into his chest. "Ahh!" Riku screamed from the pain. Ansem had given Riku dark powers.
"What did you do to me?" Riku screamed at Ansem
"I tempered the darkness that remains in your heart." Said Ansem
"What, you still think that I'd rely on darkness?" asked Riku
"Whether or not you use it is your choice." Ansem vanishing, "I'll be waiting, Riku...for you to come to your senses and yield to the darkness!"
"Bastard!" uttered Riku as he clenched his fist before heading out to the next room or world.
Elsewhere in Castle Oblivion, Number six of Organization XIII was standing, with one arm across his chest and the other. Under his chin, while three of his gloved fingers remained under his nose, and then a large, brown-haired man in a coat appearing with him.
"Don't I even get a hello, Lexaeus?" said the blue-gray haired man.
Vexen also then was appearing in front of members Five and Six. "What's going on, Zexion? I demand an explanation." Ranted the chilly academic.
"Nice to see you too, Vexen" Zexion greeted number four with sarcasm, "You know, it's deplorable...The Organization used to be the rope that binds us. And now it's full of kinks." Continued the young man
"How dare you!" Vexen snapping at his former mentee
"Let it go, Vexen. Zexion, tell us. What did you detect?" Lexaeus prying between former mentor and mentee,
"Visitors" Vexen raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "I picked up two scents in the castle's lowest basement. One of them was Maleficent, but..." Zexion was cut off by the mad scientist of the organization "Absurd. The witch is gone. She cannot return from the realm of darkness of her own volition." said Vexen
"If you'd let me finish... The scent belonged to a very convincing, double. But I can't say much beyond that, since the would-be Maleficent is no more. Our other visitor saw to that." Explained Zexion,
"Who is it?" asked the silent hero
"I don't know... But the scent was very similar to the Superior's. Exactly similar, if I may say."
"Rubbish!" claimed Vexen.
"Fact, Vexen." Vexen gave Zexion a hateful glare for being disproven "Now, what shall we do?" Zexion asking both members but looking at Lexaeus
"Let us bide our time and see what develops." spoke Lexaeus.
Aqua had left Sora go alone, as she took care of the heartless of this fake Traverse Town.
"Fire!" Aqua shouted, casting the spell at a group of lesser heartless. She had let Sora and the others go on ahead without her, Aqua new it was stupid of her to let Sora roam about this castle alone but she needed that intruder to think that, she didn't know any better.
It wasn't one of Aqua's greatest ideas or better plans but it was a start.
But then again, she really shouldn't have let others go, the intruder aside. Aqua wasn't really sure what the castle's plans were for Sora and naturally that didn't stop from the bad feeling in her the pit of her stomach
And that was when Aqua had made her choice.
"I wonder, if there are any more of them in the castle" the female key bearer thinking out loud to herself.
While Sora comes upon the Third District in Traverse Town, "Hmm, fighting alone isn't as easy as I thought..."
Two cards covered in light descend and Donald and Goofy reappear in their places "Aah! Don't pop out of nowhere like that" shouted Sora.
"Hey, it's not our fault! We don't know what's going on!" complained Donald.
"A-hyuck? Pluto!" The only thing coming out of Goofy's mouth as he stopped King Mickey's canine companion, Pluto is behind the group; Sora turns to the dog, "Pluto?" he said.
"Things keep getting stranger. What's Pluto doing here?" Donald speaking with much surprise in his tone of voice,
"There's nothing strange about that. We came to Traverse Town with Pluto, didn't we, Donald" Goofy asking his feathered friend.
"Did we?" replied Donald, Jiminy hops out and down from Sora's shirt. "No, wait! According to my journal, it was before you met Sora that you came to town with Pluto!
"Wak! He's right! We were chasing after Pluto, and that's how we ended up in Castle Oblivion!"
"But aren't we in Traverse Town?" pondered Goofy
"Well, it's not really Traverse Town. I think the card created this Traverse Town inside Castle Oblivion!" spoke Jiminy.
"Aaghh! Who cares about all that? It's too confusing! I don't know where we are, but let's just keep moving forward defeating Heartless! We'll get somewhere!" Sora getting frustrated wishing
"Sora!" entered Aqua's voice as the older keyblade wielder rejoined her student. Sora gulped at his master's voice, "An altitude like that will get you nowhere but lost among castle oblivion."
Sora sighed, "Yes, Master Aqua"
"Come on, Let get going" said Aqua.
"Something...tastes kind of funny... What is it? It's so familiar...Darkness. The taste of darkness. What's happened to me...? The darkness even seeps into my senses." said Riku as entered another white hallway.
"Don't you worry, Riku." Came King Mickey's voice
"Your Majesty!" Riku looking around for the mouse King; a fuzzy image of Mickey appears. "King Mickey, What happened to you? You're all...fuzzy." observed Riku.
"Huh? Oh yeah, that's right. I can only send a little bit of my power here. But I have a request to ask you Riku" spoke the key wielding mouse.
"A request?" pondered Riku, "From Your Majesty?" he added to his audible thought
"Riku, don't let go of yourself just because darkness has a hold on you. Fight the darkness inside you! It won't be easy... But don't forget! Even in the darkest darkness, there's always a little light."
"Light...within darkness?" Riku said, with confusion in his voice.
"Yes Riku, You and I have seen it! The far-off, welcoming light inside the door to darkness... The light of Kingdom Hearts, Riku it'll show you the way. Please don't give up. Believe in the light. That's all I ask." Mickey told Riku in his highest confidence.
"I'll try my best."
"And I'll try to find a way to reach you as soon as I can. I'll come, I promise." Mickey reaching out his hand to Riku, they try to shake hands.
"You're...an illusion? My hand went right through you." Riku told the mouse king.
"But we shook hands, in our hearts. We're connected, you and me." Mickey said to Riku with a wide smile on his face.
"Yeah...I guess so." Muttered Riku
Mickey then disappears.
"You'd better be careful, or it's the Heartless that are going to defeat you." A familiar voice spoke out from behind the traveling foursome. Leon appears and walks over to them; Sora, Donald and Goofy are relieved to see a familiar face, while Aqua on the other hand had her doubts.
"Leon, it's you! What are you doing in Castle Oblivion?" Sora asked, his new found friend.
"Castle Oblivion? What are you talking about? This is Traverse Town." Aqua raised an eyebrow at the scar faced brunette, "And how do you know my name? Who are you?" asked Leon
"What?" was the only word to come out of Sora's now sad expression clearly all over his face,
"I've never met the likes of you before." added on Leon
"Quit playing, Leon!" Sora snapping at his friend, "We all fought the Heartless together! You know that!" the young boy added, Sora turned to Aqua, "Master Aqua, Tell him!" Sora pleaded with his teacher.
Aqua didn't know what to tell Sora, so her honest reaction to him was a mere slight shoulder shrug, "Something's not right here" she told him,
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know your names." Leon then said.
"You don't?" spoke up Goofy,
"Sorry."
"I can't believe it." Said Sora
"How can you have forgotten about us?" Aqua asking Leon
"I feel for your kid here, Lady, but you've got the wrong guy. Happens all the time, so don't take it so personally, Sora." Leon then said.
Donald and Goofy look at each other with a small hints of confusion, Aqua caught the name slip too, "You DO know his name!" Aqua putting Leon on the spot.
Leon, turning to Sora. "Now, now hold on! Why do I know your name?" Leon questioned him.
Goofy speaking to Donald "You think Leon's just kidding around?"
"If he is, it's not funny. Sora's really upset." replied the mage.
"Who's kidding around, Goofy? You and Donald are the ones who…" Leon Holding his head, "I don't get it... Something's wrong with my memory. What's happening here?"
"That's what we'd like to know" Aqua said to him.
End Chapter