Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.39 Narrow Escape
The Darkside pulled its arm back before punching the ground, creating a dark vortex that four Shadows rose out of. I cast Dark Firaga and destroyed them all in one blast, before turning to the large Heartless. It swung again, only this time at me. I dodged to the side and slashed at is hand, creating a long cut along its wrist. The Heartless made a sound of pain similar to a groan and reared back, and I jumped into the air. "Take this!" I said, and I used Chaos Blade. I shot back and forth while cloaked in darkness, and I cast Aeroga to keep me in the air while I did it. I hit the Darkside across the chest, shoulder, before ending it with an X-shaped slash to the face. The Heartless faltered and stepped back, ending up right next to the edge. Once I saw that I smiled, and cast Quake.
Pillars of earth erupted from the ground beneath the Darkside, and when it fell back it was into the bottomless abyss below. I landed down and watched as it faded from sight. But just as soon as that heartless was gone, the ground rumbled before another pit of darkness appeared. And out of it rose another Heartless. One far more fearsome. Sora's eyes grew wide. "What is that?" he called. I looked back at him, my ruby-red eyes radiating bloodlust. "That, young Sora, is a Heartless known as a Orcus," I told him. The Orcus was a large Heartless, possibly twelve feet tall, with a muscular humanoid body with purple skin and a long tale ending in a silver, circular blade. On its back was a small pair of grey bat wings, and another pair, this one orange was on the back of its arms. To top off the look was an ornate orange sword with a cross guard and black edges in its right hand.
The Orcus raised its sword before flying forward, and I met its blade with mine in a clash of sparks. I smiled; here was a fight I could enjoy. We both pushed away from each other and the Orcus's hands glowed, before it spun around and fired a barrage of energy orbs at me. I cast Ice Barrage and a cluster of ice spikes burst from the ground in front of me, blocking them. The two attacks destroyed each other in a blast of raining ice shards, and I held up my hand. The shards froze and I cast Tornado, forming a twister that sucked them in and slashed the Heartless apart. When if faded the monster was covered in countless cuts, and it glared at me before tossing its sword into the air.
When it did the Orcus itself vanished, and the sword flew at me. I grunted and ducked, but then it turned back around and came at me again. I blocked the sword and sent it back, it came at me again and again. I cast Slow and the blade's movements turned sluggish, and I kicked it away. With a glow the Orcus reappeared and grabbed its sword, slamming it against the ground. A shockwave spread out across the ground and I leaped up, just barely dodging it. The Orcus spun around and tried to hit me with the blade on its tail. I dismissed Void Gear and caught its tail and it made a sound of surprise. Then it did so again when I pulled it by that same tail. I laughed evilly and slammed the Heartless against the ground, before also dismissing Stormfell and snatching its sword out of its hand. "Fall!" I called, and I stabbed it in the chest with its own sword.
The Heartless flailed around before going limp, melting into darkness. I grinned before hearing a cry of pain, and I looked up to see that Sora, Donald and Goofy were being surrounded by Heartless. "Heal!" Donald said, and he cast Cure on Sora, who had just been bitten by a Darkball. Goofy charged at that same Darkball and knocked it away, before Sora slashed it across the face with his Crabclaw. I wondered whether or not to help them now, but then with a roar a Behemoth materialized between them and me, snorting angrily. Probably not happy about my having destroyed the other one back in Oogie's manor. It roared before charging at me, and I stood still until the last second before dropping to the ground. The Behemoth charged right over me and stopped, spinning around.
But I was already on my feet, and I re-summoned both of my Keyblades before stabbing it with one in the foreleg. The beast let out another roar, this one of pain, and leveled its horn at me before charging again. But now with its leg injured its buckled, falling to the ground with a crash that shook the area. Behind me Donald cast Gravity and slammed a pair of Invisibles to the ground, while Sora cast Fira twice and incinerated a pair of Powerwilds. I kept on the offense once the Behemoth fell, jumping onto its back and casting Thundaga and battering it with electricity. The Heartless tried to rise but I jumped down and stabbed it in the other foreleg. It promptly fell back down. A quartet of Angel Stars shot down at Donald and Goofy blocked two with his shield, while Sora knocked the others away.
"Stop!" Sora said, and he cast that same spell and froze the Angel Stars. Without any defense they went to town on them, and within seconds the Heartless were nothing but dying burst of shadows. I used Zantetsuken and attacked the Behemoth's horn so fast that it barely saw me, although it did feel it when its horn fell off. The Behemoth howled in agony and managed to find the strength to stand, but I had anticipated that. And now it was time to end this. "Sacrifice!" I called, and I felt my health drop as I unleashed one more punishing strike and stabbed the Behemoth in the forehead with both Keyblades. Rather than roar, the beast glared at me before deciding that it wasn't going out without causing me problems.
The Heartless actually jumped into the before slamming back down, the impact actually shaking the area and causing bits of dust to fall from the ceiling. It did so twice, three times, and on the fourth it landed back down and the ground collapsed from the impact, sending the Behemoth into the pit. But the shaking from it jumping… hadn't stopped. My eyes grew wide just as the cracks from where the Behemoth fell began to spread. The Heartless around Sora, Donald and Goofy froze, before they all made various sound of panic and began disappearing. One of the Shadows was a little slow in escaping, and a massive boulder fell from the ground and crushed it underneath. "Uh-oh! We gotta get out of here!" Goofy said. "Come on!" Donald said, and they all nodded before running.
Sora paused and looked back, seeing me standing at the edge and gazing up at the heart of this world. "Dexal, let's go!" he said. I looked back and smiled, slowly shaking my head. "No. I've come too close to give up now," I said. "What are you talking about? The whole place is coming down!" Sora said. "And that's why I can't leave. With the cave collapsing no Heartless will stop me. The heart of this world… is mine," I replied, before turning back. Despite knowing that time was of the essence, Sora disregarded that and ran up next to me, grabbing my arm and pulling. "Forget about that! We need to go before the cave collapses on us and we can't get out!" Sora said, his face starting to show panic as well. I looked down at him and our eyes locked. His blue orbs gazed into my bloodred ones, and he realized that the Dexal he had known was no longer in there. He was gone.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Sora let go. I turned back to the heart and my grip tightened on Stormfell and Void Gear, preparing to take the leap and strike at the heart. Sora turned away and began to run back, when suddenly the ground underneath him heaved and rumbled, a massive fissure appearing in it. Sora was knocked of-balance by the suddenly shift and cried out, falling in. "Sora!" Donald and Goofy called, and I looked back. Sora summoned Crabclaw and stabbed it into the wall, holding onto it. Donald began to run to him, but another piece of rubble fell from the ceiling right in front of him. It was too dangerous to try and help him. When I heard Donald and Goofy yell Sora's name I looked back, seeing him fall into the fissure.
When I saw that I felt the darkness within me falter, and I also yelled "Sora!" and started towards him. Then I stopped and cried out in pain, holding my head in my hands. Just like before, the real me and the darkness in my being were fighting with each other. "Dexal, help! I can't… hold on!" Sora said, grunting as he tried to hold onto his Keyblade. I looked at him, before the darkness surged and looked back at the heart. Sora, or the heart? Sora? Heart? My two sides fought with everything they had, and my eyes flickered between their usual color and red, back and forth. The shaking in the room began collapsing faster, more pieces of rock falling down as the cracks along the ground began to rise up the walls.
Sora gritted his teeth and struggled to keep his grip, but the longer he held on the harder it was becoming. He had- to hold-. The ground shook again, and the Crabclaw fell free of the side of the fissure. Sora yelled in despair as he fell… before a hand suddenly grabbed his arm. He looked up to see me reaching over the edge, my eyes back to their normal blue-and-red even if the rest of me was still changed. My voice was back to normal though, and I said "Let's get the heck out of here." He paused before smiling and nodding, and I hauled Sora up back onto the ground. The room began to reach its final stages of collapse, and I held his arm as I used the darkness still in me to leap over the fissure and land on the other side.
"We need to get back to Jack!" I said, and the others nodded. We ran back into the tunnel and I spared one last look back at the heart, before looking forward and running. The tunnel was also falling apart, but back in the first room we could see light. "Hurry!" Donald said, and we all put on an extra burst of speed. The ceiling began to crumble, the walls fell apart, and the room with the heart finally crumbled. The destruction reached the cave and raced towards us, falling apart. We kept running, and just as the first room with the light collapsed we passed through.
(Point of View Change: 3rd person)
"…And that!" Jack called, casting Blazing Fury one more time and obliterating the last of the Heartless, a Neoshadow. Ever since Sora, Donald and Goofy has passed through the Keyhole in pursuit of Dexal, more Heartless than he could care to count had begun to appear and try to pass through. With his magic Jack was to hold off the bulk of them, but a good number of smaller Heartless and a couple of big ones had made it past him, going through. He frowned; his reserves of magical spells were starting to run dry, and he didn't know when the next Heartless was beginning to show up. "What are you all?" he thought aloud, just as the Keyhole glowed with a bright light.
He looked back and saw Sora, Donald and Goofy collapse to the ground, while Dexal stood behind them. His hair was silver again and the rest of his appearance had gone back to normal, even his clothes. They were made of black pants, dress shoes, fingerless gloves, a white shirt, and a black belt with a gold buckle. "You're back to the way you were before!" Jack said, smiling. Dexal nodded, but didn't say anything else. Instead he grabbed Sora and brought him to his feet, saying "You need to seal the Keyhole! Now!" Sora nodded and drew Crabclaw, pointing it up in the air. Stars gathered around the tip before shooting into the air, and the Keyhole glowed blue before disappearing with a click.
With that Keyhole finally shut everyone sighed, taking a moment to just sit down. "I'd be lying if I said that wasn't a close call," Dexal said. Sora chuckled tiredly and nodded. "I'm just glad you came through when you did. If you hadn't I don't think I'd be here now," he told Dexal. Rather than smile, Dexal looked away guiltily. "Well, I wish I could say that all of me was in that act," he said. Donald frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked. Dexal grimaced, before sitting up and bring his right arm around to view. There was a total of five punctures on its and they looks as if they had been made, with the claws on one hand. Sora looked at him. "Did you…?" he asked, trailing off. Dexal nodded. "I finally regained my reason and tried to help you sooner, but my instincts wouldn't listen and I reaching for the heart. I had to do this to help you," he admitted.
Sora looked at him for a second, before making a decision. "That's it. I need to know," he said, standing. Dexal looked at him in confusion now. "Know what?" he asked. "Just tell me this, Dexal: Why do you have this darkness inside you?" Sora questioned. Dexal froze. "How do I-" he began, before standing and shaking his head. "Sora, please, you can ask anything. Anything. Anything… but that," he said, his voice almost pleading. But Sora shook his head. "I can't. I saw the look in your eyes when you were enveloped in darkness; you were almost beyond return. And if your body even disobeyed you when you did regain reason, then we need to know why," he said. Dexal looked truly fearful now, and Sora walked up place his hand on his shoulders. "You're my best friend, and I look up to maybe even like a big brother. But if we're going to continue being on this journey together then all of us, Donald and Goofy included, need to know," he said.
By then the others were standing as well, and they could see the emotions now in Dexal's eyes. There was panic, fear, sadness, and guilt. So, so much guilt. But he closed his eyes and sighed. There was silence for a long while, before he lifted Sora's hands from his shoulder and began to walk back. He stopped and looked back, his expression now solemn. "You deserve to hear the truth. We need to tell Dr. Finkelstein and Sally what happened here. Once that's done, I'll tell you about the incident that brought me to Destiny Islands all those years ago, and what that event made me."
Dexal is back to his old self, but now the big secret is about to be unfolded! What is it that Dexal is now? How will the group react? Will they stay together afterwards? The next chapter will reveal all!
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)