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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn	By : RotSeele Category: Kingdom Hearts > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3169 -:- 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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Sixty-One - Esthar

Rinally stared at metal floor beneath her feet and clenched her fists in her lap. With her were Kaoru, Kai, Laguna, Kiros, Ward, and a contingent of Estharian soldiers, with two more contingents racing along behind them in armored vehicles like the one they were in. Rinoa, who was riding up front in the cab, was still acting as a lodestone for Ultimecia, directing the vehicle’s driver exactly where to go. The soldiers around them were putting on the finishing touches on their weapons and armor. They seemed to be prepared for anything, be it Heartless or people or Sorceresses. Kaoru and Kai were just as quiet as Rin was, but the two of them had an air of confidence around them that no one else, including Rinally herself, seemed to have. She supposed she couldn’t fault them for having it, considering what they were. She wished she had that kind of confidence.
It had taken some convincing on Rinally’s part to make Yukari stay behind with Ellone. Her sister had wanted to come along, but Rinally didn’t want to risk her life. She couldn’t afford to protect Yukari if she came, because her attention would be mostly on Kaoru and Kai. Yukari didn’t understand that, though, and had argued with her while Laguna had prepared the Estharian army for the fight against the Brotherhood, Ultimecia, and any Heartless that might happen to be there.
“But why?” Yukari whined. “I want go to with you! I don’t want to be by myself!”
“You can’t go, Yukari, not this time.” Rinally said. She knelt so she was looking up into her sister’s face, holding onto the girl’s biceps gently. “I need you here.”
“But why?”
“Because I need someone to come back to.”
“But what if you leave? What if you don’t come back?”
Rinally smiled gently. “I will come back. I’ll come back and get you. Now that I found you again, I’m not about to let you go.” She let go of Yukari and held up her little finger. “So promise me that you’ll be right here with Ellie, okay?”
Yukari’s lower lip trembled, but she wrapped her own little finger around Rin’s and nodded.
Rinally’s eyes flicked to her pinky finger and imagined she could still feel the warmth of her sister’s flesh. She hadn’t said good-bye on purpose to Yukari when Laguna called for them to load up into the armored vehicles, because she was afraid if she did say the words, something would happen and she wouldn’t get back to Yukari until the Brotherhood was defeated for good and Ennio’s plans were foiled for good. It was a foolish notion, but she entertained it because it made her feel hopeful when she wasn’t sure ‘hope’ was in her vocabulary.
The trucks rolled to a stop at a distance from Ultimecia’s location that would allow them to, hopefully, ambush the Brotherhood members and Ultimecia. Laguna had decided that and everyone else seemed to agree. Rinally looked up as the doors to the armored vehicle opened, revealing the driver and Rinoa. Rinoa smiled and said, “We’re here. Ultimecia’s to the north of us, and according to the maps, is thankfully in an area that’s pretty much a wasteland.”
Laguna jumped out of the truck and stretched. “We walk from here. Kaoru, Kai, Rin, please don’t rush ahead. If our plan is to work, you three need to stay as close as possible to us. There’s no telling what’s there waiting for us, and I don’t want to risk blowing everything unless there’s no other choice.”
The three teenagers agreed, but said nothing more. They already knew what to expect; the Brotherhood would likely have rod-controlled Heartless as the first line of defense, and the Estharian soldiers were prepared for that, knowing to aim for the rod rather than the Heartless itself. They were also prepared to face the usual Heartless that lurked around, but they didn’t know what kind of Heartless would be there, and that was true on both accounts. Kaoru wasn’t sure if there would be smaller Shadows, or Neo-Shadows, or Blade-Fists, or Yellow Operas, or Behemoths there, but they had to be ready for anything.
According to Laguna’s plan, the Estharian soldiers would engage the Heartless to provide a distraction, which would allow Laguna, Kiros, Ward, Rinoa, Kaoru, Kai, and Rinally to get in close to Ultimecia and the Brotherhood member or members that might be there. If that was successful, then Kaoru, Kai, and Rinally would engage the Brotherhood while Laguna, Kiros, and Ward provided Rinoa with backup while she locked with Ultimecia and tried to seal the evil Sorceress’s darkness. Should one side prevail in their struggle before another, they would then turn to help whoever needed it the most, after getting Ultimecia’s Coffin out of range and into one of the armored vehicles that the Estharian soldiers would lock down and guard until Laguna and the others returned.
They started off at a light trot. Rinoa was in the lead with Kai and Kaoru flanking her, protecting her as they drew closer and closer to where the Brotherhood was keeping camp. They had probably traveled for twenty minutes before Rinoa stopped short, her entire body becoming rigid.
Laguna was by her side immediately and clutching her shoulder, his eyes searching her face in silent question.
Rinoa let out a soft breath and whispered, “They should be right over that rise. I can feel her, Laguna. I can feel her darkness and rage and hate. She’s not free, not yet, but she’s stronger than she was before.”
“Is she still in her Coffin?” Laguna asked.
Rinoa concentrated for a minute, then nodded. “I think so, yeah. That Coffin can only be opened with the special equipment that got blown up when they bombed the Memorial, but that doesn’t mean they can’t beat at it until it starts to crack.”
“That’s probably how her Darkness is leaking out,” Kai grumbled. “There are cracks in the Coffin, so they’re trying to widen them so she can get out.”
“Then we still have time.” Rinally said.
“Yes, we do.” Laguna agreed. He looked at Kaoru. “You three go ahead and start getting into position. Don’t engage until you see the signal. I mean that.”
Kaoru nodded. “Don’t worry about us.”
The three of them hurried toward the direction that Rinoa pointed them in, keeping low and quiet as they tried to find a good point to wait and watch for the signal Laguna was going to give them.
The area that the Brotherhood had chosen for their base of operations was a complete wasteland, sheltered only by a few jutting cliffs and dunes of sand. There weren’t any structures that Kaoru could see, proving that there was a campsite or even an actual base for them to use, but he doubted that the Brotherhood had been here long enough to really dig in. That, or they didn’t feel like they needed to, because they weren’t going to be here that long. They weren’t expecting a full assault by the Estharian forces or the Keyblade wielders and Rinally, and so it didn’t look like they had even taken the precaution of setting up defenses. Kaoru knew that didn’t mean anything, because the Heartless could be summoned in an instant, and in incredible numbers.
Kaoru settled down on the short side of a dune that afforded him a view of the area where the fighting would take place. Rin and Kai settled beside him, also watching the area. Kai lifted his hand and pointed. “There,” he said quietly.
Following his finger, both Kaoru and Rinally could see Ultimecia’s Coffin, an ugly rectangular thing that stood at least ten feet high and five wide. There were wires hanging from the back and sides, ripped tubing and what looked like insulating sheeting dangling from the Coffin, and cracks running along the front of the Coffin’s glass. Kaoru couldn’t see the darkness spewing from the Coffin, but he could feel it, and he shivered at the feel of maliciousness permeating the air. He couldn’t see Ultimecia herself, for the Coffin was facing away from them at an angle, but what he could see made his shoulders tense.
Kai and Rin tensed as well.
Pacing back and forth in front of the Coffin was a tall man with charcoal hair pulled back into a tail and solid black eyes, including the whites. He wore a long black coat that strained against his arms and chest. Kaoru remembered him clearly from Midgar, and clenched his fists against his stomach as all those memories washed over him. The only thing that was different about that man now was that his arms weren’t hanging at odd angles. Clearly, he’d been healed somewhere between the moment he’d escaped Kaoru in Midgar and arriving here.
“That’s Volstag.” Rinally whispered. “Isn’t it?”
Kaoru nodded. “Yeah, it is.”
Volstag had been Haiku’s partner, aiding her in the Brotherhood’s plans for a strange pool of water in a church in the ruins of Midgar. Kaoru had managed to wound him enough to take him out of the fight, but Volstag had escaped, leaving Haiku to face Kaoru, Kai, and Rinally on her own, which resulted in her death.
“You think he knows she’s dead?” Rinally asked.
“Lorne knew.” Kai replied. “Stands to reason he knows.”
“He said he was going to kill me the next time we met,” Kaoru said.
Kai snorted. “Let him try. You’re stronger now than you were then, and you have me and Rin to back you up. All we have to do is occupy him long enough for Rinoa to do whatever it is she has to do, and for Laguna to get the Coffin out of here.”
Rinally agreed, reaching to squeeze Kaoru’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll be right there with you.”
Kaoru looked at his friends and smiled, relaxing his fists and allowing the tenseness to drain from his body. Kai leaned toward Kaoru and pressed their foreheads together, staring into Kaoru’s blue eyes. Kaoru stared back. No words passed between them, but Kaoru knew that no matter what happened, Kai wouldn’t let him fall. So he owed to Kai, and to Rin, to make sure he fought with all his power. Then Kai leaned back and focused on Volstag and Ultimecia’s Coffin. So did Kaoru and Rinally, each of them waiting for the signal Laguna would send to begin their assault.
They didn’t have to wait too much longer.
There was an explosion from somewhere to their far left, and a fountain of sand and rocks shot up into the sky. Volstag looked away from the Coffin toward the noise, but he didn’t move. Instead, he raised his arm and bubbles of darkness began to puddle up from the ground. Neo-Shadows burst forth from the puddles, hundreds strong, each with a black rod sticking out of their heads like an antenna. They slithered toward the noise, and a minute later, the rapid sound of gunfire erupted, sounding softer than it really was because the noise was broken up by the dips and folds and rises in the land.
“You think that’s the signal?” Rinally asked.
“I don’t think we’re going to get anything else.” Kaoru said, moving to rise. He summoned Guardian and started down the hill, trying to keep out of sight of Volstag as much as possible. Kai, wielding Sanctuary, and Rinally followed.
As they reached the ground, Kaoru could see the Estharian soldiers fighting the Neo-Shadows on the far side of the area. With them were Kiros and Ward. Laguna and Rinoa were moving down the front of the dune that protected the far side of the area, accompanied by more Estharian soldiers. Rinoa’s powers were keeping the Heartless at bay, and Laguna and the soldiers took scant few seconds to stop the Heartless in their tracks, firing at the rods within the Heartless’s heads and then at their bodies to destroy them. Volstag turned toward Rinoa and Laguna and began moving toward them, his claymore materializing in his hand and swinging with such force that he actually gouged a huge rift in the land at his feet and kicked up a cloud of dust and debris that forced Rinoa to stop defending her party against the Neo-Shadows and throw up a shield to protect Laguna and the soldiers with her.
Kai reached Volstag first, using his Darkness-enhanced speed to close the distance between them. Sanctuary crashed against the claymore, and Volstag let out a barking laugh as he parried all the blows Kai rained down upon him. Switching hands, Volstag blocked Kaoru’s attack with the claymore as Kaoru attacked him from behind. Volstag’s leer became a homicidal grin as he recognized Kaoru and he spun the claymore with inhuman speed to knock Guardian wide and leave Kaoru defenseless.
A Barrier shield sprung up between Kaoru and the claymore, stopping the huge blade’s momentum immediately and saving Kaoru’s life. Volstag’s eyes went to Rinally and stared at her for a minute, then returned to Kaoru.
“It’s nice to see you again, Keyblade brat.” Volstag growled, his voice deep and thick and rough with anger, hate, and fierce joy likely born of the thought of killing Kaoru. “I can’t wait to hear your bones snap in my hands. I’ll make your death slow and very painful, just like I promised you.”
Kaoru landed on his feet and pulled Guardian close to him in a defensive position. “It’s a promise you won’t be able to keep.”
“I always keep my promises, brat.” Volstag snarled, and then he charged Kaoru.
Kaoru was ready for the attack and was already moving to defend against it. He could feel Kai closing in behind Volstag, ready to strike with his lightning fast blows and drive the man even further away. But at the last second, Volstag changed direction with more speed and agility than a man his size should rightly possess and he streaked toward Rinally. Caught off guard by the sudden move, it took Kaoru and Kai several long seconds before they could chase after him to try and stop him. Rinally dodged out of the way of the claymore’s strike, dirt and rocks pounding at her back and her head. She threw a Barrier around herself to prevent her spine from being broken and her body being sliced in half, then dodged backwards by a few steps before she could launch a Firaga spell at Volstag to stop him from chasing her.
Then Kaoru and Kai were there, pounding away at him with fierce, fast strikes, driving Volstag back from Rinally. They were moving as fast as they could, trading attacks and keeping Volstag from being able to break away from them to attack Rinally.
It dawned on Rin, after the fifth or sixth time Volstag was able to break away from Kaoru and Kai long enough to rush her, that he was doing it to prevent her from healing her friends and keeping them whole and healthy enough to fight him. He was seeking to kill her to take away Kaoru and Kai’s ability to face him fully on, knowing that they would stop their offensive to protect her. Without her witch’s staff, it took Rin far longer to cast her high-level spells than usual, so she was reduced to using quick spells like the three tiers of Fire, Thunder, Cure, and Aero, rather than the fourth level spells like Curaja, which would allow Kaoru and Kai to keep fighting. She couldn’t even spare a glance toward Rinoa and could only hope that she had reached Ultimecia’s Coffin and was doing what she could to remove it or seal it or both.
Rinally hit the ground on her hands and turned her fall into a dodge roll, coming back to her feet and turning to fire off a spell at Volstag. The fireball hit him in the face, but the berserker didn’t seem to notice, still coming toward her with a single-minded intensity. His claymore’s slash was stopped by Guardian, and the force actually made Kaoru skid back a few feet and nearly into Rinally. He shoved back against the claymore and pushed forward to force Volstag back and away from Rin and right into Kai’s Nightmare Raid. The two Keyblade wielders continued to force Volstag back and away from Rinally, and Rin used the time to throw several short healing spells their way before she had to retreat again as Volstag escaped Kaoru and Kai and charged her again.
She hated being helpless. She hated being limited by the fact she couldn’t fight as skillfully as she could have if she had a staff. She hated that Kaoru and Kai were putting themselves in danger to protect her because she couldn’t get spells off fast enough to protect herself. Kaoru and Kai were going to get killed because they were trying to save her. They had already sustained several wounds that she had only managed to heal because she’d gotten a few minutes of breathing room to cast several Curaga spells in quick succession. They were more skilled and better prepared than they had been the first time around, but Volstag never noticed the wounds he took, or the blood running down one side of his face, or the fact that he should be on the losing end facing two Keyblade wielders and one witch. He was living up to the name ‘berserker’, and he was going to win if Kaoru and Kai couldn’t put him down, which they couldn’t because they couldn’t attack with all their strength without giving Volstag an opening to go after Rinally.
I need a staff. I need a witch’s staff. I can’t be effective and protect my friends if I don’t have the time to cast the spells I need to!
Rinally dodged another attack and felt Kai behind her stopping the claymore’s swing from striking her. As Rinally turned to face Volstag, she caught a glimpse of Rinoa and Laguna standing before the Coffin. Rinoa’s arms were raised toward the Coffin and her face was contorted into a mask of pain. She was so utterly still, and Laguna was standing by her, holding a machine gun at the ready, his eyes on Volstag and the Keyblade wielders. Rinally could sense that Rinoa was doing her best to hold back Ultimecia’s darkness, but it was a little too late for her to fully seal the evil sorceress away again. All she could do was hold the darkness at bay for the moment.
“Rin!”
Kaoru’s shout drew her eyes back to her own fight, and she saw Kai flying through the air before hitting the ground on his back and tumbling head over heels before fetching up against a small rock jutting from the ground. Kaoru was running toward her, but he wasn’t moving fast enough, and even Kai was struggling to rise, but he wasn’t going to gain his feet before Volstag reached her. Rinally saw Volstag’s shadow looming above her and looked up to see him only an arm’s length away. His claymore lay abandoned on the ground where it must have fallen when Kai intercepted his newest attack on Rin, but he didn’t seem to care about the weapon. His fingers were hooked like claws and were reaching for Rinally’s neck.
Rinally dodged backwards to avoid being grabbed, but Volstag was faster than she without the weight of the claymore slowing him. Rather than grabbing her neck, he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her toward him, his other hand moving to grab her chin. Rinally cried out and tried to yank her arm out of his iron grip, but she couldn’t, and pain radiated up to her shoulder from the action. Volstag grinned at her and lifted her clear off the ground before whipping her through the air like a weapon and throwing her bodily into Kaoru. The two collided hard and hit the ground. Rin groaned as she rolled off Kaoru, who gasped for air and clutched at his chest, curling up slightly as his eyes screwed shut in pain.
Rinally knew then that Kaoru had purposely shifted himself to take the brunt of the impact and protect her as much as he could. Her friend had sacrificed his own safety for hers, and he would still continue to fight despite injuries that he shouldn’t have gotten in the first place. Even Kai, who was staggering upright now, would sacrifice his own safety to protect her. She wanted to be able to protect them. She wanted to be able to defend them as they defended her.
Volstag picked up his claymore and let the blade drag in the earth, creating a rough noise that heralded death as he stalked toward Rinally and Kaoru. “I spent days wondering how I would kill you. Whether or not I would rip you limb from limb, or just destroy your heart like you destroyed Haiku. It’s fortunate for me that you three ended up on this backwater world. Saves me the effort from having to hunt you down after I finish here.”
Kai hit Volstag from behind, but the berserker didn’t seem to notice the initial attack. He turned and traded blows with Kai for a while, before catching Kai in the side with the flat of the claymore and sending him flying across the area, where he hit the ground, bounced, hit again, and rolled to a stop, coughing up blood even as he used Sanctuary as a crutch to try and get to his feet.
“I decided I’d kill you first, little girl.” Volstag said. “Without you, the two Keyblade brats will fall. Without you to bind them together, they won’t stand a chance against me.”
Rinally saw Kaoru move out from behind her and rush toward Volstag, Guardian held low and ready. Volstag bent backwards to avoid the upward slash, then traded blows with Kaoru for a few minutes before he was able to get his claymore between them and thrust the flat side of the huge blade into Kaoru’s middle, crumpling him in half and sending him flying into the ground. He lost his grip on Guardian and lay on the ground gasping for air, his eyes closed tight. Volstag stalked over to Kaoru and picked up Guardian, holding the Keyblade in a reverse grip. He stood over Kaoru, staring down at the boy with an evil leer twisting his face. It was clear he enjoyed having Kaoru helpless, that he enjoyed being able to inflict pain upon Kaoru, and that he was taking intense pleasure of being able to use Kaoru’s own Keyblade against him. Kai flickered out of Rinally’s line of sight for a minute and then back into it as he reached Volstag’s back and tried to break his hold on Guardian with Sanctuary. But Volstag used Guardian to block Kai’s attack and lashed out with the claymore to throw Kai backwards.
“There’s a great irony in a Keyblade wielder being destroyed by his own Keyblade.” Volstag snarled. “Especially one like yours.”
He stepped on Kaoru’s arm to prevent him from rolling away and lifted Guardian upwards and aimed the end of the blade at Kaoru’s heart. Then he thrust downwards.
Time seemed to stop for Rinally. She could only watch helplessly as Volstag attacked Kaoru with his own Keyblade, meaning to kill him. She couldn’t do anything. Kai couldn’t do anything. She was completely helpless and no matter how hard she tried to muster up the strength to cast a spell Volstag’s way, it would be too little, too late. But she had to try. She had to do something to save Kaoru.
Power surged within her, power she had never felt before. It burned through her blood but without pain, and filled her with such energy that she felt certain that if she acted now, even so close as it would be, she would be able to stop Volstag from killing Kaoru and save her best friends, her Light and her Darkness, from being ripped from her life permanently.
Darkness and Light aren’t the only powers that exist. Between them, holding them close, is always Shadow. Born of both Light and Dark, it is neither and it is both, and with them it shares its strength.
Rinally swung her right hand forward as hard and as fast as she could, catching a glimmer of something out of the corner of her eye. When her arm stopped moving, the soft motes of purple and gold that surrounded her hand burst apart as she screamed:
“STOP!”
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn