Chapter 18 The Keyblade of Heart
The cracked and stained walls of the old castle flash past Sora as he runs through the unfamiliar hallways. Behind him he can hear Donald and Goofy chasing after him and calling for him to slow down, but he tunes them out. All he can think about is Kairi and finding her before it is too late. Riku had told him about the guy who had taken her, Ansem, and the thought of that creep anywhere near Kairi drives him to run even faster.
He doesn't know where he is going exactly, but the cathedral size room he'd seen on the video can't be that hard to find. Another corner brings him to a staircase that he rushes up, climbing the steps two at a time. The next level is just as abandoned as the previous one, but here there are windows to show the desolate city outside silent and unnaturally still.
Another staircase and another level, but there is still no sign of Kairi or Ansem. No heartless jump out either. If Sora had been more level headed at the moment their missing presence might have set off warning bells, but instead he barrels forward along the hallways and staircases searching for the right room.
He rushes up another staircase and stops short, seeing two great ornate doors before him. One is half open, inviting him in.
"Sora," Donald says, reaching the top of the steps behind him and hunching over to gasp for breath. "We shouldn't just barge in."
Sora, who is stepping forward to do just that, pauses.
"Who knows what's waiting for us in there," Goofy adds. "It might be a trap. Maybe we should wait for Zack and Riku -"
"Kairi might not have time for that," Sora interrupts, moving to the doors. He pushes the one ajar open all the way and peers into the gloomy room beyond. Kairi isn't in sight, but the far end of the room is raised too high for him to see. He enters with silent footsteps and makes a beeline for the staircase on the right. Donald and Goofy follow with reluctance, but hurry after him as he runs up the stairs.
The stairs curve up along the wall, bringing him to the raised level that is the second half of the cathedral like room. At the top he freezes, his breath leaving his lungs in a single gasp. Lying on the floor is Kairi and her eyes are closed.
"Kairi!" Sora shouts, his legs propelling him forward without conscious thought. Focused only on reaching her, he doesn't notice the crash behind him or Donald's surprised squawk. "Kairi," he says again falling to his knees beside her and shaking her shoulders only to see her head loll to the side. "Open your eyes," he says, cupping her face in his hands. "Please…"
"She won't wake."
The deep voice comes from the shadows in the corner and Sora turns to see a man step into the light. It only takes Sora a moment to identify him. Long gray hair, yellow eyes, just like what Riku had described Ansem to look like. But Sora knows him by a different name from a picture Zack had shown him - Xehanort's heartless.
"You," Sora says, his keyblade appearing in his hand. "What have you done to her?"
Ansem steps closer, a sneer on his face as he looks down at Kairi. "The foolish girl had to play the heroine. She did not know her place."
"Don't talk about her like that," Sora says pointing his keyblade at Ansem.
Ansem merely grins at the threat and clasps his arms behind his back as he paces in a slow circle around Sora and Kairi, just out of reach of Sora's keyblade. "A Princess of Heart. One of the seven hearts of light," he says, ignoring Sora's glare. "It is the fate of the worlds for the X-blade to be returned to this realm and the seven lights will be integral in that coming to pass. That girl's only purpose," he nods to Kairi, "is to use her heart to recreate the X-blade. It is unwise to fight destiny."
"'That girl' is a person," Sora says. He clenches his fist not holding his keyblade and shifts so Kairi is shielded from Ansem. "Her name is Kairi. She is not just some tool for your twisted plans. X-blades, destiny, all this stuff you talk about is crazy. You're nothing more than a heartless and I've destroyed plenty of monsters like you. Now wake her up!"
"She will only wake if her heart is returned to her," Ansem says and reaches out to the side. In a flash of light a keyblade appears in hand. It is thin and plain with a red handle and jet black blade. At the tip, there is a piece missing leaving the shape of the heart incomplete. Ansem spins it easily in his hand, turning it to point at Sora.
Sharp pain explodes in Sora's chest and he gasps, clutching at the spot over his heart as he falls to one knee.
"Sora…" He hears Kairi's voice in his head, calling to him like she had in the Sultan's garden in Agrabah before she had disappeared.
"Sora!"
This call of his name came from his right and he turns his head to see Donald and Goofy are not standing behind him as he assumed they were. They are trapped on the other side of a barrier that had sprung up at the top of the steps. No amount of pounding and attack magic on their part is making a dent in it - Ansem's magic is too strong.
The sharp pain in Sora's chest increases as Ansem takes a leisurely step forward. "What's-" Sora tries to say, but only groans.
"Don't you see yet? The princess's heart is responding," Ansem says. "Her heart rests in you."
"Kairi…" Sora says turning to look at her still body lying on the floor beside him. "Kairi's heart is inside me?"
A cold hand grabs him by the front of his shirt and hauls him up so his toes are just barely brushing the floor. Behind the barrier Donald and Goofy are screaming at Ansem, but the tip of the keyblade in Ansem's hand touches Sora's chest and the pain deep in his chest blocks out everything else.
His eyes squeeze close on instinct, but he forces them to crack open enough to see Ansem's triumphant smile leering down at him. "I shall release you now, Princess!" Ansem shouts, drawing his keyblade back to stab through Sora's chest.
As the black tip comes down for the fatal hit, a warmth stemming from his heart fills Sora.
"Sora!"
This time Kairi's voice is strong and accompanied by a second voice he only knows from hazy memories.
A golden light appears in Sora's periphery vision and a flash of a glowing keyblade swings in the space between Sora and Ansem, knocking Ansem's keyblade and his grip on Sora's shirt away at the same time.
Sora falls back to his knees, but quickly jumps back up feeling the pain in his chest replaced by the warmth in his heart. Ansem is rubbing his wrist and glaring, but the look is directed to Sora's right and turning, Sora gasps.
Standing beside him is Ven.
Everything about him is the same as Sora remembers. Looking about 15 with spiked blond hair, bright blue eyes that remind Sora so much of his own, and a black and white jacket with half a sleeve of bulky armor on his shoulder. Most familiar is Ven's smile, but it's small and tired.
"Ven," Sora breathes out, taking a step towards him. The only thing stopping Sora from tackling him in a hug is the golden glow Ven has around him making Sora think one wrong move will cause him to vanish.
"Sora," Ven says, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Appearing like this is hard and I can't keep it up for long." He pauses to take a gasping breath and glances at Ansem who is watching with the same curious expression a scientist would have when poking a lab rat. "I want to help, but like this…" Ven gestures to his glowing form which shimmers for a moment, threatening to break apart. "It's up to you, Sora," Ven says and Sora can only nod mutely. "Don't let Xehanort win."
The sound of footsteps pounding up the steps draws everyone's attention to the other side of the barrier where Zack and Riku join Donald and Goofy, panting. At first Zack leans one hand against the barrier to catch his breath, but as he raises his head to look through it, his eyes widen and he presses both hands to the barrier.
"Ven?" He says and the plea in his voice makes it crack at the end.
Ven smiles as him as his glowing form starts to turn hazy. "I'll see you soon, Zack," Ven says and he's gone, his golden light falling on Sora a moment before disappearing completely.
Sora watches Zack's face fall into a devastated expression, but he can't dwell on him at the moment.
Ansem is smirking as Sora turns back to face him. "No one left to save you now," Ansem says. "Surrender the princess' heart."
"Never." Sora takes up a battle stance. "There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart."
"A noble sentiment, but irrelevant," Ansem says. "The last princess' heart will join the others with or without your compliance."
Ansem steps forward, driving his keyblade at Sora's chest, but Sora dodges to the side, letting it miss him by inches. Conscious of Kairi at his feet, Sora exchanges short blows with Ansem to draw him to the center of the floor where Kairi won't be in any danger of their fight. His friends are yelling encouragement to him and he feels stronger with their support. Ready to get this fight started for real, Sora shouts, "Fira!" As soon as the fireball leaves his keyblade, Sora follows it with a swing of his keyblade.
Ansem manages to block the fireball coming for his head, but is too slow to also stop Sora's keyblade from digging in a gash across his stomach. Hissing in anger and in pain, Ansem retaliates with a slash of his own that Sora deflects.
The two of them seperate, eyeing each other warily. Ansem lets his keyblade disappear and orbs of darkness manifest in his hands. With a flick of his wrist he shoots a bolt of darkness at Sora, striking him in a glancing hit to his shoulder that makes him stumble. Grabbing at his stinging shoulder, Sora hears Riku shout, "Duck!" and without thought follows the command.
Another bolt of darkness skims the tallest spikes of his hair and Sora rolls left to avoid the next oncoming attack. Back on his feet, Sora knocks the another attack away with his keyblade and grits his teeth as he blocks the continued onslaught. Ansem keeps up his attack for over a minute and when the darkness in his hands finally fades, Sora lets the tip of his keyblade rest on the ground, panting. His arms feel heavy from so many jarring blocks.
"You can do it, Sora!" Goofy calls encouragingly and Sora hefts his keyblade back up with grim determination.
Ansem summons his keyblade again, but before he gets the chance to attack, Sora calls out, "Ragnarok!"
He feels the magic hum though his body from the powerful spell. Rising into the air, he shoots across the space between him and Ansem and moves through an aerial assault faster than Ansem can react. With each strike Sora can feel the magic of the attack building for the final move and as his combo ends he flips backwards, landing on the ground with his keyblade pointed at Ansem. A blast of energy explodes from the end and several beams of light hit Ansem in the chest. The force is immense, but Ansem only stumbles back half a step before regaining his balance and his glare.
Sora doesn't waste a moment and rushes at him again. Ansem however is quick and each time Sora swings at an opening Ansem's keyblade is there to intercept him. Remembering his fighting lessons, Sora stays light on his feet, moving with ease around Ansem and forcing him to keep spinning to face him. Through out the exchange of blows, Sora is careful to keep their fight from drifting towards Kairi's prone body.
Ansem swings at Sora's legs forcing him to jump back to avoid the blow. The small break in fighting is enough time for Ansem to dismiss his keyblade and once more summon the darkness to his hands.
A rapid fire of bolts of darkness flies for Sora and he dives to the side to avoid them. Rolling up to a crouch, Sora's breath catches in his throat to see Ansem has turned away from him to face Kairi instead. Sora is already running when Ansem shoots a blast of darkness at her. His only thought is to protect Kairi and with a final burst of speed he reaches her in time to stretch out his keyblade and deflect the blast of darkness just enough to sending it ricocheting off to the edge of the barrier where it dissipates.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Sora smiles at Kairi and turns back to face Ansem. There is a flash of movement, of yellow eyes full of triumph, and a sharp stinging pain.
Sora's body goes limp as he looks down in horror at the jet black blade of Ansem's keyblade protruding from his chest, right over the spot where his heart is.
There is screaming in the background. The shouts of Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Zack, Sora thinks for a moment before the thought like the sounds around him begin to fade.
Everything is slowing down. Ansem pulls his keyblade back, his head thrown back in a cackle, but Sora is deaf to the sound. All he can hear is the blood pounding in his ears.
There is no pain. A numb tingling is spreading through his body. Looking down at the wound in his chest, Sora wonders when he had gotten so tired. He can't take his eyes off the jagged and bleeding cut left by Ansem's keyblade. Somewhere deep inside a golden light grows in intensity.
He blinks and his whole body is glowing. His legs are no longer strong enough to keep him upright, but he doesn't fall. From his chest emerges a small golden orb. A heart. It tries to float back to Sora. For a moment he sees Kairi in front of him reaching out a hand with a pleading expression, but the heart returns to its orb state and an invisible force drags it unwillingly towards Ansem who holds out his keyblade.
"No…" Sora whispers, the simple word hard to force out. He can't let Ansem win, but he's tired. So tired.
There is a darkness he can sense lurking nearby. It tries to draw him into its depths, but he fights. Kairi needs him now more than ever. His keyblade is still in his hand, glowing with the same golden light that has enveloped him. With every bit of his remaining strength, Sora lifts his keyblade and throws it end over end at Ansem.
Smug yellow eyes widen in surprise and Ansem moves his keyblade into a hasty block. Kingdom Key locks with Ansem's Keyblade of Heart for a moment before a crack forms on the black blade. Another crack forms and then another until the incomplete Keyblade of Heart breaks into six pieces that fall only to turn into hearts that shoot off out of the room, unaffected by Ansem's barrier.
Sora's keyblade returns to his hand and the seventh heart, rushes away from Ansem. It stops above Kairi's chest and sinks in gently.
Sora turns to watch and seeing her open her eyes, he smiles, starting to fall. He saved her. He no longer has to hold on for her.
His eyes start to drift close. The darkness calls him. He can see Kairi on her feet, her mouth forming his name in a scream he can't hear. She is running for him. Her arms stretch out to embrace him, but as they close around him the waiting darkness rushes in and he loses himself in it.
...
"Sora!" Kairi shouts, her voice breaking into a sob at the end. She had woken up to him falling back and rushed to his side, but when she tried to catch him he'd vanished in a burst of golden light, the last of which she is staring at with disbelief as it rises to the ceiling and disappears. "No….It can't be," she says clutching at the spot over her heart. The heart Sora had fought so hard to protect. "I won't let him go!"
"At last your heart is within reach again, Princess," Ansem says and Kairi jerks around to face him.
"You," she says, pointing an accusing finger at him that trembles with rage. "This is all your fault." Tears threaten to cloud her vision, but she blinks them away, summoning her keyblade.
Ansem raises an unimpressed eyebrow. "You have tried to best me before, Princess, and failed. What makes you think this time will be any different?"
"Because," Kairi says, launching forward and bringing her keyblade around in a sudden strike. "This time I'm fighting for my friends."
Ansem manages to deflect her first attack, but Kairi follows up right away with another swing, using all the rage in despair to fuel her. The power behind each hit is greater than she'd fought with the other times her and Ansem had battled, and while Ansem manages to keep her from landing any hits on him, he he is forced back until he is pressed against the wall of his own barrier.
Kairi swings in a vicious slash and their keyblades lock. Keeping pressure on Ansem's keyblade, Kairi rotates her body and swings her leg around, landing a rib crunching kick to Ansem's side.
Ansem grunts in pain and shoves back on their locked keyblades. He pushes Kairi back and slips away from the barrier she had pinned him to. He holds his side and glares at her, but as she runs at for another attack a dark corridor appears behind him and he disappears into it. Kairi's keyblade cuts through the air where he had been moments before and she lets out a wordless scream of anger to see him gone.
"Kairi!" Riku shouts, but she ignores him, slashing at the spot Ansem disappeared again. Arms she recognizes as Riku's wrap around her from behind and pin her arms to her sides. She struggles, becoming hysterical as she calls out Sora's name between sobs. Riku holds her still hugging her tight until she is spent and her voice is hoarse. She turns in his arms and buries her face in his shoulder wishing it was Sora's.
"He's gone," Kairi says suppressing a hiccup. "He's gone, Riku. I couldn't…"
"Shhh," Riku hums in her ear, He's trying to be calm, but Kairi can tell from the way he is holding her so tight he is as distraught as her, just better at hiding it.
There is a squawking sound and a familiar voice mutters, "Damn it," close by. Lifting her head and pulling out of Riku's arms, Kairi looks with surprise at Zack standing a few feet away with his sword at the ready.
"Why…" she starts to ask, wondering why Zack is here. Last time she'd seen him was in Traverse Town before he disappeared to search for Ven. Her questions have to be put on hold however, because a group of Soldier heartless have them surrendered at the moment.
"We have to get back to the safe house," Zack says through tight lips. His face has lost all its color and his eyes seem a little too glossy.
Riku nods, a hard frown on his face, and summons his keyblade. Kairi wipes a hand quickly over each cheek and does the same. The duck and tall dog she doesn't recognize also pull out their own weapons. Zack is already a flurry of movement, cutting down enough heartless to break the lines and open a path for them to flee.
Zack leads the way down the steps and out of the cathedral like room. Any heartless that appear in their way he ends with a powerful blow of his keyblade. Reaching the hallway outside the room, he starts to head for the nearest staircase down, but suddenly remembering Kairi shouts, "Wait!"
The group pauses and turns to face her. "The other princesses," she says looking up and down the hallway to get her bearings. "They're still trapped here."
"Do you know where?" Riku asks and Kairi nods.
She starts running the opposite way, away from the staircase Zack had been leading them towards, and the others scramble after her. To keep herself from thinking about Sora, she focuses all her attention in finding her way to the cell Ansem had kept her and the other princesses in. Remembering the way they had taken in their attempt to escape, she does her best to retrace her steps and prays this time she can save them.
LightzMusic22: Concussion's all better and I'm very thankful for that. Sorry but no single squirrels in Sora's future XD
LIGHTZMUSIC22'S REVIEW WAS THE 50TH FOR THIS STORY! *confetti cannon explodes* Thank you everyone who has written a review for this story. Keep it up!
Big changes are coming. Dont forget to leave a review and stay tuned for the next chapter, Number XIII.