Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

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
- 40
- 41
- 42
Forty-One - Edge/Midgar

The helicopter landed outside the ruins of Midgar with a gentle jolt. Kaoru had spent the flight staring out the window at the city of Edge, then the empty landscape between Edge and Midgar, then at the approaching ruins of Midgar itself. He’d sat between Kai and Rinally, each of whom had also been watching the scenery, though Kaoru was certain Kai kept flicking glances to the four Turks that had accompanied them. Elena they already knew, since Rufus had named her while they were in the Seventh Heaven. The black haired man sitting beside her was the leader of their quartet, Tseng. He had introduced himself and given a name for their group, along with citing their their purpose was to protect Rufus, the city of Edge, and basically be whatever Rufus needed them to be. Tifa had mentioned the Turks were mercenaries, assassins, and general pains in her ass, but they were good and capable people.
The one piloting the helicopter was the redhead, Reno, and his co-pilot was the bald man, Rude. Tifa had said Reno was a bit of a jokester, so watch out for him, and that Rude never spoke, so don’t take any offense to that. Reno had filled the helicopter with inane chatter until Tseng had glowered him into silence.
Tseng was out of the helicopter first, followed by Elena, then Kai, Kaoru, and Rinally. The three teenagers stared at the ruins of the city, watching the shadows shift and change as clouds drifted through the sky, cutting off light and giving it back as they moved on their way.
Kaoru could feel it even more acutely now, just standing this close. Something was in there. Something was subtlety calling him, trying to lead him to a certain place deep within that shadowy darkness. Kaoru glanced at Kai, then turned to look at Tseng. “Are you coming with us?” he asked.
Tseng shook his head. “You three do what you need to do. We’re here to provide back-up if you need it, and to provide you a way back to Edge when you’re done here.”
Kaoru heard the warning in Tseng’s words. The three of them had promised Tifa that they would return to the Seventh Heaven before leaving Edge, if they found anything they needed to chase down. They wouldn’t just take a Path without giving Tifa something she and her friends could work with to keep their own world safe. If they left without saying good-bye, Tifa probably would beat the crap out of them when, and if, they returned. And that would probably be after Sora got finished lecturing them for running off without a word, if he arrived here and Tifa told him what had happened before Kaoru could recount his tale and reasoning behind his actions.
Kaoru nodded and started down the side of the hill with Kai right behind him. Rinally remained behind for a second longer, speaking with Elena, then hurried to catch up to her friends. They headed into the ruins of Midgar, watching everything but seeing nothing. Kaoru turned his attention to Rinally and saw her sliding the strap of a small satchel over her shoulder.
“Elena gave it to me,” Rin said with a smile. “It’s healing and mana potions. Just in case we need them.”
“That was nice of her.” Kaoru replied.
“Was there a price for that help?” Kai asked. “They work for Rufus, after all. He likes to style himself like a politician, but he’s really just a mob boss.”
Rinally shook her head. “Elena might work for Rufus, but Tseng’s her boss, and I bet you anything that if he didn’t want her helping us, she wouldn’t have given me this. There’s a really, really weird relationship going on with them and Rufus that I can’t figure out, except that I’m sure they don’t jump when Rufus snaps his fingers, but they’ll die protecting him.”
“That’s a terrible relationship.” Kaoru said.
Rin shrugged. “That’s just the feeling I get.”
They hit the flat open ground between the landing zone and the first of the ruins and headed into the shadows. Kai paused, his face becoming confused for a brief moment. Kaoru looked at him in askance.
“I felt...” Kai shrugged. “I felt something. The moment we crossed into this place.”
“Does it feel like something’s calling you?” Kaoru asked.
Kai shook his head. “No... more like... it’s just there. I can feel it, like I can feel you. You’re constantly there against my mind, you know? It’s not malicious, but it doesn’t quite feel benevolent either.”
“You think this thing you two are feeling is what the Brotherhood is after?” Rinally asked.
Kaoru shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably.” He started forward again, and his friends followed quickly after him.
They walked through the ruins of the city of Midgar, staring at the giant broken blocks of buildings and streets. Kaoru wondered what had happened to cause such destruction, and why Tifa and the others had looked so sad when mention of the city came up in their conversation. Something bad had happened here, that much Kaoru could feel for himself. It felt like there were a lot of ghosts in these ruins, a lot of regrets and sorrows that seemed to be adhered to the stone and broken glass rising in mountains above his head. But underlying all that sadness seemed to be a bit of happiness too. Hope. Kaoru paused to let his fingers trail across a sheared piece of stone that looked like it had been cleanly cut by something very sharp, wondering what could exist to cause such damage.
“It looks like a bomb went off here.” Rinally said quietly. She tilted her head back and looked at the crumbling ruins above her head. “This is some kind of amazing terrible.”
“The way Tifa and Rufus talked about it,” Kai said, “you’d think this was a sacred place. But really it’s just a reminder, isn’t it?”
Kaoru looked at him curiously. “A reminder?”
Kai nodded. He swept an arm up and around, as if to indicate everything around them. “This whole place is Tifa’s past. This place has a lot of memories for her, and probably everyone she knows. It’s a reminder to her. A reminder of what could happen if she’s not willing to fight as hard as she can.”
Kaoru looked around at the ruins, listening to what Kai said. A reminder. A reminder of what could happen if one wasn’t willing to fight as hard as he could.
Kaoru knew he wouldn’t hesitate to fight Hiromu if he had to, but he also knew he wouldn’t be able to hurt his friend. But here, this entire place, was what could happen if he couldn’t put aside all his fears and just fight. Because he wasn’t fighting just for his own sake. He was fighting for Kai and Rin. He was fighting for the balance between Light and Darkness. He was fighting for every heart he had touched since starting his journey. For Sora and Riku. He was even fighting for Hiromu and Tae.
He looked at the destruction and saw what would happen if he stopped fighting. If he gave up hope.
Kaoru jumped slightly and looked at Kai. The redhead was squeezing Kaoru’s shoulder, giving him a knowing look. “I’m fine.” Kaoru said.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“God, why don’t you two get a room?” Rinally said, giving both of them a big grin. She folded her hands behind her head and leaned her weight back on one foot. “It’s so cute, watching you be all worried about Kaoru, Kai. Just kiss him and get it over with.”
“Shut up.” Kai growled. It only caused Rinally to grin wider.
“Okay, enough.” Kaoru said, reaching out to restrain Kai and to get Rinally to stop antagonizing the redhead. “This isn’t the place for that. We have to explore this place and see if we can find any sign of the Brotherhood, or whatever it is Kai and I are sensing.”
“Then let’s get moving.” Rin said. She gave Kai a long, searching look. “Unless you really are going to kiss him.”
“Shut up!” Kai snarled. It took all of Kaoru’s strength to hold him back. Rinally only laughed and started down the path they had been following. Kaoru stared at Kai until the redhead leashed his temper, then hurried to catch up to Rinally.
She too gave Kaoru a knowing look, and he pointedly returned it with a narrow-eyed stare. “I’m fine.” he told her.
“I know you are.” Rinally replied. She smiled at him. “I know it’s really been rough on you lately, and I’m honestly surprised you didn’t break down long before when you did. Your hope was stolen from you, but you got it back. And now I don’t think anything will make you lose it again.”
“Well, that’s not exactly true.”
She looked at him immediately, her eyes filled with concern. “What do you mean?”
“I always hope that maybe you’ll forget your voyeuristic tendencies when it comes to me and Kai, but then you say something and piss him off and that hope is crushed.” Kaoru grinned at her.
Rinally stared at him with wide eyes for a long while, and then a laugh bubbled up out of her throat, filling the area with the clear sound of mirth. Behind them, Kai narrowed his eyes and scowled at her, certain that she was laughing about something that involved him, but unsure if he could apply a justifiable amount of violence to get her to shut up. Kaoru looked back at him and smiled. Kai scowled deeper, but he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked along behind them.
They encountered very little in the way of enemies while they traversed the ruins of Midgar. Tifa had said her world had never been afflicted by the Heartless, despite it being Connected, and it was definitely showing here. That wasn’t to say they didn’t encounter the random twisted monster or the like, but there were no signs of Heartless at all. Kai couldn’t even sense them.
“But there’s definitely a significant darkness here,” he said. “It’s been getting stronger the closer to the heart of these ruins we get. I can’t even feel that... whatever... I’ve been feeling since we got here.”
Rinally turned to Kaoru. “What about you? You felt it just by looking at a picture of this place.”
Kaoru tilted his head. “To be honest, I haven’t thought about it for a while. I can’t say I’ve stopped feeling it, but it’s definitely harder to get a grasp on.” He closed his eyes and tried to quiet his mind. It took him a moment to find that calling feeling, but find it he did. Only he was far from where it was originating from, and it seemed like the “call” was becoming slightly more insistent. He opened his eyes and looked at his friends. “We’re really far from where it is.”
“Should we angle back that way?” Rin asked. “We haven’t found anything so far this way, or in any way we’ve gone so far.”
“If the Brotherhood is after anything, it has to be where you’re feeling that call from.” Kai surmised. “But if they’re there, then we shouldn’t go in guns blazing. We ought to keep quiet, see if we can scout anything out before we engage.”
“I don’t sense any danger,” Kaoru said, “but there’s no reason for us to be stupid about it. The Brotherhood knows we’re on to them, and they know we end up where they are. After our encounter with Hiromu, they won’t take any chances.”
Kai nodded. “Lead the way, then.”
Kaoru nodded and started down a side alley that took them back to a main thoroughfare. They stepped out from the alley into the light of the sun and Kaoru paused, looking down the right hand side of the thoroughfare. Kai stopped beside him, looking down the left hand side. Rin stood behind them, her staff in her hand, ready for whatever was going to happen.
“You sense it too, huh?” Kai asked.
Kaoru nodded. “Yeah. Something’s coming.”
Their Keyblades were in their hands immediately. They took four quick steps away from each other, leaving Rin to fill the gap in between them. Kaoru felt it a moment after positioning himself, the subtle shaking of the earth beneath his feet. It started to increase in frequency, until it felt like the earth itself was about to rip apart in a vicious explosion. Kaoru gripped Guardian with both hands and settled into his stance, eyes focused on the open space ahead of him. He took a deep breath, and when they came, he was ready.
They weren’t Heartless. Whatever they were, he was certain they weren’t Heartless. They looked similar to the monsters they’d encountered while they had been wandering the ruins of Midgar, but they were twisted and misshaped in terrible ways. The monsters in the lead had long, gangly arms and legs, with blades protruding from the elbows where forearms should have been. They were running faster than the others, propelling themselves forward with those blades. Those behind them had bodies were stretched and stained with roiling coils of darkness. Sharp teeth filled mouths that opened too wide. Kaoru noticed that the monsters didn’t have any eyes. None of them had eyes. And yet, they were racing ahead toward the three teenagers as if they knew exactly where they were standing.
Kaoru didn’t think; he pushed off with his left foot and met the charge with one of his own. He faintly heard Rinally calling his name, but he ignored her, swinging Guardian with all the force he could muster into the first of the leading monsters. Guardian connected with something solid with bone-breaking force, and the monster let out a shrill shriek as it crashed onto its back. Kaoru ducked beneath the swipe of another monster and spun to plant Guardian into its chest, sending it flying backwards as well. He danced into the midst of the charge then, his Keyblade flashing, connecting with the monsters with bursts of light. The entire thoroughfare filled with noise, the monsters shrieking and howling as they bore down on Kaoru, Kai, and Rinally and were beaten back by Keyblades and magic.
Kaoru caught glimpses of Kai as he spun around dodging attacks. The redhead was dealing with his own wave of enemies, moving as much as Kaoru was to keep the center of the thoroughfare clear so as to keep Rinally safe. She was alternating between offensive spells and healing magic, doing her best to keep both her friends whole and healthy and on the move. She wasn’t without her own defenses either, as she utilized her staff as a bludgeon if a monster got past Kai or Kaoru and raced at her.
It was a pincer attack, Kaoru thought briefly as he dodged a slice that would have opened him from throat to groin. Guardian struck the monster’s eyeless head in retaliation, snapping the monster’s neck backwards and leaving it flopping on the ground. He threw Guardian toward another monster as it leaped; the weapon caught the monster at the apex of its jump and slammed it back into a small group of its companions, sending them all sprawling. Guardian came back to Kaoru’s hand and he threw the blade behind him to stop a monster’s blade-arm from ripping into his back. They were waiting for us. This is a clear shot straight to where that feeling is originating. But what the hell are these things?
The answer didn’t come and Kaoru didn’t spend time dwelling on it. He continued to fight, knowing that if he stuttered in his momentum, the monsters would overwhelm him and reach Rin and Kai.
He threw Guardian above his head and Cascade rained down, the area of effect attack striking everywhere at once. The Keyblade came back to his hand and Kaoru rushed through the monsters as they reeled from the prismatic rain of Cascade. He skidded to a halt once he was clear of the main body of the monsters and spun on his heel, coming back in low. He swung Guardian at the thin ankles of the last monster and felt the impact all the way in his shoulders. The monster squealed and flipped in a clockwise motion before hitting the ground. Kaoru saw it then and quickly spun Guardian in his hand so he could slam the point of it into the monster’s lower stomach.
The tip of Guardian crashed against the protruding black rod and a thunderclap deafened Kaoru’s ears. The monster writhed beneath Guardian, thrashing wildly. Kaoru felt one of the tendrils of darkness slap against his armor, wincing as a blinding spark ignited between the silver armor and the tendril. The monster shrieked again, its teeth-filled maw opening with sound that Kaoru couldn’t hear. Kaoru put all his weight on his Keyblade, and the black rod finally pushed through the monster’s body, leaving it completely. As Guardian followed through, the monster arched and writhed on the Keyblade, before exploding into tiny motes of light-filled darkness.
Kaoru stared at the black rod lying on the ground before him, certain it wasn’t like any of the others he had seen before. He didn’t think about it too much; he grabbed the rod with his armored hand and shoved it into his back pocket. Then he hurried toward Rinally, who had a Barrier spell in place around her to keep the monsters from overwhelming Kai from behind.
As Kaoru ran to join his friends, he watched as Kai threw Sanctuary sideways into a trio of the darkness-infested monsters, knocking their feet out from under them. The redhead became a blur then as he went into his Nightmare Raid attack, striking with unbelievably fast blows. Kaoru saw those monsters burst into the same kind of motes his enemy had, and he knew then that Kai had seen the rods as well and was doing his best to destroy them. Kaoru fought through the crowd of monsters harrowing Rinally, destroying rods as he could find them. He reached Rinally and she dropped her Barrier long enough for him to get close enough to her. She uttered her spell once again, and the shimmering veil of solid power slammed back in place around the two of them. Kai joined them a minute later, destroying as many of their enemies as he could to reach them.
“The Brotherhood’s puppets.” Kai growled, shaking Sanctuary to get little bits of clinging darkness off the weapon. “They all have those black rods inside them.”
“There’s still too many. We can’t kill them all, and there’s nowhere we can run.” Rinally said, sweat beading on her forehead from her exertion. Kaoru saw her hand hover over the satchel Elena had given her, as if she was about to fish out a mana potion, but at the last second, she snatched it away and clutched at her staff again. “Do you guys have any more tricks up your sleeves?”
Kai sighed but shook his head. “I can go Black Knight, but I don’t know if that will help here.”
“It wouldn’t hurt.” Rin replied. She winced as her Barrier was battered by blades and claws. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold this.”
“Be careful Kai.” Kaoru said.
Kai made a noise low in his throat. “When Rin drops the shield, just run. Pick a direction and run. I’ll catch up.”
They both knew better than to argue with Kai. Kaoru trusted that Kai would do exactly as he said, knowing there would be nothing short of death that would keep the redhead from coming after him. Kaoru reached out to brush his fingers against Kai’s arm, got a smirk in return, and then Kai took two steps forward, bringing Sanctuary up and holding it out, parallel to the ground.
Darkness swirled around his feet in alternating waves, changing colors from black to dark violet to royal blue. The darkness progressed higher and higher until Kaoru could no longer see Kai, except for Sanctuary. Then Rinally grabbed Kaoru’s wrist and at the same time she dropped the shield, Kai exploded out of the darkness in his Black Knight armor. Kaoru and Rin bolted down the right side of the thoroughfare as Kai flickered through the collapsing horde of monsters, striking lightning fast as the black rods protruding from their bodies. He was buying them time to run by taking out as many of their enemies as he could.
Kaoru could feel Kai’s presence shrinking away from him as he and Rin ran. They ducked down a side alley and continued to run, breaking out into another main street. This one was chock full of rubble, collapsed buildings and broken glass. Kaoru and Rinally paused to catch their breath, standing back to back so nothing could sneak up on them.
“Which way?” Rinally asked.
Kaoru pointed straight ahead, where a half-destroyed building blocked any path they might could take. “But there’s more coming. I can sense them.”
Rinally said something pithy. “How did they get all those rods into these things? What are they anyway?”
“Besides the Brotherhood’s puppets?”
“Yeah!”
“I don’t know.” Kaoru reached for his back pocket and pulled out the rod. He stared at it for a second, then looked at Rin. “This is probably a bad time, but do you still have those rods from Gaston’s place?”
Rin looked at him incredulously, but she dug through her backpack until she found the bundle of cloth she’d wrapped the black rods in. She worked the knots free and opened the bundle to reveal the solid black cylinders. Kaoru placed the one he’d picked up beside them, staring at the differences. The ones they’d taken from Gaston were pure black, whereas the one he’d just picked up was shifting colors from obsidian to a sickly purple and bruised blue. He looked up at Rin and gave her an apologetic smile.
“What?” Rin asked. “What are you doing? Kaoru?” She gasped as he grabbed the entire bundle from her hand, then gave her a hard push backwards where she fell onto her rear. “Kaoru!”
“I’m sorry, Rin. Just stay here, okay? Wait for Kai!” He didn’t bother to wait for her response. With the bundle held tight in his armored hand and Guardian in the other, Kaoru took off running. He could hear her calling his name and knew she was giving chase, but he just kept running, taking sharp turns as much as he could.
He never got lost, always able to keep his bearings by the strange calling feeling he’d felt since seeing the picture and since arriving. But getting lost hadn’t been his intention. Drawing the monsters away from Kai and Rin was that, as well as getting the attention of the Brotherhood member that was here in Midgar. Judging by the reactions of the monsters that he’d encountered while running, he’d certainly gotten that.
He ducked under a surprise attack and drove Guardian into the monster’s stomach where a rod protruded. He danced through another set of attacks, retaliating with strikes of his own. He at last broke free of the debris of the city and entered a place that looked more traveled, more cared for. A church stood in the cleared area, dilapidated and falling apart, but still proudly upright. The calling feeling was intense here. He was in the right place.
“I know what you’re doing!” Kaoru called out, letting his voice carry. “I know why you need a Keyblade user and a Princess of Heart! I know why you’re using these!” He thrust the bundle of rods into the air to emphasize his point. “You need them. You need them to control the false bodies you’re making out of a combination of congealed Darkness and Light. You’re making false Heartless from Darkness and Light, and you need a Princess to put Hearts into them! And you need these rods to control those Hearts!”
The doors to the church creaked open and out of them stepped a man and a woman in the black coats of the Organization. The black coats of the Brotherhood. The man was broad-shouldered and thickly muscled, and he carried a massive claymore that flickered with electricity. His eyes were solid black, including the whites, and his hair was slicked back away from his face to form a charcoal-colored tail. The woman was much smaller by comparison, slim but not thin. She had dark skin and white hair that formed a cloud around her face. A black sash wound around her eyes, but Kaoru could see glimmers of bright green through the gauze fabric. She carried a morning star in one hand, with the other on her hip.
“Aren’t you a clever Keyblade brat.” said the woman, her words slightly accented. “Figured that out all on your own, did you?”
Kaoru lowered his hand and stuffed the bundle into his front pocket this time, as deep as he could shove it. He took hold of Guardian with both hands and settled into a reactive stance. “It confused me for a long time, why you would go so far to try and control Light-oriented people when you’ve already figured out how to control Darkness. Then Hiromu told me you needed a Keyblade user and a Princess of Heart. He said you were making an army that not even Sora could beat. None of it made sense. Not until I saw those monsters.”
The man chuckled darkly. “He is smart. Smarter than Hiromu.”
“I told you we should’ve approached him then.” retorted the woman.
Kaoru stared, confused. Then he remembered, when he first arrived in Traverse Town, how he’d constantly felt like someone was watching him. “You were watching me in Traverse Town.” he said.
The woman chuckled. “Of course we were. We’ve been watching you for a long time, Kaoru. Ever since you met Sora ten years ago.”
“What?”
“Are we really going to exposition now, Haiku?” the man said with a complaining note to his voice. “We have more important things to do.”
The woman, Haiku, looked at her companion with a tight smile. “Ennio told us not to underestimate this boy or his friends.”
“I don’t see his friends here.”
“They’ll be along.” Haiku looked back toward Kaoru. “We have to take care of this problem first. He knows too much. It’s a shame, since he could still be useful to us, but I have a feeling that he’s more trouble than he’s worth.”
“If he’s still useful, why kill him?”
“Because I feel like it.”
Pushing his confusion to the back of his mind and forcing it down to where he could ignore it, Kaoru readied himself. There would be time to get his questions answered later, once he beat Haiku and her companion into the dirt. And he would do that, because he knew he had to get through them to save Hiromu and Tae, and because he had to stop them from destroying whatever was in that church.
- 40
- 41
- 42
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn