- Chapter 17 -
Enter the Darkness
Flashback
Twilight Town, Old Mansion
Riku sat in the corner of the white room, his black coat making him stand out prominently against the room, and a small tear slipping out from under his blindfold. He didn't move when the door opened, and a young girl entered. It was Naminé, the memory "witch."
Naminé was a girl around Sora and Kairi's age, clad in a short white dress, blue sandals with little yellow flowers on them, blue eyes, and shoulder-length blonde hair that was draped over one shoulder. She stopped when she saw the usually stoic Riku crying, and walked over to him, an expression of concern on her face.
"Riku?" she asked, kneeling down beside him. "Are you okay?"
Riku turned in her direction and wiped the tear that lingered on his face off. "Y-yeah, I'm fine, Naminé. Just thinking."
"About West?" Naminé asked, recalling what Riku had told her about the perky thief. Riku nodded.
"Her blood is on my hands, Naminé," he said. "If it wasn't for me, she'd still be alive."
Naminé placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Riku, don't think like that," she said. "It was because of West that you didn't completely succumb to the darkness. But if you start beating yourself up like this, she'll have lost her life for nothing."
Naminé swallowed nervously, knowing that Riku most likely wouldn't like what she was about to suggest. "If you want... I can take the pain away. I have my sketchpad, and I can-"
"No," Riku said automatically. "I appreciate your intent, Naminé, but I don't want to forget West. If I just forgot about her like she never existed, then West really will have died for nothing."
Naminé nodded. "I know. I just want to help."
With that, Riku stood and made his way to the door, stopping just as he reached it.
"Naminé?" he said. Naminé turned to him.
"Yes?" Riku gave her a small smile.
"Thank you."
Flashback Over
Mysterious Tower
Riku pushed the memory to the back of his mind as the Highwind touched down on the outside of the Mysterious Tower; West had survived and was back with them, so there was nothing to be sorry about.
As they filed out, Sï'Lea smiled at the sight of her childhood home.
"I haven't been here since I passed my Mark of Mastery exam," she said. "It's good to see not much has changed."
West, Nixe, and Hikari said nothing, both looking in awe at the Mysterious Tower for a moment before filing into the tower with the others.
"So, you grew up here, Master?" Nixe asked. Sï'Lea nodded.
"Yep," she said. "Like Mickey said before, Master Yen Sid found me on his doorstep when I was a baby, and we alternated between training here, having trips to Twilight Town, and play dates with Terra, Ven, and Aqua in the Land of Departure." Sï'Lea's mood darkened slightly at the mention of her old friends, and she let out a sad sigh.
Seeing this, Sora put a comforting hand on the older woman's shoulder. "Don't worry," he said. "If anyone knows how we'll be able to get into the Realm of Darkness, it'll be him."
Sï'Lea smiled. "Yeah, you're right."
They reached the top of the tower, and Sora pushed open the door. They went in this way: Sora, Sï'Lea, Hikari, Nixe, Riku, Kairi, Lea, West, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Max.
As usual, Yen Sid was seated at his desk. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of his old apprentice, but it passed, and he gave a rare smile.
"Sï'Lea," he said. "It has been a long time." Sï'Lea bowed respectfully to her former Master.
"It's good to see you again, Master Yen Sid," she said. "Though I wish it were under better circumstances."
Nixe nervously approached the desk and bowed as well. "I've heard a lot about you, sir," she said. "I'm Nixe, Master Sï'Lea's apprentice."
"She's also my adoptive daughter," Sï'Lea explained. "I know all about the situation with Master Xehanort, and we've also learned that he wants to use Nixe as one of his vessels."
Yen Sid looked at her, surprised. "Explain." he said.
Sï'Lea proceeded to explain how she had taken Nixe in after a mysterious Keyblade-wielding figure had killed her birth mother in cold blood, and they had discovered that Master Xehanort was the culprit when Xehanort's Heartless had attacked Sublime City.
Yen Sid closed his eyes and shook his head. "If I had known how far Xehanort would fall, I would never have given him the rank of Master." (1)
The entire group gasped at that, with Sora and Riku pushing their way to the desk.
"Did you just say what I think you said?!" Sora demanded. "You were Xehanort's Master?!"
Yen Sid nodded. "Yes," he admitted. "I trained him, along with Master Eraqus and a girl from Radiant Garden, when they were younger."
West elbowed a place at the desk between Sora and Riku and slammed her hands on the desk.
"Are you serious?" she yelled. "What the heck were you thinking when you made that jerk a Keyblade Master?!"
Sï'Lea, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Max all recoiled at the way West spoke to Yen Sid, who just looked at the perky thief calmly.
"Xehanort was always somewhat rebellious," Yen Sid admitted. "But he had the qualities that defined a Keyblade Master. While he did tend to use darkness more often than not, he remained strong and didn't succumb to it."
"Until he decided to," Sï'Lea said. "Look, Master, I don't blame you for any of this. There's no way you could have predicted Xehanort would go so crazy."
Kairi piped in at that moment, her curiosity peaked at the mention of the girl from Radiant Garden.
"What's this about a girl from Radiant Garden?" she asked.
Yen Sid closed his eyes for a moment. "Her name was Yoake," he replied. "She was a kind girl, and was always eager to help people. She came to me during one of my visits to Radiant Garden, and requested to train under me in order to prove to her family that she could handle the responsibility of the Keyblade. I haven't seen or heard from her since Radiant Garden fell to darkness eleven years ago."
Kairi pursed her lips in thought. "Yoake," she said to herself. "Why does that name sound familiar?"
After a moment or two, she shrugged. They had bigger fish to fry at the moment.
At that moment, Yen Sid's eyes fell on Hikari. "And who are you?" he asked.
Hikari made her way forward and bowed politely to the old wizard. "My name is Hikari, sir," she replied. "I helped train Sora for the past six months on Wutai. I came along because I just couldn't sit idly by and let Xehanort destroy everything."
Yen Sid gave a small nod, and looked at the katana sheathed at her waist. "That is quite a peculiar sword," he said. "Do you mind if I take a closer look?"
Hikari removed the blade from her belt and placed it on Yen Sid's desk. "It's the Twilight Blade," she said. "Forged by my ancestor Raiden (2) during the time of the Keyblade War. My father gave it to me to use before I left."
Yen Sid unsheathed the blade and took note of the mixed light/dark aura. "Most impressive," he said. "What was used to make this?"
"It's forged from pure Orichalcum, and infused with both light and darkness," Hikari replied. Yen Sid nodded in approval before sheathing the blade and returning it to Hikari.
Sï'Lea took the opportunity to tell Yen Sid what they had discovered. "Sir, we found out where Aqua is, as well as Ven's heart."
"You do?" Yen Sid asked, visibly pleased. "Where are they?" Sora stepped in.
"Aqua's stranded in the Realm of Darkness," he said. "And, well... Ven's heart is in my body."
Yen Sid looked at him, surprised. "You bear Ventus' heart?"
Sora nodded. "Yeah. I remember it now. When I was four years old, I accepted this light in my heart. Now I know it was Ven's heart."
"But we still don't know where Aqua hid Ven's body," Max said.
"We gotta get Aqua out of the Realm of Darkness," Lea said, stepping forward. "I hate to ask this, sir, but could you unseal my ability to open the dark corridors, just this once? There's no other way."
For two long minutes, Yen Sid thought it over, and then finally nodded. "Very well," he said. "I will unlock this ability, but only use it in extreme circumstances."
Lea nodded. "I intend to."
Yen Sid stood and waved a hand over Lea, who was briefly surrounded in a green aura. He clutched his chest briefly, and then let out a sharp exhale.
"Okay," Lea said. "Let's do it."
He extended his right arm, palm outwards, and a corridor of darkness opened in the upper left corridor of the room.
"Before you go, you'll be needing this," Yen Sid said, handing over a palm-sized blue star with a little bluish-green star in the center. Sora took it in his hand.
"What is it?" he asked.
"That is a Lux," Yen Sid explained. "A particle of light. Once you find Aqua, use it to come back here."
"Okay," Sora said. "Let's go, guys."
Sï'Lea nodded, and clenched her hand into a loose fist, pressing said fist over her chest.
"We're coming for you, Aqua," she said softly. "Just hold out a little bit longer."
With that, the group entered the corridor one after another in the same order in which they entered Yen Sid's room, the corridor closing up behind them and leaving Yen Sid alone.
The sight of his former apprentice Sï'Lea, now a beautiful young woman, had made Yen Sid nostalgic. It seemed like only yesterday he had found her, an abandoned infant on his doorstep...
Flashback
Mysterious Tower
Early one morning, as dawn was just beginning to break over the Mysterious Tower, Yen Sid was awoken by the sound of a baby crying.
The elderly sorcerer was naturally confused; what would a baby be doing here? Few of the Twilight Town citizens were aware of the tower's existence, and he certainly wasn't expecting company, let alone this early.
He made his way down the stairs of his tower and to the front door, and was surprised to see what awaited him on his front doorstep.
Sure enough, laying in a small basket, bundled up in a pink blanket, and crying her little eyes out was a baby girl, at most only a year old, a shock of dark brown hair on her head.
Yen Sid gently lifted the infant out of the basket, and she immediately stopped crying and looked at him with a pair of beautiful green eyes.
"Where did you come from?" Yen Sid asked, more to himself than the child, who was obviously incapable of answering.
The baby let out a soft coo as she looked up at Yen Sid, who was silently debating what to do with her. The thought of simply abandoning her was out of the question, and if someone had gone all this way to leave her here, perhaps they had done so for a reason.
He looked at the baby again, and could sense that, for such a young child, she had a strong heart. It hit him: this girl was one of the Keyblade's chosen. It was decided then: the baby would stay with him.
"Welcome to my home..." he said as he took the baby inside and closed the door. "...Sï'Lea."
Flashback Over
Mysterious Tower
Yen Sid came back to the present. He felt pride swell in his chest. Sï'Lea had grown into a confident, beautiful young woman with a Keyblade apprentice of her own.
Xehanort may have fallen, but at least with Sï'Lea and the late Eraqus, he had done something right.
Author's Note:
(1): Insert record-scratch SFX here.
(2): Another name for Raijin, the Japanese god of thunder. Also, here, it's pronounced "reye-den," not "ray-den."
So, here I expanded on some of the origins of Hikari's sword. And I know the whole doorstep baby flashback with Yen Sid and Sï'Lea is a bit cliché, but hey, it works.
The character of Yoake, mentioned here, is the property of PrismRain13, used with her permission.
Also, funny thing: according to their creator Star Tours Traveler, Sï'Lea and Nixe's names are actually anagrams/references. As he did before me, I'll give you guys a chance to guess them. Here's a hint: Sï'Lea is to Yen Sid what Nixe is to Eraqus. Also, before you decode Sï'Lea's name, remove the apostrophe.
Next chapter: Aqua's long-awaited return! YAY!
Please R&R. Until next chapter...