Chapter 139: Far Off Dream
"Wake up!"
A splash of icy cold water shocked her up from her sleep, her head still killing from the strike back in her room. She opened her eyes to find herself in a stone ivy cell with rusty bars in front of her, seeing the transformation of Nikolai looked back at her. She looked at everything in confusion; the last thing she remembered was talking to Kasper in the library before she was stopped by someone. "Where am I?" Kairi held her head in pain, noticing that she was cuffed in the keyblade specialist handcuffs once more. "What happened?" She looked up at Nikolai.
The Sorrow Endless kept silent as he opened the door to the rusty cell, summoning his gunblade as he aimed it towards the Princess of Heart. "Time to go."
Kairi didn't flinch at the blade to her neck. "To where?" she asked.
He looked down at the Princess with sorrow. "To a place where the story begins."
BOWBOWBOW
A light blue portal appeared in the outskirts of the broken down town, dust blowing rapidly across the floor as the Wielder of Dawn stepped through, keyblade in hand as he looked over to area. He turned around as he watched Sky, Donald and Goofy come through the portal. Sky was the last one through the portal, looking at Donald and Goofy as if he was realising how silly his two friends actually were, as if he was asking himself what he was thinking. He could see how much the virus has had on Sky's personality.
Goofy stepped forward, looking around the broken down town, holding his shield tight with him. "Is this where that Colonel is holding da King and Kairi?" He wondered as the group stepped forward, the portal disappearing behind them.
Riku looked back at the portal, expecting Brian or Hikari to be behind then. "Where are we?" He asked as he looked around the area.
Goofy pulled out a piece of paper out of one of his pockets, reading out the name. "Ultimate Castle."
"Never heard of it." Sky huffed as he kicked down on of the doors, checking in the house to what looks like an abandon shop.
Donald looked at Sky and Goofy as if they were idiots. "It's Disney Castle, you palookas!" He pointed out to them.
Sky glared back at the mage, coming back out of the empty shop. "The only palookas here are you, Goofy and Riku, you duck!" His intense glare had caught the court's magician by surprise.
"Sora!" Riku shouted over to him, grabbing the Endless' attention. "Now is not the time to have an outburst!" He told him, looking at his pulsing white claw.
"It is when you guys are being idiots as always." Sky growled from underneath his breath as he looked around the area. "Where exactly are we?" He asked.
Goofy looked around a little more, knowing that it's his hometown. "We're not that far from the main gates, we should have been able get from the castle that way." He pointed to the left.
Sky raised an eyebrow at the direction Goofy was pointing towards. "If I remember correctly, that's where the tower collapsed." He reminded them. "Climbing over the tower would waste time." He paced for a while before tapping his chin as a thought came through. "If we sneak our way through the gummi port then-"
Donald's features ruffled from the idea. "That would take twice as long!"
"It would still be quicker than climbing that tower." Sky commented.
"You don't know that!" The mage raged.
Sky huffed at this. "I'm pretty sure I do."
"Either way, we need to make a decision!" Riku stepped forward, seeing the two of them avoiding eye contact. "Which way?"
"This way!" Sky stormed off in the direction he pointed in, only to be halted by leaf armoured Unbirth surrounding the four of them. Sky looked at the Unbirth with a sense of surprise. "This was never in the dream…" He muttered to himself, backing up as the keybearers cover each other's backs. "I guess the Colonel wants us going the other way." He thought.
"Maybe to keep everything the same." Donald whispered to them as he blasted his firework spell towards the Endless, keeping them back.
Goofy batted the enemy away as he looked at the two cautious keybearers. "What do we do now?"
Riku looked around them, seeing that the Unbirths were surrounding them in a strange way. Instead of being in a complete circle around them, the leaf based Unbirth surrounded them as if they were creating a path. "We go towards the main gate." He told them.
Sky huffed at this. "We're doing what he wants." He told them, starting to get annoyed with Riku's actions, as if he already thought himself as their leader, as the future Captain.
"Which will lead us to Kairi." He told him, looking back at Sky with the corner of his eye. "The Devons gave you the spell to break the barriers; we should be able to reach Kairi in time." He told him, signalling Donald and Goofy to follow the guided path given.
Sky moved away from his back and looked at Riku darkly. "'Should' is the key word in that sentence." He growled before following after Donald and Goofy, pushing past the Wielder of Dawn roughly as he past.
BOWBOWBOW
"WOAH!" Brian crashed into the wall as the silver steel cell door slammed behind him. He pushed himself off the floor, chuckling slightly. "Isn't this a little—what's the word—" Brian said to himself, his claw glowing rapidly as it twitched in pain. His humour filled face turned to an angry one as he finished his sentence. "I know- IMMATURE!?" Brian shot around as he looked back at the Leader of Little Devon.
Daniel remained emotionless as he looked at the younger mage. "I'm just placing you where you should have been the minute you entered my town-rotting in a cell where all Endless belong." He spoke darkly.
"Well, there's a little room left. You wanna join me?" He smirked at his reply. He crashed back into the wall once more as he was struck with a strong blast of water. He coughed as he tried to breath, feeling the water in his lungs, as he struggled to get up. As he looked up, he watched the blue haired leader walk away. "Daniel!" He tried to call for him, coughing as he staggered himself to his feet, crashing against the bars as he watched his brother's leaving form. "Daniel! Let me out! It was a joke!" He yelled, shaking the bars with all of his might. "DANIEL!" His rage quickly returned.
Kyle awaited by the doorway with a couple of guards as Daniel climbed up the stairs, sighing sadly from his younger brother's calls of release. He looked at his older brother as he passed through the doorway. "Daniel…" He tried to speak to him.
"Guards!" Daniel turned to them. "Make sure that NO ONE comes in or out!" He commanded as he cross the grounds, ignoring his brother completely.
Kyle continued to call to his brother until he marched in front of him, halting him with his robotic arm as he grabbed his attention. "This seems a bit harsh, Daniel." He told him. "We all make mistakes—"
"His mistakes have cost us Angel and Scott!" Daniel quickly reminded him, glaring at the teen. "If you think I'm going to have him about while the moment our future changes, think again!" He pushed the metal arm away before he continued on his way.
"Daniel! Wait!" Kyle quickly grabbed him as his robotic arm reached out to stop him. "Think about this!" He advised him. "You're mad. You're stressed. Think of what you are doing! You are imprisoning your own brother-"
"He's not my brother." Daniel sharply told him. "You and I very well know why we allowed Brian to take our family name!" His words had quietened his brother; he glared at his brother with a hidden rage. "Get back to making that cure!" He ordered him before removing his brother's grip off him.
Kyle watched his brother leave the outskirt grounds with worry, looking back at the underground prison cells with the same concern. He can only hope that they had done enough to change their life. He sighed as he followed his brother back towards the town, only to halt as something caught his eye. He looked down at the broken house, keeping his eyes in the area before shaking his head and continued following his brother back to the house.
As soon as the brothers were gone, the rubble moved as the dog teen archer came out of his hiding place, leaning over on the dirt road to check no guards were looking before raising his arms up. "It's clear." He whispered, watching with caution before catching Hikari from her hiding place. "Are you feeling alright?" He asked her, dropping her to her feet.
"I'm all healed up." Hikari quickly told him before turning her attention over to the guards, watching as they shouted down to Brian to keep the noise. "What we should be worried about is breaking Brian out of lockup." She sighed. "I'm healing up and those two get in a fight."
Max smiled grimly at the guards. "With Kairi and Ventus being in the Order's hands, I would have thought that Daniel would have been considerate."
"If you heard what the two was yelling, you wouldn't be surprised." Hikari told him before looking back at the guards. "You take out the left; I'll deal with the right." She quickly instructed.
"Right!" Max summoned his bow and took his shot.
BOWBOWBOW
"Take this!" With his claw pulsing to multiple colours, the infected Keyblade Master stomped forward to create a row of fire with every step, taking out the charging Unbirth Soldiers guarding the main gate. He quickly pointed out to the rooftops for the mage, aiding with the thunder attacks to take the Heartless Archers out.
Riku formed into his earth ability and he and Goofy worked together to move the collapsed tower out of the way, smashing into the strong fallen walls to recreate the path to the castle. Despite being a fallen tower for almost nine months, the building was tough to break though, even with Riku's earth ability as the vines and weeds held onto the building tightly. He looked over to Goofy. "Wait for my singal!" He told him as he jumped back, jumping out of his element mode and summoning his keyblade once more. "Dark Firaga!" He quickly cast.
As soon as the weeds were gone, Goofy charged into the wall at full speed, smashing through with ease as he made it to the other side, crashing through a number of enemies on the other side. "Its open!" He shouted to them as he battled the Unbirth back.
"C'mon!" Sky didn't waste time to move through the path created, clearing the enemies around them with his corrupted orbs, allowing Riku and Donald to follow after him. As he moved through the inside of the broken tower, his eyes flashed to when he had first encountered the Colonel taking King Mickey, the thought of being helpless entered his mind, that cocky smirk and gestures he had given him before disappearing. Being outwitted by the Jealous Endless enflamed his claw as he reached the other side, striking the Unbirths that were attack Goofy with a slash of fire and light.
Riku past him, slapping on his shoulder as he looked back at him. "We're almost there. Let's go!" He told him before rushing toward the entrance with Donald and Goofy.
Sky glared at the keybearer once more before looking up at the castle, looking up at the second tower, his eyes turning blue as he held his chest. "I'll save you, Kairi. No matter what…" He spoke softly before his eyes changed once more and he followed over the others.
BOWBOWBOW
With the guards out cold, Hikari and Max rushed back upstairs with Brian following them. "We need to get to Ultimate Castle and help the others!" Brian stressed with worry as he looked around for a form of weapon. It was bad enough that his staff was broken to bits thanks to Sky but now he wasn't able to summon the mysterious keyblade that appeared beforehand, confirming that he still needed to discover his destiny.
"How?" Max questioned. "With the way that Daniel is acting and the amount of guards repairing the town, there is no way we could stop the deadline in time."
Brian and Hikari stopped as they looked at Max in confusion. They had never told Max about Daniel's deadline. Quickly thinking things though, Brian quickly picked up the guard's spear and aimed it at his best friend. "You knew as well?!" He yelled in disbelief.
"Brian!" Hikari pulled the weapon from his hands.
Max sighed. "I've known for years." He told them. "I had to keep it a secret if I wanted to come to Little Devon with Daniel and the others. Everyone from Disney Castle knew." He looked at the Aversion Endless. "I didn't know anything about you though. They had just told me that they were from the future and they were here to prevent the fall of the realm of light."
Brian growled at this as he controlled his anger. "As much as I want to yell at you, we don't have time!" He looked at the two friends as he grabbed his bag, searching through its content. "I have a teleport stone in here. I managed to grab it before Daniel had surprised me with his thug of guards." He pulled it out. "If you guys distract Daniel, I can get to Kyle."
Max didn't look convinced of Brian's plan. "How are we going to do that?"
Brian pondered in thought before a smirk crossed over his face, turning to face Hikari. "We need to get monkey boy!"
BOWBOWBOW
The group entered the entrance hall of the former Disney Castle, seeing that the white walls were covered in the Unbirths' infected blue ooze, the plants and court garden were all turned to autumn leaves the dying mix of red and yellow leaves were scattered across the floor. Sky stepped away from the other three as they looked around and discussed where the Colonel might be but he already knew from Sora's nightmare. He looked to the left hall, if he was to go down that path and turn right, he will reach a height of stairs that will take him to Kairi. He looked to the right hall, go down that hall and down the stairs to the cellar, there will be a new extension underground where King Mickey and Queen Minnie will be held.
He looked behind him to see the three of them in mid-discussion. He smirked; it was time he moved alone. "You useless excuses of fighters can go save mousey boy while I'll go save the princess!" He told them darkly before shooting to the left.
Riku shot around from Donald and Goofy to see Sky move. "Sora!" He called as he followed him.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy quickly raced after the two keybearers.
Reaching the end of the path, Sky looked back to see that Riku, Donald and Goofy was following him. "This is my road." He muttered to himself before shooting a reflective shield in the passageway. He watched how Riku rolled pass the first barrier. "Sorry Riku, you're not getting through this time!" The corrupted lights formed off him as it shot it at the Wielder of Dawn, blasting him back as he hit Donald and Goofy. He smirked at his fallen comrades as he formed another barrier to prevent them from following before turning to the right, finding the dark portal in front of the stairs.
BOWBOWBOW
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Kyle huffed at the noise of the door. "At least they are not kicking the door down." He commented as he continued his work on the cure on the projector table.
Daniel hummed with agreement as placed one of the world's items down and went over to the door. When he opened the door, he found himself face to face with Hikari and Max, looking as if they had run a mile. The sight of the two brought a annoyed frown on his face. "If you're here to convince me to release Brian; it's not happening." He told them in a firm voice as he crossed his arms.
Hikari looked back at the leader with worry. "He doesn't really need any help."
"Meaning?!" The blue haired keybearer raised an eyebrow with confusion.
"Brian is destroying the campus!" Max told him, grabbing Daniel's shirt as he pulled him slightly out the door. "He's cracked! His memories have made him gone insane!" He said in a panicky voice. As if on cue, an explosion was heard in the distance, the sounds of panicky screams mixed with the sight of the black cloud forming.
"Damn it!" Daniel cursed, his eyes burring with rage towards the Aversion Endless. He stepped back in the house, looking back at his brother. "Carry on with the cure. I'll be back in a minute." He told him before slamming the down behind him, looking back at Hikari and Max. "Show me the way." He instructed them as he summoned the rusty kingdom key into his hands.
The head mage listened as his brother ran from the house, heading over to the sound of the explosion. He only shook his head as he continued his work on the cure, keeping his eyes on his work. "You don't have to sneak in, you know." He spoke out loud as he stopped his work and glazed at the door. "I'd saw Hikari and Max earlier on at the outskirts."
The Aversion Endless couldn't help but smile as he slowly closed the door shut as he approached his brother. "The fact that you didn't spot them out to Daniel must mean something." He pointed out.
Kyle turned back towards the items and continued his work as he spoke. "What do you want?" he asked with lack of interest.
He stepped forward as he explained his thoughts. "It's all good that we told Sky how to break the Colonel's barrier but from what happened with Riku and I when we were fighting him…. I just have a bad feeling about this."
Kyle halted his work before speaking. "So you think that the sight of Kairi's fall will freeze Sky's movements?" He questioned, nodding at the theory. "Interesting."
Brian looked at him hopefully. "So will you send me to Ultimate Castle?" he asked.
Kyle looked at him in disbelief as he spoke in sarcasm. "Yeah because I wanna be on Daniel's death list." He shook his head. "Look! Daniel will be back with pure rage from your prank, you better get out of here before he finds you here." He told him.
"Kyle! C'mon!" Brian stepped forward. "You're the only one that can open the portal for me!"
"This is also a main key in time." He reminded him. "We cannot interfere."
"Then what was the whole point in coming back?!" Brian dropped to his knees as he looked up at his robotic brother. "Just help me get there! That's all you have to do." He begged him. "I won't stand around and let Kairi get killed by the Colonel just because Daniel thinks he's all high and mighty." He stood up. "Please Kyle! I'm begging you!"
Kyle looked at Brian, the memory of him in the resistance flashed through his eyes, where he had first joined the mages quarters with him, Aiddie, Angel and a couple of other mages. Everything that he had done for the resistance and for this town flashed through him. He only had to look over to his robotic arm to remember the events of the recon mission, how he had lost his arm to protect his unconscious friend. "Brian…" He tried to speak reason to him, only he couldn't think of the reason against his request.
Brian looked at him in teary eyes. "Please! Let me through!" He begged once more.
Kyle continued to stare at the Endless, his eyes filled with thoughts as his sight looked between his younger brother and the door multiple times. After a while, he quickly moved as he picked up the items on the projector table. "Follow me." He quickly instructed as he picked the items up and began to move to the back of the reconstructed house.
BOWBOWBOW
"Light!" The Princess of Heart created multiple orbs of light around her as she fired at the Jealousy Endless charging towards her with his huge vined covered sword in hand. Her attack had hit the Endless head on, only to find that he was not affected by the attack once more, leaving her open to his strong bow, sending her across the floor. No matter what she tried, the Colonel would get up as if nothing had happened. Her light magic was useless, her water ability was useless, any attacks that she does land on him are quickly healed after and she was beginning to run out of energy.
"Just give up now." The Colonel, fully armoured up, walked over to Kairi as he looked down at her within his helmet. "And give your heart up!" he offered her.
Kairi huffed as she tried to catch her breath. "What…do you want with me?" She asked, looking at the Endless darkly. "Why did you send the other members out to find me?"
The Colonel dragged his weapon across the floor as he knelled down and lifted her chin up to face his helmet. "Why should he be happy? Why is it that you accept him when others have lost everything dear to them?!" He shot away from the Princess of Heart as he watched her movements with a dark expression. "Why is it that no matter what he does to you, no matter how much pain he puts you through, you choose to stay by his side?" He lifted his weapon and slammed it in the ground. "WHAT MAKES HIM SPECIAL?!" His voice echoed through the huge white skylight lit room, his breathing from his anger, his claw pulsing with envy.
"Because…" Using Oathkeeper, Kairi pushed herself up as she glared back at the Endless. "He still listens to what his heart truly says!"
"Kairi!"
Kairi turned her attention to the stairway from the call of her name. Her eyes glanced with hope as he smile grew. "Sora!" She called for him.
"So, the plot point of the story is set." He smirked as he aimed his claw towards the pathway, creating a barrier as he watched the infected keybearer crash into it. He smirked at the sight of the Chaos of Light, trapped behind a simple barrier before he faced the Princess of Heart once more, seeing her struggle to keep her balance. "Where were we?" He laughed.
Sky slammed on to the barrier with his pulsing claw, muttering dispel under his voice with hope that the barrier would disappear but the sight of the Princess of Heart struggling for her live broke his focus on the spell. He slammed on the light green shield as he watched the fight, only to halt as he watched the Colonel grab Oathkeeper from Kairi's hands, kicking her back, and snapped the weapon in two.
The Colonel threw the blade end of the keyblade to Kairi, allowing it to reach her hands while he kept the other side. He kept his eyes on the star charm that hanged on the handle end; he pulled it off the broken keyblade just before the keyblade disappeared in his hands. He laughed at the charm before looking back over to the Princess of Heart. "So much for this bringing you luck." He growled darkly at her as he crushed the charm in the grip of his claw.
The Light Heartstruck's eyes followed the thalassa shells drop to the ground, some of them breaking on contact on the ground. His heart felt stabbed from the sight of the broken shells, his eyes turned blue once more as he leaned on the barrier, watching the scene with horror. "There's nothing I can do…" He spoke with realisation.
Kairi pushed herself up from the ground, shaking as she caught her eyes with the Keyblade Master's. The sudden rush of strength shot through her as she glared at the masked Endless. "I won't lose." She shot towards him, her hands brightening with light. "1 WON'T LOSE!" With all of her might, she fired all of the spells that she could muster. Every spell she fired, the Colonel only moved slightly to dodge the attacks before disappearing from her sight completely. What the…?!
"You just lost." He snickered behind her.
A scream shrieked as a bright light shine through the room.
A/N: THIS CHAPTER IS DONE! AFTER SO MANY CHAPTERS, THE EVENT HAS HAPPENED. I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to get the next chapter up before I go back to uni.
Kingdommad