A/N: Yeah…school restarted back in August (funny how I took like….4 months to inform you all about that xD) which is why I haven't updated in awhile. And updates are gonna be lacking a lot for awhile. I know…it sucks ass, but I'm updating this story so I can not stress about not having finished it over the summer like I was planning on doing…what's new with me? Well, I'm saving my money for cosplay XD But it'll take awhile to get enough, but I'm really good at saving my money! So, yeah…um, enjoy this 'probably' boring chappie…sort of have a bit of writers block, so XD ENJOY!
When I spotted the King standing behind Xehanort, I flew down as fast as I could, landing behind the King while Sora, Donald, and Goofy all came running over, Donald calling out, "Your majesty!"
Mickey turned and looked at us before turning back around and frowning at Xemnas. "Xehanort!"
"How long has it been since I abandoned that name…" Xemnas said, most likely asking himself the question.
"Out with it, Nobody! Where's Kairi? Where's Riku!" Kairi…That little girl from all those years ago! They had taken her?
"I know nothing of any Kairi. As for Riku…" Xemnas whipped around, his eyes cold as they looked straight at me and the King, "Perhaps you should ask your King and Princess. By the way, Hope…I hope you come back to us soon."
"Stop!" Mickey shouted, running forward as Xemnas began to disappear in a dark portal, jumping in after him, the four of us trying to follow, only to have the portal disappear before we got the chance.
"He's gone…" Sora said sullenly, falling to the ground and hitting it weakly, while Goofy walked over and put a hand on his shoulder in sympathy, Donald and I looking at him sadly.
"Sora, Goofy," Donald began, as if he were going to scold them for acting so sad, when he squawked all of the sudden, my attention not really focused.
"What's goin' on?" Goofy asked.
"Way to fall right into their trap." Of course, Axel had to show his face too…
We all turned around and found him leaning against the side of the cliff, arms crossed over his chest while he was trying to look all cool. Of course, Sora, Donald, and Goofy all ran forward with their weapons in hand and got into stances, Axel simply getting an amused expression on his face as he pushed away from the cliff face. "C'mon, it's a set-up by Organization XIII. Xemnas is using you to destroy the Heartless-that's his big master plan."
Donald stared at him skeptically, "Xemnas?"
Axel made a hand gesture, "The guy you just saw. He's their leader. Got it memorized?" Axel asked, tapping his temple with a finger, "X-E-M, N-A-S."
Everyone seemed to calm down a little after that, "Organization XIII wants to get rid of the Heartless?" Goofy asked, Axel laughing slightly.
"Man, you're slow." He pointed at the Keyblade, "Every Heartless slain with that Keyblade releases a captive heart. That is what the Organization is after. Along with one other thing…" his eyes fell on me, and I stared down at the ground, feeling everyone else's gazes on me before they all went back to Axel.
"So what are those guys gonna do with the hearts?" Donald asked.
"I'm not telling."
"Tell us!"
"You…you're the one who kidnapped Kairi!" Sora stated.
"Bingo. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"
"I'll make sure you get something memorized when I beat you to a pulp later…" I mumbled under my breath.
"Where is Kairi?"
When he scratched his head and stared down at the ground, I knew that meant something bad had happened.
"Please. Just tell me!" Sora begged.
Axel stared up at the sky, "Look, about Kairi…I'm sorry."
"You kidnapped a little girl and then you went and lost her?"
He seemed like he was gonna say something about my question, but someone else spoke first. "Axel!"
Saix appeared in front of us, and Axel's eyes widened as they looked from me to Saix, before he went ahead and disappeared.
"AXEL!" I called after him, Sora running forward to go after him, only to have Saix's arm shoot out and block him from continuing.
"We'll ensure he receives the maximum punishment."
"I don't care about any of that! Just let me into the realm of darkness, okay!"
I looked at him in disbelief, "Sora, are you insane?"
"If it's Kairi you're worried about, don't," Saix said, turning around to stare at Sora, "We're taking very good care of her."
"You people couldn't take care of fly if you were given the job…" I mumbled, earning a glare from him.
"Take me to her." Sora said.
"Is she that important to you?"
"Yeah. More than anything."
"Show me how important."
Sora got onto his knees in a begging manner, and I almost lost it. "Please."
"So, you really do care for her. In that case-" was he really gonna… "…the answer is no." knew it was too good to be true.
Sora jumped back and glared, "You rotten…!" I felt someone grab me, and lift me up by neck, causing me to struggle. I glared down at Saix as he held me up, trying to kick my feet and hit him. "Hey! Leave her alone!"
Saix looked over at him with a bored gaze, "Are you angry? Do you hate me? Then take that rage and direct it at the Heartless." With his free hand, he snapped his fingers, several Heartless appearing. He threw me to the side, and I landed on my back, my hands reaching up rub my now bruised and sore neck. "Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet they know not the true power of what they hold. The rage of the Keyblade, releases those hearts. They gather in darkness, masterless and free…until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts. And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist."
"What in the world do you think you're prattling about?" I jumped in surprise as Maleficent poofed in, "Kingdom Hearts belongs to me! The heart of all kingdoms, the heart of all that lives. A dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be MY dominion!"
"Maleficent, no! No more Heartless!" Sora yelled.
"I do not take orders from you!" Maleficent backfired, summoning several Heartless that surrounded Saix.
"Fool…" I hear Saix mutter. With a quick snap of his fingers, several Dusks appeared, pouncing on the Heartless and ridding of them. I cowered back a little as they turned and looked at us, Sora's eyes clouding with worry as he noticed the Dusks now had their attention on us.
"Oh no!" Sora exclaimed as the Dusks headed our way, bringing his arms up to shield his face. Except…
"What in the world are you doing?" I exclaimed at Maleficent when I saw her in front of us, her back turned to us as this green like aura surrounded her. She didn't respond to my question, but instead raised her arms up into the air, the intense green flames making a barrier of some sort, meant to keep us out, or the Dusks in, I wasn't sure of. Finally, Maleficent spoke.
"While I keep these creatures at bay, you devise a way to vanquish them-forever!"
"Maleficent!" Sora said, his voice holding a bit of shock.
I gasped as I saw the Dusks jump on her, coiling themselves around her as she remained still, not even showing any signs of throwing them off.
"Do not misunderstand me. I shall have my revenge on you yet." She looked back at us slightly for a moment before the rest of the Dusks tackled her to the ground, Sora crying out her name as if he were trying to help her. Through the green flames, my eyes met Saix's own gold ones, my mind replacing the image with the boy that he had once been, the gold eyes being replaced with bright aquamarine ones. I felt my heart ache, making myself blink for a moment to rid of the image, glaring at Saix heatedly while Maleficent ordered us to leave.
"I don't take orders from you!" Sora shouted, starting to run forward, Donald and I both stopping him.
"Sora! C'mon!" Donald squawked, while I tugged on the back of Sora's shirt.
"But…what about…"
"We have to go! Now!" I shouted, tugging on his shirt, my hand falling back to my side as the flames died down, revealing a pile of dusks on the ground where they had tackled Maleficent down earlier, the ones that were still standing advancing towards us quickly. My eyes met Saix's once more.
"Now then. Where did we leave off?" He asked, snapping his fingers once more, the dusks disappearing this time.
We became confused as to what was happening, when Armored Soldier Heartless appeared this time, circling us all in. I made the move to hit one, but I was instead knocked back, and away from my friends, who I could hear shouting for me.
I didn't pay attention to the words that were exchanged in those few moments. My head was throbbing to much for me to comprehend them. As I stood back up on my feet, I saw Saix grab me, his eyes cold and hard as he threw me back towards them again, and this time, I landed at Sora's feet. As Goofy helped me up, I heard Sora worrying over the few heart he had released before he used the Keyblade to block an incoming attack, struggling to push back the Heartless while the rest of us did the same. As we fought to push them back, I could feel the doubt in Sora's heart as if it were like hearing a loud, yet clear bell.
'No! Sora!' I internally screamed, 'Your doubt will only make your heart and strength weaker!'
And when all seemed to be lost…
"Imbeciles! You can't be trusted to do anything!" Maleficent?
Next thing I knew, we were falling through darkness, and someone landed on me as I hit the ground, a loud groan coming from myself. Why was I always the one people landed on?
"Sorry, Hope!" Sora apologized as he rolled off of me and stood, helping me up while I rubbed my now aching back.
"It's fine…" I mumbled, while Donald and Goofy walked over to us.
"What's this place?" Goofy asked as he and Donald stopped in front of us.
"It must be the Realm of Darkness!" Sora concluded, before beginning to shout for Kairi and Riku.
I turned around, and made a sound of surprise with Donald as we both saw someone wearing an Organization coat, a white box in their hand.
"What the-!"
"Who's there!" Donald asked, while I ran towards the person with him, the mysterious one disappearing and leaving the box behind before we could reach him. "What is it?" Donald asked aloud, while lifting the box up.
"Are ya sure you wanna open…" Goofy began, stopping when Donald opened the thing up, "…that?"
My eyes widened as they landed on the first thing in the box, Donald reaching in and pulling it out while turning towards the rest of us and holding it out to Sora, who took it.
'That picture…'
"Gawrsh, it's the gang from Twilight Town. There's Hayner, Pence, Olette…and, uh, um…" I couldn't blame poor Goofy for being so confused as to who the last two people were."Roxas and Kira." Sora said with so much sureness, it shocked me.
"You know them?" Donald asked.
He shook his head gently, "No…The names just popped into my head. This is Roxas," he pointed to Roxas to emphasize his point, before pointing to the dirty-blonde haired girl, "…and Kira."
'No…it's Roxas and Hope…not Roxas and Kira…'
I looked over to see Donald lifting the ice-cream to his mouth.
"Are you sure you wanna eat…" his mouth enclosed around the ice-cream before Goofy could even finish, "…that?"
Donald jumped and pulled the ice-cream from his mouth. "Salty…No…sweet!" He smiled, the ice-cream glowing and floating up into the air.
The Keyblade appeared in Sora's hand, and he raised it up towards the ice-cream, a keyhole appearing. Sora did his thing and locked it.
The first thing that was said to me as soon as we had boarded onto the Gummi ship was the one thing I had been dreading the most since I had met Sora.
"Hope?"
"Hm? What is it, Sora?"
He seemed nervous as he looked up at me with those bright blue eyes, "Who are you? …Really?"
I think time stopped as the question was asked, along with my breath.
A/N: Yay! I did it! Whoohoo! Oh boy…next chapter will be interesting! Since this disgusting writer's block is gnawing away at my mind, how about some lovely suggestions, eh? I love you all, and never will I stop this story till it is completely finished! Well, I'm tired, so g'night! LATER TATERS!