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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn	By : RotSeele Category: Kingdom Hearts > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3168 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Twenty-Four - Lumina Cross

Kai was gone for only a handful of minutes, returning with a few packets of hard biscuits and three cans of carbonated tea. He handed a can to Kaoru and Rin each, then sat and put the packets between them. Rin looked at the offered fare with a bit of skepticism, but said nothing. Kaoru was grateful for that. He didn’t doubt that Kai would take the food away if she started complaining.
After eating a few of the biscuits, which were hard and dry and tasted like sawdust, Kaoru chased them with a bit of the tea, which also had an odd taste to it. It took effort for him to swallow it all down. Rin wasn’t faring much better, also choking it down with effort. Kai seemed not to notice, plowing through his share without so much as a grimace. Finally, Kaoru set his tea and half-eaten biscuit down, and focused on Kai. “What world is this?” he asked.
A red eyebrow rose. “You don’t know?”
Kaoru shook his head.
Kai set aside his tea and leaned back on his hands. “This is Lumina Cross. It’s a closed world. Which makes how you got here really interesting.”
“It seems to be a skill of ours to get into ‘closed worlds’.” Rin said blandly.
Kaoru glanced at her, then back at Kai. “The questions I asked you earlier. Will you answer them now?”
“If you answer mine.”
“I’ll try.”
“Then this is what we’ll do. You ask a question, I’ll answer, then I’ll ask a question, and you’ll answer. That fair?”
“Fair enough.” Kaoru said. “Why were you up on stage like that, and who was that guy in the suit?”
“That’s two questions.” Kai said, a hint of a smile on his face.
“So?” Rin interjected. “Just answer them.”
Kai shrugged. “I was up there because I got caught, obviously. And that guy is this world’s leader. His name is Demetrius Secundus, the current Princeps of Lumina Cross. My turn. Where did you come from, and how did you get here?”
“We came from two different worlds.” Kaoru answered. “I’m from Paradise City, and Rin’s from the Sky Islands. Our worlds were destroyed by the Heartless, and we met in a hub world called Traverse Town, and have been together ever since.”
“And we got here using some weird rip in reality.” Rinally added. “We think it’s the world between worlds, a place that connects everything, but it’s not like we choose where it takes us. We just sort of... end up where we’re needed.”
“You think you’re needed here?” Kai asked skeptically.
“We don’t think anything.” Rin replied hotly. “The forces that be decided we needed to be here. The last world we were on was a closed world too.”
“What’s a ‘closed world’?” Kaoru asked. “I’ve heard that term twice now.”
Kai blinked, honestly surprised. “You don’t know?”
Kaoru shook his head. “We’ve been to two other worlds besides Lumina Cross, fighting Heartless, and fighting this organization that uses black rods of pure darkness to control the Heartless. They’ve also used the rods to change people into monsters using the darkness inside them.”
Kai was quiet for a while. He stared at Kaoru, his eyes roaming the blonde’s face as if he was trying to decide if Kaoru was lying or not. Finally, he said, “Closed worlds are worlds haven’t Connected. No one can enter them from the outside. You have to be invited in.”
“Connected?”
“Imagine a great big pathway that has dozens and dozens of branches. Now, all of the branches lead somewhere, but when you go down certain paths, you find that there’s a wall between you and what’s on the other side. You can’t get over, under, or around the wall on your own, but if someone helps you, then you’re able to get around, under, or over the wall.” Kai explained. “Those paths belonged to Unconnected worlds.”
Kaoru abruptly turned to Rinally, frowning. “Tsenacommacah was an Unconnected world, but They were there. I doubt Ratcliffe could’ve helped Them come through, so how could they have gotten there?”
Rin rubbed her chin. “Maybe the same way we did? From that strange in-between place. That’s how we’ve been getting everywhere.”
“But we’ve never seen or heard any other people there. Just Heartless. And even they stay away from us. Except for that one big one.”
“Which we haven’t seen, thank the gods.”
“But we weren’t invited into Tsenacommacah or Lumina Cross.” Kaoru said. “No one helped us over the wall.”
“Pocahontas needed our help.” Rin reasoned. “Maybe that’s why we were allowed into her world. Like you said, we end up where we’re needed most. Or, maybe, not ‘we’, but you, Kaoru. You’re a Keyblade wielder. You have the ability to travel to any world. Guardian is probably like a master key; you don’t need help to get past the wall, because you have the key to open the door.”
“So how are They getting into closed worlds? Do you think They have a Keyblade too?”
“I don’t know. Maybe They’re using something else. I mean, the Heartless are able to get past the walls of closed worlds. They could be piggy-backing the Heartless.”
“You have a Keyblade?” Kai asked abruptly.
Kaoru and Rin looked at him, staring at him as if his question had suddenly reminded them what kind of dangerous situation they really were in. Despite Kaoru’s uncertain feelings about him, he still wasn’t sure if he could trust Kai. Kaoru tightened his hands on his knees. “I do.” he said at last.
“Can I see it?”
Kaoru hesitated. “Tell us why Demetrius had you tied up in front of all those people. Those explosions were designed to free you, right? Tell us what’s going on, and maybe, maybe, I’ll show you my Keyblade.”
Kai frowned, his eyes focused on Kaoru’s. He was searching for a way out of answering, Kaoru was sure. For a long minute, Kaoru wondered if Kai would decide that seeing Guardian wasn’t worth the price of talking. Finally, he said, “I spoke out against Demetrius. Everyone here, they spoke out against him, too. There’s different pockets of us, all under the city. This is where the children stay, since this part of the underground is more protected. Demetrius wants to open Lumina Cross, but only to those who can pay the price. Many of the people who live here are poor. The city is bright and lively, yeah, but it’s all to hide the fact that there’s great poverty here.”
“So you’re basically revolutionaries.” Rin said.
Kai lifted his shoulder. “More like terrorists. We break into the houses of the rich and take what’s rightfully ours. We sabotage any effort on Secundus’s part to open Lumina Cross and make it Connected. In return, he hunts us down. Doesn’t matter how young or old we are; if he catches us, we get paraded through town to that stage, where we have a mock trial, and then.” He drew a finger across his throat.
Kaoru shivered. “He caught you.”
“I allowed myself to get caught.” Kai corrected. His eyes focused on Kaoru and grew sharper. “He fears me, because of what I can do. Because of what I represent. He killed my parents. He forced them to work in the mines beneath the city to power his damned residence. They gave their blood, sweat, and tears just to make sure I had enough to eat each day, and they died because Secundus refused to give them the life he promised them. So I swore I’d bring him down, and that if Lumina Cross became Connected, it would open for everyone, not just the people who could bribe their way in, or pay their way in.”
“You were going to assassinate him then, weren’t you? But our arrival messed all that up.”
“It messed up my plan for sure.” Kai agreed. “But if you’re here for a reason, like you said, then that reason has to be to help me. Help me overthrow Secundus. Help me open Lumina Cross for everyone. Help me get the people out of the mines beneath the city, so they can live their lives doing what they love, not slaving to power a madman’s dream.”
Kaoru and Rinally glanced at each other. They were likely having the same thoughts; could they really trust what Kai was telling them? Could they use their powers to bring down the ruling power of a world, based on the obviously biased word of an inhabitant? Granted, Kai knew more about Demetrius Secundus and Lumina Cross than they did, and based on Secundus’s behavior when he’d first spotted them at Kai’s “trial”, Kaoru didn’t want anything to do with him. He looked away from Rin then, staring at the biscuits in front of him. He remembered too clearly Kocoum’s death at the hands of Ratcliffe. He remembered everything that Ratcliffe had done in order to ensure his will would be enforced. Could he really go through something like that again? Could he allow someone, even someone evil, to be killed? And how many innocent people would get caught in the crossfire?
But Kai had brought up a good point. If they were brought to these worlds because they were needed, because the power of the Keyblade was needed, then it was Kaoru’s responsibility to help where he could. He just didn’t know if it was Kai’s cause that he was supposed to be helping.
“Well?” Kai demanded when too much silence had gone by. “What do you say?”
Kaoru pressed his lips into a thin line. He had to give Kai an answer. His uncertainty wouldn’t allow him to commit fully to Kai’s will, so he decided that he would be diplomatic about it. If he could find out more information, it might help him decide what it was he was here to do.
“I-“
“Kai! Kai! KAI!”
The three of them were on their feet in a flash, bursting out of Kai’s tent to answer the frantic call. A girl, perhaps only twelve years old, was crumbling under the weight of an old man. He had been tortured. A thousand or more small wounds littered his body, bright with fresh blood. His face was a mass of bruises. Other kids were crowded around them, trying to help the girl, trying to help the old man. Kai barked a few orders to the kids, sending them scurrying off on different tasks. Kai immediately rushed to the old man, relieving the girl of his weight. He gently lowered the old man to the ground, where his head was supported by a number of jackets that the kids surrounding them had given up. Kai leaned close to the man, whispering to him. Kaoru watched Kai’s face turn stony, anger making his eyes narrow.
Rin pushed her way through the crowd, then knelt beside the old man. Kai looked up at her suspiciously. She merely gave him a mild look back. “I can help him. If you let me.”
Kai hesitated, then nodded.
Rinally hovered her hands over the worst of the old man’s wounds, a green light appearing beneath her palms. The Cura spell she cast quickly closed the wound, and a number of others besides. Everyone watched, eyes wide. Except Kai. He only looked thoughtful.
Then he looked up at Kaoru and said, “There was an attack. They found their way into the tunnels, and found one of the camps where the adults stay. He’s the only one who made it out.”
Kaoru shivered. “Why?”
“Because Secundus is evil. Because he won’t allow anyone who challenges him to live. Because he wants to be in control of everything.” Kai shrugged. “Does a dictator need a reason to do anything he wants to do?”
“Kaoru.” Rin said softly.
Kaoru looked at her. Her eyes were focused on him, twin chips of maroon in an otherwise pale face. She nodded, just a subtle dip of her chin. Kaoru swallowed hard, then nodded back. He looked at Kai and held out his hand.
“We’ll help you.” he said at last.
Kai looked at Kaoru’s hand, then reached out and gripped it tight. “Then it’s time to fight.”
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn