Chapter 23: Are own wars.
Sora walked along the grass to the glider; that was over by Colbert's work space. A brown bag was hanging over his shoulder as she placed his hand over the handle. Sora took one more look at the shed as he let out a disappointing sigh. Once again someone was endangered and Sora was powerless to do anything again.
The keyblade wielder was starting to see himself as powerless for all his efforts he couldn't save Mr.Colbert why didn't he stay to help him. That caused him to remember his dream previously. How he was told he couldn't protect anyone.
"So, this is where you were?" Sora jumped. He shifted his head and saw Kirche approach him. "I heard that you and Louise are leaving for Albion today."
"Yeah that's right." Sora said "Of course I don't know if I'll be useful."
"Come on, stop beating yourself up. It's been a few days since what happened." Kirche replied "What happened wasn't your fault."
"I know, but it feels like it was. I kept trying so hard to make sure that no one else got hurt on my watch. I try so hard, but I'm just so useless!" Sora said in anger as he smacked his fist into the wall. "I wasn't there for him when I should have been. And now Colbert's gone because of me."
Sora was emotionally beating himself. After all his efforts it was like nothing matters. Sure he and everyone else were able to save Julio, Siesta and everyone else that was taken hostage by the mercenaries, and Sora was able to save Agnès from herself….But you think after all his trials and his time he spend training with the others he believed he was getting better.
Or maybe he was diluting himself. The words of the viscount rung inside his head. Wardes was right…he couldn't protect anyone.
Kirche was seeing how much this was getting to him. She slowly approached him. "Hey. I told you before. What happened wasn't your fault, it wasn't anyones."
"I know. But after hearing his story, maybe I should've tried harder." Sora said
"Probably you could or maybe you couldn't but I can say that he died saving everyone, that knight included even though she hated him for what he did. He was trying to make up for honest mistakes he made over a decade ago. And if I'm being honest myself I think that you did save him."
Sora turned from the wall and faced her "What do you mean?" He asked.
"You talked with him, didn't you"
"That's right, I told him no one is beyond redemption. All that should matter is what you do in order to seek it." Sora responded.
"And I think that was what he needed to hear." A new voice spoke out loud they turned to see Louise walking towards the fire mage and keyblade wielder. "Mr.Colbert spent twenty years trying to make up for what happened but he didn't know how to live with the guilt. He did the best that he could to serve his penance. But he was still haunted by his sins. I think that in a way you did help."
"You both seriously think that I helped him?"
"You helped him confront his past instead of running from it. So yes, you did save him in a way." Louise added "There are more than one ways to save a person."
Sora looked at the girls as he faced down at the grass. And thought about what they said, "Hhm. I'm not so sure."
"It's the truth." Kirche replied as she gently brushed her hand through his spiky hair. "You know you are amazing, but you gotta know that you can't save everybody. So try and bounce back from this. Because I know you can, it's one of your best qualities."
Sora stared at the girl's with a blank expression on his face as he closed his eyes. and flashed a small smile. "Yeah, you're right." Sora thanked the girls as they were happy to see that smile come back to him. "Thank you both."
"Haha. There it is." Kirche said in a rather joyful tone of voice as she shoved his face in between her breasts. "You haven't been smiling like you used to, so I'm glad that you're getting back to normal."
While she was busy enjoying herself Sora started to feel a rather soothing sensation even though he was in an embarrassing position. He was starting to get lost in the warm and pleasant feeling, although Louise's left eye started twitching as she forcibly grabbed onto Sora's hood pulling him away from Kirche.
"Come on, we're leaving!" She said as she was annoyed with Sora starting to fall into her trap.
Sora powered up the glider and slowly ascended up. Tabitha started to approach the fire mage and stood next to her "Be careful out there!" Kirche replied.
"Don't worry. We'll be okay!" Sora said as he and Louise flew off. Sora looked back one more time at the academy.
Louise once again wore her annoyed expression.
'He always acts so embarrassed. But instead he was okay with that cow's embrace.' To her it was clear that he was enjoying having his face pressed against her breasts.
Sora could feel her hardened gaze looking right at him as he faced her "What?" He asked.
"You truly are a pervert. You know that." He said coldly.
"What?! No I'm not!" Sora said.
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not."
Their circular argument continued as they flew far from the eyes. Kirche watched them leaving the school. Just then Tabitha was standing next to her. Wishing them a safe journey.
(Albion)
After a few days of flying. Sora and Louise reached Albion, they descended from the glider and got off. The two of them arrived at where the queen was stationed.
Upon entertaining they were immediately informed by a knight that her majesty Henrietta was awaiting for them. But as they were entering they both caught sight of Agnès they both stopped as she was talking to another nobleman. Honestly even though it had been just a few days since…well what happened at the academy.
After Agnès got done talking she must have felt their eyes looking in her direction. She looked to see Sora and Louise together. An award silence filled the air neither Sora nor Agnès greeted each other, she just looked to the side with a troubled expression, but she remembered that they were here to assist so she shook her feelings and approached them with her usual demeanor.
"I'm glad to see you both arrived safely." Said Agnès "Her highness is expecting you. Now follow me." She ordered Sora and Louise.
On their way they tried to make a conversation asking the captain of the musketeers how she had been. She said that she is doing well. That is as she glanced at her left hand and wore a worried look on her face. Sora asked her if she was still thinking about what happened to Menvil. She was surprised but then again it probably was so obvious that she thought it was just a dream.
But no. Him turning into that monster was no dream at all, she started to fear the words Xemnas said to her and she chose not to keep relying on that power anymore. That led to Agnès asking Sora if there was a way to remove it, Sora shook his head, and said that there is no way to get rid of it. As light exists in a person, so does darkness. You can't have one without the other.
"So that's it. I'm fated to become a monster." Agnès replied.
"No, I'm sure you can control it." Sora said to Agnès "My buddy Riku has and uses the same type of powers as you do and he's all but mastered them."
"This Riku person have abilities like me?" She asked. Sora nodded in confirmation.
"Forgive me for asking. But does Her Majesty Henrietta know about this?" Louise asked "About your…well."
"No." Agnès quickly said. "And promise me that you both won't say a word about this."
"I promise."
"Me too."
They promised not to say anything as Agnès stood in front of a door. She opened the door to see Henrietta looking at a map. The queen turned her head and saw her bodyguard. "Agnès?" She said Henrietta's expression changed when she saw who else was with her. "Louise!" Henrietta couldn't contain herself as she forgot what she was doing and hugged her childhood friend with her familiar present.
"My queen." Louise kneeled before her.
"How many times do I have to tell you Louise, you don't have to stand on ceremony." Henrietta said as she kneeled as well. giving Louise a hug. "Still I'm happy to see you here. You as well, Sora."
Sora gave a small wave. The two girls who were on thè floor stood up. "I heard about what happened to Mr.Colebert. I offer my prayers to you both." Henrietta said. She heard the news about the academy and about what happened to Mr.Colbert too. It was difficult to imagine that they would come and hold innocent bystanders hostage.
But what she found most hurtful was that he gave his life to save all those students.
Agnès had a variety of emotions swirling around inside her when she heard that name. "And one more thing…" The violet haired queen had something else to say. "Was…
"Ahem. Your highness." A nobleman caught the attention of everyone in the room.
"Oh, forgive me Poitiers." Henrietta said.
"It's alright. As I was saying, the enemy lines stand between here, the city of south gotha. Our main goal here is Londinium. Capital of Albion. If we want to reach our objective we need to claim this city first. Of course we will likely have some resistance if we try to march in." Poitier explained "That's where you come in, Miss Vallière."
Louise was surprised to hear this. "Me?"
"Aside from the ground troops. We received reports that they have dragon knights as well. And news about the same type of monsters that appear in Tristain."
'Heartless…' Sora thought
"So just as before, we want you to deal with the flyers. That way we can have our group unit storm South Gotha."
"If we decided to march in the city now, we could potentially involve innocent people. I know this isn't ideal…but I would like to avoid any casualties if at all possible." Henrietta said looking melancholy.
Louise saw her expression. "I understand. I will do my best and exceed your expectations, Your Highness."
Sora gasped at how she almost immediately said yes. He knows that she wanted to prove herself but to just jump in…he didn't like it.
After their meeting with Henrietta, Sora and Louise saddle up on the glider and fly in the direction of South Gotha from Rosyth, where they were earlier. The flight itself wasn't necessarily long but the temperature dropped by a lot. They said that it was past the mountains but they didn't mention just how cold it was up here.
As they continued flying in the air. "So let me get this straight. We're supposed to fly in, cause a diversion, and take out any dragon riders they have." Sora summed up the plan.
[That's basically the size of it.] Delf answered.
"I don't like it. It feels more like we're playing cat and mouse. And we're the mice."
"What are we supposed to do, just deny a request from the queen?" Louise said.
"I didn't say that." Replied Sora. "All I'm saying is that they could have come up with a better plan. And you were quick to jump on board."
"If it's for the queen I have to show my worth…Me the girl who was always a failure when it always involves magic."
Sora saw the face she was making, right sometimes it was easy to forget. But right now that was beginning to worry Sora with how much she wants to prove herself to others. There was nothing wrong with it or to try and help those who ask but he feels like she was taking it a bit far.
"Hey up ahead! I think I see it!" Sora said as they were getting closer to South Gotha. They flew over the city catching the attention of the people, among were a few soldiers. That didn't seem to be a knight from Albion. They immediately hopped on their dragon and began the chase.
"Hey, it's working. But I don't see any heartless with them!" Sora notice.
"It's fine. One less thing we should be worrying about." Louise said. "Okay." Louise slowly stood up trying to keep her balance as they were flying she pulled out her wand "Keep it steady." She ordered and began chanting.
"Rol'n suny, Feely, Jalunsa, Kusa…" Her wand began to shine a blue light …"Os, Sumy, Rodde, Lyn, Rade, Beozzs Yul." The mage finished chanting. But as she was about the use the spell from her previous time, the light disappeared and she fell to her knees.
"Louise!" Sora grew worried as a dragon knight flew towards them. Sora summoned a barrier to shield them, while also keeping Louise safe. The rider flew back, keeping his distance as Sora stopped mid air.
"Louise, are you alright!" Sora said.
Louise was holding her head, feeling completely tired and exhausted "I-I'm fine. I don't know what's wrong."
[I do. When you used that spell last time you used everything that had been stored up inside you during a critical moment. This form of spell isn't something that you can use on a whim.]
"Are you trying to say this magic can't be used regularly?" Sora answered.
"Who cares. Drop the barrier, I'll get them this time!" Louise ordered.
"No way. Just sit down and let me take care of them." Sora said.
"Sora, this is my-"
"I know. But think about Henrietta. You're her friend, not a tool!" Sora said sternly, making Louise shut up.
Louise couldn't argue "Okay, okay. You deal with them."
Sora summoned his Ever After keyblade and dropped the barrier. He flew in towards the dragon knights with the glider and began combat.
The two knights separated, as Sora flew in between them, he was flying to the right chasing after one of the knights, with the second one chasing after him the first rider turned around and unleashed a breath attack. Sora summoned a ball of water to put out the flame. This created a mist effect, blinding the rider.
The two flew out, trying to spot the unknown dragon and the person riding it. They looked up to see him flying down, they broke away and Sora when back chasing them he fired lasers from the glider. Aiming at the dragons wings, causing the dragon to lose balance and fall from the sky.
"Just one more!" Sora turned around and fired another round of lasers taking out the other rider. Sora watched as they fell to the ground.
"You got them!" Louise exclaimed.
Sora took a breath. It was weird the knights were defeated but there were still no heartless. On second thought it's probably better not to look a gift horse in the mouth. They should head back and report to the queen.
[Hey watch out! Six o'clock!] A strong wind blew from behind them. Louise fell off the glider, Sora saw her falling and jumped off the glider catching her. He pushed his hand downward and casted his wind spell as a way to cushion their fall. Sora landed on his feet as the wind submerged.
He looked up as saw fired balls surrounding the glider. They exploded around it, causing the glider to fall to the ground.
"The dragon!" Louise exclaimed
Heartless began to surround them Sora kept Louise close to his back as he summoned the Ever After keyblade once more. "And just what I was waiting for." Sora complained as he was prepared for a fight. "Louise, stay close."
She nodded as Sora was ready for another fight.
(Rosyth)
"What! They haven't returned." Henrietta said.
"That's right, there is no word if anything happened. And our sources haven't seen the dragon either." Poitiers explained the situation. "I suppose this is us thinking magic as powerful as her's was easy to handle."
"Louise is not an object for war!"
"Regardless they failed. Now we must charge forward with a head on attack. Please have all the troops march on South Gotha!"
Henrietta looked sad. She was trying so hard to stave off so much conflict for so long but it would seem that even now her efforts were in vain. That was when she recalled the words Sora said to her about deciding for yourself.
'Follow your own will…' The queen thought long and hard about it. "Poitiers. You have my permission to advance our forces."
Poitiers bowed "Thank you. I'll notify the troops." He was about to leave when the general bumped into Agnès. Neither of them said a word as Poitiers continued to leave.
"Your Majesty. Did something happen?" Agnès asked.
"Louise and Sora haven't returned from their reconnaissance mission. I don't know if it's a delay or if something happened to them. But they haven't come back yet."
Henrietta explained the situation to Agnès and she was shocked. She tried to remain calm, not letting her emotions get to her for she didn't want that power to suddenly start to surface. She knows that those two weren't going down easily, plus if Sora is there then the odds meant little.
But that still does excuse the feeling of an unease.
And speaking of the void mage and the keyblade wielder. Sora was still locked in combat with Louise standing behind him. Sora transformed his keyblade into a staff. Beams of light fried off the magic staff destroying that little heartless that remained. The keyblade wielder relaxed, letting his magic form vanish as the Mirage Staff reverted back to its keyblade form.
"Are they gone?" Louise asked.
"Yeah. I think that's the last of them." Sora replied. "I can't believe we fell for a trap."
"Why did you jump off the dragon?" Louise asked.
"I-I don't know I just did." Sora explained as best he could.
"Well thanks to your stupid move we lost our means of transportation. Just how are we supposed to face the queen after this?" Louise said. A strong gust of cold wind blew in their direction. Louise was starting to shiver from the freezing temperatures.
"We should worry less about that and more on trying to stay warm." Sora responded.
Sora began making an igloo big enough for him and Louise. And since they were also in a forest cutting pieces of wood from a tree close by, he brought those chucks of wood back to the igloo and lit them on fire with his magic. Pretty soon it started to warm up.
"Are you feeling warm now?" Sora said to Louise.
"Yeah." Louise said as she let out a giggle "What irony. I used to hate how well you could use magic, now I'm actually relieved that you have it."
Sora said nothing as he was watching the snowfall "You know, this reminds me of when I went to Arendelle. It was snowing like this."
"Arendelle?"
"A world I went to a short time ago. Their queen had control over ice and snow. It was just amazing." Sora complained to Else remembering her palace.
"So was she born with that power or was it granted to her." Louise asked.
Sora answered that she was born with it but it was only her. Her sister didn't have any magic either. But that didn't make her less of a royal. He started to list other princesses that didn't have magic but were still royalty, there was Jasmine, Belle…
But Louise asked were there any other princesses born with magic. Sora answered and it was only Rapunzel. Who was born with powerful healing magic.
Louise was in awe. "I had no idea there were places like that. I always believe that those with magic are always of noble blood. Thinking about it makes me think otherwise."
"Goes to show you that there's a lot more than you think." Sora said "There's more to a person's life than just having to learn magic. It's about how you go through life. That's the real challenge."
"How a person goes through life. I never thought of it like that. Hey, tell me. When I was falling you could have used that dragon to catch me like you did before, what were you thinking just jumping off like that?" Louise asked.
"I…I just did." Louise needed a more definite answer. "Okay. I just got scared. I thought you might die and before I knew it my body acted on its own."
"Was it because of Mr.Colbert?"
"Not just him. When we were fighting the organization one last time I watched all my friends perish. And when Xehanort struck down Kairi, I ran as fast as I could but I couldn't save her. I watched everyone get hurt and I couldn't do anything to try and save them." Sora replied as he stared into the fire.
"But it wasn't just them I failed to protect others here too." Louise recalled the events that happened in Albion before.
'Oh right. Prince Wales…' Louise also remembered how Henriettahad a troubled expression on her face. She was probably asking if they had seen Wales.
"I feel like I reached my limit, No matter what or how hard I keep trying to improve it's like I'm stuck in the same place. And forced to watch people die. So when you were falling all I could think is that if you or Kirche or Siesta or any of you got hurt with me there and I failed to save any of you. I don't know what I would do."
"So there you have it. That's the reason. I just don't want to keep seeing people around me die." Sora said with his eyes still eyeing the fire.
"Sora…" Louise looked at him with sadden eyes.
"Don't worry. I'm fine!" Sora said with a smile
"But…"
"Really. What you and Kirche said to me really helped. Maybe I couldn't save Colbert. But at the very least I was able to save his soul." Sora replied before yawning. "Anyway, let get some sleep. Goodnight." Sora laid on his back and shut his eyes
Louise was sitting near the fire having a load of things on her mind. Louise didn't know what to say to him. She didn't realize how much he had to endure or that he was keeping it inside of him all this time.
She quickly turned to Sora sleeping in the snow. She forgot he can sleep pretty much anywhere, but sleeping in the snow "I've never met anyone who could sleep in the snow this easily." Said Louise
[Well that's just him. Plus if you can sleep in an environment like this, you can sleep pretty much anywhere.] The sword said.
Louise turns her attention to the blade. "Yeah."
[Well, get some shut eye yourself. It's going to be a busy day.] Derf yawn before returning to the sheath.
Sneeze* She heard Sora sneeze 'Idiot you're going to get sick.'
Louise looked at Sora and thought his clothes weren't meant for winter. He could get sick and this mission would be even more of a failure. That's what she thought but she also remembered that humans can produce more heat via contact…but that would mean she'd have too… She stopped before thinking any further. But that was when she heard Sora sneeze again and he was having a chill.
Louise knows he's going to catch a cold. After a furious grunt she threw away her pride and took off her clothes one by one. Lucky for her that the two of them were fast asleep.
'This is so degrading?' She thought. She was just making sure that her familiar doesn't get sick at all, just pure platonic.
After taking off her robe she unbuttoned her shirt, kicking off her shoes and leggings. Pulling off her skirt and throwing her panties to the side. She crawled to Sora and was sitting on top of him.
She swallowed the lump in her throat, knowing that she just had to take off his top. She carefully pulled off his coat. And slowly pulled off his shirt. She got a good look at his upper body, yes he wasn't masculine as many other men but he does have an average build. Guess when you're off saving worlds regularly you have the proof of your progress.
She never thought Sora had such a decent built, was his clothes just hiding it? She poked his stomach so there was no unneeded body fat, and his stomach felt tight as she rubbed her hand on his belly.
She snapped back to reality, taking her hand away.
'W-What am I thinking I'm a La Vallière, a duke's daughter and an unwed woman! I can't be doing stuff like this!?' She screamed to herself. 'But… if I were to die in this war I might never experience this…'
Her curiosity got the better of her, this might also be the only time she might ever see a man's body. She placed her hand back on his body and slowly was rubbing his belly. She gradually moved up to his chest placing both hands on him. Louise was slowly panting, this was exciting her, her body slowly began to heat up.
'So this is what a man's body feels like… '
While Sora was asleep he could still feel, he was making small noises. The sounds that he was making only stirred the feelings Louise had even more as she was starting to feel more aroused. 'What is happening to me…I feel so hot…' She began to pant like an animal in heat but jolted when she heard a familiar voice from behind her.
[Y'know a lot of people would call what you're doing a crime.] Louise turned her neck to see Derf wide awake. She screamed so loud wrapping her naked body with her robe.
"Why? Why, why!?" That was all she could say.
[Chill. I was just wondering if you were gonna make a move, I wasn't expecting this thought…] Louise immediately began to turn red from the embarrassment she was feeling right now. In her mix of fury and shame she threw the sword outside in the cold.
[Hey! You can't do this to me!] Derflinger began to scream out loud but his wails were ignored by Louise as she laid her bare body on top of Sora's exposed chest.
She looked up at him and started thinking about what could happen tomorrow. They might have dealt with the dragon knights and some heartless, but there is still a chance she could die in this war. "Sora…th-there's something. I-I want to sa-say…" Louise started to stutter "I…Lo-lo-lo…" She choked on her words trying to get them out 'Ahhh! I can't do it.' Frustrated, she decided to forget the whole thing and go to sleep.
(Morning)
The blizzard had stopped as sunlight touched upon the land. Louise and Sora were still fast asleep when Louise slowly started to open her eyes. She was having a pleasant feeling. A bit of warmth touched her face as she smiled. That was when her eyes bolted open and remembered that she was lying on top of Sora in her birthday suit. The explosion mage quickly and quietly covered Sora's top and began to dress herself.
She breathed a sigh of relief and was grateful that he is such a deep sleeper. She kneeled next to him and was eyeing his sleeping face. This caused her to remember last night as she was trying to say the words I love you. She didn't know it was so hard to say it.
Louise started to shake Sora "Hey, Sora. Hey!"
Sora started to groan while waking up. "Morin." Sora said.
"Come on, get up." Louise crawled out of the snow hut, Sora followed her and stretched his arms up to the sky.
"Well it's good to see the blizzard stopped." Sora comments. Looking up
[Can someone please get me already!] Sora took note and saw Derflinger in the snow.
"Derf, How did you get out here?" Sora asked.
[I grew legs and walked out.] The blade said with sarcasm.
"Okay." Sora said. "So how'd you sleep?"
[Kinda hard to sleep when you're stuck in the blistering cold. And you?]
"Good. Actually I feel great. I don't know why but it feels like I had the best sleep in a long time." Sora said, making Louise blush from ear to ear.
[Well after last night I guess I don't blame you.]
"Why? What happened last night?" Sora asked
[Get a load of this. You see this noble girl all through the night was-.]
The pink hair void mage snatched Derf from Sora and shoved the talking sword into the snow.
"Say so much as a peep. I will snap you in half!" Louise threatened Derf.
[Got it.]
Sora watched. Now he was curious, what exactly happened last night anyway?
(Londinium)
Wales was standing on the balcony of his castle, well former castle would be a better term to use. The prince was viewing the landscape when a dark corridor opened next to him.
"Fouquet, Sheffield." Wales said.
"It's good to see you, your highness." Sheffield greeted.
"I'm not a prince as of now. I mean I don't exist so your greetings mean nothing to me." Said the prince. "But I suppose I should thank you for the greeting.
"You're very welcome." Said the black haired woman "So tell me. This power that you wield, what does it feel like, can you both describe it?" Sheffield asked.
Both Matilda and Wales thought of the best way to ask about these new abilities that they possess. "The best way I could describe it is…well if you want to compare it to what magic that the elfs use. I say they are similar but at the same time this darkness is different." Wales explained as best he could.
Sheffield grew more curious, so this form of power has some similarities with those of the desert. "Interesting. I'll have a talk with Wardes as well. I want to hear his opinion on this. One more question. You all say you don't have hearts but what does that mean? Do you all truly have no emotions?"
"Yeah that's what they said when Xigbar made us into this." Matilda said "We can remember the feelings we had, but try to actually feel them. That's something we can't do."
"Like what happened with me and Henrietta. I remember how much I love her, but I can't feel the love I have for her. It's really uncomfortable to be honest, to know how to express your emotions and thoughts but now being able to truly show them is painful…" Wales said as he was holding onto his chest.
He disappeared from the castle leaving the two women together. "Where did he go?" Sheffield asked.
"Most likely back to lake of the water spirits." Matilda guessed. "Lagdorian lake seems to hold a lot of significance for him. He likes to torment himself, maybe more than what I know."
"So what about you? Do you also believe this to be unbearable as well?"
"No. I lost everything before I lost myself, my home, my noble status. There was… one person I did care about, but I don't know what happened to her. I have no attachments in this world, the only thing I enjoyed was being a thief so I suppose I'll go back to being Fouquet." Matilda explained.
"When you say it like that, it makes sense. You practically have nothing to chain you down."
Their conversation was interrupted when two of the guards came, he was here to talk to Sheffield.
"Miss Sheffield! I have a report! Enemy forces have begun to set out and given the course that they are taking they seem to be on their way towards South Gotha."
"South Gotha you say?"
Matilda heard this as well. "Ma'am, with your permission we should send reinforcements. Launch a counter attack. If they manage to overtake us they will use the city to replenish their supplies."
"The enemy's reconnaissance has been active as of late. Just the other day, we received word that our soldiers engaged one of their survey units."
"What did they look like?" Sheffield asked.
"They appeared to be riding a rather odd dragon. It's possible that it is the same one that showed up during our invasion of Tristain. As for the riders, one was a young male and female."
Matilda stepped forward "These people. Was one of them a young girl with long pink hair and the other one a boy with a key shaped sword?"
"I believe so. That's what was in the report."
"Where are they now?" Asked the green haired woman.
"Unknown. All we know is that the dragon crashed outside of the city; they must be close by."
A smile dawned on her face. This means that those two have arrived and they are in her old home. "Sheffield, I'll handle this."
"You're going after them?" Sheffield said.
"I know the region, if they are outside of the city then I might guess where they are." Matilda said as she disappeared. Sheffield wasn't bothered by it. Although if Tristain is advancing then maybe she might use this to her advantage.
"No withdraw our troops in South Gotha. And tell them to take as much food and supplies with them." The black haired woman ordered.
"All the supplies. But Sheffield the people will starve!"
However Sheffield didn't seem to care. " A small sacrifice is necessary for us to defeat our foe." She slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out Andvari Ring flashing a sinister grin.
"I just remembered something." The two guards were curious about what she was talking about "Isn't the Silver Pentecost happening soon."
Back to Sora and Louise they were hiking through the snowy mountain forest. Trying to find a way out of here.
On their way Sora spotted something in the snow, they examined closer and noticed that it was a dragon lying dead. "A dragon?" It must be the same one that was shot down.
"Sora lets go. We need to find a way back to Rosyth." Louise said impatiently.
"I know." Sora turned around saying that to Louise but little did he know that the wings of the dragon were slightly moving.
A scream came from underneath the wings and a young male with brown hair suddenly tackled Sora. The two were wrestling until Sora pushed him off. The man and Sora stared at one another.
The dragon rider gasped as well as Sora. "You!"
Sora remembered that this was the same person that was fighting him in the air.
"Damn it. You again!" The knight pulled out his sword and blasted a strong wind Sora countered by shooting a wind spell as well to cancel each other out. The knight could see that this boy was no ordinary mage. Sora quickly sprung into action, summoning the kingdom key and holding it right to his face.
"You should stop." Sora ordered.
"I won't surrender to-Ah!" He cried out in pain as he was holding his ankle.
Louise noticed this and asked Sora to stop. Sora backed off seeing him in the pitiful state the knight was in.
"What. Not wanting to kill an injured person!" The knight said.
"Shut up. Sora, help him." Louise told the keyblade wielder.
"I thought you would leave him alone?"
"As a noble I can't just leave him, we caused this so it's a must to help him."
"Okay." Sora removed the sword and gave it to Louise; he also put away his keyblade. "But don't try and hide the fact you just want to be nice.'
"Here." Sora offered him a hand.
"I don't accept your generosity. Why help me, I'm your enemy."
"I'm not going to ignore someone if their hurt."
"But doesn't that insult your nobleman's pride?"
"I'm not a noble, and I could care less about pride and whatnot. But I just want to help. You don't have to trust us a lot, just a bit." Sora continued to stretch his hand outward.
The knight looked cautious but remotely gave in as he took Sora's hand. Sora helped him up and offered himself as a crutch.
"See, we're not bad people. Glad that you decided to trust us." Sora said.
"It's not like I have a choice."
"Don't be like that. We could start by introducing ourselves. I'm Sora, and this is Louise."
[And I'm the legendary sword Delflinger.]
"So tell us. What's your name." Louise stepped forward.
"Henry. Henry Stanford of the Albion air force." The knight introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you Henry." Louise stepped forward and greeted Henry smiling.
Henry didn't know what to say, these two are supposed to be his enemies yet they are treating him like an ally. Are all people from Tristain this weird?
As they began walking, Matilda was watching them in the forest, keeping out of their sight. She smiled thinking how entertaining it is to see them here again and literally in her neck of the woods. This was too good.
Meanwhile a scouting party was tasked with finding the two riders of the dragon. "Sir! I think we found something." A knight said to who seemed to be the leader of the group.
"What is it?" The leader asked. Upon further inspection they came across the glider
"I've never seen a dragon like this before." Another knight commented
"This must be the one that stopped our forces in Albion. Fan out, they likely can't be far! If you see them, kill them on sight!" He ordered
"Sir!" With that order they started to search for Louise and Sora.
And speaking of the void mage and the keyblade wielder. They continued walking through the snowy forest trying to the glider or at least a way out. On the way, Louise has a look of disappointment on her face. This wasn't at all what she expected. She failed her mission. How could she face the queen after this blunder of a mission.
"Hey Louise, are you okay. You've been quiet for a while?" Sora said, getting her attention.
"I was just thinking how I should tell her Highness that we failed the mission." Louise said.
"I mean there's nothing to say. Just tell her that had some problems and that's it." That bluntness made Louise annoyed.
"I'm troubled because that isn't good enough! The queen had high expectations of me and I failed her, she had faith in me so how am I supposed to face her?"
Sora replied "But there's literally nothing that can be done about it. If you fail, just try again. That's all there is to it."
"Try again?"
"Oh I don't mean fighting considering we got an injured person with us. No offense." Sora said to Henry.
"None taken." Henry replied as Sora looked back at Louise.
"Henrietta is commanding a lot of soldiers. So I'm sure she's got some more missions for us. You can't let one mistake control you, just move on to the next thing. One failure isn't going to have that big of an impact."
"Sure, whatever you say. Maybe I am insignificant, and maybe whatever I do isn't all that important. But I am an Aristocrat. As a pure blooded mage I have to show my value to the queen, if I can't do that then I would rather die!"
Sora's face shifted to an angry one, "Don't say that! I know that she's the queen but you have to remember that she's your friend first and for most!" The two stared at each other, not flinching one bit. But that was until Henry broke their silent argument with a laugh.
"What?" Louise said not understanding why he was laughing.
"It's funny. I had heard that the nobility in Tristain was weak. But for someone so young I never thought you would have such a strong resolve." Henry said as he turned to Sora "And I never thought a noble like you was easygoing, not letting one mistake get to you."
"Again. I can use magic but I am not a noble." Sora replied quietly.
"You can't be that much older than us."
"Either way, you two are an interesting pair. Are you really soldiers?"
"No." Louise said.
"We're more like friends of her highness." Sora added.
"Then what about the dragon that you were riding?" Henry asked.
After a few minutes Sora explained that the dragon was really a type of flying machine that was being kept a secret.
"A flying machine? No wonder it could keep up with Windsor."
"And Windsor would be?"
"My dragon that you shot. He was a good friend, and I would have died in the cold had he not given me warmth." Sora gasped.
"I'm sorry. The keyblade wielder apologizes.
"Don't apologize. You either fight or you die. It is the nature of life, isn't it? You must be prepared to lay down your life for a cause." Henry said to Sora
"Maybe. But not if there is a good person, if they're bad then I will fight." Sora said back.
"What?" Henry said.
"If someone is threatening my home or my friends or just innocent bystanders I will fight back. But if they're not so bad then I won't. It's that simple."
Henry started to smile. He found Sora to be amusing. "I wish I could see the world like you do. Sora you say you are not a noble but what does that mean?"
"I have…complicated circumstances and that's all you need to know." Henry raised his eyebrow
"Okay. So tell Sora, what are you fighting for?"
"That's easy. To protect the people I care about, that's it." Sora gave the most simple answer he could give. "I would fight with everything I have to keep them safe.
"To protect loved ones? Does that mean Louise?"
"Not just her, but I mean, everyone. My friends back home and at the Institute. Julio, Agnès and even Henrietta. If someone is hurting them or making them feel bad of course I want to keep them safe. But I won't hurt anyone that is completely innocent. It would be just wrong."
"He may not have a nobleman's pride or honor. But he possesses the heart of a strong and kind leader." Louise added.
"So tell me. What are your opinions about those that fight for honor and pride?" Henry asked.
"I really don't understand the point. Why fight for something like that. If you have something more important than pride that should be your focus." Sora followed up.
Louise let out a sigh "How many times to I have to say it. To have pride and horor are the very pinnacles of a noble. Isn't that right Henry?" The void mage said to the other noble present.
"That right…" Henry said with a douring expression. "Pride is important to a noble. But to just fight for what you love is more important. I envy that. I wish I could do that as well."
"Don't you have someone important to you?" Sora asked as Henry reached into his clothes and pulled out a locket. He opened it and there was a picture of a woman inside.
"Who's she?" Louise asked, getting a closer look.
"My fiancée. Before I enlisted I called off our engagement to her."
"Why would you do that!?" Sora blurted out.
"A noble who values their honor will leave everything behind. Even a loved one. I was fortunate to survive but next time, I probably won't be so lucky. So I would rather leave her than keep hurting her."
"But that's …"
"If you have someone you love, and you can't be with them. The only thing you can do is let them go. It's only natural."
The moment Henry said that, Sora was reminded of all the times he and Kairi had moments where they couldn't be together. But that didn't mean that they should give up. Their time apart, even now, only grew stronger for their desire to see each other.
"Sounds like you're being selfish." Sora rudely said to Henry.
"You dare mock a noble!" Henry snapped at Sora.
"No, I'm telling you that what you did was selfish! Did you think about how she feels about this? Cause if not then you're a pretty selfish person."
"W-Why you!" Sora was pushed down to the ground by the dragon knight. "Don't act like you know me!"
"I don't have to!" The two were wrestling for the second time until Sora flipped Henry onto his back. "It doesn't make sense to just assume that you'll die right away. Aside from being a noble, you have a heart don't you. And you think that cutting ties with a person makes it better, it doesn't! I know nothing escapes death. But regardless you go on living till the end! So promise us that you will do whatever it takes to stay alive and be together with the one you love."
Sora began to take deep breaths after this one sided argument. "Be together with her…
"That's right. So what if you're not marrying her. That does mean she isn't waiting for you…So don't keep saying you'll die when there not a guarantee. It's better to make a promise to come back to her then leave her hurting." Sora said once again carrying Henry on his shoulder.
"I wasn't expecting you to get so heated like that." Henry said, taken back by Sora's outburst.
Sora looked apologetic "Yeah I didn't mean to snap like that. It just seems unfair to put your own feelings before someone else's. Plus if you're going away the least you can do is promise to come back to that person you care about."
"So has something like this happened to you?" Henry asked Louise also grew curious.
"Uh, not me…" Sora explained as he was staring in the sky."I…Have this friend. And he likes this girl back where I come from, like he really likes her. They promised to be together but literal outside forces keep them apart, like the universe itself is saying they don't belong together. But what's funny is despite being separated so many times that only made their feelings for each other grow stronger. And they always came back to each other."
"Until one day he…He just disappeared but before he did. He made a promise to the girl he liked, he said 'I'm sorry but I have to go. But don't worry about me. I swear no matter what. I will come back to you, and next time we can be together.'"
For Louise and Henry that was such a depressing story to hear to be with someone you love only to have nature itself keep you appear. Kinda reminds Louise of a play that involves two nobles of rival houses falling in love, only it ended in tragedy.
"That's heartbreaking…"
"Don't sweat it. Nothing can be done about it now." Sora said. "But I know that they'll see each other again, one day."
Just then Sora heard something. He looked around with cation, causing Henry and Louise to panic. "What's wrong?" Louise said.
"Shhh." Sora shushed her.
"Don't shush me!"
"Be quiet. I don't think we're alone." Sora said as something popped out of the snow behind them. More heartless. Three Frost Serpents along with an Assault Rider and two Invisible. But that wasn't all their were also some Nobodies mixed in, two Samurai's and four Ninjas.
Louise stuck close staying behind Sora as Sora kept one arm out trying to shield Louise.
Henry gasped "What sorta creatures are these?"
"They're my pets I'll have you know." A dark corridor opened and a member of the new organization appeared and it was none other than Matilda herself.
"Fouquet?!" Louise was shocked to see her.
"Oh good, I'm surprised to see you both here in Albion. My apologies for not being able to attend your wedding Miss François." Matilda said as Louise had bitter memories when she was controlled and forced to marry Sir-No, Wardes.
"What are you even doing here?" Sora demanded.
"What's with that attention? Can't say hi." The green haired woman dropped the act "Oh find. I heard that you two were back so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get some payback. And I'll start with you! Matilda pulled out her wand as the heartless and nobodies rushed towards Sora.
Sora quickly handed Henry over to Louise as he ordered her to get away. Louise and Henry started to run but with his injury it was going to be a painful getaway. Sora summoned his kingdom key and blocked the sword attacks from the two samurai.
Louise and Henry were getting as far as they could.
"Is Sora going to be alright?" Asked Henry.
"He's dealt with them before, he'll be fine." Louise replied. Continuing to carry Henry. That is until she fell down with Henry.
"Are you okay?" Henry asked.
Louise nodded but not before she and Henry heard the sound of gunfire.
Sora, who was fighting, also heard the sound of a gun. He hoped that Louise and Henry were okay. "Guys…" Sora dodged an incoming charge from the ninjas as he entered his second form.
"Gunshots?" Lousie said.
"That must be from Albion, they're probably here to find me. No, the more likely scenario is that they're here for you and Sora." Henry assumed.
"What do we do?" Louise and Henry tried to formulate a plan. But with Sora fight by himself they had to think fast.
Meanwhile Sora blocked an incoming slash from one of the samurai's, he jumped in the air slashing at one of the frost Serpents destroying it with a hurricane blast.
Sora landed on the ground as two ninjas were throwing kunai knives at him. But Sora blocked them with his keyblade. Sora charged in performing a Zantetsuken, cutting the lightning nobodies down in the blink of an eye. all the while the two Frost Serpents were spinning in the air creating a hurricane in the snow. Sora got caught up in it and was blown away. The keyblade wielder rolled along the ground as he was trying to shake it off.
'Come on Sora, relax. I'm sure Henry and Louise are fine…Just focus.' Sora was trying to believe they were okay. He was trying hard to keep his head in the game but he was so worried about Louise and Henry when he heard the sound of a gun firing.
He could help but think something bad happened to them. Sora's thinking was interrupted when an earthen hand suddenly slammed on top of his back. Matilda was laughing as she watched him struggle in such a pitiful state.
"Oh man, if you could see the look on your face. If I was still human I would be enjoying this a whole lot right now." She walked over. "You know it's amusing to see you struggle like this. Consider it payback for throwing me in prison."
"Get this thing off of me!" Sora yelled trying hard to break free.
"Why would I? You know I'm no warrior but I could see that you were having a difficult time. Something you like to share with me?" She said with a sassy voice.
"Why do you care?" Sora said.
The female earth mage rolled her eyes. "I don't really. But it's fun to poke your buttons for a chance. I bet I can guess why you weren't acting like yourself, must have something to do with Colbert, right?"
Sora remembered the professor's immobilized body. "I got the details from Xigbar. I was surprised to hear that he was dead. Then again I don't care."
"How could you say that, you guys used to work together, how could you treat him like he didn't mean anything!?"
"Because he really meant nothing to me. We may have been colleagues, but the only thing I wanted was the staff of destruction. Just because I used to work with him does mean I hold special feelings for him either." The green haired woman added. "So when they said that he died, I wondered what happened. I sorta wish Wardes and myself went to see what kinda expression you were making. Now I see how badly his death had on you."
Matilda lean down at Sora. "You aren't strong at all, you're just weak. And eventually everyone you care about will pay the price for that weakness of yours."
It felt like Sora was jabbed in the gut when she said those words.
With a wave of her wand Matilda transformed the dirt hand into a sphere. Trapping Sora inside. But Sora didn't move, no more like he didn't want to move. He's been in a still point. Believing that he could save the people around him but failing time and time again. So it was only a matter of time before he failed someone again, what was the point of even trying.
Sora closed his eyes and left himself alone in the sphere of dirt. Just as he did, Kirche's words began to rung in his head.
"So try and bounce back from this. Because I know you can, it's one of your best qualities."
He made all kinds of good memories with them. And he's made more friends that care about him. Yes, what happened to Colbert was tragic, but that doesn't mean he was truly a failure. He still had people to protect. The answer was in his face this whole time and he just couldn't see it.
Sora open his eyes
Cracks started to form as light started to come off. "What the!?" The sphere exploded as sora was holding the Oblivion keyblade and standing in front of Matilda in his dark form.
"Man, I'm so stupid." He said the heartless and nobodies ran towards Sora. "I've been at war with myself this whole time when the answer was so clear." Sora flashed forward with his eyes closed and the second he opened them the heartless and nobodies were destroyed. Just left the two ice dragons.
Sora jumped and casted a firaza on one of the dragon heartless, destroying it as he let loose a fury of slashes on the other one. Sora landed on the snow as another large dirt hand tried to grab him, sora evaded with his dark roll. and crumbled the hand into dust.
Sora made his way to Matilda as she lanced stone bullets at him. Sora was quick to block and evade. She started to panic until he was bouncing from tree to tree with his flowmotion and throwing snowballs at her.
As she was distracted. Sora flew in, tackling her to the ground. She looked up to see him pointing his keyblade at her.
"What. Where did you get this power?" She said as Sora held the keyblade in front of him.
He smiled "This power isn't just mine, it belongs to my friends and I do mean all of them."
"Again with all this friend crap."
"At least I have some. You're right. I am weak and I've been having this guilt inside of me. Because I've been letting down the people around me when they need me the most. But I won't let it keep running my life! I can't do everything on my own, I'm limited to what I can do. But my real power lies in the connections in the people that accepted me into their hearts. Those that call me a friend. The bonds I share are what give me strength to move forward."
Matilda was speechless, just a second ago he was struggling, now he's acting all high and mighty, where was this coming from?
Sora moved his keyblade away from her as she was sitting on top of the snow "I don't understand. He's been dead for days you had t have been blaming yourself, and now you're acting tough. Just what are you?"
"I'm just Sora, nothing more and nothing less." Sora gave the most simple answer he could give: "Oh yeah. I want you to pass a message, tell Xehanort that I don't care how many times you come back, I will always be there to stop you, you and the rest of the Organization as many times if I have to. The same goes for you too."
Sora directed his attention to Matilda, a fierce look was shown in his eyes. "If you have a problem with me. Come at me as many times as you want… I'll take you on here and now!" Though despite the situation she was in Matilda…Blushed…She shook her head and flashed a glare at him before disappearing.
Sora's dark form transformation wore off as he began to scout for Louise.
Louise was hiding in some bushes wondering if it was safe to come out. She noticed that Henry was gone, as well as the people from Albion.
"Louise!" She crawled out as she recognized that voice.
"Sora, over here!" Louise yelled back as Sora spotted her. He ran straight toward her.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Sora said.
"You're right, you should be sorry? You've been gone for a while. "Louise
said.
"I know. Wait a sec, Where's Henry?" Sora asked.
Louise explained that he was leading the soldiers away. He was going to make up a story about fighting and having both riders crash in opposite directions, and with his leg still injured it would make it more believable.
"I can't believe he's helping us." Sora said.
"A proper nobleman must always repay their debts." Louise replied.
Just when Someone was calling out Louise's name they looked all around until Sora noticed a dragon flying in the air. "Wait a minute. Is that Julio?" Sora said as Louise also witnessed the dragon, it definitely belonged to Julio.
"Julio, hey!" Sora waved his arms back and forth signaling the platinum blonde. "Hey! We're down here!"
"There you are." Julio said as he flew the dragon down towards the ground. "Hey there."
"What are you doing here?" Sora asked.
"Agnès told me what happened and sent me to come and find you. Don't forget you aren't the only ones here to offer the queen service."
"Thank you Juilo!" Louise said as the young priest offered her a hand and hoisted her on top of the dragon, next was Sora. With the two of them on, Julio called out to his dragon. "Alright. Azzurro!" The dragon spread its wings and flew into the sky. As they were making their way back to Henrietta, Sora took one last look at the ground.
'Thanks a lot Henry. I hope we meet again…'
Henry was being carried on a stretcher, he was just staring up at the sky with a smile on his face '...I'm sure we will meet again Sora, Louise but next time it won't be enemies, but as friends.'
(Rosyth)
"Louise!" Henrietta embraces Louise. It was practically evening by the time they returned.
"Your Majesty." Louise said.
"I'm so grateful that you're alright!" She exclaimed with a big sense of relief. "And Sora I'm also glad to see you safe."
Sora stepped forward with his hand stretched out. Henrietta grabbed his hand with both of hers.
"Thanks for finding them." Agnès said to Julio.
"It was not a problem." Julio waved it off.
Louise quickly bowed before the queen. "Please…Please forgive me. I failed you, I'm sorry I couldn't meet your expectations."
"Actually it's alright. The enemy abandoned their post in South Gotha, so we were able to take the city with no problems. So there's no need to trouble yourself any further."
"But I-!"
Sora cleared his throat. Looking at Louise, she understood what he was thinking. "No. You're right. But that still does excuse my failure. Please, the next mission you assign me too, I will do my best to complete it."
"Louise…"
"To have the purpose to fight by your side is the greatest honor a noble could ask for. Please, send me out on another assignment." Louise raised her head as Henrietta saw the look of determination in her eyes.
"Very well then. We don't have any assignments right now. But when one is available it is yours."
'Well, at least what I said is sticking with her.' Sora thought as Agnès and Julio wanted to talk with him for a bit.
"Thank you, You're Majesty. I promise I will be of use to you…" Louise thanked Henrietta for having her hand over her chest.
'Even if I must lay down my life. I will show you my worth...'
End