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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn	By : RotSeele Category: Kingdom Hearts > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3168 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Thirteen - Beast’s Castle

They cut through the Heartless Shadows, Neoshadows, Red Nocturnes, and Green Requiems as they raced through the castle to reach the bridge. Between Guardian and Rinally’s spells, the Heartless didn’t last long enough to really give them a good fight. It suited the two friends just fine, as they wanted to conserve most of their energy for the fight they knew would be happening soon enough. Kaoru leaped down a small flight of stairs, sending Guardian careening into a Neoshadow that was just pulling itself from the ground. Guardian hit the Heartless in the face, knocking it backwards. The Keyblade returned to Kaoru’s hand and he flew into a spin, catching the Neoshadow again as it righted itself. He didn’t strike it a third time, already past it. He heard the crackle of lightning, felt the heat of it sear his back, and then Rinally was beside him, sparks still jumping from her staff. They reached the doorway that would take them outside to the bridge where they would join the Beast, and slowed to a halt.
The door stood slightly ajar, allowing a chill wind to blow through and fill the foyer with cold.
“Kaoru,” Rinally started, gripping her staff tighter, “do you think we’re too late?”
“No.” Kaoru moved forward, reaching to take hold of the door and open it wider. “But we should be prepared for anything.”
Rinally swallowed hard and followed Kaoru to the door. He looked at her, she nodded, and they stepped out onto the bridge. Kaoru quickly grabbed Rinally by her wrist and pulled her close to him, spinning them both down to the ground as the crack of thunder sounded. The wood of the door exploded into sharp shards a second later, followed by a roar of outrage. Kaoru looked up from Rin’s hair toward the Beast, where he stood nearly on all fours facing Gaston and Gaston’s rifle. Le Fou stood nearby, clutching the cage the Heartless Shadow was contained in, as well as the small black rod.
“Get back inside!” roared the Beast, not even turning to look at Kaoru and Rin.
Kaoru disentangled himself from Rin and deliberately went to the Beast’s side, holding up Guardian in a ready position. “I’m not going to let you fight him by yourself.”
The Beast eyed Kaoru, then flicked a glance over his shoulder toward Rin, where she stood at a relatively safe distance. Her staff was held up, ready for whatever she intended. Her eyes were narrowed at Le Fou, and the imp’s face at first went pale when he spotted her before his cheeks colored a fierce red with anger. The Beast growled low in his throat and turned his gaze back onto his enemies. “Don’t get yourself killed.”
“Back at you.” Kaoru said, his eyes focused on Gaston and the gun the man held.
Gaston growled and raised the gun for another shot. “I won’t miss this time.”
The Beast shot forward on all fours, and the thunder of the gun nearly deafened Kaoru as Gaston fired. If the Beast was hit, he didn’t show it, continuing to bull forward with astounding speed. Gritting his teeth, Kaoru let the Beast race for Gaston, and he charged toward Le Fou, Guardian flashing toward the small man’s face. Le Fou squeaked and raised the cage to protect himself, allowing Kaoru to adjust his attack so Guardian caught the cage at an angle. The sound of metal striking metal filled the air, and Kaoru put his weight behind his downward strike to force Le Fou to either drop the cage or go down with it.
Le Fou dropped the cage with a loud curse.
Kaoru hooked one of Guardian’s prongs in the bars of the cage and yanked it back toward him. He went into a spin, throwing the cage back behind him, toward Rin and away from the black rod. He didn’t see where it landed or if Rinally caught it, for he completed his rotation and was facing Le Fou again. The small man was fumbling with the black rod, trying to keep a grip on it as he struggled to regain his balance. Kaoru viciously kicked his hand, making the imp cry out in pain. The black rod flew through the air toward where the Beast and Gaston were struggling over the gun, rolling beneath their feet before fetching up against the wall of the bridge.
“That,” Kaoru spat, “was for pulling my friend’s hair.”
Le Fou stared up at him, clutching his hand. “That little bi-“
“Finish that sentence, and my Keyblade will find your balls.”
The imp actually whimpered and curled up on himself. Kaoru scowled and turned his attention to the Beast and Gaston. The Beast seemed to be holding his own, managing to throw Gaston to the ground and fling the gun over the side of the bridge. Now that they seemed to be on equal terms, the Beast roared and charged Gaston, bowling the man over and trying to find a solid grip on him. Gaston kicked upward as the Beast tried to readjust himself, and his heel caught the Beast in the chest, driving him backwards. It was long enough that Gaston was able to get back to his feet and charge the Beast back, muscled arms reaching to encircle the Beast’s throat. Kaoru started forward, seeking to help the Beast, when he felt a sharp chill rush down his spine.
Rin’s cry of “Kaoru! Look out!” made him duck low and spin, raising his right arm and Guardian in his defense.
Le Fou had drawn a knife from somewhere on his person, a wicked looking hunting knife that he must’ve been hiding beneath his coat, and had lunged at Kaoru while the boy’s back was turned. The knife came down on Kaoru’s armor, chipping the blade on the prismatic metal. Kaoru fell backwards and hit the ground, losing his grip on Guardian for the briefest of moments. It was enough for Le Fou to get closer and raise the knife for another attack.
He didn’t get to.
Before he could even begin to bring that hunting knife down, Rinally was already moving. She rushed forward, her staff held in her left hand and low to her side. When she reached the midway point between her and Kaoru, she brought her left arm up fast and shouted, “Aero!”
The tornado spun off her staff toward Kaoru and Le Fou. Kaoru rolled out of the path of the tornado, grabbing Guardian’s hilt as he went past. Le Fou was much slower in getting out of the way. The Aero spell crashed into the little man, sending him flying through the air to land in a heap on the end of the bridge. Kaoru got to his feet, letting out a relieved breath. Cool healing magic flowed through him, and Rin came to his side, casting another spell toward Le Fou. Blue ice crusted around the imp’s feet, holding him in place as the ice slowly crawled up his legs and encased his waist.
“There,” Rin said. “That should hold him.”
The Beast let out a choking roar, trying to grasp Gaston’s arms to loosen the man’s hold on him. Gaston had managed to turn the Beast enough that the man was now dangling from the Beast’s back, his arms having a chokehold around his furry neck. Gaston’s muscles were straining from the effort to maintain his hold and avoid the claws that came for his head, all the while trying to choke the Beast to death. Kaoru quickly rushed toward the Beast, swinging Guardian hard toward Gaston. Rather than taking the hit, the man let go of the Beast and jumped out of the way. The Beast dropped into a crouch and gasped for air, one claw at his throat. Kaoru and Rinally took up a position in front of the Beast, holding their weapons in defensive positions against Gaston.
“You’re not going to win, Gaston.” Kaoru said sternly. “Get out of here, and don’t come back. Whatever you’re after, you won’t get it. I’ll make sure of it.”
Gaston’s lips split into a wide grin, displaying his straight white teeth in such a way that it looked more like a grimace. “Do you really think you can stop me, Keyblade brat? Yes, I know exactly what you are. My friends told me all about your kind. You think you’re great protectors of the world, infallible agents of Light that don’t know how to stop meddling in the affairs of their betters.” He pointed at Guardian with one finger. “Without that thing, you’re nothing but a snot-nosed brat!”
Kaoru gripped Guardian tighter, eyes narrowing. “From where I’m standing, this snot-nosed brat has you outnumbered.”
Gaston’s grin seemed to almost falter. “Numbers aren’t the only thing that wins a fight. Belle will be mine! I’ve worked too long and too hard to fail now!”
“Belle will never be yours!” snarled the Beast, claws scoring stone in a physical display of his anger. “She isn’t an object to be stolen or won in a contest! She is a beautiful, kind, intelligent, wonderful person and she is my wife! I will die before I allow you to take her from me!”
Gaston’s confident grin returned, sharper than ever. “That can be arranged. They wanted you alive, but seeing as that doesn’t seem to be an option...” He put his head down and charged.
The Beast swung his arm toward Kaoru and Rin, pushing them out of the way of Gaston. The Beast caught the man head on, claws digging into flesh in order to stop Gaston’s charge. Even still, the Beast’s paws began to skid backwards, slowly, inch by inch. Gaston gripped the Beast’s forearms; his muscles bulged as he matched strength with strength. The Beast growled and shoved back against Gaston, putting them into a stalemate of wills.
Rin gripped Kaoru’s arm. “What should we do?”
Kaoru shrugged. “There’s nothing we can do. If we interfere, then we might end up getting Beast hurt, even killed.” He watched the Beast and Gaston struggle against each other for a minute, then looked to Rin. “Where’s the Heartless?”
Rin pointed. Kaoru looked toward the door of the castle, where the cage sat encased in a pillar of ice. “I’m not stupid. Everyone knows that the secret weapon is always the last piece you think is going to be played.”
Kaoru started to smile, but her words triggered something in his recent memory. Without saying a word to her, he charged toward the Beast and Gaston, his grip tight around Guardian’s hilt. He heard Rin shout his name, but he didn’t stop to explain. He couldn’t stop to explain. He reached the Beast at the same time the cloaked stranger did, blinking into existence so suddenly Kaoru nearly missed the tendrils of shadow slithering back into a hole in the very fabric of reality itself. Had Kaoru not used a similar portal to get himself and Rin here, he wouldn’t have recognized it at all. It was a piece of information he filed away in his mind for later scrutiny, because right now he was swinging Guardian forward as hard as he could to make sure the cloaked stranger couldn’t ram that black rod into the Beast’s outstretched arm.
Seeing the Keyblade come at him, the Beast released Gaston and flung himself backwards. Kaoru slid in between the Beast and Gaston, facing the man and his cloaked companion. Rin quickly joined him, by his side but a step back, and Kaoru assumed a ready stance, his hands curled about Guardian’s hilt in a two handed grip. His heart was hammering in his ears, a thready sound that seemed to heighten his senses. He stared at the cloaked man, almost able to see the pinpricks of light floating around a core of darkness in the man’s chest.
“So,” said the man in a querulous voice, “the vaunted Light has chosen another champion.”
Kaoru gripped Guardian tighter, his lips thinning into a line. “Who are you?”
“There’s no need for you to know my name. It’s not important anyway.” The cloaked man stepped closer to Gaston, who was crouching now, panting to catch his breath. Blood streamed freely from the claw wounds in Gaston’s flesh, but he showed no signs of feeling the pain. “What is important is what you intend to do here.”
“It should be obvious.” Kaoru snapped. “I won’t let you hurt Beast and I won’t let you hurt Belle.”
“I’ve no interest in the Princess of Heart.” the man said, his cloaked head angling downward to look at the black rod in his hand. “She is useless to us. But the one you call the Beast... we’re greatly interested in him.”
The Beast let out a rumbling snarl, but Kaoru held up a hand to keep him from charging. “What do you want? Who are you? Who are you working for?”
“What I want is an answer to my questions. I’ve already answered the second question. As for who I’m working for, all you need to know is that we are a group of like-minded individuals working to bring forth unity and coherency to these chaotic worlds.” That cloaked head turned again, angling downward to look at Gaston. “And you, Gaston, have acted prematurely. We gave you the tools, and you’ve mishandled them.”
Gaston looked up sharply at the cloaked man. “I only did what you told me to do! I saw an opportunity and took it! Don’t interfere!”
“From where I’m standing, you need my interference. You’re surrounded by a witch, a Keyblade brat, and a monster. You have no weapons. Face it, you’re useless as you are.”
Gaston shot to his feet, whirling on his ally. Kaoru gripped Guardian tighter, his entire body tense.
The cloaked man shrugged his shoulders and tossed the black rod up into the air, only to catch it in his fist. “One subject is as good as another I suppose.” he said. Then he drove the black rod into one of Gaston’s claw wounds, forcing it down deep into the man’s flesh. In the same second, the cloaked man vanished.
Gaston let out a terrible bellow and grasped at his arm, near clawing his own skin to get at the black rod. But it was too late. The rod seemed to come alive and wriggled its way deeper into Gaston’s skin, and as it did so, black lines began to streak from the wound up his arm and toward his chest. Kaoru watched in increasing horror as the tiny pinpricks of darkness around Gaston’s heart began to expand, almost pulsing as they slowly consumed what little light the man had left. When it was completely gone, Gaston crumbled to his hands and knees, his back bowing toward the sky as a guttural cry of anguish and pain escaped him. It was the worst sound Kaoru had ever heard come from a human being. He started forward, unsure of what he was going to do, unsure of how he was going to help Gaston, only knowing that he had to do something before it was too late.
Gaston’s head snapped up before Kaoru closed even half the distance between him. Burning gold eyes focused on Kaoru, stopping him in his tracks and making him put his Keyblade between him and the man before him. Gaston’s lips split into a twisted grin, showing straight white teeth that were becoming fangs. Kaoru heard Rin gasp and let out soft expletives as she saw what he saw: the transformation of a man into a monster. Gaston’s skin slowly changing from white to pure black. His muscles expanded. His fingernails became claws. A long tongue dropped from his mouth, adding a feral quality to his already twisted mouth.
And then he charged.
- 12
- 13
- 14
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn