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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.

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Forty-Five - Edge/Midgar

Vincent joined them moments after Rinally had finished tying the last knot on the ropes that bound Haiku’s hands behind her back. The woman was unconscious at the moment, her head lolling on her shoulders. Blood stained her face and neck, and it was clear that the ankle Kai had grabbed with Sanctuary was broken. Kai and Kaoru had hauled Haiku out of the crater she’d made, Rin had given her basic first aid just to make sure the woman wasn’t about to die on them, and then they had tied her up. Vincent studied the woman seated on the ground between the three teenagers, then looked at the church. His crimson eyes narrowed for a minute, about the only emotion Kai had seen Vincent give, before he turned to look at their captive with his usual impassive mask.
Kaoru stared at Vincent for a moment, looked at the church, then looked back to Vincent. “Sorry,” he said.
Vincent shook his head. “The housing isn’t important. It’s what’s within that matters.”
Kaoru wasn’t sure if Vincent was talking about the church building, or if he was talking about something else. Vincent’s attention turned to Haiku then and his head tilted to one side, but he said nothing.
Kai looked at Kaoru. “Should we wake her up?”
“We need to get answers from her. Her friend ran away, so she’s our only lead now.”
Rinally cracked her knuckles. “One alarm clock, coming right up.”
Kaoru wondered if Rin maybe went a little too far as she called up a tiny Blizzard spell and allowed the ice to drop down Haiku’s coat against her skin. Haiku snapped awake with a startled gasp, her entire body straining to get away from the frigid lump sliding down her spine. She looked startled that she couldn’t run. It was then she realized she was bound and that she was surrounded by Kaoru, Kai, Rinally, and Vincent. Haiku bared her teeth in a harsh grin, but before she could lunge forward at either of the teenagers, Vincent drew his three-barreled shotgun and leveled it at her face. His finger danced on the trigger, as if daring her to give him a reason.
“Okay,” Haiku said, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. “I’ll be a good girl.”
Kai lowered Sanctuary just enough for the Keyblade to be in Haiku’s peripheral. “You’re going to answer our questions truthfully. If you do that, then we’ll let you go.”
“And what if I don’t want to answer?”
Kaoru shrugged. “It’s either us or the people who protect this world. And they aren’t really happy with you right now.”
As if to accentuate Kaoru’s statement, Vincent’s crimson eyes narrowed and his finger tightened on the trigger even more. Haiku stared at him, but Kaoru couldn’t figure out if her expression was one daring Vincent to shoot her or one of actual fear.
Rinally crouched before Haiku and glowered at the woman. “First off, what does the Brotherhood really want?”
“I already figured out the how.” Kaoru said. “You’re creating false Heartless by congealing Light and Darkness together, but they’re empty. That’s why you needed a Keyblade and a Princess of Heart. The Keyblade you could use to unlock hearts from normal Heartless, or even people, and with the Princess, you could put those hearts in the bodies of your puppets. The rods allow you to control those hearts, but once you remove the rod, the heart expires. The puppet dies.”
Haiku didn’t say anything, but her black-shrouded green eyes narrowed.
“So what’s the why?” Kai asked. “Why try to disrupt the balance between Light and Darkness?”
“Who’s saying we’re disrupting it?” Haiku said, her voice tight. “Sora and his little group have been disrupting it for a long, long time. At first, Sora’s little journey was to stop Ansem from destroying everything, and then when the Organization showed up, his duty was to stop them from creating a false Kingdom Hearts. That should’ve been the end of it. But then he started going around to different worlds and eradicating the darkness growing in them. He started to open more worlds, worlds that should’ve remained closed off. The Light began to swell, driving back the Darkness. This whole thing started with Sora.”
“Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t.” Kai said. “But that doesn’t explain what you’re doing. The thing about Light and Darkness is that they’re always in flux, with one becoming slightly stronger than the other. They balance each other out eventually, either through calling a champion to fix things or just by the natural course of time.”
“Hiromu said there was a war coming.” Kaoru said softly. “A war between Light and Darkness, and only one side was going to survive. But you’re not on either side, are you? You don’t care if the Light wins or if the Darkness wins.”
Haiku’s jaw tightened. Then she barked out a soft laugh. “You really are smart, you know that? You could’ve done so much for us, if you were anything like your little pal Hiromu.” She shook her head. “There’s a war coming between Light and Darkness. The forces of Light and the forces of Dark are going to go at each other with the intent of wiping each other out. Of course, the more powerful side will win. The Brotherhood doesn’t care which side wins because neither side is going to win. We, who have been driven to the shadows, we will win.”
Rinally felt a shiver thrum through her body. “The army you’re making was never meant to overrun just Sora. You were going to wait until the Light and Darkness engaged each other, and then when they were too busy fighting each other to defend themselves, you were going to kill them all.”
Haiku grinned. “No more Light, no more Darkness. A perfect shadow. And in that shadow, the Brotherhood would rise with the last remaining Princess of Heart and the only Keyblade wielder to survive the slaughter. And the worlds would welcome us as saviors. We could have whatever we wanted, just for the asking.”
Both Kai and Kaoru exchanged glances. Kaoru focused on Haiku and asked, “But don’t you realize that if both Darkness and Light are gone, so are the worlds?”
Haiku shook her head. “The worlds will still exist. They may not be how they are now, but they’ll exist. Because the Princesses will still exist, and because the people will still exist. Light and Darkness will eventually return - they can’t really be permanently destroyed - but we’ll be ready to put them down again. Them, and any Keyblade wielder that shows up.”
“Because the Keyblade wielder will champion one side or the other.” Rin said. Haiku only grinned at the girl. Rinally narrowed her eyes and looked up at her friends. “We can’t let the Brotherhood do this.”
“We won’t.” Kai growled softly. He focused on Haiku. “Your boss, Ennio, what does he want out of this?”
Haiku shrugged. “This? All this is just an experiment to him. To see if we can. When we succeed, then Ennio will just find another project to work on. The rest of the Brotherhood will go to the worlds and ensure that the real Heartless are kept at bay. Like I said, heroes.”
“There’s got to be more to his motive than that.”
“If there is, it’s not like I know it.”
Rinally rose and moved a short distance away from Haiku, followed by Kaoru and Kai. The three stood close together, keeping their voices low. Rinally whispered, “I don’t know if we can believe her. She gave all this up rather easy.”
“I think she’s speaking the truth.” Kai replied. “This is all too incredible to be a lie thought up just to please us, especially since she basically confirmed what Kaoru figured out.”
“But to destroy both Light and Darkness...”
“Either way,” Kaoru said softly, “we have to get to Radiant Garden. We have to warn Sora, if he doesn’t know already. What we know is that they’re still making this army. Even if they can’t use Tae to put hearts into the false Heartless, they still have Hiromu to get them those hearts. I don’t believe that it’s just a Princess they need to put those hearts inside the puppets, just that she might make the process faster.”
Rinally pressed her lips together. “Do you think there’s something more to this?”
“There has to be.” said Kai. “This is all too elaborate just to be a set up for a spectacular coup.”
“Do you think they’re after Kingdom Hearts?” Kaoru asked. Kai and Rinally looked at him with questioning expressions. Kaoru tilted his head. “Well, maybe not the Brotherhood itself. Not Haiku and her friend. But Ennio? Remember on Belle’s world, he wanted to see what would happen if he got control of the Beast? And then on Pocahontas’s world, what happened to John Smith and Ratcliffe?”
Rinally folded her arms over her chest. “You think he’s playing everyone?”
“They can already control Darkness-oriented things. They want to control Light-oriented things.” Kaoru shrugged. “I don’t know much about Kingdom Hearts, but if Haiku’s right, and Sora was originally tapped by the forces that control the Keyblade to protect it, then maybe it’s Kingdom Hearts Ennio is after.”
“What would he want that place for?” Rinally wondered.
“I don’t know, but it can’t be anything good.”
“Let’s not put our eggs all on one basket,” Kai said, “and let’s keep a few working theories. We’ve got all the clues we’re going to get at the moment, so we just have to fit them into the puzzle and see where they belong. Let’s assume the Brotherhood wants to destroy Light and Darkness and be the only hope the worlds have of beating back the true Heartless, and let’s assume Ennio’s been using the Brotherhood to get to Kingdom Hearts. Both might be right, and both might be wrong, but it’s what we have to work with right now.”
Kaoru nodded. “If both are right, then we’re all in trouble.”
Thunder shattered the otherwise peaceful silence with a sudden and deafening boom. Kaoru spun around in time to see Haiku lunging toward him with outstretched arms, her fingers hooked like claws. Blood fountained from her left shoulder, but she didn’t seem to notice. Behind her, Vincent was reloading his shotgun, but even if he brought it to bear, there was a high chance that his shot would miss its target and hit Rinally, Kai, or Kaoru. Haiku closed in on Kaoru, her lips pulled back from her teeth in a feral snarl.
Just before her hands reached his throat, Kaoru brought Guardian up to stop her from getting close to him. She was going too fast for him to bring the Keyblade across his body in a defensive position, and instead had the weapon angled out with the tip of Guardian pointed toward Haiku’s chest. Kaoru cried out as her entire weight impacted on the Keyblade, shoving him back and to the ground. He hit hard enough to drive all the breath out of his body, and stared up at Haiku’s wild green eyes. Her covering had come undone, revealing her face entirely. The skin around her eyes was blackened and burned and scarred over, but her eyes were far from blind. They glowed bright green, her pupils tiny black dots in the center of an emerald circle. Her hands curled around Kaoru’s throat but didn’t tighten.
Kaoru felt something hot and wet splatter against his face as Haiku coughed violently. He faintly heard Rinally calling his name, but he couldn’t get the breath to reply to her. His eyes glanced down to Haiku’s chest, and realized that Guardian now pierced her breast, right through her heart. And not only was Guardian through her heart, but so was Sanctuary. Kai, his Heartless eyes burning bright with anger and fear, crouched over Haiku’s back, driving his Keyblade through Haiku from behind. The black and violet Keyblade was perfectly parallel with the silver and gold Keyblade, both Light and Darkness piercing a single heart.
Haiku lifted her hand and stroked Kaoru’s cheek with obscene gentleness. “You won’t win.” she whispered. “Because to win against us, you’ll have to sacrifice everything.”
Her body slumped, but before Kaoru could even begin to try to move her, Haiku’s corpse burst apart in swirling motes of silver and violet. Floating in the air for a split second was a crystalline heart, prismatic and shimmering. Then that too vanished, leaving Kaoru laying on his back on the ground, Guardian narrowly missing Kai’s chest, and Kai kneeling over Kaoru, with Sanctuary piercing the ground beside Kaoru’s side. A few inches one way for either Keyblade, and they would have wounded each other.
“Kaoru! Kai!” Rinally screamed, rushing to their sides. She slid to her knees beside them, reaching to touch each of them. That seemed to start both of them, and Kaoru felt his eyes well with tears. Both Guardian and Sanctuary vanished, and Kaoru surged up off the ground to grab Kai and Rinally in as tight a hug as he could. Both of them returned the hug just as tightly, squeezing each other as if they were afraid to let go.
Vincent soon loomed over them, his crimson eyes showing concern. “Are you injured?”
“I... I don’t think so.” Kaoru pulled back from his friends long enough to check his body, and he was relieved to find everything in one piece. Then he touched his face, and his fingers came away wet with blood. His stomach twisted.
Kai let out a harsh breath. “We killed her.”
“I’ve never killed anyone before.” Kaoru whispered. “I mean... when I fight, I expect it, but... I’ve never... I’ve never...”
Vincent crouched and put his hands on each boy’s shoulder. His eyes were kind as he studied them, and his words, when they came, were gentle. “The first time is always the most difficult.”
Kaoru stared at Vincent for a minute. “You’ve killed people?”
“Yes. Many people. Many monsters. A life is a life, whether it walks on two legs, three legs, four, has fins... But it doesn’t mean I don’t feel guilty about it.”
“How do you...”
“I fight to protect my friends. It’s them or my enemy, and if my enemy is dead, then my friends, the people I care about most, are still alive and safe.”
Kai looked at Kaoru, who met his eyes with uncertainty. Kaoru looked like he was going to start crying at any moment, and Kai couldn’t blame him. He kind of wanted to cry himself. And, of course, Rinally was crying. Silently, but still crying. She was still holding tightly to them, trying to keep close to them. Kai turned his attention to Vincent and said, “She was going to kill Kaoru. I couldn’t let her do that.”
“She was going to kill me,” Kaoru whispered, “and I didn’t want to die.”
Vincent nodded, understanding. “You’re all very young, and you’re accomplished warriors. But when you fight, you have to expect two things: to kill and to die. If you don’t want to die, then you have to kill. That’s all there is to it.”
Rinally sniffled and hugged her friends tight again. “I’m just happy you two are okay!”
Kaoru hugged her back and felt grateful for her presence. Kai tightened his hold on Kaoru and Rin both, closing his eyes for a minute. When he reopened them, he said, “There’s nothing left for us to do here. We need to get back, let Tifa know what’s going on, and then we have to keep moving.”
Vincent rose, pulled out a cellphone, and used his thumb to hit a button. He brought the phone up to his ear and after whoever it was on the other end of the line answered, said, “I’m bringing the kids home. Yeah.” He listened for a minute, grunted, then hung up.
Soon, Kaoru could hear the sound of a helicopter coming closer and realized the Turks were on their way.
They returned to the Seventh Heaven, where Tifa, Marlene, a young man who identified himself as Denzel, and Rufus were waiting for them. In halting words, Kaoru told them everything that had happened, including everything he had learned and everything that had happened after they had captured and questioned Haiku. Tifa gave each of them a tight hug, then sent the three of them upstairs to clean up and change into fresh clothes. When Kaoru, Kai, and Rinally returned downstairs, Tifa and her group, along with Rufus and his Turks, had gathered in the Seventh Heaven’s dining room with tables filled with food.
“Stay the night,” Tifa said to Kaoru, “and have dinner with us. You can head out in the morning.”
Kaoru looked at Kai and Rin, then smiled at Tifa and nodded. Surrounded by warriors who knew exactly what they had experienced, and who didn’t look at them with pity and who treated them like warriors themselves, Kaoru, Kai, and Rinally felt as though they were among family, soon understanding why all these people fought hard and didn’t look back at the bodies that were left behind. But just because they didn’t look back didn’t mean they didn’t regret the killing, that they didn’t wish another way had been found, or that they forgot those who fell before them. They accepted it, and moved on, because of that why.
“They protect their hearts,” Kai commented quietly, his green gaze alighting on Kaoru and Rinally.
“Because a person’s heart is made up of all the connections they’ve made with other people,” Rinally said just as softly, “and so it isn’t just for themselves that they fight.”
Kaoru smiled and leaned back in his chair, reaching across the space between him and Kai and Rinally to link their hands together. Silent, they sat like that, three links in a powerful chain, and knew that they would do whatever it took to prevent that chain from breaking.
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn