Hey guys!
We're going to have a double update special this time, so put on some headphones and get comfortable. The real awesome happens at the end of next chapter; but the exposition and plottiness in this chap kind of leads up to that.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer- Don't own KH.
Sora sent a silent thanks up to whatever deity happened to be watching over them right now that Mickey had somehow managed to keep Xemnas busy while they had been fighting. The mouse stood before them with his Keyblade at the ready, and even from behind, Sora could see Mickey's tensed shoulders. Clearly, the king was prepared for Xemnas to do anything. Right now, though, the Organization leader only stood there, gazing out at the grotesque mossy skulls that surrounded Maleficent's castle and letting the paltry breeze stir his cloak and gray hair.
Appraising Xemnas, Sora narrowed his eyes and unconsciously clenched his fingers tighter around his Keyblade. Char's words from earlier about interrogating Xemnas on Riku and Kairi's whereabouts floated back into the brunette's mind, and he felt his heartbeat kick up with the force of how powerfully he wanted to know the answer. How badly he needed to know that his friends were still all right, that he still had something to fight for. Gods only knew where Kairi had disappeared to after that Organization member had kidnapped her in Twilight Town; and Riku…
Don't be so reckless. Do you want to end up like Riku?
"Your Majesty!" Donald cried as they ran up.
At once, Mickey whirled around to face them. "Everyone!" he said, eyes wide.
"Sorry we're late," Char said, stopping next to Goofy. "Those Heartless all jumped us right after we left." Even though she clearly addressed Mickey, her glower had honed in right on Xemnas. Sora recalled what she had said about the Organization sending Heartless into the worlds, and guessed she was even more furious at Xemnas for having sent all those robots to attack at once.
"None of you are hurt, are you?" Mickey's dark eyes were filled with concern.
"No." Donald shook his head and folded his arms. "It was a huge pain, though."
The king gave them a single, relieved nod, before the affection faded out of his countenance and he turned back to Xemnas. "Xehanort," he growled.
In response, the Nobody only chuckled, a low, oozing sound that made Sora shudder. "How long has it been since I abandoned that name?" he murmured.
"A little over a year, but who's counting?" Char hissed.
Sora glanced over at her, startled; he knew she didn't exactly like the Organization very much, but never before had he picked up so much pure venom in her voice. Then again, he had never exactly discussed the Organization in detail with her. Now that he knew her past with them, her anger toward them was a fitting reaction, after everything they had done.
Sora would have liked to think he wouldn't have felt the same, that his loyalty to his friends would keep him from hating them, but memories of his last journey and fighting Riku testified as to otherwise. He remembered feeling bemused and horrified and desperate to just get his best friend back from the vast gulf that had divided them and their means; remembered thinking that if he could just get Riku to work with him and Donald and Goofy, then they could get Kairi back together and go home.
But then Xehanort's Heartless had appeared, and made Sora realize this was so much bigger than just him and his two best friends.
Char had probably felt betrayed as well, and had a similar, jarring epiphany regarding her fellow apprentices when they had begun sending Heartless to the worlds. Sora fought back a wince; when he thought of it that way, it was no wonder she had been so reluctant to get close to him at first.
Xemnas actually deigned to turn and face them at the sound of Char's voice, a tiny smile settling on his face as he did so. "Charisa," he greeted in an almost cordial tone. "An unexpected pleasure, indeed."
"Oh, shut up," Char spat, pointing one sword at him. "Don't give me that 'unexpected pleasure' crap when you know what all you've taken from me. From us," she added pointedly, glancing over at Sora and the others.
Xemnas shook his head reprovingly. "'Us?' Never in my wildest dreams did I believe you would include yourself with the Keyblade wielder." His amber eyes settled on Sora, and the brunette forced himself to meet those gleaming orbs with a defiant glare of his own.
"Yeah, well, your dreams don't exactly reach very far, now do they?" Char lowered her sword, narrowing her eyes until they were little more than glittering ice-blue slits. "I promised someone I would stay with Sora."
Although she sounded determined enough, her voice trembled a little on the last part, almost as if she hesitated to say even this much. Sora had an instant to wonder why she would hesitate – she had basically told them everything they needed to know back in Ansem's study, after all – but then she shook her head and fixed a newly furious stare back on Xemnas. "Anyway, that's not the point. You guys have two of Sora's friends, don't you?"
Confused as Char's tentativeness had made him, her bringing up Riku and Kairi made Sora snap back to reality at once: their true enemy stood before them, more than likely with all the knowledge he would need to save his two closest friends. "Yeah," he said belligerently, summoning the Photon Debugger with a flash of light. "Where's Kairi? And where's Riku?"
Xemnas cocked his head to the side, one corner of his lips lifting upward in a mocking smile. "I know nothing of any Kairi," he replied.
"What…?" Sora got into his battle stance, fully ready to strike out. Clearly, the Nobody was lying. "Don't lie!" he shouted, but even with the knee-jerk false bravado controlling his every move he could hear himself falter. Hayner had told him a guy in a black cloak had taken Kairi from Twilight Town; surely there was no other place for him to take her but to the Organization's stronghold…?
Not a very organized Organization, he remembered scoffing back in Twilight Town, and suppressed a shiver when he realized that might be more accurate than he had first assumed.
As if Sora had never spoken, Xemnas continued, with that invisible puppeteer now moving to the other side of his face to complete his smirk. "As for Riku… Perhaps you should ask your King? Or maybe," he added suddenly, "the girl you seem to hold so dear?" His eyes locked right on Char as he spoke.
The response from both parties came almost instantaneously. Sora's eyes widened, and the arms that held his Keyblade lowered, making the Photon Debugger sag and drag against the blue dirt, before his concentration disappeared completely and the Keyblade with it; Char's eyebrows jumped before knitting together above icy eyes that had lost their glare, replaced only by pure fear that made her all but drop her swords.
Don't let him get to you, it's just a trick, Sora tried to tell himself. The words should have succeeded in palliating his fears and calming his roaring heartbeat – after all, Roxas' memories from the Organization told him of Xemnas' manipulative personality – but thinking of his other self having known and worked with this monster induced more nausea in him than anything else.
That, and Char's reaction revealed the truth more than words ever could have.
He glanced fearfully from her to Mickey and back again, only to give a start as the mouse suddenly shouted "Stop!" and induced a squawk of surprise from Donald. The brunette's surprise came just as much from the mouse's outburst as Donald's; in the heat of things, he had all but forgotten Donald and Goofy were still here.
However, these thoughts all but petered off when he followed Mickey's now-moving form and watched him barrel into the dark portal Xemnas had just summoned.
"Sora!" Goofy cried. "Hurry and jump –"
But the dog's words came too late; the swirling conglomeration of black and purple tendrils had vanished, taking both Nobody and monarch with it.
"…in," the knight finished pathetically.
Sora could only stare at where Xemnas had just stood, reaching out lamely with one hand as if Roxas would suddenly take over and open another door for them to follow. For a moment – just that tiny, infinitesimal sliver of an instant – the Keybearer allowed his desperation to take over his better judgment and strain for his Nobody's presence, for the power of the very adversary they were supposed to defeat.
Predictably, it didn't work.
"He's gone…" the Keybearer whispered, feeling something inside him break. Immediately, he felt himself try to cheer himself up – this wasn't exactly the last chance he would ever get to confront the jerk who had started all of this, after all – but that, too, sadly failed.
Maybe that was what knocked Sora's legs out from under him, forced him to the ground and pushed blurriness into his vision and made him pound his fist against the dirt like a child robbed of their favorite toy. Either way, the shadow of a tantrum ebbed when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He looked up, fist still hanging in midair, half expecting Char to be standing there with her palm pushed against his shoulder, even though this hand was much too large to be hers and wore full white gloves instead of half-gloved green. Goofy stared down at him, dark eyes shadowed with sympathy and pain for his friend. In the background, Char stood numbly, eyes fixed on the ground.
"Sora, Goofy…" Donald murmured. He seemed to have forgotten that Xemnas had accused Char of keeping still more secrets – something that he normally would have instantly jumped on and analyzed endlessly – in his sorrow.
Char didn't know whether to be grateful or terrified.
She continued to stare at the ground, as if she could find her salvation and not condemnation in the blue dirt whose shade so resembled Sora's eyes. Xemnas' words had caught her badly off guard; she hadn't thought that he would have known about Riku's little condition. The only way she could think of that Xemnas would already know was if Axel had somehow gone and told him about it. He might have realized what was going on when Riku had given Number VIII Namine to look after, as the silver-haired teen had told Char he would do before passing her off to Sora.
Char didn't think Axel carried that much loyalty to the Superior anymore, though, if he ever had. That had sputtered to a hasty stop when Xemnas had allowed Roxas to reunite with Sora.
So how…?
She dared look up, past the trio who currently stood huddled together in grief; even Donald had pushed aside any pretense of prickliness to stand on Sora's other side. Beyond that, though…
Surprise – and suspicious bemusement – seized her then, and made her step forward. "Guys, look," she said, pointing out to the clearing surrounding Maleficent's castle.
None of them turned in response to her words; she counted that as a blessing, considering the accusation, accompanied in Sora's case by sorrow, that she would likely find on their faces. However, they did stand as one, Goofy's hand sliding off Sora's shoulder in the process.
Sora surveyed the newfound emptiness around Maleficent's castle; before, Heartless and Nobodies had swarmed the valley and made it resemble little more than a trembling gray-and-white mass. Now, they had all vanished. The silence was a bit unnerving, really. Maybe Leon and the others had succeeded in wiping out the enemies in their town, but somehow, Sora couldn't believe that.
"What's goin' on?" Donald spoke what they all were thinking.
Coming up to stand beside them, Char shrugged helplessly.
"Way to fall right into their trap."
The arrogant masculine voice sounding from behind them made them all turn. Standing there, leaning against the cliff wall with his arms crossed, the very image of blasé, stood Axel, the man who, in another time, had been one of Roxas' best friends. Although his expression remained carefully neutral, his voice was filled with scathing, sarcastic approval.
"Especially you, Char," he continued, pushing off the rock face and striding toward them, an action that had the others bringing out their weapons in an instant. "I thought for sure you'd at least be smart enough to have figured it out."
"Figured what out?" Char asked, before remembering that was exactly what he had expected her to say and letting out a soft growl.
Axel sighed and shook his head in rebuke. "C'mon, this whole thing was set up by Organization XIII. Xemnas is using you –" here he fluttered four of his fingers at the group – "to destroy the Heartless. That's his big master plan."
"And why should we believe you?" Donald snarled.
That earned him an eye roll from the Flurry of Dancing Flames. "What could I possibly have to gain from lying to you?" he queried.
The duck opened his mouth, then closed it, as if realizing he was outmatched. With a grumble, he turned away, arms folded in a way that made the broom staff stick out from his chest.
Axel gave a slightly gratified nod before looking back to Sora. Those acid green eyes locked on his face, and the brunette fought back a shiver at how achingly familiar that gaze was. So many memories rushed into his mind at just seeing the man's face, and suddenly, Sora wasn't in Hollow Bastion, facing the possibility of never seeing his friends again. Suddenly, he was in a bright white castle, laughing and shoving Axel's shoulder; suddenly, he was at the top of Twilight Town's clock tower, eating sea-salt ice cream and reading the stick before throwing it away with vocal disappointment; suddenly, he was beating back Heartless with Axel and Anxclof at his side, smiling and making jokes at their fellow Nobodies' expense.
Suddenly, he was everywhere at once, and yet the next time he blinked, he was Sora again: Sora the savior, Sora the hero, Sora the breaking boy.
He realized, belatedly, that he could see many emotions flashing through Axel's face. Affection, anger, bitterness; but above all an aching longing so powerful that it seemed to stretch its fingers through the dirt and move from heartless being to human and permeate Sora from the inside out.
An instant later, though, Axel broke the spell by tearing his gaze away and moving past them. "But don't get me wrong," he said, turning as he finished speaking and smirking at the way he had fully captured the group's attention – especially Char, who had her brows furrowed not in horror now, but in thought. "It's not like the Organization wants to get rid of the Heartless."
"Uh, so what do they want to do?" Goofy asked, scratching his head with his free hand.
Good question, Sora thought, now more confused than ever. Char had already told him the Organization was sending Heartless into the worlds; what Axel was saying now turned every possible theory on its head. Sora had to laugh inwardly then, because the thought of theories was so similar to what probably ran through Char's mind right now; however, the amusement went away almost as quickly as it had come. If the Nobodies didn't want the Heartless gone, then what did they want?
Axel sighed. "Man, you're slow." He pointed to the Photon Debugger, which was still clenched in Sora's hands; Donald and Goofy followed his gaze, while Char continued to stare at Axel. "Every Heartless slain with that Keyblade releases a captive heart. That is what the Organization is after."
"What they're after?" Char murmured, slowly, digesting. Axel said nothing, only appraised her with an anticipatory air. Sure enough, within moments, a strangled gasp wrenched itself free from her, and her hand actually flew over her mouth with the force of her shock.
They're using us to feed Kingdom Hearts, she thought, the only words that even her mind could squeeze out around the weight of panic that had occupied it. That's why they've been sending all these Heartless out. They wanted Sora to kill them so we could help the process along. We've been playing into their hands the whole time.
"Char?" Sora asked, fear creeping into him at how pale she had gotten.
"I guess she's figured it out." Axel smirked. "Glad there's something else Ansem didn't tell you about, huh?"
That roused her; she jolted, let the hand over her mouth drop back to her side, glared at Axel. "That's a lie," she protested, though even now, the venom sounded more than a little forced. Frankly, it didn't surprise her that Ansem had already surmised the Organization's plans; he had seemed to know just about everything else to know about the Nobodies.
What surprised her was how much the fact of his withheld knowledge hurt, even more than seeing the virtual world he had developed had.
"So what are they going to do with the hearts?" Donald growled at Char.
She glanced over at the three of them, from duck to dog to boy. Impatient expectation; nervous curiosity; fear-filled dread. And irritatingly enough, just like always, Sora's hurt the most.
Suddenly unable to speak through the choked feeling in her throat, she only turned away, hearing Sora's startled murmur and Axel's chuckle. "Guess you're just going to have to find out for yourself, aren't you?"
Sora swerved around to glare at the Nobody; at that moment, though, something hit him with the force of a Heartless' talons. Fiery red hair, bright green eyes, teardrop tattoos…
He wanted to smack himself then, for letting Roxas' nostalgia cloud his own memories; because this man was exactly as Hayner had described him.
"You… you're the one who kidnapped Kairi!" Sora accused.
"Bingo," Axel purred. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"
Sora had to remind himself that the tall man probably didn't realize his name was more familiar than the brunette would have liked. Instead, he chose to renew his glower. "Where is Kairi?" he demanded.
Unexpectedly, the smug look dropped completely from Axel's face. Normally Sora would have welcomed that, except for the lack of verbal response that came with it.
At the sight of the usually-confident Nobody scratching his head and staring hesitantly at the ground – almost as if, he realized with a thrill of dread, he was trying to think of how best to word his answer – something broke inside Sora. Perhaps his pride, perhaps his strength; he only knew he just wanted his best friend back. "Please," he begged, "just tell me."
Behind him, Donald and Goofy exchanged a helpless glance. Char could only stare at the boy in front of her, listen to the raw despair in his voice, and fight back the urge to touch the Oathkeeper's Keychain still in her pocket. Suddenly, though, the desire wasn't born of jealousy or vexation; now, she only wanted to fling it at him, shake the stupid smiley-faced star charm in his face. Show him that Kairi was still here, if only spiritually.
Show him that he could still fight for the girl he loved.
The thought ushered in a rush of more agony than before – more than watching her friends die; more than being sympathetic toward Riku and Namine; more than finding out Ansem hadn't told her, his most trusted apprentice, everything; more than realizing the Organization's ultimate goal.
And right then and there, even though no one was watching, she had to crook her wrist over her eyes, pretend to be pinching the bridge of her nose, to hide the infuriating, abrupt, completely justified tears beginning to pile up at the back of her eyes.
Axel put his hands on his hips. Sighed, looked up at the sky, lowered his eyes again. "Look," he said, "about Kairi… I'm sorry. I was going to keep her safe, but then Saïx –"
"Axel!"
Immediately, Number VIII gave a start. "Uh-oh; there he is," he hissed, and a dark portal opened beneath him and swallowed him up.
Sora barreled forward heedlessly, but was immediately blocked by the newcomer's black-clad arm. Long blue hair swung as the Organization member from Twilight Town turned his head, fixing feral ochre eyes on them. "We'll ensure he receives the maximum punishment," he said.
"I don't care about any of that!" Sora cried, and Char's heart broke a little more at how he didn't even try to put up a determined front for his foe. "Just let me into the realm of darkness, okay?"
Saïx actually pivoted fully around at Sora's words. "If it's Kairi you're worried about," he said, spreading his arms with a flicker of a smile, "don't. We're taking very good care of her."
"Are you, really?" Donald muttered, but a look from Goofy silenced him.
Sora stared at the blue-haired man, breathing a little hard from the speed of his racing heartbeat. "Take me to her," he begged. "I need to see that she's okay."
Char's mind made a pitiful attempt at chalking the longing in his voice up to his strong friendship with Kairi before sputtering out and giving in to despondence.
Fine blue eyebrows went up over golden eyes. "Is she that important to you?"
"Of course she is!" Sora said, and the look on his face made Char press her wrist even harder over her streaming eyes. "She's one of my best friends!"
"Then show me how much," Saïx said without batting an eye.
Something inside Char twisted then, because she had had quite a similar thought earlier on board the Gummi ship. Briefly, the bitter irony of her thinking the same as Saïx – the man who, if she thought about it, was her possible Nobody's replacement in the Organization – moved across what rational thought hadn't been torn apart by grief.
Sora blinked. Looked down at the ground, then back up at Saïx. Even though Char stood a ways away from him, she swore she heard him let out a soft sigh.
Then he knelt down on his hands and knees in front of the blue-haired bastard.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy cried simultaneously.
"The hell do you think you're…?" Char managed.
What was visible of that spiky brown head tilted a little to the side, as if acknowledging their disbelief, before returning to its original position.
"Please," Sora repeated, quietly, pleadingly. Sorrowfully.
Char didn't think she could hurt any more if she had fought a thousand more of those Heartless.
Saïx watched the boy in front of him, amber eyes glinting and head tilted a bit to the side. It almost made Char wonder if he was remembering having felt this exact same dedication toward someone. Somehow, she doubted it, but it was a nice thought.
"So," he said at last, "you really do care for her. In that case…"
Sora's fingers clenched into fists against the ground, every ounce of his mind praying fervently, painfully, that Saïx would give in.
"…the answer is no."
His hope collapsed then, replaced by a fiery anger that filled his veins and made him leap up at once. "You rotten –!" he shouted, unable to think of an insult that fully encapsulated all he felt.
"What's the matter with you?" Donald spat, shaking his staff, apparently too angry to muster the concentration necessary to cast. Goofy said nothing, but his eyes were narrowed and the hand on his shield had clenched so tightly that his veins showed even through his bright white glove.
Char managed to pull herself together long enough to allow fury on Sora's behalf to seep into her. Her wrist fell back down to her side, and although she knew the effect was dulled by her wet cheeks and overly bright eyes – a fact that made her cringe inwardly – she fixed a watery glare on Saïx nonetheless. "Bastard," was all she could get out, but it more than conveyed how she felt.
Saïx raised his eyebrows. "Are you angry? Do you hate me?"
That's the general idea here, Char thought, but said nothing.
"Then take that rage," he went on, "and direct it at the Heartless." He snapped his fingers; in the next instant, a circle of the robot Heartless dropped down from the translucent orbs that heralded their appearance.
Instinctively, Sora went into his battle stance, before remembering that fighting the Heartless would only be helping the man who had so coldly denied him. Wavering, he looked from one robot to another, suddenly completely lost.
Thankfully, though, the Heartless did nothing, only stood there swaying back and forth around the man who had summoned them. Saïx spread his arms again and stared up at the cloudy sky.
"Pitiful Heartless," he reflected, "mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet they know not the true power of what they hold. The rage of the Keyblade releases those hearts. They gather in darkness, masterless and free… until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts."
He lowered his head and gazed at Sora, whose face had suddenly lit up with the same realization that Char had had earlier. "And when that time comes," the Nobody said, "we can truly, finally exist."
"Exist?" Sora whispered.
"What in the world do you think you're prattling on about?"
Both brunette and redhead alike turned just in time to see the blaze of emerald flame fade and reveal Maleficent, who gave Saïx a scornful look. "Kingdom Hearts belongs to me," she hissed. "The heart of all kingdoms, the heart of all that lives… A dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be my dominion!" As she finished, a smirk covered her face and she spread her arms wide.
Quickly recognizing what she was about to do, Char demanded, "Don't do that! Don't summon any more Heartless!"
Maleficent took one look at her – I must be looking pretty pathetic right about now, Char realized with a surge of self-deprecation – and snorted. "Fool. I do not take orders from a sniveling child like you."
The moniker surprised Sora, and he turned to exchange a glance with Char. However, he did not expect the sight that greeted him: tear-stained cheeks, icy eyes stained a shade that all but rivaled his own…
"Are you okay?" he asked, confused. It was a stupid question, but he couldn't think of anything else to say, as he couldn't fathom why she would cry now of all times.
To her credit, Char actually managed to lock eyes with him for all of two seconds before looking away. Humiliation at his seeing her like this – the very thing she was trying to avoid – pounded along her spine and spurred her into recovering more quickly from her little moment of heartbreak.
She only got an instant to dwell on it before movement in Saïx's direction made her glance over. True to her word, Maleficent had summoned a group of small, armor-clad Heartless around Saïx.
"Uh-oh," Goofy gulped, while Donald just gripped his staff with a tight-knuckled hand.
Saïx glanced around at the armored Heartless in light amusement. "Fool." With another snap of his fingers, he summoned forth a group of Dusks, which slid forward and sliced the Heartless in half with one stroke of their oddly-sharp feet.
No pink hearts floated upward from where the Heartless had been, Sora noted with a sinking heart. So… the Keyblade really does release those hearts after all.
His resignation quickly turned to dread when the Dusks turned their sights toward him. Before they could attack, however, a burst of bright green fire announced Maleficent's appearance in front of Sora and his companions.
The witch put both hands on her staff and lifted it high; her entire body glowed with her trademark green flame before she spread both arms in the air. With a loud noise, a wall of emerald and black fire rose up, dividing her and Saïx from Sora's group.
"Maleficent!" Donald shouted.
"While I keep these creatures at bay," she said, not even looking at them, "you four devise a way to vanquish them – forever!"
Sora blinked, but before he could say anything, the Dusks leaped upon her. Through the wall of fire, the Keybearer could discern the off-white of the Nobodies all but enveloping the witch's dark frame, and shuddered at the memory of how just brushing against one Dusk offered an uncomfortable, rubbery texture.
"Do not misunderstand me," Maleficent went on. "I shall have my revenge on you yet."
Char raised one eyebrow. "How nice."
"Leave! Now!" the witch barked, even as more Nobodies stretched themselves over her.
Sora narrowed his eyes. "I don't take orders from you!" he mocked, but the repetition of the line was lost on Maleficent. The wall of green fire faded, fully revealing the sight of all the Dusks piled on top of each other with no witch beneath. Somehow, though, Sora couldn't bring himself to think they had just smothered her; she had probably teleported somewhere at the last second, when their forms could stifle the fire that announced her arrival and departure.
Apparently, Saïx didn't share the brunette's convictions, because he merely gave a subdued smile. "Now then, where were we? Oh yes." With another snap of his fingers, the Dusks had vanished, and more robot Heartless had taken their place.
The four of them fell into their typical formation, looking uncertainly around at all the Heartless. Char noted that none of them had attacked yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time until Saïx stopped controlling them long enough for them to follow their instincts. Nervously, she shifted her blades in her hands; just the thought of helping the Organization nauseated her, but if they didn't fight back…
She swore under her breath in a way that made Goofy look over in mild alarm. It was just like Xemnas, to play off Sora's desire to save all the worlds from the Heartless in order to fill their Kingdom Hearts and accomplish their goals. "Truly and finally existing" aside, filling the worlds with Heartless led to more harm than good, and revenge aside, she knew she hated the Nobodies for Sora's sake as well.
Of course, that led to thinking of everything else she had done for his sake, for a boy who likely would never feel the same way, and that led to a whole mess of self-loathing, hormone-forsaking thoughts. So she did what she did best and left it alone.
"Whose side are you guys on, anyway?" Donald yelled.
Saïx shrugged. "The Heartless ally with whoever's the strongest."
He swept out his hand, and at the signal, two of the robots leaped forward. Without thinking, Sora lashed out with the Photon Debugger, striking down both of them and sending their bright pink burdens floating up into the clouds.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy cried.
"I'm sorry!" Sora protested. "Force of habit, is all."
His heart sank as he watched the two hearts float up, up, up, before disappearing into the blanket of clouds above. As though they were some sort of stimulus, the rain that had been contained all day began to fall, and Sora shivered at the cold, wet drops that landed on his head.
Saïx ignored the weather change, and only watched the sky with a triumphant smile. "Yes, Sora; extract more hearts," he purred.
Sora whirled to give the Nobody a piece of his mind; but, like Axel before, darkness swallowed him up, leaving the group alone with the Heartless.
The four of them moved closer together, backs eventually brushing as the Heartless charged in from all sides. Bitter déjà vu flashed through Sora's mind – this was the battle with all those Heartless all over again – but he managed to push it aside to block one robot's blade.
He stared into those preternatural golden eyes and tried not to shiver. In the past, he would have batted these Heartless aside without a second thought; he had always been under the impression that the Keyblade had come to him for that very purpose, after all.
But now…
The rage of the Keyblade releases those hearts.
Xemnas is using you to destroy the Heartless.
They weave together to make Kingdom Hearts.
And even though Sora knew his despair was the last thing his companions' precarious resolve needed, his thoughts still spilled forth nonetheless, unable to be contained within the conduit of his mind.
"Maybe everything we've done… maybe it was all for nothing," he murmured.
"What?" Donald gasped, arms trembling violently under the weight of a robot's blade against his brittle staff. Even the one word was wrought with frustration; knowing he couldn't fight back had to be incredibly vexing for the duck.
"Don't ever say that!" Char shouted. "Even with what you learned today, think of everyone else you've helped. Think of all the people who would've died if you'd just let the Heartless go!"
Sora shook his head, even as a brand new bolt of alarm shook through him. Even on his last journey… Had he been helping the Organization unwittingly even then? Even before he had been aware of their very existence?
"But…" He trailed off, shoving the robot Heartless back; it stumbled away, but didn't falter in the slightest, instead charging at Goofy. The knight could only hide behind his shield, and the edge of the Heartless' blade buried itself into the bright green shell.
"What am I supposed to do if I can't use the Keyblade?" Sora wondered, but the words came out in a broken whisper.
He looked around at all his friends, who were doing an admirable job of keeping the Heartless at bay. But he knew they couldn't just parry blows and dodge attacks forever.
And exhausted as they all were already…
"Imbeciles!" Maleficent's voice snarled, startling them all badly. The brunette jerked his head up from where it had started to hang on his shoulders, looking around for the source of her voice; Donald let out a "wak!" and glanced about; Char's eyes widened; even Goofy peeked up from behind his shield. Try as they did, though, they could not find where the witch's voice originated; it seemed to reverberate all around them. "You can't be trusted to do anything right!"
"Huh?" Sora looked down just in time to see a puddle of darkness open up beneath them. The same moment he registered surprise at the sight of it, he began to feel the darkness sucking at his feet.
He had just enough time to hear the others' startled cries before the darkness pulled them all under.
When Sora opened his eyes, he briefly had the notion that he'd gone blind. Only darkness permeated his vision, but when he looked down, he could see the Keyblade had vanished.
He stood and surveyed the area, spotting his three companions walking toward him in an instant. "Good thing you woke up," Goofy said.
Sora acknowledged the dog's grateful words with a nod, then asked, "What is this place?"
Char shrugged. "Don't know. I just remember Maleficent talking, and then falling down here…"
Her voice trailed off, and Sora could almost hear her mentally deducing that Maleficent must have taken them here.
"It must be the realm of darkness," he realized. Frantically, he glanced about. "Kairi? Riku?"
"Your Majesty?" Goofy added tentatively.
"Well if it is the realm of darkness," Char said irritably, "yell a little louder, why don't you? I don't think the Organization heard you."
For some reason the abrasiveness in her voice struck a chord of annoyance within Sora, especially in light of what Xemnas had said about her possibly knowing Riku's fate. The brunette folded his arms and opened his mouth to speak, but then Donald suddenly cried out and pointed.
"Who's there?" the mage shouted. Following the duck's gaze, Sora caught sight of silvery chains and saw a dark-cloaked Organization member standing there, holding a white box.
"Told you," Char muttered.
When she spoke, the Nobody tilted its hooded head to the side; and was it just Sora, or did a small, breathed chuckle, audible only due to the dead silence of this place, come from its direction?
Then the figure leaned down and placed the white box on the ground, before backing away and lifting one arm. "Stop!" Donald squawked, already dashing toward the figure; but a current of dark blue fire had already sprung up from the ground and swallowed the dark-clad person.
Char stared at where they had been, slightly confused. She doubted that any of the Organization members would leave without at least taunting her a little bit; it was an aggravating fact of life, but it still remained a fact, and this Nobody had left without saying anything. In fact, she could have sworn it had laughed at her before…
Her head angled slightly downward, allowing her hair to obscure the side of her face, and she allowed a small smile to twitch at her features as the pieces fell into place. Riku. Of course. This wouldn't be the first time he had appeared to her today, she thought – and her bruises from the battle with Anxclof began to ache anew at the memory – why would it be the last?
Which begged the question as to what was in that box he had left…
Almost against her better judgment, she strode forward and picked up the box. "Uh," Goofy began bemusedly, "are you sure you wanna open…"
But it was too late; Char had already lifted the lid and tossed it on the ground. Sora's eyes jumped from the bright white lid's trajectory back up to her again when she let out a surprised murmur.
Curious, he moved closer, trying to ignore the way his nose practically brushed against her hair as he looked over her shoulder. This is not the time for that, he had to remind himself, especially when that cinnamon scent wafted across his senses.
"Let me see; let me see!" Donald squawked from below, even as Goofy walked up on Char's other side and peered into the box. On top lay a photograph of the group from Twilight Town – the virtual one, at least, Char recognized.
She didn't know how Riku had found a picture that still had Roxas in it, but there it was: Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas, standing in front of the Twilight Town mansion. Seeing the four of them together, along with the place where she had lived for a year, sent a rush of powerful nostalgia flowing so powerfully through her it almost staggered her. So much had changed, since that week Roxas had spent running around in his cage and facilitating Sora's return.
First and foremost being that he had reunited with his Other, and that the boy Char loved stood beside her instead of having just vanished.
"Hey look, it's the gang from Twilight Town!" Goofy said. "There's Hayner, Pence, Olette, and, uh…" He trailed off, clearly recognizing the hairstyle from the brief time he had spent with the blonde boy in the Pride Lands, but saying nothing.
"Roxas," Sora finished quietly. My Nobody.
Roxas looked so happy in this picture, he saw; a genuine smile had embedded itself on the blonde's features, a sight Sora had only ever witnessed in his recollections of Roxas' days with Axel and Anxclof. He didn't understand why Hayner and the others had never mentioned being with Roxas to him, though; surely Sora's similarity to his Nobody was something they would have brought up at some point? Still, at least it explained the longing feeling Sora always felt around the Twilight Town trio – longing and nostalgia and a tentative sense of affection, as though the part of him that was Roxas knew that he could never see the hot-headed boy and easygoing girl and photo-loving boy again.
Those feelings rose up within Sora now, seeming to cry out and claw at the fetters that chained him to Sora's heart alone until Sora swore he could feel the weight of his spiky hair lessening and becoming more gelled. With some difficulty, he shook the sensation off.
Char looked over her shoulder at Sora, her heart only stuttering for an instant at how she almost brushed noses with him in the process. "Hey…" she began, the hand that didn't hold the box already groping for his.
Hating that she didn't know what else to say, she met his gaze just as her fingers brushed against the fabric of his half glove. Before she could shift her grip downward to twine with his fingers, though, he beat her to it. They stared at each other for a moment, but before anything could happen other than Char's heartbeat ramping up to an uncontrollable state, the box suddenly shifted in her hand.
She looked over just in time to see Donald getting down from his tip-toes with the other gift inside the box in hand. Just the sight of the bright blue sea-salt ice cream bar made mild nausea roar through her stomach; spending a year in Twilight Town had given her enough of those to last her a lifetime.
"Ice cream?" Donald muttered, and took a bite out of the top.
"Are you sure you wanna eat… that?" Goofy finished lamely.
The duck smacked his bill for a moment, eyes widening. "Salty…" he said, only to frown and stare at the ice cream bar. "No…"
"Sweet," Char finished. "Right?"
Donald gave her a slightly grudging look. "Yeah. How'd you know?"
"I had a ton of these back when I lived in Twilight Town," Char explained. "It's sort of a local delicacy."
Sora gave an "oh," at the same time noticing they had never let go of each other's hands. He didn't mind it, though; even though every fiber of his being was screaming she probably knows about Riku, she didn't tell you the whole truth, let go of her, surprisingly, no thoughts of Kairi plagued him.
A bright light suddenly rent the air, nearly blinding all four of them; Char dropped the box, causing the photograph of Roxas and his friends to fall to the ground, in order to shield her eyes properly. When their eyes grew accustomed to the new light, however, they all saw it was coming from the half-eaten ice cream bar.
Donald let out a disappointed sound – clearly he had wanted to eat the rest of the bar – while Char raised an eyebrow. "Okay, my sea-salt ice cream bars never did that." She glanced over at Sora. "Key-boy? I think that's your cue."
With a start, Sora realized she was right; this was typical of every other time he had opened a gate to new worlds. Relief washed over him, because if he could open a gate even here, then that meant they could retrieve the Gummi ship from where it waited in that alley in the marketplace and get out of here.
He stepped out of Char's hold and lifted his Keyblade. In response to some unspoken command, a beam of light shot out and made contact with the ice cream in midair; the meeting lights swirled together to create a Keyhole-shaped rip in the darkness above, revealing the clouds of the world between worlds just beyond.
Sora glanced over at Donald a little sheepishly, lowering the Photon Debugger as he did so. "Uh, Donald? Do you think maybe you could… bring the Gummi ship back here?"
"I'm on it," the duck grunted, lifting his staff with a look of mild doubt on his face, as if he didn't believe this measly broom could accomplish it. Char blinked, wondering how just his magic alone could summon the Gummi ship; then again, he had already turned them into animals and given the original trio the ability to swim and breathe underwater, so this wasn't that much of a stretch.
She laughed mentally; every nuance of this journey was definitely rubbing off on her more than she had first assumed. When she had made that fateful promise to Riku, she had certainly never anticipated all this changing her as much as it had.
But it had. And the stranger thing was that she had managed to work with it.
True to Donald's word, soon an overly bright vessel floated through the Keyhole-shaped space, just barely managing to squeeze through. Sora cheered and let out an "All right!" while Donald just looked surprised, then triumphant. "I told you I could do it," he said smugly.
"C'mon, let's go," Goofy said.
Sora nodded. "Right. Riku and Kairi are waiting for us."
The words carried more conviction than he would have thought. But it was the only hope he had left, and he would cling to it, Nobodies or not.
Donald and Goofy gave their own nods in return before moving toward the Gummi ship, which had already lighted down. Sora watched the duck strain to reach the button that would lower the ship's ramp before Goofy helped out and pressed it; the two Disney residents started up the ramp and into the ship.
Before he followed, though, he looked at Char, who still stood there staring out at the impregnable darkness. "Char?" he called out to her.
She jumped visibly and turned to face him, the remnants of a contemplative expression sluicing off her face. "Sorry," she said quickly. "I just… I was looking for Riku and Kairi a little more, is all."
"Oh." Sora stopped, not knowing what else to say.
As for Riku, Xemnas whispered in the back of his mind, perhaps you should ask your King. Or maybe the girl you seem to hold so dear?
No. Sora pushed the thought aside, the thought she's still lying she still has secrets you need to know you need to know. Xemnas had been lying, trying to work his way into the newly-repaired trust between them and cut the formerly-frayed friendship apart. It was a lie; that was it.
Still…
Riku, the redhead had whispered in her sleep that day. Sora was sure of it.
He looked up, only to recoil slightly when he found said redhead standing only a foot or so in front of him. "What?" he asked.
Char huffed and rolled her eyes. "I said, take it." She poked his stomach with the photograph of Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas. "Maybe later down the road we can bring this to Twilight Town and ask about it."
Although her words sounded firm enough, a shadow crossed her eyes as she spoke, as though she didn't quite believe what she was saying. Nevertheless, Sora bobbed his head up and down in acquiescence, taking the photo and placing it in the pocket with his Keychains. A moment later, he realized he was still holding the Photon Debugger, and quickly brought it back down to Keychain form so he could pocket that as well.
"Thanks," he said, smiling. "Let's go."
Char gave a brisk nod, but her lips were quirked upward as well. "Right."
For a moment, right then and there, things seemed to have gone back to normal between them: just a boy and a girl, brunette and redhead, Keybearer and dual wielder, savior and seventh apprentice, close friends journeying for truth. And at that moment, watching her having let her walls down, Sora could forget that she probably still withheld some of said truth from him. Char seemed to have the same thought; he could practically see her heart trying to burst out of her chest, and her mouth had actually opened a little to get more air in.
Just when they had both started leaning in, though, Donald's voice jarred them rather unceremoniously out of their shared trance. "Hey! Get in here or we're leaving you two!"
Sora blinked a couple of times; the bright blue of her eyes left spots on his vision that flashed every time his eyelashes met. His heartbeat still rutted a hard, staccato beat in his chest – heck, everywhere – but he still found it in himself to turn around. The duck stood there at the entrance to the Gummi ship, looking very annoyed indeed.
"Sorry!" the Keybearer called back. He pivoted back to Char. "Uh, we should probably go…"
"Yeah," the redhead said hastily.
Awkwardly, Sora gave another nod before turning on his heel and walking toward the Gummi ship, nearly tripping over his own feet.
Char stood there for a few more moments, waiting only until Donald had shifted his attention to Sora alone before gulping in a few deep breaths. Still breathing deeply to try and recover her composure, she ran a hand through her bangs, pushing them briefly off her forehead before they fell back into place again.
A flicker of movement from nearby caught her eye, and she glanced over to see a figure in a black cloak standing there, only the silver chains on the coat keeping it from melting into the shadows. Her first instinct was to summon her swords, which had somehow vanished between her fall down here and waking up, but something told her this was no Nobody.
Just Riku, again, standing there.
Waiting for something.
She angled her head in silent greeting to him, and he did the same, although she swore his gesture was tinged with something like anticipation. For a single, mildly frustrating instant, she wondered what exactly he could be anticipating, before it hit her, both mentally and physically at once: the memory of Anxclof's Keyblade about to plunge into her, before a swirl of dark flame had collided with the hesitating Nobody's back.
Even though Char was sure Anxclof wouldn't have killed her anyway – a fact that resurrected the confusion that the events of the day had buried so well all over again – the fact remained that Riku had saved her sorry ass. Giving her the Elixir to heal most of her less onerous wounds had helped as well.
So she fixed her gaze on the hollow dark space between the top of the hood and where it tapered into the top of the Organization cloak – where she was sure Riku's gold-green-gold eyes were – and mouthed two simple words.
Thank you.
Riku nodded, before disappearing like a wraith of blue fire.
She turned, hollered an obligatory response to Donald's aggravated squawk for her to hurry up, and stepped into the Gummi ship.
...yeah, I've got nothing here. XD
Part two should come pretty soon!