Chapter Nine: Castle Oblivion p4
Kingdom Hearts: Re: Chain of Days.
Karma's Slave
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts
Warning: Spoilers for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, 358/2 Days, Re: Chain of Memories.
Please Review.
Yuffie appears and walking over to Leon, and the others, Aqua stared at the younger girl, wondering if she too had forgotten.
"I don't know, Leon. Maybe Aerith was onto something after all. She said she sensed some uncanny kind of power. And asked us to look into it well, this is as uncanny as it gets. Maybe you should take Sora to see Aerith." spoke the dark haired, self proclaimed ninja. Yuffie appears and walks over to Leon
"Yuffie, you know my name!" said Sora, with hints of happiness and relief in his tone of voice.
"Yep! Looks like you know mine, too." She replied to him.
"You know him?" asked Leon,
"Nope! Total stranger to me but I definitely know his name. Strange, yes, but convenient! We can skip the introductions." beamed the female ninja, Leon now holding his head in his hand, "How is it that you can accept this situation so easily? I just don't understand you and your type of logic." said the brown haired man.
"Well I'll see you guys later, I'm gonna run ahead and fill Aerith in. Leon, you give them the grand tour; See ya later!" as the black haired ninja began to leave the third district. Pluto following alongside the girl.
"That was not helpful what so ever" thought the blue haired keyblade master.
"I guess it's no use pondering over it. Come on, follow me. But there are Heartless wandering around town. I'd better show you how to protect yourself in battle." Leon begins to teach Sora more about cards "See the numbers printed on your cards? They range from 0 to 9. Higher numbers mean stronger cards. If you and your enemy both play a card at the same time, the higher card wins. Go on, try it out."
Sora uses his cards. Sometimes he breaks Leon's cards, and sometimes Leon breaks Sora's cards. Leon is guarded from all attacks.
"See how it works? Playing a card higher than your opponent's and breaking mine through their defenses is called a "card break" explained the brunette "Playing a lower card results in your attack being deflected." Leon then spoke.
"Even powerful cards can be deflected if the enemy's card is higher. Whoever is on the losing side of a break is left wide open to attacks. Don't let that person be you. Cards with 0 as their value are special. No matter what card the enemy plays, you can break it with a zero card. But if you play the zero card too soon, the enemy can break it with any card they play." The scar faced warrior explained further for the young boy
While Aqua and the others listened as they continued to watch the young key bearer, Aqua thoughts began to drift over to Ven, she wonder so many things her main concerns, being over the condition his body could be in. and had his heart finally healed. Her heart aching for her friends, but never so much as over the ten years that had passed.
It didn't help the female keyblade master one bit, now that she was in reincarnated shell of her home world not one bit.
"In other words, it's the most powerful card if it comes last and useless if it comes first. Try to make the most of it. Card values also affect the cost of assembling a deck. Keep that in mind. Now it's time to teach you how to stock cards. You don't have to use battle cards one at a time. You can also assemble three cards and use them all at once. This is called "stocking" cards. Stocking cards and using them in threes is much stronger than using cards individually. Go on, give it a try. Stock any three cards in your deck.
Sora stocks three cards
"The sum of your three stocked cards becomes the value you play. The value is usually high and hard to break, and the combo attack deals a lot of damage. Don't hold back. Show me what you can do." Holding out his gun blade to the boy before taking his fighting stance;
Sora uses his three stocked cards, while summoning the keyblade.
"Combo attacks aren't the only benefit of stocking cards. Choose your cards carefully and you can unleash special abilities called "sleights." Sleights come in all varieties, and each has its own unique card combination.
You should try it out once you've collected more cards and learned a sleight or two. But keep one thing in mind. Every time you use stocked cards, you lose the first card you picked. You can't reload it. The lost card won't return until the end of the battle. Relying only on sleights will cause your cards to run out. That means trouble." Sora nodded his head at this new found information, "Think you've got the hang of it, Sora?" Leon then asked Sora.
"Yeah, more or less. I'll pick up the rest when I fight some real battles." replied the brown haired boy.
"Here I found this lying around. You take it, remember what I told you and make good use of it" Leon handing Sora a blue colored card.
"So here, ends the lesson?" asked Aqua as she took steps forward to Sora and Leon. Ready to move on, but not letting that inner desperate need over take her.
"I've identified the scent. It's Riku." Zexion lifting his head from hand looking over to his former teacher.
"Riku but Riku is gone! He and that mouse king were lost when they ventured beyond the door to darkness. How could he have escaped?" Vexen demanded of Zexion as if he had the answer.
"Riku once shouldered the darkness. Perhaps that made him half-dark." Suggested Zexion as it seemed to be a plausible answer for the moment.
"And that's why you mistook him for the Superior. Fascinating... The dark power given to Riku facilitated his escape from the realm of darkness. One with ties to both the Keyblade and the powers of darkness... This merits further research." Vexen pleased at the idea of experimenting with Riku and his dark keyblade.
"What I want to know is why Riku appeared here in Castle Oblivion." The younger nobody said to the Chilly academic.
"Ha! That's simple. His existence resonates with that of another hero. Sora came, so Riku followed." Answered the blonde haired man.
Zexion had a small look of surprise that hadn't lasted long, "Sora's in the castle?"
"Yes, he and his companions arrived earlier. By now that dog Marluxia is already planning to use Naminé to meddle with Sora's heart." Vexen said to the cloaked schemer who had no idea that this was going on.
"Interesting. I had no idea." Zexion responded to Marluxia's betrayal.
"I don't think Marluxia has plans to hand Sora over, but...he can play his little game. If he gets Sora, then we need only acquire Riku. If he truly is like the Superior, then we will be untouchable!" declared Vexen.
The foursome walks into a recognizable room, the abandon house in the third district of Traverse Town and the first person they see is Aerith.
"Aerith, tell me you haven't forgotten me, too." Sora asked of the brunette dressed in her pink dress, with a little red jacket over it. Aqua merely put her hand on Sora's shoulder for comfort.
"I don't know whether to say "nice to meet you" or "good to see you again." It feels like a little of both. I don't think I know you, but I still feel like you belong here." Said the woman.
"Yeah, exactly! Like we've never met, but it still doesn't feel weird knowing your name." added in Yuffie.
"But I'm telling you, we HAVE met. We took on the Heartless together. We were a team!" expressed Sora,
"It feels like you're right... But I can't remember" said Leon putting his head to his hand.
"Then I guess you won't remember what you told me. In Hollow Bastion, when I sealed the Keyhole: "We may never meet again..." Sora reenacted for the Leon. "...but we'll never forget each other." finished Leon.
"See, you guys do remember!" shouted Sora, Goofy and Donald gave Sora smiles at this discovery while Aqua merely shook her head at them, "Sora, just doesn't understand all this does, he" thought the older female. Aqua's face looking downward to the greenish carpet of the room.
Yuffie's eyes lit up at the reminder, "He's right, Leon! I remember you saying that, too."
"I guess I can't write it off as a coincidence, then." replied the brown haired man.
"I don't think I have any memory of it...but somehow I still remember. Maybe Sora's heart is doing the remembering for us." Suggested the girl.
"How does THAT work?" Sora, questioned Aerith. Aqua was curious to see what the fake Aerith would come up with. We don't know you, Sora, but your heart is full of memories of us together. Those memories must resonate in our hearts, too. Maybe they tell us things we couldn't otherwise know." The flower loving girl started off.
"So you're saying that Sora's memories are affecting ours?" asked Leon, interrupting Aerith.
"Well his memories do seem to have a certain power." answered the flower girl.
"Maybe it's like that guy said, then. This town is just an illusion. Something my memories created." Sora finally realizing what was going on.
"And...There's someone special to you in this town?" Aerith asked Sora,
"How did you...Ah, I get it. My memories are resonating with yours, telling you what happened. Anyway, yeah. A friend of mine is somewhere in this town I mean, Castle Oblivion." Sora coming to this conclusion, Aqua nodded her head, it sounded more plausible and it did somewhat explain the memory loss of the others.
"Castle Oblivion? What's that? There aren't any castles in Traverse Town." Spoke a confused Yuffie, "Sora" Aqua said to her pupil attempting to gain his attention which she hadn't. Aqua sighed controlling the urge to smack Sora upside his head. "That's not quite what I mean, Aerith" Sora spoke softly to the flower girl.
"Well, I'm sure Sora probably still has his own questions. Right?" Aerith turning to look over to Leon.
"Right. We just got here, after all. It wouldn't hurt to take a look around." Suggested Sora, as Donald and Goofy agreed with him. Aqua on the other hand was just ready to move on from this place, hiding her worries for Ventus wellbeing were starting getting to her head, eating away at the ten years worth of guilt. Aqua knew she shouldn't have come back to Sora and the others, but what kind of master would that make her? She refused to do, what Eraqus had done to Terra, Ven and herself in his final days.
She crossed her arms, touching the rough leather of her on the sleeves of her trench coat. Leaning against the light green wallpaper, losing herself to her thoughts. Where a male voice, interrupted those private thoughts, "Aqua...you won't become like us" spoke the voice of her master from within the depths of her own heart. Aqua hadn't spoken much with her master since Ansem-Xehanort's demise. Aqua wasn't going to deny it; she was still hurt from the abandonment he caused them.
"Then go have a walk around town. There are Heartless, but that's no problem for you. I'm sure" said Leon.
"So you know I can fight!" declared Sora.
"I can't say I remember, but I am starting to believe you" said Leon looking at Sora right in his blue eyes.
Afterword, the foursome plus the others headed back into the districts to find another friend.
Sora and company walks into the town plaza to see Cid. "Well, whaddya know. It's Sora! Wait, what am I saying? I don't know you. But you do LOOK like a Sora, what with the spiky hair and baggy pants...Guess I just call 'em like I see 'em." Speaking with his thick country accent while he had a toothpick in his mouth.
"Its okay, Cid. That's my name." Said Sora, with a small smile.
"So you've heard of me! Well, I can't say as I'm surprised." Cid speaking within high confidence within himself; Aqua despite it all couldn't help but give a small silent chuckle at the man.
"Anyway, maybe you can help me out. A friend of mine's supposed to be somewhere in this castle...err, town.
"Yer friend, huh? Lately all this town sees is Heartless. Can't even take two steps without getting' attacked. This plaza's the worst. Word is we'll have a jumbo-sized Heartless on our hands when that bell rings. If you value your hide, you'll get out of here while the getting's good." Spoke Cid as he began to leave the area. Leaving the foursome in the second district.
"Gawrsh, maybe he's right" said Goofy, nodding his head,
"Don't you guys want to see the Heartless?" said the island boy,
"Sora, it's not a matter of wanting. It's a matter of our inconvenience" Aqua pitched in.
"NO, we DON'T!" screamed Donald as the short tempered duck was screaming at the island boy, the bell of the seconded district began to ring and the ground begins shaking.
"Sora, look out!" Goofy yelled to him, Guard Armor appears in the same fashion as when the foursome first encountered the heartless. Aqua was the one to make her first move summoning her keyblade, charging towards the heartless, slashing her blade at one of its large arms. Aqua took control of the battle and ended it quickly with her spell weaver taking out the legs and arms of the heartless leaving it handicapped. And in one swoop of her keyblade, Aqua terminated whatever was left of Guard Armor.
"So your friend wasn't here?" was the first thing to come out of Yuffie's mouth. As the foursome were encountering their friends of traverse town.
"No, I don't think I'll find him in this town. But he's somewhere in this castle. I just know it." said Sora.
"Castle? Like this whole town's inside some humongous castle? Hoo, that's rich!" Cid speaking up.
"He's probably right, Cid. We may not understand what's going on, but Sora does. He can see that reality is bigger than just this world" said Leon, as if he was finally understanding was going on around them.
"Ha, give the man a prize" Aqua thought silently to herself.
"I wish I was that sure." Sora said with a hushed tone of voice.
"You'll be okay, Sora. No matter what shape reality takes, you can handle it. I may not remember you, but I know you in my heart." Leon said to Sora,
"Leon..." Sora wasn't sure of what to say to the older man.
"Take care, Sora." Yuffie also giving Sora a good-bye.
"I'm a little lost," the older man shrugging his shoulders "but best of luck anyway." Said Cid as he turned to leave as everyone else leaves; Aerith returns in the area to the foursome.
"What's wrong, Aerith?" Aqua asked the flower girl as she walked up to them.
"I don't have all the answers, but there's something I thought you should know. Your memories created this town, right?" spoke the brunette
"Well that's what the hooded guy who gave me the card said." Replied Sora, nodding his head as he placed a finger under his chin.
"If that's true, then this town is just a figment of your mind...and so are we." She said to the island boy. "But...you can't be a figment! You're standing right here. The town is here, too!" Sora cried out.
Aqua wasn't going to interfere in this conversation, Sora needed to hear this from 'Aerith' so he could understand it better for himself; which would do him some good while in Castle Oblivion incase she did have to leave him later on to...handle the intruder.
"But I'm not really me. I don't remember the things I should. I sense things I shouldn't. Sora, beware your memories. In the journey to come, you'll be faced with more illusions. Sometimes the shadows of your memory will deceive you, try to lead you astray." Aerith warned the boy, Aqua raised an eyebrow at this, he hadn't occurred to her till now, and that maybe something bigger could be going on here in Castle Oblivion.
"So, uh...what exactly does that mean?" asked Sora.
"I'm just another illusion, Sora. The truth is out of my reach." Spoke Aerith, "Don't say stuff like that." Shouted Sora "It's depressing...; he then spoke in whisper like tone. "No, Sora! You mustn't let illusions distract you from what's truly important." Warned the flower girl, "Okay" Sora said to the fake Aerith,
"Sora! Aqua!" as Donald was calling over to them. "Are you two ready to go?" Goofy asked us with a calm tone of voice, unlike Donald.
"Yeah, we'll be right there." Replied Aqua as master and student turned to their comrades. "Well Aerith," Sora turns back towards where Aerith was, but she is no longer there "Well Aerith," I'd better be going. Aerith?" Sora and Aqua looked around for the brunette.
"What about her?" said Donald?
"She's gone! I was just talking to her, and now she's gone!" Sora almost sounding like he was going to freak out. "Aerith left with Leon and the others remember?" Goofy spoke up.
"Huh?" Sora was confused; "You and Aqua were standing there by yourselves. We wondered what was going on." Said Donald.
Aqua took a breath in, "We need to move on, we can't stay here wondering about illusion" Aqua told the trio.
"So this is what she meant..." said Sora.
After word the foursome, had managed to leave Traverse Town.
End Chapter 9
I dont know when the next update is, i just went back to school and i'll be busy with that and playing Birth by Sleep.