Chapter Two: The Girl on Fire

I yell that we need to move, but Katniss just stares. I'm afraid she's in shock. Outside, there's gunfire and the screech of metal against metal. Screams. More booms. The Capitol's being bombed. I've never been in the middle of an Organization XIII full assault. I have no idea what to expect. My hands are shaking. I shimmy up what used to be the floor and bust a window out with my fist. I turn back for Katniss, but something's weighing down my arm. It's her. She's already up here with me. I'm relieved she's recovered from the blast, but there's an urgency to her eyes.

"We need to find Peeta," she whispers.

"I'm sorry Katniss," I shake my head. "We don't have time."

I figure that Peeta is the male tribute from her district. The odds of him having survived the train roll are minimal. The girl only made it because of me. However, Katniss' eyes are pleading and I need to gain her trust. I know my fearsome appearance is probably already working against that. I weigh the benefits of a search and rescue against the odds of dying. I can hear fire crackling in nearby cars. More explosions are likely. However, if Katniss is really Primrose's sister, she might be a Keyblade wielder like me. Part of our job is to act as guardians of the Princesses of Hearts during times of great distress, so we tend to crop up near them. Like Sora and I did with Kairi. We were close childhood friends that all lived next door to each other. Katniss needs to be awakened to her power like we were. King Mickey knows how to do that. Until then, she's as frail as any human, but I decide to opt for search and rescue anyway. Her loyalty is worth the danger. Getting a third Keyblade wielder in our arsenal will be arguably far better than securing a Princess. Keybladers can fight. When fully trained, they can take on gods and pretty much anything any world could possibly throw at them. They have no rival.

Well, had no rival. Now there's only me and King Mickey. If there are still others out there, they don't care about what's happening to the worlds. Otherwise, they'd either be with us, the WRO (Worlds Resistance Operation), or they'd be dead. Organization XIII doesn't like it when we keep breathing.

I nod. "Okay, let's look for Peeta."

There's broken glass everywhere in the hallway. A meal tray is smashed against the wall, food mingled with gory human hair. Katniss cuts herself and I flinch at the stench of fresh blood. Nobodies can smell as good as I can, and the last thing we want to do is alert their sniffers. Nobodies are what we call the members of Organization XIII. The name sounds silly, but imagine camping in the woods alone and hearing a strange sound and asking, "Who's there?", only to get your throat slit by some ghost creature who whispers, "Nobody." That's how they usually get you. Stealth. And that's why their nickname sends shivers down my spine.

Katniss whimpers. I have a good idea of what she's found before I scale the corner. Peeta's body is crumpled under half of the drunk on what used to be the bathroom's ceiling. I don't know where the other half of the drunk went. The boy's skull is split open on the shower head and his back legs are broken. I turn Katniss' eyes away from the scene and pull her to my chest. She's warm. All humans are.

"Come on," I nudge her. "Let's go."

We emerge into a war zone. The festive banners celebrating the Hunger Games, which is what the Capitol calls the death fight between the child tributes, are ablaze and crowds of people in colorful clothes are running everywhere. Some are getting trampled. There's a low growl as one of the skyscrapers toward the center of the city collapses. Looking at it, I feel a jab in my chest. I can't shake the thought that DiZ was in there. Did he get out in time? A few of the other buildings around it are smoking. I can't let myself think about that right now. We need to find shelter. Fighter jets are falling out of the sky as tiny Nobody ships barrage them with lasers.

"Is it a rebellion?" Katniss gasps.

She looks so confused. I wish I had time to explain everything, to get across how afraid we should both be of this Nobody ambush, but I don't. A spindly Nobody is diving for us. It's a hollow, white husk of skin, sharpened bone, and aggression. I bet it smelled the blood. We call this type Dusks. I manifest my Keyblade from the shadows and arc the wickedly curved sword over my head. I look like a scorpion ready to strike. Katniss is terrified. She doesn't see the creature and thinks I'm aiming for her.

"Please!" she screeches.

My blade impales the Dusk right before it reaches her chest. She screams as the creature wriggles and bursts into streams of light. I almost lose my balance when she grabs my robe. She's pounding my chest, crying, completely freaking out. I don't know if it's the mortar fire or if she's babbling, but I can't make out a word. Somehow I get her down to the ground and we put some distance between us and the train. Movement is easy. Most of the crowd has dispersed. I see a few more Dusks. I ready a defense. They veer off to the right at the last moment and rip a fat guy to shreds. They're not interested in us. They're killing people and using them to spawn Heartless—shadowy, demonic creatures composed of the darkness of slain souls. Soon, tiny, featureless black monsters with glowing yellow orbs for eyes are bubbling up from the ground. Their insect-like antennas twitch as they sense my Keyblade. They're closing in and forming a circle around us. Katniss is falling into the grips of hysteria. I'm not sure I'll be able to defend her unless I can keep her calm.

"Katniss," I grab her shoulders and bring my blindfold level with her eyes. "You're going to see a lot of horrible things I can't explain at the moment. But I need you to trust me and stay with me. If you panic, we will die."

She's shaking. I don't know if I got through. I think she nodded. The creatures are closer. Only a few dozen yards away. I need some way to get her involved so she won't feel so helpless. I need to give her a sense of control over the situation, fast, or I'll lose her. I look around. There's a dead soldier with a rifle nearby. He was probably a security officer for the opening ceremonies of the Hunger Games. I toss his gun to Katniss. She catches it. That's a really good sign.

"Can you shoot?"

I move to show her how to hold it, but she braces it against her shoulder and points the nozzle straight at my head! She's going to shoot. I can see it in her eyes as they narrow. Her finger's squeezing down the trigger. This is it. I wince and brace for the end. I guess to her, I don't look much different from the strange creatures killing everybody. I should've been more careful. Instead of focusing so much on getting her to trust me, I should've spent some time questioning whether she was ready to be trusted. My mistake will cost us both our lives.

Bang! I stagger back. I'm still alive. How? A Heartless squeals and puffs into black smoke inches away from my left ear. If I was human, I'd be deaf now. If Katniss hadn't been there, I'd be dead.

Yes. She can shoot.