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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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Sixty-Four - Radiant Garden

They split into several teams. Terra, Aqua, and Ventus accompanied Leon, Yuffie, and Cid out into Radiant Garden to defend the town and its populace from the Heartless that had made it into the city and had managed to avoid being destroyed by the defense system. Aerith would stay behind with Merlin, and Rinally again managed to convince Yukari to stay with Aerith. Sora, Riku, and Kairi, accompanied by Kaoru, Kai, and Rinally, headed out for The Great Maw.
Kaoru’s stomach was twisting terribly. He didn’t want to fight Hiromu, but he also knew that he wouldn’t have a choice. If he wanted to save his friends, then he would have to fight Hiromu. But to get there, the six of them had to fight their way through what seemed like waves of Heartless, each one having a black rod embedded in them. Like their younger counterparts, Sora, Riku, and Kairi had armor that they donned when they touched bracers wrapped around their left arms. It encased their whole bodies from head to toe, though they all discarded their helmets. Both Kaoru and Kai summoned their Keyblades and entered into their Knight modes, while Rinally stayed in her standard form, not needing either of her Witch modes for the moment. Her normal attacks seemed to be enough to defeat the Heartless that came up against her, and she wanted to save her strength for what was ahead of them.
They arrived at the Maw and stopped short. Near the edge of the cliff stood Hiromu, as Kaoru had feared, but what really stopped his heart was that Tae was there too. They both stood slightly behind and to the right of a tall man that Kaoru recognized as Ennio, who hadn’t changed much since their first encounter in Belle’s world. Now the man wore his black coat like a cape, his arms raised to the sky, which was covered with thick dark clouds that jumped and sparked with lightning. Hiromu noticed them first, his Keyblade appearing in his hand and a slash of a smile appearing on his face. Tae remained completely impassive.
As if Hiromu’s actions alerted him for the first time to the presence of newcomers, Ennio lowered his arms and slowly turned to face the six Keyblade wielders. His eyes lazily roamed over each of them, studying them all. He smiled lazily as he spotted Kairi, and smiled even wider as Riku and Sora edged forward, shielding their Princess from anything Ennio might do. However, he seemed content to do nothing for the moment, merely half turning to gesture out at a sea of roiling black beyond the Maw.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” he asked, his voice deep and rough. “I’ve worked hard to collect enough Heartless here to stand for the Key of Dark. Already it’s begun. Soon, Kingdom Hearts will appear, and I will use the second Key to attain the power contained within.”
“You can force Kingdom Hearts to appear,” said Sora, “but you’ll never be able to enter. I’ll make sure of that.”
“Oh, I know you will. So it doesn’t matter which of you becomes my Key of Light. All that matters is you do. But I don’t like these odds. Six against two? Why don’t we make this more fair?”
With a sweep of his arm, Ennio unleashed a purple-edged black tidal wave toward the group of six Keyblade wielders. It forced them to scatter to avoid being hit. Kaoru dove to the side and rolled forward, bringing Guardian up to stop Hiromu from braining him with his Keyblade. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kai and Rinally blocked from helping him by a ring of strange-looking Heartless, almost similar to the ones they had fought in Midgar, but larger and with bigger blades on their arms. Sora, Riku, and Kairi were similarly occupied with their own enemies. Kaoru knew immediately that he was on his own, and it suited him just fine this time.
He shoved off and forced Hiromu back, not bothering with any words as he swung Guardian, exchanging blows with Hiromu and driving him back to the edge of the cliff. Kaoru spotted Tae near Ennio, who had turned his attention back to the sky and the roiling clouds, as if the fighting going on behind him didn’t matter. He feinted to the left, and when Hiromu fell for it, Kaoru rushed for Tae. He was only able to scrape her shoulder with his fingertips before Hiromu forced him back. Snarling with hate-filled intensity, Hiromu’s blows came hard and fast, and Kaoru blocked or parried each blow, not daring to retaliate.
They danced backwards across the cliff, growing further away from Tae and the others. They traded blows, their Keyblades ringing loudly as they clashed. Kaoru gained the advantage at one point when he drew upon the power of his heart and his friends and the Light, his swings coming faster and his world gaining a clarity that he’d had only when he’d fought Volstag after awakening his White Knight Mode. Then Hiromu was on the defensive, only just able to stop Guardian from hitting him. Back and forth they traded the advantage, the offense and defense, but it seemed that, at last, they were perfectly matched.
“Are you really going to kill me, Kaoru?” Hiromu asked when they closed again. “Are you going to stop me? You couldn’t before, remember. You think we’re still friends.”
“We are friends!” Kaoru snapped back. “I don’t know what Ennio told you, but it’s all lies. He doesn’t want to create a balance between Light and Dark; he just wants the power of Kingdom Hearts all to himself!”
“Not to himself. He promised to share that power with me. And when I get that power, I’ll finally be able to release Tae. I’ll be able to protect her for real. And you’ll be dead! Along with all your friends!”
“You’re not stupid, Hiromu! I know there’s a part of your heart that knows this is wrong, that everything Ennio’s told you is wrong!”
“You’re the stupid one, Kaoru! You couldn’t defeat me in Halloween Town because you’re so weak. You won’t beat me now.”
They broke away and closed again, trading blows over and over again. Kaoru was able to dodge a thrust and whirled away to throw Guardian for a Cascade. His Holy Shield shimmered around him to protect him from a blast of sickly green darkness that came from Hiromu’s hand, a darkness completely different from Kai’s. He could tell immediately that it was tainted darkness, that Hiromu had given himself completely over to the evil influence of Ennio. Determined to save his friend, and to save Tae, Kaoru clenched his teeth and forced down all the feelings of fear and regret and sadness and focused on only what was important.
The entire one side of the cliff was their arena. Kaoru didn’t bother to fight conservatively because Hiromu certainly wasn’t, and he could feel the tingling healing magic Rinally sent his way closing any wounds he might have sustained in his fight. He caught glimpses of Sora, protecting Riku from the Heartless while he caught his breath; Kairi and Rinally, their backs to the path while they fought to prevent any Heartless from getting past them; and Kai, who was fighting desperately to reach Kaoru but was stymied by the constant flow of Heartless. Kaoru knew he was on his own and that was fine by him. His theory was still fresh in his mind, and he didn’t want anyone interfering if, as he believed, his theory was correct. More than that, though, he didn’t want Kai coming over to help him fight Hiromu, because Kai would definitely kill Hiromu this time, and Kaoru was afraid that Tae might interfere like she did last time. If she did, Kai might not be able to stop himself, and he might kill her too.
Kaoru stopped Hiromu’s strike to his chest with Guardian, riposted, and struck his friend’s Keyblade wide. This time he didn’t hesitate; he brought Guardian around and struck at Hiromu’s chest and stomach, crumpling him in half with each strike. The last hit Kaoru gave threw Hiromu back into the ground, where he tumbled heels over head before sliding to a stop on his stomach. Using his Keyblade like a crutch, Hiromu struggled to his feet, using the back of his hand to wipe away a stream of blood that came from his lip.
“Not bad,” Hiromu growled, “not bad at all, Kaoru. You really think you can kill me?”
“I’m not going to kill you.” Kaoru replied, his tone hard.
“I’m not going to give you a choice.”
Hiromu lunged at Kaoru, his Keyblade flickering through the air. Kaoru just barely stopped it, and then they began trading blows again, slamming their Keyblades together and trying to find a weakness in the other’s defenses, or trying to feint and get in a lucky hit before the other realized his mistake. Kaoru shifted his feet and danced around Hiromu, striking where he could and trying to make openings if he thought he could. Hiromu answered him strike for strike, parry for parry, moving defensively when he couldn’t get an opening and moving offensively when Kaoru backed off from a killing blow.
The world spun around Kaoru, and time seemed to stand still despite knowing that it was still ticking along as it always did. His lungs burned and his breath came quick and sharp. His only consolation was that Hiromu seemed to be in much the same state. But Hiromu also seemed no closer to stopping, either from pure exhaustion or pain. Kaoru’s hurts were eased by Rinally’s healing spells, but she could do nothing for his own exhaustion. And her attention was often commanded by Kai or Sora or Riku or Kairi or even the Heartless, and Kaoru could hear her voice crying out with various offensive spells to keep the Heartless at bay. He tried not to focus on how much his arms felt like lead, and how much his legs burned, or how much he hurt on the inside, in his heart. He focused on Hiromu and knew if he didn’t take his friend out of this fight, he might just lose Hiromu forever.
Kaoru backed off by a few steps, as if he were too tired to keep on with his offensive. A quick glance showed him that Ennio was still unconcerned, his eyes still on the sky, his arms still raised. Tae still stood by, statuesque. The irony of her position allowed her a perfect view of his fight with Hiromu, and Kaoru could only imagine what she was thinking if she could really see them despite her catatonic state. Then he turned his eyes back on Hiromu, wondering if the other boy had taken the bait. He had, and he was charging, his Keyblade held for a thrust that Kaoru couldn’t hope to avoid, even with his Holy Shield to protect him. But Kaoru knew where Hiromu was aiming, and as that gold Keyblade came howling in, Kaoru simply let himself fall backwards. When his back hit the ground and the Keyblade whooshed over him, Kaoru lifted his legs and kicked at Hiromu’s hand, connecting hard enough to bruise Hiromu’s fingers. The shock of the attack coupled with the pain made Hiromu release his Keyblade’s hilt on instinct, and Kaoru rolled to the side, kicking Hiromu’s legs out from under him as he went.
He rolled smoothly back to his feet and faced Hiromu, who had face-planted into the stone and lay dazed for a minute. As if realizing he was weaponless and Kaoru held the advantage, Hiromu scrambled to his hands and knees and scrambled to pick up his Keyblade. Kaoru didn’t let him reach it. He jumped toward the Keyblade and kicked it away, twirling Guardian around to shove the point into Hiromu’s face. Hiromu froze at the sight of Guardian, his eyes going wide. Then he met Kaoru’s face and a mask of pure anger overcame his features. Rather than staying still at Guardian’s edge, Hiromu lunged toward Kaoru, tackling him to the ground. Kaoru yelped as he hit and lost his grip on his Keyblade, and then it was all he could to to protect his head from Hiromu’s fists. He could taste blood and figured he’d either bitten his tongue or Hiromu had split his lip. He shoved Hiromu’s fist away and retaliated with a punch of his own, knocking Hiromu backwards but not off completely. They continued to struggle on the ground with each other, and then Kaoru broke away from Hiromu, swirling back to his feet and summoning Guardian back to his hand. Across from him, Hiromu similarly armed himself with his Keyblade and he spat out a glob of blood onto the ground.
“The only way you’re going to stop me is to kill me, Kaoru.” Hiromu growled.
Kaoru didn’t answer. Instead he set his feet and assumed a defensive position and closed off doors in his mind to everything around him except one person.
Hiromu charged and Kaoru didn’t even try to block his attack.
Then Tae was between them, her arms spread wide, just like she had done to stop Kai from hurting Hiromu in Halloween Town. “Hiromu!” she cried. “Stop! Please!”
Hiromu’s eyes went wide. He’d already committed to the swing to kill Kaoru and couldn’t stop it in time. They both knew it. But Tae seemed to be ready. Kaoru saw Hiromu close his eyes tight as a bright light radiated out of Tae, and that golden Keyblade reacted to it, shimmering and vanishing before it reached her. Hiromu fell to his hands and knees before Tae, half curled up in the dirt at her feet, his eyes squeezed shut and leaking tears.
Kaoru too collapsed, too relieved and too tired to keep standing. “Hi, Tae,” he breathed.
She half turned to smile at him. “Hi, Kaoru. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I should have fought harder. I should’ve tried harder.” She knelt beside him then and gave him a tight, sisterly hug. “I tried to bring you with me and Hiromu when Paradise City was destroyed, just like she tried to show me, but I wasn’t strong enough. The most I could do was make sure you reached somewhere safe.”
Kaoru wrapped his arms around her in an equally tight, brotherly hug. “I know. And you did. I’m sure you did everything you could, everything Kairi told you to do.”
Tae pulled back, blinking. “How did you know it was Kairi?”
This time, Kaoru grinned. “Because you and she share the same light. You’re a Princess of Heart and so is she, and when you connected, she shared her light with you. That’s how I was able to reach you, once I shut out everything else.”
Tae’s eyes watered. “Oh, Kaoru.”
“Don’t worry about me. I think you should worry about him.”
Tae turned to face Hiromu. He had shifted out of his position to sit on his rear with his back turned to Kaoru and Tae. His head was tilted back, watching the sky and the storm clouds there. Tae glanced at Kaoru, then nodded, and got up to move over to Hiromu’s side. She touched his shoulder, and smiled as he looked at her. “Hiromu,” Tae started.
“Don’t. Just. Don’t.” Hiromu looked away from her, back to the sky. “I did what I could to protect you, and Kaoru was the one who reached you. He freed you. Just like your Keyblade wielder should do.”
“Of course he freed me. His power is one that connects. That’s what made us all friends in the first place. Because we both had Kaoru.”
“You should get out of here while you have the chance, Tae.”
“Not without you.”
Now Hiromu looked at her, startled. He glanced at Kaoru, who only shrugged and said, “Tae’s always been a little dense, even when she was little. But it wasn’t just my feelings that reached her, Hiromu. Yours did too. I only woke her up from the state you put her in.”
Tae smiled wider. “Hiromu, Kaoru’s like a brother to me. He’s always been my best friend, my guardian, my protector. And yeah, I like him, but I don’t like him. Not like the way you think. It’s always been you.”
Hiromu’s eyes widened even further, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“You said it yourself in Halloween Town,” Tae continued. “You’re the one who ended up with me. You’re the one who was always with me. You’re the one who protected me through everything. You’re the one closest to my heart.”
Hiromu’s eyes watered and his lower lip trembled. “Tae, I...”
She shook her head. “I know. You did everything for me. To help me and protect me. Kaoru was chosen to be a Keyblade wielder by Sora. You were chosen by me. Stupid.”
As Hiromu and Tae stared at each other, the former trying not to bawl his eyes out while the latter just smiled gently and understandingly, Kaoru became aware of an utter silence enveloping the Maw. His awareness returning to him now, he looked to find his friends and saw Kai still struggling against the Heartless, alongside Sora and Riku. Rinally and Kairi were still at the mouth of the trail they had used to reach The Great Maw, but Rinally had donned her White Witch armor and Kairi was standing behind her, her eyes riveted upon the sky. Slowly, Kaoru turned his gaze upward and gasped. His sound brought Hiromu and Tae’s attention to the sky, as well.
The clouds had parted, revealing a deep velvet black sky. Hanging like a jewel upon that bed of velvet was a giant crystalline heart, a mix of blue and purple, radiating a beautiful light that spilled down upon the Maw but didn’t quite touch anything below.
“Kingdom Hearts, arrived at last.” Ennio purred from Kaoru’s immediate left. Before the blonde could react, a pressure hit him broadside and flung him at least five feet into the air. Kaoru hit the ground on his side and cried out from the pain, unable to even struggle upright because the breath had been knocked out of him and everything hurt. Ennio smiled down at Hiromu and Tae, his arms spread wide. “Arrived, called by the two of you. My little pawn and my pretty Key of Light.”
Hiromu struggled to his feet and summoned his Keyblade to his hand, shielding Tae behind him. They stepped back away from Ennio, who slowly approached them, like a stalking cat. “Kaoru was right. You lied to me.”
“Doesn’t matter now, does it? I searched worlds to figure out how to control Light, but it turns out you can’t. Not like you can control the Heartless. The Princesses are nigh untouchable. Except her.” Ennio pointed at Tae. “The ninth Princess of Heart, only meant to be tapped when a great calamity threatened not just the worlds but the World Between as well.”
“You did it, didn’t you?” Kaoru hissed, finally pushing himself up. “You tried to destroy Paradise City when I was four, but Sora and Riku stopped you. And then they sealed it so you couldn’t hurt us anymore.”
Ennio shrugged. “Little consequence now. Still, it’s a shame. I could’ve had you and my pretty Key, all in one fell swoop if those two,” he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, “hadn’t interfered. But, as it is, it all worked out in the end, didn’t it? My Key of Darkness, the negative emotions I gathered from all my experiments, given form in my false Heartless, and my Key of Light, the ninth Princess of Heart, awakened by the love of those precious to her.”
Kaoru struggled to his feet, swaying slightly. Hiromu and Tae had reached the edge of the cliff; another step and they would fall into the roiling mass of Heartless below and be devoured. Ennio was only an arm’s length away from Hiromu. The only way for the two of them to escape their predicament was to dodge to one side and hope Ennio couldn’t move fast enough to catch them. It was likely futile, considering Ennio’s considerable power. But Tae looked beyond Ennio and an expression of pure determination appeared on her face.
She met Ennio’s manic gaze unflinchingly. “I will never be your Key! Kingdom Hearts isn’t for someone like you! It’s a place of serenity and peace, and I won’t let you throw it into chaos!”
Then she rushed right at him.
The move startled Ennio so much that he was actually knocked off balance as Tae shoved past him. Hiromu was quick to follow, if only to stop Ennio from reaching out and grabbing Tae before she could get out of range. The move was brave and self-sacrificing. Hiromu didn’t have a chance to retreat far enough to get out Ennio’s range before the man whirled back around to face him. With a look of pure rage upon his face, Ennio wrapped his fingers tight around Hiromu’s throat. He lifted Hiromu off the ground by his neck, squeezing as he did so.
“You’ve gotten in my way for the last time, boy!” Ennio snarled. “First you seal my Key away and prevent me from using her, forcing me to create this farce just to get that Keyblade brat here to wake her up, and now you keep me from her again? Not anymore!”
Hiromu scrabbled at Ennio’s wrist and shoulders as the man started to turn toward the edge of the cliff. Any second, they would be close enough for Ennio to simply throw Hiromu off the ledge and into the swarm of Heartless below.
Guardian came flying in when Ennio and Hiromu were about two or three feet from the edge. The Keyblade came in so fast that it forced Ennio to release Hiromu or lose his arm. He dropped Hiromu but gave him a light shove toward the edge of the cliff. Hiromu’s arms pinwheeled, a look of pure panic and fear on his face as he started to lose his balance. But then Kaoru was there, grabbing onto his friend and spinning them, using the momentum to send Hiromu back onto the cliff and onto safer ground. That left Kaoru balanced precariously on the cliff’s edge, and at the mercy of Ennio, who glared at Kaoru with rage and hate and lunged toward the blonde boy, catching him around the throat much like he had caught Hiromu, though this time it was with both hands.
“I’ll crush the life from you, brat.” Ennio hissed in Kaoru’s face, lifting him clear off the ground.
“Kaoru!” Hiromu called, his voice filled with panic and fear.
Kaoru looked at Hiromu and smiled. “Don’t worry about me. Just fight. Fight with everything you have.”
Then he kicked out with his legs and caught Ennio in the chin with the flat of his shoes, forcing himself backwards and out of Ennio’s grip. But the move came at a cost, a price Kaoru was willing to pay to save the lives of his friends.
The last thing Kaoru saw was Kai hurtling off the edge of the cliff after him. Then he was swallowed by the darkness of the Heartless sea below.
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn