Yeah, I don't know what happened the past couple of months lmao. So much for 45 chapters. Gonna jinx myself even more and say my new goal is to finish this fic by the end of the year.
It was surreal. These carpets, these tiles, these walls, these halls were exactly how he remembered them in his dreams. Only now, he was running through them at a breakneck pace for real. After Ashley freed them from their cell, she quickly went to work guiding them through the labyrinth-like castle. Heartless crawled around at every corner, and the group whacked and blasted through them all like a barreling bullet charging through a cylinder.
"You sure this is the right way?" Klonoa called out after shooting a Soldier to a wall. "I don't remember ever going through here."
"Of course I'm sure," Ashley scoffed in reply without looking back. "This place has a hex placed on it that makes the layout change every time it detects an intruder. I'm the only one here who should know the right way."
"That explains so much," the cabbit whined in hindsight.
"Are we there yet?" Mokona yipped like a child on a field trip.
"No," the girl groaned. "Just keep following me. And don't fall behind."
Easier said than done.
Unfortunately, Cody was still left wheezed and aching over his earlier episode. The stabbing pain he felt in his chest had not yet faded, and running through it all was self inflicted torture. He winced with each breath he took. He could feel his body try to forcefully slow itself down to a less damaging pace, but with how much he was straggling, he had to fight through his own sense of self preservation. On top of that, without the Keyblade, he was even worse than a sitting duck. The others had to pick up the slack and make sure their little escort mission didn't fall in harm's way, and he, said escort mission, could do nothing but helplessly follow along. It reminded him of Cyan back at MidiCity; when they had first met up with her and all she'd do was cower about and hide. He remembered how horrible she felt being the load, and now experiencing that first hand, yeah, didn't feel great at all.
"Sorry," he heaved between coughs. "Could you guys slow just a little…"
Oh boy. Being the last in line, he had to brace for the chance that one or two Heartless would slip past the main three defenses and right his way. Sure, the smaller mooks he could easily jump over, but fitting for the nest, the creatures of Hollow Bastion were much more ferocious in size and might than he was used to. An armored enemy with a raging mutt for a shield, Defender, sped past the gaps in the group like a quarterback, and true to its shield's nature, it went after Cody like a lost pitbull that had gone feral in the woods. Cody's straight line path shifted to frantic zigzags to avoid the incoming mauling, but his fit only caused him to ram head first into a corner surrounded by Wizards—mages several steps beyond the tinier doll-like enemies he was used to. With no weapon at hand, all he could really do was call out to the others and hope even one of them could get to him in time before he entered a world of pain.
"For crying out loud," he heard his lone female companion grumble. With her voice came in massive infernos of flames that decimated the Heartless within seconds. "I told you not to fall behind."
"Holy crap," Cody held on to his forehead in disbelief. "You took them down like it was nothing."
"Don't get used to it," Ashley huffed as she turned back ahead to move along. "The second Maleficent finds out about this and cuts our contract, that's all gonna go away."
Then they definitely had to hurry.
"Sorry about being kind of use—"
"Who cares?" She shouted, already back in her place ahead of the others. "Just keep moving."
He nodded awkwardly in response. Both Mokona and Klonoa had fallen back to check up on things, and they gave him encouraging faces to compliment Ashley's more stilted consolation. It was alright. He didn't have to worry about it. Well, if he did actually believe in all that, he wouldn't have been stuck in this humiliating situation to begin with. What was he even going to do once they made it to the princesses? Could he even do anything without his Keyblade? These were the thoughts that kept jerking him around inside all the way up to their entrance…
…Into that room.
The moment the doors flew open, his eyes widened. As if it wasn't surreal enough to actually be corporeally running through the very real halls of Hollow Bastion. This was the library. The library. The one that brimmed with light and life from the garden atrium that laid at the center.
Cody's lips timidly moved with words that were really intended for just himself. "Why is there a garden…?"
"Beats me," Ashley answered with a mumble. The moment they had entered the room, she had already sprung into action, sprinting towards various bookcases and grabbing out seemingly random patterns of chronicles. "Free food I guess. Be useful and get in there."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Klonoa happily chuckled, already with the intention to grab some carrots and veggies for the road.
"Gross," Mokona's face scrunched.
"I'm telling you," Klonoa grabbed two freshly ripe tomatoes and held them out to both his male companions as they followed him in. "This stuff's good quality! Trust me. I was literally living off of it for weeks. Just try this—"
Ashley pulled out one last book, and the garden tiles began to shake. Klonoa promptly stuffed the tomatoes away as he and the boys attempted to find their footing. Ashley sprinted and jumped right in with them just as the plant covered gravel lifted up off the ground, past its glass plane confines, and out into the castle's exterior. It wasn't just a garden, an enchanted everlasting food pantry, or even a hidden elevator they were on. It was a full on transporter that was taking them miles across the castle's bounds.
"Okay," Ashley took one quick relieving breath. "As soon as this thing lands, the way to the Seven Hearts should be straight forward. Mostly just some big empty rooms and long hall—"
A sharp pink blight of light zipped between them. It just narrowly avoided slicing right down Ashley's face.
The four looked up, and right on one of the nearby balconies was Heather. Freaking Heather. She leapt right off and landed on to the stony platform with a massive throng of magical residue accompanying her. The immense pressure forced the four to slide back in their stances, and the less lucky pots of plants that were right at the edge to simply tumble down into the depths below.
"You're up already?" Ashley said irritably.
"Surprised?" Fumes practically spewed out of Heather's mouth. "You know what I hate more than losers? Mopey goth freaks like you!"
Heather slapped another bright ball of magic towards them, forcing the four to use up what little space was available to them to scatter. Ashley simply huffed at the move and waved her wand, ready to hit her with enough force to knock her off the platform itself. She steadied herself, lest the sheer force of her own attack backfire and send herself to the depths alongside Heather. She thrusted her wand out like a dagger.
And to her absolute horror, all that came out was a pitiful puff of smoke.
"Ha! You should see the look on your stupid little face!" Heather burst out laughing. "You think I'm dumb? I already told the big bitch before I got here. And.." An immense storm of fissures formed around Heather's palm. Somehow, what formed felt even more looming than her usual threats. "All the power she gave you's been passed down to me."
Ashley fidgeted in panic. She continued to desperately toss out her pitiful bullets of spitfires, snowballs, and static shocks. They were all nothing compared to the damage Heather was inflicting. Plants were thrown off left and right, and tiles were split. There was genuine concern she'd even tear apart the platform itself.
Klonoa shifted over to being their main offense. As even Mokona's attacks were being easily counteracted against her, their only option left was to fight fire with fire. Each time Heather shot out another ball, Klonoa would risk his safety to try to grab hold of it with his Wind Bullet ring and then shoot it back. Cody knew right off the bat that this strategy was not sustainable. Klonoa was walking the fine line between helpful and harmed, and it was showing on his face with each passing second. All they needed was to stave her off just until the platform reached its destination, and then they could try to book it and run. They just needed to hold on a bit longer, and any bit of help was needed.
And that's why the completely defenseless and weaponless Cody decided to take it upon himself to grab a flowerpot and aim it at her head.
Heather just barely moved away in time to avoid a concussion, and it wasn't even on purpose. She took a brief moment to pause in shock; that the little nerd even had the audacity to do something so boneheaded. Cody himself had to keep himself from apologizing on the spot, but maybe he should've begged for whatever mercy she could afford him because that was more than enough to turn her attention solely on him. And believe it or not, this actually made Klonoa's job much harder. Now that her attacks were no longer aimed at his general direction, he had to actively chase them out just so he could have some kind of ammo. But with Cody now frantically running about, that was easier said than done.
"Stay still, you little shit (idiot)," he could hear both Heather and Ashley's voices collide against each other amidst the ambience of Mokona's ill suited laughter. It didn't matter if the demand was coming from a foe or friend. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He had to just hold on…
…Until they made it to the ledge.
He leapt off the platform the second they reached a decent enough distance to risk parsing between the gap to the castle grounds. It was a deadly risk, and he wouldn't have made it if it weren't for the gargoyle statue situated at the corner of the ledge acting as his grapple spot. As he bounced back to the ground, Heather narrowly missed him and hit the statue instead, and he too threw the chipped off tip of the gargoyle wing back her way in response. The chase was on. Heather and the rest followed him off the platform. Now the rest of the castle was their battlefield.
oOo
No matter how much he wanted to just drag his legs and numbly carry on like he usually did, Trent couldn't bring himself to stop staring at what was now in his hands; the oversized key that had once belonged to Cody. It didn't make sense. Why?...Why did he have it? That green witch was after this thing. He didn't know why, but he had a sinking feeling it was for that reason. He should be running towards her right now. After the long and senseless hero's journey that wannabe took this thing on, this thing could finally make itself useful and wake Gwen up. Right?
Why was he so fixated on how he got it though? He shouldn't care. He never has. But it made no sense. It gnawed at him. That image of Cody having a full on panic attack back there disturbed him. That was his fault wasn't it? He'd spent all this time both verbally and mentally attacking that annoying twerp, and of all times, now he felt awful about it? How annoying. What a bother. None of this felt right.
"Uh, you alright over th—"
That large purple guy's words were cut shut by the quick jab of that psychic creature.
Those two were Cody's…friends? Personally, to Trent, they just seemed like that guy's excuse to dick around world to world. The two of them were in dire straits once the Neo Shadows started gathering. For whatever reason, the Heartless didn't ignore him as much as they used to. Probably the key's influence. He took them down before they had a chance to wipe those two off. Why? Heck if he knew. With Cody gone, the two Pokemon had nowhere left to go, and simply reluctantly followed their so-called savior through the vast castle halls.
"You don't have to talk to him," Alakazam scolded the bigger Pokemon. "He's not gonna answer anyway."
I know. It's just… That's what Loudred wanted to say, but he was well aware that his natural speaking voice would've been loud enough to telegraph everything clearly to Trent, and neither of them were particularly comfortable with the idea of even letting him in on anything.
Should we be following that thing around still?
Al followed Loudred's eyes over to the key; the sole reason why they were in this mess to begin with. Loudred wasn't saying it out loud, but his younger companion had no problem figuring it out.
I really don't know, Al answered to himself.
"Look at the bright side," he snorted sarcastically. "Mokona's not here, and the effects of Tails's candies should be running out soon. After that, he won't be able to understand us, and we won't be able to understand him."
Just because he wasn't a loudmouth like his buddy was didn't mean Trent couldn't hear him loud and clear. He made an annoyed grimace at the snide remarks, but it wasn't like that wasn't what he was hoping for as well. He didn't ask for them to follow him. He just wanted to stew quietly with his thoughts like always. For now, he'd just have to tune them out and focus on his surroundings instead. Like the vague sounds of butting heads that grew ever more closely.
The doors burst open so suddenly, the Pokemon both screamed at the thought they'd have to go up against another wave of Neo Shadows. Even Trent grit his teeth assuming this key had worked against him once more. But rather than a bunch of putrid gangly monsters, into the hall came two humans instead. Cody was the one who knocked the doors open. The back of his body slammed right through like a bulldozer, and he bounced painfully to the ground before skidding to a total halt. Then coming in at right around the same time as him was Heather, the one who kicked Cody with enough force to do all this in the first place. The moment he hit the ground, she instantly pounced on him and proceeded to slap him silly with palms infected by faint glints of enhancement magic. He had tried his "aim-a-blunt-object-at-her-head" tactic a third time, and it was clearly not appreciated.
"Get off of him!" Klonoa's feet skidded through the shined floor tiles as he aimed his Wind Bullet to her back and successfully pulled her away. He tried to shoot her off elsewhere, but she broke the ring's force just enough to kick the cabbit in the face and cause him to tumble and lose his grip of both the ring and her at once.
The room's three original occupants looked over the scene, stunned. Al gulped. "C-Co…?"
A bright streak of red shot into the room and forced Heather right into the three's direction. In the past, that would've been enough to knock her down, but Ashley's magic had depleted enough, aside from the momentum, all that felt like was a sting. "Is that the best you can do?" Heather pointed at the rival witch in an accusatory manner as she too entered. The shorter witch replied by chucking Mokona at her like a dodgeball, another move that was met with little effect other than mild annoyance.
"You!" Heather shifted her finger to Trent. "Be useful for once and help!"
He blinked. "Uh."
"Urrrggggghhhh!" She briefly gripped on to her hair over the non-answer before running back into the thicket to beat those three senseless.
"Mokona?!" With all the chaos and surprise appearances that had unfolded before them, Loudred finally took the time to process who had just been tossed their way. "You're okay!"
"Where were you guys—" Al had crouched down to try to pick his tiny friend back up and was met with an uppercut to the face.
"Traitors!" Mokona screeched.
"No, wait, wait!" Al exclaimed in a jittery fashion as he held his face in pain and frantically waved around his other arm as a poor imitation of a shield. "We didn't—"
Mokona bared his teeth and lunged upwards at Al. The Pokemon was left a cowering and screaming mess while Loudred boldly held the ball of fluff off from mauling his own friend.
Trent looked over everything, wide eyed. How the hell did all this happen in just a few short seconds? He looked at the idiots beside him. Looks like he didn't have to worry about unwanted companions now. He looked at the battle in front of him. It seemed like that Ashley girl switched sides or something? What was even going on? He looked at the unarmed and defenseless Cody senselessly running around also in front of him.
He seemed…fine. Ish. Even found some new…friends. He had a crisis worrying about him over nothing.
Though this wouldn't have been the first time that guy made a big show to gain sympathy points only to reveal it'd all been wasted on him. According to Trent at least.
Trent shook his head and took this all as a sign to bow out and leave. But of course, this wouldn't go unnoticed. Cody, when he should've been paying attention to the angry high school bully shooting away right in front of him, was the first to realize his failed stealth exit.
"Hey!" He called out to him which prompted the other boy to leave even quicker.
Cody was just about ready to chase after him, but was blocked by a swift kick to the guts from Heather's heel. "And where do you think you're going?"
"Look, I…" He keeled over and held himself. The vague sharp stings from earlier had continued on in phantom pains. This did not help at all. "I really don't have time for this."
"Well, guess what? I don't care." She raised her arm and began to ready her fist into a superpowered comet but was stopped midcharge by the rough tackle of both Klonoa and Ashley who forced her to wriggle around below their bodies on the floor.
"Don't worry. We'll handle this," Klonoa winked confidently.
Cody slowly shifted his body upward away from his sore crouch and smiled. "Thanks!"
Completely ignoring his pain, both the new and the reemerging, Cody sped out of there. Loudred noticed his leave off the corner of his eye, and in response, used all his strength to power through Mokona's feralness and Al's cowardice to haul both of them under his arms to tail behind. Unbeknownst to him, Cody led the group through the long and narrow corridors into what seemed to be a spacious ballroom.
There he was. In the center of the room with his back facing the new entrants was a certain teen. A certain annoyed and vaguely mentally exhausted teen.
"Would you just…" Trent groaned with a slight whine before whipping himself backward, eyes throwing desperate knives at Cody. "Leave me alone?!"
"Like hell I will!" Cody shouted back.
"Is this what you want?" Trent waved the Keyblade around flippantly. "Look, I don't know how I got it either."
"I don't care about that."
"What? Yes, you do," Trent laughed incredulously at the response. "This was the reason you went on a joyride everywhere. You were," he stammered in half disbelief. "I…I thought you were having a full on freak out back there."
Cody choked on his own breath. Slowly but surely, he broke out into a stilted fit of laughter. His gut still stung, but he fought right through, more effortlessly than all those moments of desperation that came before. One that was crazed and almost scary to witness, but it wasn't fueled by hate. No, there was a certain tint of warmness in his laughter. A warmth that had come out almost completely out of nowhere, caught completely off guard. Somehow, this made his laughter even scarier.
To Trent at least.
Cody shook his head. All this time. All this damn time.
Man, what an idiot.
"You," he grinned. 'You actually care."
"No, I don't!"
"Yes, you do," Cody laughed again. His tone was mocking. He had that kind of shit eating "I told you so" look going. But still, there was warmth. "Mr. I-Don't-Feel-Anything was just full of it this entire time."
"Shut up!" Trent was furious, and the more Cody laughed, the worse it got. He held onto his head, hoping to think of anything to make it all end. "What do you want from me?"
His laughter just wouldn't stop. "I…" he wiped a singular tear from his eye as he tried to stop and think and actually put consideration into his response. "I want—"
Trent wouldn't even let him finish. That's how much he wanted this to end. "Do you want me to just…" His body grew colder by the second even as sweat began to pool onto his brows. "...Say you were right this whole damn time? That I was jealous and annoyed you were outpacing me? That I wanted us to be on the same level, and I hated that you weren't there anymore? That you had this stupid thing…" He tightened his grip around the Keyblade and looked at it like he was directing all this fury at the weapon itself. "...just come out of nowhere and suddenly grant your milquetoast wish of being popular?!"
Man, he really was an idiot.
Loudred had decided he had enough being in the hidden peanut gallery and hurtled Mokona right at Trent's face like a pitcher throwing a clean toss to a mitt. Al had strengthened it with his telekinesis at the very last second, causing the human boy to stumble backward in an embarrassing manner while Mokona fell down to the floor and rolled back to his friends.
Cody's eyes were wide in shock, and he laughed even harder at the scene. He flung his head to the side to see his two Pokemon companions joining him with bright and confident faces. "You guys," he choked back a chuckle and beamed. "You're still here."
"'Course we are. You didn't think we'd just leave, did you?" Al replied sarcastically.
"Yeah," Loudred gave Cody a reassuring slap to the back. "We wouldn't let anything bad happen to our little buddy."
"And you don't care that I don't…" His eyes wavered towards the key in the still paralyzed Trent's hand.
"Listen," Al grumbled. "We've spent more than enough time following this jerk. If that lousy key thinks he's good enough to hold, then to heck with it, the King doesn't need it."
"I believed in you two this entire time," Mokona spewed blatant lies out of his ecstatic smile.
"Well, good for you," Trent groaned in annoyance as he rubbed the slight pain from his cheek. "Got your friends of convenience back."
"Hey," Cody rolled his eyes and pointed steadily back at him. "Don't talk as if you're not in the same boat. You're my friend too."
Trent shook his head in near repulsion at the word. "Yeah, your ex-friend." He spoke those words with a leery sting, recalling Cody's own words back at MidiCity.
"No," Cody spat out. "My friend. The first real friend I ever had." He straightened his back and filled his face with resolve. "You asked what I'd do in your situation and my answer's still the same. I wouldn't be dumb enough to go bad in the first place. And you…" He tilted his head with a daring smirk. "What would you do in my situation?"
Trent's eyes narrowed. He probably knew this was coming the moment he knew this nerd had followed him. But with all that was said, his answer would've been the same no matter which side of the conflict he was on.
Beat some goddamn sense into him.
The two boys charged right at each other. It was the kind of moment where all would feel deafened up until the moment their blades clashed. But in this case, there were no two blades; just one. Cody ran in completely unarmed, the confused cries of his companions lost to both the boys' ears as they fell drunk to the adrenaline of the moment. Cody had spent what felt like the past hour or so struggling to breath and regain his strength following his attack. This encounter was Trent's to lose. All he had to do was make one strike, and all of this, all of these annoyances would finally be over.
That moment came. The split second the deafened room would've come back to life. The moment where the blade would've connected and everything would've been done and done for. In that moment Cody would've been hit with the very Keyblade he used to wield, he ducked under Trent's swinging arm and took what was left of his barreling dash to slip on to the ground just far enough to tackle Trent from behind and flat on the floor.
Trent cursed and squirmed. Such a petty trick. Cody was much, much smaller than him, so it didn't take a lot of effort to struggle free and knock him off his back. He was back on his feet and ready to hit back even harder. But his hands felt light. He didn't have to look down, he already knew it. Right in front of him, Cody stared up in awe at the tip of the massive key that was now back within his palms.
No one else could see it, but after Trent knocked him off, Cody's vision was bathed in light, like he had suddenly been whisked off once more to a world made up of nothing but light itself. He hadn't felt this way since the day it all awful feeling that had lingered in the pits of his stomach faded off into a soothing lull. In that instance, all the doubts had left him even if just for a moment. When he finally came to, and he was left speechless at his Keyblade's return, he nudged his head to the side just a bit. In that time he was left dazed and distracted, Trent had already stepped into a black spiral he had quietly summoned. Cody almost made one last plea for him to stay, but he promptly bit his tongue as he saw his friend leave with an apologetic look.
Silence lingered through the ballroom. The three onlookers all glanced at each other, trying to prompt any one among them to be the one to start things up. But it was actually Cody himself who brought sound back with his startling hoots of victory.
"I did it!" He pumped up his fist. "I actually beat him."
"No, you didn't," Al walked over and sighed. "All you did was knock him down on the floor."
"Hey, that counts!"
"Yeah, but I knocked him down too," Mokona bounced in. "Does that mean I beat him too?"
"Come on, guys," Loudred joined in with a joyful laugh. "Let the kid have this one. Besides…"
Cody braced himself for one of the big guy's signature back slaps, but was ironically startled by the soft touch of his hand on his shoulder instead.
"You'll get through to him next time. I'm sure of it."
Cody's eyes lit in surprise ever so slightly, and a faint blush shone on his flushed face. He was equal parts embarrassed and elated that those three had witnessed everything. "Hey, uh," he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Thanks…for everything."
Both Loudred and Mokona beamed. The crushing back slaps the young teen was worried about finally came repeatedly in quick succession. Loudred laughed heartily in appreciation, and with each impact, Cody swore he could almost feel the pain the light had mended come back. And Mokona's joyous hops and kicks over his feet and legs certainly didn't help.
"Geez," Al timidly looked away. "You don't have to get all sappy now."
"Awww." Cody broke free enough to start poking cheeky jabs at Al's cheek. "Is the 10-year-old too scawed to show his fweewings?"
"I am not—-"
Out of nowhere, a black spiral erupted between the four, and they yelped in shock and scattered about for Heather's entrance. Her face was slightly bruised. Beaten. As if her two opponents had decided there was no better plan than Cody's "blunt object" tactic. And turns out, they were completely right because right as she was about to launch her assault on the group, all it took was a solid whack to the back of her with the Keyblade's hilt to knock her out cold.
"Get back here!"
"You won't get away!"
The two shouts from a witch and a cabbit blew through as the two hurriedly rushed into the scene with their wand and Wind Bullet high in the air like hammers ready to hit a nail. With the shaking determination in their voices, they seemed almost disappointed when they realized Heather was already down for the count.
"Klonoa!" Loudred called out enthusiastically. "You're alright!"
"You guys," Klonoa beamed at the sight of his two Pokemon pals.
"What is she doing here?" Ever quick to spoil the fun. Al pointed derisively in Ashley's direction.
"Oh. Ash?" Cody started. "Yeah, we're cool now."
"Wh," Al shook his head, flabbergasted. "What do mean 'We're cool now?!'"
"When did I say it was okay to call me 'Ash?'" Ashley objected.
"It's okay!" Mokona jumped in front of Al's face. "She let us out of jail, and then her powers went POOF! She's completely useless now."
"You're making a very good case to never do anything nice ever again." She quickly brushed off her own disdain at the situation before speeding on over to the massive staircase beyond them. She proceeded to sprint up four, nearly five, steps at a time with silent abandon. An impressive feat for her diminutive stature.
"She's been leading us to where the princesses are. I promise, you can trust her," Cody calmly explained followed by fervent nods of agreement from Mokona and Klonoa.
The two Pokémon simply gave incredulous shrugs before the boys all began to trail behind. Not like they were there for the full context anyway. This entire journey through the castle so far had been decidedly too eventful for everyone's taste, and as much as they would've loved to meticulously prod Ashley for her true motivations, it wasn't a luxury they particularly had time for. What mattered now was they were almost there. Almost there to the princesses. Almost there to Maleficent's wrath. Almost there to what laid ahead.