Fragments of Sorrow

Ok, just to make it clear about why I didn't update right away, I was on computer lockdown. Plus because I want to make my chapters longer than usual, I have to chew on it for a while. Anyways, thank you guys SO much for reading my story! Every time I see a review, it pushes me forward and encourages me to keep writing! I hope you keep reviewing!

Sora: Of course they'll review!

Me: Aw, thanks Sora!

Sora: I also heard that two certain people have a crush on me? ;)

Me: Oh yeah? Who told you that?

Sora: I just know. Ain't that right, MayonakaGirl14?

Me: Hey! No persuading authors to review my story! That's just mean!

Sora: I wasn't trying to be mean! I was just making a reference that I'm available.

Me: What about Kailee?

Sora: …. Just write your story! You can't get distracted- Oh look a butterfly! *Runs off to catch it*

Me: -_-

Disclaimer: I don't own. Square Enix and Disney do. I only own Kailee, Kailee's family, Xylen, Eliza, Shadow Crossers, and Realm Chasers. Enjoy! (And please, MayonakaGirl14, I wasn't trying to be mean. I apologize if this offended you, at all. It was crude humor. I will reprimand Sora in this chapter for being mean and blurting out stuff.)

The nightmares were unbearable. Each one filled with horrible monstrosities too grotesque to describe in full. Every single one though, was filled with the capture of Kailee's family being captured. A Shadow Crosser had infiltrated Kailee's house in the middle of the night. It was not like an Illusionist or a Warnless. It was much more than that. It had had a human body but turned inside out with gray veins trailed up and down its body. Jagged spikes jutted out from its back, making it seem hunchbacked, as it had walked by grabbing her parents and sister, dragging all three of them by their legs, unconscious. When it had finally come to get Kailee, she got a clear image that would forever stay glued into her mind. The thing's face had creamy white eyes with Marissa's face attached to it. She had emitted a loud scream when the Marissa thing had knocked her out.

Kailee awoke screaming, a thin sheen of sweat coating her forehead. She was high on adrenaline, her heart hammering in her chest. Her scream had awoken Sora who was now sitting upright in his bed, his sapphire blue eyes staring at her, wide-eyed. She broke down, then, not caring that he would see her like this. She had been strong for quite enough. Sure, she had cried when Sora and Riku had almost died, but it had been only for a short time, after the kind Shadow Crosser had saved them. Now, because of those terrifying flashbacks of her family's capture mixed with those frightening encounters with other Shadow Crossers, had tumbled down her walls. She couldn't handle something like this. Right now, she looked as pathetic as all the things she was hiding from everyone.

Sora instantly reacted after staring at Kailee for a few seconds. He cautiously made his way over to her, kneeling before her. Sora carefully rested his hands on hers, slowly detaching them from her face.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Sora asked, a concerned look on his face.

Kailee nodded. "I-it was horrible, Sora."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sora, with his thumb, rubbed circles on Kailee's hands.

Kailee shook her head. "They're too painful." She quickly wiped her eyes and forced a small smile. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

"Don't worry about it. I was pretty much already awake," Sora reassured her. "Too many Shadow Crossers to worry about."

"Tell me about it," Kailee voiced. "What do you think will happen to Riku?"

"I hope that we find one of the higher up Shadow Crossers before he completely escapes from us," Sora sighed.

"I just can't help thinking this is all my fault."

"It's not your fault. This was all bound to happen, eventually."

"But, it all comes down to hurting everyone I've grown close to in the end, doesn't it?" Kailee persisted.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that once the Shadow Crossers began to pop up in my world, they took out everyone I cared for," Kailee took a deep breath. " Then it began to actually take form of them. When one particular Shadow Crosser had come to capture my family and me, it had Marissa's face on it. And now, who knows what's going on in other worlds."

That's why we have to go and seal all of the keyholes. Mickey told us that all lives would be restored and placed back to their original state," Sora indicated.

"Yeah but what if we never make it to all worlds that need help?" Kailee detached her hands from Sora. "And what about you and Riku? Have you ever taken into context what would occur to you both with these wounds? And now that Riku has been almost completely killed or worse, what do you think will happen to you since your cut is so close to your heart?"

Sora sat beside Kailee. "There's always a way to fix everything. I mean, that there is a way to cure this, like the Chaser said. We just have to look for them."

"That's one way to look at it. I just hope that we can find those Shadow Crossers before it's too late," Kailee contested.

Just as Sora was about to answer, a far off cry called them to their senses. It sounded far off, not intentionally coming from Riku's shelter, thankfully. All the same, Kailee opened her door, breathing in the damp smell of the swamp. Donald and Goofy were at the door as well, staff and shield at the ready. They were met with a white light shining in the woods, a few meters away. Coincidentally, Donald and Goofy seemed frozen, as if they became paralyzed on sight. Kailee turned to see Sora frozen as well. All six of their eyeballs turned completely white and their limbs carried them mechanically towards the shimmering light.

Kailee stood there stupefied. Sora pushed roughly past her with his elbow, managing to wind her. She landed on one knee, clutching at her stomach trying to regain her composure. After a few seconds of trying to calm her breathing, she summoned the Black Wave, now changed into a crystalline form thanks to Rapunzel, and used it to hoist herself up. Sora, Donald and Goofy had come together, standing side by side, slowly walking to their destination. Kailee ran up to them and tried with all her strength to push them back.

"Guys! Snap out of it!" Kailee grunted. "This isn't like you to act like this!"

They completely ignored her, their limbs only pushing them further. Kailee soon gave out, landing on the left. She walked up and tried to wave her arm across their eyes. Not one of them even blinked. She stamped her feet on the ground desperately. She decided to go against all odds and try to make out the source in front of her. It still seemed a bit far away, which gave Kailee enough time to analyze the trio's actions. Donald and Goofy seemed entirely drawn to it, their heads jutting out farther than their legs would carry them. Sora, however, was at level with his legs, seeming to fight whatever was drawing them to it. Kailee gazed back to see if Tiana, the other frog, or if Riku had gone up to follow them, too. Luckily, Riku was still on his cloud thing and the frogs were staying in their log. Kailee caught up to Donald, Sora, and Goofy again because looking back caused her to fall behind.

Whatever this is, I have to save Sora, Donald, and Goofy. I hope I'll remember the few spells that Mickey and Donald had taught me in the gummi ship. I'll maybe even get to try out some moves Sora and Riku taught me, too.

The white light source revealed itself a few minutes later. It had led them to a river, much nicer than the ones in the bayou. Yet, the thing that had entranced Sora, Donald, and Goofy was not something Kailee expected. It was a siren. By the looks of it, the only one there. She was casually brushing her hair with a shell comb, singing a harmony, while perched on a rock. Only her backside was visible, which was covered in a cascade of black hair. Her skin was a pale white, contrasting from the river. Her tail though, put Kailee on full alert. It had black spikes running across it, tipped with an even darker color that seeped into the river. A small tattoo, that had escaped Kailee's eyes, was on her back, the dark Shadow Crosser symbol.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy had already gone into their river, the water reaching up to their waists. The siren suddenly stopped brushing her hair, feeling the presence of the trio ripple through the water. Kailee hid herself behind a tree watching the scene unfold. The siren placed her comb on the rock and began to turn. Her face itself was entrancing. She had leaf green eyes, speckled with red. Her lips were full and a slight crimson. The siren was wearing a shell-top, the color of starfish. She looked to see what her prey would look like today. She smiled pearly whites when her eyes traveled over Sora and were a bit disappointed when she saw Donald and Goofy. She sighed but still was able to accept them somehow. She placed both hands on the rock as her features transformed.

Her lips opened up more, cutting across her cheeks revealing a full set of sharp fangs. Her nose was now flattened into her face, only leaving out two slits. Her eyes colored themselves a complete white, just like the boys' had. Her hair now was flying up all over her face, shining a blood red. Her tail had come out of the water, as sharp as a hook, ready to sink itself into Sora.

Not today.

Kailee took a brave step forward, facing the siren. The siren had sniffed her out and gave out a loud hiss as it turned toward Kailee. Kailee only held up her keyblade, ready to fight. The siren slammed her fist down on the rock, smashing it into bits. Kailee shivered inwardly but stood her ground. The siren didn't move; it only grabbed the nearest thing, which was Sora. The siren threw her head back and sank her fangs into Sora's neck.

No!

Kailee ran up the siren and slammed her foot into its face. The siren, although hurt, still hung on to Sora, clearly not intent on letting him go. Kailee tried again, uneventfully, six times before the siren decided to fight back. The siren's tail was now sending sharp thorns straight at Kailee. Kailee used the Black Wave to her advantage and sent each thorn flying into the river. The siren had fully crawled her way to the small beach and grabbed Kailee's foot. She yanked hard and sent Kailee onto her back. The siren began to drag Kailee to the river, intent on drowning her or, worse, sink her fangs into her. Kailee, regaining her poise, swiped at the siren with the Black Wave. It had made a wide gash where the siren's eyes were, causing it to let go. Kailee stood up as quickly as she could and side kicked the siren in the stomach. The siren sank back into waves, still clutching at her eyes.

"Blizzaga!" Kailee yelled, pointing her keyblade.

A flash of blue flew out of the Black Wave, encasing the siren in hard-packed ice. Kailee stepped up to it, looked at it one more time, and cleanly smashed its head off with the keyblade. The head, now smashed into pieces, melted into the river along with the rest of its body. It left behind a small piece of paper, surprisingly dry. It read:

Dearest Syra,

Make it clear to them that we are the ones on top.

We are not to be muddled with.

Make sure to take care of the one with the spiky hair.

If any more come, just finish them off as well.

Also, take care to avoid the girl.

She has much power inside of her and is dangerous if fought with.

If you manage to come across her, be wary.

She does have weaknesses, after all.

-Xylen, overlord of Shadow Crossers

Kailee crumpled up the paper. "That bastard…"

Xylen was getting much too powerful for his own good. Kailee was now aware of his knowledge of her quest and of how he was planning to get at her. The fact that he now called himself ruler of these creatures was not a good thing. He was always the outcast of school, never to be socialized with because then he would make you one of his followers. Plus, he would always be seen in dark alleyways, messing with some girl or trying to look scary by staring at random people who crossed by the alley that he was in. Kailee was wary of him when Eliza had started to date Xylen. Yet, Xylen had managed to get under her skin and she was then entranced. She found out too late of his plans a while later.

Kailee woke from her train of thought as she heard Sora moan. She rapidly sprinted over to him, greeted by a large puddle of fresh blood at her feet. Sora was clutching at his neck, trying to stop the flow of blood, only knowing that it was useless.

"Donald! Come help!" Kailee said, supporting Sora's head under her.

Donald, after breaking from his trance, had been almost drowning, yet Goofy had managed to save him. He was flopping over to them now, panting and landed on his knees in front of them.

"Curaga!" Donald waved his staff around Sora. A green light shot out and coated Sora's neck , immediately relieving him of pain. A pink scar was now forming at Sora's neck, still visible where the siren had bit.

"What happened to you three?" Kailee bellowed.

"I don't know. I was just talking to you when I heard the most angelical singing in my life. After that, it was just a blurry haze up until I found myself here, bleeding to death," Sora rubbed his neckline.

"Us, too," Donald implied.

"Yeah. We had fallen asleep when we heard a scream. At first I thought, that it was coming from one of them frogs but Donald told me that it was coming from outside," Goofy explained. " Then the same thing happened to us."

"Too bad Donald's magic didn't fix Sora's wound," Kailee sighed, disappointed. "At least the sun's coming up."

Kailee nodded toward where the sky and land kissed. The sun was just peeking out, ravishing the sky in soft pinks and fluorescent oranges. A light breeze was sifting through the bayou where many creatures were now awakening. Far off could be heard, just barely, the honking of horns as the early birds were rising. The river's true colors were now revealing itself as the star shimmering water was converted to a darker color as the siren's blood was still spilling out. Tall, brown reeds were jutting out on the edge as Kailee realized that she had stomped on some on the way over.

"Come on guys. Let's get back and check on Riku," Sora said, standing up while being supported by Kailee.

"Wait. What do we do about her?" Kailee motioned her head over to the siren.

Donald walked over to the corpse. "Well, I think that all we have to do is purify the water with a spell. The body is already disintegrating."

"Good. Come on, guys. Let's get going," Kailee said, trekking through the muddy swamp. As soon as the assembly arrived at the campsite, one of the frogs had already awakened and was now working on a small riverboat.

"Tiana?" Goofy asked.

The frog immediately looked up and stood on its hind legs. "Donald? Goofy? Kailee? Sora? What are y'all doing here?" Tiana said, shocked.

"We came looking for you because it sounded like you were in trouble," Sora said, now standing by himself.

"Aw, thanks! I figured that someone else was here because of those houses over there," Tiana gestured with a stick directing at the two shelters.

"Nope. It was just us," Kailee reassured. "What happened to you?"

"It's a long story," Tiana sighed.

"Well, we better get comfy," Sora said, sitting down on a stool placed conveniently on the outside of a shelter.

Super sorry that I didn't update sooner! But the explanation is, as always, computer lockdown. Anyways, please review! PM me if you have any questions!