"We've found her."
"The Seventh Sister?"
"Yes. Curiously she has chosen to hide within a girl with a heart of pure light."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get her!"
"Patience sister, we will have her. But we cannot afford to go on our own."
"Why not?"
"She's just sitting there waiting for us to rescue her."
"It's not that simple. The girl is protected by not one but two wielders of the Keyblade, one of which is a Master."
"A Master? How do you intend for us to get past a Keyblade Master?"
"But look at the advantage we have at the moment. He doesn't know we exist and he doesn't know where we are to begin with. He will flail around and search countless worlds yet never find us. Our biggest advantage is our secrecy. To that end, we shall send our most trusted servant of Darkness."
(Indistinct hushed mumbling)
"Then is it agreed?"
"Yes, tell the Phantom that he is to make his move."
Meanwhile…
A shower of sparks signaled the sudden clashing of blades between Riku and the former Soldier, Lightning. Sora stood nearby, observing Riku's performance as the two sparred with each other as per his duties as a Keyblade Master. Not a word was spoken between the two, but the occasional glare between blades as they clashed said a lot. Kairi, Selphie, Penelo, and Lightning's sister, Serah, stood up on the wooden overlook nearby, watching the match. Vaan, Tidus, Wakka, and Hope were having a two vs. two Blitzball match while Snow, Serah's fiancé, refereed.
"Don't you think it's exciting, watching those two spar with each other? They move with such grace and skill, it's almost like they're dancing!" Selphie said as Serah giggled.
"Claire doesn't dance, but she's definitely an excellent swordsman." Serah said.
"Hey, Kairi, can't you go toe-to-toe with Lightning?" Penelo asked as Kairi shrugged.
"I can, just not as easily as Riku and Sora can. They're better at fighting and all that. I'm better at using magic." Kairi replied.
"You're a Princess of Heart. Fighting isn't something you do because you want to. You only do it to protect others. Even then, you only fight when you have no choice. It's perfectly natural of you not to be that good at fighting." Serah explained.
"What are you talking about Serah? Didn't you hear Riku, Ven, Terra, and Aqua's explanation of how Kairi kicked Sora's butt when that Vanitas guy had a hold of him? She can most certainly fight!" Penelo argued.
"But that was different! Vanitas's darkness couldn't touch Kairi but at the same time she couldn't touch him either because of his having the X-Blade." Serah replied.
"Guys, you're both right. I don't like fighting so I'm not that good at it. I fight only when I have no choice. But if I'm ever going to become a Keyblade Master, Like Aqua and Sora, then I'm going to have to learn to fight." Kairi said as they continued watching.
"Don't worry Kairi, you'll make it someday." Selphie said. At the same time, however…
"TIDUS I'M OPEN!" Vaan shouted before Tidus kicked the ball towards him. Vaan managed an elaborate combination back-flip and upside down kick, sending the ball right past Wakka for a score.
"Point! Tidus & Vaan!" Snow declared as Hope grinned at Wakka who nodded. He threw up the ball and punched it towards Hope who lunged forward to grab it and…fell face first into the water.
"Oh-ho nice move, Hope!" Tidus laughed as Snow and Wakka helped him up and onto his feet.
"I didn't trip on purpose! Tidus did you hold my foot down or something?" Hope asked in annoyance as Tidus shook his head.
"No way, that's cheating!" Tidus said as Snow nodded.
"He's right but I didn't see anyone grab your foot. Must have gotten it stuck in the sand or something." Snow said as they turned towards the spot in the water where Hope stood. Their eyes widened as they saw some form of black, viscous, sludge oozing around under the water.
"YECH! WHAT IS THAT!" Hope yelped as he leapt out of the water. All heads spun towards him, the duel between Lightning and Riku coming to an abrupt end.
"What's the matter, Hope?" Sora asked. Suddenly the black sludge shot itself out of the water and towards Sora who quickly dodge rolled clear. (Battle Music Cue: The Force in You – Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories OST)
"What is that thing?!" Selphie asked in shock.
"I dunno just stay clear of it!" Lightning replied as Sora, Riku, and Kairi each summoned their Keyblades, Kairi leaping over the railing to join the fight.
"Careful, there's no telling what this thing might do!" Riku cautioned as the ooze continued growing larger and larger, sprouting "arms" from the sides, each dripping with its strange substance. Sora then spotted a pair of glowing yellow-green eyes and then it opened a large gaping, and also glowing, maw of a glowing yellow-green fog and two fang like teeth.
"What sort of Heartless is this?!" Riku asked as they backed away from it.
"Fools! I am not a Heartless!" the creature spoke with a monstrous voice but filtered by a distinct slobbering sound as it spoke.
"What are you then?!" Sora asked as the creature glared at him. It then glared at the Keyblade and roared as it flung large globs of its distinct black ooze in all directions. Wherever a glob hit, a Shadow Heartless was summoned from it immediately afterwards.
"Heartless!" Kairi exclaimed.
"Snow! Lightning! Hope! Get everyone clear, we'll handle this thing ourselves!" Riku ordered.
"Right!" Lightning, Snow, and Hope replied in unison. Sora immediately leapt at the creature but it quickly sunk into the ground and started oozing around like a Shadow Heartless would. Sora attempted to follow it but it continued throwing off the Heartless summoning globs.
"We've got to handle these Heartless! Kairi, you're with me!" Riku said as Kairi nodded and joined in striking down the Heartless. They didn't notice, however, that the creature's eyes widened and spun around towards Kairi when Riku mentioned her name.
"The Seventh Sister!" the creature slurred as it shot past underneath Sora and towards Kairi.
"What the-?! Kairi! LOOK OUT!" Sora shouted as the creature burst from the ground behind her, taking the shape of a giant black monster with horns. Kairi gasped in shock before spinning around and firing a magic filled sphere of white light at it, a magic spell only she knew called Holy. The Holy caused the creature to howl in pain before collapsing back into the ground, throwing off more globs and not looking any smaller than it did before.
"Riku, it's heading towards you!" Kairi shouted as Riku leapt up and fired a Dark Firaga at the creature just as it leapt out of the ground towards Kairi. The blast caused the creature to splatter onto the ground but not before pooling around Kairi's feet.
"HUH? WHAT?! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Kairi asked frantically as she swung her Keyblade at the ooze which only grew thicker and thicker around her amidst the creatures grunts of pain.
"Kairi, hang on!" Sora shouted as he charged forward only to be smacked hard in the jaw by a sudden fist formed of black ooze. Riku managed to deflect the ooze that attempted to punch him with his Keyblade.
"Kairi! Use Holy!" Riku shouted as soon as he had recovered. Kairi fired off the Holy spell, causing the creature to roar in pain.
"The light harms it! That's it! Keep using Holy!" Riku shouted as Kairi continued firing the spell until suddenly the creature's eyes appeared glaring angrily up at her from below. Suddenly a column of the ooze shot up around her, consuming her within it. Sora and Riku froze in horror, their eyes widened and jaws scraping the ground…figuratively speaking of course.
"Kairi!" they both exclaimed as the eyes and mouth on the creature appeared again. It started laughing insidiously before a sudden glowing bubble appeared from the side, causing the creature to belch. Then another bubble, and another, and another, until finally the creature exploded in a shower of black ooze, revealing a fully armored Kairi underneath.
"Kairi! You're alright!" Sora exclaimed in relief.
"Yeah, I'm okay! Just a little wierded out is all!" Kairi replied as she dismissed her armor and started approaching them. They didn't notice as the ooze was slowly starting to trickle back towards a central point.
"What was that thing?" Sora asked as Kairi shrugged.
"I dunno, but it was after me for some reason." Kairi said as Riku noticed the surrounding Heartless being shot down by Lighting as she sniped them from the boat off shore with her unique gunblade.
"At least it's over now." Riku said as the creature started rising back up again.
"Yeah that's tru-…KAIRI BEHIND YOU!" Sora exclaimed. Kairi spun around just as the creature threw its "arms" forward towards Riku and Sora, pinning them to the ground. Kairi looked around and saw that her two friends were disabled. She reached for her armor piece to summon it back but a black oily tendril lashed out from the arm that had Riku pinned and yanked it away. Then another tendril, from the arm pinning Sora down, grabbed her other arm just as the creature opened its maw.
"Oh not again!" Kairi groaned in disgust as the creature shot its "tongue," another black tendril, from its mouth, towards her which splattered against her chest, covering her entire upper torso, and causing a powerful light to emanate from her heart.
"(Grunt) Kairi!" Sora exclaimed as he attempted to break free but it was no use. Riku and Sora both watched helplessly as Kairi attempted to break free but to no avail. As she struggled, a strange white aura appeared around her and then a semi-transparent image of a blond haired girl in a white dress and blue sandals appeared over her.
"Namine?" Sora and Riku both asked curiously before the tendril suddenly pulled Namine free, her semi-transparent visage solidifying as Kairi fell to the ground and fainted from the stress.
"What? What's going on?" Namine asked, confused as she looked at herself, free from Kairi's heart.
"Namine! WATCH OUT!" Riku shouted just as Namine looked up and saw the monster suddenly lunge forward and grab her with its arms before suddenly shrinking down into the ground in a swirling mess as if a drain stopper had been pulled beneath it. It then revealed a Corridor of Darkness beneath where it was flowing. The Heartless all shrank into the ground and hurried towards the portal as the arms dragged Namine towards it.
"Namine!" Sora, now freed, shouted as he leapt up, Keyblade summoned, and charged towards her.
"Sora! Riku!" Namine shouted as she resisted the creature's pull but to no avail, her feet just kept sliding across the sandy ground beneath her.
"Hang on!" Riku shouted as he approached one of the arms pulling her and was about to swing his Keyblade at it but the creature suddenly smacked him hard with a whip like tendril that sent Riku flying.
"Riku!" Sora exclaimed before he too was hit by the tendril.
"Sora, ROXAS!" Namine screamed fearfully as, in a flash of light, Roxas took control of Sora's otherwise unconscious body, his face and hair even replacing Sora's own. Even his clothes had changed to match Roxas's.
"Namine!" Roxas shouted as he leapt up, summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion, and running towards her, only for five globs to shoot out from the Corridor and land before him, creating five Neoshadow Heartless.
"Oh no, not now!" Roxas growled as he cut through the Neoshadows as fast as he could but to no avail.
"Roxas! Don't leave me!" Namine called, her feet less than an inch from the Corridor's edge. Roxas leapt over the Neoshadows, Keyblades raised but it was too late. Namine tumbled into the Corridor with a fearful scream which closed behind her just as Roxas landed. (End Battle Music)
"No. NO, NAMINE NO!" Roxas shouted in horror as he realized Namine was gone. He clutched his Keyblades angrily, causing an aura of light to appear around him before he threw back his head with an angered and bloodcurdling scream of anguish, causing a shockwave of Light to pass over the entire island, wiping out the remaining Heartless. Riku approached the dismayed Roxas as Sora retook control.
"Sora, what just happened?" Riku asked as Sora dismissed Oathkeeper and Oblivion and stared at the spot where Namine had disappeared.
"I…I dunno." He muttered softly. Roxas was still in shock from what had happened and his shock showed itself through Sora. They then heard a moan from nearby, causing the two to turn and see Kairi starting to climb to her feet.
"What-…-what just happened?" She asked, dazed and confused from what had transpired.
"I think that Namine was just…ripped from your heart…and kidnapped." Riku said as Kairi put her hand over her heart. She could feel a strange empty feeling where she knew Namine would normally be.
"But why? What does that thing want with Namine?" Kairi asked as Sora opened his eyes with a determined expression.
"That's what we're going to find out. But first, we're going to need some back up." Sora said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a red, star shaped, lucky charm.
In the Land of Departure…
"Not a bad move, Ven." Terra said as he watched Ven land on a bonus tile on the Secret Board of the Command Board. They were playing in the library as Aqua sat nearby, waiting for her turn.
"I don't need it though." Ven said as he handed the dice to Terra who rolled. He proceeded to land on the red checkpoint.
"Alright that's some points for me and…a level four Sliding Dash." Terra said as he attempted to hand Aqua the die but as she attempted to take them, she suddenly froze.
"Oh! Hang on guys, Sora's contacting me through the D-Link." Aqua said as she took out her blue star shaped lucky charm.
"Wanna make it a conference link?" Terra asked as Ven grinned and nodded. They immediately pulled out their own lucky charms and entered the D-Link.
"WHOA, Say what?!" Aqua exclaimed in shock as Sora caught his breath.
"Namine's been kidnapped!" Sora replied.
"Namine? You mean Kairi's Nobody?" Ven asked.
"How did that happen?!" Aqua asked in confusion.
"Some big Heartless spawning ooze monster pulled her out of Kairi's heart and dragged her into a Corridor of Darkness! We've gotta find her!" Sora explained excitedly.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa, slow down Sora. We've got to do this one step at a time. Ven, Terra, and I will be there as soon as we can. We can work things out better once we're together." Aqua said as Sora nodded.
"Alright, we'll be waiting for you." Sora said before he disappeared, disconnected from the D-Link. Aqua, Ven, and Terra disconnected the D-Link as well.
"Alright, let's get moving! Every second counts guys!" Aqua shouted as they started running towards the doors. Aqua was running to her room when she heard the sound of a bell ringing.
"Uh-oh!" Aqua exclaimed as she turned and ran for the throne room. She entered and saw the pink colored crystal on the wall behind the central throne was glowing. She swallowed hard as she approached the crystal, remembering that the last time that anyone answered the pink crystal led to Ven's losing his heart, Terra becoming possessed by Xehanort, and her own getting trapped in the Realm of Darkness for eleven years.
"Master Aqua!"
"Master Yen Sid! I don't mean to sound rude but we're in kind of a hurry!" Aqua said.
"I figured as such. You sensed it too didn't you?" Yen Sid replied through the crystal.
"Sensed what?" Aqua asked, confused. There was a pause before Yen Sid spoke again.
"Come to my tower in Twilight Town and I will explain further. Bring Sora and all four of the apprentices too." Yen Sid instructed.
"What? Why? What do you know?" Aqua asked but there was no response. The glow from the crystal had vanished.
"Aqua, what's the matter?" Ven asked as Aqua emerged from behind the thrones.
"That was Master Yen Sid. He wants us to meet him at his tower and to bring Sora, Riku, and Kairi. I think he might know something about what has happened." Aqua said as Ven looked surprised.
"I don't like the sounds of this Aqua. Remember the last time we were contacted by Master Yen Sid?" Ven asked as Aqua nodded.
"I know. But I don't think that it'll end up with you losing your heart, and my getting stuck in the realm of darkness for eleven years this time." Aqua said with a half smile. Ven chuckled in response.
"Yeah. You're probably right. I better go get ready. I'll see you in the courtyard!" Ven shouted as he turned and continued running for his room, leaving Aqua alone in the throne room.
"I sure hope that I'm right." Aqua said before she too turned and ran for her room.
End Chapter 2.
Please R&R…