Everything was cold. So very cold. And it had nothing to do with the temperature. It was rather the empty kind of cold. The lonely kind, emphasized by the endless darkness surrounding her. Then there was the pain. The pain that covered every inch of her body, stabbing at her, tearing at her, burning her. The worst was centered around her heart, eating away at it bit by bit. At this rate, there would soon be nothing left. That would have been a terrifying thought to her, if she had had the luxury of feeling terror. Instead, all she could feel was the agony that felt like it had been going on for millennia.
As if someone simply flipped a switch, it all suddenly stopped. It was no longer completely pitch black. Elsa's eyes were squeezed shut, so she still could not see anything except the light against her eyelids. She heard the sounds of people around her. Felt a warm, mellow breeze on her skin and playing with her braid. Her body now only felt a dull ache that was slowly fading. The ache was welcome compared to the pain of just a few seconds earlier. Her breathing was heavy and unsteady.
"Told you it would hurt," she heard Axel say.
She rasped tiredly, "I… thought it would be easier the second time… now that I… knew what to expect…"
"Trust me, it will never get easier for you." There was a pause where all that could be heard was Elsa's labored breaths. "You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah," she nodded weakly.
"Think you can stand on your own now?"
She did not respond right away, confused by the question. What was he talking about? She was standing just fine, wasn't she? Then she smelled it. That familiar scent of cinnamon and burnt timber. She slowly opened her eyes and realized she was leaning into Axel for support, her head resting against his chest, her fingernails digging into the fabric of his hoodie. They were standing on a crowded sidewalk and people were unabashedly staring at her as they passed by.
Feeling her cheeks warm, she gently pushed away from him and wobbled slightly. He reached out to steady her and she held up a hand to stop him. She stabilized herself, standing still on her own strength. "I got it," she muttered.
"You sure?"
"Yup. I just need a minute to walk it off," she said firmly. She took a step, nearly had her legs collapse under her, but caught herself. Hoping Axel hadn't noticed, she took another, more confident step, before finally being able to manage a walk that was respectable, if somewhat shaky. She heard Axel's footsteps as he hurried to catch up and walk beside her.
They walked in silence for a bit, Elsa feeling her strength slowly return to her as she took in their surroundings. Judging by the buildings around them, they were still in Corona. Where in Corona, she could only guess. She supposed it did not really matter, as long Larxene couldn't find them. Besides, now she had been given the opportunity to get some questions answered.
"What were those things?" she asked, to which Axel merely raised an eyebrow. "You know, the zipper-mouthed beasts that were attacking me. Were they a new kind of Heartless?"
"Ah. No, they were Nobodies."
She furrowed her brow. "Nobodies? But… you… you're a Nobody, and you look nothing like-"
"You remember how Nobodies are created, right?" he interjected.
"Well, yeah… when a Heartless steals someone's heart, it leaves behind a body and soul that become a Nobody."
He nodded. "Right. But how the Nobody comes out looking depends on how strong their heart was. If they had a strong heart and will, then they'll keep their human form, like me. Like Larxene. But if their will is weak and their heart is fragile-"
"-then they come out misshapen and inhuman," she finished in understanding. She was now recalling Sora explaining that previously, but it had slipped her mind in the crazy whirlwind that had been the past few days.
"Bingo," he said as he knit his fingers together behind his head. "And like the Heartless, they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Those ones back there are the most common though. We call them Dusks. They take orders from us Organization members."
"Why didn't you tell them to leave me alone then?"
"Cuz I don't know if you noticed, but that bunch didn't seem too keen on doing anyone's bidding besides Larxene's."
"You have a point," Elsa admitted. "Speaking of, what was she talking about? She said something about potential candidates… candidates for what? And clean up crews? What would she need clean up crews for? She doesn't really strike me as the community service type."
He seemed to consider the question before asking. "What happens when a city's heart gets devoured by darkness?"
Thinking back to the news reports on Destiny Islands, she ventured, "The… city disappears?"
"Well, duh. What else?"
"... Heartless... are created from the people who were within the city?"
"And…?" he drew out the word and made a twirling gesture with his finger, indicating to go on.
She pursed her lips in thought. "And… Nobodies. Nobodies are created as well."
"Exactly," he said, tapping his nose. "And so a majority of those end up being lesser Nobodies, like the Dusks. But sometimes, they pop out like me."
"A dork?" Elsa smirked.
"Hey, don't hate just 'cause you're jelly of how awesome I am," he said, ruffling her hair in retaliation. "Anyway, you know what I mean. They come out human. And these newbies are disoriented... have a lot of questions... need someone there who can help them understand what happened to them."
She looked down, processing what he said. "So you try to identify those with strong hearts and wills before they become Nobodies. Those are your potential candidates. Then if you're right, you have someone in place ready to guide the new Nobody."
"There you go, you're catching on."
"What about the clean up crews she mentioned?"
He scratched his cheek. "When a city goes under, a lot of free floating hearts are left behind."
"Right, which the Heartless snatch up."
"Not necessarily," he shook his head. "Not immediately, at least. It's not for lack of trying though, as those little buggers tend to get into a bit of a feeding frenzy. But those hearts are up for grabs if you're quick enough. So our clean up crews are Dusks and other lesser Nobodies, trying to beat those Heartless to the punch and steal the hearts first."
She cocked her head. "Okay… but why does the Organization want hearts?"
Axel shrugged. "Not a clue. You'd have to ask the head honcho. He's the one who gives the orders, we just follow them."
Well that was disturbing. It was one thing for the Heartless to collect hearts - they were just mindless monsters driven by instincts, a disease that infected and spread without thought or remorse. But the Organization and Nobodies were thinking, rational entities, so there had to be a reason behind why their leader wanted those hearts. What could it be?
With no answer readily apparent, she put that aside for the moment and asked, "...so… how long before Corona goes... 'nuclear,' I believe was the term?"
Axel bobbed his shoulders again. "Not sure. With Larxene setting up shop in town, I'd guess a day or two. Three tops." Something caught his eyes as they lit up and he came to a stop. "Ah, just what the doctor ordered."
Elsa walked a few steps past him before stopping as well to turn and look at him, then follow his gaze. They were standing in front of an establishment with a colorful, fogged glass window sporting two neon signs. The first simply blinked the word 'Open', the other was a martini glass crossing a green bottle. "Uh... a bar?"
"Yup," he said, walking towards it.
"You can't be serious. We have seventy-two hours max before this city is wiped off the face of the planet. We should be looking for the Keyhole."
"And I am. Who's to say it's not in here?" he asked, opening the door, halting to look at her. "Besides," he theatrically splayed a hand against his chest, "after the ordeal I just had, I need a drink." He threw her a wink and then walked inside.
"Axel!" The door shut behind him with a firm thud. She just stared with her mouth hanging open. Snapping it shut, she stood there for a moment, fidgeting awkwardly. Then with a huff and a stamp of her foot, she rushed in after him.
The hospital room was like the inside of a mausoleum, stagnant and cold. Instead of smelling musty and old however, it was sterile and lemony fresh. Instead of wilting flowers, there were beeping monitors. And instead of an angelic statue watching over a coffin, there was a frail figure in a green and yellow jacket holding vigil over a bed in which a patient lay, unmoving.
At the foot of the bedframe was a hospital chart that said a whole lot of nothing. It stated that the occupant of the bed was comatose, followed with pages of numbers, graphs, and paragraphs upon paragraphs of words that basically all summed up to the fact that no one had a damn clue why. The rest of the pertinent information on the clipboard was pretty straightforward. The patient was a young male, estimated to be sixteen or seventeen years of age. Eyes: light blue. Hair: silver. Name: John Doe.
He had had no ID on him when he had been found. No family had stepped forward to claim him. None of them, not the police, not the doctors, knew where he had come from or who he was.
But his visitor knew. This coma patient was the one that the green and yellow hoodie truly belonged to.
"Riku," they whispered, reaching thin fingers up to sweep a few pale strands of his bangs out of his face.
The poor boy, the voice in their head murmured. Such a pity.
"What's wrong with him?" they asked as their hand moved down to rest on top of his.
What you see before you is nothing more than a lifeless puppet. An empty vessel. His heart is gone.
They hung their head, obsidian bangs cascading out from within the shadows of the hood. "Gone? What happened to it?"
A long sigh rippled across their mind. Taken by the Heartless, no doubt. There was a brief pause. But… there might be a way to restore his heart and save him…
A sharp intake of breath could be heard. They squeezed Riku's cold, unresponsive hand tightly. "How? I'll do anything."
There were no words at first, but one could almost somehow feel the voice smiling. When it did speak, it was now accompanied by a chorus of voices that were soft and loud, near and distant, melodious and cacophonous, all harmonizing together to state two simple words.
...Kingdom Hearts…
Author's Note: Sorry, short chapter, but still packed with a lot of info! Some of it straight forward, some of it subtle and more … mysterious xD
So we've now confirmed without a doubt that that's not Riku running around in his hoodie, but still the question remains as to who it truly is. As for poor comatose Riku? You're probably wondering if his heart was stolen, why his body is still lying around and not vanished into thin air. No, it's NOT that he's is a prince(ss) of heart in this AU xD Don't worry, I have an explanation! And you will get it… in due time xP I'm claiming a bit of artistic license with this, but hey, it's an AU, I can do what I want! Also worry not, Riku fans, he still has his part to play in this story, you're just gonna have to wait a while to see what exactly it is. Trust me though, there is a method to my madness. There always is. You'll just have to wait to see what it is!
Special thanks and much love to everyone who has shown support this quirky little story! Thank you all for reading, hoped you liked it, please leave a review and let me know what you think! Be back for next week's update!