Chapter 151: The Gambit
The sound of battle echoed through the stairway as Kairi, Donald and Goofy travelled up to get to the final floor, where they should find Sora. From the yells and cries of their friends, the three had halted halfway up the stair, debating on whether they should turn back to aid them. After a determined look, the three continued on to the last floor. Time was against them. If they don't find Sora in time, they will come to three possibilities. The Dark Master would be defeated and Sora would have already left the world, Sora would be defeated by the Dark Master or the virus would have consumed him.
The three marched their way past the broken door into the throne room, finding that small orbs of light surrounded the room, giving light to the throne room. "Looks like we're in the right place." Kairi spoke as she slowly made her way into the throne room, keyblade in hand as she looked around the area cautiously.
"Yeah but where's the bad guy?" Goofy wondered.
"Where's Sora'?" Donald added, the three of them fully in the room, having their backs to each other to prevent a surprise attack.
The Princess of Heart halted as she looked at the content that rested in the room, seven iced covered containers, thirteen small containers, most of them full with different types of spiritual shadows. "Do you have any idea what this is?" She asked Donald and Goofy as she wandered closer to the larger containers.
Goofy hummed in thought as he looked at the small containers, as well as looking at the indents on the floor. "Gawrsh, I've seen nothing like this." While Donald had a closer look at the smaller container, he turned his attention to the large containers. "The big containers remind me of the ones the Princess of Heart was kept in." He told her.
Looking at the large container closer, Kairi stood in front one of the container, placing her hand on the ice that shielded the glass. "Fire." The Ice created a slight glow as the heat begins to spread through the white ice.
Donald gasped as he watched two shadow spirits come through the broken door and place themselves within the last two containers, allowing thirteen full containers of shadows. "Did you see that?" He called to the others, looking at the containers contently.
Kairi turned to face Donald, keeping her hand on the ice. "See what?"
Donald jumped up and down, pointing at the containers on the curved table. "These two just filled up!" He told them, pointing at the grey and blue containers.
Goofy hummed in thought, "I wonder what they are." He looked over to Kairi, only to jump in shock. "WOAH!" He gasped.
Kairi turned to see what Goofy was grasping at while thinking what the colour containers could be, only to be face to face with Naminé. "What the?" She backed up, looking fully at what she was seeing. Her fire spell had melted the ice that had covered the container, revealing that the container held none other than the Nobody Witch, Naminé. "How can that be?" She questioned. She had worried where Naminé had disappeared too but with recent events, she had been so focused on helping Sora. "How did they get Naminé here?"
From the sight of Naminé, Donald came over and cast fire on the other containers, revealing the trapped individuals. Ventus and Roxas revealed themselves first, showing that the two of them were truly identical to each other, a complete doppelgänger. Two girls revealed themselves next. The girl with black, one who was identical to Kairi, left the three confused but the woman with blue hair grabbed attention. Donald and Goofy mentioned that she was Master Aqua while Kairi mentioned about seeing someone like her when she was younger. The last person was a man with spiky brown hair, showing similar facial characteristics to Ansem.
Kairi, Donald and Goofy stood side by side to each other, looking at the captured figures. What are they all doing here? What does the Order want with them, their friends? Are they connected to the smaller coloured containers? What is the Dark Master's plan? "We need to find Sora." Kairi muttered to the two of them.
"You really are idiots." From the end of the room, the throne lit up, revealing the masked Dark Master, chilling comfortably in his chair. "I would congratulate you on making it this far but running past all of my soldiers isn't really an achievement to be proud off."
Kairi pointed her keyblade towards the Dark Master. "Where's Sora?" She demanded.
The Dark Master chuckled, leaning to his right. "He is right here." With a flash of light, Sky's figure appeared from the shadows of the darken room. The hero remained knelled, head lowered as if he was waiting for a command.
The sight of their friend knelling by the Dark Master's side shocked them; had Sky truly taken over Sora's Heart and join the Endless Order? They watched as his head lifted up, glaring at them darkly. "Why are you here?" He said coldly.
Goofy looked hurt from his harsh words as he replied, "We came to help you."
Sky huffed at this. "I told you to stay away!" He said angrily.
Vanitas stepped from his throne, clicking his claw. The actions caused Sky to yell in pain, making him drop his head to the ground. "As you can see, your friend is under my complete control." He hummed, "You should have listened to him when you had the chance."
"How can you do that?" Donald questioned Vanitas' control.
"I give the Endless their power." Vantias explains, "I have control of all negative emotions, all of the Unbirth, all of the Endless. Without me, they would be nothing but Heartless. I am what keeps them from falling in the black. So I can choose to power an virus or—" He crushed his claw, making Sky yell in pain more fiercely. "- destroy them."
Sky growled in power as he shot his head up. "You want to ask any more stupid questions?!" He yelled.
Vanitas walks towards the three of them, forcing Sky to stay in place as he attempts to get up. "With the balance ruling more on light's side, my Unbirth get stronger and therefore any Dark Heartburst have the power to overthrow Light, as balance has attended." He spoke.
"Why are you letting him monologue you useless fools?!" Sky yelled. "Strike him!"
The others ignored Sky's advice as the Princess of Heart stepped toward. "What are you after?" She asked him. "Why do you need Sora? Why do you need Roxas, Ventus, Naminé and everyone one else?" She questioned. After all they had journeyed through, one thing remains unclear.
What is Vanitas' part? Why has he waited so long to strike? Had he originally trusted the Colonel with the plans or has he had his own agenda all along?
The Dark Master shook his head. "So you haven't figured it out? Disappointing." He spoke, more to himself. "As much as I would like to shock your simple minds, I am well aware that you did not come here alone. I'm not going to waste my breath and repeat myself." He told them, walking back towards his throne.
"Who says that you will need to?" Goofy inquires.
Vanitas laughed madly at Goofy's question, as if the very question had drove him mad. "Are you suggesting that you will be alive long enough for when your friends arrive?" He roared out of laughter, the thought was the funniest thing. His laughter quiet down as he watched the three raise their weapons to him. "You want your questions answered? Fine. Consider it a gift before you fall." He menacingly to the three.
He leaned toward on his throne, clicking his claw once more to keep Sky in place, before gesturing to small containers filled with shadows. "Those containers show the energies of Endless that have past or still currently belong to the Order, belong to me. They represent the emotions within the world. Wrath, Remorse, Fear, Jealously, Joy, Love, Persistence, Anger, Surprise, Shock, Patience and Sorrow. All of these are connected to me." He explained.
Then, he gestured to the container holding their friends. "All of these keybearers have something in common to each other. They are all connected to Sora, just as I am connected to the Endless. In order to gain what I wanted, what my Master before had wanted, I needed to create the Chaos of Light within the boy."
"But why?" Donald questioned. Why did Vantias want Sky so badly, that his fellow members would try and prevent his appearance?
Sky growled, his breathe holding slightly as he laid his eyes on Kairi before snarling at the group. "You must as well run! Run while you can! If you couldn't beat the Colonel on your own, you won't stand a chance against him." He warned them.
Kairi shook her head. "We're not leaving you!"
"Don't you get it?!" Sky stared at her with such intensity. "Sora is gone! He is never coming back! The fact that you came after me, even though he left to protect you, shows how inconsiderate you are! Now you have endangered everyone that had chosen to follow you. You call yourself a friend? I wouldn't believe that such a friend, a close friend, would ignore someone's final wish."
Although his cold words stabbed through Kairi like a knife, she noticed something in the keybearer's eyes, a glint of surprise and happiness from the sight of her. Sora is still there. She thought, she just needed a way to give the cure that rests in her hands. She did wonder though, why is Sky trying to provoke them? What is he trying to do? And what did he mean about final wish?
Once more, Vantias tightened Sky's pain, making the taunts stop. "All you need to know is that everything has hit its course; from the infection to aiding you on your journey so that he would reach this point."
Kairi looked worried as she asked. "So the heartless at Norte Dame?"
"That was me." Vantias confirmed.
"As well as our aid in the Endless camp?" Goofy added, the question had earned an confused expression from Kairi until realising that they were talking about when they were captured in The Lands of the Dragon. She thought that Brian and Mulan had gotten to them to free them while she battled with Skullo.
The Dark Master nodded.
"And Crush's appearance?" Donald asked.
"All of those and many more." Vantias told them. "Once I had discovered the 'Stories of Balance' that Colonel Devil and the others have brought back with them, I started to work in ways that will lead me to prevent the 'One life for a Thousand'. If the 'One for a Thousand' was to happen, dear Sora's heart would break and become a broken and I would lose four of those captured for my plan." He told them. He looked back over to Sky and chuckled. "But enough about that, it's time for my entertainment."
With a click of his claw, Vanitas was back at his throne and Sky was standing on his feet.
Sky shook his head. "This is what you didn't realise, Princess." Sky walked towards the three, summoning his keyblade in hand. "Now that I'm in control, I don't have to worry about my heart breaking over your death. We are all just pieces in this game and the final chapter is about to be played. So leave while you can…" He pointed the infected Kingdom Key towards her. "Or die."
Donald summoned his staff. "We're not leaving."
Sky huffed. "I wasn't talking to you." He spoke rudely to him. "Why don't you buzz off?!"
"I'll tell you to buzz off!" With a lift of his staff, Donald's voice roared as he yelled. "Thunderaga!" With one strike, Sky took the pain that came with the thunder attack, gritting his attack as he took it head on, yet smirking. When the thunder attack ended, all Sky could do was laugh darkly. "What are you laughing about?" Donald demanded.
No one had time to adjust to the darkness, only see Sky's bright eyes staring back at them.
BOWBOWBOW
The two former friends looked at each other as they breathed heavily, one from having a staff forced through him while the other dealt with the pain of being balanced. Brian watched as Nikolai's appearance changed back to normal, any form of ice that had formed his armour melted away, leaving him shirtless. "When you wake, you will have a new life." Brian told him. "You won't be controlled. Aiddie will be by your side. The both of you will be safe."
Nikolai coughed slightly at this. "That's not my life!" He told him. "When time changes, our memories will be replaced; our entire personality is based on our experiences in life. If we change our life, we will be a completely different person."
"We had accepted that fact when we had come to this time in the first place." Brian reminded him, keeping calm. Even though he had balanced his friend, he knew for a fact that eleven years of being an Endless will allow him a couple of days to be himself, just like the Colonel got.
Nikolia pushed himself up from the ground, using his gunblade to hold himself up. "I must have forgotten the fact that you don't come back from this journey." He spoke seriously. "You promised me a life where we were all safe."
"Well, when I made that promise, I wasn't aware that I am someone else!" Brian yelled at him, pointing his keyblade at him. "Don't stop me."
Nikolai stepped forward. "You are not going to die. I won't let you."
"It's too late." Brian said, pointing to the fading body of Jun as the ice around them disappeared. "We can't remember Jun in our time. My body is a constant reminder that time is against me." He turned away, lowering his weapon. He looked down at the remaining ice on the floor, looking at his reflection as he looked at his eyes, his violet eyes.
Nikolai shook his head to this. "You don't deserve this." He said. "You have the right to live your life just as everyone else does."
"You think I don't know that!" Brian glared at him. "You think the thought didn't cross my mind? That I could save my life. That I could just betray everyone to fit my own needs just by sneaking in Kairi's room and—" He stopped himself before shaking his head, looking away. "If I did that, there would be no way to change anything. There would be this never ending cycle of the Order taking control, everyone suffering and travelling through time. A cycle that will never end. We would have achieved nothing."
Nikolai shook his head. "There is no way to save you, is there?" He said sadly. When he didn't receive an answer, the former Sorrow Endless placed his darkened claw on his friend, grabbing his friend's attention. "You have two choices. When you go upstairs, who are you going to be? Brian, the Aversion Endless of the Order or Haru, the boy who didn't get to live his life." He let go and turned away, creating a blue portal. "I hope to see you in the new life."
"W-wait! Where are you going?" Brian stuttered as he watched his friend limp away.
"If I'm going to pass away, I'm going to a place where I can go happy." He turned to Brian, wearing a thoughtful expression. "I think I'll go home."
With a frown, Brian watched his friend walk towards his portal, placing his hands into his pockets, only to grab something. He pulled the object out to see that he held a small badge, similar to the badges he had given everyone before coming to Neo Mansion. "Nikolai! Wait!" He rushed over, ignoring the pain coming from his chest as he made his way over to him. "Take this!"
With the object in hand, Nikolai inspected the small object in his claw. "What is this? Is this from the Resistance?" He asked.
"It's so you remain you." Brian told him. "You won't chance, Nick. When you wake in a new world, you will still be you."
Nikolai raised his eyebrow at this. "How can you be sure?"
The Aversion Endless shrugged, "I can't." He looked back towards Nikolai and grinned. "It's the best I can do though."
From the answer, Nikolai smiled, placing the badge on his trouser pocket. After placing the object on, he finally speaks his last words, "Be careful." He warned him, patting him on the shoulder before moving into his dark blue portal, disappearing from view.
Brian had little time to think over Nikolai's questions, on 'who' he was going to be, as he heard footsteps approaching from the stairway. He waved the keyblade around him so that his wounds fully healed, allowing him to breathe normally again just as he saw Riku and Hikari coming up the stairs. "You guys made it." He smiled before turning to face Hikari. "Are you okay?" He asked, seeing the sadness in his expression.
Her sorrow was washed away as she glared at the keybearer in front of her. "Why don't you ask Riku?" She spoke viciously as she bumped pass him roughly, not looking back as she began to run up the stairs.
Brian blinked at Hikari's sudden aggression before facing Riku. "You didn't try and kiss her, did you?" he laughed. When he had received no response at all, he looked at the Wielder of Dawn with concern. "What's wrong?" He tilted his head with concern.
Riku shook his head. "It's nothing."
King Mickey emerged from the stairway, preventing Brian to question Riku further, as he rushed towards them with urgency. "Fellas, we don't have time to lose." He told them as he came at a halt to the two wielders. "Gee, where is everybody?" He looked around the semi-icy room, looking at the battle that had commenced here.
Before they knew it, the remaining light that floored the room disappeared, as the three was left in complete darkness.
A/N: Hey guys. Inspiration has been off late. With moving, trying to get a job, worrying about money. Man, being an adult sucks. People, don't grow up.
I will be working on the chapter very soon.
Peace
Kingdommad.