Heart or No Heart

by StrangerFromParadise23

They say those who are closest to the light, often leave the biggest shadow. Kuro is one such shadow, a dark visage of the Keyblade Wielder left to fend for himself in a strange new land. Follow Kuro and his Shadow Heartless Companion, Dusk, as the two of them navigate through fantastical worlds to find his place amongst the chaos of the Darkness and the peace of the Light.

20. Chpt 20: La Cité des Cloches Part Cinq

"… I don't think it's going to be seaworthy."

Kuro finishes hammering the last nail into the plank, resting his hand flat against the wood with a sharp chuckle. He glances over at Namine as she flashes him a quick grin and hides it behind her drawing pad. Her blue eyes shining with a hint of mischief. He wants to be grumpy but when she looks at him like that… Kuro drops the hammer, letting it sink into the sands. Dusk, who was previously occupied with making sandcastles and digging deep holes, glanced up and saw Kuro wipe the sweat from his brow and let out a low and measured sigh. The Heartless then returned to tend to the moat they were working on.

The beach was warmer that day than usual, with the sun beating down onto the sand with clear skies. Kuro swore he was walking on the sun. Kuro grabbed the hem of his shirt and wiped the sweat from his brow with it, fanning out his torso with a few flaps. Namine's eyes peeking over the notepad for a brief moment before returning to the drawing. He was thirsty, and he licked his parched lips at the thought of a cool sip of water.

"Really wish you told me that before I hammered that last nail, Naminé. Would have saved me the last hour and a half of building a crummy boat." Kuro smirked, moving from being on both his knees to just resting on one. Folding his forearms over the bent knee as he stared at the blonde haired girl. Who stood off in the shade of a nearby coconut tree and enjoyed the view of the ocean and the skies. "What are we drawing today? Another sunset?"

"A banner, you dork." She announced with an airy tone, raising her eyebrows to emphasize her point. She flourished with a snap of her wrist and flipped her pad around, showing the image to Kuro with a proud smile.

She presents him a picture of a crown of yellow gold, three pointed, sitting below it a brazen red heart that had the shimmering shine of a ruby stone. The word, 'Ragnarok' is written underneath it in brick, blue letters.

"That's unfair that you drew a heart, considering…" Kuro shrugged with a squint of his eyes. "Xion doesn't have a heart."

"That's why there's one on the banner. For her. And you drew the tall straw with the name, so… Quit whining and let me work." Naminé whispered with a hint of playful annoyance and a teasing tone. She taps her rounded end of the pencil against the paper, her pink tongue peeking out of her pale lips as she contemplates what else to add. "Am I missing anything?"

"Handing me the bottle I asked for twenty minutes ago?" Kuro grumbled with a dry mouth and a hot breath. He clapped his hands, waving his fingers to a begging motion.

She reaches down and tosses him the canteen beside her without taking her eyes off of her pad. Which he catches and quickly opens, raising above his head and letting the ice cold water splash across his face and shoulders. With a satisfied moan as he cooled off, stretching that 'ahhhh' as long as he needed to get a soft giggle out of her, which it did. He then tossed it back, the bottle crashing into the sand before he stepped away from the partially built raft. The base was down and nailed thanks to him, the mast still needed to be fixed, which was supposed to be Naminé's job but Kuro's the only one strong enough to lift up the pole, and the sails needed to be tied down. But it was coming together.

"I think we are good for today. Where's the sails? I need to fold them up and leave them in the shed." Namine pointed her thumb towards the tree line, not taking her eyes off of her pad as she continued to draw. Kuro follows her point and it leads him further inland and away from the shoreline. Kuro walks past several rows of trees, finding the black haired girl sitting up against the tree trunk. Kuro approaches, wiping the small pebbles of sand off of his hand. "You know it's a group project because we work as a group, right Xion?"

"I was just thinking…" Xion whispered wistfully, her heels digging into the sand and burying her toes into the sand. She shut her eyes, taking in a deep breath. "How easy it would have been if this is what life was like. For you. For me. For them. Just sitting on a beach, playing stupid games."

Kuro glances back at Namine, who is continuing to draw in her notepad. Blissfully unaware and enjoying her time. Kuro glanced at the halfway built raft, and felt his lips curl to a simple grin. Dusk had waddled onto the planks, a small paper hat on their head.

"It's fun to pretend, you know? Even for a little bit…" Kuro shrugged, turning back towards Xion. Her straight black hair now a flow of auburn, her blue eyes just as entrancing and darling to stare into. Kuro cocked his head to the side, confused. "Kairi? What are you doing here?"

"I'll ask you a better question. What are you doing here? Because you aren't on a beach right now." Kairi's voice spoke plainly and surely. Kuro's eyes turned towards Namine, her hair no longer blonde but a similar shade of red. The raft was missing, without such much as a displacement of sand where it rested. It had vanished, without a trace. Dusk just as well disappeared, their sandcastle and scooped out holes returned their small play place to the even sand bank. He shut his eyes, feeling his jaw clench. That's when the pain echoed in his skull. "You're not building a raft. You're not on a beach. You're about to be killed. Set on fire I think."

"He stabbed me." Kuro whispered with a wince and a shudder, then pressed his trembling hand against his ribs. That's when he feels the hot, tender wound and paints his palm in a thick coat of dripping red. "And hit me in the head with a bat. He was going to burn Esmerelda and I on a pyre tonight. I don't remember much after that. I think I was knocked out."

"Twice." The Kairi closer to the shore line added into the conversation. Kuro nodded in agreement, rubbing his aching head. He can feel the spots where the bat hit accompanied with a shudder, the echoing pain resonating in his skull like the stringing of a harp. Vibrating as it slowly drifts away. "He hit you twice before you knocked out."

Kuro slowly opened his eyes and turned back to the Kairi that sat against the tree, confused by the reason she was here. He opened his mouth to speak, only for her to shush him.

"It's okay. Don't think about it too hard. You're just disoriented and bleeding on some rack somewhere. Maybe you should try focusing on that instead?" Kairi whispered before giggling to herself. She glanced at his quivering lips, and brought a finger to press against them. Her hands then slipped down to his broad shoulders and arms, fingernails trailing against his tanned arms and forearms, before grabbing his calloused hands. Slowly, thoughtful, she began brushing her thumbs over his worn and beaten-into knuckles. Kuro's eyes grew wide, his hands looked so rough from this angle. Covered in small bloody divots, deep scores that linked across his protruding knuckles. That's when he felt the sting of them bleeding, draining out of his hands and spilling onto the sand. But Kairi didn't flinch or seem to notice. Still tracing his hands with her thumbs. "It'll all be over soon enough… you just need to wake up. Wake up. Wake up-"

---

La Cité des Cloches

The Cathedral Square

---

"Kuro! Wake up! Come on!" Kuro's vision eased back from the pitch when he felt the pressure of fingers pinching his wrists. The nails scraping against his knuckles and fingertips tickling his palms in inconsistent motions and rapid succession. "Wake up, please! Wake up, Kuro. You need to wake up."

Her urgent voice muted the noise of the crowd that gathered. The roars of the protesters, the barking of the guardsman, and the shifting of wagon wheels and the clinking of armor didn't manage to silence the Dancer's panicked words.

Kuro rolled his head around to stretch out his neck and to resettle the thumping irritation on his skull. The right side of his cheek rubbing against the wooden pole that he was currently shackled to. Kuro rolled his head to the left, his face now smothered in wavy black hair. He pulled away, a few strands of hair caught in his chapped blood stained lips before being blown out in a small blow.

"Ezzzmerelda, wut's go'n ohn?" Kuro's words rolled in a rumble and in a slow rhythm, his eyes unfocused and his vision still hazy. He licks his lips, the taste of dried blood on his tongue and his face and shoulders dampened by a splash of what felt like lukewarm water. "Where are we? What's going on?"

"We are in front of Notre Dame, tied to stakes." Esmerelda noted with a short sigh and a somber tone. She nudges her chin towards the crowd, huffing lowly. "The Judge plans to burn us alive in front of the public. He just wanted you awake for the sentencing."

"Perfect. That's why I'm wet." Kuro grumbled with a sharp close to their eyes. The crowds of guards and citizens alike, the distant smoke clouds lingering overhead, and the desecrated and destroyed townscape that surrounded him disappears behind his eyelids. Shaking his head in discomfort as he pulls against the rope that holds the two of them against the pole. Kuro tried again, hearing Esmerelda cry out as the pressure he had placed on the rope started to tighten around her. He immediately stopped upon hearing her cries, letting out a short defeated groan before he knocked the back of his head against the pole. "Well, shit."

"This is all my fault." Esmerelda shook her head. Hanging her head down as she huffs and lets out a short sob. Enough to wet her eyes and make her body shudder before she composed herself and stood up tall. "Quasimodo is chained up in the Cathedral, Phoebus is jailed and is going to watch me burn. My people are in shackles. And you're going to burn alongside me. All because I-"

"You didn't do anything wrong. Stop. You stood up for those that couldn't stand up for themselves. You did the right thing." Kuro interrupted with a short tone. He tapped his fingers against her knuckles, assuring her. "I made my choices, you know? You can't blame yourself. I chose to go drag people to Notre Dame. I chose to beat the hell out of Frollo's people. I chose to try and warn your people. And I chose to spit on the Judge."

"Good one… You defended the innocent, Kuro." Esmerelda said, her voice ringing sincerely. She shakes her head, staring up into the skies. The blanketed dark sky highlighted by the gathered clouds of the still raging flames. "Whatever there is after, if there is anything after, will look at you and what you did and say you did the right thing in the end. That's more than what they'll say to the others here who did nothing."

"Yeah, well…" Kuro shrugged, as little as he could, before shutting his eyes and taking in a deep chested sigh. Exhaling it out through his nose. Trying to ease the rage and anxiety in his chest. "Put in a good word for me if you get to whatever there is after this before me."

"I expect the same courtesy." She whispers, as she feels his knuckles continue to tap against her hand. She smiles faintly, intertwining her thin fingers with Kuro's roughed up digits. Their hands locked together to guarantee they each felt the tender touch of someone else as they faced the flames together. "Thank you… for trying to help."

Frollo walked up the steps of the podium and approached the pyre with a look of pure satisfaction in his eyes. His lips pulled into a nefarious smile and his heart thumping hard in his chest with pure excitement.

"The prisoner Esmeralda has been found guilty of the crime of witchcraft and harboring fugitives of the law. This Demon has been guilty for the crime of blasphemy, violence against the guards of the city, violence against the Clergy, and conspiring with the prisoner Esmerelda to help criminals evade the arm of justice." The Judge announced to the crowd with an unwavering shout and a fist held out towards the heavens. "The sentence for such crimes? Death!"

The crowd once again jumped into an uproar of applause and begged to be entertained. They watched with eager eyes and clapped with impatient hands. They demanded blood.

Frollo leans in close to Esmerelda, letting his nails trace the edges of her exposed knee as he rests his chin close to hers. Feeling her body quiver under his touch.

"The time has come, my darling. You stand upon the brink of the abyss. Yet even now, it is not too late." He glances over her body, tracing every curve and memorizing every inch of her tanned skin. The look of her bound and helpless made his heart race and his mouth salivate. But he remained composed. He had an image to uphold. He took a step back, chin held high. "I can save you from the flames of this world, and the next. Choose me, or the fire."

She doesn't hesitate. She spits in his face without a second thought. Kuro starts cackling at the sight. Stomping his feet into the floor and letting his laughter echo out into the square. Frollo wants to be surprised but The Judge doesn't let it show on his face.

"The traitor to God and His people, Esmeralda has refused to recant." He takes a few steps back and addresses the crowd once more. Arms outspread to gather the attention of all those who are bearing witness to the punishment at hand. Kuro's eyes scan over the crowd, seeing bunches who are chanting out for blood and for justice, others attempting to push themselves past the guards to assist the two damned souls. The Judge walks over towards Kuro's side of the podium, coming face to face with the silver haired Heartless. Kuro's amber shaded eyes meeting his pitch

"I suppose this is the end of the line for you." Frollo whispered solemnly, his eyes casting final judgment on the Heartless. "Any last words before I cast you off to Hell?"

"When you die, just know I'll be there waiting for you." Kuro promised, flashing him a devilish smile. "If I go to Hell, you'll burn with me, I promise."

"This demon refuses to recant! This evil witch has put the soul of every citizen of Paris in mortal danger! This damned demon has led people astray, to try and devour their hearts and souls!"

Demyx watched from within the crowds, his hood blocking any potential sight of his face. He glances down at Xion, who stands alongside him. Her hooded face staring blankly at the sight.

The pair had followed the Judge for a while after the fire that burnt down the windmill. After Frollo had left the cathedral, they found he had waited with a group of armed guards and followed the Hunchback, the Captain, and Kuro to the graveyard. The troop was led underground, and when they returned, they had shackled dozens of people into chains and were dragging the three men back out into the square. They had finished tying the woman and the silver haired man to the pole when Demyx found a great spot to view the execution from.

"I've never seen an execution in person before. It's quite a crowd pleaser." He mumbles with a great deal of interest. The musician crossed his arms and watched the display take place. "I wonder if the meat really does melt off the bone like Axel told me torched people do."

Xion watches in absolute shock and horror as a guard walks beside Kuro and piles under his feet another layer of dried wood at his feet. She saw his amber eyes stare daggers at the guardsman, his shouting and barking of obscenities muted by the crowd. She felt her hands tremble, her breath shuddering out of her throat as she saw her friend about to be put to the flame.

"No meddling." Demyx's words echoed in her ears, her eyes closing to block out the sight of what she was about to see. She had to level her head and try to remember that she didn't have a heart. "We are observers here."

Xion focused her breathing, and then felt a nudging at her knee. A knocking of what felt like a rough and hard surface on her leg.

Xion's eyes shot open, and she glanced down. There she saw them, the small onyx furred goat. Bleating with pleading golden eyes. The honks of terror that erupted out of the small hooved creature made her skin crawl. She had never understood Dusk, nor did she understand them now. But there was something that superseded the lack of communication they shared.

She heard it in their cries, saw it in the creature's body language, and felt in their aura.

He needs you.

The message was loud and clear. Her eyes now stung, her face wincing in this foreign pain, unlike anything she's ever felt before her chest. She dabs the corners of her eyes and sees a wetness that rests along her fingertip. Her body shudders and her mouth falls agape.

A tear. A single, real tear. Her mind was then immediately made up, punctuated with a taut fist and a glare of determination.

"Who do you think bites it first? My munnies on-" Demyx begins to speak, glancing out the corner of his eye and seeing number fourteen has gone and disappeared. He assumed that she got Squamish and left. Unbeknownst to him, she had just slipped into the dense crowds surrounding the pure, chasing after a small black goat. "Fourteen?"

"...for justice, for Paris, and for their own salvation! It is my shameful duty to send these damned souls back where they belong!" Frollo's shouting echoes in the square, as he takes up a torch that sends an uproar into the blood thirsty crowd. Kuro huffs and tightens his hands into fists. Esmerelda straightens her body and gives a stoic look into the crowd. He tosses the torch into the pyre, kickstarting the fire at their feet. Kuro takes in a hard breath as he prepares for the pain, while Esmerelda is taken by a torrent of smoke washing over her. Immediately coughing and hacking.

"NO!" The voice was as loud as thunder, the vague tolling of bells in the distance. Eyes shot up towards the Cathedral, as the Bell Ringer's cries echoed out into the world.

Esmerelda's lungs struggled for breath, and her dry coughs scratched her throat. Her eyes began to sting and water from the constant smoke that caught in her eyes. In the dense clouds of the smoke, she could see the shifting image of an all too proud Judge.

Who watched this final punishment with a euphoric smile on his face. She takes in a deep breath, before the shock and the smoke overwhelm her and she falls limp against the wood.

Kuro feels the flames gather at his feet, his pants warming up and catching flame. His bottoms are now seared and sticking to his legs. The intense heat and charring fabric melting against his flesh. His cries echoing out into the world as he begins to struggle and feel the intensity of the heat.

That's when there is this blur of brown that shifts against the open air. Quasimodo, with a binding of cord around his arm, lands onto the podium and then rips the binding that held Esmerelda and Kuro to the pyre pole.

Kuro fell onto his elbows and knees, trying to suck down as much air as he could as he tried to crawl away from the fire. Esmerelda, as the rope is unbound, collapses into Quasimodo's left arm.

With his right, he takes off in a sprint and swings over to the cathedral. As soon as he made contact with the stone and wood, he rapidly began his ascent.

"Quasimodo!" Frollo shrills out furiously, his eyes watching the Bell Ringer as he ascends up the face of the cathedral with Esmerelda in hand.

Kuro, with a haze over his eyes and his lungs filled with smoke, had hastily and haphazardly began rolling off the podium to get away from the flames. Xion rushed to the side of the stage, elbows up and knocked people out of her path. Once she got close enough to the stage and the stumbling Kuro, she threw out her arms and leapt to catch him.

He weighed much more than what she anticipated on impact, the Heartless crashing atop of her and taking them both to the ground. The fall was short, and Xion's attempted catch had Kuro landing on his side and her onto her back.

Kuro's blurred vision began to settle once he got a decent breath in, his hands reaching up to grab and relax his throat while the other hand patted his chest with short claps.

His coughing was still harsh on his body, each hacking followed by a full body convulsion. It is in the midst of the haze and descending smoke that he feels the smooth texture of leather skim across the back of his hand. He finds his breath, feeling a pair of thin fingers interlock between his own as they rested against his torso.

When the vision cleared, Kuro could only see her. Her gentle, ocean wave eyes met his sharp horizon stare, the world then disappeared from all around them. As if they could ignore every other distraction in this chaotic world and they could only see one another.

Kuro felt his jaw clench, taking a hand off of his throat and resting it over her knuckles, fully enclosing her hand between both of his own. He took a moment to realize just how dangerous the situation he was in and how she rushed to catch him.

Xion laid alongside him in this brief moment, realizing that she was willing to jeopardize the mission just for him. This orange eyed stranger who was so far from home. She had gone against the direct orders of her superior and her chaperone and she didn't regret it for a single moment. She had to save her friend. No matter the cost. Someone who showed her kindness when she didn't deserve it, someone who was willing to train with her to be a better fighter, someone who caught her the moment she needed saving. He is her friend.

"Hey." Kuro growled out in a scratchy, guttural voice. His hand gently tensed and tightened his fingers around hers. Despite almost being burned to death, something about her tender eyes and that round face couldn't keep him from fighting to bite back a smile despite the pain. Xion's own smile reflected the warmth she felt radiating off of his hands and his grin. It felt pure, it felt natural. It felt right.

"Hey." Was all she could think to say back. The two continue to stare into one another's eyes for a single moment, getting lost in the gratitude they had for one another.

However, the world was still on fire, there was violence in the streets, and the Judge needed to pay.

Quasimodo makes it to a clear landing after scaling the front of Notre Dame with one arm, Esmerelda is limp in his arms as he hobbles over to the front of the massive stained glass window. He steadies his stance, hoists the woman over his head and then howls out in a bellowing voice.

"Sanctuary!" Qausimodo's voice carries such a powerful volume that it feels as though it echoes throughout the whole world. The crowd below begins to holler and reciprocate the cry as they chant. "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!"

"Guard!" Frollo shouts, marching towards the front gates. He takes a step back and relinquishes the guard of his sword, shoving him towards the crowd. "Get this riot under control! I'll deal with the hunchback!"

Xion rose to her feet first, taking Kuro by the hand and helping him up onto his feet. The two stood up, the wild crowd around them fighting, shoving and piling into another without regard or thought. Kuro's eyes trailed across the heads of the horde as the crowd began to do battle against the armed guards, turning his back to Xion and keeping her hand tightly held in his own. Xion turned and kept her back pressed against his own, squeezing his hand with hers to reassure him that she was still there.

Kuro's eyes scanned the crowd, settling on the shifting movement of a tricorn hat that dipped and moved out of sight, before seeing a silhouetted purple clothed figure walking up the steps leading to Notre Dame's front steps and shoving his way inside. A large sword in his hand. Kuro growled to himself, his hand letting go of Xion as he extended out his right and left hands.

Xion's eyes shifted across the crowd, seeing in breaks and open areas of the crowd, the shifting and unblinking lights of bright yellow eyes. Their bright flamboyant colors popping against the muted browns of the crowds and their comedy style pristine porcelain masks shone from the flickering flames of the fires. Their heads cocking to the sides as they took their blades and began to carve up people left and right. Xion's hand extended out, focusing on the Harlequin Heartless that had arrived.

"Citizens of Paris! Frollo has persecuted our people, ransacked our city! Now he has declared war on Notre Dame herself!" Phoebus shouted, having escaped from his holding cell with a clever grab of the keys. His voice rose above the noise, and called out for the city to answer him. "Will we allow it?"

The crowd answered with a loud and enthusiastic 'No' before they began to truly wage war against Frollo's guards. Tackling, punching, and biting every armored armored guard.

The Heartless and Nobody's armaments were summoned to their hands, Kuro's came in bursting clouds of smoke and Xion's arrived in shimmering and flashing lights. Kuro readied his shield and sword, Xion entered a battle stance with her Keyblade in hand.

"I'm going for Frollo." Kuro declared, his glare flaring with fury. He could ignore the fires, the riot, and the other guards. He only had eyes on Frollo. "He needs to be stopped."

"I need to destroy the Heartless here." Xion noted, with a sharp tone and determined look in her eyes. Kuro lowered his right hand, the pommel of his blade tapping against her tricep. To which they both, unbeknownst to the other, shared a smile. "There's a big one coming… I can feel it."

"See you in Traverse Town." Kuro stated, not giving her the choice to consider it a question. Xion huffed in response, nodding her head in agreement.

"See you in Traverse Town." She retorted, then they broke off to do their respective jobs. Xion charged into the fray, her keyblade biting into the cheek of a Harlequin Heartless mid-pie throw and following it up with a stab to the torso. The heartless jester bursts into purple smoke and its heart is released to join the others in the Organization's Kingdom Hearts.

Xion feels a shoulder slam into her and takes her to the ground. As she falls, a harlequin jumps onto her chest. Their collar bells ringing with every shake as they draw their large rounded hammer from out of their small pocket and prepare to slam it into her.

As they wind up the swing, the body of a deep blue Sitar crashes into their body and sends them rolling into the crowd.

"Fourteen! What are you doing?" Demyx plays a few strings of the guitar, translucent water copies of the Musician being drawn up from the stones began to shift and shimmer as they quickly dipped and swam through the crowd to begin their assault on the heartless. "You can't just go loud in the middle of a bunch of locals! That's bad for business!"

Xion ignores him, drawing her keyblade back to her hand and resuming her work.

Kuro's running took him to the gates of the Cathedral, his shoulder slamming into the door to shove it open only to rebound and crash into the floor. Kuro scurries to his feet and knocks into the door again, only to have it not budge a single inch. Kuro then curses under his breath, taking a few steps back and glancing towards any open windows.

A pair of hands grab hold of the Heartless' shoulders and drag him into the rising steps of Notre Dame. Kuro's body is knocking against the stones in quick succession as he feels a pair of knees dig into the center of his chest and flames shining in the cheek of a hastily drawn knife. A guard, a jagged blade in his hand, swiftly brings the knife down towards Kuro.

The Heartless lets go of both his weapons, grabbing the man's wrists and struggling to keep the blade from piercing into his eye. The tip of the blade trembling inches from his left eye as he struggles to get into a proper position to shove the man off. The steps of Notre Dame he was pinned against not giving him enough leverage to get a solid push.

"You're going to pay for all those guards you've thrashed and bashed about, and I'll start the debt collection by stabbing out those eyes of yours." The guard grumbles through gnashed teeth with a straining voice, his spit dripping down his lips and trickling onto Kuro's face in thick strands. As the guard readjusts his weight and angles his arms better, he begins to slowly lower down into Kuro's face. The blade sinking further and further down.

Dusk rushes towards the man, their little hooves clopping against the stones as they angle their horns and focus on butting the man right in the side to break their hold. Doing the most they could do help Kuro.

As Dusk's hooves stumble over the canine face of the shield, there is a huge thundering crack that pierces the air as a purple shaded crackling of balled up lightning breaks near the two wrestling men. A dense smoke of charcoal gray bursts out of that spot and is dispersing into the air.

The guard and Kuro stop their struggle in an instant, as this silhouette rises up out of the dark fog. Its shape was tall with broad wide pauldrons with huge shoulders, their arms as thick around as tree trunks and their golden glow beaming out of the shadows of the cloud.

The silhouette swings out its arm, the once canine faced shield fitted for Kuro was now this massive jagged jaw faced shield with rounded cheeks and chin, with two fixed glinted gold eyes. The swing ended up catching the face of the guard and rocketing him into the stone wall of the Cathedral. Crumbling into a limp form against the ground. Kuro quickly rose to his feet and backpedaled away from the figure, grabbing up his sword and preparing to fight this new foe. Eyes narrowed to try and peer through the fog.

The smoke disappears, leaving in its wake this newly formed Heartless.

Their wide frame was twice as wide as the silver haired Heartless and towered over Kuro by a good foot and a half. Their armor was a deepened crimson red, with dark purple highlights along the edges of the pauldrons, gauntlets, grieves and breastplate. The helmet was lacking the traditional smooth rounded iron, with the visor with jagged edges to resemble a maw. The helmet was in the shape of a pot, with thin slanted grates that housed the glow of the Heartless' golden glare. The helm was rigid and cubed, with a smooth surface along its jaw and cheeks. The insignia located in the center of the breastplate typically would house the Heartless' sigil of the crimson barbed heart is instead a bright white golden shaded heart. That glistened in the lights of the flames.

Dusk had transformed into a red shaded Defender, an armored guard… a Champion.

Kuro stumbled back, eyes squinted as he stared at Dusk's new form. Dusk's left hand dragged against the ground, knocking along the steps with a long screeching sound of scraped iron against the stone.

"Kuro! Look at me!" Dusk's golden eyes glanced over its new form, raising the monster mawed tower shield above their head and slamming it into the ground. Kuro chuckled, letting his sword fall to his side as he stared at Dusk with a surprised look in his eyes. "I'm so big!"

Kuro's eyes glanced over at Xion, who was in the thick of the crowd fighting off Harlequins with wide swipes of her Keyblade. Kuro glanced up the side of the Cathedral, grinding his teeth together as he contemplated what to do.

Dusk, sensing the conflict radiating off of Kuro's form, turned their attention towards the Keyblade wielder and readjusted the hold they held on their shield. They began to walk down the steps towards her. Their wide shoulders squared as they begin to knock away armed guards and shove their way through towards Xion.

"Get up there and help Quasimodo." Dusk shouted, shoving into the crowd. Kuro stopped to go assist, only to see Dusk grab a grown man up by the throat and slam them straight into the ground. The breastplate they wore dented into a deep groove by the power behind Dusk's gauntlet. Dusk rose their massive shield and crashed the face of it into a group of guards, displacing them and sending them to the floor to be continued to be attacked by civilians. "I'll support Xion down here!"

Kuro turned his attention towards the Cathedral, and dismissed his sword.

"Be careful, Dusk!" Kuro shouted, before racing towards the wall and taking hold of one of the divots between the bricks and beginning to climb. Stiff arms, things always look longer than they seem, and don't look down.

It was time to climb.

Xion swung her blade in wide horizontal swipes, the right catching the Soldier Heartless that had spawned across their helm, the left against the visor plate, and the third crashed into their abdomen and caused it to burst into a smoke cloud.

As the cloud lingers, out of the dark fog comes the wide torso fist smashes a haymaker into Xion's chest and causes her to stumble back but remain on her two feet.

A Defender charges at Xion with its massive gauntlet dragging against the road as their canine faced shield snarls and snaps at the Keyblade wielder. Xion raised her keyblade to defend against the bite, the maw clamping down against the barrel of the key and chomping on it. Not enough power to leave marks but strong enough to have Xion struggle for it back.

Xion could barely react when a barreling force slammed their own tower shield into the Defender. Dusk takes their fist and sends a thundering right hook into the helm of the heavily armored Heartless, the metal creaking and crumpling under the power that Dusk held. Xion raised her Keyblade to strike, Dusk turning around to face her. As she held her striking position, she saw the shimmering platinum shaded heart that adorned their chest. She faltered in her swing, distracted by light.

Dusk shakes their helm, before slamming their shield into the ground beside her and blocking the wild stab of one of the pitchfork wielding locals who was aiming for anyone and anything to hurt. She hears the iron scrape against the shield, and this new Heartless didn't attempt to strike her.

She turns to Dusk, whose helm lowers down to her level as they just take their open hand, curling their ring and middle finger while horning out their index and pinky.

They placed the horns on the crown of their helm, nudging their chin towards Xion before dropping their hand. Xion

"Dusk?" Xion spoke hesitantly, the large Champion nodding their head and rising up when addressed to. Dusk's attention turned towards a pair of now charging Defenders, their knuckles up and shields at the ready. Dusk places themselves between Xion and the two, before rushing over to meet them. Xion takes off after him, ready to support.

That's when she feels the ground shift and this tremor begin to echo out from beneath the stones. The ground then suddenly opens up, shifting shades of maroon lights and wisps of black smoke rising up from the hole that has broken into the street.

The hands that reached up were emaciated, covered in scarred lesions and open sores along their knuckles and digits. Their arms just as spindly and thin as they rose up out of the ground. Their body was gaunt, with skin that was as worn as leather. Their ribs have a noticeable gash along its side, as if struck by a strike of a javelin.

Their back, hunched over with a harsh curve and pointed jagged shoulder blades, the highest bend of their back was even and leveled with the top of their head. That back of the Heartless was scored from the tops of their collarbone to the edges of their hips. The lashings were measured and done patiently, ensuring that there wasn't an unmarked strip of back left untouched. The wounds were fresh, and drained blood inconsistently down the spindly legs and thighs of the massive Heartless. Their legs were as tall as two men standing on each other's shoulders, and were as wide as the pyre pole with two wide flat feet on the bottom.

They wore ill-fitting trousers, with purple stripes and green stars adorning the fabric, stained with blood. The pants were held up by suspenders that rested securely.

The Heartless' face was angular and thin, with cheeks so withered that their teeth were making impressions in their cheeks from the inside of their mouth. Their mouth was imprecisely sewn from top to bottom, with the thread loose and twisted along the lips as the Heartless bellowed out a muffled groan. Their eyes were similarly swollen and sewn shut, and their ears were torn from the base and left gaping holes along the sides of their skull.

Their skin was dry and wrinkled, with a partially shaved head and wisps of dark black locks hanging off of their temples and trailed down to their shoulders. And pressed to their left breast, the edges charred and still blistering raw, was the pulsing blood red barbed Heart that belonged to the Heartless. The Pious Pariah had risen.

In their left hand they had summoned a cat-of-nine tails flail, with various knots and hooks tied off to the ends of the whip. Their right was a piping hot branding iron, steaming with vapors that radiated off of the metal and a glowing bright red, with the barbed heart as the iron's sigil.

Xion approached the towering Heartless with her keyblade in hand. Sensing the disturbance she felt earlier and the sudden arrival of the Heartless to be one in the same. This was the mission. To destroy this damned thing.

Xion, with a few swipes and measured swings, sent a flurry of fireballs towards the skeletal Heartless. The Heartless took its flail, swung it back to drench its knots in ichor and coat its hooks in blood, before whipping the fluid and chunks of meat towards the Nobody. Xion dodged and rolled out of the way, the pieces of flesh smashing into the stone, exploding into a confetti of gore, blood and stone dust. Demyx's sitar began to strum and string together a harmony of notes and chords.

A targeted wave of water, slinking through the crowd as a snake slithers through underbrush, strikes the Pariah hard in the chest with a hammering blow. The deluge of water tearing away skin and sending the Heartless to ground with a hard landing. Demyx continues to string together notes that gather watery serpent after serpent, each of them piling into the Heartless to keep it pinned to the floor. Xion raises her keyblade towards the heavens, and with a cry of power, sends thunderbolt after thunderbolt into the downed Heartless.

The Pariah's skin chars and leaves splintering blisters that spread like roots beneath soil across the Heartless' body. Their mouth's sewn together threads soon being tugged and pulled apart. The thin line that kept its mouth closed were torn, tearing the top lip threads from the bottom and the now blood strings dangling and trailing along the Heartless' chin.

The Pious Pariah quickly rolls up onto its knees, hands clapped together into prayer as it raises their palms towards the heavens and slams them into the ground. The glass windows of the cathedral glowing a bright and beautiful red. The gargoyle shaped runoffs that line along the edges of the mighty Notre Dame to drain the dreary rain had begun to heat to a scalding temperature, as it funneled molten metal out into the streets.

The gargoyles spewed out a steady stream of liquid bronze out into the city. Xion's eyes went wide at the wave of slag that poured out and began to spread across the roads and streets.

Demyx quickly strummed a few cords as the tsunami of magma approached him, and a quick barrier of water clashed against the heat and exploded into a steamy cloud. The elements combusting upon impact.

Demyx coughed and was caught up in the sudden vapors. Demyx waves the fog away, seeing that there was a barrier made of solid tempered metal. A wide shield of bronze that displaced and broke the river and still bubbling hot metal and creating a small space of relief for the Nobody.

Xion began to run, only for Dusk to hoist her mid-stride up onto their shoulders as they took off in a sprint. Rushing away from the molten hot metal. The Pious Pariah glances over the destruction, only for their eyes to be drawn towards the bell tower. Something stirring and grabbing its attention. The dry tongue lapping over their maw hungrily as the Heartless begins to climb…

---

La Cité des Cloches

Earlier…The Bell Tower

---

"Esmeralda? Wake up! You're safe now." Quasimodo whispered to the currently unconscious Esmerelda, having laid her out on his cot in his bell tower. The raging riot in the city streets echoed into the night sky, and Quasimodo's fear rested in her being alright. He had taken her hands into his own and gave her a few tender squeezes. Assuring her that he was there for her. However, her fingers were unmoving, and her arms were limp. He checks her forehead for a fever, feeling her wrists for a pulse. He couldn't feel anything. "Esmeralda? Oh, no!"

He gets a spoonful of water, and tries to make her drink it. She doesn't.

"Oh no. Oh, God no…" Quasimodo whimpers as he cradles her body against his body. Her cheek chills the skin of his torso as he gently strokes her ebony hair. His eyes shutting tight to try and stop the ever flowing tears, and his body shivering from the intensity of his sobs. His whole body convulsing with every roll of his sniffle and his lips quivering with every cry.

Quasimodo hears the sound of a boot heel creaking the wooden stairs. His eyes glance over his shoulder, and he sees the Judge gently moving up the staircase. His eyes aflame with a tempered fury and his hands folded into his robes.

"You killed her." Quasimodo mumbled as he turned his attention back to the woman in his arms. He caressed her cheek, his thumb brushing under her shut eye. His voice lowered to a sullen, heartbroke prayer. "You killed her."

"It was my duty, horrible as it was. I hope you can forgive me." Frollo pulls his blade out from underneath his vestment as he quietly approaches the Bell Ringer. Frollo reels his arms back, preparing to chop right into Quasimodo's back. "There, there, Quasimodo, I know it hurts. But now, the time has come to end your suffering."

As Frollo approaches the Bell Ringer, Quasimodo glances out the corner of his eyes and sees the shadow of the sword primed to strike. Quasimodo lets his hands drop Esmerelda and quickly turns towards The Judge. Qausimodo's massive hand grasps both of the wrists, and without a struggle, he breaks the hold Frollo has on blade.

The sword falls from the Judge's hands and Qausimodo shoves Frollo back, knocking him to the floor. Frollo begins to rise, Quasimodo now holding the sword in his hand. Raising it above his head, preparing for the follow through strike. Frollo's hands are held up before him, the fear rising in his chest.

"Now, now, listen to me, Quasimodo. My boy-"

"No, you listen! All my life you have told me the world is a dark, cruel place!" Quasimodo tosses away the sword, the iron skating across the wood as points his finger at Frollo with tears streaming down his face. Slamming the older man's foot with a hard kick. "But now, I see that the only thing dark and cruel about it is people like you!"

"Quasimodo?" She sounds hoarse and speaking is hard on her throat, but Quasimodo would swear he never has heard a more beautiful sounding voice. Both men turn and see Esmeralda struggling to sit up on the bed. Her arms wiggling and her legs quivering as he attempts to get up.

"Esmeralda!" Quasimodo takes her face into his hands, admiring her darling eyes as he lets out a short sigh of relief. "Thank heavens, you're ok."

"She lives!" Frollo barks viciously at the sight as he eyes the sword within his reach and makes his attempt.

Frollo frantically lunges and takes up the sword.

Quasimodo rushes towards Esmerelda and takes her up into his arms. He grabs Esmeralda and runs out onto the balcony. Frollo follows shortly behind, blade drawn and and at the ready. He glances around the floor, not seeing them on either side of the walkway. Frollo then recalls Quasimodo's ascent up the tower.

After looking all around the walkway, curiously he shifts his sights and looks out over the guard rail and finds Quasimodo hanging along a gargoyle's throat with Esmeralda hanging off of his back.

Frollo, with a devilish grin, swings his sword. However, Quasimodo dodges the swipe by swinging to a different gargoyle.

Frollo continues his pursuit, the bite of his blade missing with every swing. The iron sword crashed into the throat of a gargoyle Quasimodo grabbed, missing his wrist by inches.

"Hang on!" Quasimodo shouts, feeling she adjust her grip around his neck as he swings from gargoyle to gargoyle. Missing the swipes and slashes from Frollo's sword.

Quasimodo uses the momentum of his swing to lunge up onto the landing, pushing Esmerelda onto the guardrail as he pulls back to leverage his weight for a jump.

As he pulls his body back for the swing, The tip of the sword catches along his forearm and makes him nearly lose his grip.

Quasimodo fumbles his jump, crashing against the wall of the cathedral and hanging onto the bottom edge of the guardrail with his one good hand. The other now layered in a flowing stream of blood from a now open wound.

"I should have known you'd give your life to save this degenerate quim." Frollo utters with his teeth gnashing together and his hands tightening around the blade's handle. "Just as your own mother gave her life trying to save you."

"What?" Quasimodo's eyes went wide, his fingers desperately clinging to the railing, the gash across his forearms slicking his grip in his own blood as he felt himself slipping. He readjusts his grip as well as he could, pawing at the railing with his wet hand and unable to get a proper hold. "You… you killed my mother?"

"Just like the street trash she was." Frollo's cruelty dripped off every word, his eyes squinted with disdain as he stared down at Quasimodo. Bemused that he hovered over the still flowing river of molten bronze, as if he were one slip away from descending down into Hell itself. "Now I'm going to do what I should have done twenty years ago!"

"Quasimodo!" Esmerelda rushes to help him up off of the railing, taking her hands to grab along his thick wrist and trying to pull him onto solid ground. Quasimodo does his best to help, his fingers slipping and his strength waning. He watches as Frollo approaches Esmerelda and prepares for his strike. Ready to decapitate her with the wind up swing and send him plummeting to the city street below.

"And He shall smite the wicked," Frollo lifts his sword, not before letting it rest along the back of Esmerelda's neck. He lets the blade rest against her throat, and reels his arms back for the chop.

No matter, as she still reached for Quasimodo. Even with her life at stake, she had to still try and save him. His pitch black eyes aglow with a dark, demented energy. His lips curled back into an almost painfully held sinister grin, and his breathing getting hotter and heavier as he prepares to kill Esmerelda. "And plunge them into the fiery pit!"

"That's enough!" Kuro's bark startles the Judge, who stops mid-arch to turn towards the Heartless' roar. Kuro's hands lay flat against the stone railing, vaulting over and landing flat on his feet as he shouted at Frollo. He rolls out his right wrist and in a burst of darkened smoke, his blue steel blade now rests loose in his hand. Kuro slowly approaches the Judge, eyes as fiery and furious as the fires that raged down below. "Leave. Them. Alone."

"The stalwart knight." Frollo mocks Kuro, his pitch black eyes glaring at the Heartless with all the hate he could possibly accumulate. His hands trembling with a now newly focused wrath. "Come here to pray for forgiveness?"

"Did you forget so quickly?" Kuro's blade rises to level out his arm with his shoulder, cocked his head to the side and flashed him a devious grin. "Didn't you say you would send me to Hell?"

Frollo, eyes twitching in rage and his wiry hair bellowing in the scorching gusts of the flames winds, took his sword into his grip and rushed towards Kuro preparing to strike. Kuro was more than happy to meet him in his stride and strikes as he sees Frollo's blade swing.

The blades met with a thundering clash, the deep oozing purple aura surrounding the Judge's form trailed off of him as smoke would steadily rise out of a fire. The power leading his strike soon makes Kuro's arms buckle as he pivots his right foot into a more sturdy position and diverts the swing into the nearby stone guardrail. The blade crashes through the stone without fail, never meeting resistance as it cleaves through it effortlessly. The sight of it chills Kuro's blood, his eyes darting back towards the Judge. Whose thin, weathered arms shouldn't harbor even a tenth of that kind of power.

"Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Come on then, boy! Try to strike down the righteous hand of God!" Frollo's words spoke harshly, as he raised his sword and swung again. The same shadowed silhouette that hovered around the Judge had found itself slithering along the blade of his sword. The speed of the swing was nearly impossible to track. The darkness that seeped out of him has bolstered his vitality to give him this newfound energy and fortitude, his agility ensured his swings came out at breakneck speeds, and his strength had grown matched Kuro's own blow by blow. Kuro smashed his sword to meet the cleaving strikes of the Judge, the sparks that flew across the crimson painted sky were bright and shone like silver catching sunlight each time metal clashed against metal.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The swings were devastating, echoing out into the air in the echoes of lightning strikes and reverberating down the arms of the warriors as they fought. Kuro ducked underneath a swing, using the opening to crash the Heartless blade against Frollo's side and cleaving as hard as he could. Kuro expected to have carved through him with ease, only to find it was as though he had stuck against solid steel. The darkness that resided within the Judge also seemed to have made him extra durable as well. Warding off the blow with ease.

"My faith is immaculate, the Lord guards my soul and lends me his blade to exact justice!" Frollo swings and slices across Kuro's shoulder, leaving a clean cut and staining his blade with blood. Frollo pulls around to continue with an overhead chop. Kuro parries the swipe with a quick strike and drives the base of the blade into the Judge's chest and nearly drives him off of his feet. Kuro follows with a series of quick slashes, horizontal attacks that are met with Frollo's own well timed swings. The two exchange blows and strikes in a quick burst. The rapid metal on metal sounds thundering, reminding Kuro of machine gun fire. Kuro found himself on the retreat, backpedaling and trying to find some breathing room between the strikes of the Judge. "God has guaranteed my victory over the Gomorrah below! I am his justice! I am his sword! I am his will made flesh!"

The Judge was unrelenting, following the Heartless as the two of them rounded a corner and continued their duel. Frollo swung and caught Kuro's elbow on a swipe as he prepared another strike, leaving a flat gash that ran from the rounded end of his elbow that leveled out and sank into his forearm and nicked his wrist. Kuro stumbled back, and in a moment between strikes, howled out a roar of fury.

The wounds along his shoulder and arm cauterized and ceased their bleeding, closing up and healing fast. Frollo watched with immediate irritation, raising his blade and readying another exchange of blows.

Kuro, freshly healed and covered in his own blood, bared his teeth and felt his anger rise like bile in his throat. Kuro then clenched his jaw and shifted his left foot behind his right with measured intent.

Lining up his shoulders in a line instead of broad side out towards the Judge with forward facing shoulders and his wild fury becoming tempered to a focused ferocity.

Thinner targets are harder to hit. Kuro reminded himself to thank Arthur for that.

"If your God truly wanted you to succeed," Kuro barks before following a right leaning strike with a left backswing that catches Frollo across the cheek and nose, leaving a now profusely bleeding gash along his face and cleaving his nose in twain.

The Judge stumbles back, his hand palming his left jaw and cheek, feeling the steady flow of blood draining out of his face and staining the floor. Kuro jams the pommel of his sword against Frollo's forehead, the rounded end hammering hard against his skull and continuing to keep the Judge unsteady and unable to retaliate. Kuro follows the continued strikes with a heavy fisted left hand to his right cheek and a heel to the chest. Frollo's jaw rattled on impact, and dazed him long enough to be unable to move out of the way of the heel and it sent him tumbling to the floor.

The sword slips out of his hand, to which Kuro stomps on and slides it behind him with a dragged heel. The steel sword skimming across the floor, away from the two combatants.

Kuro towers over Frollo, his hand tightening around his sword as he steps forward. The Judge crawls backwards, until the back of his head knocks against the side of the stone railing. Kuro continues to walk, until he corners the old, broken man. He raises his sword, tucking the pointed sharp tip under Frollo's chin.

Pressing hard enough to pierce flesh and to draw blood that trickled down the groove of his throat. "Then why am I here?"

"Kuro!" Quasimodo approached with Esmerelda and Phoebus at his side, Kuro taking a quick glance over his shoulder and seeing them. Phoebus rushes to the Heartless' side, staring down at the beaten Judge.

"Great work, kid. Frollo, you'll pay for your crimes. What you've done to this city and to its people will not go unpunished." Phoebus declared, Kuro's head nodding as he adjusts the blade in his hand and raises it up to finish the work he started.

"You're goddamn right he's going to pay. With his last breath!" Kuro rumbles with purpose. Kuro starts to downswing, Phoebus grabs hold of Kuro's wrists and proceeds to save the Judge's life. Kuro struggles to continue the swing, Phoebus blocking his swing and giving the Heartless a shove back and placing himself between the defeated Frollo and Kuro. Shielding him from Kuro's wrath. "What are you doing?"

"He is beaten. He is done. We can stop now." Phoebus said with a nod and a pleading look in his eyes. Kuro lowers his blade, rushing up and bumping chests with the Captain.

"Didn't you hear him? He killed Quasimodo's mother and made him his prisoner in this bell tower for years! He tried to kill you for saving that poor family! He tried to kill Quasimodo just now! Esmerelda and I when we were on that pyre! Look at your city!" Kuro roared, his lips dripping with saliva and his hand shaking in rage. "Look at it! Don't you hear your people suffering? This bastard needs to pay! He needs to die!"

"He will face judgment for his crimes, Kuro! But not while the city burns." Phoebus declared, taking the sword that once belonged to Frollo and keeping it tight in his hands. Phoebus leaned in to stay in Kuro's sights, his stern eyes meeting the ravenous rage that lingered in Kuro's eyes. "And if you kill him now, when he's already lost, are you any better than him?"

Phoebus lets the question rest on Kuro's shoulders, before walking away to tend to Quasimodo and Esmerelda. Particularly Quasimodo, whose arms were covered in lacerations.

"The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart. The devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil." Frollo's hands close together and rest against his still beating heart, before rising and letting his palm lay flat against his aching forehead. His breathing level and his voice a low rumble. "Those who walk uprightly enter into peace, they find rest as they lie in death."

"What the hell are you mumbling?" Kuro inquired through gnashed teeth, Frollo's eyes opening slightly and his lips parting into a small, serene smile. Kuro kicks the Judge's boot, gathering his attention. "Why are you smiling like that?"

"I have my place in Heaven saved, Demon. I did his work to the best of my ability here on earth. I have no regrets." Frollo grumbles with a short sigh escaping his chest. Kuro's eyes flare and his hands begin to tremor as he tightens the hold of his sword. Kuro's whole body tensed, hearing the Judge doesn't regret a single thing had caused the Heartless to begin seething. Seeing in Frollo's eyes there was not an ounce of sorrow for what he had done. "I shall be greeted in death with a chorus of angels and the triumphant trumpets of God's grace. I did my duty to the fullest, and the filth of the earth has no foothold on my soul. I shall reap and be rewarded in my death what I sowed from my life of servitude. I will be rewarded an eternity of peace while seated amongst his many saints, a beautiful end for a noble and righteous man-"

The Judge's breath halts in his throat, the piercing tip of the Heartless' blade stabbing into his chest and out through his back in a single clean thrust. The blade crashes into a guardrail pillar, the sound of metal on stone screeching through the air in a grating sound. Frollo's eyes vibrate as his neck locks, his hands reaching up to clasp around the blade in a pitiful attempt to stop the encroaching dark that started to bleed into his vision.

"Wh-wh-whu-whu-what? What is this?" He mutters with a stutter, with a quiver in his lip. His stomach dropped through his body and left a lump that gathered in his chest. The Judge felt his fingers get cold despite the heat in the air, his legs become numb despite feeling the strength that coursed through them moments ago, and his vision begins to blur. The world around him is getting hazy and shaded in darkness. All except for the burning Hellfire that resided in Kuro's now savage glare. "What did you do?"

"You said it yourself, remember?" Kuro uttered with a growling voice, his rumbling words made Frollo's spine tremble, goosebumps raced down his arms and his hair stood on end. Kuro then twisted the blade to the right, earning a deep and sharp cry out of the dying man as the Heartless tore into his chest viciously. "This devil is going to rip your goddamn heart out and eat it."

Kuro unsheathed his blade from the Judge's torso with a hard tug and purposefully cruel drag, the blood and ichor pooling rapidly underneath the seat of the executed man spilling out of him in a visceral waterfall. In flowing chunks and soaked in red.

Kuro watched callously as Frollo's eyes became tense in rapid fear and sudden pain then slowly became vacant and still, his heavy head leaning back against the cool stone before his last breath rattled out of his chest in a low, barely perceivable roll. Kuro huffs with satisfaction, lips curling to a content smirk. He could hurt no one anymore.

That's when it happens, Frollo's chest begins to shimmer and shine in a golden light. Not unlike the peaking of a sun from behind a dense dark cloud that shifted just enough to unblock the light. Kuro is nearly blinded by it, squinting in response and watching as it starts erupting out of the Judge's breached open chest cavity. There it is, it is a crystalline shaped heart. It floats up into the air, webbed under the surface of pristine maroon glass are veins of black and blue. The humming of it was music to Kuro's ear. It was a sweet sound, almost angelic. It was reminiscent of strumming of a harp, with the cords striking that primal part of the Heartless. Kuro watches as the heart begins to float, and without a moment to think about it, feels the compulsion to keep his promise to the Judge.

Kuro's hand grabs hold of the hovering heart, the heat that radiated off of the glass would scold bare skin. But in Kuro's hand, the heat was enticing.

Kuro's hand flexed and his grip tightened into a taut fist, feeling the heart that belonged to Claude Frollo then shatter into a handful of dust and jagged shards in his palm. The heat that once belonged to the Judge traveled up his arms, illuminating the veins that hid underneath his tan skin in a bright red glow that hummed in the air until it raced to the Heartless' chest. As a lantern glows bright with a fresh light, Kuro's chest glows in a deep and crimson flash.

In a heartbeat, Kuro felt an intensity that he never felt before, and came to recognize it as Frollo's emotions. The waves of fear and the dreadful encroachment of death as soon as Kuro's blade made contact. Then that drowning, overwhelming lust that the Judge held for Esmerelda since he saw her just a day ago. The heat of rage from hating that which was different from Frollo's lifestyle and perception of good. The feeling of self-righteousness from living above the pitiful sinners that he lorded over. Kuro's teeth gnashed together as he realizes he really did do as the Judge warned Xion he would.

Kuro had eaten his heart.

And it was delicious.

Kuro's breath came out in a quick and exhilarating wheeze. His heavy breathing through his nose as he felt his hands flex and tighten with this newfound strength. His jaw clenched and his heart raced as he felt the heat of Frollo's death warmed his body like a much needed sip of hot coffee. Pure satisfaction.

"Kuro…" Kuro was brought out of his own head at the sound of the Bell Ringer's voice and turned to see the three locals staring at him. Quasimodo's hands clapped to his mouth in horror, Esmerelda's jaw was slack and her hands rested over her racing heart, and Phoebus had a repugnant look on his eyes as he stared at the Heartless. With a bloodied blade in his hand and a malicious, satisfied smile on his face. Eyes squinted like a feline that just caught its quarry. "What did you do?"

Kuro averted his gaze for a moment, then shrugged with a relaxed roll of his shoulders.

"I killed him." Kuro said with an unburdened stance and a raised chin. He glanced at the still body of the old man, shaking his head. "I could not have him draw another breath believing he was a good man after everything he's done, so I made sure he got what he deserved. A cruel death for a cruel man."

"That wasn't your decision to make, son." Phoebus spoke with a sure voice and stern glare in his eyes. He readjusted the sword in his hands, now gripping it by the handle. "You have gone and let your rage blind you. Just as it has blinded Frollo today. Look at yourself. You've become a murderer, Kuro. Just like him."

Kuro's eyes cut towards Phoebus with a look of rage, whose hand immediately tightened on the blade. Ready for what could come next. Kuro felt his blood begin to boil at the insinuation that he could be anything like Frollo. Such a demented, arrogant and foul human being.

"I'm nothing like him. You must know that. He murdered so many people in his single life. I just killed him to stop his senseless destruction. He ordered the death of the innocent. And didn't regret it! I spent this whole day saving those he wanted to harm!" Kuro marched forward with heavy steps, his head cocking to the side and his voice dropping to a harsh tone. His glare piercing and his eyes vacant of any regret. "He ordered the destruction of your home. I tried to save it! He, of everyone who perished today, deserved to die!"

"Kuro! Stop!" Phoebus shouts but Kuro continues to march forward. Phoebus, without hesitation and fear, took a step forward and ushered Esmerelda and Quasimodo behind him. Placing himself between them and Kuro. Protecting them. "You are not the one who decides who lives and who dies."

"Who then? Who gets to decide that, Captain?" Kuro barks with a sinister grin and a mocking chuckle. In disbelief of what he was hearing. Tears swelling in his eyes as he looks over the destruction of the city below. All caused by one man's obsession over a woman. Kuro was befuddled, confused about what the issue was with what he did. Frollo was evil, truly evil. What was the issue with him dying so violently? He deserved it. "You, who stood by all day as the city fell to ruin? Or God, who apparently was going to reward this piece of shit after he died, despite everything he's done?"

"That's enough! It is not your place to make that decision!" Phoebus' voice rose to a shout, Kuro's back straightening, arms locked and his eyes refusing to look away. Remaining focused with the ex-soldier defiantly. "Kid… You just don't understand-"

"Whatever." Phoebus was totally beside himself, hearing the callousness and anger that fueled Kuro's words. Kuro shook his head, staring at the soldier with a wicked eye and grin that furled a scowl. He moved past Phoebus, heading for the stairwell to return to the square. As the two met shoulders, Kuro stopped and glowered at the captain. Kuro's tongue slipped and he spoke before he could think about what he was saying. "Maybe what I don't understand is you. If you think what I did is wrong, maybe I'm not the one who needs to understand. If you had found your spine earlier, I wouldn't have needed to kill him and half the city wouldn't be on fire. Understand that?"

Kuro takes a step to leave the conversation where it was and then feels a hand grab him by the shoulder. Nails scratch into his skin and Kuro feels a trembling in Phoebus' hand. The tremor that came from the leashing of indignation. With a hard shove, Phoebus forces Kuro back a few steps to create some distance, quickly drawing his sword and raising it towards the Heartless. Pointing its tip towards Kuro's heart.

"Phoebus, what are you-" Esmerelda started to speak, only for Phoebus to interrupt her with a sudden shout.

"Listen to me! Quasimodo, get Esmerelda to safety. I'll deal with Kuro." Phoebus readied his stance, hands clasped one under the other as he bent his knees and squinted his eyes. "Now!"

"Phoebus don't! You can't be serious-" Quasimodo began to speak, pulling on his shirt to no avail. "Don't do this, please!"

"Quasimodo. It's going to be ok. Get her out of here." Kuro spoke softly and directly towards Quasimodo, his eyes not leaving the ex-captain with a look of tempered ire beginning to make a home in his stare. Quasimodo did as he was instructed to do, taking Esmerelda by the hand and taking her away. They disappeared down the steps. Leaving the two alone on the balcony walkway.

"I'm placing you under arrest, Kuro. You'll be under custody for the time being, and you will be tried and sentenced as soon as we can get the city back under control." Phoebus spoke with authority, and with a stoic look upon his face. Kuro shook his head, letting his tongue wet his dry lips as he cast a glance over the city below. "I promise you'll be judged fairly, but I cannot guarantee that the officials won't-"

"No, you're not." Kuro spoke gently, his eyes closing gently as he let the flurry of the flame heated wind blow past him. Blowing his silver hair about in its sudden gust. "You aren't going to arrest me, Phoebus."

"I guess I wasn't very clear then. I'll say it again. As Captain of the guard, I am placing you-" Phoebus spoke up again, louder and more aggressive than before. The veins in his hands bulged against the surface and his cheeks red from shouting. Kuro cut him off with a voice that held conviction tightly.

"I guess I wasn't very clear then.I'll say it again. No, you're not. You're not going to arrest me." Kuro assured the man, turning his gaze back towards the captain. Phoebus' eyes grew wide, the continued flames that ravaged the city below cast half of Kuro's features in the heated glow of the fire, and the other half shadowed in the darkness of the towering cathedral spires. That malevolent stare that rested in Kuro's stare could very well be the stare that a Devil could hold. One without mercy. Without regret. Kuro huffed, dismissing his sword and pulling his hands into fists. He raises his hands, spreading out his fingers before rubbing them against his cheeks to feel the intense heat that was radiating out of his skin, before gliding them over his neck to ease the tension in his muscles. He takes in measured breath, exhaling out the agitation and the annoyance he was feeling. Kuro's eyes softened, his gaze returning to Phoebus. His voice was no longer full of wrath, but cool and calm when he spoke. "Captain, what do you think will happen if you continue to stand in my way? I don't want to fight you. However, I am going to leave this cathedral. And you are not going to stop me."

Phoebus readies his blade without fail, unyielding to the Heartless. With a shake of his head, Kuro steels his resolve and slowly raises his hand to call back his blade. However, that is when there is a tremor that rumbles the very floor they are on.

The two men are nearly knocked off of their feet, the sudden and unexpected shaking almost took them to the ground. Kuro steadies his stance and looks over the edge. The Pious Pariah's massive nails are sinking into the sides of the cathedral, scaling the face of Notre Dame in search of the powerful heart to devour. The one that Kuro just ate. Kuro called his staff to his hands, turning to the Captain with a serious look. Pointing to the stairwell that Quasimodo and Esmerelda ran down.

"You need to get the hurt people inside the cathedral outside of it now! A massive Heartless is coming and there are injured who still need help inside!" Kuro warned, as he swung the staff and let loose a bolt of concentrated lightning flash against the dark clouds of the sky and strike the ascending Heartless in its face. Phoebus squints his eyes, lifting his chin up. Glaring at Kuro.

"This doesn't change anything." He made clear, before he listened to Kuro and descended down the stairs.

The Pariah bellows a bemoaning groan, one that rattled the windows of the building before continuing its ascent. Kuro rolled his arm back and summoned a flurry of frost across the buttresses, the stone slicking in a layer of ice that caused the Pariah to grab hold and slip.

Their chin crashed through one of the stained glass windows and slammed their shoulder into the stone guardrail. Kuro was knocked back as the impact sent a tremor through the floor and knocked the Heartless onto their back.

The Pariah claws up to the landing, their fingers curling around the guard railing to continue their climb. Kuro rises to his feet and sends three solid chops into the pinky finger of the hand, the finger falling off after that third swing and crumbling into ash as it falls to the ground. The Pariah, its mouth agape as it cried out its thundering battle cry, grabbed Kuro's torso with its right hand and overhead threw the smaller Heartless into the Bell tower.

Kuro's legs caught the top end of the stairs and his body ended up spiraling into the stone wall above the windowsill. Kuro lands with a hard thump, his eyes readjusting to the sudden spinning before he gets back onto his feet. The Pious Pariah lumbers forward and smashes through the archway leading to Qausimodo's home, their frail looking arms crashing into the support wooden beams as it desperately tries to sink its jagged teeth into Kuro. Kuro begins his ascent up the support beams as they begin to crumble, straight arms and all.

The Pariah continues its fumbling chase, their hands shoving into and snapping the beams supporting the bell tower.

Kuro jumps onto the landing containing Big Marie, walking past the massive bell and taking a quick glance over the edge. There he saw the Giant Heartless struggling but continuing their chase after him. Kuro groans, taking a few steps back before his back smacks against the bell. Kuro turns his attention to the bell, seeing that the bell was located in the direct center of the tower.

Drop the bell onto the Heartless. The weight of the Bell will surely crush the monster into nothing. Do it. Destroy the Beast.

Kuro adjusts the grip he has on his sword, as he quickly coordinates which support beams support the bourdon bell. As soon as he figures it out, he picks a corner and begins to hack into the beam with his blade.

The Pious Pariah reaches the flooring of the landing that Big Marie was built over, their skull slamming into the floorboards and their claws dug into the tower to be stable. Their skull is like a battering ram, as it beats into the floor.

Kuro's blade cuts through the second to last support that held up the Big Marie, the boudin Bell of Notre Dame. The Pious Pariah breaks through the floor. Just as Kuro slammed his heels into the side of the massive bell to catapult it into the Pious Pariah's open mouth bite.

The huge bronze bell rapidly descends atop of the lumbering Heartless, the tower's supports crumbling as the bell drags the Pariah down through the landings and support beams. Both Heartless are now tumbling and crumbling down, crashing into wooden beams and stone walls.

Each landing beneath the bell and the Pious Pariah buckling and snapping underneath the combined weight of both the Heartless and the Bell.

The tower's final floor shatters underneath the weight, and the two of them crash into the main hall of the Cathedral. Kuro stabs his blade into the stone tower, the sword dug hilt deep into the wall to stop his descent.

The bourdon bell tolls its final bell on impact, and the Pariah mewls out a death rattle as Big Marie

slams atop of it. Pinning it to the cathedral floor.

Kuro lingers in his spot as he stares down at the downed Heartless. He huffs and feels a smile begin to curl.

Then the bell shifts, the Pious Pariah beginning to slowly lift the bourdon bell off of its gaunt form to continue its rampage.

"Oh, oh no you don't." Kuro growls before he plants a foot into the wall, unsheathes his sword, and begins his rapid descent down into the cathedral proper. Focusing his heels into the fall to plant right into the top most point of the bell. The Pious Pariah struggles but is able to lift Big Marie off of their chest, their elbows trembling as they shift to let it drag off to the side. But they weren't fast enough.

Kuro's feet crush down onto Big Marie, the elbows snapping under the power of the fall and the edge of the bourdon bell crushing the throat of the Pariah, the combined weight of the bell and Kuro's downward force crushing the neck and decapitating the head from its withered frame.

All it cost was Big Marie.

While the edge that served as a makeshift guillotine was intact from the bottom to the top of the bell, the impact point that Kuro hammered into shattered the bell into three distinct pieces.

The Heartless had destroyed the bell with the finishing strike that killed the Pious Pariah. Kuro's feet crashed into the floor of the cathedral, crumbling the bronze that he landed upon, finding himself almost completely enclosed around the broken bell barring the broken cracks along the sides.

Kuro's eyes glance over the interior of the once mighty bell, the webbed darkness that he once saw on the blade of King Arthur's sword now scored across the surface from the metal. The webs begin to slowly fade and slip into the floor as rain trails and drips down a windowpane. The webs surge with a bright red energy, before they burst out of the floors and shoot as arrows loosed from bows and pierced Kuro's body.

Barbs of red sticking into his flesh as he is pulled into the floor, feeling this energy begin to course through him. The darkness filling him as water would have filled an empty basin.

This intense feeling was not unlike the pulse he felt when he had devoured Frollo's heart. That was a warmth that rivaled very real fires he built with his hands. The heat of a heart that belonged to such a vile man made even the smoldering wood feel ice cold when compared to the still beating heart of a person that was in his grasp.

The destruction of a Cornerstone? The power of the world held in a single object? This item embedded with innate power, this otherworldly energy, this unbelievable light? That was now through his veins. It was unparalleled.

If Frollo's heart was but a toe dip into an untapped and elevated power of devouring hearts, then the destruction of a World's Cornerstone was being tied by the ankle to an anchor dropped into the ocean's watery depths. It was overwhelming, and would be all consuming.

Kuro's eyes grew wide with uncertainty and confusion, his hands trembling and his body convulsed as he felt pulse after pulse crash into his frame. His hands curled into fists as he pounded them into the ground to stave off the uncomfortable sensation that he was feeling. There was unbearable discomfort and tension in his body. As though his whole frame was a single lung, and every convulsion he felt was a deep chested breath. In and out. Crunch and release. Taut and spread out.

It made his joints pop, his body grew numb, and his vision blurred to the point of utter darkness.

Kuro's hands pressed to the floor and his irritation and rage grew, and he began slamming his knuckles into the floor to ward off these uncomfortable feelings.

The Heartless expected the stone to rebuke and rebuff his strikes, to feel the sting and pain of the power rebounding into his arms. Just as steel refused to bend and walls remained intact.

But that didn't happen.

His fists crumbled the stones beneath him into chunks and gravel with every punch. Kuro let out a roar, his arms flexed at his sides and his eyes now a glow with a bright red energy. His knuckles unphased by the punches and looked as ordinary as they would typically be. Albeit, now covered in a layer of grime.

Kuro rose to his feet, his breathing heavy and his eyes glancing around the room. His breathing was heavier, his body began to loosen up and stop shaking. His back straightened and his vision returned. Then it dawned on him.

The first thing he noticed was the silence that came from outside.

Kuro's attention turned towards the front doors of the Cathedral. Kuro takes his sword in hand as he meanders over. He then slams his heel into the doors to open them.

The whole city was now overwhelmed with not just fire and blood, but shadows and smoke. What was once rioting in the streets was now desperation in the form of people fleeing from the now overwhelming hordes of Heartless. Spawning out of the ground and chasing after civilians in droves, with a huge wave of Shadows overtaking a crowd of people in a sweep. Drowning them in bodies of the darkness and devouring their hearts. Kuro glances around, trying to find Dusk and Xion in the madness that thundered around him. Kuro reaches into his messenger bag to grab his device to notify DiZ that he was ready to go, only to be bodied by the rotund belly of a charging Large Body as soon as he gets it into his hand. Kuro crashes into the floor, and with a furiously shout, extends out his hand. A spear of pure dark energy, a lance of smoky ebony, bolts out of the palm of his hand and pierces the huge Heartless.

The impact caused the Large Body to burst. Kuro glances at the device, the red button now flashing and a dark corridor spawning beside him.

Kuro scrambles to his feet, cupping his hand around his mouth.

"Dusk! Xion!" He shouts, Dusk's head turning towards the voice and taking off in a sprint. Xion watches Dusk rush to Kuro, her eyes darting to Demyx as he sprints to the alleyway to RTC. Xion takes a quick glance at Kuro, offers a weak smile, before waving goodbye and running to Demyx. Needing to RTC as well.

Kuro offers a wave in return that she doesn't see, as Dusk rushes into the dark corridor. He would see her in Traverse Town eventually.

Kuro looks around, not seeing Quasimodo, Esmerelda, or Phoebus nearby. Kuro glances at the Dark Corridor, before beginning to back away from the escape route to got look for them in the chaos

Kuro's eyes turned towards the heavens, seeing several balls of concentrated darkness looming overhead. These swirling abyssal spheres with a barely visible crimson glow in the center of these orbs. Pulsing and radiating dark energy. Earthquakes erupted and shook the earth beneath his feet. The tremors began to split open the roads as rough blades carve open wounds. The stones cracked and from the broken open crevices, more Shadows and other Heartless bleed out of the darkness within. Rising out of the depths as if they were crawling out of the Abyss itself.

"I did this?" Kuro questions aloud, feeling this sensation from the destruction around him warm and heat his torso. A similar feeling from when he ate the heart and broke the Cornerstone. Kuro swallows it down and tries his best to ignore it, determined to go out there and get his friends to safety.

As he turns his heel, he feels a hand reach out from the darkness, and grab him by the collar through the corridor. Kuro is dragged into the dark, and the corridor dissipates soon after. Leaving the world to chaos as the Heartless continues to ravenously feed.

---

The Bell Ringer didn't stop running. First it was from Frollo's guards, now it's from shadowy beasts that are eating people alive. Esmerelda in tow as he carried her as far as he could from the disaster that had been occurring. Quasimodo had led the two of them to the graveyard, the appearance of the yellow eyed monsters or fissures that had begun to split the earth having cut off the alternate paths to safety and almost forced them to the hallowed ground.

Quasimodo glanced over his shoulder and saw the encroaching wave of Shadows, crawling over one another in a tsunami of darkness, and quickened his pace. His eyes glancing around the crypt yard and seeing an ajar stone door to one of the tombs.

"This way! Hurry!" Quasimodo led Esmerelda to the crypt and slammed the stone door behind them. His massive hands pressed against the heavy doors to keep it shut. The slamming of the Heartless bodies against the stone came as nonstop lapping of ocean waves. The bodies crashed against the doors repeatedly. Esmerelda took both of the large bronze candelabras and used them to barricade the handles to the doors. Once settled, the pair stepped away from the doors, backed against the furthest wall, and held each other as the darkness battered at their doors.

"Kuro will come. Or Phoebus. Or the kingsmen." Quasimodo assured Esmerelda with a squeeze of his hands and a weak, heart breaking smile. She gave him a similar looking grin, her hands cupping his chin as she let out a gentle sullen sigh.

"Sure." She whispers with a little tear swelling in her eyes. She held his cheek to her chest, letting him listen to the thumping of her heart. She didn't know if anyone would save them, but she had to hope for her people. Hope for Quasimodo. "I'm sure they will."

The shadows never tired, nor did they ever stop their constant battering. They were trapped in their crypt for hours, as they waited for Phoebus to heroically charge through the gates, but he never came. They waited for Kuro to drag them out of their tomb, but he never came.

They were held in that crypt for several hours by the time the world had succumbed to the Darkness and was plucked out of existence. Blinking out of the night sky, the light of the world snuffed away by the dark.

Quasimodo, before the world had plunged into the abyss, dreamt of a world where Frollo lost and Esmerelda was happy with Phoebus. Of a world where he was accepted by the townsfolk and was able to live a normal life beyond the walls of his bell tower. He swore he felt heaven's light in those dreams, before the darkness eventually swallowed him.

With his last breath, he had confessed his love to Esmerelda just as the world was drowned in the pitch.

Esmerelda's voice was taken from her before she could give him her response.

All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end.