The next morning, I was getting ready to head out once more. I wanted to stay longer, but the rest of my family as well as Sora and Riku were still missing, and I had a promise to keep. The night before, I had confessed to Master Aqua about the vision I had had of Riku locked up in some dungeon. With a few details, including that of the raven, Master Aqua was able to figure out that she knew the location all too well as the keep of Maleficent the evil fairy, which resided in Enchanted Dominion. It was also home of one of The Seven Princesses of Heart, Aurora.
"Thanks for the new spell, Merlin," I told the wizard.
Merlin nodded. "Stopza will be of good use for you. Take good care now."
"I will." I turned to Aerith, who was standing behind Chise with her hands on my sister's shoulders. "Thanks again for watching Chise while I'm gone, Aerith."
"Of course. Just make sure to take care of yourself," Aerith replied.
I nod my head. "Send my regards to Leon and the others." Last but not least, I cupped my hands under Chise's chin and kissed her forehead. "Be good, Chise. I promise I'll be back soon with the others."
Chise nodded and hugged my waist. "I'll miss you, Oneesan. Be careful."
I brought my sister close, stroking her hair. "Don't worry about a thing. We'll all be together again real soon and go home." I placed a final kiss on top of her head before backing away. When I was at a safe enough of a distance, I summoned my Keyblade. Concentrating the energy needed into the tip of the blade, an orb of light appeared and I quickly raised it to the sky, creating a portal high above the rooftops. I then forced it away and willed my wings to appear, both them and my True Form dress flashing into existence, causing my sister's eyes to grow wide in amazement. I gave a final wave and wink before flapping my wings and taking to the air, looking down at my friends and sister before entering the portal to the Lanes Between.
At the Mysterious Tower…
Yen Sid sat in his chair behind his desk as he listened to Lea's report, a neutral look on his face. Mickey had yet to return from his task of surveying the damage of the other worlds. From what he had brought on previous rounds, things seemed grim; Heartless had invaded several worlds, some of which had already been swallowed by the shadows. The Seven Princesses of Heart were doing their best to defend their homes -Kairi subbing as guardian in Radiant Garden- but it was only a matter of time.
Once Lea finished, Yen Sid stroked his beard as he processed this new information. "And you are certain that the two of them are working together?" He questioned the red-head.
Lea smirked. "I'd hardly say they're working together; it's more like they're using one another to achieve their own personal goals. The evil fairy is still trying to get the data Mickey and the others obtained from the data-scape of the journal, and the old man's plans are not much of a mystery to us. Still, I can't seem to figure out why he recruited Hikari's brother; when I first saw him, I sensed a great amount of light within him."
"Xehanhort is very methodical," Yen Sid stated. "He must have a reason for taking the boy in. Speaking of which, how did Hikari take the news?"
Lea rubbed the back of his head. "Not well. She stormed out of Merlin's place after I told her. I tried to go after her, but he had me leave her be. Aerith ended up sending some friend of theirs to find her when she was late for dinner."
"Hmm, poor child. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do for her at the moment. We can only guide her in the right direction and aide her when she must confront the organization." Yen Sid got up and walked over to the window behind his desk like he usually did, lost in thought. "Please make sure to keep an eye on the organization and report to me if anything changes."
"You got it." With that, Lea casually saluted and left the chamber.
XXXXX
As my wings took me to Enchanted Dominion, my thoughts traveled back to Genji. I didn't want to believe that he willingly joined Organization XIII, but the longer it took for me to find him, the more I began to realize that it was probably true.
"Please have faith, Hikari," Master Aqua said, breaking into my thoughts. "You must not let doubt cloud your judgement."
"I know, but I have this aching feeling in my chest that I could have somehow prevented all this," I replied.
"What would make you say that?" She asked, a curious tone in her voice.
I thought back to that dream five years before, describing it to Master Aqua as I recalled the event that had occurred.
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A/N: Follow the link below to read my short crossover with Dark-Momento-Mori on deviantART and learn about the dream Hikari is talking about.
art/The-Angel-s-Keyblade-Crossover-Dark-Momento-Mori-405680363
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"She told me that even then Darkness was starting to take hold of Genji. I did what she offered and worked even harder to show my brother the right path, but I guess I didn't try enough."
"You cannot blame yourself, Hikari," Master Aqua stated reassuringly. "I once had to go through the same thing with a dear friend of mine. My former master warned me that if I didn't keep him heading on the right path, he would be forever lost to the Darkness… But in the end, I still failed."
"You're talking about Terra, aren't you?"
She sighed and I imagined her nodding solemnly. "During the years I wandered the Realm of Darkness, I kept blaming myself for what happened to him, along with our master and close friend, Ven. I had put my emotions ahead of my duties as a Keyblade Master. It was just as Xehanort had said; I was misguided and not ready for the responsibilities that came with being a master." She was quiet for several moments before continuing. "Even so, I managed to find hope when I learned of Sora's journey in our absence, and knew that the time would come when he would save us all."
I found myself smiling a little. "Sora's heart is connected to so many others. It sounds almost too good to be true, but I've already seen what he's capable of, so I'll take your word for it." An eerie-looking world soon came into sight, with a white castle on top and dark thorns and green mist on the opposite pole. Three small orbs of light in the colors of red, green, and blue floated above the castle, almost acting like a sort of symbol of possible guardians.
"That's Enchanted Dominion," Master Aqua confirmed. "Take extreme caution, Hikari. Maleficent might already know of your arrival."
"Right." I put on an extra burst of sped and descended to the world below.
I landed in a small meadow of light-green grass, trees surrounding me in a circular manner. I willed my wings away and my dress vanished in an instant to be replaced by my Original Form clothes. Then, I began to survey the area.
It must have been early summer, for the trees were completely full with green leaves and the air was warm. However, despite the strong and comforting sunshine that bathed the clearing, the darkness I sensed was beyond ominous.
"I don't like the vibes I'm getting off this place," I stated, clutching my arms.
"Maleficent's fortress isn't very far from here," Master Aqua stated. "But I will admit that this amount of dark energy is beyond what I had sensed when I first came here. Best be on your guard."
I nodded in acknowledgment and headed into the forest. The silence sent shivers down my spine as I walked further in as the trees became thicker in numbers. Not a creature could be heard and a cold mist soon started to form at my feet when the light from above was quickly blocked out by the overhanging branches.
The sun soon set, but I wasn't aware of it until the trees suddenly began to thin out and grow in deadness, some of which the stumps were all that was left. Eventually, the trees completely disappeared and I found myself standing at the bottom of a narrow path that led to a grey fortress. Crows circled the spires like scavengers to a corpse and I caught sight of the occasional beast-like creatures walking along the castle sentry posts. My eyes drifted towards the entrance, but I was disappointed to find the drawbridge up and the metal gate closed.
"Guess I'm not getting in the easy way, but then, that would leave me wide open," I muttered. Summoning my wings once more, I leapt off the ledge of the path, keeping close and in the shadows of the cliff as I tried to search for another way in. However, much to my disappointment, the castle walls were too tall, leaving my exposed if I tried to climb or fly over them.
As I headed back towards the bottom of the path, a screech suddenly sounded from above. When I looked up, I instantly recognized the raven from my vision a few days before. Its beady eyes bore down on me as it let out another set of screeches.
"Get out of there, Hikari!" Master Aqua ordered.
Too late, an ablaze arrow whizzed by my left side, followed by half-a-dozen more. As I narrowly dodged each one, I sneaked several glances up at the source of where the assault was coming from. Strange bird-like creatures as well as Soldier and Lieutenant Heartless stood atop the walls of the castle, firing mercilessly and the creatures letting out cries of enjoyment, seeing me struggle. Not surprising, the Heartless shot their arrows in silence.
Damn it. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place, I thought with a curse and hiss of annoyance.
"Out of the way!" A gruff voice yelled from above. "You bozos can't do anything right!"
I chanced another look up, seeing a tall, fat individual that reminded me of a cat barging his way past the bird-humanoids so he was standing in front. His face was gruff, black from his scraggy ears to the bridge of his nose and a pale brown below that. He wore a suit of mainly red, then blue and black and gauntlets of silverish-blue.
"Hikari, keep your distance from that one," Master Aqua stated.
"Who is he?" I asked, ducking my head as another arrow shot above me.
"His name is Pete. I've only met him once, but know well enough that trouble is never far behind when he's near," she replied.
"Should I summon my Keyblade?"
"No. We may have lost the element of surprise, but they don't seem to be aware that you're a Keyblade wielder. This may lower their guard and give you the opportunity to strike back when they least expect it."
"Alright, so then what do we- AHH!" I was cut off when I felt excruciating pain shoot through my body. I looked up to see that Pete was holding a bow in his oversized hands, a giant smile on his face. Overcome with agony, I began to fall out of the sky, the smell of burning flesh filling my nose.
No; it can't end like this! I still have to find my family and friends! I screamed to myself mentally.
"Hikari; you need to steady yourself!" Master Aqua screamed at me. "A hole is coming up a few meters below you in the cliff-side."
Blinking away my tears and leveling my body, I quickly spotted the hole and, with the last of my strength, steered my body towards it and braced myself. Darkness swallowed me whole as I crashed into the hole, picking up dirt and grime as I rolled several times.
It was my wings that eventually brought me to a halt. For several minutes, I just lied there, my body too sore and aching for me to even budge. Even breathing proved to be a difficult task. I felt my dress disappear, though my wings remained, ripping holes in my vest and undershirt when they replaced my True Form.
Eventually, I managed to calm my breathing and adjust to the dim lighting. I listened closely for any signs of the enemy, but when the battle cries faded into the distance, I let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you alright, Hikari?" Master Aqua asked, fear evident in her voice.
"I-I'm alright, just sore," I replied. I slowly began to get to my feet, but pain in my left wing shot through me and forced me back to my knees. Looking over my shoulder through squinting eyes, I saw, to my horror, that an iron-tipped arrow had pierced my wing.
I tried to reach back and grab it, but my body couldn't take the pain of me stretching my arm. Left with no other choice, I grabbed the last Elixir from my travel pouch and swallowed its contents in one swig. Energy coursed through my body as my strength returned to me, but the pain in my wing remained, forcing me to leave it be. I got to my feet, then finished my conversation with Master Aqua. "I'll be fine, but I'm too exposed this close to the hole." Summoning the light of my necklace, I added "I think this is some sort of old waterway tunnel. It should lead further into the keep."
"Alright, just be on your guard," she warned, then went silent.
A few minutes later, I began to hear footsteps above me, confirming my hunch that the tunnel had been built right below the fortress floors in case it were to somehow flood. However, I knew I had to be silent as possible, for if I got caught, I would be in no shape to put up a good fight.
For the most part, the path remained straight and the roof remained above my full height, so at least I wasn't struggling. There were a few times where it inclined, making me wonder if I was reaching higher floors.
I had perhaps walked for five minutes when I hear voices that I could make out.
"You let the intruder escape!?" A woman's voice howled. "Insolent fool!"
There was the sound of an explosion and the wall above me trembled, scattering rocks and dust.
"Forgive me," a male voice that I recognized as Pete's replied. "But when I hit its wing-"
"Wing?" The woman interrupted, now sounding curious.
"Y-Yes. From what I saw, the intruder seemed to be some kid with one black wing and one white, like a bird," Pete continued.
They're talking about me, I thought to myself. I'm not safe here. I slowly started to backtrack towards where I had come from, but I felt a hard object hit my foot, accidentally kicking it against the side of the tunnel, creating a large echoing thud.
"Who's there!?" Pete gruffly called out.
I stood perfectly still and held my breath, praying that he would forget the sound and get back to his conversation with the unknown woman.
However, my prayers weren't heard, for my ceiling crumbled. Weak light poured in as a hole was made above me in one blow and I brought my arms above me to shield myself, for which I regretted doing when a large gloved hand, or rather paw, reached down and ensnared around my right wrist. I screamed as I was pulled from my hiding spot and out into the open.
"Let me go!" I cried, thrashing my body around. Though I failed to break free, I was able to catch a quick glimpse and identify my captor as Pete, who had a giant grin on his face.
"How odd."
I looked up to see a tall, pale-green woman standing in front of Pete, studying me with cold, dragon-like eyes. She wore a dark-violet, almost black, cloak that had a sort of tattered or ripped style to it, dragon-like horns atop her head and a staff with a green sphere on top in her hand.
The witch grabbed my chin with her ice-cold hand and lifted it so our eyes locked. "You are quite foolish to invade my dominion, insolent child," she stated harshly, but with composure.
"Well, your soldiers aren't very bright if they allowed me to get this far. Especially this boob of a captain you got here," I added, indicating to Pete with a tilt of my head.
I almost thought I heard a hiss like a cat's escape Pete, but wasn't sure, for he suddenly squeezed my wrist tighter, causing me to scream once more in pain.
"What are we gonna do with her, Maleficent?" Pete questioned.
Well, if that didn't turn any lights on, nothing would. I tried to ignore the pain as I glared at the evil fairy with as much hatred as I could muster. "Where are you keeping Master Riku?"
"Ah, so you came for the Keyblade Wielder," Maleficent replied with an evil grin.
"Keyblade Master," I corrected, then lifted my knee and kicked back as hard as I could. I was rewarded with a painful 'oof' from Pete and the release of my wrist, allowing me to jump up and away from both the fairy and her goon. I stumbled slightly when I landed, but managed to steady myself and, biting back the pain, summoned The Angel's Keyblade. My focus was solely on Maleficent, Pete - who was curling over in pain- being the least of my worries, knowing Master Aqua had my back in her sights further putting my mind at ease. "Why do you have Master Riku here? You have no control over the darkness that once held his heart, so why hold him captive?"
Maleficent only gave another smirk and stated "The Darkness in you is strong. You may be of some use to me." With that, she slammed the butt of her staff against the gray tile and I found myself falling through a large hold that had suddenly appeared below me.
I began to pull out my uninjured wing, but the hole was too small for me to open it. I could only scream and brace myself as I continued to plummet.