Okay, here's the new Chapter 2!
To clarify so there's less confusion at the end of the chapter, the italicized paragraphs are flashbacks and memories (they'll mostly be Kaida's, but there may be a few of the other character's flashbacks).
By the way, thank you Songbird Rebel and zrinnamaria for favoring and following my story (sorry for not mentioning this in the previous chapter). And thank you MissBookFan for following. :)
And just a bit of a warning, I'm probably not good at writing up battle scenes, so tips on how to make them better is most appreciated. :)
Anyways, hope you enjoy it!
(revised)
Chapter 2
"Blizzard!" A blast of ice shot from her hand and took out the shadow heartless on her left. Seeing a small group of Sergeants to her right, she twirled her staff and threw it like a boomerang, instantly disintegrating them. Kaida quickly sidestepped as she barely dodged a Neoshadow and extended her hand. "Fire!" A ball of flame shot from her palm and burned the Heartless into a crisp.
"Change weapons!" Maleficent ordered as she watched from the sidelines. Strapping her staff onto her back, Kaida extended her arm and another weapon flashed into her hands: her keyblade.
The guard was shaped as red diamond and the blade was a katana blade with the body of a red dragon wrapped around it and two small daggers that made an X at the tip. The charm that hung from the hilt was a dark emerald with red dragon wings. On the blade there was a name conspicuously inscribed on it: Warrior's Spirit.
When Kaida had first started training, she had chosen to fight with her wooden staff for the first few years. Later on, she found out that she could wield a keyblade, a weapon of incredible power her mother called it. Where and how Kaida got it, Maleficent didn't explain much except that the keyblade chose her. Another secret she had kept from her daughter. Ever since, Maleficent made sure Kaida could fight well with both weapons in combat, although the fairy seemed to make her train more with the keyblade than the staff. Kaida preferred to use her staff most of the time in a fight, but she does fight with Warrior's Spirit when necessary.
As more Shadow Heartless surrounded her, Kaida raised the keyblade into the air. "Thunder!" A series of lightning bolts struck down the Heartless horde within the blink of an eye. Starting off with a sprint, she jumped onto the side wall of the chapel and ricocheted into the air, slicing the flying Heartless. Using an Aero spell to slow her descent, she did a quick flip and landed on her knee and foot as she touched the ground.
"HAAA!" Kaida's eyes widened as she saw a boy with silver hair charging toward her with a dark blade in the shape of a bat wing. After she was caught off guard for just a second, Kaida jumped back just he slashed, the blade just missing her torso by a few centimeters. Landing a few feet away from him, Kaida regained her fighting stance as the silver-haired boy smirked at her.
"CAW!" Kaida looked up at the sky and saw a raven swooping in and landing right next to her. "What is it Diablo?"
Before the raven could say anything, the sound of someone panting caught her attention and she saw a red parrot tirelessly flying in and landing onto her shoulder.
"Kaida, Diablo and I saw something over at the Rising Falls! It just appeared out of nowhere I tell ya!" the parrot squawked, despite being nearly out of breath.
This had definitely peaked her interest. "You don't say?" The raven-haired girl stood up from her seat. "Iago, you and Diablo go tell my mother to meet me at the Rising Falls. I'll go check it out." Without waiting for the birds to fly off, Kaida went to the Rising Falls to investigate.
She looked around as she went from platform to platform, but she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until she heard a faint yell over the roaring waters. "Sora! Kairi!" She followed the source until she saw a boy about her age standing on a stone platform a few feet away and slightly lower than hers.
He had a yellow and black cut-off shirt with matching shoes and blue pants. His long silver hair went just above his shoulder with a few bangs just above his eyes. The boy didn't notice her presence as he hung his head in despair, staring solemnly at the ground.
She didn't want to admit it, but something about him fascinated her. Whether if it was because she'd never seen him before or the darkness she could sense in his heart, she was intrigued.
"Well, well, well." Kaida gasped and looked to see Maleficent standing next to her. "What have we here?"
Kaida looked back at the silvernette, who was looking at her and Maleficent with surprise.
"You seem lost. Come with us to the castle my dear, then you can explain why you are here," Maleficent said sweetly, which caught Kaida off-guard. Normally, she would've expected her mother to be upset and have him thrown into the dungeons, but this time it sounded like she was expecting him.
As Kaida followed her mother back to the castle with the boy trailing behind, she could feel his eyes staring at her.
She looked back and raised her eyebrow. "What?"
"U-uh, nothing. Sorry..." he stuttered. "I'm Riku."
"My name's…Kaida."
A few days later
The raven-haired girl leaned against the railing on the second floor as she watched Maleficent training Riku in the Entrance Hall. After slicing another Heartless into dust, the silvernette glanced up at Kaida and gave her a smug grin, earning a puzzled look from her. Riku continued with his session, only with more determination and gusto than before. Maleficent noticed her new student's change and looked up to see her daughter. Both females made brief eye contact before Kaida looked away from her mother's gaze, pretending to show no interest.
"Is something the matter deary?" A maroon tentacle slid up the girl's back and wrapped around her shoulders.
Kaida turned her head slightly to her left and she was face to face with a fat woman with white hair, lilac skin, and octopus tentacles instead of legs. "I have no idea what you're talking about Ursula," the 15-year-old said bluntly.
The sea witch snidely cackled, "Oh really? Seems to me you are...intrigued by this boy Riku. He is quite a catch."
Kaida's eyes widened. "Don't be ridiculous!" she grumbled, brushing Ursula"s tentacle off her shoulders, "Only way I'd be interested in a guy like him is if he could beat me in a fight, which I seriously doubt he could."
She got up from the railing and walked away from the Entrance Hall, not noticing the slight pink shade in her cheeks.
Unbeknownst to Kaida, Riku overheard what she said about beating her in battle. She wants a fight, she'll get one.
She gave a swift swing of her blade and yellowish white waves cut through the air. Riku dodge-rolled out of the way and Kaida took the chance to strike. The tip of her keyblade dragging along the ground, she brought Warrior's Spirit up in a vertical strike. The boy saw this and brought his blade down and the two weapons clashed until they locked together, both fighters trying to push the other down.
"You know, you're not as bad as I thought you'd be," Kaida said, trying to keep the force of Riku's blade from overpowering her.
Riku gave a small chuckle. "Really? You mean you weren't impressed before?"
"Oh, please." Kaida rolled her eyes. "You have no idea who you're dealing with here."
"Then it's about time I found out."
Kaida and Riku leaped back to a safe distance away from each other. Time to finish this, she thought. Kaida closed her eyes shut and concentrated. A dark aura glowed around the girl's body and her keyblade was covered in shadows. She smiled devilishly as her eyes opened to reveal a bright yellow color.
Riku was shocked to see Kaida like this, but he soon recovered and charged with his blade Souleater extended out to the side. Kaida smiled confidently and charged as well with Warrior's Spirit in the same position. But as Kaida was quickly closing the large gap between them, she suddenly felt a sharp pain from her head.
Two teenagers stood on opposite ends of a large room and faced each other. One of them was a boy with brown hair and the other was a girl with short blue hair. Both of them had small pieces of armor on their right arms and held their keyblades firmly in their grasps, determined looks on their faces. They ran at each other and their blades clashed in the middle. With every attack they threw out, the other would quickly block or dodge out of the way in time, neither of them holding back.
Kaida closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, regaining her focus as she kept charging. But little did she know that her eyes went back to their normal color and the dark aura surrounding her and her keyblade had vanished. Riku and Kaida yelled as they lashed out at the same time and then came to a stop with their backs to each other. Silence filled the room as neither combatant moved a muscle and Maleficent watched to see who would fall first.
It wasn't long before both of them fell to their hands and knees, dispelling their weapons. Maleficent smiled evilly at them as Riku and Kaida got up and went to stand before her. "Very impressive, the both of you," Maleficent said, "You two have shown great skills in combat." Her smile then fell to a small frown when she looked at her daughter. "However, I am disappointed in you Kaida. Not only did you let your guard down when Riku attacked, you didn't use the power of darkness at the last moment to finish him off. I expected better from you."
Kaida looked at her mother remorsefully, but she was partially listening to what Maleficent was saying. The black-haired teenager couldn't stop thinking about the vision she had seen during her battle. Who were they? Why did the vision make her suppress the darkness?
"That is all for today," Maleficent said, bringing Kaida out of her thoughts, "Riku, I would like to speak to you in the throne room." Kaida and Riku bowed to Maleficent and the evil fairy vanished into green flames.
While Riku went to go talk to Maleficent, Kaida decided to wander around the castle for a bit. While she was walking, she kept thinking about what happened while she and Riku were against each other. She was lucky she didn't lose, but hearing Maleficent criticize her instead of Riku made the raven-haired girl feel uneasy. What was she doing wrong? Why did Maleficent bring him to Hollow Bastion in the first place?
After Riku's arrival, Kaida learned that her mother summoned him just before his home world was destroyed due to his darkness being 'quite useful' as Maleficent would say. What use could he be to her? She already has the other villains and her daughter, so why one more?
The only information Kaida had on the new arrival was he came from a world called Destiny Islands and he's looking for his friends, a boy named Sora and a girl named Kairi. Not much to go from there, but she's sure to find out more in time.
As she kept dwelling on her thoughts, Kaida faltered when she heard muffled voices coming from the large wooden doors she just passed by. Realizing it was the throne room, she quietly came up to the doors and put her ear against them. What she heard, however, didn't make her happy.
"So let me get this straight," Riku's voice said from the other side of the doors, "You'll help me find my friends if I tag along with Kaida whenever she leaves Hollow Bastion?"
"That is correct," Maleficent's voice said.
"Beg your pardon Maleficent, but your daughter seems like she can handle herself."
"Maybe so, but a mother can never be too careful when it comes to her child's well being."
Kaida's face cringed in disbelief. Since when did her mother have concern over her well being.
"So, do we have a deal Riku?"
Please say no, please say no, Kaida thought frantically.
"Yes."
She couldn't believe it. Just when Kaida had her chance to be free, Riku comes along and Maleficent makes him her loyal pet. When she heard footsteps approaching the door, Kaida backed away just as Riku exited the room.
The first thing Riku saw as he opened the door was a very cross Kaida narrowing her eyes at him. "What's wrong with you?"
"I heard my mother's little proposition for you," she replied coldly, "So let me get something straight here." Kaida approached him, closing the gap between them, and jabbed a finger into his chest. "My mother may have asked you to keep an eye on me, but don't expect me to cooperate. I had trained too hard and too long to get where I am now, and I won't have my freedom jeopardized because of you. Got it?" she growled, glaring at him.
Riku smirked in amusement. "Got it." Kaida scoffed in annoyance as she stormed into the throne room to speak to her mother. I have to admit, she's kind of cute when she's angry, Riku thought before walking down the hallway.
Kaida stormed her way over to the throne, not caring that she was suppose to be respectful. "Mother, we need to talk."
"Kaida, I was just about to call for you," Maleficent said with mock surprise.
"I heard about your offer to Riku. What makes you think I need a bodyguard? You already have Jafar, Oogie Boogie, Ursula, Hades, and Hook watching over me. I am capable of handling my missions by myself without having someone watching over my shoulder! What's the point of bringing him here in the first place if you're just gonna have him watch me 24/7?" Kaida asked, her anger building up inside her.
Maleficent scowled at her daughter and she waved her staff as the orb on it glowed green. The same green aura surrounded Kaida's body and the girl cried out painfully as she levitated into the air, her body feeling like it was being stabbed by a million knives and unable to move.
"You dare to speak to me with that tone of voice? I will stop if you promise to never speak to me or any of your superiors with disrespect ever again," Maleficent growled.
"I-I promise…mother," Kaida managed to say, and she floated down and then collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily from the pain she endured.
"Now, to answer your burning questions," the evil fairy explained as Kaida struggled to stand up, "I have a task for you." Kaida looked at her in confusion. "As you are aware, it was Riku's darkness that I require his assistance. However, if he were to plunge deeper into the darkness, Riku would be of greater help to our plans. While you are out on your missions with him, train him in using the power of darkness. Do you understand Kaida?"
Kaida thought for a moment and replied, "I understand, mother."
"And one more thing my dear." With another wave of her scepter, Kaida felt immense pain going through her head. Groaning in pain, she clutched her head with both hands and fell to her knees as the pain intensified. In her mind, she could see the vision she saw before fade away into nothing and for a moment her mind had gone blank.
Once the pain subsided, Kaida slowly got back up. "What did you just do to me?!"
"I merely just relieved you of whatever it was plaguing your mind." Maleficent smiled coldly when Kaida looked at her with confusion.
So what do you think? Please review! Tips for better battle scene writing are most appreciated. Thanks!
See you next chapter!