Worth noting: Up until now Kaito and Saguru have not messed too much with the way events have played out, per se... Timelines? Oh yes.
Chapter 28: Earth and Sea
Once the rift opened, Riku ducked through without hesitation. Ignoring the flood of Darkness that assaulted his awareness and glad that Hakuba seemed able to function as well, Kaito paused to allow Hakuba, as the other melee fighter, to go through next. He quickly followed behind, letting the rift fall closed the moment he reached the other side. The Heartless were notgoing to find Yugi's world because he had been careless enough to give them an open path there.
The Heartless were not immediately present in the Nobodies' stronghold, a castle's open ramparts hovering in a Dark void, white-grey stone under a black sky that was broken only by a twisted parody of the full moon — an orange-tinted heart shape, the Darkness beyond showing through the ragged hole in the center of one curving half.
The Heartless weren't there, but Nobodies were. Two giant, armored, white creatures wielding bizarrely T-shaped bludgeons stood facing away from them, behind a humanoid with a black cloak and blue hair. The Nobodies seemed to have failed to notice their arrival due to being focused entirely on their quarry: Naminé and a red-haired girl, standing in mirroring defensive stances on a incline not far away.
"If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter."
By the time the blue-haired Nobody — presumably Saïx — finished speaking, Riku and Hakuba had already moved in silent, deadly tandem and taken out the other two Nobodies in a few swift movements. Hakuba seemed to have instinctively found their weak spots, Kaito noted absently as the hulking monsters collapsed to their knees before dissolving into white smoke. The sound of keyblade and bronze endcaps on armor did not go unnoticed, however, and the remaining three players of the current drama changed focus.
"You..." Saïx growled at Riku as the cloaked boy straightened, winged keyblade prominently in sight. Pale eyes flicked dismissively over Kaito and lingered briefly on Hakuba before resettling on Riku. "Didn't Roxas take care of you?"
Before Riku could respond, Naminé straightened, relieved. "You can take it from here, Riku."
Kaito grinned slightly as the red-haired girl's jaw dropped, head turning from Naminé to Riku and back again. "Riku!"
Her only answer was silence, as Riku drew a hand back and launched a Dark fireball at Saïx's position. The Nobody blocked it and dodged backwards, summoning another handful of the large creatures as Riku ran after him. Hakuba went after the new minions before they could settle on a target, and Kaito joined in, aiming cards with pinpoint accuracy at the areas Hakuba had previously shown to be vulnerable. By the time Riku had slammed Saïx into the wall of the inner ramparts, the lesser Nobodies were gone and Kaito had worked his way to standing beside Kairi and Naminé, ready to cover them if any more surprises came out of the woodwork.
"Kairi, right?" he asked in English with a friendly smile. "I'm Kaito, and that's—" he hesitated; English was an informal culture and language, even with new acquaintances... "Saguru. We're friends of Riku's."
Out of the corner of his eye, Kaito noted Hakuba pick up a crystal shard from the ground and turn it between gloved fingers.
"Nice to meet you," Kairi returned automatically, still staring at Riku as Saïx pressed his palm against the castle wall to summon a Darkness portal. The Nobody stepped back into it with a little smirk before Riku could attempt to do any permanent damage. Riku hesitated in front of the portal, and Kaito wondered for a moment whether Riku might try following Saïx, but after a moment the younger boy seemed to sag a little, and turned away as the portal vanished.
"Riku!" Kairi raced forward, skidding to halt in front of him with a hand over her heart, looking up and trying to see beneath the hood.
Beside Kaito, Naminé gave him a half-smile and held a finger to her lips, then stepped back into Darkness the way Saïx had. Kaito suspected she was going to find Sora again, so he let her go and headed for Riku, still scanning castle and sky — No one ever remembers to look up— for enemies.
"You're really here..." Voice half-questioning, Kairi rose on tiptoe and, ignoring the way Riku visibly tensed, pushed his hood back to reveal Ansem's dark skin and golden eyes, head turned to the side to avoid her gaze. "Oh..."
The recognition as her breath caught made Riku wince. "I..."
He trailed off, but anything he might have wanted to add became moot as Kairi threw her arms around him in a tight hug.
"It is you. I missed you, you and Sora both... It doesn't matter what you look like. Have you been like this since you got your body back? That would explain why Sora hasn't found you with a year to look, though I know something bad must have happened if everyone at home forgot him for so long and then remembered all of a sudden..."
Riku sighed softly, bringing his arms around to hug Kairi back. "Nobodies from the same Organization as Saïx tried to control Sora through his memories last year. He defeated them anyway, with some help from Axel and Naminé, but it took a year for Naminé to fix what she had done. Sora's connection to his friends is so strong that while his own memories were incomplete, no one else remembered him either."
Kairi pulled back a little to give Riku a bewildered look. "Nobodies? Naminé? Axel helped Sora?"
"...Nobodies are born from the body and soul when a person becomes a Heartless; those with strong hearts who embrace the Darkness leave behind Nobodies who keep mind and memory like Ansem's Heartless did. Ansem's Nobody is head of an Organization of Nobodies like Saïx. Naminé is the girl you just met..." Riku hesitated, then plunged on. "She's your Nobody."
"What?" Kairi shook her head. "But I never..."
"Sora did," came the quiet, pained reply. "At Hollow Bastion, to free your heart from where it had hidden beside his when the Heartless originally destroyed the islands. Two Nobodies were born, Naminé and Roxas, and the Organization found them and used them."
"Roxas!" Kairi's eyes went wide again. "Just before I remembered Sora's name — I blacked out and talked to someone who said he was Roxas. He knew me..."
"That would have been after I... caught up with him." Riku looked up to meet Kaito's gaze as he continued. "Naminé and Roxas were used separately. Sora defeated the ones coercing Naminé quickly, not long after he stopped Ansem, but during the year that she then spent piecing Sora's memories back together as he slept, Roxas remained a member of Organization XIII... the partner and mentee of Axel. Sora's heart is so strong that just as he retained emotions and memory as the weakest form of Heartless, Roxas also awoke with a degree of that same heart. It allowed Roxas to wield a Keyblade for the Organization, as they sought to regain the hearts their original selves lost, and the connection between Roxas, Sora and Axel allowed Axel to feel as if he had a heart. I think Roxas is part of why Axel helped Sora defeat his colleagues and free Naminé."
Riku glanced back down. "I took that away from him. I had to. Sora needed Roxas in order to wake up and be whole. Roxas is still there — the other side of Sora's heart, sleeping, but with enough separation between the two of them that Sora and Roxas can wield two Keyblades at once now. If Sora were to become a Heartless again, he and Roxas would separate... and Axel wants Roxas back. It's the only thing he cares about, so he has no reason to try and hurt anyone otherwise." Riku's hold on Kairi tightened, nearly lifting her off the ground. "I didn't think Axel would be foolish enough to think he could use you to get Roxas back. I'm sorry. I wasn't watching out for you closely enough. Axel had to come to tell us before I knew you needed... help."
...And I used to think my life was insane.
Kairi loosened her hug in order to reach up with one hand and cradle Riku's face. "You're forgiven, Riku, for everything. If Sora were here he'd say the same thing. Thank you for coming."
Unable to say anything, Riku's eyes closed and he simply nodded.
A moment later his eyes shot back open and focused with a startled expression on Hakuba, who stood on their left facing Kaito in order to keep all angles of approach covered.
"Riku?" Kairi asked, turning slightly to see Hakuba as the blond raised an inquiring eyebrow. Riku shook his head, but he glanced at Kaito with a brief, wry smile. Kaito grinned back, ignoring the eyebrow as it was turned towards him.
What do you know, heart-sight has been extended to Hakuba. He's just not going to say yet, because he knows Hakuba'd probably be creeped out.
"We shouldn't stay much longer, given where this is," Kaito offered as a distraction, which had the added bonus of being true. "I think with both of you here, I can triangulate to find Sora."
"Really?" Kairi turned towards him, Riku readjusting to keep his hands lightly on her shoulders. From his expression, he wasn't letting her outside of arm's reach for a while. "How?"
"Um... Shadows. It's kind of complicated."
Story of my life.
"Oh. Okay. We can go now?"
Kaito's lips quirked. "Yeah. Just give me a second."
"Given the circumstances," Hakuba murmured, "I believe that it would be advantageous if I preceded Yuushi to our destination this time."
"...Yeah," Riku agreed after a moment's pause, his hands gently tightening on Kairi's shoulders. He shook his head when she looked up at him, expression questioning. "Stay behind me."
Kairi nodded, covering Riku's hands with her own. "All right."
This time, Kaito did close his eyes for the sake of concentration, reaching for Sora-missedfriend-searchingfighting-outofsight-now. A raised hand, a flick of the wrist, and a rift opened even more easily than leaving Domino had been.
...I guess this close to the Darkness, the Shadows are stronger.
Hakuba didn't even pause to study their destination before ducking through, closely trailed by Riku and then Kairi. Kaito followed, cardgun in hand.
As Kaito crossed the threshold of the rift into the area beyond, a brief stab of pain seared through the back of his skull, like an invisible fishhook had caught on his brain stem. Clapping his free hand over the his neck with a faint grunt, he felt his hold on the Shadows pinning the rift open vanish. It closed behind him as he stumbled forward, colliding with Riku and Hakuba where they stood shoulder-to-shoulder not two paces from the portal, warily taking in their surroundings.
"Kuroba-kun?" Hakuba half-turned to see what was wrong, one arm moving to be ready to support him if necessary. "What the hell just happened?"
"I..." The pain faded and Kaito straightened, finally processing where they were. "Oh, hell."
"What is this place?" Flanking Riku's other side, Kairi sounded curious, but not afraid. "Sora's not far, but I can't see him..."
"I set the parameters that way," Kaito admitted wryly. "I didn't expect him to be in the Shadows, not when worlds are mostly Light and he travels through the Darkness..."
Riku looked around at the dark, murky ambiance, nothing clearly defined except for themselves. "...There is one place that I can think of, but it looks nothing like this. It's the path from Twilight Town to the Organization's stronghold, because they're both places Between."
"Near or far doesn't mean anything, here. Don't you remember? Dark Magician said the Shadows were anything but consistent, and this is definitely the wild Shadows, not the Realm that Méraud took us through."
There was no telling what was out there, and it set Kaito's instincts on edge.
"Kuroba-kun," Hakuba interjected dryly, "Not everyone has our ability to remember a complicated lecture verbatim after hearing it once."
"Oh. Right. Sorry." Kaito shook his head, trying to clear it. "I might be able to get us the rest of the way to Sora, but I'm not sure. I think—"
He broke off, chill stealing through his awareness. Somewhere, at nearly the threshold of audibility, something was laughing. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Riku straightened, scanning the Shadows in vain. Kaito quickly moved Kairi so that she stood in the middle of a loose triangle formed by the three of them, then turned around to face outwards, eyes narrowing as he searched for the origin of the soft, wispy sound.
Light and fluttering, the laughter wound through the air. Louder. Closer. Free of malice, but also of humanity. "That."
"Kuroba-kun, I don't..." Hakuba trailed off.
The eerie laughter paused, only to be replaced by an equally disturbing, whispery almost sing-song: "Flicker, flitter, pale little ghost..."
Riku went stiff. "Who... What...?"
A ripple of sound, high for a chuckle but too intimate for a giggle. "Know me not, know me now? The Knower, the Knower in the Deeps."
The hair on the back of Kaito's neck stood on end as something shifted in his peripheral vision, off toward the side where Hakuba flanked him. Shadows flowed as something stretched toward them, pale against the gloom; a great, knobby shape, tapering up to meet the curve of the thick support zigzagging behind it into the murk. Four spindle-pointed ovals sat parallel on its front face, black as holes in existence: two side by side, another above and the last below. More of the dark markings ran end-to-end down the supporting limb as far as could be seen. Almost unconsciously, Kaito took a half-step forward, eyes narrowing as the Shadows shifted before him. Distance and Shadow still veiled details, but a glimpse told enough of countless limbs, all differing in type and shape and size but with the same patterning and a sense of whispering, constant boil of movement—
"Kaito-kun, there's something over on this side, nearest to you," Riku murmured.
Kaito breathed, and stepped back. "Here, too," he muttered as the thing he'd first noticed soundlessly drew closer, giving the definite impression of peering. He inched their formation backwards, pivoting so that he stood facing it head on with the others behind him. "Hard to say, but I think there's just one..."
"Why am I surprised that you two would be able to make out a shape from patches of pale color, here in this place," Hakuba muttered under his breath, faint annoyance covering any worry.
"Is it a Nobody?" Kairi whispered.
Only willpower kept Kaito from jumping as eerie laughter rippled again. "Remnants and empty shells and things that are not gone," came the whispery not-quite sing-song. "Is that which washes up at the edges all that lies within the deeps? Walk among the echoes, but know that not all here is hollow, not all flicker-brief." Another glissando of laughter. "No, no, walked the webs since long, long ago." The thing's voice wasn't localized at the maybe-sort-of head inclined toward them; it could have come from anywhere around.
It loomed closer, suddenly therein a way that seemed unnervingly as though it had not precisely needed to pass through all the intervening space, and Kaito backed them up to maintain at least a little personal space, something the thing seemed to have no concept of even if it didn't seem to be malicious. So far.
Just creepy as hell.
It didn't seem to mind, because the giggling didn't stop as they moved, half circling around one another in a bizarre parody of a dance. The thing seemed to move effortlessly in three dimensions, limb shifting to support it with a fluid grace not normally associated with joints. "Can't they see, can't they see," it trilled, "Oh, but the pattern's so clear... Poor pretty little lostlings, snarled, tangled, turned around. So much you don't know, little puppets." The voice suddenly dropped low at the last, and Kaito did not have to glance at Hakuba or Riku to sense their wariness.
"The things we don't know — are you here to tell us?" Kaito inquired dryly. If it seemed so interested in talking...
Limbs shifted in the kaleidoscope dimness, and the maybe-head loomed above him, tilted in a mannerism that on a human would show curiosity. Given that it was distinctly Not Human, Kaito couldn't be sure if it knew human body language well enough to imitate on purpose.
"Time, still, to change things the same," it crooned. "Loopholes and slipknot, careful careful that you slip through the noose, lest — it — draw — tight..."
The words fell through Kaito's mind like a twelve-ton weight as his brain caught up with his ears.
I'm being riddled by something that doesn't exist within space-time as we know it. Ohcrap.
He took a deep breath, face revealing nothing. He hoped. "Where?"
More laughter. Kaito abruptly decided to be a lot nicer to the Task Force on his next heist. Whenever that ended up being.
Almost kindly, the soft not-quite-chant resumed, "Here is here, and everywhere, beginning and end, not so clear... Careful as you go, not to slip through the gaps. It's so very easy, you see, between the lines, when and where the lodestone fails. Spin to ever, spin to naught, it's all the same should you be lost."
"...Thanks?" Kaito took a breath, trying to think of another question to get a clearer picture of what the thing was saying, but all coherent thought temporarily ceased at the sound of a half-familiar voice yelling defiance in the distance, followed by light piercing the Shadows — a monstrous pillar of Dark-laced flame.
"Axel!" The cry came from both Kairi and Riku together, turning towards the blaze and taking a few steps in its direction, away from where the creature still craned to regard them.
Another flutter of phantasmal laughter, and it suddenly began to fade back into the Shadows like an otherworldly Cheshire Cat, the ovals of utter blackness lingering last in place of a grin. "Such a frail little trinket, as wire and shattered glass and feathers from lost wings. Lost pieces and broken wishes, tied with tears and fraying dreams. Moving by the strings, for there is no breath inside, no, none caught at all. Smoke coiling without fire, for there is nothing to burn."
Kaito turned and lunged, grabbing Hakuba with one hand and catching Riku and Kairi with the other arm, eyes closing.
There.
Axel. NOW.
AN: The Shadow Seer belongs to Itself, but It first started talking to Snickerer over a year ago now, and has been hanging around in the Shadows ever since. Credit goes to her for recording a fair part of Its dialogue. And an edit-reworking of it, to get it just right.
The Seer doesn't obscure information deliberately, but the nature of Its speech sounds rather like riddles to us; It has, however, Seen and mentioned four story threads that either haven't yet occurred, or that the gang still remains unaware of. These will not be fully resolved arcs until the sequel to Promenade. Yes, it's official, the adventures will extend beyond the resolution of KH2. Have fun puzzling them out in the meantime, and I'd love to see guesses in reviews.