I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.
Sacrifice
Tyler groaned, sitting on the floor against the wall of the library. They had found the mansion and found three of Sora's friends from that world named Hayer, Pence, and Ollette, then had been swarmed by Nobodies. It wasn't a huge problem, with everyone there, but even after getting inside, there had been more and more waiting for them. The basic ones, some with arrow guns, some with spears, some wielding a pair of katanas. Tyler wasn't as tired as he'd been after a training session with Lightning, but his nerves were fried, since most of the Nobodies that showed up attacked before anyone even realized they were there. Plus, he hadn't really had time to settle after fighting the giant Heartless at the blockade. He was just glad Sazh had gone back to the Gummi Ship with Dajh and Serah.
"You holding up?" Lightning asked.
"Just need to take a breather," Tyler said. "I'll be fine."
Just then, Sora finished drawing whatever it was he had been in a notebook on the table and the floor began to shine throughout the entire room. Tyler groaned.
"Oh no," Tyler said before the floor was suddenly gone and he and Lightning began to fall.
He wrapped his arms around her, then grunted in discomfort as he landed on his back, all the wind being knocked out of him. Lightning sat up, straddling his hips, and looked down at him in amusement.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Great," he wheezed, just as a half-dozen of the basic type of Nobodies appeared around them.
Tyler slammed his fist into the ground and an Aero went off, the tornado grabbing the Nobodies, then flashing and blasting them all with blades of Wind Magic, destroying them.
"You guys okay?" Fang asked as she and the others of their group walked over, the other groups following.
"We're fine," Lightning smiled. "Tyler's just being dramatic."
Tyler rolled his eyes and Lightning stood, helping him up before they all headed through a door off to the side, following the stairs on the other side down to a computer room. As they arrived, Oswald handed Tyler a potion, and he drank it, feeling his energy return and his nerves finally settle. He sighed, thanking him as Pence sat at the computer.
"We need a password," Pence said.
"We only got this photo," Goofy said, holding it out.
"And a salty-sweet ice cream bar," Donald added.
"Ew," Tyler said.
"That's it!" Mickey said. "Ansem the Wise loved ice cream!"
"Alright, what was the name of that flavor?" Pence asked.
"Um..." Sora trailed off, trying to think.
"It's Sea Salt Ice Cream," Lightning said. "Fang's favorite."
"It's the best taste I've ever been blessed with," Fang said. "Well...second best, anyway." She winked at Vanille, who blushed scarlet.
"Too much information," Tyler said.
"It worked!" Pence said, just as a beam of light extended from a machine set into an alcove off to the side, ending in a small ball of light.
"What's that thing?" Tyler asked.
"It's a transporter to send us to an alternate Twilight Town," Mickey said. "Looks like we'll only fit four at a time, though."
"You go with Sora's group first," Tyler said. "We'll follow."
Mickey nodded and the four of them walked into the small alcove before the beam flashed and a column of light appeared around them, forming flickering binary code before fading and leaving the alcove empty. Tyler nodded to himself and stepped into it with Lightning, Fang, and Vanille, and a moment later, light blinded him before fading, Serah and Noel being replaced by Mickey, Goofy, and Donald. They stepped out and saw Sora off to the side, inspecting the computer of this version of Twilight Town, which was destroyed.
"Jeez, Sora," Tyler said. "The hell did you do to it?"
"This wasn't me!" Sora said defensively, most of the others laughing.
Finally, the rest of the group arrived, and they all headed through the door leading deeper into the basement, following Sora's instincts, since he said he thought he felt something from that way. The next room was square, with a glowing green square on the floor with a second square's corners sticking out from the sides of the visible one. However, the most attention-grabbing thing in the room was the green, black, and orange ball of darkness in the corner. They walked over to it and Tyler frowned.
"Is this a Dark Corridor?" Tyler asked.
"Yes," Oswald nodded. "It's been left open too long, however, and is becoming unstable. We probably won't be able to come back this way."
"Guess this is it, then," Tyler said. "Are we going to be able to get to the Gummi Ship wherever we come out?"
"I have a tracker for Sazh to follow us," Oswald said. "Whenever we reach whatever world is on the other end of this portal, he'll come to us."
Tyler nodded. "Alright. I guess I'll go first, then."
He stepped forward, holding out his hand, and the portal grew, reaching to the ground and expanding until it was large enough for them to walk through. He stepped through after taking a steadying breath, and a moment after he found himself in a corridor identical to the one they used to get to Disney Castle, Lightning joined him. They walked forward out of everyone's way and the others all walked through one or two at a time.
"What is this place?" Sora asked, looking around at the blue and red tunnel and the now seemingly massive portal behind them.
"A Dark Corridor," Tyler said. "Weren't you listening?"
"Well, which way should we go?" Donald asked.
Sora immediately ran forward a few steps. "Riku! Kairi!"
"Oh shit," Tyler sighed, sensing the darkness around them responding.
Within seconds, Nobodies began to grow from the ground around them, thankfully all the basic kind for now. The others all drew their weapons, readying themselves to fight They all shot outward from their tight circle, slaughtering the Nobodies quickly. However, for each they killed, three more rose. Tyler groaned in annoyance as he slashed two and six rose a short distance away. He blasted those with lightning and twelve more rose all the way around them.
"It's no use!" Sora said.
"Don't stop moving or the darkness will overtake you!" Axel's voice suddenly warned as he leapt over several of the Nobodies, slashing them as he landed, then spinning and hurling his chakrams, killing several more. "Get going!"
"Why?" Sora asked.
"Don't ask!" Axel said. "Just do it!"
Several Nobodies shot toward him from behind but Tyler shot forward, spinning past Axel and slashed the Nobodies.
"Been a while, Axel," Tyler said. "You look like shit."
It was true. Axel was breathing hard already, favoring his left leg, and Tyler could sense he was out of energy.
"Nice keyblade," Axel said. "It looks fancy."
"It's pretty nice," Tyler said, slashing several Nobodies as Axel used his chakrams to kill them. "It's a little bit big, though."
Axel laughed. "It looks like it. You guys get out of here. The world the Organization uses as a hideout is just up ahead. I'll take care of these pests."
"Nah, it's cool," Tyler said. "I'll make sure you survive so I can kick your ass again later."
Axel laughed. "Suit yourself." he looked to Sora. "You gotta go, though."
"I'm going to help you too!" Sora said.
"You don't understand!" Axel said. "I kidnapped Kairi, but she got away from me! After that, Saix caught her! He's a member of Organization XIII. Saix. Got it memorized?"
Several Nobodies swarmed toward them, but Lightning, Noel, Serah, and Fang all stepped into their path, rapidly slaughtering them.
"Chat about who kidnapped who later," Lightning said. "Focus on the current problem right now."
"But you've got it handled so well," Tyler said, stepping up beside her.
"Don't make me spar with you," Lightning said.
"Yeah, I'll pass on that," Tyler said. "Shall we?"
Lightning nodded and they all charged, Axel hanging back with Vanille and Donald. Several Nobodies swarmed toward Tyler from the right and he slashed them all rapidly, then flipped slashed one that was trying to fly over him to reach Lightning. As he landed, he drove his keyblade into the invisible floor they were walking on and a shockwave of Light Magic exploded out of his blade ahead of himself, clearing dozens of Nobodies. A moment later, Lightning took off, tearing through the Nobodies away from the others before beginning to slaughter them, suddenly glowing. She slashed half a dozen of them rapidly, then flipped backward, kicking one of the Nobodies into the path of another who was in the air as her gunblade switched to its gun mode. She shot both of the Nobodies in the air, then switched back to her gunblade's sword mode and shot forward, slashing several more before leaping into the air as a dozen all swarmed toward her at once, missing her by an inch. Then, as she fell, she focused, slashing the ground and sending a column of light exploding into the air, the magic pulling in dozens of Nobodies from around it and destroying them before fading. She leapt backward to Tyler and the others and Tyler smiled.
"Nice," Tyler said, slashing a handful of Nobodies just as dozens upon dozens began to form, all of them leaping back to Axel, Donald, and Vanille so they'd have some room to breathe.
"I think I liked it better when they were on my side," Axel said.
"Feeling a little regret?" Sora asked.
"Nah," Axel said. "I can handle these punks. Heh. Watch this!"
He leapt away from them all, the Nobodies all swarming toward him as his Chakrams floated to either side of him, flames exploding to life around him and tendrils of darkness swarming from his body. Tyler's eyes widened. He wasn't serious, right? He was going to kamikaze them?
Tyler took a step forward, but Lightning caught his ar.
"He's chosen his fate," Lightning said.
Axel shouted in effort and flames exploded off of him, forming an enormous explosion that instantly wiped out all of the Nobodies. However, as the flames faded, Axel was lying on the ground, motionless.
"Whoa!" Sora said, looking around, apparently not having seen Axel yet.
Tyler walked over to him, kneeling beside him and sighing, watching the darkness curling off of him. "You didn't need to do that."
Axel chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose I didn't."
"You're...fading away," Sora said, kneeling opposite Tyler.
"Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack," Axel said. "You know what I mean? Not that Nobodies actually have beings, right?"
"Wrong," Tyler said. "You do."
"What?" Axel asked, frowning up at him.
"You have a heart, Axel," Tyler said. "Nobody or not, you've got one. I can...sort of sense it. I felt it when we fought too. You have a heart. It's grown from your memories. The friendships and connections you've made since you became...well, you."
"I have a..."
That's right," Oswald said. "Though rare, Nobodies who retain a sense of identity are sometimes able to grow a new heart if their will is strong enough."
"Xemnas," Axel growled. "That...bastard. He lied to us. Roxas definitely had a heart if I do. The kid cared about everyone."
"Roxas?" Sora asked.
"Yeah," Axel said. "He was...the only one I liked. He made me feel...like I had a heart. He's...probably why I have one, if you're right." He sighed, raising a hand and opening a portal on the empty end of the Dark Corridor. "Go. Find...Kairi. Oh. Almost forgot. Sorry...for what I...did to her." He smiled weakly.
"When we find her, you can tell her that yourself," Sora said.
"Think I'll pass," Axel said. "My time's...just about up."
"Axel," Sora's head fell and Tyler sighed.
"Rest, Axel," Tyler said. "You've done enough."
Axel watched him for a moment before sighing, a contented smile forming on his lips. "You don't know...how long I've...wanted to...hear those words."
Then, he faded, the darkness that had made of his body floating into the air and fading.
Tyler stood, turning to the new portal, this one blue around the outside, unlike the last one's red. "Come on, Sora. We have a job to do."
Sora stood, nodding. "Right. Kairi's waiting."
Tyler nodded and they all walked through the portal, exiting it into a city made of massive, black skyscrapers, a heart-shaped moon floating above it, a massive, silver castle adorned with the Nobody emblem floating on the other side of the city, and not a single being in sight.
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