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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
- 8
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- 10
Nine - Beast’s Castle

“You think someone made the spell anew?” Belle asked, clearly shocked.
Standing behind her, the Beast grasped Belle’s shoulders gently and growled lowly in his throat. “Why would someone do that?”
Kaoru shrugged. He didn’t have an answer to the Beast’s question. Not a satisfactory one, anyway. “Is there someone, anyone, that you might know of that would want to separate the two of you?”
“I know of at least one,” Belle said, her voice still holding disbelief. “But he hasn’t been much of a bother lately. I haven’t gone down into the village much, either, recently, and any supplies we might need, my father brings them to us.”
The Beast lowered his head and growled something softly into Belle’s ear. Her lips pursed for a second before they thinned into a line and she slowly shook her head. He snorted but held tighter to Belle.
“Either way,” Rin said, “I’ve poured over all the spellbooks I was able to find, and there’s nothing detailing the original spell. The sorceress, whoever she was, made the spell with a single purpose in mind. It was always meant to be broken and stay broken, provided its parameters were met. Once they were, that should’ve been the end of it.”
“But, obviously, the spell didn’t stay broken.” Kaoru said, gesturing to the Beast. “But if it wasn’t because of anything you’ve done, then it has to be someone on the outside. Someone who wants you two to break up. Someone who wants you to remain a Beast rather than a man.”
The Beast growled, but Belle set her hands on his and he calmed immediately. She looked up at the Beast and smiled. “Beast or man, he is still the one I love and the one I want to live the rest of my life with.” She focused on Kaoru and Rinally then. “Why would anyone want to hurt us, though?”
“I don’t know if they mean to hurt you. But there’s a reason Rin and I ended up here.” Kaoru replied. “Or at least, why I’m here. And I think it’s because of this spell. Rin told me something that I think gave us a clue: I’m aligned with Light. My Keyblade, Guardian, is also aligned with Light. That’s where all my power comes from.”
Rin sat forward, pointing a finger at him. “That’s right! I said you were in a bad way, that the darkness affected you more than it had me. That makes sense, considering you’re primarily Light-oriented. By yourself, your armor probably would’ve shielded you from the worst of the effects, but since you were also shielding me, you were hurt more than we realized.”
Beast frowned. “Sora and Riku were never affected this way.”
“I don’t think Sora and Riku are as sensitive as Kaoru is.” Belle said. “He saw the light contained within me, within my heart. He can see other people’s light, too. If he’s that sensitive to light, then he’d be incredibly sensitive to darkness. Which must mean...”
“Which must mean there’s an incredible source of darkness here,” Beast growled. “Powerful enough to affect you, Kaoru, even though you weren’t close enough to it.”
Kaoru nodded. “If that’s the case, then my body needed time to adjust. I only recently awakened to Guardian, so I’m not as strong as Sora and Riku yet.”
“But you’re okay now.” Rin pointed out. “Which means you either got stronger or whoever’s controlling this darkness is able to adjust the ebb and flow as needed.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Either way,” Beast growled, ignoring the way Rin smirked at Kaoru, “there’s someone within my realm using the power of darkness, and I want to know why.”
Belle gripped the Beast’s furry forearms tightly, a frightened look passing quickly over her face. “If it’s just to make the two of us end our marriage, then that’s something we can easily deal with on our own.” she said. “But if it’s for another purpose...”
“We can find that out.” Kaoru said, noticing the way the Beast looked fondly upon Belle and held her slightly closer. “If it’s for another reason, then that has to be why we ended up here, on this world. We’ll figure out what’s going on.”
Rinally grinned brilliantly at the Beast and Belle. “But, you know, maybe we could get some warmer clothes?”
Belle burst out laughing, a sound that pealed beautifully through the kitchen. The Beast visibly relaxed, his leonine maw twitching as though he wanted to smile as well. “I’ll see what we have. We don’t get very many visitors your age, and rarely in winter. We might have something. And if not, I can make something for you.” Still laughing, Belle left the dining room, leaving the Beast, Kaoru, and Rin alone.
As soon as Belle was gone, the Beast focused on Kaoru and Rin, his expression serious. “Below this castle is a village. It’s quaint and quiet, and rarely do the villagers give us trouble anymore. Belle used to live there, until she came to live with me here. If you’re going to discover anything, that may be the best place to look.”
Rinally and Kaoru looked at each other for a minute, then returned their gazes to the Beast. “If we find anything, you’ll be the first to know.” Kaoru promised.
“In that case, I will see if I can’t make your journey a little safer.”
After the Beast left the dining room, Rinally leaned closer to Kaoru and whispered, “I hope that means he’s going to chase away the wolves.”
Kaoru smiled a bit, but it was humorless. “I hope so.”
oooo
After Kaoru and Rinally ate their fill of the wonderfully cooked meal (Kaoru poked his head into the kitchen and offered his thanks to the empty room that looked too clean and thought he heard a ‘thank you’ from the oven) the two teenagers found Belle again. She had explored the unused rooms of the castle, no doubt with help, and managed to find some articles of clothing that would help Kaoru and Rin survive the cold and snow as they made their way down to the village. She gave Rin a pair of dark leggings that would at least help keep the girl’s skin from freezing, and she gave them both two long, dark cloaks with deep hoods that would keep them warm and would hide their identities until they chose to reveal them.
“I doubt anyone will question your clothing,” Belle said. “They’ve never questioned Sora. Your hair, though, Rin, they might stare at.”
Rin reached up and curled a few locks of pink hair around her fingers. “I guess as long as I keep my hood up, it won’t matter.”
Belle smiled and handed them two packs. They were heavy, filled with supplies that had probably been scrounged up from somewhere while the two had been eating. Kaoru hefted his onto his shoulder and looked at Belle as Rin struggled to get hers comfortably snug on her back. “We’ll be back soon.” he said.
Belle nodded. “Just be careful. You should be okay if you follow the road down to the village. Travel quickly, and you should make it there just before dark. I’ve given you some coins so you can get a room at the inn.”
“Right. Don’t want to run into the wolves again.”
“Just come back safely.”
Belle escorted them to the castle’s courtyard, and then to the gate. She held it open for them and watched as they headed down the trail. Halfway, Kaoru and Rin turned to wave at Belle, who smiled and waved in return. Then she shut the gate and secured it, though she didn’t move away from the barrier until the two teenagers were out of sight.
For a while, Kaoru and Rinally walked in silence side by side. The snow on the road crunched under their feet, and their breath steamed the air in puffy clouds. They kept the hoods of their cloaks up around their faces to protect their skin from the cold, and kept the rest of the cloaks coiled tight around their bodies. Traveling on the road was certainly much easier than hiking through the snowy woods, but by the time they managed to spot the village, the sun was already starting to sink below the horizon.
“How much farther do you think it is?” Rinally asked when they paused to drink some water and have a light snack.
Kaoru looked toward the town and then back up at the sky, judging the sun’s movement toward the horizon. “Maybe a few more hours. We’ll get there just before dark, like Belle said.”
“Do you think it’ll be dangerous?”
“What will be?”
“The village. I mean, there’s got to be a reason why we’re here, right? If it’s not in Beast’s castle, then it has to be in the village.”
Kaoru looked at Rin and canted his head slightly to the side. “Maybe. I mean, we don’t know what we’re walking into, if you really want to get technical. The best we can do is go in and observe for a while.”
“Do you think we’ll run into Heartless?”
“Maybe. I haven’t seen any around and I haven’t sensed any, but that doesn’t mean they’re not around.”
“Maybe we’ll run into Sora. Wouldn’t that be great?”
Kaoru smiled. “Yeah, but my luck’s never been that good. Belle sounded like she hadn’t seen Sora in a long time.”
“I wonder what he’s doing.” Rinally looked up to the sky, frowning slightly. “I wonder where he could be.”
“That’s what we’re going to find out, as we do duty-stuff along the way.” Kaoru tilted his head the other way in askance. Rinally nodded and shoved her water and snack away into her pack, and minutes later, they were heading down the road once more.
They reached the village just as the sky burst into sunset colors. The first thing they did was find the inn, where Kaoru managed to secure them a room. They took their packs up to the room and stuffed them under the single bed. Kaoru didn’t even have to ask; Rinally flopped onto the bed and complained (quietly) about how hard mattress was and how scratchy the blanket was before she pointedly told him she wasn’t sharing. Kaoru at least had enough sense not to point out that she was still going to sleep on the bed even though she was displeased with it.
By the time they headed downstairs to the common room to try and get something warm to eat, the few patrons that had been in there when they walked in had suddenly tripled. It was loud with dozens of voices, all laughing or talking. Hands raised mugs and smacked them together in a toast before the draught was all but gulped down. Kaoru and Rinally managed to find an empty table in a far corner and made sure their backs were to the wall before they focused on examining the room.
“Looks like this is the place to be after dark,” Rinally commented quietly.
“Looks like.” Kaoru agreed. He studied the people gathered by the roaring fireplace and he studied the people gathered by the long bar where kegs of frothing ale were being tapped into deep mugs and served to the men waiting. He studied the people sitting at the tables, nursing meals or drinks, and he studied the people who came and went after having their drinks. It all looked so normal.
Then the door opened and a tiny man burst through yelling, “Make way! Make way for Gaston!”
Kaoru and Rinally glanced at each other as the conversations suddenly stopped and the few young women in the tavern suddenly lowered the necklines of their dresses and pushed up their assets. As soon as that had happened, in walked a tall man with thick black hair, a strong jaw and proud chin, and thickly muscled arms straining against a red shirt. He looked at the young women and grinned; in an instant they swooned and longing filled their eyes.
“That must be Gaston,” Rinally said, her voice barely a whisper.
“Must be.” Kaoru agreed.
Gaston moved into the tavern and spread his arms wide, grinning widely and showing perfect white teeth. “My friends!” he said, his voice deep and rolling in the silence. “I’ve discovered the cause of the disappearances after dark! You won’t believe your eyes at first, but I have definite proof for you!”
The little man who had first announced Gaston quickly moved to the man’s side, holding a covered box high above his head. With a flourish, Gaston grabbed the box and held it high. “In this box is the very creature responsible for all of the disappearances plaguing our peaceful little town.” He placed his hand on the cloth and grinned almost conspiratorially. “And you’ll never believe where I discovered it, or who is responsible.”
Kaoru tensed in his seat and quickly grabbed Rinally’s wrist. She looked at him, startled, then gripped his hand back. Whether it was to reassure him or to stop him from grinding the bones of her wrist together from the force of his hold, he didn’t know. But he could sense what was under that cover, and he knew exactly what Gaston was going to reveal. A minute later, he was proven right, as Gaston whipped off the cover and held the cage to the ceiling of the tavern, letting everyone get a good look at the Heartless Shadow contained within. People gasped and spoke in low tones amongst themselves, but all eyes were riveted to that cage and the small Heartless that peered out with large butter-yellow eyes.
“This beast is what’s responsible for the people who have gone missing! I’ve seen it work with my own eyes!” Gaston crowed to the crowd. “And it comes from the castle on the mountain! And their leader is the Beast!”
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn