The Gold in Her Eyes

The heavy weight of unconsciousness eased with the cold rain. Opening my eyes, I saw the dark clouds above with rain pouring steadily from the heavens. The first thought that went through my dazed mind was the question of when had it started to rain. Then I felt the pain at the back of my head. It was excruciating. Pushing away from the stone ground beneath me, I laid a hand lightly in against the area. Probably had a slight concussion. Awesome.

Surveying the area around me, I saw that the fighting was still raging on. Riku was fine holding his own for now. He was still on his feet fighting, so he was okay. When my eyes found Sam, my heart jumped into my throat.

"No!" I cried, scrambling to my feet. "Sam!"

There, in the darkness and rain, was my best friend being hauled away across the drenched ground by two heartless. She looked like she had been beaten within an inch of her life. Gritting my teeth, I mentally cursed her out. She must have come to my aid when I fell.

"Let her go!" I cried to their backs, but my words fell upon ignorant ears.

I took in another deep breath to call out again, only for it to become a cry as something heavy slammed into my side, throwing me back to the ground. Pushing myself up, I turned to face whatever had shoved me. It was a Lexious look-a-like heartless, but just behind him were some more of the human heartless.

"Hey!" I yelled at him. "That was rude! And what happened to fighting a fair fight?"

They charged at me and I did all that I could to keep them away and land as many blows as possible. But I was sloppy. Slowing down as the spent adrenaline started to take a toll on me. Fear nagged my sense's as I fought because I couldn't see Sam anymore through the quick paced struggle. They could've taken her completely from the battle for all I knew. Xehanort didn't want her killed, so she would be alive. But she had protected me when I had failed and now I needed to protect her.

"Riku!" I cried as I dove to the ground and turned to wave him down. "Where's Sam?"

The silver haired boy, dodged another blow at him and whipped around to see me freaking out. Registering what I had said, he quickly beat away another foe and scanned the area just beyond my sight. His eyes stopped, looking at something behind me. I spun around to see two hunched figures at the base of the skyscraper.

Dodging another blow to me, I made my way toward them. I watched as Divan stood up and spoke to the Xaldin look-alike heartless. His cold blue eyes turned toward me as I ducked a kick. That's when all hell broke loose.

Divan must have said something because in a split-second, all of the human heartless were upon us. Riku caught up with me where I had halted in my path. I jumped up and stood on my tip-toes to see around the heartless barrier. The Xaldin heartless was carrying Sam away from the fight.

"No!" I yelled, furious. I charged the barrier, but was shoved back towards Riku.

Everything after that happened too fast. One moment, I was leaning against Riku; the next, I was being beaten into the ground. All of the heartless attacked us. There were just too many to fight. All I could do was dodge and defend where I could. Using my speed and agility, I tried to weave between the heartless. Escaping from one blow, only to be ducking away from another behind me.

Just as I was blocking a strike from Rauliam, a brilliant flash filled the area. All fighting ceased as everyone in the area turned toward the source of the bright light.

In a brilliant flash, the blinding light shining above our heads dissipated. Hovering in its place, just a few feet off the ground, was Sam. Or at least, it was supposed to be Sam.

Every heart beat felt like forever as every being in the area waited for something to happen. Slowly, the levitating form of my best friend touched the wet ground, dark from the falling rain. The toe of her boots landed gracefully and she stood there, head bowed like she was praying.

I stared in bewilderment at the girl before us all. It was Sam, but it didn't look like her. This girl was the same height and weight with the same features, but it was all the pigmentation on her body just turned opposite. The usual paleness of Sam's skin had become brazened and smooth, but what struck me the most was the intense white of her waist length hair. The soft strands whipped about her shoulders as if caught in a gust of wind. The only problem was that there was no wind moving in the area.

Her dark clothes had flipped colors as well. Now instead of the dark shades of black and grey, she was dressed in hues of white and beige. Not to mention the completely different style of clothing. She wore a white knitted, sleeveless turtleneck top that clung to her body with a beige leather vest over it. A pair of beige denim shorts with several crisscrossing black belts served as her bottoms and a pair of white leather boots covered her calves, stopping just below the knee. The only jewelry upon her breast was the moon necklace and a chain that sat closer to her neck with a crown charm much like Sora's.

In all her wonder, Sam stood where she was with her head lowered, eyes closed and arms relaxed at her sides. Although no sound or movement came from her, the air surrounding her seemed to crackle and fizz with electric sparks. She stood there, and we stared.

Cautiously, I stepped around the heartless before me toward the unmoving form of my friend. "Sam?" I called softly.

Everything stilled. The pale strands of her hair fell around her, the crackling of the static ceased…everything just went completely quiet.

I took a step forward, concerned.

Beneath the white bangs, Sam slowly opened her eyes and fixed her gaze in front of her, totally unfocused.

My heart jumped to my throat while my hands flew up to cover my gasp. "Oh, Sam…" I breathed, shocked. My hands fell as I stared helplessly into the empty, cold golden eyes of my friend. In the center of the bright gold was a darkness that moved and went deeper than just the lingering pupils upon the surface of her eyes.

Roving her stare about the area, the look-alike Sam before us finally settled her stare upon the hoard of people before her. Particularly upon Divan. A wave of pure rage washed across her face. Her hair began to lift around her again and a bright light surrounded both of her open hands. In the next moment, two keyblades materialized in Sam's closed fists.

My mouth dropped open in surprise. Two?! How did she get two keyblades?!

With her hair whipping about her and that rage filled look, Sam looked dangerous. Deadly.

In the next breath, she charged us.

I cried out as a hand snatched up my arm and pulled me back. My back hit the cold ground, skidding into a nearby building. Pushing up to my knees, I looked up to see Riku rushing toward me with his own keyblade drawn, fear concealed in the grim line of his lips. He swiftly pulled me up to my feet and grabbed ahold of my left wrist and ran. I stayed close to him, glancing over my shoulder at the roaring battle behind us. Screams echoed off the walls of the buildings, angry shouts were cut short. And we fled.

I tried to look back. To see what was happening behind us, but Riku pulled me forward, not giving me the chance.

"Riku, stop!" I shouted to him. "We have to help her!"

My cries fell upon deaf ears. The boy before me led us both around a corner to another building in the area. We ran inside, Riku barring the door behind us. I tried to push past him, my fingers just grazing the cool metal of the knob. "We need to help her!"

"We can't!" He shouted back, shoving me away. "Did you see her, Kaity? Did you see her eyes?" He shouted in alarm.

I didn't reply. I just stood there, breathing heavy and holding back the tears of frustration. My need to go to Sam grew with every passing second that he held me here. I don't know what happened to her, but she was out there alone with all of the heartless.

"She changed," Riku explained. "There is someone else in her fighting out there."

"What? Like she's possessed?" I sneered at him. The lack of response and serious frown on his face was enough to tell me that he wasn't joking. Turning to the nearest object, I kicked out and punched whatever I could reach. My frustration tamed, I slumped to the ground, silently praying that Sam was okay.

After a few moments, the noise outside calmed down. It had become very quiet. Too quiet. Cautious, I moved from my spot on the ground to peer out of the closest window that faced the tower. Riku was already there, watching whatever was happening out in the drizzling rain. Upon seeing the image before me, I closed my eyes and turned away.

Because out there, past the safety of this building, was a courtyard of slaughter.

In the center of it all was Sam, covered in the blood of her foes.

Then, no more than a moment later, she collapsed to the stone, unconscious.

Have you ever blacked out before? Just suddenly your whole world goes dark and the next thing you know, your somewhere else? Just waking up on the ground... So scared because you don't remember what happened... or maybe, how you found yourself lying in a pool of blood that wasn't your own?

Yeah. That's what I thought.

Blinking open my burning eyes, my heart leaped into my throat as I met the empty eyes of Xaldin. Jerking away from the sight, I scrambled backwards and hit something else. Spinning my head around I met the lifeless, terror filled eyes of Demyx. My breath was coming too quick. I scrambled to my feet, hysterical. Spinning in my one spot, I took in the carnage. The swelling darkness. The blood.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't get air to go into my lungs. My knees collapsed beneath me and I was back in the blood under my boots. I wrapped my arms around myself, squeezed my eyes shut and wished it was a nightmare.

Behind me, I heard the splash of footsteps walking toward me through the blood. Snapping open my eyes, I whirled around and met the pleased eyes of Divan. He too was covered in the blood of his comrades. The darkness about him was pulsing, delighted. Divan stopped less than a meter away from where I sat broken on the blood stained stone.

"He said this would happen..." The dark haired boy said, observing the bloodbath. "Said that this would be the start..."

All around us, the waiting darkness began to intrude on the lying bodies, over taking everything on the stone ground.

"What...?" I breathed, confused.

Divan sighed heavily and knelt before me, the blood soaking into his pants. Lifting his hand, he hesitated for just a moment before placing it on my cheek, his thumb gently caressing the place under my eyes. I didn't stop him. I didn't move at all as he placed his other hand on my own.

My eyes were wide, staring up into his own dark blue ones. The darkness rose around us. Eating away at everything.

Divan leaned forward, a dark glint in his eyes and a mischievous smile. I tried to pull away, but he held me steady as he moved toward me like he was going to kiss my forehead. The darkness then rose in a furious wave, engulfing the whole courtyard, including us in it's whirlwind. I shut my eyes tight and felt my hair lift around me as a pair of warm lips touched my forehead. Then, just like that, he was gone. The warmth of his hands and lips, the furious wind that had been pulling me in all directions.

Opening my eyes, I saw that he was truly gone. The darkness was gone. The blood and gore... it all just vanished.

"Sam!"

Looking back behind where I sat, I saw a familiar blonde dashing toward me. Tears came to my eyes, wanting to pour over. Riku was following right behind her. They were safe. Whatever had happened, they were safe.

When Kaity got with six feet of me, some emotion flashed over her face and she halted dead in her tracks. Riku following her a heartbeat later. As I watched them stand off from me in fear, I just couldn't handle it anymore. The tears of shock and terror broke free and I was an unintelligible mess on the stone ground.

After a moment, I felt warm hands pulling me to my feet and embracing me in a warm hug. No words were spoken, no question were asked, although I was confused as Hell. I didn't know what had happened. Breathing deep to calm myself, I decided that those questions could be asked later, after Sora was rescued and safe.

Oh, Sora. In the chaos, I almost forgot about him. This fight really delayed us. That was probably Divans intention, that rat.

As my cries ceased, Kaity pulled away, looking me dead in the eyes. "You don't remember what the Hell just happened... do you?"

Not trusting my voice, I shook my head. Sighing deeply, Kaity just pulled me close to her. "You scared the hell out of me," She whispered, her voice trembling. "Don't you ever do that again. Don't..."

Pulling away, I looked at Kaity. I looked into her eyes and saw fresh tears. Whatever I had done, it had scared the living hell out of her. Kaity hardly gets this scared, being the person she is, but this terror... I'd never seen her this way. Yeah, sure, she can't handle a horror film, but in real life... she hardly gets this frightened.

Wiping my eyes free of any tears, I took in what was around me. The place was spotless, like a fight had never happened here. Must have been the darkness. "Where's Riku?" I asked, noticing for the first time that he wasn't here.

"He went on ahead," Kaity explained, turning away from me so that she could discreetly wipe her eyes. "We're really close to the castle."

Looking past the skyscraper, I took in the white castle beyond. Honestly, it didn't even look like a castle. More like a prison. Which, for Sora, it is.

I did notice that the heart shaped moon was hidden behind clouds again. Somewhere in memory though, I can recall it being out and shining. Thinking too much about it hurt my head.

"We should follow him," Kaity continued, looking at me and taking a step forward. "The Lord knows what kind of trouble he might already be in."

"'Right," I said determined. We ran off, leaving whatever horror behind in the courtyard. I didn't know what I did or what happened during the time I blacked out, but I would get it out of Kaity later. After Sora was safe and we were all safe and alive.