Have a good summer Coldman9! *wink*
GAHHHHH! The dreaded double post of DOOOOOOOOOM! Forgive me moderators! Spare me please!
>0<
OMG it’s finally happened! Again! Another update in two weeks – no promises though…I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got. And yes, zeh will be biggies.
…This chapter might be a bit hard to read, partly because I’ve been getting ahead of myself and forget to tie loose ends together – yay. Also this chapter takes like an almighty u-turn at the utterance of a name….
Kairi is still in neglect land…..She needs to float around just a wee bit more.
A big thankie to Cef for her anime picky support…(and my deepest apologies for throwing all my empty promises of getting this chappie out on time at you T.T )….I’m still having nosebleeds from that one pic– don’t ask……I admit I had a BAD case of “detail” writers block (popping up at the perfect time) and am still punishing myself for not getting this chapter out by last Weds like how I really wanted to. But anywho, y’all know my word on getting this thing out on time is as good as paper socks by now, so – here’s zeh chappie!
Disclaimer: Mild cursing
Disclaimer: Um, I think it get’s a little scary when Sephiroth says something to Sora….
Total List of Sora’s company to date (time for the sorting hat)…:
Peeps:
Spike, Faye, Jet, Ed, Ein
Goku
Yugi, Pharaoh
Serena/Sailor Moon
Ash, Pikachu
Genkai
Bystanders:
Vincent
Bulma
Amy, Lita, Raye, Mina
Chi-chi
Mew, Mewtwo, Darkrai, Suicune
Lifesavers:
Avera
Sephiroth
Isetzue
Jerks:
Shonen Bat a.k.a Little Slugger
“Mysterious cloaked person who nearly got fried by Sephiroth”
I’m just doing the ones that are important for now…By god that’s a lot of people already…..
Dawn’s Path: “All everyone really needs to know for Kairi’s bit is what she went through right after the Rider’s attack – her bracelet hurting her wrist like hell, and then some portal opening under her feet, and then a voice telling her not to follow through with going into it...Even though it was right under her….which means she should have fallen into it….like a rock,” – Shonen Bat a.k.a Little Slugger
Twilight’s Path: “Woof, woof, bark, bark – woof, ruff, ruff, bark, bark, woof, ruff – woof woof, ruff, bark – ruff, ruff” – Translation – “I should have gone with them – where the hell are they?! Y’all do remember we’re still inside this ship right?!” – Ein (still stuck with an exhausted Suicune on Bebop ship)
“Hey, something red saw Riku in his Inbetwixt room, and it scared the one-winged chick who sensed the breach. What? Is this such a small review that Riku doesn’t even get his own little section? You’ll always have a section with me Riku, don’t worry *cuddles Riku plushie* Oh yeah, and Vincent and South Light also talk with their minds again….Is that called Memory Link*? Anywho, Vincent spilled the beans about Riku getting out of Serie’s sight only to Genkai….I wonder why those two must be so secretive from their own comrades, or was that already pointed out…? I wonder how Vincent knew about Little Slugger when he didn’t know about Istezue…..” – South Light
Ch. 28 Separate Strands: Part A….that’s right….
“I can’t live this life, without you by my side, I need you to survive – !
So sta~y with me…You look in my eyes – and I’m screaming inside - !” – Evanescence, “Forgive Me”
Universal World: Tumble-Stop – En route -> WTF?! We’re actually going somewhere?!.....Wait this is only part A though… T.T dang….
Blessed are the Beasts of Burden*; smiling with their wings both broken.
Dawn’s Path:
Car-runitwau Star: Masaki Household
The night breeze caressed Kairi’s hair. A bad feeling bubbled up inside her stomach and popped. She swallowed, and sank her hand above the wrist in a bowl of ice water, letting the golden bracelet wobble around in the chilling liquid. “There, does that feel better?” asked Sasami.
“Yes, thank-you,” said Kairi in a far away voice.
“Shouldn’t you take that bracelet off?” asked Aeka, “It seems to be getting in the way.”
“No, I think I’ll keep it on.”
Everywhere on Kairi’s body was cold, especially her skin underneath the bracelet. To think the day before she was practicing magic with Aeka, and then 24 hours later the Rider’s attack nearly forced open the sky to the gates of hell. Another bad feeling began to swell up inside.
Kairi’s days at the Masaki household were peaceful, even fun when the homely pangs of being cast into a strange new system were stifled by Mihoshi’s infinite wisdom of how to make her feel better, or the cat brawls Aeka and Ryohko would occasionally scratch up. Her training with Tenchi and the girls had greatly helped her skills as a Keyblade Master, but -
“Fire*!” – A puff of smoke........Fire*! – An ember...........” – Kairi gripped her blade which shinned through her ambition – “FIRE*!” –
BOOM.
Since Kairi’s magic had been sealed up inside of her for so long, it had trouble synching properly with her effort, and would overcompensate what Kairi’s tried to conjure up, or, under-compensate – which would result in Kairi to try and force her magic from her – which then would result in all sorts of new hair do’s combed thoroughly through with whatever element she was trying to master – but that didn’t stop her, even when “SHOCKED” was popular.
“No, no – Kairi you look good! It’s like you have a Christmas tree on your head with the lights and everything!” –
“You’re not helping Mihoshi…”
Kairi would just flick back her hair from her eyes and try again, and again, and again – worrying her caretakers that she may drive her magic skills into the ground from exhaustion. However the amount of magic Kairi had was another story; Kairi at her beginner’s stage had twice the amount of magic a skilled Master had. This meant that she could try Holy* magic at her young stage, but – “Fire*!” – AHH!”
“STOP DROP AND ROLL KAIRI!” –
It would be best hold off Holy* magic training with the fear that Tenchi’s world may suddenly resemble a crescent [crater] moon….Kairi put both her singed hands into a cool bowl of water; her bracelet unharmed by the fire magic.
“How does that feel Kairi?”
“Much better, thank-you Sasami.”
….So Kairi wasn’t in any real danger. No bullets of steel made into crude balls were being shot at her – no terrible monstrous Emotionless was trying to tear her apart, but, at least she wasn’t without a sense of guiltless foreboding. During her training with Tenchi and the girls, an underlying notion of Kairi wanting something to happen nudged itself into the back of her mind…and with the breach of the Rider’s attack, Kairi got her wish. It only showing how vulnerable she still was, and how much control she was still under. She regretted listening to….Aurocile’s voice was it now? And not dropping herself into the puddle of light that opened beneath her when her bracelet screamed bloody murder from pain – she knew in her heart that light was a portal that would have taken her directly to Sora….and she also knew that somehow, that portal had come from her.
Is it safe to say Kairi was lucky to have landed on Tenchi’s world? A world part of a pact with other worlds dedicated to the protection of future Keyblade Masters? (Not that they aren’t doing a wonderful job by the way). What luck!
Kairi’s hand within the ice water had a strange coat of warmth around it. The coldness around her was melting away from the solitary thought that bruised itself in her head: *I’ve got to get off this world.*
Kairi heard a gasp, and someone tapped her from behind.
………………………………………………
Twilight’s Path: Tumble-Stop
Ein looked up from his position next to Suicune, who lay very still with only her stomach rising and falling from her programmed breaths. He nudged himself back next to her – his ears caught a faint sound, and his head immediately popped up. He had heard the tell-tale sounds of someone entering the ship, and a growl bubbled up from his throat.
…..
Tumble-Stop gave a moan mixed with a sigh of relief. Its heart hurt, but with each recovering beat, its inhabitants regained themselves from the punishment of the Riders…..
There wasn’t much time to lose. Now that Sora had been found out by some more people eager to meet him, the best thing was to keep moving, even from such a crisis as this. Vincent urged everyone if they would move inside Lookout Tower as Tumble-Stop continued to recover itself. Serena was eager to find out if her friends were okay, even with Vincent telling her they were fine. Goku and Chi-chi couldn’t help but wonder as well about how Bulma fared, and Ash wanted to slip away for a moment all together to see how all the pokemon he rescued were doing….He hoped that Suicune was okay…She was with that dog…Mewtwo’s thoughts ran along the same lines, only he already hatched out a plan….
Sephiroth declined the invitation on behalf of himself, Isetzue and Avera –
“Hey, what about me?” asked Little Slugger –
“You already belong to Sora,” said Sephiroth –
“I thought I was gonna, wait, what did you say?”
“What did you say?” repeated Sora.
Avera sighed, “Shonen Bat will now be traveling with you Sora”-
“Him?” said Sora.
“WHAT?!” screamed Little Slugger.
Pikachu growled.
Faye pointed, “The one that blew the surprise” –
“Yes-I-know-I-blew-it-so-shut-up-about-it-already,” spat Little Slugger; Faye shot him a mean look. Little Slugger twirled to Avera and pointed his bat at him, “I didn’t even fight him! And I was promised a fair fight for my freedom! I don’t care if he can help me find my” –
“You caused Sora and I to die, so you have to make up for that,” –
“WHO SAYS?”
“Me,” said Sephiroth, “It’s in the contract I wrote for you, did you ever read it like I told you to?”
Little Slugger turned red as he growled and growled to himself, coiling up like a dog that wanted to bite the first hand that reached out to him….
Avera looked to Sora and smiled, “Sora, please allow Shonen Bat (“It’s Little Slugger! GOD!”) to repent for his past action with you.”
“Uh…” Sora looked to his new teammate….
“Shonen Bat will work very hard to help you in your travels, I know he will be an excellent member. He is also very knowledgeable of the Laws and skills you can learn. Almost everything we know, he knows. Not to mention he is an excellent fighter as well.”
…..Sora didn’t dare doubt the fighter part – all the while, Little Slugger glared at Sora with a death stare (Ed gave him one back from her perch on Sora).
“Well, if Little Slugger is” –
“Don’t think about it, I can feel the bond now,” muttered Little Slugger, “I’m….what did you call me?”
“Little Slugger, that’s what you want to be called right? I don’t have a problem calling you that,” said Sora.
Little Slugger…skated over to his new Master on one push – “You’re way too soft ya know, I’m never gonna respect you until you show me just what kind of Master you are – standing up to the Riders is a cake walk compared to what I’ve seen these people do,” Little Slugger pointed his bat at the winged group.
“Respecting him or not, you still have to do whatever he orders you to,” came Isetzue’s voice.
“I know that!” Little Slugger yelled back – thonk.
“We’re going inside a building, use your inside voice,” said Chi-chi.
Oh the face on Little Slugger was priceless as he sized up his new group….. *Waaaahhhhhhhh.*
Avera suddenly quickly ran up to Sora, and gave him a big hug (he glanced at Little Slugger who gave an irritated nod), Avera then spoke to Sora through his mind, *I’ll see you soon. Make sure that you get Yugi’s heart checked out, sort out the pokemon, and listen to your elders, ‘kay? Also get Mewtwo to teach you Memory Link*.*
Sora nodded taking clear note of everything Avera told him, and hugged Avera back. He really didn’t want to see him go…Ed reached over from behind Sora and hugged Avera’s head, he included her quickly in his grasp on Sora and then all three let go (before another Keyblade Master dog pile was conjured up).
Isetzue inhaled as Sora’s (now quite large) group turned to enter Lookout Tower; Sora in practically perfect health, and alive. Alive was good. Avera skipped up to Sephiroth and Isetzue (Sephiroth blind sighting the cute act while Isetzue laughed), and the winged group was off to depart within their portals: Sephiroth’s dark one, Avera’s light one, and Iseztue’s red and light one – but then – “Okay! Now we can go check up on Riku real quick” said Isetzue – Sephiroth and Avera’s wide eyed glance was too late – the glass door to Lookout Tower, still closing, allowed those wonderful consonants and vowels to barely slip through, and burst back open with a shattering crack – I’ll be damned if Sora’s ears didn’t pick up on that arrangement of vibrations traveling through the air – he zipped over in front of Isetzue – stopping the winged group dead in their tracks before their own impulse could (luckily they dissipated their portals before Sora’s would-be prohibited entry) – leaving Ed in mid air to drop right onto her stomach – “OOF!”
“You’re going to see Riku right now? – You can actually get to where he is?! Can–can you take me to him–or bring him back here?” said Sora his voice acting faster than his breath – he looked back to his group inside Lookout Tower, “Hey! Guess what?!”
“What?” came Spike’s voice. I’m still fixated on Sora…..
“They can reach Riku!”
“Yay!” piped Ed. She was the only one clapping (who was now latched onto Yugi who made the mistake of helping her up) while the others just looked on as wide eyed as Sephiroth, Avera, and now Isetzue (with her hands over her mouth); a piece of the glass door fell to the ground.
Genkai and Vincent exchanged glances. *Well, now we know how Seritouge lost sight of Riku,* said Vincent mentally. *If anyone can find a way to hide from Seritouge’s sight, they most certainly can. This is not good, I don’t know their reasons for taking him, but they should have left him alone – there’s no doubt that Seritouge would have” –
“Would he try such a thing?!” Genkai blurted out. Since everyone’s focus was still on Sora, the only one from Sora’s group who caught Genkai’s outburst was Darkrai. Darkrai turned to say something to Mew, but Mew’s head was looking from side to side – Mewtwo had disappeared.
Sora gave Avera a hug, Avera didn’t respond, and Sora happily let go, “Haha! You could have just told me you could reach Riku instead of just telling me he was okay! – Wha-wait – why didn’t you tell me you all knew where he was?”
Avera’s eyes drooped down.
“Avera already told you he’s fine,” said Sephiroth, “You’re fine. Kairi is fine as well.”
“You can reach Kairi too?!”
“Of course. We can go anywhere we want,” said Sephiroth simply.
Vincent and Genkai listened intently.
“Such a freedom comes with its consequences however,” said Sephiroth. Oh yes, he was gonna twist this knife in Avera’s side to the bone. Isetzue looked at Sephiroth to show a little mercy with his words…..Mercy, right.
“Shonen,” said Vincent. Little Slugger flinched and looked back at him,
“I already know what you’re gonna ask and the answer is yes. Isetzue may have slipped up on saying something, but it’s all Avera’s fault on what Seritouge did. I can’t believe none of you sensed* it. Oh right y’all can’t sense Protections* what a pity” –
…
Euphoria sat on top of Spot Tower and overlooked the horizon fresh from her conversation with Seritouge from earlier….Did he really think she wouldn’t find out? Even after their talk? *Seritouge, how could you go behind our back likes this?*
…
“We can easily reunite you with your friends Riku and Kairi, but there is a reason we didn’t. The threat of Nefero, South” –
“Light and Lady of Red right? We have Protection*s against them!” said Sora cutting Sephiroth off, “And the Riders are” –
“It’s those Protections* that are at risk,” said Sephiroth as if he was cutting someone’s thoat, “That person that managed to escape my attack was scouting for you, and he found you, and now a wonderful group of people that want nothing more than to see you hanging from your own entrails knows your exact location at this moment. And guess what?”
“What?” responded Sora.
“They are right in league with Nefero. So now Nefero most likely knows where you are at this moment, and that means South Light and the Lady of Red too. Perhaps they are on their way here right now; perhaps not. You need your Protection* now more than ever, and now as its contract states, if you, Riku and Kairi come in contact with one another, for more than a minute, your Protection*s will become void.”
Genkai gave a gasp.
“What?” breathed Sora, “But, but, that’s not fair, King Mickey gave us our Protection*s, he wouldn’t” –
“He didn’t,” said Sephiroth, “He died before a time limit could be set. That was sorted out by Deos’ Design and thus, all three of your Protection*s became governed by Astral Order. The loophole in writing Protection*s is when the caster dies as it’s performed. Under Astral Order, changes to the Protection* can be made as sees fit by the governing Astral Entity. The Anime System itself. You all know that this system has a heart right aside from the worlds and their inhabitant’s hearts? That any system with its heart is alive in a mysterious way – guided by its Upper Conscious – a gift of simplistic thoughts. Certainly to have such young and ripe Keyblade Masters fall into it’s hands after the horrendous drought of losing its own, was too tempting a prize to not try and milk from them every bit of their worth – to seal up as many worlds as possible. But what a thought pattern. This must have taken some time to think out. There is no question that this system had help in deciding that, and the Spirit of Reason, Seritouge, was only too happy to oblige. Once a certain number of worlds have become locked*, that portion of the Protection* will expire. Provided you are all still alive.”
“Seritouge,” said Genkai through gritted teeth, “That *******.”
“You would think this is a risky move no?” continued Sephiroth, “If you had been uninformed….something terrible could have happened, but then, should the situation arrive, as it has now unfortunately – it was just your amazing hearing that caught Isetzue’s words, Seritouge must have found a messenger whom he hoped would warn Sora of something so serious as a Protection* change, right Avera?”
“Yes, he saw me through Genkai’s eyes as I cleared* her,” said Avera plainly, “That is probably when he sealed the deal with the system.”
“Seritouge is sneaky *** ** * *****,” said Sephiroth, “In discovering you Avera, aside from whatever his original intentions were, this was probably also a test for you from him to see what you would do for Sora. Test your loyalty. Oh well. The three of us can hide from Seritouge’s sight quite easily, but direct sight is another thing.”
“If only Avera had not meddled so much, this probably could have been prolonged right?” said Little Slugger thinking out loud, “Inevitable to say the least that one of the winged species would have been found out sooner or later, it just kinda sucks that it was now. I mean working in secret has its perks. For the longest time, we were working out a strategy to kill the Riders ourselves. Man! I cannot tell you guys how much Sephy and Izzy wanted them dead! Avera, being the good step-brother that he was, promised to help of course. Sooo much planning had been done to destroy them – we all agreed it needed to get done as soon as possible, but then Avera started to complicate things. Pfft, perhaps you and your friends could have been reunited by now Sora, at least that was what Avera had wanted to do once the Riders had been dealt with, but he screwed that up” – WACK –
“You little imp, you’re as annoying as Vincent described you” –
“Bulma!” piped Goku. The scouts were right behind her, Lita, Amy, Raye, and Mina – all promptly glomped by Serena.
Genkai growled to herself, *So he managed to pull off his plan all along. To keep the Masters separate. Why? (*sigh*) At least one thing will benefit from this mess…they will get stronger, quicker…*
“Well Sora,” said Sephiroth darkly, “Are you still dying to see your friends?”
Sora was looking Sephiroth right in his eyes…..”You said, if we were in contact for more than a minute, the Protection*s would become void right?” asked Sora, in just a dark a tone.
“Not a second more or less,” said Sephiroth.
“Well that’s fine,” said Sora, in a sudden brighter tone, “If you can reunite me with my friends for like….(Sora went in a thinking pose) forty-five seconds, I’ll help you get rid of the Riders when that time comes. We don’t want all that planning to be for nothing right? Especially when y’all were so close too” – Sora gave a back glance to Little Slugger.
“OH SHUT UP!” snapped Little Slugger to the glance – WACK –
“Don’t talk to Sora like that,” said Ed sternly.
….”I won’t deny that having a Keyblade Master would make good bait for the Riders; that is what they have been lusting for, for quite some time. But that’s all you would be.” Sephiroth opened up his portal and motioned for Isetzue and Avera to do the same – Sora grabbed Sephiroth’s arm as he attempted to walk past Sora…(Avera’s heart skipped a beat; Isetzue looked on as if she should do anything…)…..
Vincent’s hand slipped to his gun….
Sephiroth responded to Sora by looking directly in his eyes – Sora did the same.
“I’ve beaten you before, twice,” said Sora, “You know how strong I am. I can help you take down the Riders, it would be an even fight – the four of us – even if to you I am just bait. I know what I’m up against this time, and I won’t falter again.”
Avera and Isetzue looked to Sephiroth….He gave a slow nod to Sora….. “So you have beaten me before, twice, congratulations” – Avera shut his eyes – BUOSWAK! – CRASH!
Sephiroth knocked Sora with the back of his sword all the way through the front glass of the Lookout Tower and into Spike –
“SORA!” –
“Only because it was a shameless boost for your confidence as a Keyblade Master,” said Sephiroth –
Vincent aimed his gun - *Attack, and he is not your target* - Vincent’s hand was suddenly moved by an invisible force and was newly aimed at Isetzue’s forehead – he pulled his weapon back at the stunning protection….
“Sephiroth…that was mean,” said Avera quietly (his eyes still closed), “You didn’t have to hit him.”
“He didn’t have to grab me,” Sephiroth replied plainly, “I didn’t even hit him as hard as I did Shonen.”
Isetzue rubbed Avera’s back, and a tear slipped down his face. “Brother, you made him cry,” said Isetzue in an upset tone.
“Let’s go,” said Sephiroth dully, “Shonen can take it from here.”
“Yeah, let’s get back to Riku,” said Isetzue, and the winged group left in their portals.
“Damn, and I thought he was on our side,” moaned Spike as he popped his back, back into place, “You okay Sora?”
“Fine,” said Sora as Goku pulled him up.
“He is on your side, er, our side now I guess, if you must call it that,” said Little Slugger, “You were just being rude Sora. Heh, I dunno when you traveled faster, when Sephiroth ***** slapped you, or when you zipped over to Izzy.” Little Slugger skated up to Sora – feeling an intent in the air from someone to wack him again. Sora knocked the shards of glass off of him; like he wasn’t even hurt (Spike on the other hand felt a bit more pain for landing hard on his tail bone). Little Slugger reached his hand out to Sora…A grin appeared over his face and from under his cap, his eyes turned yellow….He began to look like an image flickering in light, “Come on Messiah, let’s go see your friends real quick.”
…………………
Back in the Monitor room of Lookout Tower, on the same screen where Euphoria was once spoken to, was a man with grey hair that stood up in a stylish flair to the side. His headband with the symbol of “The Village Hidden Among the Leaves” covered his left eye, leaving his right eye the only thing uncovered on his face as the rest was under a tight navy-blue mask that reached down his neck to a green vest with many pockets. He sighed. “I hate it when I’m put on hold with these things,” he muttered through his mask. From the bottom of the screen, a book titled Make Out Paradise snuck up to his attention.
END CHAP
FINALLY! Naruto, er Kakashi has made zeh entrance!....Kinda.....
I hope to see you all back in two weeks *crosses fingers* And I hope to post on Saturday, my usual time... >_<
Peace and Cloverfield ^_^
Little Slugger: Oh I feel the love - WACK!
I'm so sorry to hear about your laptop T_T that must be EXTREMELY frustrating knowing that you have to start all over again coming up with the same exact ideas about what was going to happen next before your computer crashed on you, but good luck though =D.
Spoiler