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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
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Fifty-Three - Atlantica

Rinally leaned against the railing and stared down at the moon-lit ocean with a soft smile on her lips. After she and Melody had been escorted into the palace by the guards, Queen Ariel and King Eric first admonished their daughter for running away, but praised her for helping Rinally escape the man who had kidnapped her. Then they had turned to questioning Rin, and the pink-haired girl explained her presence on their world. She described the events that had brought her and her two friends, Kaoru and Kai, here, and she had explained to Ariel that both her friends were Keyblade wielders brought here by the world’s own urging to help protect it. Ariel, being friends with Sora, understood immediately the significance of the existence of Keyblade wielders on her world, and quickly had penned a letter on a special paper that could survive the sea. Rinally had added her own words, written in Ariel’s hand, and watched as the queen handed the missive to an albatross with explicit instructions to give it to one of Triton’s messengers.
After that, Rin had helped King Eric find Ibrahim and shut him down for good. Ibrahim had tried to claim his innocence, stating that it had been Rin’s idea for her to dress up as a mermaid, and when he’d tried to work out a contract with her, she’d gotten greedy and decided to quit on him. Of course, that story didn’t go very far, not when Melody and a pair of guards managed to find one of the sailors that had sold Rinally to Ibrahim in the first place. The drunken sailor didn’t even know who he was speaking to as the story came out, and even asked Ibrahim if the mermaid he’d bought was bringing in all the gold he’d hoped for.
The sailor sobered up right quick when he was thrown in prison alongside Ibrahim, and over the long days finally told King Eric what else he’d been hired to find.
Morgana, Rinally had been told, was the younger sister of the sea witch Ursula. When Ariel and Eric had first met, Ursula had used her powers to give Ariel legs in exchange for her voice. Only true love’s kiss could break the spell. With Sora’s help, Ursula was defeated and Ariel was able to be with Eric. When Melody had been born, Ariel and Eric had decided that they would integrate their kingdom and the kingdom of the mer-people and celebrate both occasions. However, that happy day had been interrupted by Morgana, and Melody’s life had been threatened. Twelve years later, Melody discovered the other side of her heritage when she had been tricked by Morgana into retrieving her grandfather’s golden trident. With the help of her friends and family, Melody was able to defeat Morgana, and she had been imprisoned in the iceberg and sunk to the bottom of the ocean, where she had stayed until now. Surprisingly, that had all occurred only months ago, so the incident was still fresh in everyone’s minds.
Morgana was a powerful witch, just like her sister, but while she was trapped in the ice, there was nothing she could do. It was clear that she was able to send out a call through the Darkness, which was how Rin, Kai, and Kaoru had discovered her in the first place. Rin was sure that Lorne had been called here in the same fashion. She still didn’t know if he was part of the Brotherhood or not, but chances were good that he was. The sailor hadn’t been able to describe Lorne because he hadn’t seen the man, only heard him. He could tell them where they had delivered the iceberg, and had, which caused King Eric to send a few of his men out to check out the area. They had been gone for a few days and were due to return tomorrow. Once they returned, then Rin could figure out her next move.
She stared out at the water and wondered where Kaoru and Kai were. There hadn’t been a reply to Ariel’s letter, at least not that Rin was aware of. She hoped that they were okay. They hadn’t been separated for this long before, and she worried about them. Somehow, she just knew that they were still alive, but she couldn’t explain how. Still, the feeling comforted her, and gave her the strength to keep moving forward and keep hoping that she would meet her friends again soon.
She pushed away from the railing and headed back inside the castle. Ariel had graciously given Rinally her own room, and the furnishings made Rin feel like she was a pauper playing at princess. The queen had welcomed her into their home and treated her as one of their own, which made Rin miss her family even more. And Melody reminded her strongly of her little sister, Yukari. Yukari and Melody would have definitely been friends. They had the same interests, and Melody had gotten into the habit of following Rinally around when she was able to. Speaking of following her around...
“Melody, I know you’re there.” Rin said, placing her hands on her hips.
Sheepishly, the girl stepped out from behind a changing screen and twisted her hands before her. “How could you tell?”
“I have a little sister about your age. She does the same exact thing when she thinks I’m not paying attention.”
Melody perked up at the mention of Yukari. “You have a sister?”
Rin smiled, but it was bittersweet. “I do. I don’t know where she is right now, though. I was separated from her and our parents when the Heartless destroyed our world. I’ve been trying to find them with the help of Kaoru and Kai.”
“Oh.” Melody’s face fell, as if she shared in Rin’s misery. “I was separated from my parents once. I did it on my own, but I never realized how much I would miss them.”
“Nobody ever realizes how much they miss something or someone until they’re gone.” Rin sat on the bed and patted the spot beside her. Melody quickly joined her, jumping up on the bed and settling beside her. “Tomorrow when your dad’s soldiers return, I’m going to be leaving. I have to find Lorne and stop him from freeing Morgana.”
“I can help.”
“I know you can. But I don’t want you to get hurt, Melody. There’s going to be a lot of dangerous stuff going on, and as brave as you are, as ingenious as you are, I don’t think you can compete in this arena.”
Melody flopped back onto the bed and sighed. “Is it because I can’t use magic like you can?”
Rin twisted to look at the girl. “That’s part of it. But if Lorne turns out to be who I think he is, then it’s going to be way too dangerous even for your dad’s soldiers to get involved.”
“Then wouldn’t it be too dangerous for you?”
“Maybe. But I can protect myself better if I don’t have to worry about you. If I have to protect you and fight at the same time, then both of us are probably going to get hurt.”
Melody’s face grew impassive. Rin knew she had probably heard this argument many times before and figured that she was about to get stubborn about the whole situation. “What about your friends?”
“You mean Kaoru and Kai?”
Melody nodded.
“They trust me to take care of myself, too. We’ve been in a lot of battles, and Kaoru and Kai fight as hard as they can knowing that I’m there to watch their backs and protect them. But they also expect me to watch out for myself, because they can’t stop what they’re doing to protect me. We have to support each other, Melody, otherwise we’ll all fall. Understand?”
Melody met her eyes with a stubborn look. “I don’t like it.”
“I know you don’t.” Rin grinned. “But since you’re going to follow me anyway, you have to make me a deal. If I tell you to run, you run. You don’t even dare to look back. If I tell you to do something, you do it, no argument. Okay?”
A huge smile spread across the girl’s face and she popped up to give Rinally a hard hug. “Deal!”
“Oh, and you have to get your parents’ permission.”
The hug lessened in strength. “Fine.”
Rinally wrapped her arms around Melody and closed her eyes tight as her heart ached. She missed Yukari so much in this moment that she was afraid she was going to start crying. Somehow, she managed not to, and as soon as Melody was out of the door and skipping down the hall to spring the news on her parents, Rin shut and locked her door. She leaned against it and stared at her room without seeing anything in there. Tomorrow, Rinally was going to fight on her own, without the secure knowledge that backup was on the way, for the first time since meeting Kaoru. She summoned her witch’s staff, stared at it for a minute, and clenched her fingers tightly enough that her knuckles turned white.
Kaoru, I’m going to fight. I have to fight. For you, for me, for Kai, for Yukari, and my parents. I’m going to do this, and I’m going to win.
She took a deep breath, dismissed her staff, and got ready for bed and the next day.

Rinally and Melody crouched behind a stack of crates bound in netting and peered between the cracks in the wood, trying to see what was on the other side. King Eric’s men had returned early that morning during breakfast, and described what they had found. They had followed the instructions of the sailor in the palace dungeon, and found the rest of the crew and the ship’s captain drinking off their pay. They arrested and questioned those men, which allowed them to learn the location of Lorne. It was far outside the city, on a cliffside that overlooked the ocean. It was more a warehouse than an actual laboratory, and looked like it had seen better days. The captain, after delivering Rinally to Ibrahim, had set sail for this place and had delivered Morgana to Lorne that same day. He had received his payment, sailed back to the town, and then had proceeded to drink it all away.
Rin had barely finished stuffing toast into her mouth before she was headed out the door with Melody right behind her. Two guards had put them up on horses and had ridden behind them to the warehouse, but had stayed behind as Rin and Melody snuck up to the warehouse. It had taken them some time to find a way in that wouldn’t alert anyone to their presence, and then they had snuck through the warehouse until they had found a good place to hide. Which was why they were behind the crates bound in netting.
Rinally could see a giant hole in the back of the warehouse facing the ocean. It looked like the wall had been cut out on purpose, and she could see a system of pulleys and weights and counterweights that she guessed had been used to unload Morgana from the ship. Touching Melody on the shoulder, Rin put a finger to her lips, then moved past the girl to the edge of the crates. Peering around the corner, she could see much more of the room. She spotted the iceberg wrapped up in ropes on the far end of the room, resting on a stone floor and propped up by metal prongs set into that floor. It still hung on the pulley system used to bring it up into the warehouse. Lights were focused on the iceberg, illuminating the creature trapped within the ice. Behind the iceberg, Rin saw a table laden with all manner of books and papers, along with a chemistry set that looked out of place for a world like this. She didn’t see anyone else in the room, but she was certain they weren’t alone. Still, they had to act.
So she turned back to Melody and gestured for the girl to come closer. “Remember the promise you made me?” Rin asked.
Reluctantly, Melody nodded.
“Okay, so, here’s what I want you to do. Go back to the guards. Tell them to take you back to the city.”
“What? Why?”
“Because, Melody, I need you to find me the biggest ship you can get. I’m gonna try to push Morgana out of that hole in the wall. See it?”
Melody craned her head so she could see where Rin was pointing. Her dark head bobbed in a nod. “I see it.”
“Good. If you get me that ship, I can get Morgana out of here and down to you. Then you can start heading out for open water. If your mom’s letter has reached your grandfather, I’m sure he’s prepared and waiting for us.”
Melody reached out and gripped Rin’s hand. “Are you gonna be okay?”
“Of course I am.” Rin grinned and tousled Melody’s tightly braided dark hair. “I’ve got the easy part. Everything about this plan rests on you.”
Melody grinned widely and let go of Rin. “How will you know I’m out there?”
“I’ll know. Just go.”
Melody quickly headed out the way they had gotten in. Rin followed after a minute to make sure the girl did exactly as she was doing what she’d been told to do. She watched the guards, with Melody, ride off back to the city. Letting out the breath she’d been holding, Rin pushed herself upright and summoned her staff to her hand. The rod glimmered with the power stored within its owner and Rinally quickly reviewed her entire repertoire of spells. Then she took a deep breath and started out from behind the crates, crossing carefully over the floor and trying to avoid tangling her feet in the lengths of rope and cable that lay strewn across it.
As she reached the iceberg and began to look for a way to move it, she became aware of someone watching her. Stiffening, Rin turned to look up at the ceiling of the warehouse and found a young man in a tell-tale black coat sitting on a rafter staring down at her. He had ochre skin, golden eyes, and emerald hair styled in a mohawk. Silver rings were pierced in the cartilage of both ears and a stud glimmered in his left nostril. He was younger than she’d expected him to be, but he was still older than she was by at least five years. Readying herself for anything that might happen, Rinally asked, “Lorne, I presume?”
Lorne’s lips split into a wide smile, displaying sharp canines. “I suppose you’re that little mage girl who follows the Keyblade brats around. Rinally, right?”
“I don’t remember giving you my name.”
“I don’t remember giving you mine.”
They stared at each other for a minute before Lorne got to his feet and glided along the rafter to a rope. He grasped it and slid to the floor in a fluid movement that would’ve left the best acrobat jealous. He landed on the floor and folded his arms over his chest, still grinning at her.
Rin tracked his movements by pivoting on her heel rather than giving him her back. “If you know who I am, then you know why I’m here.”
“Yes. To interfere in my operations. I really don’t know why you would. As you can see, what I’m doing is perfectly harmless.”
“Whatever the Brotherhood is involved in is definitely not harmless.” Rin argued.
Lorne shrugged. “Whoever said this was Brotherhood business? No, I’m doing this for myself.” He placed his hand on the iceberg and gazed at Morgana like she was his most prized possession. Then he looked at her, his gold eyes slashing a glare at her. “And I don’t appreciate you being here.”
“Too bad.” Rinally shifted, setting herself for a fight. “I’m here to stop you. You’re disrupting the balance of this world. If you were running away from the Brotherhood, you should’ve just left well enough alone.”
Lorne lifted his hand. Rinally saw the attack coming and raised a Barrier around herself. Lorne’s spell glanced off her shield and struck a hole through a wall somewhere to the left and back of her. Rin chose not to retaliate yet, but she edged closer to the iceberg. She had to buy time for Melody to get here. Lorne didn’t seem to notice Rinally’s movement, though he gave an impressed whistle at the sight of her Barrier.
“Pretty good, little witch. Volstag wasn’t joking when he said you were skilled.” Lorne said, giving her a golf clap.
“Who’s Volstag?” Rin asked.
An eyebrow rose on Lorne’s face. “Big and scary berserker, likes to kill things? You killed his lady friend, Haiku, in Midgar.”
A mental image of the person Lorne was describing formed in Rin’s mind’s eye. She remembered the huge man, an evil berserker who wouldn’t even stop fighting even when he faced both Kaoru and Kai. It had taken Kaoru to break both arms for him to retreat, leaving Haiku on her own. “Well,” Rin said at last, “I’m glad I didn’t disappoint you.”
“There’s still time for that, little miss. Definitely still time for that.”
“Why do you want Morgana so badly?”
Lorne slashed another glare at Rin. Then he reached up and stroked the ice, tracing the whorls and thin cracks within it with his finger. “Power. Why else would I want this fine specimen? She’s a powerful sorceress, and the key to my plan. I need that power.”
“Why?”
“Why, why, why? What is it with you hero-types? Why are the bad guys always required to reveal their plan to you? It isn’t going to make much of a difference anyway. I’m going to kill you and I’m going to kill your two little friends, and I’m going to make this world mine.” Lorne patted the iceberg. “She’s going to help me, whether she wants to or not.”
“Well, that’s not fair.” Rin retorted. “I really want to know why you’re doing what you’re doing. I mean, you say you’re not with the Brotherhood anymore, right? So why wouldn’t you just stay on the down low and keep the evil overlord desires to a minimum?”
Lorne turned his back on her and leaned against the iceberg, his gaze focused out on the water. “You wouldn’t understand.”
Rinally looked up, following the lines of the pulley system to the winch. Morgana’s iceberg was still attached so all Rin would have to do is give it a hard push to swing it out into open air. Hopefully then gravity would do the rest and all she would have to do is control its descent so it didn’t crash through Melody’s ship. “Try me.”
“I joined the Brotherhood believing in Ennio’s message. A world free of both Light and Darkness, with no Keyblade wielders, no wars, no conflicts, nothing. It was perfect. We had all suffered in this stupid war between Light and Darkness, and Ennio had the path we needed to follow.”
Rin moved as quietly as she could as Lorne talked. It was all things she’d heard before and things she’d figured out with Kaoru and Kai. Ennio’s war against Light and Darkness and Sora and the other Keyblade wielders. His plan to control Heartless and his plan to control denizens of Light by using the black rods. His success with the former and his experiments with the latter, experiments, she was told, had been ruined by Kaoru’s interference. He talked about how Ennio had promised them amazing things and seemed to even follow through on those promises. As he talked, Rin reached the winch and untied the knot holding the rope stable. She watched the ropes loosen and sag in their holdings. Then she moved around to the other side of the iceberg, glancing out at the opening in the wall. She saw open water and nothing else, and wondered how much longer she was going to have to stall.
She stiffened as she felt a sudden presence behind her. She turned around and found herself caught by Lorne. His grip was like iron, and his eyes blazed with deep fire as he grinned at her. “Ennio warned us about you.” Lorne said, leaning close to her face. “He said you three brats were clever and resourceful. He said if we gave you the opportunity, you’d ruin everything we’d accomplished so far.”
“That’s what the good guys do.” Rin growled, jerking on her arm to try and free it. Lorne wouldn’t let go.
“Of course, that’s what the good guys do. That’s their job. Just like it’s the job of the bad guys to do evil things. But for every bad guy, there’s always a worse guy. And that worse guy is the one you should be worried about.” Lorne leaned forward, sniffing Rin’s hair. She kicked at his knee as hard as she could and connected, sending him howling to the floor. She scrambled away from him and spun, bringing her staff up and holding it ready for attack or defense.
“Let me guess,” Rin spat, “you’re the worse guy.”
Lorne didn’t give her a verbal answer. Instead, he gave a bestial roar and lunged at her. Rin dodged out of the way and spun, unleashing a low-level Aero spell to keep him away from her. She watched in shock as Lorne’s coat ripped in half a dozen places as his body began to bulge and deform. His ochre skin bulged with veins and lines of fur formed on his forearms. His fingers stretched into claws. Even his feet burst out of their boots and turned into huge taloned paws. This other form reminded Rinally of the Beast, but in a much more wolfish way.
He charged her again, and Rinally unleashed two spells in conjunction with each other, causing a burst of icy shards to race for Lorne. He dodged all but two, but the blows were merely glancing and the wounds were minor. She jumped out of the way of his charge and rolled back to her feet, flinging a Blizzara spell at Lorne’s back. It struck hard, sending his monstrous form crashing into the iceberg. Cracks appeared in the ice where he hit, and they seemed to widen where he gripped with his taloned hand. He clenched his fingers and ice burst like glass beneath his hand, sending a shower of it into the air.
He’s absorbing the magic in the ice! Rin realized as she dodged another attack, this one stronger and faster than before. But why isn’t he absorbing mine?
Her spells continued to be effective against Lorne. She struck him with minor spells and kept him from grabbing her in those terrible talons or from raking his nails down her back, arms, sides, and thighs. Her efforts were mostly defensive and designed to keep him away from her as she maneuvered herself into a position that would allow her to see out of the opening in the wall. Lorne became increasingly incensed at his inability to hit her and roared his frustration. He lunged at Rin and this time caught her with his massive shoulder, sending her flying across the floor where she fetched up against the iceberg.
Rin lay there stunned for a minute, coughing hard because all the breath had been forced out of her lungs. She looked up to see Lorne charging her and threw up a Barrier in time to keep him from grabbing her. She scrambled out of the way before the Barrier faded and felt more ice pelt her back as Lorne crashed into Morgana’s iceberg. The whole thing tilted awkwardly from the impact and Rin managed not to get crushed by the tilting mass as she escaped being grabbed again. More cracks appeared in the ice and Rin thought she saw the woman within shift. It was a minute movement, so Rin thought she was imagining things and put it out of her mind. She spun around and brought her staff up and unleashed a Blizzaga spell this time, catching Lorne in the chest with the massive spikes of ice. It flung him across the entire length of the warehouse where he crashed into the crates stacked there. He didn’t rise this time, but how long that it would be until he did, Rin didn’t know.
She jumped to her feet and rushed to the edge of the opening, spotting at last Melody and the ship. The girl was flashing a piece of glass in the sunlight, waving her other hand as if that would allow Rin to recognize her. They were still too far away for Rinally to do what she had originally intended, but now she knew what Lorne’s ability was. He couldn’t absorb fresh magic, magic that was being cast and formed in a specific spell that was designed to dissipate as soon as it completed its task. The magic encasing Morgana was designed to hold for, well, forever, and only the caster of that spell could break it entirely. Except, it seemed, it wouldn’t be the caster of the spell but Lorne who broke the enchantment. Every time he touched the ice in his changed form, he grew stronger while the ice itself grew weaker. She didn’t have long to act if she wanted to not only get Lorne’s source of power away from him but also prevent Morgana from breaking free on her own.
Rinally rushed to the front of the iceberg and summoned up the strongest Aeroga spell she could. She unleashed the spell at the iceberg just as Lorne broke free of the crates and flung one at her. Rin couldn’t dodge it in time, so she hunched her shoulders to protect her head and finished the spell seconds before the crate hit her. It flung her across the room, into the table with the alchemy set, papers, and books. She cried out as she felt something break inside her and she flipped over the edge of the fallen table, landing hard on her side. She curled up, squeezing her eyes shut in response to the pain coursing through her body. Faintly, she heard an angry roar and knew if she didn’t move soon, Lorne was going to come after her. It took all of her strength to push the pain aside long enough for her to cast Curaga upon herself. As soon as she could breathe again, she scrambled away from the overturned table on her hands and knees and escaped being crushed under Lorne’s weight as he slammed down where she had once lain.
Rin shoved herself to her feet and ran to more open ground, seeing that her Aeroga spell had done its job. The fierce wind had blown Morgana’s iceberg out of the open wall and the loose ropes had no longer had the tension they needed to make the iceberg swing back inside, as if on a pendulum. Instead, the iceberg had plummeted out of sight. She didn’t know if it had landed in the water or if it was hanging by the cliffside, but she hoped Melody was close enough now that she could get the iceberg onto her ship and cut the line.
Without the iceberg near, Rinally could now unleash her more powerful Fire magic spells. She hit Lorne with Firaga, dodging out of the way of the flaming monster as he rushed her. Rin continued to unleash spell after spell at him, keeping each one short and as powerful as she could keep it. Lorne hit her twice, opening up a line of red on her shoulder and on her thigh. They were deep wounds, so she was forced to slap a Curaga spell on each, but she couldn’t give more concentration to them beyond getting the bleeding to stop. She retaliated, though, by slamming a Thundara spell into Lorne’s chest.
“I won’t let you!” Lorne roared, picking himself up as he shook off the electricity that bounced along his skin. “I won’t let you take this away from me!”
He rushed Rinally and grabbed her around the middle. Instead of slamming her against the floor or flinging her somewhere out of the way, he instead brought her with him toward the yawning maw of the warehouse’s blown out wall. It was then that Rin realized what he intended to do. She struggled as hard as she could, kicking and clawing at that strong arm around her. Her actions didn’t seem to bother Lorne in the least. He continued running toward that opening, and then they were suddenly weightless. Looking down, Rin saw that Morgana’s iceberg hung against the cliffside just above the crashing waves. Melody’s ship was still too far to do anything about it, but it was sliding out oars and Melody was pointing upwards at Rinally. The man at the helm, King Eric himself, started shouting something at the men on deck and as soon as those oars hit the water, the ship began to pick up speed.
At first, Rinally thought Lorne was angling them toward the water in an attempt to suicide himself and murder her. But she realized then that he was aiming for Morgana’s crystal. Rin knew if they hit it at the speed they were falling, Lorne would survive only because he would absorb the rest of the enchantment contained within the ice. Rinally would die, either from the force of the impact breaking her neck or from Lorne slamming her into the ice first to attempt to soften his own landing. She began to struggle harder, pushing at the arm holding her and at Lorne’s trunk to try and force him to release her. Her last resort was to wedge her staff between her and Lorne and pull as hard as she could on it in hopes that she could force him to release her. Her staff bent from the force of the weight she was applying to it, but Lorne’s arm refused to budge.
Then, to Rinally’s horror, her staff snapped in half.
An explosion of power ripped her from Lorne’s hold and flung her out into open air.
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn