...*sniffles* You guys are so awesome...

Axel:...The author is crying?

Demyx: I think she's finally lost it.

Me: No, I did not lose my sanity! I'm just stating how wonderful my reviewers and the fans of my story are!

Roxas: That and you might have created a following for AxelxKyrie...

Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 16

Kyrie didn't know where she was. All she could see and feel was darkness, a thick darkness that zapped at her strength. Opening her eyes, she found herself inside a dark cave, with a thick white fog flowing in the air. Lanterns alight with green fire lined the cave, meaning that someone or something obviously walked through the caves often.

"Ugh…I'm so tired…" she thought as she tried to sit herself up, but the darkness was stronger here, more so than on most of the worlds she had visited. Well, maybe not as strong as the World that Never Was, but she had grown accustomed to living there and the world itself hovered between darkness and nothingness. And most of the time, the nothingness negated the effects of the darkness.

"Kyrie?" flinching, she looked up and saw a man dressed in black, but she knew the voice.

"Demyx?" she thought as she stared at him. He quickly pulled down his hood and she sighed in relief, it was Demyx. The young man smiled at her before kneeling down next to her and helping her to sit up.

"Oh man, it is you! What're you doing here? Wait, never mind that. It's great to see you!" he spoke, before giving her a light hug. She smiled and nodded before closing her eyes, her strength was going, and fast. Demyx stared at her face before looking at her worriedly. Her skin was pale and sickly, almost as white as her hair.

"Uh… Kyrie? Are you okay? You look really pale…" he asked. She shook her head and looked around blearily for her notebook, spotting her backpack right next to her. Grabbing it, she opened and found her notebook and pen. Opening her notebook, she began to write.

Demyx, I have to get out of here. The darkness, it's draining away my strength. If I don't get out of here soon…I'll…

She dropped her pen, it was getting even harder to write. Demyx nodded as he stood, looking around in a rush before looking back at her.

"C'mon, first I need to get you out of this part of the underworld. There's a ton of heartless lurking around, and they'd get you in a second." he explained as he scooped her up, holding her as he began running.

She simply rested her head against his shoulder, too weak to care about anything at the moment. After running for a little bit, they arrived at an inner chamber, and Kyrie could feel that the darkness was even stronger here than where Demyx found her. He quickly placed her down before looking around.

"Okay, you stay here and I'll go look for somewhere safe to leave you. I'm sure superior wouldn't mind if I helped you first." with that, he opened a dark corridor and stepped through, taking one last glance at her before it closed behind him. She gave him a weak nod and rested against the cave walls. All was quiet for awhile, before she could hear the distant sound of footsteps and voices bickering.

"Who…?" she thought as she closed her eyes. She felt herself starting to drift, trying to get back into the world of sleep. She was almost pulled out of her daze when she felt two presences standing before her.

"Huh? What's a girl doing down here?"

"Whaddya mean, Panic? She's dead, of course she'd be down here!"

"She's not dead, Pain, look again! Oh my, what're we going to do? If Lord Hades sees this girl alive-"

"If he sees her alive. IF."

"If…If is good."

"Huh? What're you two idiots bickerin' about? You've got work ta do!" she recognized this voice. It was Pete.

"Huh? Hey, it's that girl that hangs around that punk! Uh…Sora!"

And that was the last thing she heard.

…

….

She didn't know how long she was out, but she came to when she felt someone nudging her foot.

"Is she dead?"

"I don't think so. Her foot twitched."

"Well well, here I thought you'd found me the perfect person to take out that annoying Hercules, but all you found was a little girl, a little lassie, a little snowflake." she felt her eyebrow twitch at the mysterious person's words.

"'Snowflake'?" she thought. Opening her eyes, she saw a man with blue skin and a head alit with blue fire, dressed in dark robes. There were two smaller creatures beside him, one redish-pink and the other a mix of blue and green. Behind them, she saw a familiar face and her eyes narrowed.

"Pete."

"Oh, so she's awake. Well hello little snowflake-" the man stopped when she summoned both keyblades and pointed them at him, glaring at him as her lips formed a snarl. She knew she was in deep trouble, and she had to find a way to escape, fast.

But the man simply smirked, putting a hand to his chin.

"Well well, she can wield those too, huh? Now what were they called again? Uh…"

"Keyblades, your godliness." the red one answered. He nodded.

"That's right, keyblades! Just like the one that brat had when he ruined my plans last year. Oh man did that burn me up…" he spoke as he looked her over. Pete looked from behind him and smirked.

"Ha ha! Look at ya, all weak now because you can't handle the darkness! Serves ya right, after what you did to my head back at ol' Yen Sid's-" suddenly he was cut off when she chucked her Kingdom Key at him, causing him to yelp and duck as it flew over his head and landed in the wall behind him. The man began to laugh.

"Oh-ho! Seems this little snowflake has fire in her, that's how I like 'em! But is it enough for my plans?" he chuckled. Suddenly, a dark corridor formed from behind them, and they turned to see a green-skinned woman with the weirdest headdress she had ever seen walk out of it. She carried a staff and had a crow on her shoulder as she glared at Pete.

"Pete, you impudent oaf! You are supposed to be gathering heartless, not standing around like an idiot!" she berated, glaring at him. He nodded as he stood up.

"O-of course, Maleficent! You see I was about to teach this brat a lesson and turn her into a heartless." he explained, pointing to Kyrie. The woman, Maleficent, stared at the girl curiously before her eyes widened.

"It can't be…" moving forward, she stood in front of the girl and scrutinized her, something that made Kyrie very uncomfortable. The men behind her looked at each other in confusion before looking at her.

"Uh, Maleficent, what-"

"Can't you see, you fools? This is the Princess of light, one of the guardians of Kingdom Hearts!"

"Kingdom Hearts?"

"Huh?" Kyrie thought weakly as she stared at the woman.

"Yes, this is her. She was the one who created the Seven Princesses of Heart, to act as her guides, messengers, and even her eyes. That is one of the reasons when you gather the princesses of heart, the final door opens!" she explained. She stared at Maleficent in blatant confusion, there was no way in the seven hells that she was this "Princess of Light".

"But if she's connected to Kingdom Hearts, ain't she supposed to be guarding it?" Pete asked. She gave him a small, malicious smile before turning to the girl.

"All the more reason to take her now, especially since she's weak-" she started as she reached toward her, but her hand was stopped by a flash of light and a flurry of sparks, causing her to curse as she pulled her hand back.

"No one with pure darkness and evil in their heart will touch my body, not as long as I still exist." Kyrie gasped at this voice, it was feminine and it was like wind chimes, light and melodious. It was a disembodied voice, but it wasn't the one that always talked to her. So…who was this?

"Who are you?"

"I am you. I am the part of you that plays the silent hero, I am the real you. Remember me, remember yourself, remember your life, and remember your purpose… your reason to live." and with that, the voice faded away. Maleficent glared at her as she clutched her burned hand.

"Hmph. It seems she still has strength to resist. Pete!"

"Y-yes ma'am!"

"Keep her here, until she is weak enough so that you can bring her to me." and with that, she gave off a sickening and ear-splitting cackle as she disappeared into the darkness. Kyrie glared at the spot the woman had once stood before turning her attention to the men. The blue one smirked at her.

"She's that powerful, huh? Maybe she can take down wonder boy…"

"But Hades, Maleficent doesn't want her anywhere near light. Where that Hercules is full of light, she'd get strong again and-"

"Shut up, you idiot! …But you're right, she would get strong and probably run the second she got to a light source…" he turned and began to think, and Kyrie found herself getting even weaker. Whatever Maleficent had tried to do, it made her weaker. But she had to stay conscious.

Or it would mean the end of her.

-A little while Later-

"Where do they dig these freaks up? Geez, Louise." Hades spoke as he sat on his thrown, holding his head lazily with one hand. Pete nodded as he stood with Pain, the red creature, and Panic, the blue-green one.

"Oh, they're nuttin' but trouble, the whole lot of 'em. So, uh…what're you gonna do about Hercules? He's made mince meat outta every fighter you sent at him." he paused for a moment before continuing.

"Pretty soon the Underworld's gonna be standing room only. Say, why don't you just pick someone already dead and save him the trouble?" he suggested. With that, Hades jumped to his feet and glared at him, making him flinch and cover his head. Kyrie watched this with amused eyes, Pete was actually right for once. Hade sat back in his chair and thought for a moment.

"Dead… dead is good! And I know just the warrior." with that, he stood from his thrown and approached where the table was, making it disappear as a portal appeared in its place. Kyrie stared at the swirling green vortex with wide eyes.

"What is he planning?" she thought as she watched. Pete stared at the portal in confusion, his hand to his chin.

"By the by, uh… what's down there?" he asked as Hades approached him from behind.

"Just the Underworld's deepest dungeon. This time I'm bringing out the mother of all bad guys." Pete looked up at Hades and flinched, starting to back away as he did so.

"You don't say?" he stammered. With that he, Pain, and Panic stood against the wall, right next to Kyrie as they trembled.

"Well…maybe I should go." with that, he tried to grab Kyrie, but was met with the same light and sparks that Maleficent had got, making him yelp and suck on his fingers. Hades, completely ignoring him, summoned fire into his hands and threw it into the portal, making something appear in a puff of smoke. The smoke began to turn red, and Kyrie saw a silhouette inside the smoke.

"He's the mother of all bad guys?" Kyrie thought as the smoke disappeared, a man dressed in red appearing in its place. Hades began to laugh evilly as he stared at the unnamed man in front of him.

"Let's cut to the chase." he spoke, crossing his arms.

"Here's the deal I'm gonna offer you. I let you out of the slammer- no strings- you'll be free as a bird." he started. The man ignored him for a moment and glanced at where Pete, Kyrie, and the two henchmen were. Pete smiled fearfully and raised a tentative hand, and Kyrie stared at him blearily, the darkness taking its toll on her. For a moment, the man gave her a sympathetic look, making her blink at him in confusion.

"And all for one little job. Fight Hercules, in the coliseum…to the death!" he finished. The man's lip twitched before he spoke.

"This is my story. And you're not part of it." he spoke as he got into a fighting stance, slinging his large blade over his shoulder with one arm while the other was kept in a sling. Hades started at him in both shock and anger.

"Did you forget who you're talking to? I am the lord of death!" the man smirked at this.

"No wonder no one wants to die." Kyrie began to silently giggle at this, despite his rugged appearance, this man had a good sense of humor. Hades growled at him.

"You are FIRED!" he shouted as his body flared up with fire and he turned from blue to red in an instant, going after the man. Suddenly, Kyrie heard a familiar voice that made her heart flutter.

"Hades!" she turned and smiled.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy!"

Okay, that's the end of this chapter. Now I know you all must have millions and millions of questions for what's going on so far, but please be patient. All will be revealed in due time. But for the moment, I've got college stuff to work on so the next chapter will be awhile, unfortunately.

Please read and review, or else I'll have Hades roast you.