Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter took so long; I had difficulty deciding how I wanted to write the Char/Anx confrontation. 'Tis here now, though, and hopefully you'll all be happy with how it ends. :3
This is more of an action-oriented chapter, but there's a bit of romance at the end.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer- I don't own Kingdom Hearts. That should go without saying. It should also go without saying that all I own are Char, Anxclof, Falcon, Copperhead, and the Shadowed Desert world.
Sora didn't slow down in his desperate flight until the fresh air of the castle postern greeted his senses. Only when the sound of his footsteps changed from the steady pounding against tile to the rattle of the grate in front of the corridors did he stumble to a halt, panting.
He was dimly aware of Donald and Goofy catching up just behind him – although they had made a beeline for the exit sooner than he had, they had fallen into step to follow Sora once he had left Char – but couldn't find it in himself to speak to them. The way he had to gulp in every anxiety-labored breath might have had something to do with it, but he knew it was more due to the reason behind that anxiety.
Hey. This is me, remember? I'll be fine.
Promise.
A kind of numb horror began to sweep over him at the thought of how he had left Char to face Anxclof alone. From the pure, unadulterated fury in the latter's words and movements, it did not seem like Anxclof intended to let Char escape alive, especially now that Char stood in her path of getting Roxas back.
As though the thought of his Nobody – his Nobody; Sora was going to take a while to get used to that – had summoned it, the brunette felt the spot on his abdomen where Anxclof had broken his skin begin to throb. Although she had barely applied enough pressure to the point of her Keyblade to make him bleed in the first place, Sora knew why it hurt so much. He recalled when she'd almost killed him at Beast's Castle and flinched.
If Anxclof had been angry enough to kill him then… he could not imagine the depths of her emotions now.
And Char had chosen to take the brunt of those emotions.
He would almost have reflected on the irony of it – a Nobody, feeling something despite not having a heart – under any other circumstances.
"Sora?" Donald asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"
"Did she make you bleed?" Goofy added, sounding concerned.
With some effort, Sora turned and gazed at them. Even though he appreciated their sympathy, the absence of a red-haired girl behind them still ripped a fiery trail across his heart. He tried to smile, but what with the skeptical look he earned from Donald in response, that attempt at nonchalance failed miserably.
"Yeah, she did. But I'm fine," he answered. Physically, at least.
Donald snorted and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "yeah right" under his breath.
Goofy gave the duck a hard stare before returning a much gentler gaze to Sora. "D'you think Char's gonna be okay?" he asked, dark eyes becoming round with worry.
Sora winced and looked away. Clearly, the dog hadn't meant to get right to the heart of the matter; the comment had only been an innocent expression of curiosity.
However, the question still stirred up so many mingling sentiments inside Sora that it almost hurt. Dread and concern stood at the forefront of those sentiments, but the distinctive sensation of his heart clenching that accompanied fervent hope – hope that she would emerge relatively unhurt – was also among them. The very latter was a futile prayer, he knew, but he still wanted to believe she would come back.
She had promised, after all.
Seeing the lack of response from their leader, Donald and Goofy exchanged a glance before looking back at him. "We have to help Leon," Donald reminded the Keybearer, in as careful a voice as he had ever used.
Sora lifted his head from where he had been determinedly memorizing the contours of the grate beneath his feet. "I know," he said, attempting that smile again. To his immense relief, his brave façade seemed to reach his allies, and they each gave him a determined nod. "The King did say helping others should always come before asking others for help."
He glanced up at the postern, at least what was visible of it from the way the path beneath his feet wound away from it. From his somewhat limited viewpoint, he could see the area was relatively empty, which meant most of the Heartless and Nobodies had concentrated themselves deeper into Hollow Bastion.
I hope we don't have to get close to Maleficent's castle again… The memory of the near-crippling fear and guilt – at knowing he was the cause of her being able to infiltrate Disney Castle in the first place – that had accompanied him there was all too vivid in his mind.
As was the fact that if Char had not intervened in time to retrieve him from Kingdom Hearts, he would have stayed a Heartless forever.
He thought of the battle that was undoubtedly ensuing deeper into the corridors they had just left behind. Suddenly, he wanted to turn on his heel and charge back to that room and fight at Char's side. He knew full well that Anxclof's fury would escalate to a near unstoppable level at the sight of him – the one she had sought to kill for the past month – but in the face of his and Char's combined attack power and coordination in battle, that wouldn't matter.
Right?
Besides… Sora had the advantage of the fleeting flashes of Roxas' memories with Anxclof. Most of the female Nobody's weaknesses had already revealed themselves to Sora: how her strategy of maneuvering her opponents into a corner could easily be countered by ducking under her blade; how she tended to mostly rely on her Avengers to fight battles she thought weren't worth her attention; how when her anger took over entirely, her attacks grew much more reckless…
The very latter was the only thing he could think of that might turn the battle in Char's favor. Other than that, though, the chances of Char emerging victorious from the battle were extremely slim.
And if she doesn't win…
The thought of that outcome made the breath catch in Sora's throat, and he found himself fighting the urge to cry all over again. He had barely managed to restrain it when Char's fingers had settled against his cheek, if only to maintain his composure in front of her; for some reason, he thought her seeing him as strong as ever would encourage her.
And it had worked, for the most part: the look she had tossed over her shoulder as he had dashed off had had both wistfulness and determination in it.
If she doesn't win, then Anxclof will kill her.
Having faced that possibility did not ease the growing knot of terror inside his stomach; if anything, it grew even more difficult to ignore. The fact that another part of himself – or the absence thereof – had pushed Anxclof to tracking him and Char down and trying to kill them only enhanced that anxiety even more. Sora knew that whatever had happened between Char and Roxas – the one thing she hadn't told him in Ansem's study, he realized with a chill – was entirely out of his hands, but he still couldn't help but feel like part of this had happened because of him.
In a way, though, it had. Char had done this to protect him, after all.
Something seemed to flicker in the back of Sora's mind, a realization that carried so much weight behind it it nearly toppled him. When he tried to get a hold on it, though, it evaded him and scuttled off into the shadows. Instead of pursuing the growing feeling further, he shook it off. (1)
"C'mon," he told Donald and Goofy. At the mildly confused looks they each gave him, he elaborated, with a distinctively heavy feeling growing as he spoke. "All we can do is trust Char to come back. Right now, we need to help Leon."
"Yeah," Donald agreed, already brandishing his staff and looking around the area with a determined expression. "We'll take out those Heartless and the Nobodies."
Goofy said nothing, but the nod he gave Sora was filled with the same readiness. Looking at his two longtime comrades, the Keybearer realized he could see worry for Char that mirrored his own tempering their resoluteness; even Donald, who had never exactly gotten along with her.
Aloud, though, he only said, "Well then, let's go find Leon and the King." (2)
Char barely parried a powerful thrust from Anxclof's Keyblade, only to have to twist away and dance backward when the Nobody didn't let up in her assault. She half expected a steady stream of taunts from Anxclof to permeate the air – it would fit, considering the newfound demeanor about her – but, like their fight in the Land of Dragons, she said nothing, furious golden eyes eternally focused on the battle at hand.
Now was different, though, Char had to remind herself, even as she darted around another flurry of attacks. Last time, Anxclof hadn't had a month to ruminate on her desire for revenge; last time, Char had had help from Sora, Donald, Goofy, and even Mulan.
The redhead's eyes narrowed. Sora. The reminder of why she had stayed behind in the first place appeared in her mind's eye, and suddenly, her determination rose up inside her in a fierce, towering wave.
With a snarl, Anxclof swung her Keyblade toward Char from the side. Caught off guard by the sudden change in target, Char couldn't dodge in time, and the sharp points at the edge of the Keyblade's shaft slammed into her already-bruised side.
Pain quickly exploded there, and Char fought the growing urge to scream with the force of it, not wanting to give Anxclof the satisfaction of seeing her in this much agony. Only a hiss breathed out between clenched teeth betrayed how much the impact of the weapon against her wound from the virtual world had hurt.
"What's wrong, Char?" Anxclof demanded, not faltering in the slightest as she raised the Keyblade up to continue her onslaught. Char barely brought up her swords to block in time, summoning every ounce of the concentration that was emerging from the hot pain in her side in order to rebuff every attack in time. "I thought you were going to get back to Sora. I thought you were going to take me down."
There's the taunting, Char thought, a bit of dryness in her mental words despite the situation. Suddenly realizing Anxclof was lifting her golden weapon again, unable to dodge, she hastily whipped up her arms and guarded with her own silver-bladed swords in an x-position.
The force of Anxclof slamming her Keyblade down into Char's waiting swords sent a fierce shock wave up her arms, and it was all the redhead could do to keep from yielding beneath the pressure. As it was, though, the upper body strength that learning to fight with two swords had given her kept her from doing anything more than crouching slightly to accommodate the weight of Anxclof's blade pushing into hers.
"This is pathetic," Anxclof growled into Char's face, the pure anger that was visible behind the barrier of both Char's swords and her Keyblade burning in her now-golden eyes. Char was sure panic had stamped itself onto every facet of her own countenance, a fact that somewhat annoyed her, but that she felt was valid, given the situation. The odd eye-change on Anxclof's part didn't help matters; Char assumed it had something to do with Number XIV's powers.
She groped momentarily within her recesses of memory for the source of those powers, but then Anxclof was pushing more viciously down with her Keyblade and Char could only afford to focus on keeping it from tearing her open.
"I expected more from you," Anxclof went on. "The woman who managed to subdue and take Roxas should be able to put up more of a fight than this."
But I had help, Char reflected, thinking of Riku pulling off his blindfold and becoming Xehanort's Heartless. She said nothing, though, not wanting Anxclof to go after Riku. Confident in the silver-haired young man's abilities as Char was, Char knew that Anxclof's main quarrel was with her.
This is my fight. I promised I'd protect Sora, and that's just what I'll do.
"Oh, what, nothing from you?" Anxclof heaved a sigh, but her growing grin suggested that disappointment veiled something much more deadly. "I guess we'll just have to make this more interesting. At this rate, I'll never get him back."
In the next instant, something intensely bright and hot had sprung up between them. Startled, Char sprang back, realizing how disturbingly close to a non-crumbling part of the wall she was only after her back nearly bounced off it.
Looking on, she saw her instinctive gesture of getting the hell out of the way had saved her, even as the fiery wall that Anxclof had summoned vanished. Char felt her breathing begin to increase and the old wound on her leg begin to throb – yet another result of her having protected Sora.
She wanted to curse the brunette in that instant, but couldn't. Partly because of her feelings for him, and partly because of the terror that filled her at the thought of how close she had come to burning in the flames.
"There we go, that's better." Anxclof smirked, her Keyblade catching the light as she rolled her wrists to stretch them. "We couldn't have that standoff forever. Now, where were we?"
And then she was coming at Char again, so quickly that Char couldn't get away in time, and delivered a series of blows that knocked Char against the wall. The impact of her head against the plaster was uncomfortably tangible and audible at once, to the point where she could feel something thick and warm begin to drip down the back of her neck. Even as she shakily rose to her feet, she realized that the Keyblade had also ripped several bloody furrows along her belly and ribs.
The wounds begin to heat up with the force of the blood rushing to them, and Char barely managed to draw back out of the way of Anxclof's final strike in time. In the same motion, she ducked under the Nobody's sword and stumbled a little ways away – far enough that her back wasn't to the wall anymore. Through the sharp pain that was accumulating in the areas Anxclof had slashed, Char recognized the fact that had she stayed all but pinned to the wall like that, the female brunette might have gained the upper hand.
Of course, what with the Nobody's newfound ferocity – a ferocity that made her eyes glow an even brighter shade of gold than before – Char did not know how much longer their being evenly matched would last.
A bolt of pain shot through her fresh injuries, and she found herself swaying on her feet. Dimly, she was aware of Anxclof rearing back briefly before lunging forward again, relentless in her charge as ever, and her own perfunctory response of feinting out of the way. Despite the stinging of her wounds and the uncomfortable awareness of her blood spattering the floor, Char's sense of clarity was returning. A fine job of protecting Sora I'm doing, if I let just a few side wounds put me off.
Still, if she let the battle go on for too much longer, the amount of blood that steadily pulsed from the afflicted areas could cause disaster. That knowledge only reinforced itself when something oozed down her cheek, and she was reminded painfully of her head's little scrap with the wall.
Up until now Char had been fighting defensively – why, she still didn't know; the viciousness of Anxclof's onslaught might have had something to do with how she could barely get an attack in edgewise. Now, though, Char knew she needed to distract Anxclof long enough to down at least part of a Potion.
As the Nobody whirled to face Char again, the redhead leaped forward and lashed out, hard, with her blades. Even though the dully growing ache in her arms put very little force behind the attack, it sufficed to get past Anxclof's defenses and slice deeply into the area just above her hip. Hissing, the other girl recoiled.
Char had anticipated Anxclof to take a few seconds to recover, but either her attack was weaker than she had thought, or Anxclof's fury so controlled her that it kept her from feeling the pain. Either way, the dual wielder only had a split second before Anxclof was rising up from her distance across the room, her eyes nothing more than glittering amber slits.
"About time you got serious," she remarked.
Quickly, Char dug through her pockets for the healing panacea she sought. However, she only found the star-shaped charm of the Keychain she had picked up just this morning. Panic seized her very briefly before the truth dawned upon her, so icy and terrifying in its clarity that it pushed that panic away with all the speed of a sudden gust of wind.
I gave my last Potion to Sora, during that last battle with the Nobodies. Her eyes widened in horror, and her wounds began to throb almost on-cue. The possibility – rather, the likelihood – of her losing had been in her mind, of course, but now it seemed much more likely than before.
Something flashed out of the corner of her eye. She looked over just in time to see a burst of light crash down inches away from her feet, an impact whose heat she felt more than the pieces of tile that flew against her legs as a result of that.
Anxclof's gamma ray attack, Char belatedly realized before a series of condensed drops of golden radiation slammed down around her.
Frantically, she tried to find the gaps between each deadly raindrop so as to not get hit; for a few moments, it seemed to work. All she had to do was look up, and the future paths of where the rays would fall became clear to her. Her breath caught in her throat at knowing Anxclof could take advantage while she was distracted, but the redhead knew she couldn't afford to worry about it now. Just one of those dagger-like rays could pierce into her and then it would all be over.
Then – stupidly, idiotically, moronically; Char could try to condescend to it all she wanted, but it happened anyway – the old leg injury flared up in a spasm of pain that damn near crumpled her.
All at once, a series of gamma rays sliced into her.
Char had half a moment to think stupid wound, if Sora had gotten out of the way in time back at the Underworld I'd be fine right now, before the anguish hit with the force of the fire that had caused the problem in the first place.
Only this time around, it didn't just concentrate itself on that single area on her calf; it exploded in the places the rays had ripped into her.
She staggered, her swords falling to the floor with loud clatters, and multiple spatters of her blood soon joining them. Staring at the blood staining the edges of the blades that it touched, Char could almost trick herself into thinking that the life liquid belonged to Anxclof – if Nobodies could even bleed, a hypothesis she found herself adhering to, if only to carry on with her fantasy – that Char had won, that it was now Anxclof on her knees on the ground.
The sound of a furious cry from above made her lift her head, sluggishly, as though the contents of her neck had replaced themselves with marshmallow and her head with solid lead. Every muscle in her body wanted to snatch her weapons off the now-decimated floor, to block Anxclof's aerial attack, to even curse at how the Nobody had torn up this part of her former home.
Get up, Char screamed at herself, this fight's not over, she'll go after Sora next, you can't let her do that, you promised Sora –
Sora –
She was dimly aware of Anxclof whispering something, but then the fire-cloaked Keyblade crashed into her shoulder and knocked her back to the floor. (3)
Part of her still pushed for her to provide a counterattack, however unsuccessful the end result might be. As it was, though, all she could do was grope about on the floor before she seized one sword.
Anxclof looked on, her face filled with a kind of uncontrollable glee at being so close to taking down this obstacle, as Char pushed herself up with the one sword, digging its main point into the floor for support. Suddenly unable to hold her head up – both due to the steady stream of blood dripping down the back of her neck and in the face of her own failure – she let her neck curve just slightly downward, so her bangs could obscure the sight of Anxclof's demented happiness.
And yet in spite of her shame at her defeat, in spite of the fact that her own death likely waited at the edge of that golden Keyblade, Char felt a strange sense of freedom. She might have failed, yes, but at this rate, Sora might have gotten just enough time to get far enough away from here that Anxclof couldn't find him.
He was safe.
A tiny smirk twitched across her countenance, before even that, too, disappeared in the face of how weak the blood loss was making her. Only a month ago, if anyone had asked her if she was prepared to die for anyone, she would have laughed and denied the question vehemently.
Sora has that effect on people, I guess. Changes them so easily.
The icy cold pressure of steel against the underside of her chin forced Char to lift her head, to see that Anxclof had knelt down to her eye level. She stared as defiantly as she could into those childishly pleased golden eyes.
The sight of something distinctively red dripping down just behind Anxclof drew Char's gaze, and with what would likely be her last thought, she realized Nobodies could bleed after all.
"I guess you can't keep this promise," Anxclof purred. "But I'll keep mine."
Rising to her feet, gripping the hilt with both suddenly-trembling hands, she lifted her Keyblade high above her head, ready to bring it down into Char's throat.
Even as she readied herself for the final blow, though, something faltered inside her.
Anxclof straightened slightly, her grip on her Keyblade's hilt slackening a little. She frowned, the Heartless-eye-like amber that had coated her gaze making its exit in favor of her normal green for just an instant. Clarity seized her, so sharp in contrast to the way her prior desire to dispose of Char to get to Sora – and, therefore, to Roxas – had encompassed her that it almost hurt the heart-shaped emptiness in her chest.
She wanted to scream at the hesitation that kept her from finishing it. The reasons to kill Char were all lined up so neatly in front of Anxclof: she had kidnapped Roxas; torn him away from Number XIV right as she had gotten him back; had all but dangled him in front of her at the Pride Lands.
And yet… something didn't seem right.
Anxclof tried to place the emotion that made her balk, but could not find a fixed name for it. With a kind of panicked desperation, she dug through the repertoire of emotions that living Falcon's life had provided her. Regret, for having to kill such a worthy adversary? Irritation, at how Char had bowed her head in acceptance of her own death?
Or… something else?
What's the matter with me? I… I should finish her off here.
I hated her… but… why? I don't remember her ever having done anything to me…
Roxas. She's standing in the way of Roxas. I'm so, so close…
Still, her resolve wavered.
Hot pain suddenly bloomed in her back, and she whipped around just in time to see a dark-cloaked shape lowering its hand, violet fire swirling into oblivion at the tips of its gloved fingers. (4) For a brief moment, horror at the fact that Xemnas had found her froze her in place.
An instant later, though, confusion replaced her fear. This shape was too short to be the Superior. And unless Axel suddenly controlled shadowy flame instead of his typical ordinary yellow, Anxclof had no idea who this newcomer could be.
She heard Char let out a gasp behind her, but did not dare dwell on the redhead's surprise for too long, as it brought up the question of why exactly she had faltered. Her breathing grew rapid, the thought destroying her concentration enough for her Keyblade to vanish.
Her fingers clenched around the Keychain so forcefully that her knuckles surely turned white under the part of her fingerless gloves that covered them. Absurdly, she had the idea that the action was almost like her clinging to the reality that her Keyblade entailed.
When her fingernails dug into the tiny wound that they had created just an hour or so before, though, the memory of everything leading up to this rushed back to her. Axel leaving; her wandering the corridors in a state of incoherence; Maleficent showing up; Sora and Char appearing not long after…
Jerkily, Anxclof pivoted away from the sight of Char staring in shock at the mysterious figure and opened a dark portal. With her nails tearing her palm open all over again, she dashed through, confusion and anger toward herself pulling her on.
She needed to figure this out.
As the tails of Anxclof's jacket disappeared into the shadows that had swallowed her up, Char redirected her attention to the newcomer, eyes wide. Shock at both the way Anxclof had spared her and what she alleged to be the identity of her savior permeated every ounce of her body, effectively drowning out the pain that still throbbed throughout her.
At the same time, though, joy tempered that surprise. Under any other circumstances she would be leaping to attention and into her battle stance at the sight of that infamous black cloak, but no other Organization member used the kind of attack that this person had just distracted Anxclof with.
"Ri –?" she got out.
Immediately, the figure put a finger to his lips. Char quickly silenced herself. Suddenly aware of how she must look – on her knees, half bleeding her life out on the floor, supporting herself with one sword – she lurched to her feet, summoning every iota of concentration she had left to mentally order her weapons to vanish.
The young man flicked his wrist and tossed something at her. She barely caught it with both hands, made clumsy by the waning adrenaline from the battle. When she opened her hand, she saw a bottle-like container filled with golden fluid, whose heat she could feel even through the glass. Sora had not found one of these on this journey yet, but she knew its name: it was an Elixir.
She uncorked the stopper with a trembling hand and tipped it back to slide some of it down her throat. It felt warm and reassuring, and she felt the majority of her wounds and the bruising along her ribs vanish almost at once. A sigh of relief escaped her as she lowered it, only to see her savior turn on his heel and start toward the dark portal he had just summoned.
"Riku, wait!" she tried to shout, but he had already disappeared.
Staring at the spot where he had stood, she huffed indignantly, pushing the stopper back onto the Elixir. Already, she felt well enough to be annoyed, she reflected; that had to be a good sign. "Thanks," she murmured, only half grumpily.
Pocketing the remains of the healing item, she turned toward the exit to the room. She allowed herself to take in the greater amount of debris than before; the way the gamma rays had ripped the tile of the floor to reveal the concrete beneath; the amount of blood from both human and Nobody alike that littered the ground.
And suddenly, a breathless grin overtook her countenance.
Yes, Anxclof had escaped; but the pure confusion that had overtaken her expression told Char that the female Nobody would not plague her and Sora for a while yet. As much as the redhead did not want to let her guard down now, she figured Anxclof would need a little while to figure out why she had chosen to spare her.
Not that I'm complaining.
At any rate, though, now she could get back to Sora. Char chuckled to herself; knowing Key-boy, he had probably eradicated most of the Heartless by now.
Still, though, she had stuck with him this far. She might as well keep going.
Her footsteps echoed loudly as she dashed off through the corridors.
Sora had known Hollow Bastion was about to be overrun by darkness – the sight of it from the Gummi ship window had told him that much – but he hadn't anticipated anything like this.
He brought a hand up over his eyes to see better from the limited vantage point that his position offered him. From the very bottom of the bailey, where he currently stood, he could just get a glimpse of the Great Maw, the ravine far below that surrounded Maleficent's castle. The blue rock that made up its area almost drowned in the sea of shadows and off-white that had overtaken it, unbroken but for the occasional sight of pink – Aerith – or the silver glint of a blade. Whether that blade belonged to Leon, Cloud, or even one of the Heartless, Sora did not know.
Although his hopes of not getting close to the site of so many bad memories were for nothing, he found himself unable to think about that. Instead, worry for his friends, who were undoubtedly fighting the masses of darkness that he could see below, consumed him.
"Whoa…" he murmured aloud.
Behind him, Donald scrabbled forward to get a better view. "Let me see, let me see!" he squawked, pushing himself forward against Sora's leg with the hand that wasn't gripping his staff. However, the duck's annoyance at his height keeping him from seeing what so concerned Sora petered off immediately, and Donald could only stare with wide, dread-filled eyes. "Uh-oh," he gulped.
"Leon and the others have to be down there!" Goofy said, hefting his shield.
"You're right," Sora said with a nod. He spared a glance back over his shoulder at the dog and felt a sudden pang assail his chest: not just at his ally's obvious determination, but at the fact that Char still hadn't returned yet.
Earlier, they had left the postern and reached the construction site, only to find a series of Nobodies had surrounded Aerith and Leon. Sora had distracted himself with taking down the Nobodies, only dimly noting Char's absence in the heat of battle as Aerith and Leon had escaped.
Now, the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee – along with Cloud and Tifa, as Leon had told Sora with a soft undertone of irritation to his voice – fought fiercely to drive back the threat to their home. Thinking about this, Sora couldn't help but wonder if he could have saved Destiny Islands if he had the power they had back when it happened.
He shook the question, and the near-crippling sorrow that came with it, away. This wasn't the time to drown in regret; his friends needed him.
"Let's go," he told Donald and Goofy.
The two Disney residents nodded. Donald swung his staff around threateningly, and a few sparks flew off its broom-like tip, as though even the weapon eagerly desired this battle. "We'll drive off the Heartless and the Nobodies!" the mage growled.
"Yeah, and help the King out, too," Goofy added, his eyes narrowed in a rare display of belligerence.
Heartened by his friends' resolve, Sora lifted the blue Keyblade – which he had dubbed Photon Debugger, after a process within the virtual world that Tron had told him about – and placed it over his shoulder. Although the waves of Heartless and Nobodies below seemed daunting, the brunette knew his and his companions' combined strength could take them down.
For a moment, he considered uttering the obligatory question as to whether or not his comrades felt prepared for this; then realized there was no point.
"Leon… we're on our way!" he whispered.
He made as if to charge toward the broken stairwell that led from here down to the ruined green-and-blue courtyard below, only to leap back with a start as a small, dark shape leaped in front of him. The large, round ears that topped its head revealed it as the King.
"Your Majesty!" Donald gaped.
Mickey did not turn to face them, only putting two black-clad arms out to block their path. As tiny as he was, the gesture served its purpose, startling the trio into staying where they stood. "Uh, Highness?" Goofy asked.
"You guys have to get out of here and find Riku and Kairi!" Mickey commanded, still keeping his back to them. "We'll take care of things here!"
Sora's eyes widened, and the arm that had slung the Photon Debugger over his shoulder dropped back to his side. His senses registered the sound of the Keyblade's shaft hitting the ground, but he ignored it. "What?" he gasped. "But – Leon and the others are friends, too!"
And I left Char behind back there, he thought with a wave of trepidation. If we leave now… I'll never get her back.
"Don't worry," the mouse said, casting a glance at them over his shoulder. Although his tone carried no small amount of firmness, Sora could see the sympathy on his face even from here, and realized Mickey knew how much they wanted to stay. Perhaps he had already gathered the reason why they had had to leave Char behind. "There's already lots of help here," he went on.
"But… I promised Leon…" Sora argued weakly, hanging his head. "And… and Char…"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Donald and Goofy move closer, as if to reassure him. However, they quickly shot to attention as Mickey spoke their names. "Donald, Goofy! Take Sora and get goin'!"
As much as Sora wanted to disobey Mickey's orders, he knew the king had a point. If he got overwhelmed by the hordes of Heartless that waited beyond the bottom of the broken stairwell in front of them, aided by the Keyblade as he was… The brunette did not want to consider it.
Lifting his head, he cast his gaze at the sky above. In the time they had spent in the virtual world, heavy clouds had gathered, foreshadowing a storm ahead. Just beyond those clouds, Riku and Kairi undoubtedly waited for him – the very people whose memories pushed him on, the goals he sought along the way of this long-winded, danger-filled journey.
But that still didn't mean he wanted to forsake the friends he had made along the way.
"Riku, Kairi, Char… give me a little more time, okay?" he murmured, almost not realizing he had spoken his thoughts aloud. The hand that wasn't covering his Keyblade's hilt went over his heart as it twinged inside his chest.
He could not see Donald and Goofy give silent starts behind him, then exchange a tentative glance. "Sora…" Goofy whispered, bringing a hand over the bottom half of his face and curling his fingers against his chin.
Donald, however, had a look that suggested he was weighing the possible outcomes of something. An instant later, the thoughtfulness transformed into fierce determination, and he and Goofy gave each other resolute nods. "Understood, Your Majesty!" Donald said to Mickey's back.
"We'll go look for Riku and Kairi!" Goofy added.
That got Sora's attention. He looked frantically from one animal to the other and back again. "Guys!" he cried.
"Right," Mickey said, his head moving as he scanned the area below for any Heartless that might decide to jump out at them. "Watch for danger!"
"You be careful, too," Donald advised.
"What's wrong with you?" Sora asked incredulously, turning to them and holding his arms out in an imploring manner. "You know we can't leave Char here!"
Donald's gaze flicked over to him, a shadow of sympathy in those dark eyes; however, it disappeared quickly in favor of exasperation. "Sora, do as you're told."
"You're comin' with us whether you want to or not!" Goofy ordered.
Sora glared from Donald to Goofy, not sure how to respond to their sudden, patronizing attitude toward him. It rankled him to no end, in much the same way that the Organization members' condescending words had annoyed both Sora and Roxas.
"C'mon, Sora, you gotta be good!" Donald said. Then he winked at the Keybearer with a tiny, secretive smile.
It was that gesture that made Sora catch on to the ruse. He briefly looked over his shoulder at Mickey; to his relief, the mouse still had his back to them. Then Sora looked back at his companions, who now both had encouraging smiles on their faces. "Gotcha," was all he said, unable to suppress a grin of his own.
"Well then, let's skedaddle!" Goofy chirped. The overly cheerful tone to his voice should have given them all away, but thankfully Mickey did not seem to notice.
Seeing the way Donald and Goofy were so willing to disobey their king for him – to forsake the goal they had sought out with him – Sora felt a sudden surge of gratefulness toward them so strong that a lump materialized in his throat. Unable to speak, he simply mouthed "thank you" to them.
He turned to face the cliff-like drop that awaited before them. "Let's go!" Donald shouted, and the three of them rushed right past Mickey, who jolted with a start and stared in surprise at them.
Gripped by the sense of purposefulness that had taken over him, Sora eschewed running down the declivity connecting the bailey to the courtyard that led up to the ravine trail and the Great Maw. Instead, he chose to just leap, aided by the jumping abilities that the Valor Form had given him.
He landed on the broken bricks that preceded the square-shaped marking at the center of the clearing; the alighting was somewhat clumsy due to both his eagerness and the uneven surface, so he nearly stumbled before righting himself. "Sorry, Your Majesty!" he shouted breathlessly to the gaping monarch above, before running further into the courtyard area.
"Hope you can forgive us!" Goofy called contritely, tossing a salute over his shoulder as he followed with Donald at his side.
Mickey watched them go, an almost sad smile coming over his face. "I figured they would choose that," he mused to himself. He found himself unable to truly chide them, though, even in his mind.
"Your Majesty!" a feminine voice suddenly sounded.
The king in question turned in time to see Char skid to a hasty stop. Her chest heaved as she sucked in the breath she needed due to having sprinted from the corridors to here, and some of her more onerous wounds from the fight with Anxclof were twinging, but other than that, she looked relatively unexhausted.
"Have you seen Sora and the others?" she asked breathlessly.
Mickey nodded. "Yeah, they're just over there," he explained, nodding to the drop in front of him.
Char grinned, already dashing forward without hesitation toward where Sora had just vanished. She threw a quick "thank you" over her shoulder at Mickey, even as she leaped over the precipice.
He sighed and shook his head in a mock-reproving manner. "Be careful, you four."
Sora came to a halt at the center of the courtyard and turned just as Donald and Goofy caught up to him. An uncontrollable grin had taken hold of his countenance. "I can't believe you guys did that!"
"Well, we wanna help Leon and Yuffie and the others out too, a-hyuck," the dog said, looking a little embarrassed.
"Like we wouldn't help you," Donald huffed. "All for one and one for all, right?"
Sora shook his head and laughed to himself. "Just… thanks, guys," he said.
"Aw, this is getting too sappy," the duck grumbled, but a significant amount of trembling marked his own voice as he turned away. "Let's just keep going!"
"Yeah, uh… this leads to the Great Maw, doesn't it?" Goofy queried, scratching his head.
Donald rolled his eyes at the knight. "We were only here a little while ago," he pointed out.
Goofy lifted his hands in a placating gesture. Sora looked on with amusement at his allies' familiar banter.
Suddenly, a thud from behind him sounded, making him turn. He clutched his Keyblade in preparation for the source to be a Heartless lighting down in front of him.
What he saw, though, nearly made him drop the Photon Debugger in shock.
Donald and Goofy stopped arguing to look toward the source of the noise as well, their eyes widening when they took in both the newcomer and their leader's surprise.
"Don't stare at me like that," Char growled, stepping closer. Sora could only look on, gaping, as she came to a stop directly in front of him. "You'll catch flies that way," she went on more gently, her ice-blue eyes locking on his. (5)
"You… you beat Anxclof?" was all the brunette could say.
Char blinked. "Something like that," she admitted, lowering her head and staring almost ashamedly at the ground.
Letting out a small sound, Sora reached forward with his free hand, only to drop it back to his side as she lifted her face to him again. "Either way, though, she won't be bothering us for a while," she said, lifting her chin almost triumphantly.
Sora couldn't help but smile at the sight of her typical cockiness, and a wave of relief struck him so powerfully it made him weak-kneed. Char was here; she had made it out, even with Anxclof's fury aiding the Nobody in combat. And but for some blood stains on her jacket and what was visible of her white shirt beneath that jacket, she looked relatively unscathed.
Despite her show of smugness, though, a tiny tremble shook through her voice, and the feeling that had caused it intensified when she realized how close she had come to dying at Anxclof's blade. How close Anxclof had come to killing Sora.
How close Char had come to losing him.
The thought made something akin to terror form in her chest. It was idiotic – the threat had vanished, she told herself in an attempt at firmness, and that should have been that – and yet the emotion remained.
Sora had only a small murmur from her as warning before she collapsed onto him and he suddenly found himself supporting her.
His mind shut down, and his heart seemed to have decided to make up for the absence by kicking itself into overdrive. The Keybearer heard Donald and Goofy cry out in surprise behind him, but couldn't quite process the sounds.
In an instant, though, he realized he could feel something soaking into where her face had landed against his shoulder.
Immediately, his mind woke up enough to put a name to that moisture. And yet at the same time, he could not fathom it. Char had never cried at all on this journey; why she would do it now was beyond him.
Maybe it was because no one else could see it.
The thought almost coaxed tears of his own to his eyes. In the end, though, all he did was mentally order the Photon Debugger to vanish so he could bring up his hands to return her hold. One rested carefully against the middle of her back, while the other chose to place itself against the back of her neck only when she failed to pull away or admonish him. He could feel the section of her hair that swept over the back of her neck beneath the latter hand, and upon flexing his fingers could further feel the softness of the crimson strands.
Almost without realizing it, he murmured softly into her ear, waiting for the storm to calm. Inwardly, he reflected that while Char was strong, this was one moment of weakness that wouldn't occur again for a long while.
Under any other circumstances, this would cause no small amount of discomfort for him; he remembered when she had hugged him right after returning him to normal at Disney Castle as an example of that. Right now, though, he only felt warmth, and the desire to reassure her that had filled him during this entire visit to Hollow Bastion.
If he'd doubted his feelings for her before, then that skepticism had vanished entirely now.
Behind him, Donald and Goofy exchanged amused glances. Neither teen noticed the Disney residents' smugness in their embrace, but Sora did hear the whooshing sound behind him. He let go of Char just enough so he could turn and see what had caused it. Even as Donald squawked in surprise, though, Sora was startled enough to move out of Char's hold entirely.
Because the tendrils of darkness that were just disappearing revealed none other than the Organization member who had appeared to them in the Underworld.
Immediately, the part of Sora that remembered Roxas' past got to work identifying the Nobody. The mental search yielded the name Demyx, even as the mullet-haired young man made a noise of preparation and got into a pose of readiness.
Char stiffened on Sora's other side, instinctively bristling at the sight of the dark cloak that she was so unfortunately familiar with. "You know this guy?" she hissed into Sora's ear, her waning irritation toward herself at her prior moment of weakness dying down entirely in favor of wariness.
Sora nodded, not taking his eyes off Demyx. "Yeah, he was messing around in the Underworld," he explained in a low voice.
"Hey, you guys are looking lively!" the Nobody greeted cheerfully, putting a hand on his hip and waving to them.
"Scram!" Donald barked, brandishing his staff threateningly.
Demyx blinked in response, an almost hurt look coming over him. "That's not very nice," he said, folding his arms. "All I did was say hi. Speaking of which," he suddenly turned to Sora, and Char immediately stepped a little ways in front of the Keybearer, who looked too startled to speak, "Roxas, how have you been doing?"
Sora narrowed his eyes. "I thought we already had this conversation. My name's Sora."
"Right, right…" Demyx grinned sheepishly, though a glimmer of what looked like wistfulness crossed his gaze. (6) Belatedly, Sora remembered the days Roxas had spent teasing Demyx with Axel and Anxclof at his side.
He pushed the warmth and hesitation that were growing inside him aside, though, refusing to let memories of a life he had never lived cloud his judgment. "My question would have to be, how'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?"
Demyx reared back, waving his arms out in front of him in an odd gesture.
Sora folded his arms, refusing to let his guard down in front of the Organization member. "I bet you can't even fight," he taunted.
"Yeah," Char growled, "but we can."
Demyx brought a finger out in front of him and shook it reprovingly at them. "You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance."
"Really?" Donald asked, waving his staff. In tandem with his words, Sora, Goofy, and Char whipped out their respective weapons of Keyblade, shield, and dual blades.
The Nobody recoiled at the sight of the four of them, then turned away, drawing himself up in a deceptively determined gesture. He groaned to himself, propping one elbow up against his other arm so he could cover his face with the hand attached to that elbow. "I told them they were sending the wrong guy..."
Char raised one eyebrow, speaking what they all were thinking. "Who is this kook?"
"Well, the Organization's made up of Nobodies," Goofy reminded her, taking her question a little too literally.
"Of course I know that; I grew up with their founders, remember?" Char returned her glare to Demyx, who still stood with his back to them. "Of course, none of the Organization have hearts anymore."
Her words seemed to have struck a nerve, for Demyx immediately pivoted back around to face them. "Oh, we do too have hearts!" he disagreed. "Don't be so mad."
Char huffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, whatever," she scoffed. "I suppose that's why when you get torn open by Heartless, your heart is the first thing they take."
"You can't trick us!" Donald spat, pointing accusingly with the hand that wasn't holding the broom staff.
A few moments of silence passed, during which Demyx remained eerily silent. When he turned to face them, however, Sora started at the complete disappearance of any of his prior amiableness. Instead, a dark look had come over him.
"Silence, traitor," he hissed, pointing right at Sora as he spoke.
Traitor? Sora thought, confused. As far as he knew, Roxas hadn't done anything in particular to betray the Organization.
Char sucked in a sharp breath beside him, but before Sora could ask her why she had done that, Demyx lowered his arm. Multiple veils of water droplets swirled around him, and when he threw up one gloved hand, the veil expanded into a full-on, translucent barrier of water that shone white where his hand made contact with its zenith. The water that made up the barrier flew into Demyx's hand, eventually coalescing into a large, dark bubble. An instant later, the bubble stretched out into many, much lighter ones that eventually materialized into a blue, guitar-like weapon.
Demyx flipped the guitar into his hand and pointed at Sora again, this time with an almost playful grin covering his countenance. Recognizing the unspoken command to ready for battle, Sora got into his stance.
"I hope you guys are ready," he called over his shoulder at his allies.
He didn't get a chance to hear their replies, for in the next moment, Demyx began frantically waving his fingers over the strings on his weapon.
"Dance, water, dance!"
Cliffhangers, yay! -shot dead-
(1) Yeah, uh... this was Sora getting close to realizing Char loves him back. Of course, he's an idiot, so he doesn't even think about it.
(2) Now get the most epic music in your iTunes library and PLAY IT REPEATEDLY. Cuz it's about to be a WHAT? - GIRLFIGHT! -killed for shameless reference-
(3) YMMV as to what Anxclof said here. I think of it as something like "you'll never know how much you hurt me," but you can take it any way you want. Cuz I'm not saying it. :3
(4) LAWL RIKU OBLIVION SEE WHAT I DID THAR
(5) Yes, I made Char repeat insane!Anxclof's line in chapter 54 on purpose. Why, you ask? To further outline their similarities, of course.
(6) In light of what Demyx said in the Underworld about this ("Roxas?" "Excuse me?" "Oh, it's no use"), this might seem a bit OOC, but remember how scatterbrained Demmy is. He probably just forgot that calling Sora "Roxas" won't work. XD
Huge mass of A/N's for the loss.
Next chapter, Sora and crew kill the Nobody of Copperhead's brother! 8O