YAS we are at the epic dragon battle!

This chapter is almost 100% violence

Chapter Nine

The morning is less hectic than Kairi thought it would be.

Everyone's bustling about, making preparations for the big battle. Lea and Riku go out to do some sparring. Sora goes to the shoppes to stock up on potions. Yuna and Namine help nearby townspeople reinforce their doors and windows just in case more Heartless appear in the future. Leon treks out to the castle with Cid to scope the area out, to watch the Heartless they're going to be battling and take note of its movements.

Kairi takes some time to practice her magic. She's never been able to do second-level spells, but she's getting fairly good at strengthening her first-level elementals. And while first-level spells might be the weakest, they can be helpful in a pinch. Even the smallest wisp of magic could have helped her in the brothel situation, and she doesn't want to be caught powerless again.

Ever.

When the sun is high and Kairi feels like she's done practicing, she decides to take a short walk outside the town. She enjoys the peace and quiet, the cool breeze as it brushes over her skin, and lets her mind go blank.

She comes to a stop in the Crystal Fissure, standing near a particularly beautiful crystal growth. Studying the many faces of each gemstone that juts out of the ground and wall, she watches the way they sparkle and shine.

"Crystals, hm?"

Footsteps come up behind her. Kairi turns and smiles when she sees Sora approaching, very aware of the way her stomach flips whenever she sees him now. He's wearing his regular black joggers, but his hooded shirt this time is dark red and short-sleeved. He's got his fingerless leather gloves on, something she's grown to see as part of him. She doesn't remember the last time she saw his bare hands.

"What's wrong with crystals?" Kairi asks, putting her hands on her hips. "They're pretty."

"Nothing's wrong with them," he says with a shrug. "I'm just counting my munny, trying to figure out how much I'm gonna have to spend on jewelry for you."

"Oh, shut up." Kairi shoulders him, ignoring the way her blood heats and a blush spreads over her cheeks. She pauses. "You smell good. Are you wearing cologne?"

"I always wear cologne, even on missions," he says with a smirk. Then, he takes the collar of his hooded shirt and tugs it outward, exposing the smooth skin of his toned neck. "Here. Smell."

Kairi lifts herself onto the tips of her toes and stretches her neck. As she leans in toward him, she can't help but recall her conversation with Namine. The sneaky idea she had. What if his neck is as sensitive as Kairi's? It would be interesting to see how he reacts.

Quickly, she gives him a short, small kiss, right there on his pulse, and promptly turns back to the crystal growth.

"For your information," she says, acting like her heart isn't currently trying to beat her to death from within, "crystal jewelry is more expensive than you think. You'll be counting out a lot of munny if you plan to buy me jewelry, Keyblade Master. It might even be your monthly salary."

"Hmm. Is that so?"

"Yes, and—oh!"

Sora grabs her waist and drags her backward, holding her flush to his body. He bends down and lowers his face close to her neck, making pleasant, excited tingles crawl over her body. Her breaths are shallow in barely-recognized anticipation when she feels the heat of his breath against the shell of her ear.

"You can't just kiss me like that and expect me not to punish you for it, can you?"

"Punish me?" she squeaks. "What did I do?"

"Shh."

Sora tugs her long red hair out of the way and drops kisses onto the junction of her shoulder and throat. The surprise is half the experience, and it sends her mind careening right up into space. She gasps and her head lolls backward against his firm chest. His mouth is heated and the kisses are intentional. Targeted. He's trying to get a reaction out of her. Kairi's hands fly to cover his on her waist, which shivers like it's separate from the rest of her.

"Sora," Kairi starts, trying to find words in the giant, empty expanse that is her poor head.

"Mm?"

"You're…it…I…"

"Tell me how it feels." Sora's hands escape hers, sliding down to her hips. His fingers press in the dips of her hip bones, and it sends a lightning bolt to a very specific place. "Hm? Tell me, sweet girl."

"I c-can't—"

"Can't what?"

"Focus. I c-can't focus."

Sora kisses his way up to her ear, each kiss making her breathe louder and louder. By the time he makes it to her ear and curves his tongue around the entire shell, she moans. She's never moaned before, but man, does she do it because it echoes in the Fissure like it's trying to mock her. Mortified, she covers her mouth with both hands.

"Oh, no you—" Sora cuts himself off abruptly, letting go of her like she's on fire. "Wait…hang on…"

"Huh?" Kairi whirls around. "Sora?"

Sora holds the heel of his palm against his temple, his face contorting into an expression of pain.

"Sorry," he mumbles. "I think it's a headache…? It feels like—fuck!" The heels of both palms dig into his eyes. He stumbles back a few steps. "Shit. It—my head."

Panic turns Kairi's blood to fire. She rushes toward him, unsure of where to touch him. Her hands flutter from his head to his face to his shoulders to his chest. She doesn't know what to do.

What's going on?

"Sora, what's the matter? Tell me what's happening!"

"Don't touch me."

"But you—

He looms over her and bares his teeth like a beast, his eyes blazing like hellfire and his hair in his eyes.

"I said dont fucking touch me!"

Kairi sucks in her breath and retracts her hands, taking a fearful step back. "I'm—I'm sorry. I wasn't trying—"

"Will you shut the fuck up?!"

Sora takes a lunging step forward, wrapping his hand around her throat and slamming her against the rock wall so hard that her head cracks against the rock. It sends the same stars through her head that she saw when the guard at the brothel hit her head. Pain reverberates in her skull, causing her to grit her teeth against a whimper.

His fingers…wrapped around her…

Visions of the guards, with their burly, grimy hands, strangling her—they explode in her mind and send her careening into a vast coulee of terror. She loses her sense, clawing at his arm and kicking her legs, snarling at him like a cornered wildcat.

"Get your hand off me, Sora!" she shrieks. "Get your hand off me!"

Sora flinches and yanks his hand away. It goes straight to his head, which he cradles with a groan. He leaves Kairi pressed against the wall, holding herself there to get as far from him as she can in the place she's at.

"No. No, no, no. I don't…fucking Hell!" Sora cries out in agony and bends at the waist, clutching both sides of his head. "I don't know what's happening to me!"

Suddenly, Kairi's vision swims and dizziness spins around her. She collapses to her knees on the ground, one hand on the ground between her legs and the other touching the tender wound at the back of her skull. She gasps, her jaw dropping.

Her fingers come away bloody.

She looks up, her gaze locking with Sora's wild, terrified eyes. A split second passes before the tension shatters. Kairi scrambles to her feet and starts backing away. Sora comes toward her, reaching for her with desperation.

"No, Kairi—Kai—"

"Stay away! Stay back, Sora!"

"I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong—my head."

"No. No! Stop coming toward me!"

"Wait. No, come here. Please. Just come here, to me."

"Get away from me, Sora!" she shrieks when he nearly reaches her.

Sora starts to speak, but then his ringtone plays loudly. He scowls and reaches into his back pocket, withdrawing his gummi phone. He looks at the screen, and Kairi sees him looking frustrated. He scrubs his face with his hand and sniffs, trying to make himself look normal, and answers.

"Yeah."

"Sora!" King Mickey's voice rings loud and clear in the Fissure. "How are things going? Did ya make it to Radiant Gardens?"

"Yes, we…" Sora clears his throat, fixing on a small smile. "We made it here last night."

"That's fantastic! Well, what's the status? Will ya be heading here soon?"

"Er—soon. Things were a bit more complicated here than we thought. There was a rift that was hemorrhaging Heartless. We had to seal it."

"It's all sealed up?"

"Yes."

"Oh, goody. What else is wrong?"

"There's a large Heartless by the castle that's also leaking some Heartless. We have to take it out."

"When will ya be doing that?"

"Soon. Within the next half-hour or so."

"Righty-o! Well, why don't ya get on that, and then when you're done, round everyone up and get on the ship? As soon as ya get back, I'm holding a summit in the council room."

"For what, Your Majesty?"

"To discuss this Duke fella and the lady Matron. And…and is Kairi doing okay?" Kairi's heart swoops at the sound of her name, but she doesn't approach Sora. "I don't know all the details, but I know the gist. I wanna make sure she's all right."

Sora casts Kairi a fleeting look, a flicker of shame in his eyes, before smiling at the King.

"She's doing just fine."

"Oh, good. Oh, good. Okay, well, ya better get on the stick! Soon as ya get that Heartless taken care of, I want you all on that ship. No breaks. No hesitation. Got it?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"All right. Good luck, and we'll be seeing ya!"

"Thanks, Your Majesty. Yeah. Bye."

He hangs up.

The silence is thick enough to suffocate. Sora turns his head to look at Kairi, who stands a good distance away.

"I told you," she says, her voice wavering as she fights tears. She's tired of crying. "I told you something was wrong."

"I…" Sora lets out a growl of irritation. "I don't know what's wrong with me. What I know is that I…I get angry, and then I see red, all right? I see red, and then it's just a fucking storm. And my head—my head, just then. I don't know why it hurt so bad, but it did, and then I hurt you." He drags his hands over his face. "Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. I hurt you. I didn't mean to. I don't know what happened!"

He takes a step toward her, in the thick of his breakdown. And though it kills her and fills her with guilt, the spike of fear that stabs through her is powerful. She moves back, holding her hands up to ward him off. His expression is crestfallen.

"Kairi." His voice breaks. "I'm sorry."

"I understand that," she says, "but I need you to stay away from me, Sora."

"Just let me look at your head. Let me see—"

"No, Sora. Stay there."

"Kai—"

"Hey, you two!" Leon comes dashing down into the Fissure. He looks panicked. "We've been looking everywhere for you! It's time!"

And just like that, everything else is pushed aside.

It's time to fight.

"There's nothing here," Lea says, spinning his Keyblade anxiously.

"I thought Leon said it was time?" Sora says.

"It was!" Leon says. "I saw it, but it's gone now."

Kairi and Namine stand beside each other, Keyblades out and eyes peeled for movement in the courtyard. Roxas paces, also spinning his Keyblade, looking in every direction, including up. They've been standing here for ten minutes and so far, nothing's appeared.

"It's not gone," Roxas warns, voice tight. "Don't get lazy."

"Speak for yourself," Lea says, shooting him a wolfish grin. "Only one here that's lazy is you."

"Yeah, fuck you," Roxas says, flipping him off while trying to hide a smile.

Kairi speaks up. "Do you think—"

Her sentence is beheaded as the ground beneath them begins to quake. Everyone tries to get a good foothold, maintaining their upright positions as the earth beneath them bucks and writhes and rolls. Everything shakes so violently that it blurs.

"Everyone get ready!" Leon shouts, holding his blade with both hands.

Suddenly, the shaking intensifies. It grows so powerful that everyone starts to stumble and stagger. Kairi grasps Namine's free hand as they tumble to the ground. They cry out as the earthquake tosses them around like dolls. It's all Kairi can do to keep her hand in Namine's grasp. The trees in the courtyard creak and crack as their roots are forced from the ground, sending them toppling. Birds scream in terror, their wings fluttering like rainfall as they escape the leaves and fly away.

Namine screams.

"Roxas!"

Kairi sees Roxas, who's barely staying upright, spin to face them. His face is horrified when the ground begins to split around them, a giant, jagged crack ripping through the courtyard's stone ground. One second, Kairi and Namine are on the ground.

The next, they're falling.

The two sides grow further and further apart, one side rising higher and higher, taking Roxas, Sora, Leon, and Lea with it. Kairi manages to stab her keyblade into the dirt that's exposed, using it to help them slide down, twigs and rocks tearing at their clothing and skin.

"Namine! Cast Aero!" Kairi screams.

Namine's Keyblade is thrust into the air. "Aeroga!"

A gust of wind swirls around them, sending them soaring back up to the top of the cliff. Namine lands on her feet by Roxas. Kairi lands right on the edge of the cliff, her stomach lurching as she starts to teeter backward.

Sora's there, flashing forward like a haunt, grabbing her by the waist and dragging her bodily away from certain death. He doesn't linger, turning and scanning the assembled fighters. He opens his mouth to say something, but he's interrupted.

A deafening, screeching roar erupts all around them, nearly shattering their eardrums. Everyone's weapons clatter to the ground as they slam their hands over their ears for protection.

Shadows sweep over them, blocking out the sun and chilling the air. There's the loud beating of wings, and then bam! A dragon Heartless the likes of which Kairi's never seen lands right in front of them. It's huge, covered in colorful scales and adorned with the Heartless symbol in the dead center of it's chest. It's wings are topped by razor-sharp claws and it has a long snout, it's jaws sporting a horrific mouthful of daggerlike teeth. It's long neck rears up and it's chest swells.

Lea cups his mouth with his hands. "It's breathing fire! Everybody dive!"

Everyone dives to the left or right at the very moment that the dragon expels a massive storm of fire so hot that Kairi feels any exposed skin searing. The dragon's claws, as big as Kairi's entire body, gouge into the ground beneath it, tearing the stone into chunks and sending large, dangerous rocks flying. Namine protects Kairi, Roxas, Sora, and herself with another Aeroga. Lea spins his Keyblade so fast that every rock glances off of the makeshift barrier it forms. Leon swings his massive sword, batting the rock away.

"Weak points are the wing joints, the underbelly, and the top of its head!" Leon hollers. "Take out the wings first so it can't fly!"

"On it!" Roxas says. He hops onto his Keyblade and glides through the air, catching the updrafts of the air the dragon's inhaling. When he gets to the right hand wing joint, he starts swinging the blade, launching a full-on assault.

Lea's next, but he doesn't go into the air. He throws his blade and casts powerful unnamed spells that make fire into lightning. They crash into the left hand wing and it's connecting joint.

The dragon rears it's neck again. Kairi feels the wind rushing past them as it sucks in a breath.

"Namine, take care of healing. Kairi and Leon—you handle the underbelly." Sora says, his voice icy and hard as diamond. He holds out his other hand and in a flash of light, Oathkeeper appears in his other hand. He spins both Keyblades. "I'll take the head."

And he's gone.

Namine springs to action, keeping herself at a distance and casting spell after spell. Leon barrels straight for the belly, dodging the dragon's legs and the swipes of its claws.

Kairi follows close, dodging the dragon's paws as it twists it's body in a failed attempt to hit Lea with it's spiked tail. She averts a stomp and rolls, leaping up and spinning. She jumps back and forth like a dexterous cat, using Destiny's Embrace to hack and slash at the closest leg.

"Sora!" Roxas shouts. "There's Heartless spawning on its back!"

Kairi turns. Though she can't see what Sora's doing, she sees the Shadows and Neoshadows dripping down to the ground on all sides like poisonous black hail. Leon's busy with the belly, so Kairi decides to help Sora on the ground. She attacks every Heartless she sees, her arms swinging and blade spinning arcs through the air as she uses her Strike Raid ability over and over.

A Neoshadow leaps onto her from behind, raking it's claws down her back and tearing into her clothes. She screams in pain as it breaks the skin and rents it open. With a snarl of rage, Kairi whips around grabs one of the piece of shit's antennae to hold it in place. She stabs Destiny's Embrace into the center of it's chest, twisting and yanking it back out. Dark blood sprays across her face and body and the Neoshadow disappears.

She jumps back into the fray, making her way out from beneath the dragon and sliding under it's whipping tail. As she spins, ripping her blade through a swathe of Shadows, she glances up at the dragon's back.

Sora's a force, both of his Keyblades acting like extensions of his arms. When Oathkeeper's in hand, Oblivion's spinning through the air. When Oblivion returns to him, Oathkeeper is stabbing into Heartless bodies again and again. He spins and jumps and flips and rolls. Nothing escapes him.

Except for one Heartless.

A well-placed jumping attack from a Neoshadow makes Sora stagger. Before he can recover, the Neoshadow bends over and there's an explosion of thunder. Countless sharp black spikes come tearing out of the Neoshadow's body, several of them slamming into Sora's gut and harpooning him. He goes toppling backward off the dragon, nearly seventy feet in the air.

Kairi makes a run for it as he hurtles to the ground. When she's close enough, she pivots and hurls her Keyblade. It spins and spins, coming into contact with the bottom of one of Sora's feet at the exact moment it needs to. He drops Oblivion so he can grab Destiny's Embrace's hilt and he uses it to glide the rest of the way to the ground.

He hits the ground running—stumbling, really—and Kairi crashes into him, trying to hold him up. There's blood everywhere and he looks pale.

"Sora, are you okay?!" she cries.

Namine comes bounding over, her face set with resolve. "Where did they pierce you?!"

"They're—fuck— they're inside me," Sora groans, leaning on Kairi for support. "They need to be pulled out."

"Damn it," Namine curses. "Fine. We'll seal the wounds and extract them after the battle. Take three of these while I do it—they'll take care of the pain so you can fight. Kairi, watch my back."

Namine thrusts several potions into Sora's hands. He knocks them back one after the other, tossing the empty vials aside as Namine gets to work. The green color of her healing spells casts an eerie glow over the vicinity. Kairi takes on any Heartless that come close. All around them, Lea's mad cackling and wild bolts of fire crash and echo.

"He's fucking insane," Sora says, laughing as he meets Kairi's eyes.

"I'll say." Kairi hurls her Keyblade toward him, hilt over tip. Sora raises one eyebrow as he jerks his head out of the way at the last moment, watching as it destroys a Shadow and comes whirling back into Kairi's grip. She gives him a sweet smile. "Oops."

He laughs again. "You'll regret that, brat. Namine! Are you done yet?"

"One second, you nutter," Namine snaps. "Okay…ready? Get out of here!"

Sora salutes her and then, with a grin, he takes off like a shot, scaling the dragon's tail like an acrobat. Namine dashes off toward Roxas, leaving Kairi to get back to fighting the neverending Shadows and Neoshadows while avoiding the dragon's stomping.

Soon enough, the wings are both disabled, enabling Lea to help Sora with the head and Roxas to join Leon. Everyone fights, beating away at everything until all that's left is the dragon's head. When that's all that remains, the fire it breathes gets hotter. More virulent. The fire breaths come one after the other. Namine has to stop healing so she can use strictly ice magic to protect them from the flames.

Things fall apart when Namine's blindsided by the tail. It slams into her gut and sends her flying. Roxas takes off after her, accidentally leaving Leon's back unprotected. He's set upon by several Neoshadows at once, which take him to the ground. Lea's still sending fire every which way, but it's becoming a problem now that Namine's down for the count.

It's up to Sora and Kairi now.

Sora lands on the ground beside her right as she reaches the dragon's front. It's rearing it's head back to breathe fire again.

"It'll kill us," Sora says.

"Then we need to get to the head."

"I will."

"How?"

He gives her an unreadable look. "I'll have to shift into one of my Forms."

"All right. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Whatever happens…just know I care about you."

"What?"

He runs a short distance away. Oathkeeper and Oblivion begin to spin in the air at his sides. He seems to absorb all of the sunlight in the courtyard, until the only thing that can be seen is his glowing body. The light gets so bright that it blinds, and when Kairi can see again, Sora's clothing has become streaked with white. The Keyblades hover in an X shape behind him as he lifts off of the ground, shooting all the way up to the dragon's head.

Kairi stumbles backward, her jaw open as she watches Sora's Final Form devastate the dragon. It's almost pitiful how fast he demolishes it. She wonders why he didn't start with his Final Form.

She gets her answer soon enough.

Sora crashes down to the ground, landing on one knee and causing cracks to spiderweb outward from his landing point. Slowly, he stands. Tendrils of shadow begin to twist in the air around him. Sora's hands are in fists at his sides. He's trembling. His head is bowed and he's growling like a monster. Like an animal. Darkness coalesces on his body, spreading over it like it's been poured onto him.

Something bad is happening to Sora.

Behind him, the defeated dragon roars and screeches in agony as it writhes and shakes the ground. It's dying. Disappearing in showers of shadow spheres and sparks.

After the dragon is gone, leaving behind the remainder of it's Heartless spawn, Kairi takes a step forward.

Lea, who's just finished restoring Leon's health with a potion of some sort, appears in front of her, his back facing her. "No, Kairi. Stay back!"

"What's going on?" she cries.

Completely covered in ink-black darkness and oozing shadows and smoke, Sora lifts his head.

His eyes are bright, glowing saffron-yellow.

"It's the darkness. It's his Anti Form," Roxas says, horrified. He shoots them panicked looks. "Everyone needs to run. Now. Now! Go!"

Anti-Sora roars like a wild lion and launches itself at the nearest thing—a Neoshadow. It rips it apart, into shreds, and moves onto the next and the next. It leaps about the area like a ravenous demonic entity, tearing out the eyes of the other Heartless as simply as if they were buttons sewn onto a jacket.

Darkness is everywhere. It pools on the ground, seeping into the stone and taking hold. Particles of it latch onto the oxygen in the air and turn the area into a hazy, dark cloud.

Everyone's trying to run, but they're not fast enough.

Anti-Sora sits back on it's haunches and rakes it's clawed fingers over the ground, causing Heartless after Heartless to spawn in their wake. Soon, Shadows and Neoshadows materialize, pouring out of the stone and choking the remaining light out.

Kairi can barely see. She turns this way and that, attacking any Heartless that gets close enough to be visible. But when she makes one final turn, she shrieks in fear.

Anti-Sora manifests himself in front of her, causing her to fall onto her back. It leaps on her, holding her down with the strength of twenty men. Around him, the shadows start to whip and spin, keeping any of her companions from getting through to assist her. She starts to lift her Keyblade, but the demon rips it out of her hand and tosses it outside of the barrier. It clatters on the ground like a death knell. Kairi looks up into the glowing yellow spheres it calls eyes and sees nothing. No one. No Sora.

Just evil.

Anti-Sora starts to claw at her like a rabid beast. It's razor-sharp claws rip her open all over. Her clothes are shorn and the pain is acute. She tries to fight him off, but it's like trying to battle a tiger with no weapons.

"Sora!" she screams. "Sora, please! You have to wake up!"

No response. Just snarling and more slashing. More clawing. More blood. More pain.

"Sor—" Kairi tries to call his name again but this time, she chokes on blood. She coughs, and it spurts out, spraying across Anti-Sora's face. Her vision starts to blur. "Oh, God. Sora. Y-You're gonna kill me. Oh, Sora, please! Please c-come b-back!"

Anti-Sora stops, grasps at it's head, and throws itself away. It lands on it's back, where it kicks and snarls and flails as it fights something unseen within it. Slowly, the darkness starts to pull back. To fade and dissipate. The light returns to the area. The color returns to Sora's skin and hair.

And then he's back, on his hands and knees and hacking up dark globs of shadow.

Their friends descend upon them.

Namine's in a much better state, so she goes straight to Kairi's side and starts healing. Sora stands up, his face streaked with blood, and when he does, he cries out. His hands clutch at his abdomen, where the hastily-sealed wounds have reopened. The spikes are so deep within him that they aren't visible, but he's losing blood so fast that it's clear the wound is mortal.

The second Kairi's healed, left covered in blood without any wounds, she runs to Sora's side. He starts to collapse right as she reaches him. Kairi wraps her arms around his waist to hold him up.

"So sorry," Sora mumbles. There's sweat on his face. The pain in his eyes isn't just pain—it's pure agony. "I'm so sorry."

"No, don't talk, Sora."

"Forgive me." His hands cup her face, stroke over her tangled hair, caress her cheeks. "I hurt you. I'm so sorry."

"Stop trying to talk, Sora!" she yells, her voice and knees shaking. "Someone help me!"

Everyone comes over, covered in blood that belongs to wounds Namine has already healed.

"Leon," Lea says, "you need to go get Yuna and ask her for a Teleport Sphere. We need to get up onto the gummi ship. Run! Go now!"

Leon hits the ground running, and is gone.

"Get him on his back," Namine orders.

Kairi moves back so Lea and Roxas can maneuver Sora onto his back on the ground. Namine goes onto her knees beside him, tearing open the holes in his shirt so she can see his abdomen. Everyone gasps when they see. There are ten three-inch gory holes littering his stomach, with one the center of his chest that seems to have missed his heart. His breaths wheeze as though he's been running for miles.

"You asshole," Lea says, but his eyes are full of concern. "If you'd quit trying to show off, you wouldn't be in this predicament."

"F-Fuck you," Sora says, his body quivering with ferocity. He grins, and there's blood between his teeth. "You w-wish you were th-this badass."

"I, for one, do not," Namine says. "Now shut up so I can focus. I've got to heal the outside of the wounds again so you'll stop losing blood."

Kairi's hands shake as she smooths Sora's hair out of his eyes. He looks up at her, neither of them speaking as they look at each other. She doesn't want to say anything. The fear that he might not make it is ever-present in the forefront of her psyche, threatening to make her fall apart. She regrets her reaction to him in the Fissure, especially now that she knows what's poisoning him.

It's his Anti Form.

Leon returns with Yuna on his heels, and she's got a glowing blue sphere with her.

"This should take you right to your ship," Yuna says. "Oh, no! Sora! Is he gonna be okay?"

"Hopefully." Namine wipes her brow and stands up. "He's lost a lot of blood. I've been working with Princess Daisy back at the castle on a potion that can help replenish blood. He's just gotta live until we get there. Kairi."

Kairi tears her eyes off of Sora. "Yes?"

"When we get onto the ship, I need you to help me."

"With what?"

"Removing the spikes."

"Thanks for all of your help, you guys," Leon says. "We can handle any other Heartless that pop up. You really saved our asses here."

"No problem," Namine says. "Now, good-bye. We need to go."

Everyone gathers around close and puts their hands on Sora, says their good-byes to Leon and Yuna, and then Lea activates the Teleport sphere.