Chapter 147: Castle Sleigh
The Princess of Heart halted herself to try and catch her breath, holding onto 'Ultimate Oath' tightly within her hand as she grasped for air. She looked behind herself to see that Donald and Goofy crashed behind her, gaining their breath backfrom their long run. It didn't take long for the King's Captain and Head Mage to catch up to her but before she could tell them to go back to the others, a number of Endless soldiers had appeared, trying to halt their process. Working together, the three managed to burst through the soldiers that remained, making their way towards the light pollution city, fighting their way towards the build-up Order fortress.
Gaining her breath, Kairi looked back at Donald and Goofy, casting heal on both of them. "Why did you guys follow?" She asked them, her voice sounded distant.
Donald brushed himself off as he looked up at Kairi. "Everyone is worried." He told her. "It's not like you to run ahead." He wheezed slightly.
"I know you're worried about Sora but we all are." Goofy told her, "We have to stick together. Sora would say that." He walked over to Kairi's side and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Don't go at this alone."
Kairi sighed at this. "If I had wakened up…" She whispered before shaking her head. "I'm sorry guys." She smiled weakly at them. "I don't know…" She was lost of words; she had no way to explain her actions. When her friends needed her help, she had left them behind.
"It's okay." Donald quickly assured her, jumping up and down to distract her from her thought. "We all run on happy faces. Even to the end."
Kairi merely nodded, though her mind was in her thoughts despite Donald's efforts. She halted sharply, "There is someone here…" She whispered to the both of them, sending a huge amount of negativity energy as she looked around with worry and suspension.
Goofy hummed as he looked around the entrance way, seeing no signs within the infected areas or the shadows hidden from the Neo Lights. He gasped with surprise as he began to feel a force pull at his shield, trying to pull it out of his grasp. "My shield!" He yelled.
Donald searched in the shadows, only to see a pair of golden heartless eyes. "There!" He pointed out before he aimed his staff at the eyes and began to cast 'Blizzaraga' at it. The eyes zoomed out of the way; hiding in the shadows, the force pulling on Goofy's shield had been released, making the Captain relax slightly. Donald looked over to his friend. "You okay?" he asked, earning a grateful nod.
Kairi looked around with cautious, her eyes looking out for the golden eyes in the shadows. Her thoughts distracted her though, the thought of yellow eyes remained her of the sacrifice Sora had made to restore her heart, how he had come back as a Heartless….his small yellow eyes looking up to her for help.
The Princess of Heart gasped in surprise as she felt the blunt end of a sword hit her mid-section, pushing her slightly back towards where Donald and Goofy stood. She held her rib cage tightly before looking up at the figure in front of her. "An Order member…" She muttered to herself, taking in the appearance of the member in front of him. The sight of his golden eyes, pale skin and coal black hair didn't ring a bell to her, he seemed more like a human Heartless than an Order member.
"Prepare to die, Keybearer!" He spat darkly before he pointed his rigged sword towards her, the darkness covering it at a fast speed. He muttered something under his spells, the others could only assume it was words for a spell as the darkness shot from his sword and began to surround them, as if it was turning into a black hole.
"HOLYAGA!" It didn't take long for Kairi to get rid of the darkness in front of them, clearing the view and seeing the teen's shocked expression. "Get out of the way!" She demanded.
The Order member only glared back at them, covering his expression of surprise. "I won't let you murderers pass!" He shouted.
"Murderers?" Goofy questioned, wondering why this Order member was accusing them of hurting others. He looked at Kairi's keyblade only to jump to the conclusion. "Hey! You're Chris. The one from Olympus Coliseum!" He realised.
In response to his comment, he watched as the Endless in front of him forced the shield out of his hands and then threw the shield back to smack Goofy in the forehead, knocking him to the ground. "It's Crush." He corrected him, a quick smug appeared on his face from the injury he had caused on the guard's forehead. "It's because of you keybearers that I had to leave my home!" He accused.
"Our fault?!" Donald raged, stepping forward slightly. "You were the one who decided to rip the Coliseum apart!" He quacked.
Kairi stood her ground, keeping her glance at the enemy in front of her. "Tell me, Crush." She remained bold as she asked him. "What would you do in need of a friend?" She questioned.
Crush raised an eyebrow at this. "Why is that important?!" He looked at her as if she had asked a stupid question. "The ones I thought were my friends weren't on my side when I had lost everything! Instead, they carried on with their precious games. They left me out to dry." He looked away. "It was only when I was no longer their friend, did they pay attention." He smirked darkly as he clicked his darkened shadow claw, breaking some of the neon lights nearby as they began to gather above him. "Enough talking, it's time for you to—"
"THUNDERAGA!"
Crush had no time to respond as a huge thunder struck the neon lights that he was holding, sending the current direct to his claw. He dropped his magnet grip in pain, only for the neon lights to drop on him, sending him to his knees. King Mickey was in front of the group, his keyblade ready as he waved at the three, "Get going!" He told them.
Kairi looked behind her to see that the others have caught up to them; the sight of Brian lowering his staff confirmed him to cast the spell. She looked at Donald and Goofy, she placed a strong smile to them, trying to show them that she was alright. "Let's go."
The three took lead into the Neon Fortress.
As they entered, the three took sight of three stairways, left, right and centre. The three of them looked at the paths with confusion. "Which way should we go?" Goofy pondered.
"We could try all the routes…" Kairi suggested, looking up all of the stairways, seeing that each stairway hold a stain glassed door at the top. She hummed in thought, thinking about the letter that Sora had left behind for them. "What about the letter?" She asked the other two.
"What about it?" Donald questioned.
"Well…." Kairi thought about what the letter had said, more importantly, what the secret message had said. "Maybe there are more clues within the letter, about how to get about." She explained to them. She checked her pockets, searching for the slim paper, only to come out empty handed. "Do you know where the message is?" She asked, quickly revising the message might be able to help them.
Both of the Disney Castle Residents shook their head. "I think Brian had it." Goofy told her, earning a sadden sigh from the Princess of Heart. The Knight hummed nervously from Kairi's saddened expression; they were supposed to keep her out of her thought. "How about we go to the right?" He suggested.
Kairi raised an eyebrow at Goofy's suggestion. "Right?" She repeated, her voice brighten slightly.
Donald huffed at this. "Listening to this palooka for instructions! This is the one that read a map upside down!" He said in disbelief, reminded the two of Goofy's trip to Sherwood Forest with Max. With that in mind, the mage stepped towards the left stairway. "It's this way!"
"Hold on!" Kairi quickly pulled him back, just in time to watch the solid walls slam into each other, making the two gulped slightly from how close that was.
Donald remained shaken as he turned around to face Kairi. "Th-Th-Th—Thank you." He told her.
Kairi smiled with gratitude before helping the mage up. "Remember part of the secret message? The part that was just letters?" She asked the two of them, the two of them nod in response. "I think that was pointing out where we needed to turn." She theorised.
The Captain of the Guard scratched his head in thought. "But how would Sora know which way to go?" Goofy pointed out.
How did Sora know which way to go? The question did bring up many more questions but they didn't have the time for answers. "It's the only clue we have." Kairi quickly told them before thinking of the secret message, trying to remember the code. "This way!" Deciding on Goofy's choice, Kairi quickly rushed up the right stairway and blast the doors open with her light.
"You didn't save me!"
"You promised that you would destroy me before I would be lost!"
"Why weren't you stronger? If you were stronger, so many people wouldn't be hurting!"
Sora's voice ringed in her ears, echoing her guilt and thoughts. The comments struck her hard in her heart but the sight of the Remorse Endless appearing in front of them, with his glowing shadowed claw pointed at them, made her direct her guilt towards him. "You won't stop us!" She told him, surprised by the fact as the voices began to disappear. She looked at Donald and Goofy to see them slightly bothered by whatever voices they were hearing. 'Why does it affect me less?' She questioned, remembering that Abroc's ability didn't affect her at all while Snake's ability did for a couple of hours.
Link chuckled at this. "So much guilt from being one second too late." He grinned darkly as he looked at the Princess of Heart. "Tell me, Princess. What would you do to get rid of that feeling of remorse?" He taunted.
Donald and Goofy looked back at Kairi, ignoring their own effects, a look of worry passed over them. "Kairi?"
The Remorse Endless snickered as he stepped forward slightly, finding Kairi's firm expression amusing. "You can try and keep a firm face but I know what your heart is thinking at the moment." He smirked as he began to recite, "If I was stronger, I wouldn't have been kidnapped. If I was stronger, all of these events will not be happening. Daniel and Kyle wouldn't have to lose members of their family. Hikari would still have her brother. Brian wouldn't have lost his memory. Sora would still be with them. Everything is MY FAULT!" His voice rose as he wore his sick minded smirk on his face, watching as Kairi's firm expression began to break. "Why didn't I stay home?! Why wasn't I strong?! I have failed everyone! Why didn't I wake up to stop him?!"
"STOP IT!" Kairi yelled, her eyes filled with anger.
Just as she outburst her anger, she watched as a silver blur filled her eyes. Taken back, she looked at the teen in front of her, protecting her from Link's taunts. "Riku…" She spoke weakly, all of Link's words shaking her slightly.
"This isn't your fault!" Riku sharply told her, keeping his eyes on the reaper in front of him. "None of this is your fault. Keep courage in your heart!" He looked back to her and smirked slightly. "Like you said, 'It's always us getting Sora out of trouble.'"
"Riku…." She was left speechless.
Donald and Goofy looked back to see that Brian and Hikari made their way up the stairs, only to find that King Mickey was absent from the group. "Where's the King?" Donald asked with panic.
"He's dealing with Crush." Hikari quickly told them as she rushed over to where Kairi and Riku stood, placing an assuring hand on Kairi's hand. "Let's go. We need to move." She told her.
Kairi began to move with Hikari, only to see that Riku wasn't following them. "Riku?" She looked at him with slight panic. She didn't want to leave her friend again. Link's taunts had broken her slightly. She needed one of her best friends with her.
Riku gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll catch up!" He told her. "Go save Sora!"
"Don't die on me, Silver." Kairi looked back at Hikari to see her wear a concerned, as well as caring expression on her face, making the Princess of Heart looked back between the two.
As she watched Riku give her a loving smile and a confident nod in return, assuring her that he won't die here, all of the Maiden of Heart's regrets and remorse washed away. She has the love of her friends, she can't fall trapped to her thoughts. "I'll make sure you get to fight Sora too." Kairi smiled back before running with Hikari through the end door, seeing that Brian, Donald and Goofy waited at the other side.
Riku's heart brightened at the sight of his smiling friend. "Always the same…" He muttered, watching them leave before looking back at Link. "You ready for a real challenge?"
Link smirked at this. He may have let the Princess go but having the Wielder of Dawn in front of him was an even bigger prize. "Let's go."
BOWBOWBOW
Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Hikari and Brian reached the next hallway, once again reaching the three stairways. "Try and guess this one, Brian." Hikari taunted, only to gain a roll of eyes from the Aversion Endless.
The Princess of Heart stepped forward. "The message. It had a code." She told them.
Brian looked at her in surprise. "It did?" He quickly grabbed his bag and pulled the letter out, quickly scanning to find the code. "So it did." He chuckled slightly.
Hikari crossed her arms at this, "How would Sora know which way to go?" She questioned.
Goofy smiled at this, "Gawrsh, that's what I said." A part of him was glad that he wasn't the only one that noticed the continuity.
Brian shrugged at the suggestions. "I had to show him my memories to make him work with us. Maybe he got the idea from that." He suggested.
"So which way do we go?" Donald spoke slightly impatiently.
Brian looked at the piece of paper once more, looking at the code. "Right." He cleared up.
"We'll go first." Hikari nodded to Kairi before the two females charged up the right stairway, opening the stain glass doors to enter the next room.
The minute that they were in the room, the wind hit them hard, sending chills to the girls' bones. It was a struggle to see into the room as their hair would flicker in front of their eyes, making the two placed their hand in front of their eyes. They looked into the centre of the darkened room, their eyes on the shadowed figure crouched in the middle of the room. Only bearing slightly ripped trousers and metal boots, the figure's entire top half of the boy was covered in grey shadow. It was only when the figure stood up and turned to face the girls did they see that the infection had covered most of his chest and half of his face, his eye completely grey.
As the winds died down, Hikari breathed deeply at the sight, before sighing sadly, looking to the ground as she began to draw Eternal Blade. "This will be my fight." She told Kairi, as well as the others as they made their way into the room.
Kairi looked at Hikari with concern. "Hikari…" She wanted to stay by her friend's side; she had wanted to stay by Riku's side. She can't let them suffer on their own.
"This is her fight." Brian reminded her, just like he did back when in the Pride Lands. "We need to find Sora." With slight force, the Aversion Endless took the Princess of Heart across the room with Donald and Goofy by their side, leaving their friend behind to overcome the shadows of her brother's actions.
Into another hallway, there were three stairways once more. Donald and Goofy looked back at the door they had just come through, looking back sadly. "Poor Hikari…" Donald spoke.
"I wish we could have helped out." Goofy commented, Kairi nodded as well.
Brian remained silent as he pulled out the message once more, only to notice the sight of his claw. He wasn't receiving any pain but his claw began to look slightly transparent. He sighed slightly, seeing that time was slowly catching up with him. Seeing that the other was still distracted about leaving Hikari, he quickly placed his black glove back on before coughing to grab their attention. "We need to go left." He told them.
The three of them sighed sadly before heading to the left along with the Aversion Endless into the next room. As they opened the room up, they found that it remained empty. No one was waiting for them like there was in the other rooms. Goofy stepped forward as he placed his hands in front of his mouth. "HEELLLLOOOO?" He called out.
Donald was the first to hit him in the knee with his staff. "Don't call for them!" He told him off.
Kairi sighed slightly. From the sight of how the Order has been planted out, it looked like they had planned to break everyone up while charging their base, mainly from trying to find Sora as quickly as they could. Why would the Order break the team up though? Could it have been from learning of Organization XIII's mistakes in the past? Why would the Dark Master….why would Vanitas want to keep them apart? With the room empty, she looked over to Brian. "What do you think?" She asked him.
Brian hummed in thought. "Not sure. Maybe they just forgot about the room." He simply shrugged before stepping forward. "Let's go to the next floor." He told them as the four of them rushed towards the door to get to the next set of stairs. "Left." Brian looked back at the other three. "Who wants to go first?" he asked.
"We'll go." Goofy volunteered as he began to walk up the stairs, grabbing the shaken duck by the collar. "Let's go, Donald." In a great rush and against Donald's will, the two rushed up the stairs and crashed their way through the next set of doors, only to yell out of surprise as they found themselves slipping across the floor and flying across the room due to the curved ice everywhere.
Kairi and Brian looked into the room with surprise and shock. "What happened?" Kairi spoke softly, taken back from the sight of the room. She noticed that one of the windows to the right was wide open before looking up to see huge amounts of damage in the ceiling. She looked around for more clues, only to see something in the ice. "Hey guys…." She called the others over as she stepped towards the huge block of ice, looking more closely only to gasp in shock.
Within the ice was Jun, her body kept from disappearing to sparks and her heart just above the ice to prevent from escaping.
Donald and Goofy joined along in the gasp. "Jun!"
Brian looked at the girl, he kept his expression still before looking away. "That explains why downstairs was empty." He commented as he looked at all of the signs. "Sora must have entered through the window and faced one of the members." He looked at the ice. "Jun must have heard the struggle and came rushing to help." He summoned his staff as he began to look around the room. "You guys better get going." He warned them.
The three looked at Brian with confusion. "We have to save Jun!" Kairi told him.
"She's already gone." He responded darkly.
The Princess of Heart only looked at him in disbelief and anger. "We can't give up on her." She told him.
"Kairi. Her heart is out of her body! Sora has already—" He halted as something caused his eye, within the ice was a crumbled up picture, one that looked as if it was drawn by a three year old. As he looked at the picture, the reflection of the ice shined in his ice, showing a dark blue demonic eye staring at them. "LOST HEART!" Brian didn't waste any time to shot behind him, creating a huge blast of fire, yet the ice didn't melt. He looked back at the others. "MOVE!" He yelled at them.
The ice around them began to shift around them, trying to grab a hold of each of them. Kairi, Donald and Goofy were caught by surprise, each of them trying to dodge the movement over the ice, as well as trying to keep their balance. The Princess of Heart gasped as she saw a huge chuck of ice aim towards them at a fast speed, no spell will block the attack in time. She watched as Brian jumped in front of them, his staff in front as he blocked the huge ice. The ice broke apart as it began to form a humanoid form, its dark blue sorrow filled eyes staring back at them. Kairi could only gasp at the sight. "Nikolai…" She muttered.
With all of his strength, the Aversion Endless pushed the Outburst Sorrow Endless away before looking at Kairi firmly. "You need to go to Sora." He told her before looking at Donald and Goofy. "Make sure she goes!" He instructed them.
Kairi shook her head at this. "We're falling for their trap. We need to stick together." She argued.
Brian ignored her protests as he quickly dug into his bag, pasting the liquid form of cure, being a light blue colour, the Paupo Fruit and the message over to Kairi. "You had the right idea earlier." He said, referencing to when she had ran ahead. "We don't have the time to stick together." He shot away from her after those words before placing his attention on the Infected Nikolai. "Go and help Sora." He told her once more.
"Brian!" Kairi called over, really to help her friend, only for it to get blocked from the battle by huge amounts of fire. "No…" She gulped slightly, before taking a look at the items in her hand. Time is truly not on our side. She thought.
"C'mon!" Donald called over to her as him and Goofy began to walk through a walkable path within the icy floor, by walkable path, by hoping from dry spot to dry spot.
Kairi quickly placed the items away and followed the two. Everyone had their fights, it was time the three of them headed to their battle.
A/N: Woop! Woop! Another chapter done. I'm trying to do them on the quick while working on my final project. Done the concept design for Aiddie, need to do Brian's Concept. I will add a link to my Profile page once I have done the picture. I'm tempted to draw Nikolai's Outburst Mode too, it looks really cool in my mind.
Many battles to writes….updates might be a while ^^''
Kingdommad