Chapter 7 Strangers
"What are we going to do?" Kairi asks Riku as they leave the 7th Heaven, closing the door behind them. They had just finished telling Tifa, Cloud, and Yuffie who had been in the bar the bad news that Sora isn't coming home anytime soon and as expected it hadn't gone over too well.
"What can we do?" Riku says with a scowl. "We can't exactly chase down Sora and drag his ass back here. He took the only working ship."
Kairi gives him a sympathetic look that softens his expression slightly. She knows how protective he is of his friends. Having Sora gone is hard enough on him, but watching the tears form in Tifa's eyes after telling her what Sora had said had made him feel even worse. The two of them had left Cloud and Yuffie to console Tifa and gone off to find Sora's other friends so they would know as well. They aren't exactly rushing to tell the story again so they let their feet drag a little as they head towards the doors to the second district.
Glancing up at the sky, Kairi sighs. "I just wish we were with him," she says. "Then I would know that he's okay."
Riku looks at her, seeing the worry in her eyes. There is something else there. Another emotion to make her worry run deeper. Without really thinking, Riku says, "You like him, don't you?"
Kairi freezes. Her eyes going wide and her mouth opens slightly before she can stammer out, "I...I don't know what you're talking about." Blush creeps into her cheeks. She tries to walk away, but Riku moves in front of her.
"You like him more than a friend," he says now sure. Her face is as red as her hair. "There's nothing to be embarrassed of. The two of you would be good for each other."
"I…" Kairi can't seem to find the words. Pushing her way past Riku with her head down, she starts to walk towards the doors of the second district again. "I'm not talking about this with you, Riku."
Riku hurries after her, trying to hide his grin. He didn't need her to say it aloud, her face had been enough proof. If only Sora was here so he could tell him.
Lost in thought, Riku lets his feet take him through the doors to the second district and in the direction of the hotel. He doesn't take any notice of his surroundings until Kairi touches his arm and whispers, "Who is that?"
Following her hand pointed to the other side of the district, Riku looks at the usually empty lower area to see a stranger standing there with silver-white hair longer than his own. The man's back is turned to them and he is wearing a coat that is black at the top and white at the bottom. It falls just short of the group, letting them see his black boots.
Forgetting about telling the others about Sora, Riku starts walking to the steps that will take him down to the man. They hardly ever get any visitors in Traverse Town, but when they do it is a very big deal. Riku has an uneasy feeling in his gut wondering how this man got into town with anyone noticing. Kairi follows behind him, just as wary of this stranger as he is.
They take the stairs down to the fountain, watching the man carefully. He has yet to turn to them, but as they reach the bottom of the stairs, he holds out his gloved hands to either side of him and they turn purple with the power of darkness. Surprised, Riku and Kairi both freeze. Out of the ground around the stranger, Neoshadow heartless rise up and take shape.
Kairi gasps and summons her keyblade. Riku does the same and charges forward shouting, "Hey!" The stranger turns to face him, and Riku feels some of his confidence fade at the sight of his cold yellow eyes. Seeing him falter, the stranger sneers. Kairi falls into a battle position beside Riku and seeing her brings back his confidence and anger. "What do you think you're doing?" Riku asks raising his keyblade to point at the man.
"The balance of this town is off," the man replies in a deep voice. "The light is too strong here."
Riku's eyes are quickly assessing the man while he talks. His shirt doesn't quite cover his chest in the front and Riku can see his muscles. He looks like a guy who would be hard to beat in a fight. Riku's eyes widen as they fall on the symbol set on his chest. It looks just like the ones all the heartless have somewhere on them.
"My heartless will bring the darkness that you have destroyed back to this world ," the man says. He points down the alley that leads to the third district and the heartless around his feet race off in that direction. Kairi moves to intercept them and stop them from terrorizing the town, but the stranger cuts her off, moving so fast Riku is sure his feet didn't touch the ground.
Kairi takes a step back, glaring at the man and the heartless behind him disappearing around the corner. "Who are you?" She demands.
"It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness," he says. His eyes widen to a point that he looks completely insane. Behind him, a huge black and blue heartless appears, hovering behind Ansem in a protective way.
Kairi jumps back, nearly stepping on Riku's foot. He steadies her, not taking his eyes off Ansem. "I don't care who you are," Riku says, proud he is able to keep his voice steady despite the knot of fear in his throat. "I'm giving you one chance and one chance only to get out of this town and never come back." He glares at Ansem, but the man sneers back.
"I will leave your precious town as soon as I have what I've search ten years for." Ansem turns his cold gaze from Riku to Kairi. "Princess."
Kairi nearly drops her keyblade in surprise. "What?"
Riku steps in front of her, putting himself between her and Ansem. "Back off or you'll regret it," he says. The words are barely out of his mouth when the guardian heartless behind Ansem disappears only to reappear in front of Riku and grab him by his collar.
"Riku!"
He hears Kairi call his name, but the heartless had already thrown him across the square, sending him crashing into one of the benches against the side. Hitting the bench hard. He groans as he falls to the ground on his back. Clenches his eyes shut, he waits for the immediate pain to pass. He opens them to find the guardian's glaring yellow eyes staring down at him. He rolls to the side just in time to avoid the massive black fist that cracks the ground where his head hand been moments before.
"Blizzaga!" Riku shouts and wickedly sharp icicles catch the monster in the chest. It stumbles back with a roar of pain and Riku jumps to his feet. Looking around, he spots Kairi fighting Ansem. Her keyblade is a blur in the air as she knocks away each of the dark attacks he sends her way.
Kairi manages to deflect one of the attacks back at him, catching him in the shoulder. She takes advantage in the momentary lapse in his attacks to launch into one of her own. She swings her keyblade to start a strong combo move. Her first hit is a glancing blow and Ansem jumps back, shouting, "Come, Guardian!"
Kairi is following up with her second swing when the the Guardian appears in front of Ansem, taking her attack instead. The heartless is tough and Kairi's blow bounces off, throwing her keyblade back. She stumbles in surprise and the Guardian raises a hand to punch her.
"Hey!" Riku shouts, moving behind Ansem. He throws his keyblade as the Guardian turns to him. It spins end over end and slams blade first into the Guardian's chest. It roars and retreats behind Ansem. Ansem turns his cold yellow eyes to Riku and the Guardian glares at him over his shoulder. For a moment, Kairi is forgotten and she starts to starts to edge closer to their turned backs.
Riku's concentration is broken for a moment when a door bangs open down the alley to his left. Cid stomps out with a fierce glare already on his face. "Riku! What in damnation is with all the commotion!" Cid catches sight of Ansem and his Guardian whose focus had turned to him. "Holy mother of-"
"Get down!" Riku tackles Cid just in time to avoid the blast of darkness Ansem sends his way.
"Hey ugly! Over here!" Kairi yells, attacking the Guardian's turned back. She swings again, but Guardian moves fast, turning to her and grabbing her keyblade in one of its massive hands. She gasps, trying to pull it from its grip, but it is too strong.
Riku and Cid clamber back to their feet and watch the Guardian rip the slender keyblade out of Kairi's hands, tossing it out of her reach. It clatters to the ground and lays there for a moment before disappearing. "Get some place safe," Riku says, pushing Cid back towards his house. "Thundaga!" He shouts, pointing his keyblade at the Guardian. He feels grim satisfaction as the Guardian's body contorts painfully from the electricity flowing through it.
The spell ends and the Guardian forgets about Kairi, heading straight for Riku in revenge. Riku dodge rolls to avoid the first punch then strikes out with his keyblade, landing several solid hits on its side. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Kairi holding her own against Ansem with her keyblade having reappeared back in her hand. She is alternating between blocking his dark attacks and firing off attack magic.
The Guardian swings a fist at Riku who prepares to block it, but he realizes too late it's a feint. Before Riku can recover, the heartless is able to grab him around the middle and toss him high into the air. The world in sky spins around Riku and he is just able to make out the doors of the hotel before he slams into them. He falls to the walkway outside the hotel, groaning and curling up in pain. He is sure the crack he heard when he crashed was a rib snapping.
He hears the door of the hotel open. "Riku!"
Rolling onto his back, Riku turns his head to Marlene who drops down next to him, her eyes wide with fear. "Stop," she says breathlessly, putting a hand on his shoulder to keep him from getting up. "You're hurt." She puts a shaking hand over his painful side, but her voice in strong when she says, "Curaja." It's a more powerful curing spell than Riku would be able to perform and he groans as his rib heals itself.
The pain gone, he is able to think more clearly. As she helps him sit up, he grabs her arm. "You have to warn the others," he says staring into her frightened eyes.
"Riku what's-" She tries to say, but he pushes her roughly to the side.
"Fira!" He shouts sending a fireball at the Guardian which had appeared on the walkway. The blast knocks it back down to the lower area of the district. "C'mon," he says grabbing Marlene's hand and pulling her to her feet after him. He runs with her towards the doors to the first district. "Get everyone," he says looking over his shoulder to see if the Guardian is chasing them, but it is nowhere to be seen. "Tell them there are heartless in the third district."
Marlene gasps and pulls up short making Riku whirl around to see the Guardian has appeared in their path, blocking them from reaching the first district. "Get to the doors," Riku says to Marlene.
"Riku-" She tries to say as he lets go of her hand and charges at the Guardian.
It tries to punch him, but he ducks under it and slams the flat of his keyblade against the Guardian's chest, pinning it against the nearest wall. "Go!" He shouts, struggling to hold the heartless in place. Marlene doesn't hesitates and sprints for the doors, pulling them shut after she goes through. The Guardian succeeds in throwing Riku back off it, and Riku readies himself on the balls of his feet.
"Come, Guardian," Ansem shouts from across the district and before Riku can attack, the Guardian disappears.
Riku runs towards where he had left Kairi with Ansem. He can see Kairi's chest heaving in exhaustion, but she is still holding her keyblade at the ready. Her back is to Riku, but he is sure she is glaring at Ansem and his heartless that is now standing in front of its master. He forgoes the stairs, instead jumping down to land beside the fountain. The drop is a little farther than he thought, but he bends his knees as he lands and absorbs most of the impact.
He looks up to see the Guardian swing a fist at Kairi who raises her keyblade to block. However, she is tired from the hard battle and the Guardian is still just as strong as it was at the beginning. It knocks her down and her keyblade falls from her hand disappearing. Riku starts to run, but someone else gets to her aid first.
"Leave her alone you son of a bitch!" Cid shouts running out of his house with what looks to be a homemade flamethrower on his shoulder. He pulls the trigger on it and an enormous fireball erupts from the end, headed straight for Ansem and his Guardian. At the same time, the force knocks Cid back and he hits the wall behind him hard. Kairi covers her head as the fireball slams into Ansem and explodes, injuring both him and his Guardian.
"Enough!" Ansem shouts sending a blast of darkness at Cid who is trying to get back to his feet. The attack hits him and he crumples unmoving to the ground.
Riku is already on the move. He jumps at Ansem to get more leverage behind his attack, but Ansem is too quick. He lunges at Riku, knocking him out of the air, and when Riku slams face first into the ground, Ansem's over him, pinning him down.
"Get the Princess," Ansem shouts to his heartless which grabs Kairi and lifts her into the air, squeezing her until she can't breathe.
"Riku…" she is able to gasp out, struggling weakly against the Guardian's grip and reaching for him.
Riku tries to throw Ansem off, but Ansem hits him with a dark attack. At such close range, Riku nearly passes out from the pain. He blinks back the blackness threatening to close over his eyes and focuses on Kairi. "No…" he says seeing her struggle one last time before passing out limp in the Guardian's arms.
"Get off him!"
Yuffie's shout comes from across the district and suddenly Ansem is no longer on top of him. Riku rolls onto his back just in time to see the Shruiken that had knocked Ansem off him fly back to Yuffie's hand. She and Marlene are standing above the fountain staring in horror at the scene below.
Riku pushes himself to his feet as he hears Marlene call, "Curaja," again and the spell instantly rids him of the pain from Ansem's last attack. He sees the green light of the curing spell fall on Kairi as well, but it doesn't wake her.
Ansem is also back on his feet. His yellow eyes are burning with anger, but still he smirks. "I have what I came for," he says reaching out a hand and summoning what looks to be a portal of pure darkness. "I'll take my leave of your precious world now."
The Guardian throws Kairi's limp body over its shoulder and goes through the portal. "Stop! Kairi!" Riku yells racing towards the portal as Ansem steps through and disappears.
Behind him he can hear Marlene and Yuffie yelling his name, but all he is focused on is the black portal starting to close. He dives forward and makes it just in time.
The portal closes leaving the second district eerily quiet compared to the battle from before. Marlene and Yuffie hurry down the steps coming to a stop at the spot the portal had been.
"Riku?" Marlene says staring unbelievingly at the spot he had vanished.
Cid groans and Yuffie goes over to him as he stirs. "Where's that son of a bitch?" He says waving her off and pushing himself unsteadily to his feet. He looks around and sees only Marlene standing in the square. "Fuck."
The sound of running feet makes them all turn to the alley that leads to the Third District where Leon, Cloud, Tifa, Merlin, and Aerith appear with weapons in hand. All except Aerith look battleworn. The five of them pull up short looking around just like Cid had.
"Where are Riku and Kairi?" Leon asks, the tone of his voice suggesting he had already assumed the worst.
"They're...gone," Marlene says still not able to believe it. She stares at the spot where she last saw Riku diving after the man with long silver hair, wondering where in the worlds that portal had taken them.
...
The gummi ship flies smoothly through space with Sora at the wheel, but his mind is back in Hollow Bastion. He can't get that look Zack had in his eyes out of his head. He had been so lost without Ven. Sora wants nothing more than to turn the ship around and head back so Zack won't be alone, but he can't, he has a job to do. I'll find Ven, he vows to himself. I'll find him and make Zack smile again.
"Sora? You okay there buddy?" Goofy asks, breaking through Sora's thoughts.
Sora turns to Goofy, realizing he and Donald had been talking to him. "Sorry, got a lot on my mind," he says. "What did you say?"
"We were just wondering what Zack's connection to Ven is," Goofy says. "He seems mighty worried about him."
"Obsessed is more like it," Donald adds. "He looked like he hadn't slept in days."
Sora nods sadly, knowing Donald is right. Zack isn't going to stop until he gets Ven back. "Ven is Zack's boyfriend," Sora tells them. "And Zack blames himself for Ven's disappearance."
Sora had heard Cloud and Tifa talking one night a few years back. It was a night after Zack had run off again and Sora hadn't been able to sleep. He crept to the stairs and listened to them down in the bar, talking about Zack having never been able to forgive himself for what happened. Zack had tried to fight off the bad guys to save Ven, but hadn't been able to in the end. Thier voices had dropped lower so Sora could hear all that was said, but he heard enough to know Ven had handed himself over to save Zack.
The beeping from the radar brings Sora's focus back to the task at hand. The Olympus Coliseum is coming up fast on their right. Slowing down the ship, Sora bring it to a stop and parks it like before. Getting up with Donald and Goofy, he goes to the green transporter that sends them down to the world below.
...
"Why do you think Zack thought Ven's heart might be here?" Goofy asks as they cross the open area to reach the coliseum they had landed in front of.
"Dunno," Sora says looking back by the scoreboards at the circle of green that marked where they had entered the world. "I guess it must mean something to Ven." They reach the doors of the Coliseum and crane their necks to look up at the intimidating structure. "Let's check it out."
He leads the other two up the short steps and through the door. They enter a small lobby, empty except for a man on a pedestal in the corner fixing a sign. No, not a man, a goat. A goat-man?
"Um…" Sora says trying not to stare at the fur and hooves.
"Good timing," the goat-man says without turning around. "Give me a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there for me. I gotta spruce this place up for the games." He point vaguely in the direction of a large marble block against one wall.
Sora exchanges a glance with Donald and Goofy who shrug. Still confused, Sora approaches the block. He doubts he will be able to move it, but he tries anyway. It doesn't budge an inch and his feet start to slip. Donald and Goofy join him, but even the three of them together can't get the block to move.
"It's way too heavy!" Sora complains, giving up and turning to frown at the goat-man's back.
"What? Too heavy? Since when have you been such a little-" He finally turns and cuts himself off surprised to see Sora standing there. "Oh. Wrong guy," he says with more hostility than necessary. "Who are you?"
"I'm Sora, that's Donald, and he's Goofy," Sora says pointing to each of them. "Who are you?"
"Name's Phil," the goat-man says hopping down from the pedestal. He looks them up and down. "I'm not offering any training today. I got my hands full preparing for the games. So run along, pip-squeaks. This here's the world-famous Coliseum. Heroes only." He waves them off and goes to climb back on his pedestal.
Donald crosses his arms and glares. "You got heroes standing right in front of you."
"Yup. He's a real hero chosen by the Keyblade!" Goofy says putting his hands on Sora's shoulders.
"Keyblade?" Phil says in surprise. He turns back to them, looking them over a second time. "I've trained some keyblade wielders in my time. Some of the best heroes I've ever worked with. Terra and Aqua. Now those two were the real deal. Even that pipsqueak, Ven was it? I could tell, he had what it takes to go the distance."
"You know them?" Sora says surprised.
"Of course I do," Phil replies. "Their master, Eraqus, would send them to me when they got to be too much of a handle. I'd straighten 'em out for him."
"You know Master Eraqus too?" Sora says. He takes a step forward eagerly. "I guess Zack was right to send us here. Have you seen any of them?"
Phil looks at his eager expression and sighs. He runs a hand over his balding head. "Sorry, kid. Haven't seen them in years. Heard about what happened from Zack."
"Zack?" A voice from inside the coliseum calls out. "Is Zack here?"
"Nah, Herc," Phil says as the buffest guy Sora has ever seen enters the lobby. "These three are friends of his. Er… what'd you say your names were again."
"I'm Sora."
"Donald."
"And Goofy."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Hercules. Call me Herc," Herc says giving Sora a firm handshake. His grip is so tight that Sora's whole arm feels like jello when he releases his hand. "Are you looking for Ven's heart too?"
Sora nods. "Zack told us this would be a good place to look."
Phil and Herc exchange a look. "You got this?" Phil says to Herc. Herc nods and Phil goes to leave, but he turns back. "I can squeeze you runts into the bracket if you want to compete. It's good for experience which I'm sure you need."
Donald opens his beak with an annoyed expression, but Sora cuts him off. "Sign us up!" He says with a grin, wondering what they could win.
Phil hurries out and the three turn back to Herc who leans against the marble block. "Look guys," he says in an apologetic voice. "I'm sorry, but me and Phil have looked all over this world. Ven's heart isn't here. Everytime Zack comes we look again, but we always come up with nothing because there is nothing to find."
"There isn't?" Sora says letting his shoulder slump. "But Zack seemed so sure…"
"Yeah, I know," Herc says. He sighs. "Zack's convinced Ven's heart wouldn't just go someplace random. He thinks it would go someplace that means something to Ven."
"What does this world mean to Ven?" Goofy asks.
"This is where he met Zack," Herc says softly. "We were just kids then. It's hard to believe its really been ten years." Herc sighs again. "You're welcome to look around, but I really don't think you'll find Ven's heart here."
Sora stares at his shoes. Another wrong world. "Thanks anyway," he says giving Herc a half hearted smile. The sound of a horn comes from the coliseum. "What's that?" Sora asks.
"That's the start of the games," Herc says walking towards the entrance to the coliseum and beckoning for them to follow. "The first match is underway."
They walk out onto the sand of the arena. Phil is standing there, watching the match taking place on the concrete square in the middle. "Heartless?" Sora says in disbelief seeing the fighters in the match are two different groups of heartless. One side is eight or nine Soldier heartless and the other is two Large Body heartless.
"Yep. Weird right?" Phil says looking up at him. "They used to be a problem. Attacking people and what not, but as soon as we opened the games they took to fighting each other instead. Look."
Sora looks back at the match to see one of the Large Bodies belly flop on a Soldier, flattening it and killing it. The small pink heart floats away and Sora watches it go. Phil is right, it is weird, but if it is keeping people from getting hurt by the heartless, he isn't going to question it.
"Why are the stands empty?" Donald asks gesturing to the simple rock steps on either side of the fighting area.
"This tournament is all about getting stronger," Phil says. "It's not open to the public. It'll be easier to focus without a bunch of screaming girls in the stands." He glares at Herc who blushes slightly.
A final punch from one of the Large Bodies ends the fight and the two victors chest bump before running off to wait on the side lines with the other competitors. Phil makes a note on his sheet. "Alright! Match two!" He shouts. Reading from the sheet he says, "Powerwilds you're up! And the other competitor is...uh...he didn't give a name."
"That would be me."
They turn at the voice behind them to see a man enter without even glancing in their direction. He is wearing black pants made for fighting and heavy black boots. Over a plain white shirt he has a dark red jacket that is ripped and torn like he's worn it in many battles before this one. His hair is black and in a short cut military style with it shorter on the sides than on top. He enters the fighting area and turns to face the Powerwilds which jabber in excitement. As he readies his sword, Sora notices he is holding it back hand and frowns, wondering if it will be hard for him to fight like that.
"Begin!" Phil shouts and before the word is fully out of his mouth, the man is moving. His first swing takes out three heartless and Sora decides his strange style is definitely not hindering him. The man spins on his heels and slices a Powerwild that jumps at him. One blow and its gone like the three before it. The man takes out two more on his third swing and the last heartless tries to run away. The man jumps over it, twisting in the air to land facing it and slams his sword down before it knows what hit it.
The whole fight lasts about ten seconds and Sora stares, mouth open, at the strength and speed of the victor.
"What a fight!" Phil yells. "Now that's what I'm talking about. Alright, next up is Sora, Donald, and Goofy vs. the Barrel Spiders." Turning to Sora, he says, "I got three words for you, give it all you got."
"But that's-" Sora tries to say while Goofy counts on his fingers, but Phil shoos them away and the three make their way to the fighting area.
They pass the man from the last match as he walks off. For a moment, Sora's blue eyes meet the stranger's green ones and a feeling of familiarity hits Sora. The man frowns, like he has the same feeling, but looks away and heads off to sit alone in the stands. Sora watches his retreating back until Donald kicks him in the shin.
"Ow!"
"Focus," Donald says, glaring at him.
"Gwarsh," Goofy says readying his shield. "These guys don't look that tough."
"Yeah," Sora says throwing one last dirty look at Donald before falling into a battle stance and summoning his keyblade. "We can take them, easy."
"Begin!" Phil shouts from the side lines and the three of them spring forward, eager to fight and prove they have what it takes to be heroes.
Do you know who the fighter is? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?!
I know! But then again I'm the writer so of course I know. Not sure if I made it obvious or not...
If not, all will be revealed in good time!
:)
CatLoverx33: Yep now Sora's all caught up with everything that's happened.
LightzMusic22: There will be Zactus flashbacks to come, but idk which ones yet.
TopazDragon98: Poor Zack is right! More sad missing Ven stuff to come 'cause I'm mean to Zack like that.
If you were wondering, the form of Cure that Marlene uses (Curaja) is the fourth level of magic. The fourth level isn't in Kingdom Hearts, but it is in Final Fantasy. The others can't use that spell because they aren't as good of healers as her.
Thank you New England Nor'easter for giving me two snow days to extend my vacation and give me time to write this.
Wow this chapter ended up really long. But that fight scene with Ansem was epic! (if I do say so myself)