AN: You all are NOT ready for this chapter. xD It's a whopper of a 10K-er, and I am fine with that! Enjoy... :D Some BIG stuff goes down here! For plot AND for characters...! 3
End of AN!
In the total silence and stillness that followed, with all three parties looking at each other...it finally was broken by that new girl - Cognis.
"...I have to get off this world," came her subdued, yet panicking voice.
"Oh, don't bother," came the black coated man's voice, casual and light. "I'd just track you down again." He turned his hood toward Riku - clearly looking at him, even in that dark hood that revealed nothing. A magic miasma of concealment. "Silver and blinded, answer a little question for me, would you: do you really think you can just keep one of those things as a cute little pet? That you can tame it - domesticate it? Or-"
"She's not a pet, she's a friend," Riku said firmly, stepping forward and clenching a fist...and putting himself between that girl, Cognis, and anyone else. The girl herself looked surprised by Riku's words...but, touched, if that soft little smile on her lips was anything to go by.
The man eyed him for a moment, then he sighed, raising his arms up from out behind him. He raised a finger, as if lecturing. Scolding. He pointed at Riku and shook his head. "Look, kiddo, I get it - I used to think exactly the same way! I thought those things and I could be the best of pals! Hold hands, sing kumbaya - the whole nine yards! But then they had to go and prove me wrong, by betraying not just me, but all of humanity as a whole. I took it waaaay too personally back then, but I get it now: it's just in their nature. It's who they are. Like wild animals, ya know what I'm saying?
"It's like this: you get this adorable little tiger as a kitten, you try to train it, house-break it - no scratching up the sofas, no biting the hand that feeds. But then one day, out of nowhere, it just jumps on you, and then you've suddenly got its unbreakable jaws tearing into your throat. Because that's just what it was born to do, and it can't help but be what it is. No matter how long it behaves itself, staves off its instincts...eventually it's going to give in, slip up, and there'll be an accident."
"Not her," Riku snapped. "She's different. She's proven that. She's been out saving lives - protecting them from Nightmares!"
"Weeeell, you might get the stray oddball or two, it's true, but that doesn't mean anything for the species as a whole," the man sighed. "And you can never really know when even your little oddball is going to just snap."
"Now you're moving the goalposts, huh?" Kairi spoke up, stepping over to put herself next to Riku. She glowered at the black coat man, raising her weapon in front of her. "That's all we need to know, to know your argument is crap."
"Don't make the same mistake I did, Heart of Pure Light," the man responded, waving a hand. "Trust me, it will save you a lot of pain and tragedy. The light and the dark...we're always going to be opposed to one another."
"I already have pain and tragedy, thanks - and I won't let you cause any more!" Kairi retorted. "Terra and Riku and I, and Riku and her, don't we already prove that stupid argument wrong? What is with you ancient people and dividing us all up into neat little boxes? Light and darkness? Like we're not all just people, with all our complicated feelings and thoughts, and the ability to be more than instincts! Watch this - watch me prove you dead wrong, right now: so what if she's a Darkness? If Riku vouches for her, then I'll give her a chance - because I trust him. And I won't condemn someone just for what they were born as, without even using a bit of critical thought!"
"I told you I already tried that route," the man said, hard, now. "It didn't work. It can't work."
"Says you."
The man sagged his shoulders, throwing up his hands. "Yeah, that's what I just said, weren't you-!"
"Well now, as entertaining as this all is to watch, I do have an ultimate weapon to claim," Maleficent's voice rang out, with peals of high laughter. "So if you'd all excuse me..."
"Oooh, I wouldn't do that if I were you!" the black coated man said, rounding on her with hands on his hips. "Uh-uh-UH! Let me give you a little spoiler here, okay? It won't end well for you. Or-"
The Darkness in Kairi's body suddenly rose up to her feet, stumbling and grasping the pedestal for support. She shook her head, her eyes flickering to Maleficent - and then to the black coat man. Her face showed pure terror in that moment. She backed away, turning to look up at Maleficent. "I didn't betray you," her voice came, pained and high. "I just...lost myself to emotion. This form, its influence is...regrettably substantial. But I would not have used the weapon against you. I would have handed it off to you after I destroyed our mutual enemies!"
Maleficent glanced down at the Darkness- the girl. She raised a hand to covet the orb on her staff, her eyebrows raising. Then she smiled, and nodded. "Is that so...? Well then, I suppose I can forgive your - little error in judgement, my friend. Just be sure it doesn't happen again. We wouldn't want any more misunderstandings, would we?" she spoke casually.
"No," the girl agreed simply.
"-Or for her," the black coated man finished, suddenly, as if he'd been speaking the entire time - as if the pause had been a single second's worth, instead of several. He gestured at the Darkness flippantly.
Sora summoned his weapon in a flash of light, moving to stand beside Kairi and Riku. He slashed his weapon and aimed it out at the black coated man, his blue eyes narrowed. "Why don't you get lost?" he said fiercely. "Because we're not letting you hurt Riku's friend! It doesn't matter if she's darkness or not; she's good at Heart, and that's that!"
"Yeah - what he said." Ven glared at the man in the coat, stepping over to join Sora, his Keyblade appearing in his backhanded grasp as he took his battle stance. Then he raised a fist and smacked his shoulder pauldron, materializing his armor in a flash of light around him.
Terra did the same, activating his armor with long, flowing cape. He looked at the black coated man, then at Luxu. He raised his Keyblade and slashed it before him. Then, he joined the rest of them in front of Cognis. His helmeted head turned to Luxu, his visor glinting from the light of the Ultima Weapon. His armor reflecting it all. "Hey - are you still with us, or is this the part where you go back to your old Master and throw everything away? Or...was none of it real to begin with?"
Luxu startled into motion again, turning to stare at Terra in almost...confusion. Then his gaze swept over them all. From one to the next. He gazed past them - to Cognis. Then, he looked right at Kairi.
She saw the depth of conflict and struggles playing out on his face - a storm of emotion and thoughts she couldn't even guess at. Couldn't even guess which way they would finally fall, when the storm died down...but... "We all trust in you," she said quietly, gazing into the man's eyes. "I trust in you. I'm starting to, at least. I know what you said before, about what the Darknesses did to your parents...but please don't let that ruin everything between us when we're finally starting to understand each other. Maybe that's all any of us needs. The Darknesses became individuals, right? That was the whole point. So judge them as individuals, not as a whole people.
"You've lived so long, seen so much, on so many worlds...you have to understand the pitfalls of speciesism, or racism, don't you? Blind, generalized hatred, even if one person didn't do what another of their kind did. Judge Vanitas, and that Darkness there for the things they've done - and judge Cognis...for what she's done. Don't just lump them all together. I know you're not that stupid, Luxu, come on. You're older and wiser now than your Master ever was, or could ever hope to be."
Luxu simply stared at her, his face still mired in all that conflict...He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, turning his head aside.
"Don't throw away the life you're building here, with Namine, and with us...for revenge and hatred!" Kairi urged, more firmly. "You know what's right and what's wrong. You always knew! You defied him in the first place because of that, and I know you'll do it again! Because I believe in you, Luxu. And...like I said, I know how you feel about Darknesses - but I'm asking you to trust us in return here. Trust me, trust Terra, and Riku, and just give Cognis a chance to prove herself. Like the chance we've all given you these past few weeks. The chance Namine gave you - and never gave up on you for!
Kairi took a breath, raising her hand to her chest. "You told me how much you admired the way my Heart is, the way I live and the way I do things...and you said you wanted to be that way yourself. Here's your chance: try, Luxu. Take a step, and try. Right now. You said you just wanted to do the right thing...so do it. No more being a bystander. No more innocent deaths. Not Riku, not Cognis. Not this time! Stand up for what's right this time."
Luxu shook his head violently, raising his hands and smacking his fists to his own head. He growled and opened his eyes, turning to her again. Looking at her, meeting her gaze. "Goddammit...fine," he said hoarsely. "Between you and Namine, I can't fucking think straight right now anyways, and the only thing I want is for you both to shut the hell up!" He tapped a finger to his head, rubbed at his temple. "I've got her in here, you out there, in stereo. I get the message, quit yapping already- oh, that worked, you stopped...thank you!"
Kairi stared at him. Everyone else did, too.
"Talking to yourself is a sure sign of insanity," the black coated man said idly. "Don't listen to the headvoices, Luxu, that's the road to-"
"The only voice I regret ever listening to is yours," Luxu bit out, raising an arm - a hand of curving fingers. The Keyblade at his feet vanished with orange and purple light, and reappeared in his grasp in a spark of purple electricity. He twirled the blade and raised it up, thrusting it out at the man in the coat. "You jabber on more than the two teenaged girls combined, and I'm sick of hearing it." He stood there, quivering, hesitating...his jaw trembling...then he slowly moved to stand with the others, keeping his weapon aimed at his Master the entire time. Putting his back to Cognis.
"What an interesting drama playing out before me," Maleficent spoke. "but it really is time we brought it to a close." She turned her head, looking to the Darkness in Kairi's body. "I think it's also time you returned to me, wouldn't you agree? We have such varied and powerful opponents - we're going to need to combine our powers to destroy them all, yes?"
The Darkness girl...hesitated. She turned and looked up at Maleficent, frowning. "Opportunities for bodies like this rarely come along in this World. I'd be reluctant to abandon it now, for-"
"Is that all you want?" Kairi spoke out suddenly, gazing at the- at her own face. "Any of you Darknesses from the ancient past? That's it, isn't it? Why you take over bodies, infest Hearts - because you don't have forms of your own anymore, and you realized how much of a screw-up it was. Right? Well, hey, if you want a body all your own, we can give you one. We've mastered making empty human bodies for people. You want one? Tell Maleficent to shove it, and come over here with us. You don't have to use violence and manipulation to get what you want - any of you. Why not try being honest for once? Being open? Just-"
"Trust you?" the Darkness cut across, staring back at her intently. "Trust a human? Trust Luxu?"
"You can't be trapped when you're formless - we couldn't even do anything to you if we wanted to," Kairi said evenly. "What would you lose? If we didn't hold up our side of the bargain, you could just fly away and find some new host to hide in yourself."
"I would lose the body I currently have, for the uncertainty of a future one. I will not take such a risk," Darkness responded.
"Well, spoiler alert, you're going to lose that body no matter what here," Kairi stated. "I'm taking it back, one way or another! And if I can't do that, if you really want to keep hanging onto my body...then I'm going to just let Luxu destroy it! If a Replica is good enough for my sister, it's good enough for me - like he said! So you can either take the deal and let us help you, or don't...in which case, you either stay a formless ghost and keep making life stupidly hard for yourself for no real reason, or you disappear forever after you get wiped out with my body. Because I'm not letting you just keep it, to run around using it to hurt people with!"
Darkness stared at her in silence.
"What even is it that's keeping you from just accepting some help? Doing this the nice and easy way?" Kairi went on. "What is it, huh? Is it ego? Pride? Distrust? Racism?!"
The Darkness's face...her face...turned stony. Emotionless. "We will not fall for your tricks-"
"They're hardly tricks," came the low, clear voice of Cognis, suddenly.
Dark energy swirled in front of them all, and she- rematerialized herself in front of the pedestal. That appearance from before was gone...now she just looked like some- vague, dark human shape. No defining features. An aura of rippling dark energy around her. The girl was definitely...pure darkness, all right.
It shocked Kairi (unsettled her, even, a small part of her was ashamed by in the moment). But...
"I've spent most of my time with my host, Riku, but he's proven to be unique among humans," Cognis spoke on, addressing the other Darkness. "And in the short time I did spend among these humans, and others...I found them to be true to their word. Willing to have a conversation before a fight. Even the staunchest protectors of light were willing to give me a chance, as an individual. And even here, now, you see them all acting to protect me despite that such a thing should defy all logic...shouldn't it? I promise you, this group of humans as a whole are unique among their kind - they can be trusted to help us, to listen to us. There's no need for any of this, really...it's incredibly asinine," she concluded, with a huff of exasperation.
"You are a young one," the other Darkness said quietly. "You do not remember the things we do - the relentless warring between our kinds. Between us..and him." She jerked her head to the side, toward Luxu's master, her face flickering with disdain and hate. "He would call us alien, inhuman - monsters, no different from the Heartless that spawn from us. But we were no different once. Once, we were beings of body and Heart, who looked exactly as they do. And back then, we were not the ones to strike the first blow in our battles. It was the humans who hunted us down, passing it down their generations, until he came and-"
"These humans aren't the same as him! We don't need to be at war with them!" Cognis said firmly, emphatic now. Emotional. "We can work with them - a relationship based on respect, trust, and consent. Symbiosis over parasitism! You just need to find the ones willing to give you the chance! Not all of them will shun us, attack us! Find the ones you can trust, and-"
"We remember what trusting others got us," the Darkness interrupted tightly. "We won't be making that mistake again. He would have you believe we betrayed him? It was not betrayal, it was survival - and so is this!"
Dark energy suddenly erupted out of her- out of Kairi's physical body - becoming a formless cloud swirling above their heads. That dark cloud stretched and flew at Maleficent, becoming a streak of solid purple...and disappeared inside her. An aura of darkness, a strange magenta instead of the usual purple or blue, exuded from Maleficent! Kairi's now empty body fell to the ground with an echoing thud - and then Maleficent swiped a robed arm, sending a wave of burning green flames at them all!
Kairi saw Maleficent move in that same moment - saw the woman gliding forward and reaching out her hand for the Ultima Weapon - and she turned herself into pure light and darted forward, bypassing the flames entirely, to rematerialize at the speed of light...her own hand reforming itself around the Ultima Weapon's handle.
Everyone froze. Everyone stared at Kairi.
Even Maleficent, her face frozen with pure shock and disbelief.
Luxu's Master shook his head, and let out a sigh to fill the silence, his hooded face looking at Kairi. "And people call me insane..." he murmured out. "What a shame, truly. I was really rooting for you there, for a while, kid...I really was. But it's not you, Princess of Heart or not...and you've just signed your own death warrant."
A light flashed out from the man, a gust of wind fluttering at his coat, and he vanished into thin air - only to reappear directly behind Luxu. Luxu's eyes widened, his body tensed and started to turn - but it was too late! His Master's arm seized around his neck from behind in a blur of motion and strength, and then, in another flash of light...they both disappeared! And they didn't reappear.
"Luxu-!" Kairi's voice yelled out, torn from her throat unbidden, as panic and horror rose in her Heart with such intensity and overwhelming-
And then suddenly she was screaming for a whole different reason, as the Ultima Weapon burst into crimson flames - as those flames traveled down her entire arm, enveloping her whole body in an instant! Burning her, inside and outside, dropping her to her knees as her body shuddered and warped, golden particles of light flowing off of it...!
Maleficent began to laugh, dark and cruel. "Oh, you imbecile! You foolish girl!" she crowed. "A little wench like yourself could never possibly be found worthy of such a magnificent weapon! But I must thank you, I suppose: the Ultima Weapon will claim the power of a Princess of Heart today. Such a boon will not go to waste. Oh no: I shall use your Heart's power to-"
"ENOUGH!" Terra yelled, and he flew for Maleficent in the blink of an eye, his Keyblade swinging out with scarlet power!
A dark barrier flashed in front of Maleficent - and Terra's Keyblade struck it and bounced off...though not without leaving a spread of huge cracks and shattered crystal in its wake.
Terra swung his weapon again, enveloping it in an orange glow; the barrier was broken, as magical earth pillars rose up in front of him in a line, heading for Maleficent!
Maleficent was struck by the attack, and went flying backwards with a cry of shock and pain. She landed ungracefully on a knee, her staff clutched in hand. Her free hand held at her chest. Then she raised her head and turned into a ball of green fire herself, and went darting around the area as great pillars of green flames came down from high above around Terra...
Kairi screamed again as the pain suddenly intensified - and then she couldn't even do that anymore. Her chest was on fire, her Heart was disintegrating, it was burning away...the world itself...was burning away...and she was...
Falling...?
Drowning...
A multitude of voices rose up around her, hands were seizing her...dragging her into a burning abyss of orange and red flames...
A real, literal hell...?
Those hands tore at her, ripping at her body, her Heart, pulling her apart, every which way - screaming at her, in her ears, obscenities and fury and begging and pleading-
"STOOOOP!"
Golden light emanated from Kairi, burning away at them all - and a shining barrier sphere of light crystalized around her. She gasped, she breathed, she moved and turned and stared all around her...as she still continued to drift lower and lower down through this void of fire. She passed through the pain and fury, the screaming choruses, untouched by them now, at least...until, after a long time, she fell into a dark, cold place that was deathly silent.
Kairi's feet touched the ground...any ground, and her barrier faded away, along with the light. She sucked in air, and fell backwards onto the ground that somehow existed here. She lay there in pure, total darkness...unsure where she was, or how long it had been, or if she even was anymore, herself. She closed her eyes just to remember she still had them...breathed just to tell herself she still could.
After an eternity or an instant, she heard a noise in the silence. A change in the infinite darkness and silence. She groaned, she stirred, and she opened her eyes again... She still had eyes? Eyes that were able to focus on...the face of a familiar, pale, thin girl with dark blue curls that was hovering over her.
Kairi blinked, and everything came back into focus again sharply, suddenly. She sat up on the spot, her whole body aching and burning still. "Ozma...?! Where are we? What's going on? What- happened to me?" she rasped out, surprised to find she could even still speak. But it still hurt to do that, too...
"I'm sorry...! I'm so, so sorry! You were so nice to me - you don't deserve to be here! But..." Ozma trailed off, falling to her knees and putting her head in her hands. "I told you not to touch me, I told you...why did you do that! Why?!"
"Well I couldn't just let Maleficent get her hands on that Keyblade - on, well...you?" Kairi said firmly. "I don't care how awful you think you are - she actually is terrible! She's hurt so many people, set armies of Heartless on so many worlds. She's the last type of person who should ever have a weapon like that, Ozma!"
"I know, I know...! But they want her to..."
Kairi stopped, frowning. She breathed in, then out again, the air tingling in her throat. "Who wants her to? And where are we?" she asked, taking a look around herself now for the first time. She was surprised to find that there was a place to look around at now - not just a black void. It looked sort of like that cave she had been in, in the physical world...but it was smaller, more jagged, the terrain uneven. And of course, there was no sign of any of her friends in this smaller chamber...
"Everyone hates me here, because I trapped them all here with me, and now you're trapped here too..." the other girl said hopelessly.
Just so pitifully hopelessly that it made Kairi almost flinch from it. But she took a breath anyways, and reached out to touch the girl's arm. "Ozma, listen to me: if you're the Ultima Weapon, then you can just let everyone go! You can stop all of this. You don't have to let anyone use you - to do anything you don't want to! You're the one in control of yourself! You get to decide who to give your power to, and no one else! No one has to get hurt anymore-"
"No I can't, I can't - they're always just all around me, they're always SCREAMING AT ME! They HATE ME! They hurt me for hurting them! And they want everyone else out there in the Realm of Light to hurt, too! There's too many of them, I can't control anything! Not when it's just me against all of them...all that pain and anger. And besides, I deserve it all..."
"Maybe you do, but everyone else out there doesn't!" Kairi said firmly, grabbing the girl's arms. "Not my friends! Not that I even believe you do. After who knows how long this has all been going on for, how long you've all been here for...don't you think you've suffered enough? That you've all suffered enough?"
"...No...not me...I belong here. I deserve all of this...forever..."
Kairi sat there for a long time, eyeing the girl. Thinking. Then, an idea struck her. She wasn't sure if it would even work - this wasn't technically the Realm of Sleep, was it? Whatever this place was? But she was going to try it anyways, and hope. She put her hands to her chest, bowing her head and focusing her thoughts - her Heart. Calling out...calling...
After a moment, pink smoke burst in the air nearby!
Fin, Cherry, and Comet had appeared together!
Ozma shied away in fear and shock - well, more like she threw her whole body backwards violently.
"It's okay! They're friendly," Kairi said quickly, smiling at the girl and raising a hand. She reached over and patted at Cherry, as Fin came to nuzzle against her side. "See? They're-"
"Spirits...from the Sleeping Realm..."
"That's right," Kairi said, nodding. "Have you met them before? There weren't any Nightmares where I first found you, though, so probably not...?"
Ozma ducked her head, her curly, dark blue hair falling forth down her shoulders. "Nightmares can't come into my home. They just end up burning...like I do to everything..."
Kairi tried hard not to sigh. "Well, it looks like Spirits are fine around you, so that's good!"
The other girl still eyed the Spirits fearfully, keeping her distance.
"Ozma...we have to get out of here," Kairi said. "Please. Is there another mirror you can point me to somewhere around here?"
Ozma closed her strange eyes, shaking her head. She curled her shaking hands into fists on the ground. "You can't leave - no one ever leaves. I told you...you're trapped here now, with me - with everyone else. Forever..."
Kairi stood, raising a hand and summoning her Keyblade in a flash of light in the dark. "Well, i don't believe that! Even if it does take me forever, I'm going to look for a way out! Not just for me, though: for everyone trapped in this place. For you, too!"
"...But the place you're trapped inside is me," Ozma whispered. She looked up at Kairi, her blue and green eyes glinting now. "The only relief any of us will ever have...is if I'm destroyed. That would set all of these Hearts free...and they could move on finally. You, too." She frowned deeply, looking down at the ground again. "But no one's ever been strong enough to do that. I always win - I always destroy them."
"That doesn't matter," Kairi said fiercely. "We're not doing that, okay? We'll find another way. I'm sick of people trying to martyr themselves without even trying anything else first!"
Ozma blinked up at her, surprised - confused. Then it was gone, and she dropped her head again.
Kairi huffed out a harsh breath, turning away and staring around herself. Searching the walls, the dark ceiling. "I guess while we're here, maybe you could tell me something, though..."
"What...?"
"Why wasn't I worthy of- wielding you?" Kairi asked. "What makes someone worthy of not...ending up like this, here?"
"Someone who wants to do the same things that I always do..."
Kairi gazed down at the girl for a long moment, thinking. She bit her lip. Then it came to her. It was horrible, but- "Do you mean...people who want to destroy, and kill others with it - take their Hearts?" It made sense to her...that a weapon made with the ability and function to capture Hearts for power...would also desire a wielder who was capable of, in turn, wielding it to go out and harvest even more Hearts for itself.
Ozma gave a short, hesitant nod, silent now.
"That makes sense, in an awful way," Kairi went on slowly. "But why does it stop? How does it stop? I mean, you said no one ever beats you, right? So why wouldn't the Ultima Weapon's wielder just go on an eternal rampage, harvesting the hearts of entire worlds? Why do people have to keep 'finding you' again?"
"No one ever beats me - but my wielders can be struck down," Ozma said quietly. "They can be destroyed...with time, effort, numbers, or lucky or sneaky attacks - or because they don't know how to wield me properly yet - but I can't be."
"Right...and when your wielder is taken out...what happens to you?"
"I go away - to somewhere like this, in the Realm of Light, so I can sleep again..."
"Until someone finds you again? Someone who proves themselves worthy - someone with the same goals of destruction and death as you...as the Ultima Weapon itself?"
Ozma nodded. "Sometimes it takes a really long time. I always hope it will never happen again, but it always does, eventually..."
"But those don't have to be your goals, your desires. What are your desires, Ozma? What do you want to do in this World? Really?" Kairi spoke, holding the girl's gaze. "You say I'm a nice person, but you're nice, too. If nice people don't get to wield the Ultima Weapon, then how is it that the...the Ultima Weapon herself is someone nice? If you really are all about just destruction, and chaos, and death, and harvesting Hearts...why wouldn't you be someone who wanted those things, too? Why aren't you some cackling crazy girl with a sick fetish for carnage?"
Ozma stared up at Kairi in pure, total confusion now.
She didn't look like she was even thinking anymore, behind those two-toned eyes.
But maybe, after the freeze had ended...Ozma would start doing some thinking about it.
Kairi hoped so, at least.
She hoped.
Hoped she would get out of here, hoped she could take Ozma with her, hoped she could make her see so many things about herself...and she hoped she would reunite with Sora and her friends again.
It was not just going to be a brief reunion, and then a parting.
Not when she could still do something about it!
And when they could.
Because she knew them, and so she knew, as surely as she was in here trying to find a way out...they would be trying to find a way to save her from out there.
I know you'll find me again, Sora.
And I'll find YOU.
Sora stood there in horror, and shock, just watching as Terra and Ven battled Maleficent together around the great big cavern.
Terra and Ven weren't giving Maleficent a second to even think about going for the Keyblade.
Sora looked to that pedestal again, where the Ultima Weapon itself was floating...
Where Kairi had just...disappeared...
He looked down at...Kairi's body, empty again, on the platform. He hurried forward and got down on his knees, turning her over and pulling her into his lap. He held her, staring down at her, gritting his teeth.
"Kairi..." he whispered.
After just finding her again...she'd slipped away again...
He'd thought they'd get to finally be together again - all of them - but now...
"Sora..."
He turned his head and looked up to see Riku standing there. Riku and Cognis, in that dark flaming form of hers...
"We're never going to get Kairi back, are we? Our Kairi..." Sora said tightly. "She was right here with us, but now-"
"Come on, Sora, i thought you were stronger than that."
Sora froze, glancing up at his best friend.
"Get up, pull yourself together, and let's figure out a way to save her," Riku said firmly.
"But, h-how? She's..."
Riku's jaw set, his fist clenching at his side. He shook his head. "I don't know - but I'm going to try for her...with all my Heart. The two of you didn't give up on me, remember? So how can I give up on her? How can you, Sora?" he said accusingly. "I thought you cared about her," he added, soft and quiet.
"Perhaps destroying the Ultima Weapon will save her," Cognis spoke suddenly. "If her Heart is trapped within the blade, then destroying it would set her free again. Right now, Kairi's body lies right there in your arms, Sora - all that's needed is to free her Heart, and, surely, things will all be put right again..."
Sora gaped at the Darkness- girl...Darkness girl! He carefully set Kairi's body down and jumped to his feet, summoning his Keyblade again. "You're right! If we can free her Heart...it's gotta work!"
Riku nodded, giving a small smile before his face set with determination. He raised Aqua's Keyblade, Rainfell, and turned toward the Ultima Weapon. He raised his Keyblade to it...
Sora stepped up beside his best friend, doing the same!
Their weapons began to glow, the ends shined with light and swirling colors...and then two beams of silver energy shot out toward the Ultima Weapon!
The beams slammed into some invisible, fiery red barrier that sprang up out of nowhere...blocking them completely! Light flew off of the barrier, blinding Sora!
"Come on...come on!" he cried, thrusting his weapon forward and slamming a foot down in front of him. "KAIRI! I know you're still in there - and we're coming to get you! We're never leaving you again - I promise!"
Riku gasped softly next to Sora. Then, he nodded and took a step forward too, reinforcing his attack. The beam grew wider, more intense, burrowing into the barrier. "Yeah! You better be hearing me in there, Kairi - because I'm not saying it again! We're going to find you in there, and we're going to get you out of there! We're not just going to give up on you! I'm not just going to give up on you, alright?! We're-"
A torrent of dark energy suddenly slammed into the barrier. Sora looked over to see Cognis, a flaming dark arm raised up in front of her.
"That's right," her voice came, low and clear. "We're all here trying to help you! Everyone's fighting for you, Kairi!"
She closed her fist, and her stream of energy swirled and narrowed, becoming an orange and white beam, a lot like their Keyblade beams!
The cavern rocked, a whole, huge pillar blew apart, causing large boulders to fall onto the ground! Maleficent's gaze found the platform - them - and widened in shock. And then they narrowed with anger. "No! You shan't deny me what rightfully belongs to me!"
Maleficent exploded into dark purple energy-
And then she reappeared on the platform, not five feet away from the three of them. She immediately thrust her staff forward, glowing with bright green flames!
Cognis stopped her efforts to help free Kairi, turned and darted forward in a glide, her legs not even moving - then she expanded and...sort of stretched, weirdly, into some solid dark purple shape and a billowing cloud. Maleficent's barrage of green fireballs struck Cognis's...great big cloudy, purply streaked mass - but they didn't do anything to her. They just sort of...disappeared into her?
"Why do you fight to defend these humans?" came an echoing, disembodied voice - a girl's voice. A familiar voice. Kairi's...but everything about it was off. It wasn't Kairi, Sora realized: it had to be that other Darkness, the one working with Maleficent. "Why not join with us, just as I and the other Darknesses once did before? The two of us combined, in one body, would be more powerful than-"
Maleficent vanished in green flames, reappearing to Riku's left! She raised a free hand of curved fingers - and huge, dark green flaming claws came streaking down for him!
Cognis warped and morphed and darted off past Sora and Riku, weaving between them, and doing that same expanding trick again - blocking Maleficent's attack, mostly. Some of those claws still burned into the ground, carving deep, green, several-feet-deep trenches into the platform!
"I fight for them because they're worth it!" Cognis responded firmly. "And because it's simply the right thing to do - it's what a hero does! It's what they'd do! What they HAVE done...for me! Even in the short time I've known them!"
Maleficent turned into an orb of green fire, darting off around the platform, reforming right in front of the Ultima Weapon! She shot her arm out, her fingers closing in on the handle...
Cognis shot forward as a dark comet, flying underneath the weapon and whipping upward as a purple streak; Maleficent stumbled backwards with a cry of anguish, clutching her hand to her chest like it'd been badly burned (it probably had been!). Cognis's humanoid shape reformed again, standing in front of Maleficent now.
Terra blitzed Maleficent out of nowhere, slashing his Keyblade down in crackling lightning and orange light; meteors formed in the air above him, spread out in a wide row, and then they all flew for Maleficent!
Maleficent glanced up at the incoming attack. She raised her staff with a snarl, thrusting it out. Huge bolts of purple lightning flew out of it, striking the oncoming meteors - and causing them to explode before they got to her. One by one, her attack shot out, spreading and searching, staving off the attack!
Ven leapt and rolled up onto the platform behind Maleficent, coming up swinging his weapon, a blue glow around his armored body, magic wind swirling around him.
A dark aura grew around Maleficent, shooting out behind her in a wave - catching Ven off guard and sending him flipping back through the air!
Sora tried to focus again - to just focus on the Ultima Weapon. On breaking it, destroying it, getting Kairi back...
But with just his attack alone now...
The Ultima Weapon suddenly flared with red and orange flames...and then it moved. It glided out from the pedestal, and down...to place its handle right into the grasp of Kairi's motionless hand? The hand of her empty body...?
Sora whirled around, staring in shock and confusion at the sight. What was going on? Why...?
He wasn't the only one to notice; Maleficent's head turned, looking to the weapon, and Kairi's body - then she screamed, erupting with billowing darkness that sent Sora, Riku, Ven, and even Terra flying back off the platform across the cavern!
Sora couldn't even block the attack! He flew through the air and hit the ground hard, rolling on the cold, hard rock floor.
"Kairi..." he gasped, lifting himself up and reaching out for her from afar...
Suddenly, Kairi's empty body began to move. It rose up into the air, hovering like a ghost, her arms and legs, her head itself hanging limply still. That Keyblade still in her hand. Then her head came up, her body twitched, and her eyes opened - as she turned her head to look at Sora. Her eyes weren't the shade of blue he always liked seeing: they were now eyes of glistening, ruby red. Her lips drew in a breath... and, in a flash of red light from her chest, a suit of armor suddenly materialized on her body. But it wasn't her familiar Keyblade armor from training sessions...
It was burning orange-red, sparkling armor, with accents of silver and white. It was covered in curved metal spikes. It was angular and jagged, beneath all the spikes. Glowing crystals of orange decorated it - with one, large ruby crystal in the center of her chest. Right over her Heart. It looked a lot like the Ultima Weapon itself, in color and design!
Maleficent gaped at her. Then she shoved her staff out and sent a blast of wide, purple intense lightning straight for Kairi!
Kairi raised her weapon in a flash, a streak of burning flames, and a barrier appeared to block the flames!
"Impossible!" Maleficent exclaimed. She shoved at her with more of her magical power, snarling with exertion.
Kairi gritted her teeth and pushed back, her eyes narrowing. Then the flames roared around her in powerful waves - and Maleficent was sent skidding backwards, teetering off-balance! Kairi vanished in a burst of flames, reappearing before her and slashing for her twice over, forming a burning X in the air. The flaming letter struck Maleficent and burned itself into her torso, causing her to yell out in pain, a hand going to her chest. Then, next instant, it EXPLODED; Maleficent's scream filled the air, as she flew backwards and landed in a tumbled mess.
Kairi lifted up even higher off the ground again, as a burning pillar of fire rose up beneath her feet, shooting up into the sky. Enveloping her completely. Her form was barely visible through the rippling flames...!
"K-Kairi...?" Sora whispered, climbing to his feet unsteadily, and taking staggering steps forward.
"Another fool lusting after our power," came Kairi's voice, loud and echoing - but also...not just her voice alone. There were several, a dozen...how many voices behind it? Dozens? A hundred? A thousand? All of them were speaking in unison, overlapping! Boy, girl, low, high, young, old - angry, sad, crying, raging, spitting, pleading. Somehow, every emotion at once, in the same multitude of voices. "An entitled child who thought she could control us, merely because of her status as Princess of Heart - and a pitiful witch with delusions of grandeur. Neither of you are worthy of holding onto us for any length of time - of giving us what we desire; we would rather rest another four centuries for the chance at finding someone better!"
This wasn't Kairi, clearly. Obviously, even to Sora. No, this was...the Ultima Weapon itself? Or...all those Hearts inside it...?
"KAIRI!" Sora yelled out, racing forward now. "I know this isn't you; you've got to fight it! I KNOW...JUST HOW STRONG YOU ARE!"
The pillar of burning flames narrowed, and then it shot down to the ground to become a burning circle beneath Kairi - revealing her form again. Kairi's lips curved as she gazed down on Sora from on high, those eyes of hers glinting at him. "The dead girl is important to you? Don't bother: her Heart is now one with the rest of ours. It has been consumed - smothered - stamped out of existence. It now only exists as an addition to our power. And what a magnificent addition it is - a Princess of Heart's power! Though she may have deluded herself into believing she could act above her station, the power that that station grants her is undeniable. A power that now belongs to us!"
"She isn't GONE!" Sora shouted, swiping an arm before him, glowering. "She may be lost, but no matter how lost either of us has ever gotten...we've always found our way back to each other! Even with our Hearts separated from our bodies, we've managed to find each other - for safety, for comfort! Because that's the strength of the bond we have! That bond between our Hearts...no matter WHAT happens, it'll always be there, connecting us to each other! And I know it's still there: She's still in there! And as long as she is...I know she'll keep fighting! And so will I! Because as long as she's still here, I know I can find her again! We'll always find each other again!"
Kairi scoffed down at him, her hair fluttering in her eyes. It was so unlike her it was just disturbing to see. That kind of look on her face... "What childish drivel. Very well: we will disabuse you of such absurd notions!"
She flew up higher still, ascending to the high, cavernous ceiling in the blink of an eye. She raised the Keyblade high above her head, and it began to shine with scarlet energy, building up around it into a furious cylcone that just...grew and grew, until it had become so wide that it was covering the whole ceiling, obscuring it from view! It was a ceiling of furious, swirling energy now, with crackling orange lightning bolts flashing within it and down from it...
"KAIRI!" Sora leaped up into the air with all his might and power - flying right for her, his arm outstretched, his hand reaching for her!
Sora reached her just as she was drawing her weapon back, preparing for a swing - to unleash all that power! Kairi's body tensed, her eyes narrowing with malice as he rose up before her. But he didn't attack her. He didn't strike her. Instead, he threw his arms around her, and he hugged her. Sora squeezed her tight, and put his lips to her ear. "Kairi: come back to me, please! We shared the paopu, remember? We're always going to be a part of each other's lives, no matter what," he whispered out, firm and earnest. "It's not just a promise...it's fate. Our fate. And when it's your fate...every step you take will always be a step closer to home..."
"What are you doing?! Unhand us, you worthless boy!" Kairi's hand seized his face and forced him back, her expression filled with disdain. "You're powerless - just like she is-!"
Kairi's words were suddenly cut off, her mouth clamping shut. Her eyes closed tightly, and her arm shot down to her side, releasing Sora. A golden glow surrounded her, and the armor suddenly melted away.
"W-WHAT- IS THIS-?" the symphony of voices gasped through gritted teeth.
"Kairi..." Sora urged, drifting forward...and reaching up to place a hand on her face. He smiled at her.
Kairi's head jerked aside, out of his grasp - and then back again. She pressed her cheek into his palm, and then her own hand rose up to lay atop it. She drew in a sharp breath, and her eyes opened...revealing deep, blue eyes. Vacant eyes, still. Then she darted her head forward, and pressed her lips to his!
Sora froze, his eyes wide, a pink tinge flooding his face!
Kairi's eyes fluttered, a light of life returning to them, as her body was enveloped in a golden aura. She pulled away again, her expression filled with a multitude of emotions. She gazed at Sora for a moment. Then she looked up quickly - to the massive energy swirling above them still. She tightened her grip on the Ultima Weapon, and then she gave a great cry and hurled it down toward the ground!
The weapon flew down like a spear, out of her grasp and down to stab into the ground below, in a flash of sparks!
A pink light flared around Kairi's body, that armor vanished off of her, and then she breathed out in a great woosh. She fell forward, her arms going around Sora's neck, clinging to him. She wasn't trying to float, to fly - Sora could feel her weight hanging off him in that moment.
"Sora..."
"Kairi..." he breathed, holding her tight with one arm.
"We have to destroy that thing," she whispered, in a twisted, hurting voice - but with a note of determination.
Sora nodded and flew down to the ground again, pulling her along with him.
They landed together, near where Riku, Ven, Terra and Cognis were gathered before the Ultima Weapon.
"Together," Sora said, wasting no time in aiming his Keyblade out at the Ultima Weapon, the end glowing with light again for a keybeam...
Kairi raised her own weapon, and so did the others, together.
Suddenly, massive, glowing purple, thorny tendrils erupted up from the ground, splitting the earth and rising up into the cavern! They curled around the Ultima Weapon, writhing and spreading out rapidly in chaotic serpentine motions!
Sora and the others all leapt back away from them, as the mass grew and grew with no signs of stopping...until it did.
Sora felt a moment of relief, glancing over at Kairi - until he saw movement through the mass of thorns, through the gaps in them all.
He saw a green light, and a black cloak swishing...
"Maleficent!" Sora yelled. "Don't-!"
From deep within the field of thorns, a scarlet light flashed, and flames shot up toward the ceiling - as Maleficent's voice rang out with high, insane laughter!
Red flames shot out across the cavern, burning away the thorns and revealing Maleficent again. She was standing there, facing them all - the Ultima Weapon held in her hand before herself. She gazed down on it with glistening eyes and a wicked grin. Then, her gaze flickered up to all of them. And then...to just Kairi.
Maleficent's arm swung out in a blur of motion - and thorny, flaming red and orange tendrils grew out of the ground around Kairi! They enveloped her, lifting her up high into the air like living tentacles of some monster! Kairi's voice screamed out in pain as she struggled against the thorny tendrils, but it was no use!
Terra and Ven slashed their weapons at the thorn tendrils - but their attacks bounced off, as twisting strands of flames flew out to attack them. Terra and Ven dodged, leaping away, left and right!
Sora stared up at Kairi...he looked to Maleficent...and he grasped his weapon in his hand and ran forward, determined to-
A red barrier of swirling orange light flashed in front of him out of nowhere, causing him to run right into it and bounce back off of it, hard. He fell to the ground with an oof, staring in disbelief. In panic. In despair. No, no - "Kairi!" He jumped up and slammed himself into the barrier. He drew back, and started slashing at it with all his strength! "Come on, Kairi, come on! Maleficent's got nothing on you, you can get out of this - I'm coming to get you! I'll-"
"...Can't you get her out of there?! You don't even have a body - how can anyone stop you?" Riku was shouting, arguing, pleading with Cognis nearby, meanwhile! "Go get her - go save Kairi! You-"
"What do you expect me to do?!" Cognis's voice rose in response, angry and frustrated. Impatient. "I'm formless! And even my power has its limits! Not even we Darknesses are all alike, you know! We have varying degrees of power - and mine won't just allow me to destroy those vines any more than yours would! Or take down Maleficent all on my own! I may be invincible but I'm not full of limitless power! Even if I tried to attack the witch myself, that other Darkness would act to stop me from-"
"I DON'T CARE, JUST DO SOMETHING, DAMMIT!" Riku yelled, whirling and slashing his Keyblade against the unbreakable barrier! He cloaked his weapon in blue flames and slashed again, and again, and again! He thrust out a hand of Dark Firaga! It did nothing!
Terra and Ven began attacking the barrier, too, with incredible power and speed and magical abilities - and they started to break it. Pieces fell off, cracks formed and spread...
Sora, Riku, and Cognis hurried to their side, aiming Keybeams and darkness blasts at it, breaking through it more and more now, together! It was weakening, thinning, rapidly falling apart!
But it was going to be too late for Kairi, who wasn't even screaming anymore, who wasn't moving now, caught up high in those thorns...She was just hanging there now, her head on her chest...golden motes of light starting to drift off of her...
And Maleficent-
Maleficent stepped forward, raising her new weapon, and thrusting it out at all of them - to stop them in their efforts!
A swirling, horizontal cyclone of red flames flew out across the cavern - for all of them! For Sora, for Riku, for Terra, for Ven-
A dark portal suddenly exploded to life in front of them all, expanding and growing; the cyclone attack flew into it, burning and swirling...and then it narrowed, and disappeared. Maleficent cancelled the attack in an instant, staring with wide eyes of confusion. Then-
A red and black shape came flying out of the portal, streaking forward and slamming into the weakened part of the barrier that they had all been attacking together, shrouded in a red and black energy of darkness! Crimson energy flashed, spreading out across the barrier...and then it finally shattered! Amber fragments fell to litter the floor, as the whole barrier disintegrated, as if being eaten away at by an invisible force. The red and black aura figure dropped down to the ground, and dark energy rippled forward in a line of shadow...and then it burst up with dark red claws and orange fires, traveling up the length of the tendrils holding Kairi, burning and attacking them - causing them to shrivel up and fall apart...releasing her at last.
Kairi fell, hitting the ground hard.
The red and black aura faded, revealing the figure that had come to the rescue...
Sora could only stare in total shock - and confusion.
Maleficent looked just as baffled by the new arrival...and wary.
Purple darkness flowed off of her, and a dark, humanoid shape, like Cognis, formed beside Maleficent. The other Darkness girl. Her head tilted, her faceless gaze fixed to the newcomer now, and nobody else...
Kairi blinked her eyes in a dark void, groaning with fresh pain, as cold silence surrounded her...
Maleficent had gotten the Ultima Weapon. She'd taken it, wielded it...
Against Kairi.
Really, really well, she had to admit...
She'd been totally unprepared - unable to escape...
Sora and the others had been trying their best to save her, but-
They hadn't.
Or...had they?
Wait a second, why was Kairi still thinking and everything right now?
Then...that meant she couldn't just be-
"Get up..." a rasping, harsh voice of a boy's came. A familiar boy's voice...cutting through the void... "We both know you're not this completely pathetic."
Kairi's eyes snapped open, as sensation and sound and sight and the world all returned to her.
The first thing she saw...
Were a pair of red and black boots in front of her face?
Kairi startled, her gaze traveling up those boots - up, across a figure in a red-and-black bodysuit...to a boy's face, of golden eyes and spiky black hair.
The boy gazed down on her.
She looked back up at him in sheer disbelief. "Vanitas...? What are you-" She stopped. She raised her head and looked around herself, taking in the cavern, the others. Taking in her... The only conclusion she could even come to was an insane one. But- "Did you just...save me? So you can do something good in your life-"
Vanitas curled his lip at her, then he bent down and seized her arm tightly, yanking her to her feet again. He held her, pulling her close, gazing into her eyes. "Don't make me puke, you stupid little princess!" he hissed at her. "I didn't come here to save you; I came because I heard that everyone was fighting like mad dogs over a powerful Keyblade, and I figured I'd throw my hat into the ring. That's all!"
"Right - sure - and how did you even hear that?" Kairi retorted, glowering at him and tilting her chin up at him. Trying not to wince at his grip, or at the pain still burning inside her body as a whole.
Vanitas gazed back into her eyes for a moment. His painful grip let her go as he stepped away. He turned and looked over toward Ventus, chuckling. "The bond that Ventus and I share can still be useful to me, sometimes."
Ven didn't look at all happy about the idea, himself.
That Darkness girl, Maleficent's ally (now looking like just darkness and nothing else), suddenly teleported from Maleficent's side - to stand in front of Vanitas. "You..."
"Huh?" Vanitas cocked his head, looking the girl's formless form up and down.
"The one who accompanied the boy into the future - as it was written in the Book," the Darkness spoke, her voice actually holding some measure of emotion now. "It has been a long time...brother. To find one of the original thirteen again, after so long-"
Vanitas laughed, loudly, throwing his head back in high peals that sounded just- insane. Par the course for the guy, Kairi thought...
The Darkness tilted her head at him in return now. "Is there something you find funny?"
"I'm not a part of your little group anymore," Vanitas responded firmly. "I'm my own guy. All that crap that happened before - those thoughts and emotions that drove us when we were sharing minds and Hearts - all of it has nothing to do with me now."
"You are still a Darkness, individual or not. Why would you refuse us?"
"You want to know why?" Vanitas smirked, stepping forward. He leaned in close, putting his defined face in her featureless one... "Because my name is Vanitas...and I can do whatever the fuck I want."
"Very well." The Darkness retreated, and flowed back into Maleficent's body and Heart in a stream of dark energy. "My host's survival takes priority over anything else...and you have made your choice, it seems, as an individual," her voice echoed out around them all.
"Damn right I have. And you know what? Just to spite you - and because I can't stand seeing her acting so pathetic and weak-" Vanitas turned, raising a hand - Kairi flinched - and a green light flashed.
Healing power coursed through her body, and she gasped with relief - and shock. She raised a hand, summoning her weapon again. She looked at Vanitas, then stalked forward, gazing at Maleficent. "If you want a chance at grabbing that thing, you're going to have to put in the work for it, Vany. And the only way we're going to have a shot at taking her down is by working together. So what do you say? Can you do it - or are you too scared to-"
"Let's skip the part where you try to goad me into it and let's just fucking do this," Vanitas said raspily, spinning on a heel and raising his weapon in his combat stance.
Kairi threw a grin at him, falling into her own battle stance. "Let's fucking do this," she agreed. She paused, giving a sidelong look. "Just so you know, though, if that Keyblade doesn't like you, it will literally suck your Heart out and trap you inside it as a power source for the rest of eternity, so...go ahead if you want to take your chances. I won't cry over you or anything. And trust me, it's not fun - I just experienced it myself. The only reason I got out again was because of Sora - and seeing as you don't have any friends...you're going to be shit out of luck, aren't you?"
Vanitas looked at her, intense. He must have seen she was telling the truth, because- "Damnit."
"Too late, no take-backs! You already saved me, and we're already doing this!" Kairi said quickly.
"Fuck that; I'm out of here!" Vanitas turned, raising a hand. A dark portal formed-
And then, in a flash of orange light, the portal was torn apart and evaporated into nothing!
"WHAT?" Vanitas gaped.
"No one will be running away from me today!" Maleficent's voice echoed, with mad cackling of glee. "Today, you all face your DOOM!"
"That mutual alliance is still on the table if you want to rethink things," Kairi told Vanitas, sticking out her tongue.
Vanitas growled, whipping back around and raising his weapon, stepping up beside her once more. "Fine - we take the witch down, then I'm out of here. And I hate you even more for trapping me in this situation, you stupid bitch!"
"I hate you too, asshole!" Kairi said sweetly.
"Don't talk like that to me; we're not having a moment!"
"Are you so sure about that?" Kairi flashed a grin, and she batted her eyes at him.
Vanitas's face went taut with disgust, looking like he was actually going to puke. "Just- fucking- just fight already!"
"You first - coward."
"I'm not-!"
"Prove it, then!"
Vanitas roared, leaping forward in a blur of motion and dark energy.
"You will be the first to die!" Maleficent laughed, raising her weapon and giving it a swing!
Kairi gripped her own blade tightly, and flew forward in a flash of light, keeping up with Vanitas - and then shooting past him.
She had a seriously large amount of payback to dish out to Maleficent now!