Persona X TWEWY X Kingdom Hearts
Summary: Trapped in an unfair game? Fighting against society? Changing the hearts of evil adults? Save the world? Discovering oneself? Nothing out of the ordinary for these teenagers.
Chapter 7
The door to a new Adventure
*Land of Departure: Hours ago*
Leaping through three rings of fire and then rolling onto her feet, Kairi aims her keyblade to blast a barrage of magic at oncoming shards of ice. Her attack shatters them into pieces and she spins around to swipe away large spheres of light from pummelling her, the magical keyblade splicing the spheres in tow and letting the two halves fly past her.
The princess then leaps off the ground in time for a glyph of magic to explode beneath her, and while in the air, she flips backward to evade several disc-shaped aero spells and while upside down, aimed her key and shot a beam of light at the attacking sphere. Her beam pierces the sphere, destroying it and as she front flips and dives back to the ground, more orbs fly at her. Kairi slashes and cuts her way through them, lands on the ground, and quickly cast a barrier around herself.
In time for the spheres from above to collide into the barrier and detonate upon impact, exploding and covering the area in smoke. Within the barrier just as the smoke dissipates, Kairi is on one knee, and then the barrier breaks apart, making her rest her hands and keyblade on the ground with a series of heavy panting. Lucky for her, the spheres of light disappear, and she no longer feels the danger around her, meaning her session was finally at an end.
"Not bad, a massive improvement from yesterday," her master praised while walking onto the training ground. Kairi raised her very tired head to see her master, Aqua, approaching her. She waves her keyblade over the girl, healing her wounds and easing the aches in her body so she could stand before her master. She takes a refreshing breath, then stands up before her approving master.
"Your stamina has gotten a lot better, and your pool of mana is a lot deeper than I thought, but you've still got to work on your combat prowess and maybe try to flesh out your Flowmotion," she lists, "But still, a massive improvement compared to your first day".
"I sure as heck hope so," Kairi laughed tiredly, "I'd feel pretty lame if I weren't catching up to you guys!".
Aqua giggles lightly and pats her back, guiding her to sit down on a few boulders to sit and rest up before they resumed their training and then go back to the castle and meet up with the others. Ever since Donald and Goofy had brought everyone back here and once Aqua was debriefed on the development on searching for Sora, they had all spent most of their time within this world to train both Kairi and the other upcoming guardians of light. Four months in though, Kairi could see there has been a big change in her compared to her battle in the great war.
"So, on a scale of one to ten, how do you think I'm doing?" Kairi asked, jumping in front of Aqua with a wide smile.
Folding her arms with a raised brow and an intrigued smirk, Aqua hummed and replied she was at least a seven at this point. Kairi frowns with crossed her arms, insisting she could beat at least half of the guardians at this point, and she was willing to bet she could give Aqua a challenge at this point. Nobody could deny that among all the trainees and guardians coming here to hone their abilities to one day find their missing uniter, Kairi was the one pulling all the stops to catch up to debatably their strongest members.
Every day she was the first to start training, the first one to finish the warmups and then take on the next trial that her master has in store for her. Because of that, nowadays Aqua was personally training Kairi and some days end with them sparring. Though many could say calling it a spar is being generous considering the power gap between the master and newbie, Kairi would often be worn out by the time Aqua would get serious. Plus Kairi's tendencies to get reckless often spell defeat for her.
"I suppose I could bump it up to an eight, if somebody reins in her recklessness," her master critiques.
Kairi sheepishly rubbed her arm, giggling lightly before she cheekily asked if she makes it a nine then she'd do it. In response, Aqua flicks her forehead and warns her not to get a swelled head, she was still a novice compared to the former students of the late Eraqus. Kairi rolls her eyes in response, claiming she had years over most of the team, and Aqua curtly replied it is ten years more experience that has helped her become a master.
"Besides, you've still yet to grasp on changing your keyblade's form changes, summons, and even fourth-tier magic," reminds Aqua as they continued down to the meeting room, "Don't forget for as swift as you are in making progress in your training, Kairi, you still have a lot to learn".
"I know that but come on! I'm way stronger now than I was when we fought Xehanort and his darkness," insists the girl.
"Nobody is denying that you're on a different level compared to then," assures her master.
"Soooooo…doesn't that mean I can-
"No. You are not going to start world searching," sighed her master.
Kairi opens her mouth to argue but Aqua turned to face her. "Kairi, you remember what the Master said to us last time we were at the tower, correct?". Kairi crossed her arms and tiredly recited the exact orders of their master. That no one is to leave the Land of Departure until either Mickey or Riku have returned with news of Sora's whereabouts and more. With three of their strongest guardians gone and the third's location still being a mystery to them all, it was too risky to have the guardians all separated.
But in Kairi's case, she was a major risk. Being both a wielder of the keyblade who is still a novice, but also a princess of heart who hasn't passed on the torch.
"Exactly," says Aqua.
"But how much longer until I'm ready? I've been busting my butt to get this far!" she argued, "When we do start searching for more clues about Sora?".
"You know as well as I do that there's no point," Aqua sighed, "The only place that holds any clues to Sora's whereabouts is that world Riku went to, and nobody is going there until we hear back from Riku or the king".
"But what if they never get back to us? For all we know-
"I understand that Kairi, but even if should that comes to pass, do you think you or the others would be going to a world like that?" Aqua asked, "Not only is it a world that's, unheard of, but none of you would be ready for it".
"That's not fair!" Kairi argued, angrily, "I helped Sora beat Xehanort, replica or whatever, so whatever's there-
"Could be even more dangerous than him!" Aqua replied. She then raised a hand to stop the girl from furthering any arguments, sighing. "This is exactly what worries me about you, your blatant disregard for caution and this impatience".
The master's glare softens, gently explaining to Kairi that for as great as her progress in training is regarding both her physical and magical prowess is, her patience and confidence are severely lacking in discipline and patience in her training. Sure she is slowly climbing the ranks and Aqua would be proud to say she's going to graduate from being an apprentice to a real wielder of the keyblade, but these constant demands that they go find clues to Sora is weighing down her chances of finally growing as a wielder of the keyblade.
She knows that any world searching would be a waste of everyone's time and energy they couldn't afford to squander. And the only world that would be worth sending people to explore would be either the world that wasn't supposed to remain or that fictional world Riku had been sent to, but neither of them was easily accessible nor would Aqua risk the others. Maybe she and Terra could but without another master to train them, it'd be too much of a risk.
"Remember how often your reckless nature has gotten you into trouble, and these worlds that our friends are exploring are unknown to even me. Which is more of a reason we wait," stressed her master.
"But how much longer DO we wait?" Kairi asked, throwing her hands up in the air with frustration, "I don't want just wait around for them to bring Sora back! We could help them!". She even summoned her keyblade and bragged that by this point bar Aqua and Terra, she was technically their third strongest member, and while her master wished she could boast of her student's achievements, this only made her frown with disapproval. Sure without a doubt Kairi was on a different level compared to the other students at this point, and while she tied with Ventus currently, she lacked the mind and heart of the boy.
"This arrogance is a recipe for disaster, Kairi," her master warned. And to prove her point, Kairi was suddenly frozen on the spot, her body glowing in a thin sheen of light. Only her eyes were able to move, allowing her to see the state of her body and then back to her master, whose eyes were glowing with barely visible magic.
Aqua shook her head and gestured her body, stating that even a novice could have sensed the surge of magic from her master, and worst of all, be able to counter it with ease, where their focus was on their surroundings and not bragging.
"Do you see my point? How easy I was able to put you in your place with the bare minimum of my magic? And you're telling me you can take on somebody WORSE than Xehanort?" questions the master with clear disapproval. With a snap of her fingers, the spell disappears, and Kairi almost falls back from struggling, looking back at Aqua with insult. "If you are so eager to get stronger to rush into danger than I want you," she starts, then picks up a rock from the ground. She plants magic inside it and then without a word, tosses across the land and straight into the dense forest below them.
"Use your magic to find that rock, perhaps that will improve your senses and give you time to cool off". Kairi looks back at Aqua and opens her mouth, but then huffs angrily and then leaps off the small mountain they on and using flow motion, dives into the sea of trees.
Once her student was swallowed by the trees, Aqua sighs with worry. She knows deep in her heart Kairi was a gifted and progressive student, but her impatience matching her recklessness is going to be her undoing one day. And no matter how badly the others wanted to find Sora, maybe not as bad as her but it was a priority, she would not risk losing anyone else to whatever cruel fate the realm of light has in store for them.
Grumbling and occasionally kicking the ground, Kairi stomps her way through the forest looking for the stupid rock her master tossed. Angrily glaring at the trees and rocks like they were heartless just waiting to test the small particles of her patience, almost wishing there were some minions of the darkness to take her anger out on. Walking onwards, using her magic senses to try and detect the small stone of "super importance", she slowly feels her anger fizzle away and replacing the sensation is genuine frustration with herself.
She knows Aqua's right about her lack of patience and without a doubt, if she had the chance, she'd leap for anything that could lead her back to Sora regardless of whatever dangers lied in store for her. Why wouldn't she? After a year and four months of searching to find only the tiniest clue to where he could be, just thinking about him made that rock within her heart grows heavier and heavier with guilt. The knowledge that he was stuck somewhere all alone because once again he had to pay for her shortcoming because she wasn't strong enough to even earn her place to be at his side and because she was important to him.
But how much longer could she wait for Aqua to deem her ready to finally go and join Riku's quest?
Every day here feels like time is stretching so much it was like the days were three times longer and training was becoming more of a chore and repetitious activity just to keep herself distracted from the idea she wasn't going to find him as soon as she could.
Her foot kicks a stone, bringing her back to reality and when she looked at that stone, she sensed a tiny fragment of magic from it. Frowning, she sighed and picked up the stone, knowing darn well Aqua did not throw as hard as she could have. Of course, she had to take pity on the frustrated girl and used this as an excuse to get her to cool off before she did something stupid again. Truly she sometimes wonders if Aqua was her mentor or just her super protective aunt.
She exited the forest and finds herself at a cliffside and plants herself on the edge, sitting down and watching the sunset, stone back in her pocket. Kairi sighed quietly and watches the sun descend, remembering the old days when these moments when the day ended were something special to her and those two boys she adored. It cracks her heart slightly when it dawned on her that she couldn't remember the last time she was able, or more realistically, was blessed, to have these moments with them again.
"If you didn't mess up in the biggest fight of your life, maybe this wouldn't have happened," she berates herself as she hikes her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, sighing.
"Somebody's in trouble~".
"Oh shut up…" she giggled as Lea sat down beside her with a grunt.
"What'cha do this time? Step on our master's toes?" he asked with a smirk.
"Nope…just got a lecture about patience, reckless is bad for the mind and was sent on rock recovery," Kairi summarizes.
Lea ruffles her hair kindly, making her whine in annoyance yet there is a smile on her face as she pushes him away. It turns out Lea was out here on his own after he did some training of his own with Isa supervising Xion and Roxas, that he just needed some time for "Lea time", his puns getting worse and worse with each day yet never failing to make Kairi snicker and everyone else groan. And he just so happened to see her angrily stomping through the forest like she was on a mission to hurt someone, and wisely waited for her to cool off before he approached her.
She smirked at him, teasing him that he was scared she'd kick his butt again. Lea rolled his eyes in response, saying he was too busy being a parent to train as rigorously as she does. Kairi replied that he was just as lazy as ever, reminding him Isa was here as well to watch their kiddies too. He groaned, telling her to stop pointing out the flaws of his excuses. They watched the sunset in silence for a little while before he pats her back telling her he was asked by Aqua to come to collect her.
"Dinner's about to be served, and you know that sweet bread is gonna be gone before we even smell it if we don't hurry up," he warned with a playful smile. Kairi laments that if Naminé's still at the castle, they never had a chance to start with.
*Castle*
After dinner, Aqua gathered everyone in the throne room to discuss their progress and what routine they'll be commencing tomorrow in the effort to help refine whatever someone is lacking. And she did her best not to eye Lea when she brings up staying in bed for too long in the mornings and stressing everyone should be going to said bed at a proper time. Eyeing a certain blond who had this terrible habit of getting lost in books at night.
She pouts and says it wasn't her fault Ventus had the most engaging books to offer.
"Don't pass the blame off to Ven, you choose the book not him," Aqua teased, "So for tomorrow, it's probably best we move onto magic again. This time we will be turning furniture into other objects and learning how to revert to our normal forms should we ever turn into frogs…again".
"I said sorry!" Roxas groaned, "How was I supposed to know that spell turns people into frogs!?".
"It'd help if you read the page before dabbling in spells you know nothing about…" Isa sighed as he stood near the door. Terra nodded in agreement, just being grateful nobody ate any flies during their temporary session of amphibian lifestyles. Kairi and Naminé giggled quietly while Ventus and Lea smirked at each other. Aqua smiled softly before going down the list of magic they'll be practicing, stressing she wants everyone to know how to deal with whatever spell that could go wrong.
When she looks up from her list, she sees Xion with her hand raised like a school student. The master blinked and held back a sigh, before making a smile. "Yes, Xion? You need to speak up along with raising your hand," she reminds.
"Are we gonna learn how to summon ghost doors too?" she asked.
Aqua blinks, then looks at her list before turning to the girl and blinked again. "I'm…sorry? Ghost doors?" she asked as the rest looked at her. "Yeah! Like, spooky doors that are see-through! And blue! And…spooky!", clarifies Xion with an excited smile. This makes everyone glance at each other for a moment, then all eyes fall to the former students of Master Eraqus. The siblings looked at each other, shrugging or looking as lost as the master before them all.
"Err…Xion, that's not a spell keyblade wielders use…nor any mage we know about," her master says gently, not wanting to disappoint the girl. Instead, Xion tilts her head with a confused look on her face and then says: "So…nobody knows how to make one?".
"That's right," Aqua says, "I mean, Donald might but he and Goofy are back at the tower waiting for Mickey to return, so I'm afraid if you want to ask it'll have to wait".
"…then why is there a door in the courtyard?" Xion asked.
This gets Aqua's attention, along with the other adults who suddenly narrowed their eyes. Quickly they all headed for the courtyard, descending the stairs to find indeed an ominous blue door in the center of the yard. There is a thin mist of blue-emitting from the door, bizarre magic surges around it and they could hear something akin to clinking chains, shackles more accurately. Aqua tells Isa and Lea to stay back with the others while she and Terra approached the door, keyblades were drawn for whatever surprises this door could have.
Standing before it, Aqua tapped it with her keyblade, gently banging against the door like it was made of metal. Yet there is no handle or knob to grasp, nor any keyholes to unlock it, and there is an aura unknown to her. Not entirely sinister nor is it anything friendly. But it held no darkness like the ones they were used to, and Aqua couldn't detect anything relating to a certain witch Sora's had more than one encounter with.
"Xion, how long has this door been here?" the master asks, turning to the girl. Xion chirped it was there since this morning when she was brushing her teeth, and only brought it up when Aqua was talking about magic. Aqua turned to Lea and Isa, both shrugging, clueless, and swore not even the original organization had this before.
"I've never seen a door like this before in any world I've ever been to," Terra sighed and dismissed his keyblade, "You sure there's nothing like this in the books?".
"I've read dozens of books on magic and spells but never came across a door like this," Aqua revealed. The others join in the inspection, conversation stirred up with speculations on the door, Kairi looks at it with curiosity, trying to remember if she's ever seen a door like this as a child or anywhere else. Then while everyone was talking away, she stares at the door and notices a shape within the darkness of the door through the thin blue light, a body. She narrowed her eyes and sees the body turn to her, a familiar pair of blue eyes and smile.
"Sora?" she whispered.
The face vanishes into the darkness, but before Kairi could speak, Aqua tells everyone to just head back inside and not go near that door. Several members groaned in annoyance or sighed but complied, Kairi following them into the castle…
*Nightfall*
Still in her bed, looking into the abyss of darkness that was her ceiling, Kairi stares at the ceiling in silence while occasionally tossing and turning in her bed in some vain attempt to get some sleep. But the lull of sleep was ignored because it wasn't weariness that kept her up but immense curiosity. That door is connected to Sora's location, she knows it. Call her crazy but she had a deep feeling that perhaps it was a clue, or rather, a way to him at last.
Things like this don't just happen by chance nor ordinarily.
But rolling onto her back with a huff, she knows if she even thinks of approaching Aqua with this gut feeling she'd be given the same old excuse her master has been using ever since she first brought up anything regarding looking for Sora. Of course, her understanding wasn't the issue, but what if that door disappears and they lose any chances of finally bringing Sora home for lord knows how long. How much longer could he stick just being trapped in a place where he would be all alone without her, Riku, or anyone by his side?
Looking out the window of her bedroom, she has a clear view of the courtyard where the door remains still, her eyes never leaving it. She looked down at her elbows resting on the windowsill in deep thought, conflicting thoughts battling in her mind as she takes into consideration what ramifications of her actions. She could just follow her master's words and just remain in her room and wait for the time for her master to finally decide her student was finally ready but then the door could be gone forever and Sora would be further away from her.
Or…she could go herself.
Looking at the stars in the night sky, she placed a hand on her heart and feels the warmth of her thoughts on the boy.
"Sorry Aqua…" she whispers before getting off her bed. She gathered a few things such as her adventure clothing, a few potions she had made a while back during her alchemy lessons with Terra of all people, a few of Sora's accessories that supposedly could empower her from his adventures, and some spare keychains Donald and Goofy had given her. Luckily, she mastered pocket dimension magic long ago with Lea.
Quiet as a mouse, Kairi snuck out of the castle by using her bare feet as opposed to her loud boots that echoed in the halls of this regal castle. It made sneaking up on the others much harder, and the squeals of terror from Ventus were always worth the extra effort. Reaching the main doors, she puts her footwear back on and carefully sneaks out of the castle by gently opening the doors with magic, just so she could let them close with an aero spell as quickly and silently as she could. It was a good thing Aqua didn't believe in sentry magic.
She climbed down the stairs and approached the door, feeling a sudden chill run down her spine when she gets closer to this bizarre entryway. The princess uses her magic to try and sense something malevolent or evil from this door, being a princess of heart had its perks, but found nothing. Of course, this could have been a trap from their enemies to try and lure the others into danger, but aside from that witch who had become reclusive since the keyblade war ended, she couldn't fathom any other enemies who'd be stupid enough to risk the wrath of the guardians.
"Okay…just open it…" she says to herself with a calm breath, steeling her nerves. Slowly she reached for the door…
"And just where do you think you're going?".
Kairi lets out a shriek and reels around, keyblade summoned. Behind her is an unamused Naminé and equally frustrated Ventus with his arms folded. Kairi blinked and then sighed, dismissing her keyblade while berating them for nearly giving her a heart attack. The blonde remarked she shouldn't have overestimated her sneaking skills and should've expected the others to know how she was when it came to listening to Aqua these days. All very valid points Kairi acknowledged.
"You haven't answered my question," Naminé reminded.
"I was…checking if the door was still…here?" Kairi tries, looking away while sweating.
"Looks like it hasn't budged…and you could have seen it clearly from your bedroom," Naminé points out with a raised brow, "Sounds to me you were going to pull a Ventus and disobey Aqua".
"Can we not turn that into a thing? I'm still hearing it from Terra and Aqua…" Ventus groaned.
"W-What? No! Course I wasn't!" Kairi argued defensively.
Both teens just gave her blank stares and furrowed brows, not buying this poor attempt she calls lying. Kairi dropped the act and confessed that she was, big surprise, trying to open the door, but she stressed that earlier she swore she saw Sora on the other side. Much to her relief, and assurance she hadn't lost her mind, Naminé's glare softened into sympathy and admits that she saw him too. According to Naminé, she didn't sense the same darkness as all the other ones they encountered before from the door, however, she also assured them there was still something dangerous beyond that door.
And she DID bring that to Aqua's attention, and as Kairi thought, the master strictly forbids ANYONE to use the door until she brings this to the retired keyblade master. Which could be days before they hear anything due to the long-distance and without a ship because nobody knew how to pilot one. A massive oversight on that.
Naminé gently placed a hand on Kairi's arm, eyes soft but stern, and pleads she'd just trust Aqua's wisdom and give up on opening the door. As much as she too wanted to find Sora and bring him home, losing Kairi was too much of a risk, both as a keyblade wielder and probably most importantly as one of the purest hearts. A very good point that Kairi hadn't considered and understood why Aqua would prioritize her remaining somewhere safe, deflating her will to rebel against the rules.
"Please just head back to your room, and I'm sure if we talk to Aqua we could convince her to at least send someone to investigate the door," Naminé pleaded, patting her shoulder.
Sighing, Kairi nods and walks ahead with Ventus, who patted her back. "You guys are right…guess I was just so…" she starts but just before her foot touched the first step, she paused. Her brows furrowed and then something had occurred to hear. These two had a room that was nearly on the other side of the castle, and not only that she was certain she made no noise louder than a quiet sigh when she snuck out. Plus even if their senses were so high, there was no chance they could have heard her unless she used a great deal of magic, not a bare minimum.
"Wait for a second…why were you two up…?" she says and turned around to Naminé. Her eyes widened in shock and anger when she sees Naminé was about to TOUCH the door as well. The blonde former nobody tensed up straight and quickly spins around to face her somebody with a sheepish smile and starts to sweat.
"I…was just inspecting it! In case-
"YOU were going to do the same thing I was planning to do! You massive hypocrite!" Kairi says, pushing Ventus aside and marched back to Naminé.
"…no I wasn't?" squeaks Naminé.
"What happened to all that spiel about trusting Aqua and working together on this huh?" Kairi interrogates.
"Hold the phone!" Ventus says, now standing beside Kairi and eying Naminé, "You never mentioned this! You said you had a feeling Kairi would do something stupid and brought me here to support you!".
"W-Well! I wasn't lying! I need you to support this decision!" Naminé argued.
"Which is what? I take Kairi back and let you go!?" he asked.
"…in a nutshell".
"Oh! So it's perfectly okay for YOU to go, someone who has no training, no keyblade, or any magic, but not the total opposite of you?" Kairi challenged, poking her best friend's shoulder. She was furious with this bait and switch, more so angry that Naminé would stoop to such tactics just to keep her behind while she goes somewhere without even a keyblade to use. Ventus however stepped in and pushes them from each other, stressing to keep their voices down. He also warned them if Aqua sees this, they'll be scrubbing the toilets until their grandkids have grandkids.
"Am I interrupting something?".
They all looked to see Roxas walking down the stairs with his hands in his pocket, looking at the three with a twinkle in his eyes. "Looks like you guys were breaking the rules again~" he teases gesturing the door. Ventus groans while Kairi and Naminé glare at each other, the boy explaining he had been lied to, to which Naminé argued she didn't tell a fib and just worded it differently than what he perceived was a lie, and revealed that both of them were trying to enter the door.
"Guys come on, you know that was a dumb move. Sides, Naminé, you don't have any training or even really anyways to protect yourself," Roxas argued.
"You seem to forget I can manipulate peoples' memories, Roxas," Naminé says, "If I get in trouble, all I need to do is make them forget me and poof, I'll be practically a ghost amongst whatever baddies or monsters I encounter".
"But…don't you only have control of memories of the people that know or at least have met Sora?" Ventus asked, remembering her mentioning something on those lines.
The silence from the girl was very telling.
"And Kairi…no offense but, compared to everyone else, bar Naminé (HEY!) you have the least amount of experience. You want to get into trouble without anyone backing you up?" he asked. Kairi frowns and looks away, a sudden case of stupid washing over her. The boy sighed in sympathy, but he stressed that both going alone or together wasn't going to cut it, and chances are Ventus wasn't going either with Aqua's permission, teasing him for being the goodie two shoes. Ventus promised Roxas he was going to beat him in their next spar, and he wasn't going to be gentle.
"Bottom line, nobody is ready to go on ahead without Aqua or anybody, even if it means we have to possibly lose this chance," he says, "Come on, let's just head back to bed and forget about this".
The two girls looked at each other, anger subsiding, and slowly a sense of guilt took its place. Roxas had a point, and even if what he says comes true, going alone would have been foolish and a potentially fatal error on their end. Along with possibilities of never returning. They both nodded in agreement and decided that perhaps it'd be the better option to just follow orders and leave this behind.
"Good, now come on and let's go-
"ROXAS!".
They all turned to the door and see, much to the paling Roxas' horror, Xion tossing one duffle bag down and gently laying down another near her, pouting and sweating. "I can't find your toothbrush! You said it was in the sink cup but it's not! And Lea says I'm not allowed to touch the medicine cabinet!", she yelled while pointing at his duffle bag. The trio who were caught were now glaring daggers at Roxas, sweating profusely and paling more and more, a smile that was screaming "I'M DEAD I'M DEAD" formed on his face.
Xion looked at the others, confused, and then joins them. "Huh? Roxas, how come the others are here? I thought you said it was just the two of us going?" she asked innocently.
"Xion…shut up," stressed the boy through gritted teeth.
"Xion…why do you have two duffle bags with you? And where exactly are you two going?" Ventus asked while crossing his arms. Xion then, innocently but stupidly, divulges the plan to the gang with a smile. It turns out, unsurprisingly, she and Roxas had the same plan as Kairi and Naminé to go and explore whatever lied beyond the door to find Sora. All three of them turned their angry gazes to Roxas who shrank underneath their enraged glares.
"Seriously? What, are Lea and Isa going to walk out that door next?" Kairi growled.
"Nah, Lea's too big of a chicken to ignore Aqua's rule, and Isa's been put in charge of him!" Xion chirped.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Ventus yells, "NO ONE is going through that door! Nobody is leaving this world, the only place we are going is back to our rooms!".
The three teens started to argue among themselves while Xion looks confused about their arguments, trying to understand why everyone was so angry with each other and why she and Roxas didn't just ask the others to not tell Aqua while they go rescue Sora. Maybe it was just wanting to be the hero or show off, he always liked doing that to Lea. Meanwhile, Kairi turned to the door as the others argued some more and approached it.
Angry as she was, their words, however, fabricated they may appear, she knew the others only had hers and Sora's best interest at heart. And though she stubbornly wished to defy them, rip open that door and plunge into whatever the worlds throw at her, they all had valid points. But…nobody said anything about taking a peak.
She placed her hand on the door, and then suddenly it pulls backward, exposing nothing but a shadow to the girl. A chill flies down her spine and she shivered at the soundless void, the wind blowing felt so much harsher and colder against her skin like she was trapped in a blizzard. She shook her head, she can't see anything, but the darkness and the uninviting atmosphere spelled doom for anyone who would enter. Plus, she couldn't sense Sora's presence, and that alone convinced her that perhaps some doors should stay closed.
"Guys…maybe we should just, do what Ven says and head back," she sighed and turned to the others.
They all turned to her, but behind Kairi, a face begins to take the form of red fire within the blue, two angled eyes and a wide smile, two large claw-like hands stretched out just right beside her shoulders. They all screamed her name too late, the strange creature grabbed her shoulders and almost pulled her into the door. Only pure survival instincts prevent Kairi from falling into the door, grabbing the edges of the frame for dear life while her friends grabbed her and tried to pull her back.
"Everyone!", Aqua's voice called out.
Running down the stairs, their master sees her students attempting to rescue Kairi, Lea screaming for his two wards, and Terra sprinting with his keyblade in hand. Kairi tries to fight against this monster's tight grip, yet even with her friends trying to pull her back she could feel her fingers slipping. Roxas and Ventus pulled on her waist while Naminé tries to hold her by wrapping her arms around her waist and Xion beating the monster with her duffle bag, yelling at her for touching her friends.
Behind Kairi, the monster smirked wickedly and with the slightest bit of effort, it pulled not only Kairi into the dark abyss, but the others who were trying to rescue her with them. Aqua screamed for them as Terra reached the door too late. The door shuts closed and then vanishes in a blue mist just before Terra could so much as graze his fingertips along with the door.
The party of five teens fell into darkness, crying for each other as Kairi watches the door above fade away, the only light evaporating into nothingness as the clutches of the monster releases her at last.
"The game has just begun…" it says before Kairi's vision is shrouded in shadow.
*Palace*
"Kairi…Kairi, wake up!".
She grumbles and whines before slowly do her eyes flutter open to see a distressed Naminé looking down at her. Kairi shook her head and rubbed it, hissing from the strange ache drilling into her head before she looks around. No more were they in the land of her master, but what looked like a dungeon of sorts, old and medieval-like her old storybooks, plenty of cells that were devoid of prisoners, yet she could hear the dull screams of said prisoners.
Rushing waters too along with clinking chains from a distance, cackling torches from above. Not only does the place look like it was from a bygone era (or another world's timeline) but there is this bizarre aura around the world, and she sensed something very off about this world. Getting to her feet, she sees Roxas and Ventus flicking their wrists while Xion just sat there watching them. When she looked at Naminé, she had a worried look on her face.
She revealed to Kairi that for the past ten minutes, none of the trios of keyblade wielders could live up to their roles, for nobody had been successfully able to summon their weapons. The princess tries to summon hers but all she was able to achieve is a wrist cramp. Not even magic was available to them, nor flow motion or anything they had to learn since studying under Aqua.
"W-What's going on here?" she asked, turning to the others.
"You tell us! After that monster grabbed us, we all woke up here in…wherever the heck we are!" Roxas growls, "And now we're completely defenseless!". He starts to pace and kicks the dirt on the ground while Ventus stuffed his hands into his pockets, dejected and loss for words on their situation. She saw Naminé rubbing her arm uneasily and Xion starts to tend to her, gently patting her and offering words of comfort, all the while Kairi looked down at her feet.
"This is all my fault…" she laments quietly.
In her pursuit to find the boy who meant so much to her, a desperate chase to rescue and bring him home she ended up not only taking the others with her to a place nobody had ever been to, but now they were both unable to protect themselves or even contact Aqua. For all she knows, this could be that witch's new palace or trap for them, and Kairi had practically gift-wrapped them all to her. Aqua's words rang in her head, lecturing her and this predicament only solidified to the princess her master was right about her the whole time.
Then as she berates herself more, she looked up to see marching down to them as knights. Instantly Roxas stepped in front of them as they approached and looked anything but friendly.
"Intruders!? How dare you set foot into the king's castle WITHOUT his blessing!?" roared the knight behind the mask.
"Hold on a second, we didn't-
"SILENCE! Anywho dares step into the king's castle is an enemy of his majesty! The punishment for such: is death!", the knight captain bellowed. He stomped his shield into the ground and suddenly from behind him, popping out from pools of crimson, knights appeared. He orders his battalion to capture the teens so they could be executed. Ventus tries to explain their side of the situation, but his voice goes ignored by the knights slowly approaching the guardians of light. Quickly Roxas suddenly tackled the knight, knocking it against its fellow soldiers, delaying them.
"Run!" Kairi shouts, pushing Naminé and Xion ahead of them before she and the boys join the escape.
Blindly running through the dungeon without any clue to where they were or how deep this place was, the gang kept bumping into dead ends, nearly crashing back into the guards, and would use the fallen cages in the rushing waters to hop and skip across just to stay free from the knights. They came to a drawbridge just as they managed to ditch the knights for even a moment, almost falling onto their knees in exhaustion.
Kairi couldn't believe how exhausted she was, this was pathetic of herself and the others. Sure she wasn't on par with the adults but there was no way she should be this tired from just running away, even Ventus looked like he was going to faint from all the running they did. Is it because of their keyblades being unavailable that they were reduced to this state? Or was whatever affecting their magic was suppressing their trained bodies too?
"W-What is happening to us?" Naminé asked, laying against a wall, "I feel so tired…".
"I don't feel so good either…my legs hurt too…" Xion whined.
"Darn it…what the heck is going on here?" Roxas growled as he stubbornly stands up.
Kairi shook her head, they can't keep this up without someone getting caught or worse, and right now nobody looked ready to continue. With how narrow the dungeon was with so many barrels and boxes scattered around the place, sooner or later someone was going to crash into them and fall, leaving their fates to the knights. It was just a matter of when were they would be captured and when would their ends occur. She looks around when the sounds of the knights' heavy footsteps were picked up, seeing a single door.
"Quick, hide!" she shouts.
The boys help move the girls inside but as soon as they were in, Kairi shuts the door on them. She tells them to not make a sound and quickly shouts "WE HAVE TO SPLIT UP" just ten seconds before the knights show up and spot her. Kairi puts on a terrified face and makes a run for it, the knights in hot pursuit of the princess. All the while her friends were forced to wait out and recover, lamenting and growing new levels of respect for Kairi.
And it'd be only a matter of time before they reunited.
Meanwhile, Kairi ran as if she had the devil at her heels, running up a flight of stairs and eventually making her way to the main hall. She staggers while ending her marathon and then collapsed onto her knees, spent and hacking. She hears the knights weren't too far behind her, making her look around for something to use. She sees two swords were crossed in front of a shield mantlepiece on a wall near the windows, making her force herself to use what depleting strength in her legs to jump and grab the sword.
But as she soon realized that the blade was much heavier than a keyblade, and now combined with her newfound exhausted state, she dropped the blade tip first and could barely hold it even lowly. The knights soon arrived and swarmed her, cutting any exit she might have had. From one terrible predicament to an even worse situation…
Even in what could be her last moment, the girl was only thinking of the boy she cared so much for and the friends she had endangered. Her recklessness to throw caution to the wind had placed people she cared for in terrible danger, her impatience caused this situation to unfurl before their very eyes. Uselessness washes over her, her strength in her hands dwindling to nothing as she lowered her head, shamed that she allowed herself to be so selfish.
"I…I hated it…I hated that you two were always so far from me, and all I could do is wait for you to come home," she thinks to herself, he is always on her mind, "I trained and trained with everything I had but all it did was get me, and others, into a situation that I can't handle without you". Her shoulders shook as her eyes began to sting, that cursed uselessness poisoning her heart and mind as his wonderful smile glowed in the darkness. If he were here, he'd save everyone and her…she needed him, his strength…
"You can do it".
Kairi gasped and almost raised her head before she feels warmth grow in her heart. His voice but a whisper yet so close to her. No…she can do this. She slowly raised her sword and stared down at the knights. No more, she wouldn't wait for him anymore. "No. You've done enough saving me, you've done enough for me. I didn't come all this way to give up on finding you" she says quietly as she faced down the enemy, "I promised myself that no matter what, I will be stronger! Strong enough to rely on my power, and be strong enough to be worthy of being by your side!".
"What a turn~".
Kairi turns behind her to find nothing but darkness, and when she faces ahead again she sees more darkness, save for one glowing orb before her. "What?" she asked, looking around.
"Have you finally found it at long last? That power that lies sleeping within you? The strength to finally stand on your own two feet and not wait on another to save you?" the voice asked.
Kairi placed a hand on her heart, the sword had long left her hands and feels that light that she nurtured within. The power she wanted, the strength she had lacked in the early season of her training. Strength not to just protect her friends, but the strength that would finally let her keep him safe, protect him from their enemies, and be a that stable pillar of hope he had deserved. Images of his face, their best moments, and that one memory of binding their hearts together forevermore.
"There it is! No more shall you be that weakling who had to be saved by others! You will stand tall and cut down all who stand in your way! I am thou, thou art I! Cast aside your fears and cut your path!".
The ball's light fades and reveals a mask, and with both hands, Kairi grabbed for her destiny. When she raised her head to the knights, she grabbed the mask stuck on her face with a cry, she rips off her mask, letting the first splash of crimson fall and then, a burst of blue flames roars from beneath her. The knights staggered back from this awesome display of power, and only when it ended, standing before the servants of the tyrant they foolishly label a king, is a samurai.
Kairi opens her eyes with a sharp gaze as her katanas appeared in her hands. "I promised one day I'd protect him, and when that day came, nobody, not heartless, darkness or whatever this world throws at me, I will protect Sora" she swore, "And right now, you guys are in my way". She takes a single step and a burst of power rumbles through the ground, as fire forms behind her.
"Help me grow, lend me the strength to cut my destiny, Asura!" commands Kairi as a figure forms behind her. A tall beautiful samurai with six arms, each holding the same katana Kairi wields, a face on each side of her head in the form of kabuki masks, red and black with a single sash around her head with several tears, a mask-like Kairi's adorns her face. She wears tattered and ruined samurai armor that half-covered her torso, her entire left side while she is bare skin save for a cloth around her breasts, a skirt with tears and armor while barefooted.
She crosses both arms and then leaps at the knights…
*Present: 4/12. Tuesday Evening*
"Once I awakened my Persona, I saw Rhyme running away and…well, you all know the rest," concludes Kairi.
Sipping coffee made by Naminé, the two teens they reunited with mulled over the information they were given by Kairi. Quietly wrapping their minds around the ordeal of how they found their way to the Palace, Kairi's Persona awakening, and the fact the five of them were so weary after running away from the knights. He and Sora didn't endure anything like that, though Sora was a different case considering what he endured before they found him. It was only after when their Personas awakened did they feel dead to the worlds.
"A blue door…and you said that a demon-like voice talked to you?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, it said something about the game? Is that what you and Riku were talking about?".
Riku goes over exactly what's transpired since he and Sora first came to this world, from how Sora awakened his Persona, how they ended up in the Palace, Kamoshida, the school, and up to the point where they reunited with the others. He explained to them that according to Mr. H (he gave them his full name) that he and Sora, now likely Kairi, are part of this game Neku and his friends were once part of. Except the rules have changed, and Ren played a key figure in this game between this Igor and someone they supposedly knew.
"So that's why none of us could summon our keyblades…but did that mean Mr. H knew we'd show up too?" Roxas asked, "I mean Naminé just pulled the transfer stuff outta Sora's head".
"He gave you guys uniforms, ID's and likely has a place for you guys to stay, I'd say either he knew it from day one or his partner tipped him off while we were in the Palace," Riku reminds with a frown.
"But the rest of us can't use Persona's yet…not until we figure out a way to awaken ours," Naminé says, "Which means until we do, we can't help out".
"Which is bull…we would've wiped the floors with Kamoshida if wasn't for those stupid rules…" grumbles Roxas, "Plus, you and Kairi looked ready to keel over".
"Yeah, but I feel fine, and both Ren and Neku were way better than yesterday," Sora says, "So maybe Kairi and Riku won't have to go through that again next time we go back".
"Speaking of Kairi…what exactly happened back there at the restaurant?" the blonde asks, turning to Kairi, "Did something happen to you, or was your Persona awakening more straining than you let us think?".
Kairi shook her head and makes an uneasy smile, confessing she was temporarily taken out of the body in a sense. And she warned them that Aqua was less than miffed about what's happened to them, prompting the others to ask how she could know that.
"WELLLL…" she starts.
*Earlier*
Falling on her backside with a loud yelp, Kairi frantically looks around to find herself no longer at the restaurant but what seemed to be the secret forest again. She blinks and then slowly stands up, but sees her hands were blue and ethereal-like, and when she tried to summon her keyblade, much like the Palace nothing seemed to be happening. She patted herself to see if she were solid and finds she was, but she couldn't feel the cool summer breeze of the forest, nor the heat from the sun nor even the smell of the jasmine air.
"What is going on here?" she asked softly.
"Exactly what I'm asking…!".
Kairi jumped and turned around to see Aqua marching towards her, ethereal like her student. Kairi opened her mouth to greet her but paled when she saw the look on her master's face. Suffice it to say, Aqua looked beyond enraged, and judging by how tight her fists were Kairi genuinely believed if her master were going to end her, she wouldn't besmirch her keyblade and would just pound the girl into oblivion.
"A-A-Aqua…" squeaks Kairi, shrinking under her harsh gaze and even feels her knees shake in fear. "G-G-Good to see you…".
"Really? Because the feeling isn't mutual," her master seethed, "Rather I'm torn between relieved that you aren't dead…and utterly livid with you". She stood before the quivering girl and narrows her fiery blue eyes at her. "You have crossed a line here, Kairi. Not only were you going to outright disobey my rule, nor were you just going to throw caution to the wind again, but you did BOTH AND dragged the others with you!".
"Aqua, I know I messed up! Big time, no excuses, and I get it!" pleads Kairi, waving her hands madly in front of her. Aqua raised a brow at this confession and was slightly surprised that Kairi was taking responsibility for her actions. However, behind her glare and tensed form, the master was truthfully relieved to see her student looked no worse for wear and had a feeling within her heart the others were equally safe as she.
That said…
*BAM!*
Kairi crouched and placed her hands over the massive bump on her skull, while Aqua's karate hand hovers above her head. The princess winced in agony and whimpers from the godly strike from her master, the Aqua Chop of Discipline was much more aggressive today compared to the times the princess had either overstepped her boundaries or when she annoyed her master. Today was probably the discovery of how far the boundary Kairi had crossed.
"THAT! Was for disappearing with the others through that door I specifically warned ALL of you not to open," lectured her master, crossing her arms.
"I'm sorry…" whimpered Kairi, then raised her face to her master's more clam and less enraged face, "But we found him! We found Sora!".
This kills the anger in her master and now she dons a look of shock. Kairi stood up and starts to explain everything that's happened to them, from the Palace, keyblades not being usable, a pervy teacher, and then Riku and her awakening Personas and everything else that's happened. The princess stresses the weariness she felt in the castle, then talked about that strange cat thing and how she woke her Persona up, furthering Aqua's confusion and curiosity. The master provided vital insight to the keyblades being taken away, swearing to Kairi the weapons were not the source of their true powers.
She reminds her when Sora lost his during the first adventure he took upon himself, he was still capable of combating the darkness, but nowhere near as useful as he was able with the key. Bottom line, she assured them even if they should lose their keyblades, no one should feel that weak without them. Kairi nods and promises to tell the others this, then goes on to talk about Ren and Neku's group, what world they were in and what they were planning to do.
"So you have no plans on leaving that world for now?" Aqua asked.
"Nope. Not until we stop Kamoshida, and…well, to be honest, I don't think we even have a way off that world," Kairi says, "We all came here without a ship, and unless Sora knows a way, I think it's pretty safe for me to say we're grounded".
"Good," Aqua sighed.
"Good? Aqua, we're trapped-
"And that's the good part. Without a gummi ship or any items that could lift you from that world, you're not going anywhere for now," her master replied, "More importantly, you found Sora where, sadly, Mickey's efforts have resulted in nothing but theories and speculation". She revealed to Kairi a day after they disappeared, she and the others were brought to the tower by Donald and Goofy, where the king awaited them.
Much to their previous dismay, Mickey hadn't been able to reach the world they had thought died out a long time ago. Instead, he went to a graveyard of a world, ruined beyond repair through normal means and nothing that could help them find their lost friend. And then when she told them that the others, IE Kairi and the other teens, were snatched away by a blue door, she forewarns Kairi had she been there, not even Aqua would have saved her from their master's rage.
"But now with this, Sora's safe and among you all while you remain in this world, I think he'll be more forgiving now," sighed Aqua, "And for now, that's for the best".
"Are you sure this isn't you just being spiteful to me?" Kairi asked with a frown. One raised hand from Aqua quickly silenced the girl. The master explains that currently while the others were trapped in this world, it would probably be the best time for them to experience the way of being a keyblade wielder. She informed Kairi that years ago when keyblade wielders were more abundant, some would go on a journey of their own to expand their worlds before ever committing to becoming masters.
Aqua confessed that perhaps she wasn't the master they needed, but rather an experience and without her being around them, perhaps they'll grow without her. Kairi's eyes softened at the confession, while Aqua sighs and admits that Kairi is the reason Sora is back with his friends, but the princess rubbed her arm self-consciously, admitting that when she first entered the Palace with the others, she truly understood why Aqua was treating her the way she had.
"I… messed up back there…if I didn't have my Persona, then Kamoshida…" she whispered, but then Aqua plant a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Sometimes experience is the best teacher…and from the way you say it, you've learned your lesson," she praised, "While I may not agree with your recklessness, perhaps it does have a place in letting you grow as a master".
Kairi smiled back at her master, then frowned at their forms. "By the way, how are we even talking? You never showed me this type of magic," Kairi asks. "It's an old method of conversing with another wielder of the keyblade, only when two people with strong bonds can share this link. I never got around to teaching this to you because I assumed you would get those GP things soon," Aqua explains.
"Right…good point. But still, this could help us stay in contact…" Kairi argued softly.
"Hmm…fair point. I'll leave the spell within your memories before I go," Aqua says, "Just make sure you do this somewhere safe and preferably comfortable. It somewhat acts like a knockout spell".
Kairi frowns and reveals the last thing she was doing was eating a bowl of ramen. Aqua sheepishly says then very likely she was currently drowning in her meal, to which Kairi starts to panic and chastise her master for doing something so stupidly risky, especially when she had just found Sora. The master giggles at her student's outburst, assuring her the others were probably taking care of her for now, and says it'd be best for her to relay the message back to them.
Before they part, however, Aqua threatened the princess that if she ever did something as stupid as this again, she'd be scrubbing the toilets for the rest of her apprenticeship before she falls asleep…
*Present*
"Talk about a harsh punishment…" Ventus sighed, "But I guess it doesn't matter in the end, huh?".
"I agree. So long as Kamoshida is abusing those students, we can't let this go if we can help it," Riku hummed, "We'll discuss more about the investigation tomorrow with Ren and the others".
Everyone nodded with his plan, suddenly weary and exhausted from everything that's happened to them today, especially for the newcomers. Ventus cleans up the mugs before they followed the two occupants to the back rooms, dreading sleeping arrangements and even discussing who would take the couches or floor. Except when they entered the hallway, to the boys' shock there now five additional rooms with the first letters of their names carved onto the door frame. Roxas' was an X.
That certainly sorted out their original problem.
Bidding everyone a good night, the guardians of light enter their bedrooms and turned in for the night. Laying in his bed, Sora was smiling happily.
He was finally with his friends again…and she was here with him…
A/N: Done and done! We've finally settled the KH cast at last!
Sorry this was so KH heavy, but I wanted to get this out of the way before we go back to Persona stuff and continue the main story. Next time is back to school with our teens, more Ann and Shiki time!
Questions:
Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?
Q2: What was your favorite part of this chapter?
Q3: How was Kairi in this story?
Q4: Liked Aqua?
Q5:Satisfied with how the team got involved?
Q6: Want KairixSora fluff next time?
Q7: Kairi's Persona?
Q8: What do you want to see more in future?
Q9: Do like the time/date?
As always everyone, thanks for reading! I'll be posting another update to Possibilities sometime this week! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!