Sora blinked at the painful light, he heard someone cursing, the voice sounded familiar. His vision began to clear and his jaw fell off; standing over Rinoa was his father, his arm jammed into the jaws of the Heartless that had been about to tear into her a moment before. His teeth were gritted against the pain; Sora's head snapped around as he remembered the other Heartless, Red was clawing it to pieces viciously, shredding the now mangled corpse even as it faded away. Sora watched as his father punched the Heartless, sending it sprawling, he drew his sword and in one swing took its head off. The headless corpse writhed on the ground for a moment before it faded into nothingness once more.
Auron turned to look at Rinoa, his features hardened in a scowl. "Who are you and why do you have my jacket?"
"Dad!" Sora exclaimed, leaping on his father, looking over Auron's shoulder he saw the others coming back. There was no sign of the Heartless that had been crawling over the walls a moment ago.
Auron held Sora with one arm as he sheathed his sword again; he was still looking at Rinoa questioningly.
"Who are you girl?"
"She's my fiancée," Leon said defensively, helping Rinoa up.
Auron's eyes flicked down to the rings on their fingers and nodded in approval. "Your mother would be happy."
"How would you know, you left her." Leon said acidly.
Despite the hurtful tone Auron remained unfazed. "Because until a moment ago, I was with her, it would seem that my little trick worked."
"Trick?" Sora asked, now he was confused.
Auron opened his mouth, but Paine interrupted him, "you used a binding spell to attach your soul to an object, in this case your coat. When the wearer's will to live was strong enough and truly threatened, you were called out."
Auron shrugged modestly, "I learned a few things over the years."
Leon still looked extremely uncomfortable in his father's presence; Sora hoped they wouldn't fight anymore. Auron at least seemed inclined to ignore the conflict and leave things well enough alone instead of provoking Leon.
He put Sora down. "So what is going on exactly, I thought we sealed this mess up."
It took a few moments to explain everything, in that time Auron's face turned grim, when they'd finished his voice was a growl as he spoke.
"That scum had a vessel hidden in the castle and now uses the King's body for the same thing? He's stubborn that's for certain," he looked around at those assembled. "Is this your entire group?"
"No," Tifa said, she seemed a bit in awe of Auron, which Sora found more than a little odd. It was just his father after all, "Maleficent stayed back a ways to keep Xehanort's attention on her so we could push forwards."
"The King's advisor is helping someone without his orders? That's certainly an improvement in her temperament." Auron said with a wry smile, he looked at Paine. "Well commander, I am at your disposal, use me as you see fit."
Rinoa looked up from his arm, returning her healing tools to her pack. "There, I've closed the wound though you'll want to be careful while the potion and spell bond with each other and your body."
Auron flexed his arm to test it, his smile uncomfortably vicious. "Let's finish this then before anyone else is hurt."
Sora and the others moved forwards at a steady clip after that, his father at the head of their formation with his great sword flashing this way and that. He'd let Rinoa keep his coat for her continued protectionm the result was a little intimidating as he strode through the Heartless facing them in a sleeveless black tunic, cutting through opponent after opponent without so much as flinching. Silently, Sora wondered just what his father had done before becoming a father. The only memory he really had of his father's sword was the one time, the time when he'd caught Leon trying to swing it out in the yard. Auron had been furious, wrenching the blade from Leon's hands; it was one of the clearest memories Sora had of his father from when he was a child, mostly because it had been so terrifying to see his dad that angry.
Auron blocked an attack aimed at Kadaj's neck, throwing the armed Heartless back and giving it a round-house send off with his boot heel.
"You're one of Sephiroth's boys." He said simply, Kadaj nodded, Auron smiled. "Your father would be proud of you and your brothers. I'm sorry we lost him."
Kadaj looked a little taken aback by the easy compliment and murmured a thank you before moving on. Leon moved up besides his father, and Sora strained to listen in on their conversation.
"I wanted to thank you for earlier."
"You're welcome."
Their tone was quiet, resigned, strained even; Auron took a breath before he continued in the moment of calm.
"I never meant to leave the three of you forever."
"But you did."
"I died Leon; you can't expect me to cheat death."
Leon fired a caster shot into the faceplate of yet another Heartless before cutting it from shoulder to hip.
"But you have, twice now."
Auron snorted. "Is that so, have I?"
Leon looked at him strangely. "You're here aren't you?"
Auron's smile appeared but it was sad, he leaned close to Leon and whispered something. Leon's face shifted uneasily and he shot a look back at Sora before whispering back. Sora strained to hear their now muffled conversation, he was so focused that he jumped when Kairi froze a Heartless that had dropped from the ceiling, and she smiled at him.
"You lazy bum, you're going to get hurt if you don't pay more attention."
"Sorry, I was just—" he didn't want to say he'd been eavesdropping, "thinking about something."
She nodded, "its scary isn't it, having your dad back suddenly. I don't know how Namine and I would take it if our parents came back suddenly after being gone all this time. You know I'm here for you right?"
He nodded, taking her offered hand and squeezing it tightly before stopping with a frown, Paine had stopped up ahead, she was whispering quietly to Auron and the other adults at the front.
Sora pulled Kairi with him, "come on."
When they got closer they heard what she was talking about. "—on't know what he has in there with him."
Auron nodded thoughtfully, "if he's gotten all his abilities back from his new heart, then there will be more of what we've been fighting, as well as some more powerful calicos," he looked around the assemblage warningly. "They are extremely dangerous, I've never actually killed one, and they're the things that originally killed me."
"So we don't fight them alone," Zack said calmly, Auron nodded.
"Take them on in pairs if you can, more is better. I wish I could tell you that they had a weakness but from what I've seen of them, and what the world heart showed me when I was with it, Xehanort has tailored them to resist the keybearers specifically."
Cloud frowned, "so why haven't we faced more of them?"
Auron smiled, "because they're almost impossible to control, he could of course spawn them and let them run rampant, but then they'd be a threat to him as well."
Zack chuckled, "he seems to like things he can't fully control, I wonder if that says something about his character."
"Yes," Paine said acidly. "He's an idiot. Are we ready?"
Everyone nodded, Roxas and Sora exchanged nervous glances before nodding as well they looked at the others. Everyone shared the same expression, grim, determined, and, most comfortingly, hopeful. Sora felt warmth in his chest and looked over at Kairi, she was looking at him as well. Besides her Riku was staring at him as well, he winked, were they all feeling this energy inside of them? He hoped so, he hoped that this power was giving them all the confidence and assurance everyone no doubt needed. Without a word, they moved around the corner in a group and strode towards the familiar, massive, double doors. They looked very foreboding suddenly. Like the rest of the castle, they had changed into darker, grimmer, representations of themselves and as they approached, Sora swore that they were watching the group as they approached, and the lack of Heartless wasn't very reassuring for a change.
When Paine reached the door, she put her shoulder against it, nothing happened. She frowned at it for a moment before Auron put his shoulder against it as well and began to push, a moment later, Zack, Tifa, Cloud, and Leon joined them. Their combined muscle slowly began to move the door, which opened with a sickening screech as it ground on its hinges; Sora was certain that everything for miles around could hear the massive door and wondered what would be waiting on the other side for them. Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo didn't seem inclined to wait for the answer as they ducked through as soon as there was a wide enough gap, Riku took a moment longer before following. Sora wasn't letting them go alone, he ducked in after them; his father patted him on the shoulder as he past.
"Good luck kiddo, we'll be there in a moment."
Sora nodded, joining the others beyond the door. It was pitch black and he had the unnerving feeling that this wasn't just a shadow cast by anything, it felt like pure darkness. It was the most unnerving feeling he'd ever had, like something was tugging at his heart and trying to bleed away his strength. Behind him, the door finally opened enough for the adults to follow, but despite the source of light, there was no change in the pitch black inside the room.
"Everyone stay close." Paine ordered, "do not lose yourself in here, I don't think we'd be able to find you if you wander off."
"You're quite right Lieutenant Commander," came a disembodied voice. "If anyone loses their way here, they'll simply become one of my Heartless. Can you find me before that happens? Stay too long and all of you, even the bearers, will lose hope." There was a cold chuckle then, "I hope you can make it to me in time though, I have someone I'm dying for you to meet. I think you'll really appreciate his unique skills."
"Xehanort," muttered Zack. "Is it just me or does he really like the sound of his own voice?"
"You've got no idea." Auron said his annoyance evident. "Come on, we've got to move quickly before we do lose anyone to these shadows."
Roxas felt for Namine's hand in the gloom, finding it he felt much more confident holding her. He began moving through the dark with everyone else. No one could see anything, but, well it was hard to explain. He could feel them near him, and feel when they moved off too, whenever someone else felt like they were moving away, another member of the group would call out to them, bringing them back to the fold. Some members seemed more prone to wandering in the shadows than others, the most common offenders were Paine and her sons, with Riku and Cloud seeming to get lost as well; but everyone's ebbing strength was fortified by their combined hearts, and there was one shining beacon in their midst. His uncle seemed all but unaffected by the shadows that wrapped around them all and clung like heavy cloaks.
For whatever reason, either because of his immersion in the world heart for so long, or simply because he was that strong willed and therefore his heart was that powerful, he seemed to have boundless energy and strength to give those around him. It was most frequently Auron who drew those that began to fall away from the group back into its safety. Roxas wondered if Leon and Sora had that same presence sleeping inside of them, it made him feel a little unsure of himself actually. He didn't feel anywhere near as strong as Auron seemed to be, it made him doubt, even as it gave him strength; but he could feel Namine's grip tightening even as he thought it, and knew that she believed in him, elsewhere in the group, he felt Sora, Kairi, and even Riku telling him the same. He was just as strong as any of them, and had to believe it.
After what seemed an eternity of slugging through the heavier and heavier presence of the shadows wrapping around them, things seemed to get lighter, not that the darkness was any clearer, but that the heaviness began to fade from the air. Had they finally made it through? The sense of relief that flooded through the group seemed to affirm this, but any relief flagged a sound struck them. A harsh and cruel clapping, each clap sounding like a thunder clash above their heads; Roxas swallowed tensely, wincing at the cruel soundings in the darkness. When the clapping finally ended, Xehanort's voice greeted them.
"Very good, you didn't lose anyone. But how long can that last, here, let me introduce you to my newest comrades."
The darkness fell away, and the throne chamber was suddenly lit as powerfully as it had been when the castle had still been a bastion of light instead of darkness.
"No…." Paine said meekly, sinking to her knees at the scene before them.
Roxas felt his insides ice over, this was beyond cruel, and the worst part was, he felt the despair that Paine felt seeping into his own heart. Could they really win now?
Author's Note: Since I promised one of my readers I would give a warning, the end really is approaching for real this time, as denoted by both that obnoxiously vague cliffhanger and the fact that I'm starting to use them more now. Don't worry, you'll hate me for it more when you see what happens next. I'm sorry for the slowdown, but I'm really trying to make each chapter good and not just rush off to the ending so it's taking a bit more time to hammer out the ideas...plus you know, life happens. So yes, the end is nigh and I hope you've enjoyed the journey.