Wow, look how long it's been. I've started college, so sorry for the long break. I've been understandably busy. But, I've got some more chapters ready to update at a moment's notice now, so let's get back to it! Our now English-speaking friend from Birth By Sleep is here to do the disclaimer.
Terra: "DarthKingdom does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything at all for that matter. In fact, he doesn't even own a PSP."
Which means that I have to watch YouTube for the whole Kingdom Hearts story. Oh well. Enjoy!
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Chapter 83: The Hunt for the Sorcerer
"Search the woods', he says." Axel muttered to himself, following along the dirt path a few paces behind King Mickey and Riku. They had since changed out of their formal clothing. "Oh, no problem, Your Majesty! We'll search a few hundred miles of dark forest for a single evil sorcerer! No problem."
"Axel," Mickey said irritably from ahead of him, not breaking stride, "When one verbally abuses someone, one should wait until that someone isn't five feet away from them."
"You really need to lighten up, man." Riku said over his shoulder. "Relax, enjoy the scenery, focus on not setting something on fire..."
"Fighting those giant dudes." Axel added, pointing in front of them. Three Hunters stood there, their bows were aimed directly at them.
"Of course." Riku summoned Way to Dawn, and rushed at the first one, summoning the Guardian behind him.
As the Hunters fired, Riku leapt over the arrows, allowing the Guardian to hang back and defend the others from them. The second he touched the ground again, he took the head off of the first one, then blasted the second in the chest with a blast of Dawn.
The other one aimed its bow at the back of his head. It was a millisecond away from firing, when its arm was crushed in a large, orange fist. The Guardian ripped it off entirely, and then bashed it in the face with it.
There were a few moments of total stillness, until they all heard the tiny footsteps of the Dusks creeping through the trees with their eerie walk. As if on wordless agreement, the three went in opposite directions to combat them.
Axel swept through a pair of Dusks with a clean sweep of his chakrams. He stopped in his tracks, and twisted around, throwing one at another one.
He jumped high into the air, as an Assassin Nobody emerged from the ground beneath him, its spiked arms slashing. He back flipped in midair, and threw his other chakram at it. But, it sank back into the ground, to safety.
It then reappeared behind him, leaping from the ground, and slashing him across the back. The ex-Nobody let out a grunt of pain, and spun around, taking it out with one chakram.
"I used to be your boss!" Then, a sparkle came to Axel's eyes. "Hey..."
A second Assassin shot from the ground in front of him, and aimed a slash at his head. Axel ducked under its strike, and then straightened up to look it directly in the 'eye'. The Nobody was totally still for a moment, its blade-covered arm an inch from Axel's throat.
Then, unbelievably, the Nobody lowered its arm, and knelt down on one knee in front of him.
It then spoke, in a low, respectful voice, "What is your bidding, my liege?"
"That's better." Axel said, trying to hide his immense relief that his ridiculous idea had actually worked. "You and your fellow Assassins are to stop attacking me and my friends, and go after the Heartless and different Nobodies. You are also to stop taking orders from the Brotherhood of the Dark. You're listening to me now."
"As you wish, my liege."(1)
The Assassin sank back into the ground. About three seconds later, two Dusks that had been advancing toward Mickey had fallen to its blades. Axel smiled to himself. "Life is good."
Riku and Mickey soon caught on to the fact that the Assassins had suddenly defected to their side, but their former allies seemed a bit slow on the uptake. And after a full five minutes of stupidly not fighting back, half of their number had fallen to the rogue Nobodies.
Mickey back flipped over a Dusk (which met its end about two seconds later by an Assassin), and sliced one in half when he touched down again. He took his blade with both hands, and fired a ball of Light forward, where it exploded amongst a group of Nobodies.
Three more Hunters ran into the clearing they had entered, and fired at Riku from three different angles. He leapt straight up into the air, over the arrows. One struck a Nobody, and the others struck two trees.
The Guardian rushed at one of them, grabbing it around its throat and smashing its head into a tree with enough force to go entirely through it. Splinters from the tree bounced off its skin as it twisted its body around. It shot at a second one, and punched completely through its stomach.
Riku himself ran directly at the third one. He sidestepped a Dusk as he did so, cutting it in half almost casually as he ran by it. He deflected a second arrow, and punched out his hand, sending a blast of Dawn directly at its face, blowing it apart.
He ducked under one of Axel's flying chakrams, which took out a Dusk a few feet from him. It boomeranged back to it's owner, who set it on fire, and used it to cut another in half.
Creepers soon crept into the area to back up the Dusks, along with a few Dragoons. Mickey ran at the first Dragoon he saw, and struck horizontally at its waist. The hovering Nobody blocked the strike with its lance, and knocked the King away. It followed up with a stab aimed at his head.
Mickey ducked under the attack, and struck upward, knocking the lance from its grip. It flew in an arc through the air, where the Guardian caught it with one large hand. It then plunged it into the chest of a Hunter.
It then picked up Mickey by the scruff of his neck, and threw him at another Dragoon. He shot all the way through it with his blade in midair. His feet connected with a tree, and he jumped off the side of it, running his blade through a Creeper.
He landed by Riku, directly facing a pair of Hunters. As the two Heartless took careful aim at them, an Assassin emerged from the ground behind them. It leapt at one, taking its head off.
The other one turned its attention to it, only to lose the arm holding its bow. The Assassin extended both of its long arms to its sides, and stood still for just a moment. Then, it rushed at the disarmed Hunter with both its arms slashing repeatedly into its broad chest.
They all gathered into the center of the clearing, with only a few Nobodies left around them. Their enemies were standing mostly still, as if actually scared to make any further move against them.
One creeper took a step toward them. Axel threw one burning chakram at it, cutting it in half down the middle. He summoned it back to him with a flourish of his hand.
And then, they all vanished. Turned tail, and fled into corridors of Darkness.
The survivors were silent for a moment, before they dismissed their weapons. "That'll do boys, thanks." Axel said to the apparent 'Head Assassin' which he had first addressed. "Go on and take a breather."
"As you wish, my liege." The Assassin bowed, and vanished along with all of its fellows.
"That was too easy." Mickey said.
"So, of course that means that something big and dangerous is going to come through those trees." Riku pointed ahead of him. "Right... now!"
"Um... other way." Axel muttered.
Riku and Mickey turned around to the direction Axel was facing.
The trees nearest them were shaking. But it wasn't as if in an earthquake. The trees themselves were moving. They seemed to be shifting back and forth, like they were trying to get free of the earth. Their thick roots were starting to wrench themselves free of the ground. Huge clumps of leaves and branches were falling from their limbs.
Two sections of bark at the front of each tree suddenly cracked open, revealing two bright, glowing yellow Heartless eyes. The sides suddenly cracked open, and out came two muscular black arms that stretched down to the ground.
They dug their arms into the ground, and yank themselves forward, completely out of the ground.
About a dozen of the trees came to life, and moved toward them. They were soon joined by another dozen from the team's other side.
"This looks like something out of a bad horror movie!" Axel growled in frustration, summoning his chakrams.
"Axel?" Mickey summoned Kingdom Crown.
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember earlier when we told you not to set half the woods on fire?"
"Yeah."
"Set half the woods on fire, please."
"BURN, BABY!" Axel stretched out his arms, and shot huge balls of flame at the trees ahead of them. One of them hit it dead on, but to his horror, the other one raised one of its fists to block the attack, brushing it off easily.
And the tree that had been hit with the attack soon recovered from the attack. The bark that had been struck by the fire crumbled off as ash, leaving a large black burned patch on it. But it continued jerking toward them with its roots pulling it forward, seemingly unharmed by the fire.
Riku summoned as much Dawn energy as he could to his hand, and released it all at the burnt creature. The orange energy punched all the way through it, sending scorched splinters of wood flying all over. The blast continued into a second tree, with the same result.
But this time, Riku saw a black, smoky ball with glowing yellow eyes and a wide, red mouth float up from the stump of what had been the first tree.
"Possessor Heartless!" He reported, pointing up at it, before it faded away.(2)
"That would explain it." Mickey said. He tossed his Keyblade as hard as he could at another one. It stuck into its trunk just below its pair of eyes. Mickey ran at the tree, jumping over one of its fists which came at him, and took hold of the Keyblade's hilt with both hands. He pumped Light energy into it, which was enough to blow it to bits from the inside.
While Mickey was cut in a few places by flying splinters, but was otherwise unharmed. With his newly freed blade, he landed lightly on the ground, and sidestepped the descending fist of another Fiend-Forest.
Axel's two chakram's flew over the King's head, cutting its arm. Dark smoke leaked from it, before Mickey took it off altogether. He rushed up to its side, and plunged his blade into the empty stump of its arm.
Riku finished it with a blast of Dawn in between its eyes.
The two Keybearers stood back-to-back in the center of the clearing. These possessed trees were slow, but they were also very, very durable.
Riku looked over his shoulder, and down to look Mickey in the eye. "Mickey..."
"Got it!"
Both of them dismissed their Keyblades, and stretched out their hands. Mickey's were enveloped in Light energy, while Riku's were covered in Dawn. The pair's feet left the ground, and fired basketball-sized blasts of Light and Dawn, while spinning in place (maintaining their floating back-to-back position).
The blasts exploded on impact with the Fiend-Forests, ripping them to shreds, sending burning pieces of wood and bursts of black smoke flying everywhere. At least five of the Possessors were expelled from their temporary bodies, and sent back to the Darkness from which they had come.
Mickey and Riku stopped spinning, and fell lightly back to the ground. Light and Dawn pooled beneath their feet, and they rose just a few inches into the air, floating on top of it.
"Nice..." Riku said, admiring this interesting new Limit they were doing.
He and Mickey summoned their Keyblades back to them. Surfing on the Dawn and Light respectively, they began to attack. It was slightly reminiscent of Sora's well-used Wisdom drive form.
Riku pointed Way to Dawn at a Fiend-Forest as he surfed by it. Bullets of Dawn energy shot from the tip of the blade. One hit it directly in its eye, which seemed to explode in a burst of yellow light. Darkness seeped out of the now empty socket, and transformed into its Possessor (which then disappeared).
Mickey 'jumped' over the swiping arm of a Fiend-Forest. He back flipped in the air, and shot a few Light bullets into its face. He landed easily back on his Light, and fired off a few more shots at its face, which was enough to destroy it.
He then cruised directly at the face of another one, sending seven bullets in between it's eyes at point-blank range.
Riku fired a few blasts almost casually behind his shoulder, blowing holes through the arm of a possessed tree. Mickey blasted the roots off of another one.
They met at the center of the clearing, and touched their glowing blades together. "Together now!" Mickey said encouragingly to the younger Keybearer.
The two hovered in the air, completely still for a moment. Both of them were enveloped in a pinkish light the color of the sunset, and for a moment, everything was completely still.
Then, they vanished. No corridor of Darkness, no fading away, they simply vanished.
Suddenly, from one edge of the clearing there was a burst of that same pinkish light. Riku burst from that area, his blade held directly out in front of him, and still surrounded by that unfamiliar light.
He shot through three unsuspecting Fiend-Forests without losing any speed. The rest turned to face him, and two more of them suffered the same fate. Before any of them could even comprehend striking back at him, he reached the opposite end of the clearing, and disappeared in a flash of pinkish light.
The millisecond he was out of sight, another flash came from the ground. Mickey shot directly up with his blade held high above his head. The blade ripped apart the front half of a tree. When he was about fifteen feet in the air, he vanished just as Riku had.
But not one second later, he reappeared at the same height near the other side of the clearing. This time he was rocketing straight down. He tore through the top of one tree, and went all the way through to the ground, disappearing again. The shredded remains of the tree fell apart, crashing to the ground with a thud.
But immediately, Riku shot horizontally out of nowhere again, tearing through more Fiend-Forests, and vanishing again before any of them could do anything about it.
Then, Mickey shot up again, and came blasting back down at them one second later. They kept repeating this attack process for about a minute, until there were only three Fiend-Forests left in the clearing.
Riku and Mickey both shot horizontally from either side of the clearing, holding both Keyblades in their right hands. When they met at the center of the clearing, they swung very hard, and their blades connected, issuing a massive blast of pinkish light, which radiated outward, destroying the rest of the possessed trees.
"Awesome!" Riku shouted to the night sky, feeling exhilarated.(3)
!
"Alright..." Nehrut began, sounding annoyed, "Let's see what's behind door number four-hundred and eight." Bariss and Yuffie stood to either side of him, and Donald and Goofy were behind them.
He walked down a long hallway with a deep red rug, and a pair of cherubs nearby. They moved to the high, arched doorway at the end of the hall. He gave one of the golden handles a light tug, and the door slid open easily.
His jaw couldn't help but drop.
Inside was the most magnificent library that he had ever set eyes on. The high walls were painted a light bluish-green. There was a bronze lining all across the room. The windows were slightly parted, with dark green drapes. An elegant fireplace was at the far side of the room. There were cushy armchairs and polished desks and tables set at places around the shining tile floor. And nearly every square-inch of wall was covered by books and bookshelves. Two winding staircases with bronze banisters allowed access to the higher volumes.
"Woah..." Was all he could say, walking into the room. He'd never seen this many books in his entire life. And he had been a frequent visitor to Disney Castle, and Pax Pacis' royal palace. Add that to the fact that Liz had been a major bookworm, and this was saying something.
"Even Radiant Garden didn't have this many books..." Bariss said, every bit as awestruck as he was. She walked over to a nearby table and picked up a small book that showed signs of frequent reading. Ironically, the title on the cover read, 'The Beauty and the Beast.' "Huh, there's a song on the last page."
"This must be Belle's favorite room." Donald said, picking up a much larger volume from the same table, and examining it. He cracked it open and read a bookmarked paragraph, "This thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Harry... and Harry stared back into the face that had haunted his nightmares for three years. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils..."
"Wait! I haven't gotten that far!" Yuffie plucked the book (Nehrut didn't catch the title, but there was a dark-haired kid with glasses on the front) from out of his hands. "What happens next...?"
"Lord Voldemort had returned." A voice quoted from above her.
Everyone looked up at the landing above them. Standing there, with one hand on the railing, stood the Horned King, holding a large book from one of the shelves open in the other hand.
"Some rather impressive volumes here." He said casually, snapping the book closed and returning it to its place on the shelf. "You were correct on this being Belle's favorite room, by the way."
He snapped his fingers once, and near him there was a burst of fire. Once the flames died away, there were five people floating there, bound in sets of magic chains. One set around their wrists, one around their ankles, and another around their mouths.
Belle, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Chip looked terrified.
"Leave them out of this!" Nehrut demanded, placing one hand on the hilt of his blade. "This is our fight. They're not a part of it."
"My poor, naïve, boy," The Horned King replied, with no trace of pity, "Civilians are as much a part of any battle as the soldiers are." He pointed at the book he had just been holding. "Perhaps you should read 'The Art of War.'"
He snapped his fingers again, and Belle and the others disappeared.
"What did you do with them!" Donald asked, brandishing his staff.
"I merely sent them to Xaldin." He answered. "Perhaps seeing them slowly tortured will finally be enough to drive the Beast over the edge."
"You're every bit the monster that you look." Nehrut finally unsheathed Presul, its blue light illuminating the room.
He sighed. "Think what you will. In either case, I cannot allow you to leave this room." He waved his hand, and a magical barrier covered every wall, door, and window.
The Horned King shot out his hand. What resembled pure, dark wind blasted from him, his robes billowing around him as if in a gale. It struck the five of them, and they were blown off their feet to the other side of the room.
Nehrut landed roughly in an arm chair, and he was surprised that he hadn't broken it in half with the force of the attack. He barely had time to comprehend what had happened, when he saw the Horned King shooting at him, gliding over the floor.
He leapt out of the chair, and gripped his blade with both hands. He sidestepped the sorcerer, and cut down into his waist as he passed by.
He fell into two pieces, which struck the ground with two dull, wet thuds. Then both halves dissipated, and became red smoke.
"Um... Okay?"
"You didn't think it would be that easy did you?" came a voice from right by his ear.
He spun around, and there was suddenly a vise-like grip on his throat. The real Horned King lifted him into the air, squeezing his windpipe shut. The edges of the psychic's vision were already starting to go black within seconds.
A bolt of lightning struck the Horned King in the chest, and he dropped Nehrut.
The psychic silently thanked Donald as he struggled to catch his breath. Yuffie leapt over him, and ran toward the Horned King, twirling her shuriken.
"This is for spoiling my book!"
She aimed a slash at his head, but somehow, he weaved under it. With one upward swipe of his hand, he knocked the weapon flying from her grasp across the room. He then shot his hand forward (palm open) and it connected with her stomach, sending her flying back into the wall.
But then, in her place was Bariss, flying at the Horned King with her sai aimed at his throat. He seemed to almost float backward away from her blade, and landed lightly several feet away. He flourished his hands, down at his sides, and both were suddenly covered in flames.
So when Goofy and Donald charged toward him next with both weapons brandished, he walked forward to meet them. He almost casually smacked Donald aside like an irritating fly. Then he brought his other flaming fist down on Goofy's raised shield. The force of the blow made Goofy's knees buckle.
He was going to strike again, when Nehrut blasted him backwards, directly into the huge fireplace.
Donald took careful aim, and lit the logs inside on fire. The Horned King's robes caught fire, and looked to be smoldering very quickly. Flames were licking at his rotted skin, and he didn't move.
"That was still too easy." Yuffie said, looking at him in the fireplace.
"Yes it was, wasn't it?" came the Horned King's voice.
Everyone twisted around, expecting to see him standing directly behind them. But, the place was still empty. They all turned slowly around to look back at the fireplace. To their shock and horror, the burning figure inside began to move.
The Horned King propped himself up on his arms, and pushed himself up. He stood inside the fireplace, and bent his head to walk out into the main room. He stood there for a moment, looking like a Halloween decoration gone horribly wrong.
He then grasped the front of his robe, and gave it a firm tug as if adjusting it. The flames all over his body were immediately snuffed out. He smiled at their shocked expressions.
"You children have no idea who you're dealing with." He walked slowly toward Nehrut.
Goofy threw his shield as hard as possible at the Horned King, who effortlessly caught it with one hand. He used it to block the Blizzard spell Donald fired at him, and then threw it incredibly hard at Bariss, who dove aside just before it hit.
The shield embedded itself in the far wall not an inch from Yuffie's head. She pulled three kunai from her pockets, and threw them at the Horned King one after another. Time seemed to move in slow motion as the sorcerer drew ever nearer.
He simply moved just out of the path of the first two projectiles without breaking stride. He actually plucked the third one from out of thin air. When time seemed to move normally again, Bariss ran toward him with her sai stabbing at his neck.
The Horned King moved to intercept the attack with the knife Yuffie had thrown. He parried her attack with the skill of an expert knife fighter, and stabbed at her face.
The kunai was knocked from her grasp by an unseen force. It soared through the air, and landed harmlessly several feet away. Nehrut soared at the sorcerer's back, with his blade aimed in between his shoulder blades. He and Bariss struck from different directions at the same time.
The Horned King shot out his hands in either direction. To their surprise, he gripped the blade ends of both weapons. He let out a small hiss that might have been of pain, and tossed both of them as hard as possible at the wall. Their weapons fell from their hands, and they hit their heads hard on the bookshelf.
Several books fell on top of them. Unfortunately, they were hard-covered, which didn't help Nehrut's splitting headache.
Okay, we might be in a bit of trouble.
Goofy had reclaimed his shield, and was attempting the simple, but typically effective method of smacking him with it. But the undead sorcerer was turning aside the blows effortlessly. Finally, he yanked it from his grip, and hit him with it, knocking him to the floor.
The Horned King then threw it at the approaching Donald, hitting him in the head, and knocking him to the ground, unconscious.
Yuffie leapt at him from behind, only for the back of his hand to connect with her face, and send her flying back into a bookshelf. She upset a few more books, which fell in a heap around her.
And suddenly, an idea that was both ridiculous and brilliant came to Nehrut.
He rose to his feet, rubbing the bump on the back of his head. The Horned King turned to face him, wearing an expression that might have been amusement. He engulfed both of his hands in fire again.
"You don't know when to quit, do you?" He began to walk slowly toward him.
"I'm afraid that it's one of my worst habits. You see, I'm a very sore loser." He raised both of his hands. "Tell me, have you ever heard that old phrase 'Knowledge is power?'"
Slowly, every single book on the shelves slid out of place, and floated just in front of their spots. For the first time since the fight had begun, the Horned King looked a little nervous. Nehrut clapped his outstretched hands together.
Every single volume shot from the shelves at the sorcerer in the middle of the room. The Horned King had no room to avoid them, and was first hit in the face with a heavy volume with a soldier on the front. Another hit him in the back of the head, then the small of his back, and the back of his knee.
Just a few books wouldn't have been anything to worry about, but as Nehrut and Bariss had both noticed, there were thousands of books in the library, all of them hard-covered and several leather-bound.
The Horned King waved his hands about, knocking several books away by both magical and physical means. But the staggering number of books in the room was simply too much.
They piled on top of him over the next few minutes, smashing into all parts of his body, leaving no area of skin unbruised. He let out a shout of pain whenever a heavy volume struck him, and after almost a full five minutes of getting bashed repeatedly with books, he was totally covered in them.
Nehrut exhaled loudly, and let his arms fall to his sides. His friends seemed to have regained consciousness for the most part, and they all warily approached the huge pile of books in the center of the room.
Red smoke began to seep from the gaps between the books, rising to the high ceiling. Everyone prepared themselves for whatever might come next, but then they heard the Horned King's voice as soon as the smoke stopped coming from underneath the books.
He actually sounded tired, and pained. "Don't think that this is over, children. We will come for you..."
The smoke at the ceiling all converged into one spot as if sucked there by a vacuum. There was a flash of fire, and it was all gone. But the Horned King's voice still lingered.
"Later..."
!
My apologies if I spoiled anything from 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' for you. But if you're into the series, and you still haven't read the fourth book, you're way far behind.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. There wasn't much to it, but still.
1) Not sure why I did this…
2) These things made me nervous to walk around a corner in that freaking castle.
3) 'Twilight Aura'
Please review!