Chapter 96: Treasured Memories
Back at Christmas Town, Sora and the others had explained to Santa Claus how Pete had escaped the world and how very little mistletoe they managed to bring back due to most of it getting affected by the darkness when the Heartless had used it as a form of a body. Though despite the lack of mistletoe, the leader of Christmas Town happily gave them a piece of mistletoe, the final touch to creating the world's item, as well as the jolly man offering them and their friends to stay at one of the holiday villas within Christmas Town. While Kairi and Max had stayed in Santa's workshop to check how the presents were made, making the image of two hyperactive teens going on a happy run within Santa workshop appear, Sora headed his way over to the Villa with the items from the different holidays in hand. As much as he wanted to stick around to watch Kairi's happy expressions around all of the elves, he knew that the item needed to be sorted out and with Riku still in Halloween Town; he was the only one that could merge the items together.
The Keyblade Master opened the wooden door and breathed in the flesh mint air that covered the villa, seeing that it looked like a normal looking inn bedroom as it had four to five single beds and one double bed, a built in kitchen and door that lead to the bathroom while taking the Christmas theme as sparkling decorations were wrapped around the wooden beds as well as a Christmas tree similar to the one that was set within Santa's workshop, rested in the corner of the room. He stepped onto the wooden floor, kicking the door shut behind him before moving over to a random bed and collapsed onto it, landing comfortably on the red covers. He placed the items at the side and crossed his arms under his chin and he rested his head on top of his arms, his thoughts taking over. What's gonna happen to me once the virus is fully in control? I already feel that I've hurt my friends enough but the way I think about things has changed, normally I would suggest an reckless move in that situation but- Sora rolled over to face the ceiling and a daunting fact kept echoing in his mind.
He has changed; he knew that for a fact. A part of his heart has hatred the kind of person he has become, he knows one person that would hate to see him admit that he's changed for the worse.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"Huh?" The teen snapped out of his blames and regrets and drag through his pocket to pull out the communicator. He looked at the vibrating device in his gloved hand with an bewildered expression before pressing one of the buttons to activate the screen, showing a familiar spiky red head. "Hey Brian!" He forced a grin; he didn't feel like being questioned for his random anti-sora mood.
"What's your status, Sora?" He asked tiredly, he could see that Brian must be overworking himself over the reports. "Where are the others?"
"Kairi and Max are in Santa's workshop." Sora replied.
"Seriously Sora, where are they?" he repeated himself.
"That's where they are!" Sora told him more seriously, "We're in Christmas Town. Riku, Donald and Goofy are in Halloween Town. Also, is the rule of this world to place annoying deflects on our performance?" He remembered how Max had struggled in battle due to the head gear.
"Yeah, that's the rule and Riku rang a while ago saying that they ran into some trouble and needed some cover." Brian told him before adding, "Before you go running to help him, don't. Riku said that he's on his way to Christmas Town while Donald and Goofy are helping Jack get rid of Abroc's Unbirths."
"Abroc was here?" Sora questioned, why would Abroc come here to Halloween Town and was he the Endless that they had managed to sense before heading to the world?
"He didn't stay long. He just told Riku something before attacking the entire town. Nothing that Donald and Goofy can't handle. So what's going on at your side?" He asked.
"We had a bit of trouble getting the last holiday item for the merging but we got it." He told him.
"How was it hard to find mistletoe?" He laughed, "I would have expected you to be walking with Kairi randomly and then one would appear out of nowhere just to taunt with you."
"Um yeah." Sora looked away from the screen as he chuckled nervously, a small blush appearing on his cheeks. What if that had happened? It would properly be awkward to be thrown into that situation, even though his heart was imagining it for him. He shook the brush away before looking back at the screen, "We ran into Pete. He had stolen all of the mistletoe to prevent us from getting it." He explained.
"What would Pete want with mistletoe?" Sora watched him shuttered on the screen, "Please tell me he wasn't gonna use it on Maleficent. I would like to sleep tonight." He said with disgust.
Sora shook his head at Brian's comment, not really wanted to have that image in his head, before replying, "He mentioned that he was going to give it to Vanitas."
"Yes. My mental image has just gotten worse now." He moaned in disgust.
"Will you get out the gutter and listen!" Sora glared through the communicator before continuing, "Pete mentioned that Vanitas wanted to prevent the cure."
"Hmmm." Brian said in thought, "It would make sense. What else did Pete say?"
"He said that Maleficent had Ven captured." He told him.
"Your gay stalker? Well, that makes things slightly easier." He laughed once more.
"That joke was never funny." Sora glared at the communicator once more, only to hear the Aversion Endless laugh even louder. "Is there any way to get to the World that Never Was?" he asked.
"Not with the Endless barriers blocking our way." He answered, making Sora sigh in disappointment, "You need help on merging the items to get Holiday's Soul?" He asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah." He sighed before something popped into his head. "Brian! What do you and Hikari think of staying here for the Holidays?" He asked as he emptied the bag of items onto the bed, laying them all out across the bed.
"Well, how long will we be there?" he asked.
"A week." Sora mindlessly replied as he kept his eyes on the item that he received from Valentine's Day Town.
"I don't know. We'll be wasting time. Your remedy can only last for so long, not to mention that we have to gather the rest of the items-"
Everything else was blocked out as the Keyblade Master picked up Cupid's Love within his claw and looked at it deeply in though, forgetting about Brian on the communicator, forgetting about where he was, his mind just remembering what Cupid had said to him.
Flashback
"You're on my list, you know." An Mexican voice tone him.
Sora gasped slightly in shock as he watched the angel like baby float heavenly across the room. The part of the world looked like it was heaven itself as the world had changed Sora's attire to make him look more like a guardian angel wearing ripped up clothing as if he had just come out of a battle, apart from his trousers, most of his clothes were ripped up, showing most of his chest and infected arm. A part of him was glad that Kairi didn't come with him, mainly because he was almost shirtless and the world would make her look like a goodness, which he would properly faint to. "What do you mean?" Sora asked quietly as he watched Cupid pull a folder out of his cloud made draws before opening the folder.
"You mister, are on my list to shoot." He simply said.
"To shoot?" Sora raised an eyebrow at the flying baby.
"You've been in love for this past year and you haven't been shot yet."
"Love?" He questioned once more, he knew how he felt for the red-head, and he was not used for someone he didn't know to speak about his love issues.
"Yes, my darling. Love! That powerful emotion that begging to be released by your heart!" Cupid explained with pure passion. "If it wasn't for the number of broken hearts around, I would have already shot you to be with the Princess of Heart." He smirked as he heard Sora's nervous chuckle with his cheeks bright red before looking at his report. "Hmmm. According to this darling, your emotions seem to be linked closed to love. This is good and bad."
"What do you mean?" He asked him.
"You follow your heart, which I love by the way, but you've managed to seal love in the deepest of your light during your journeys. All of your emotions are affected and linked because of this. Your love could easily turn into fear, jealousy, anger, sorrow, regret. I just worry about you, my love. If you were to lose the one you have given your heart to, a part of your heart will simply follow. You will become broken."
"Broken?"
"Yes, darling. Someone with a broken heart, a case of a broken heart normally leads them to the world as a Heartless." He explained before making the folder in his hands turn into a cloud before turning into a cloud-filled heart. "This is what I think you are after." He flew over to the Keyblade Master and pushed Cupid's Heart over to him.
"Should I tell her?" He asked him, his eyes said that he has no clue what to do now.
"I think you should, my love. It might even help with this in some way." He pointed to Sora's greyish white claw since the part of the world had taken the garment off. "Just remember one thing, Sora. Love can lead you to the brightest of light or the deepest of darkness." Sora nodded to this advice, his claw placed at where his heart stood.
End of Flashback
"SORA! Someone kidnapped Kairi!"
"What?" Sora's eyes shot open with shock and prepared to jump off the bed when all her could hear was laughter on the other line. "That was not funny!" Sora yelled down the communicator.
"I couldn't snap you out of your little daydream. It called for cruel methods." The spiky mage simply explained, "I'll mention the idea of staying in Christmas Town to Hikari when she comes back from covering her lover's behind." Sora chuckled at this, it's the first good joke Brian had told all day. "C'mon, I help you merge Holiday's Soul."
"Right." Sora replied as he began to listen to Brian's instructions.
BOWBOWBOW
"So Santa, are we 'Beep' the list?" Max asked with a child-like grin on his face with Kairi staying beside him with the same child-like grin plastered on her face. The two has had their fun helping make presents and enjoy watching all of the little elves at work, but now wondered about the ever-lasting list that the jolly red man held within the restored workshop.
Santa held a long list within his hands as he was through most of his second check of his nice and naughty list, humming as he searched for the name he was looking for, his eyes working like a typewriter as it was pulled back to its original place as it was going down the list. "Well Max, you seem to be good this year." He grinned nicely up to Max.
"Yeah!" Max cheered, "New skateboard for me!"
"What about me, Sir?" Kairi asked him formally, watching Santa's eyes return to the cream coloured list.
Santa hummed once again, searching for her name before looking up at her, "It says here that when you was younger, you told everyone that you didn't believe in me a little while after your friend, Sora, had." He informed her.
"Oh." She said in disappointment.
"Don't worry, Kairi." Santa told her, "I know that you've been good this year. I think I would need a word with your friend."
Max laughed giddily at this, "Riku's in trouble." He said in a sing-song tone before giggling some more, as well as occasion beeps within his laughter.
Kairi turned to him and looked at him questionably, "How much chocolate have you had?" She asked him.
"I don't know but the eggnog was AWESOME!" He smiled before saying his farewells to the jolly red man and headed outside, making Kairi shake her hand in amusement.
"Why don't you head out and relax in the villa, dear?" Santa suggested to the Princess of Heart, "Not that I don't enjoy your company but I really must prepare for Christmas." He rolled up his list and placed it on the side before lifting himself from his armchair and began to head in the factory, "Perhaps, checking on Sora would be a good idea. A part of him seemed upset that he couldn't stay to watch the factory at work." He said before heading inside his factory.
"Yeah." She said quietly to herself, a part of herself wondering where Sora could be before heading out of the workshop into the town.
"Woah!" She turned her attention to Max's overexcited voice, "I haven't seen it snow since leaving Disney Castle." He said with awe as he held his tongue out to the falling snowflakes.
"Snow?" Kairi looked up at the white clouded sky to watch little white flakes float down to the ground, some falling into her held out hand. She watched with wonder as the snowflake quickly melted within her hand from her body heat before moving her hand to rub her nose from the flakes that fell on her nose. "It's…" She looked up at the sky to watch the sight with a loving smile, "It's beautiful!" She giggled at the feeling of the snow melting against the skin.
The two were so enchanted by one of the weather's blessings that they didn't know a certain spiky brunette watch the two with an assumed expression as he dug his gloved garment arm through his trouser pocket. As soon as he found what he was looking for, he began to sneak up to the two, who had decided to have kick snow at each other, their laughter filled of joy. As soon as he reached them, he remained behind Kairi, allowing Max to see him, as he pointed to the item in hand, seeing him nod with a smirk appear of his face.
Before Kairi could question the mysterious and plotting smirk that had appeared on Max's face, she held a pair of armoured arms form around her, her eyesight catching a blur in the air as Max caught the item that was through at him. As she tried to turn her head around to face the person hugging her, she yelped in surprise as she felt her body lift up from the ground. "Sora! Let me down!"
Sora chuckled as he carried the Princess before looking at Max, "You got it on?" He asked.
[Recording…]
"Got it! Max said behind the cam-recorder.
"Sora, what are you doing?" She screeched slightly as Sora held her in a bridal position and began to ran with her in his arms. She turned her head to where he was running before glaring back at him. "Don't you even-AHHHHHH!" She felt her body fly within the air as her body crashed into another snow bank, only to hear the echoes of Sora and Max's laughs. Guys can be so mean sometimes.
Sora chuckled as he turned towards the camera, "As you guys can see, I'm making certain memories that will never be forgotten." He smirked, not feeling something grab his jacket. "Creating memories like this makes them more magic-WOAH!" His body soon disappeared into the same snow bank where Kairi remained, only hearing the echoes of Max's laughter.
The teen humanoid dog chuckled calmly as he watched Sora and Kairi's head pop out of the snow, recording their expressions as the two faced each other before Kairi managed to crawl out of the bank and began to ran way in a giggling fit with Sora chasing after her, their laughter grabbing the attention of the elves that was working within the town as the two teen cheered like little children. Max kept the camera on the two as Kairi began to run towards Max again, only to be wrapped up by Sora's arms from behind once again, both of them laughing as Sora rested his chin on Kairi's shoulder, both of them looking at the camera. "You know what guys…" Max began to say as he looked away from the camera and at his friends. "You guys look great together."
"We look.." Kairi gasped slightly as she turned her head to face the boy that held her in his arms, only to find that he was looking at her with the same expression on his face, speechless. Normally, they would deny it, full of embarrassment as they proclaim that they were just friends with their faces blushing. But with everything that has happened, as well as finally having a chance to relax within this holiday themed world, it was as if a part of their hearts had decided to push away the embarrassing feeling that they got when their friends would either speak about or find the two together, just for a chance to simply look at each other.
"I guess we do." Sora chuckled softly as he held her closer to him, trying to make sure that he wasn't cutting off her sweet breath that makes his skin brighten up from a single brush. He felt her curve like body turn within his arms as she turned to face him, feeling her arms wrap around his waist while his arms remained on her lower back.
"Hey!" A familiar voice shouted.
The two still held each other in each other's arms, not wanting to let anymore distractions ruin this moment that they knew that only the two of them could share.
"HEY!" The voice shouted again.
The only thing they were really aware of apart from each other was the soft feeling of snow falling from the sky into their faces as the two pulled away their faces from their holder's shoulder as they both took in the site of each other's eyes once again.
"HHHEEEEEYYYY!"
Max held the camera towards the two teens at all times, chuckling slightly when a snowball coming from the right and hit Sora in the back of the head, drawing his attention away from the red-headed girl to glare at the person that had thrown the snowball at them, only to watch his anger glare change into a friendly smile, "Hey Riku! Nice uniform." Max quickly lowered the camera before looking over to Riku.
[Stop]
Riku dusted his hands together, getting rid of the rest of the snow that remained in his hands, as the others took in his appearance change. He had returned to human form, much like Kairi had, his garments had changed in a form of a toy soldier. Upon his slivery head was a tall black hat with a symbol of a balanced heart in the corner, his jacket was dark black with yellow robes that held the jacket together when the robe was linked to the golden top buttons on them and the black belt, his trousers were formal dark blue with a white stripe going down them. Like Sora's costume, parts of him still showed his werewolf nature from Halloween Town as his eyes had turned pointed, his nails still remained like claws within his black gloves, his eyes were shadowed and his teeth were still canine like. "You guys are supposed to be sorting out the world's item, not play in the snow." He doesn't seem to be in a good mood.
"Nice to see you too, Riku." Kairi mumbled as she broke away from Sora.
"Where are the others?" Max wondered as he watched Sora brush the back of his head.
"We got ambushed." Riku told them, ignoring some of the surprised expressions as he continued, "Abroc appeared and just left a warning. Saying that 'Love is a Poison'."
"Love's a poison?" Kairi questioned it.
"What about Donald and my dad?" Max asked him.
"Hikari came down to cover them while I headed here; they still need help in Halloween Town. We have to go." Riku told them.
"Let's get going." Sora nodded in agreement as he began to run ahead, even though he was told by Brian that Donald and Goofy could handle it, he still wanted to help his friends.
"Yeah." Kairi began to follow him, knowing that Riku and Max was following, when she suddenly gasped in pain, grabbing her chest tightly as she fell to her knees.
From hearing her sudden scream, Sora skidded to a halt as he turned around to watch Kairi fall to her knees, his dream flashing through his eyes. "Kairi!" He shouted with fear as he began to run towards her, only to feel a sharp pain stab through his heart as he grabbed his chest tightly, staggering over to Kairi slowly as he began to breathe deeply.
"Sora! Kairi!" Riku tried to help Kairi up, only to see her full of pain in her face. "What's happening to them?" He questioned as he watched Sora fall to his knee, but still trying to approach them.
"We've got 'Beep!' trouble!" Max jumped to the snow as a number of knifes shot towards him, as they landed in the snow, the knifes created an dark pink portal as a number of Unbirths began to appear from the portal, going after some of the elves as well as destroying some of the town.
Riku shielded his eyes shut; he was starting to feel a small sharp pain ache in his heart but nothing he can't handle. What he didn't get was how this sudden pain was affecting Sora and Kairi much worse and why wasn't it affecting Max. "Max? Don't you feel that sharp pain?" he questioned him as he began to hold his chest, the pain getting slightly worse.
"No. I don't." Max said as he summoned his bow, taking out any Unbirths that began to approach them, "Can you fight?"
"Just about." Riku stood up, using the Way to the Dawn as a balance himself before preparing himself for battle. He quickly looked down at his friends, "Don't worry, guys. I'll protect you this time. No one will hurt you guys." He lifted his Way to the Dawn and began to attack the Unbirths that got too close to his friends on one side while Max tried to protect the elves on the other.
Sora lifted his head up painfully, managing to see that the Unbirths that were attacking them has rose like features to them, making him gasped in pain and realisation. He looked around the battle field, in search for the leader of these type of Unbirth, only to find them one second too late. "Riku! Look out!" He felt disbelief as he watched his best friend get struck down to the ground, the knife slashes opening his jacket and shirt underneath completely as his face began to go pale as if he was sick. Before her could do anything, the pain in his heart, as well as hearing Kairi gasped in pain, made him yell in pain as he crashed back to the floor.
The warning was beginning to prove true.
A/N: Another chapter finished. Another Cliffhanger for you guys to deal with. Another few weeks for you guys to suffer for since I need to do coursework. Heheheh, I've been looking forward to writing this chapter. Ohhh the chapter after the next, you guys are going to love me and hate me at the same time XD. Also, I'm officially saying that this story will not issue information from Coded and 3DS. Why? Because it ruins this story and that would make me really sad. So the only thing that will be mentioned from Coded is the change of Jiminy's book, that's it. Nothing else.
Messeges!
Lizard Valis: The Chapter said where Ventus was, he's being held by Maleficent.
DestinyAurora: Hope you enjoy ^^
Kisdota- The Freak Gamer: I look followed to reading this second fic of yours ^^
Transitions End: AWwwwwww, unlucky. You need to get it fixed, the secret boss is AWESOMESSS!
Janus-juan: It took you a week to read the entire story? Wow! Glad you when all the way. I had some guesses for Birth By Sleep but if you knew me in person, you would have known how many times the main villain had changed lol. Kairi was supposed to slap Sora but I kinda forgot to place it in hehehe. Kairi's character was hard to write but I'm glad with the way she is now, Sora is interesting to write. Writing their moments together can be hard. I can't give Brian away but something to question your theory is coming soon XD. DAMN GRAMMER PROMBLES! You stop me from writing good novels. I'm glad you enjoy the story and welcome to Balance of Worlds, Kingdommad at your service *bows*
Soragirl4ever: I need Brian! Either if he isn't doing anything at the moment. YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM! Anyway, this chapter was supposed to be halve humour like and YAY! Another Vanitas fan. You have to love his evil laugh, you here that and you're hooked for life XP.
Brain: How can I possibly be nice to you when I'm not even real.
Mad: Don't ruin the poor girl's imagination. Now you're not gonna get any random cookies doing chapters.
Brain: I love the fact I'm the only one getting random cookies from fan-girls ^^
Mad: Anyways….If you're having problem with costumes like I do sometimes, simply draw the idea or research something about the place where they are going. Either that or get a friend to help.
Future Keybearer: I have a good explanation saved up. *smirk*
I love how the weather managed to help me write the rest of this chapter. THERE'S SNOW EVERYWHERE! I blame Vexen.
See ya next time
Kingdommad