Valiant Hearts II
Chapter IX
Pirates and Parley!
“Arrr, where is Jack? Did one of ye see that lousy bastard?“ Barbossa was stomping over the deck, past wet and dirty sailors, untouched by the huge storm they were sailing through. Jack had vanished out of nowhere, now of all times, when his plans were near to success!
A little ape, sitting on Barbossa's shoulder was squeaking and pointing at a giant pile of thick rope, near the board rail. It was moving. There was not one of the sailors that would dare to slack like this under him, first mate Barbossa.
With a rough jerk, Barbossa threw the rope away, unveiling a hiding Captain Jack Sparrow with a half empty bottle of rum in his hands.
“Arr, drinkin' while a storm be bruin, truly, only a idiot would do that,“ Barbossa scoffed.
“Well, of course I am to drink! I need... to be prepared, yes, prepared for our greatest, no, the greatest raid in the very history of pirates,“ Sparrow replied, each word giving clearly away that he was drunk, to say the least.
"I never seen that map you're claiming 'bout. Captain.“ The last word Barbossa added in pure sarcasm.
"This one is special, very special indeed, if I may say so.“
Sparrow was, intentionally or not that no one knew, stalking over the deck, a few foot away from Barbossa standing still.
"The map, you ask, tis right here.” Sparrow touched his own chest with his hand palm.
"Let me see it, Captain. I needs to make sure we're takin' the right route,“ Barbossa asked, a evil grin grazing his face.
"'fraid I can't do that,“ Sparrow answered and stalked away, back into the warm rooms of the ship, his ship, the Black Pearl.
"Wait till he fall's asleep, drunk and quiet, and lock him in the brig! Search him and get me that map!“ Barbossa shouted.
It should been impossible for Jack to hear Barbossa shouting in this storm. Even if he did, Barbossa could just tell him he yelled at one of the crew member. But it was unlikely that Jack could hear anything.
The crew was feed up with his crazy behavior and retarded gestures. The Black Pearl would be his, soon enough, and Barbossa would be Captain Barbossa.
"Today's a good night, arrr!“ Barbossa called out and started to laugh.
The crew joined his laughter.
---Valiant Hearts---
"I knew it wouldn't be funny, but this isn't like anything I've ever experienced. If even one of these things touches you, it's as if every warmth in your body is being stolen, drawn out, eaten by these things,“ Olette complained.
They had finally made it through the path. It had remained unused for long enough to have it been filled with an almost never ending army of Heartless.
"I'm happy you agreed to take the protector job until Naminè gets used to this. I know it's asking much of you, but I won't have you or Naminè hurt,“ Kairi said, sitting on the dark path, in front of the gateway that lead to the other world.
The way had been rough, and at first, they had a major problem. Naminè couldn't really fight and there was little time to teach her. The only way left to them was learning by doing, and Naminè had to try her best.
Kairi had asked Olette to stick very close to Naminè, to prevent any Heartless from close combat with her. Naminè was a magic user, and they were very vulnerable in a close quarters fight.
For Naminè herself, it was a very scary thing to fight at first, but seeing how Kairi charged at these things without hesitation, and they fell in numbers to her attacks, Naminè got some self confidence and tried to fight. The first attempts had resulted in Olette being almost burned, but after a few more failures, Naminè could at least use her magic to back up Kairi further ahead.
"Naminè, if we fight any Heartless, try to stay back and prevent any Heartless from reaching you. Olette and I will switch positions after we pass the portal. I'll be responsible to protect you, and I will not let any Heartless harm you. Olette, you can go full out with two blades after we pass. Don't show any hesitation to damage property if you need to. Property can be fixed, human hearts and the world cannot,“ Kairi instructed, standing up.
Naminè hold tight on Monochrome, and Olette now summoned forth Hero's Crest. It was also Naminè's job to support both Olette and Kairi with curative magic, and per coincidence was cure the only spell she had managed to cast on second grade without any side-effects occurring.
The blond girl recited a cure spell and cast it onto the three at once.
"Great Dream of the Unity, be a blessing for our bodies.“
Olette stretched her arms and legs and Kairi sorted out unnecessary thoughts. No matter where they would end up, there was always the chance to enter a area full of Heartless or worse.
"Let's open the portal,“ Kairi ordered.
Over the past events, since they had left Hollow Bastion, Kairi had acted more as a leader than Olette had ever seen before. Her experience came really in handy, and even Naminè followed her orders without questioning the sense of it.
Three Keyblades emitted light rays that fused together at the tiny keyhole. Just seconds after, it was glowing in a bright light, and the girls were unable to look through it.
"That's not good. It means this portal is unstable and we may not be able to go back through this one. Which means we would be stuck until we find another portal. Which won't necessarily lead to Hollow Bastion,“ Kairi explained, but there was no way back.
If they turned around now, Leon would never again even consider to have her go with Olette and Naminè.
"On three, we jump. We must be ready to defend ourselves if there is any Heartless in the area we arrive. Be prepared you two,“ Kairi told them, with a serious tune.
Both girls have her a nod, and after Kairi counted to three, they jumped.
The first thing Kairi saw was a wall of planks. The next thing was stars. The portal must been floating into mid air, then they immediately crashed into the wall. It didn't take more than a few seconds for Kairi to regain her senses and get up. There was no sign of Heartless.
"I must be more drunk than I had ever imagined,“ someone said.
Kairi turned around. It took her a moment to understand the situation they were in.
They were inside a barred cage, solely out of metal. On the opposite side was a near identical cage, and inside there was a really sloppy looking man in chains. Obviously they were in some sort of prison.
The ground did all of a sudden tremble and Kairi fell down. The ground moving wasn't a good sign.
For now, Kairi looked after Naminè and Olette. They had also crashed onto the ground, but Olette was already up and didn't seem to be hurt. Naminè was sitting, looking completely confused, in a corner of the cage, seemingly well.
"Where the heck are we Kairi?“ Olette asked.
"Ye are on board of my ship, the fastest ship that's been ever build, the Black Pearl, ladies,“ the man said.
"Your ship? Black Pearl? You don't look like the one in charge,“ Kairi replied, trying to open the lock to their cage.
It was impossible. The look was on the other side, and the holes weren't big enough to put a hand between them. A Keyblade could open any lock, but if one couldn't reach its front, even a Keyblade was useless.
"I am Captain Jack Sparrow,“
"Are you a pirate, Jack Sparrow?“ Kairi asked.
"Captain! Jack Sparrow if you'd please,“ Sparrow replied and made a weird gesture with his together chained hands.
"So, Captain Jack Sparrow, where are we?“ Kairi asked again.
"I've told ye, in the brig of my ship, the Black Pearl, the fastest ship that-“ Sparrow went on a explanation tour again.
"So, why are you, the captain, in the brig?“ Olette cut him off.
"Ah, aye, that's a good question, very good question indeed,“ Sparrow answered.
For now, there was nothing they could do. Naminè could try to blast open the cage with magic, but that was rather dangerous. And Kairi would try to get as much information as possible out of this man.
“You see, I've had this map, for a island one can't find, unless one knows where it is, ladies.“
"And? Why are you down here?“ Kairi examined the metal the cage was made of closer.
"My first mate Barbossa, aye, turned traitor; he stole my ship, the map and the crew. Must been jealous of my genius,“ Sparrow said with a slight pity implying tune.
"Ye know, this map leads to a old, very old, Aztec treasure, unimaginable wealth. How about it. You three free me, and I'll, say, share twenty-eighty with you.“
"Naminè, are you okay? We're safe here for now, but we need to stay on guard. Stick close to me please,“ Kairi said, ignoring Jack Sparrows tremendous tale of betrayal and treasure.
"I will. This place is a bit scary, and it stinks too,“ Naminè said, standing up, staying close to Kairi.
"Not? How about seventy-thirty? That's a good deal for you three!“ Sparrow continued his offers.
"Olette, do you think you can break these bars here? You could hit them with your full strength and both blades at once. It could get us free.“
Olette nodded and took a deep breath. With a jerk, the girl pushed forwards, swinging both blades over her head, hitting the bars with full power. "Break!“
It gave a tremendous clang and the bars couldn't stand that much brute force. They had been rusty and very old. If they had been newer, Olette wouldn't had made it.
"Let's make a run for it,“ Kairi said, leaving the cage through the new born hole.
"I would be very, indeed very grateful, if you three could undo my chains,“ Sparrow pleaded and stood up. He was both with his hands and his feet chained on the wall.
"Kairi, can't we free that man? He doesn't look like a bad guy,“ Naminè said and stopped.
Olette turned around and Kairi sighed. This man was a pirate. According to himself, if he was quite sane that is, he was even the former captain of this ship.
"The young lady is right. I'm a honorary pirate, and I will pay the proper respect to the ones that rescued me. You shall fear no harm or exploit, ladies.“ Sparrow enforced what Naminè said.
"I don't trust you in the slightest, but if Naminè wants to free you, I won't stop her,“ Kairi said, turning around and facing Naminè.
"You know how to open his locks?“ Kairi asked and got a short nod from Naminè.
Naminè had tried it a few times at Hollow Bastion and didn't have any problems with it.
Monochrome emitted its first light ray, opening the lock to the cage. The second and third undid the chains he was bound to and set Jack Sparrow free.
"Ye have my thanks, young ladies. Many thanks for rescuing me. Now, if ye excuse me, I'm gonna have Barbossa return my ship,“ Sparrow said, while stalking towards the stairs.
In that moment, Kairi looked up the stairs and saw something terrible.
“We might have a serious problem,” Kairi said and walked back in the back of the room.
“What do you mean Kairi? What did you see?” Olette was curious.
“Nobodies. There might be Heartless too, I don't know.”
For now, Kairi had to prepare for a battle. If there were Nobodies, it meant the Organization was involved. It would be a really dumb move to just rush up there and attack whatever there was. She did see a couple of Nobodies scurrying around. They didn't notice her down there, though. The best maneuver would be to lure them down there.
Kairi looked around, examine the room closely. It was about twenty or twenty-four foot long and not more than ten or fourteen foot wide. She didn't know what kind of Nobodies were up there and, if there were any at all, what Heartless. Having a strategy was the key to a successful battle. That they didn't get noticed yet was their biggest advantage.
Sparrow had vanished in the meantime and Olette and Naminè, whom were quite a bit puzzled at how calm she was, watched Kairi walked around and examine different things. Beside the two cages in this room, who was some sort of prison inside a ship, there were lots of barrels, trunks and other things. Some of them had some sort of fluid in it, and it smelled awful.
“Naminè. Don't use your magic carelessly here. I have no idea what they store in those trunks and barrels. It might be explosive. Lightning won't work inside. Ice could make this narrow place even worse. Can you stick to healing me and Olette?”
Naminè was rather pale when Kairi asked. It wasn't easy to keep using curative magic and this place somehow scared her a little bit. The gateway had already been quite scary, and Naminè had been happy that she didn't have to actually fight them. But this now was different. There wasn't enough room to stay back.
“I'll try. But cure magic is really exhausting. I... don't know how long I can keep-”
Kairi shook her head. Naminè was new to this, completely new. She had to take it easy on her.
“It's fine. If we're only facing lesser Nobodies we will be fine.”
It was important to calm her down. If Naminè panicked as soon as one Nobody or Heartless came close to her, that would be very bad. No matter how skilled a magic user was, sometimes close quarter combat was unavoidable.
“Basically I will show myself at the stairs and lure them down. Olette, you stay near Naminè to protect her if anything gets past me. And I'm no wonder fighter like Tifa. There will be stuff that gets past me.”
With a gaze at the pale Naminè, Kairi looked straight at Olette, giving her a short smile.
“I trust you,” Kairi said.
Olette could feel her heart skip for a split second. How could Kairi just trust her like that? She didn't even do anything special to earn that trust.
“Then let's get done with this.”
Kairi had a odd feeling in the stomach area. She wasn't new to fighting monsters in general, but something was odd about this ship. It made her feel like there was something ill in the air. Maybe it was just the stink of this old room.
Olette summoned Hero's Crest and arranged a few of the barrels to stand in the way between her and the walls. These things were heavy and Olette had to push them over the slightly slick ground with all her might. Those monsters wouldn't bother to exploit the terrain. If those barrels blocked the way, they would head straight for her. The place was narrow, so the number of these things that could attack at once was limited. If someone wanted to get through her, he had to literally get her out of the way.
From earlier, Olette knew that Naminè was a potent magic user, and she could count on her for healing purposes. In any case, Olette would stand her ground. Like this, it was impossible to do any speedy maneuver but in this narrow place were such movements basically useless anyway.
Naminè held tight on Monochrome and glared at Kairi's back. She wasn't feeling well about the fact that Kairi was about to play bait and then stay so far ahead. It would be very hard to cast a cure spell on Kairi from that distance.
Just seconds before Kairi stepped on the first step of the stairs, something odd happened. The whole room, or the ship, the world, Kairi couldn't tell, went and stopped. It was different from when it happened in Twilight Town. People alien to that world could still move. But even Olette and Naminè were frozen stiff.
Kairi was about to worry what has caused this phenomenon when a voice echoed through her head. Not only once but it echoed several times. On top of that, it was completely unintelligible. Kairi couldn't understand one word of it. It took her a few seconds to realize that the words not only did echo in her head but the words appeared in her mind.
It was like as if someone wanted to tell something. But it made no sense. It was completely incomprehensible.
“Cdyztd lg vid yihvd elltu vizv odze vl mlvihmfmduu. Vilud yil ztd mlv yilod, mlt mzwfiv, cdyztd lg vidm, zu vids cdzt hoo yhoo. Lmbd vid elltu ztd lkdm, el mlv iduhvzvd. Yd ztd yzhvhmf glt slw, Pdscozedt”
“Kairi, are you spacing out? Now of all times?” Olette mocked from further back.
What had just happened? When had time resumed flow? Did she... imagine this?
“I just.... there was... never mind.”
What in the world had just happened?
“You just stand there for almost a minute and spaced out Kairi. That's not like you.”
“Yeah I'm fine. It's nothing, really.”
For now, they needed to focus on the mission. Their current position wasn't the best. The nobodies could notice them any time soon.
And they came sooner than anticipated.
---Valiant Hearts---
“Captain Barbossa, I will handle those fools. They are not worthy for you to be concerned with.”
A man, completely veiled by his dark coat, was talking to Barbossa. They had noticed Kairi and the girls long ago, and the deck was basically empty but Barbossa and the man in the black coat. They were anchored near a marooned island. They would leave Jack here, and it was in the intention of the unknown man to do the same with those three girls.
“I will have my... underlings, take care of them. If you'd please, you could watch.”
“Aye, I got better to do than foolin' 'round with those imbeciles. Get them off my ship, mate. We ain't the time for idling any longer,” Barbossa ordered and left for his quarters. He couldn't stand the show that man put on.
“I'll have them play a little. The Superior did order me to bring chaos to this world, but he never said I can't have my fun with them,” the man said and clicked with his fingers.
Over a dozen Nobodies and a horde of Heartless appeared on deck. The crew was watching the spectacle from inside the cabin.
“That man be in league with Davy Jones, I tell ye,” one of them said.
The man took his hood down, unveiling his face. Blond hair, several earrings and his face graced with a no less blond beard.
With a simple wave of his arm, the Nobodies went down the stairs.
---Valiant Hearts---
Before Kairi could properly react, half a dozen Nobodies had already moved past her. She managed to hit one of them right on the head with her Keyblade and it vanished before Kairi had to focus her attention on what came further down the stairs. It was only Nobodies. The Heartless didn't seem to be here yet. That made the whole battle a lot easier. If there only were those few-
“We have a problem here Kairi!” Olette shouted from the back.
Kairi managed to turn around, just to look at a nightmare. Behind her, around Olette, had spawned a lot of Heartless, only the weakest kind, but there was an awful lot of them. Naminè had already gone to the very back of the room and was prepared to backup Olette. The barrels had been knocked over by the sheer amount of Heartless that had spawned on the ground. Olette was now open, vulnerable to every direction.
The attack began and it was nothing short of a nightmare. Olette couldn't defend to every site at once. Her best was slaying whatever came close to her, and anything that went for Naminè had to get past her. It was a much worse duty to protect Naminè than Olette had been thinking. She had to effectively kill any and everything that went for her. Those things jumped at her, scratched her with their little dark claws, leaving red scratches all over her skin.
With a brave attempt, Olette took both Keyblades and whirled around, which lifted the rows of the Heartless a bit. But it didn't help much. There were too many. Although Olette could handle a few of them at once, they attacked from every side. There were at least ten of them at one time, and even though Olette killed them with just a slash or two, they kept coming and multiplying.
“Children of the Earth, let us endure,” Naminè had to use recitation cure already. It was hard to keep up with all the injuries Olette was taking. But it wasn't her fault at all. No human being could have defended against that many enemies at once.
“Trees of the infinite forest, send me your blessing.”
It was literally a battle against the clock. If Naminè ran out of stamina and couldn't heal Olette anymore, it wouldn't take more than half a minute for her go down. And for now, Naminè was already quite exhausted. If this didn't end soon...
“I really could use some help here Kairi!”
Naminè couldn't keep up with the healing. Olette had scratches all over the place, and her inner warmth was being drained. It was a dreadful feeling and if that was fighting Heartless, Olette had now a glimpse of a clue how tough Kairi's past few years must have been.
Kairi couldn't pay close attention to what happened further back in the room. The Nobodies kept getting more and if not for her newly gained skills, she would've fallen to their attacks long ago. A basic sortie did the trick against those lesser things. Horizontal slashes were much more suitable than vertical ones, simply because the room was not all that high. Those things didn't stand much of a chance, but Kairi was surrounded.
There was no helping it. Kairi centered Oathkeeper in mid-air, did a whirlwind attack and slew four of the Nobodies with it. She had to help Olette to eliminate those Heartless first. A few seconds after escaping her own pinch, Kairi was horrified by the view that lay before her. There was a giant pile of Heartless, and for a split second, Kairi could see the rest of Circle of Life, Olette's Keyblade, vanish under the pile.
That was really bad! Kairi had no idea what this would do to Olette, but whatever it was, one thing was certain. It would be really bad.
That must be a few dozen of them. To hack them all away one for one would take much too long. And the Nobodies were coming too. It was really dangerous but they had to do it. No matter what the outcome would be.
----Valiant Hearts---
It was dark. Just dark. Not the kind one saw in the night, in the streets or a pitch black room. There was not even a spark of light. Nothing at all. She was standing all alone amidst an impervious darkness. Her body felt unutterably cold. It was as if she wasn't even alive. Was that it? Was she dead? Did she die back there?
She couldn't even feel anxiety or fear anymore. There was nothing left to feel. Just emptiness. But the others would come to rescue her. Kairi would come.
She waited, waited for so long, it seemed like a eternity. But no one came. It just looked like she was all forgotten. It was completely hopeless. No one would come. They didn't care at all. And why should they? What good would it do to rescue her?
Time ran by, and she didn't know how long she was there. Her eyes had tried to get used to the darkness but there was nothing worth seeing, even if she were to see in this eternal darkness. What did she wait here for? Why was she here?
It felt like a eternity passed in this darkness. There was nothing she could do, nothing that was worth doing. But why would she care to do anything in the first place? It was all hopeless.
She was all alone and forgotten in this darkness. Or was it that she just returned to where she belonged? Had this all been a dream? What if all there ever was had been darkness?
But it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore.
After a while, even breathing seemed to become senseless. What good would it do to stay alive in this place? Why was she alive anyway? Did it matter? No. There was no one that would care that...
Something in her memory rang. Something was there. The darkness was wavering around her, moving, as if a very powerful light was trying to kill it. Who was there?
“Snap out of it!”
Someone was yelling at her. It hurt in her head, but this voice... she knew this voice.
“Olette, come to!” The voice echoed.
Olette? Was that her? Her name? She had forgotten, for all the time nothing had mattered. What good did a name any-
A sharp pain made her scream out. The pain was coming from everywhere and yet nowhere. It was as if her soul was being cut, something was grasping her heart.
But the darkness lost ground with every second. A bright light, dazzling and blinding, was far away and came closer, and every inch it came, the darkness moved away, vanished.
The following seconds could only be described as confusing. The light speed up in a insane way and enclosed her before she knew.
Olette opened her eyes, and what she saw made her feel much better. The first thing she saw after escaping the darkness was Kairi's face. Olette had never been so happy to see Kairi. It was only a vague feeling, but it was like Kairi had called her back.
“Finally, you've come to. You took quite the beating from the Heartless. I thought you would never come back. We were really worried. Naminè gave it her best shot to heal you.”
They were not on the ship anymore.
“What... happened? I only remember that I was fighting those Heartless and they kept getting more, and the next moment I was... I don't know. I don't want to remember it. It's giving me goosebumps that I was thinking such stuff. You never told me those Heartless basically take every grain happiness from you. This was worse than getting injured from that man we fought at the mansion!” Olette blurted out, turning pale when she remembered the darkness.
“Long story... But it looks like we have plenty... yes, plenty of time to explain,” Kairi said, with a somewhat forced smile.
Olette was laying on sandy ground, her head on Kairi's lap, and looking straight up in her face. It was somewhat different from earlier. Although serious, her eyes were red and swollen, as if... but that was just ridiculous. Why would she?
“We somehow blasted those Heartless to hell. Well, Naminè did. We then literally made a run for it. For some time... I thought you were gone.”
Those last words came more slowly than the rest.
“When I decided to go back and help you fight the Heartless...”
---Valiant Hearts---
They had to get Olette out of there. But in front were the Nobodies, in the back the Heartless, and under them, buried alive, Olette. Kairi couldn't come up with anything better.
Kairi could see that the type of the Nobodies now changed. It wasn't just the lesser ones now. A few of a different type came down the stairs and they started shooting with something that looked like a rifle. Deflecting two of three shots with Oathkeeper, she jumped over a barrel and made a run for it to reach Naminè.
The Heartless seemed to completely ignore her existence, presumably because Olette was buried under them.
Naminè was completely pale. Having witnessed how Olette was being buried alive under a pile of darkness was more than just slightly frightening. Kairi took a few seconds to get her to snap out of it. She needed Naminè now, needed her to save Olette.
“Naminè. Naminè!” Kairi shook her.
The blond girl looked quite out of it. But they had no time to waste.
“Naminè. I know it sounds crazy but cast a Firera spell direct on that pile of Heartless. Don't worry, I'll cast a ice spell to protect us from the fire. We need to get Olette out of here. We all need to get out of here. The faster the better.”
Naminè took a few seconds to understand what Kairi wanted her to do. That was really dangerous, but if Kairi wanted her to do that, she would.
Directing Monochrome at the pile, Naminè started reciting, almost synchronized with Kairi.
A Firera spell would take longer naturally, so it would actually work out. While Kairi couldn't use a recitation, Naminè did, which was probably a over the top effect in this cramped room.
“Ifirt, lend me your lance!”
Seconds before Naminè finished, Kairi casted her blizzard spell on a couple of barrels and trunks that stood between them and the Heartless pile. A few Nobodies that had found them got caught up in it. It froze them together, building almost a wall of ice between the girls and the Heartless. It wasn't wide enough to cover the whole room width, but it had to suffice.
The Firera spell that Naminè used took the form of a lance with a fireball on its peak. The lance shot an instant later right at its goal. The impact was devastating, not only blasting most of the Heartless to hell but also setting half of the room on fire.
The ice didn't hold. Some of the fire burst over to where the girls had taken cover. Kairi reacted in an instant and protected Naminè, embracing her, acting as a shield. It wasn't much, but enough to make Kairi grind her teeth. Magic fire was much hotter than its natural cousin. Thank god, it didn't seem to leave any noticeable burns on her back.
The fire had just cease to spread any further as Kairi went up, started to run where the pile had been, jumped over a burning barrel which just happened to explode after Kairi had landed behind it. It threw her off balance, and the explosion itself send some wood shards all over the place, two of them piercing her left arm.
Kairi had to endure it; Olette was right in front of her. She was unconscious and pale, breathing oddly and shivering all over, even though the room was burning hot. They had to get out of here.
When Kairi turned around, carrying Olette, she noticed that it wouldn't be so easy.
“I think that's enough destruction for now,” some unknown voice spoke to her. How much worse could her situation get?
A man with a huge beard, scruffy and dirty, smelling across the room after rum, came down the stairs, followed by another man. It was not the man that was obviously a pirate that got Kairi's attention. It was the other man and what he held.
Blond hair, a no less blond beard and several earrings. And the dark coat that only members of the Organization wore. And he held Naminè, threatening her with a over-sized playing card.
This was now officially a really bad day, if not the worst she had ever had. She had to get out of here, and heal Olette. It was really worrying that she was ice cold, even though the room was burning and hot enough to make Kairi sweat like on a barbecue. And now Kairi had to rescue Naminè from the evil clutches of a Organization member too.
“Tis troubling, settin' my ship on fire like that. And ye sure you can handle those alright, mate?”
“Aye, sure captain Barbossa. Can leave this to me.”
As to enforce that fact, the blonde waved his right arm around, setting free hundreds of dozens of cards, which immediately extinguished the fire. The room was smelling after burned paper, burning old rotten wood and other things that the fire had burned. But at least the heat went down. Kairi couldn't have stood it much longer.
The scruffy man did a short laugh and then left. If that guy couldn't handle those, he'd have him go over the plank alright.
“I know what you want. Want me to return her to you, don't you? I don't think it'll work out just that way. But how about a game. If you can answer a question I ask you, you will get her back and free to go. Over board of course. If you answer wrong or not at all, I will take her with me and you will face my cards.”
Kairi had little choice. The cards were still there and if he could control them like he did with the fire, then there was little hope to escape them. They would slice her and Olette to little pieces.
“Who are you anyway?” Kairi asked.
She had to play on time, to think of an plan.
“My name is Luxord. I'm a gambler. But a gamble comes at a price. And you have little choice but to abide by what I say. Or I could kill little miss here right on the spot.”
Xemnas did order him to bring chaos to a world of his choice. Pirates and their customs were a great place for gambles, and it was a wink of fortune for him that they showed up right on the ship he was on.
“So what is your question? I don't have time to waste.”
Kairi needed to make hurry. Olette's breathing got more shallow by the minute and now that the fire was out, Kairi could feel her icy body.
Luxord smiled with a most disgusting grin and then started this little game of his.
No one had ever answered this riddle before, and so would also this little Keyblader girl fail at it. It was one of the ten hardest riddles he knew, and even in the Organization had only Xemnas known the answer to a few of them.
“Burning hot and freezing cold, of flesh and stone, of glass and ice, full of hate, full of joy, forgiving and cruel, in man and beast. Restless as the wind, yet calm as the ocean and steady as the earth. We know all and nothing about it, and yet we have unwavering trust in it. Unknown and common, strong and weak, this all it is.”
That made not much sense. How could something be all that? Kairi was quite confused. She wasn't great or bad at riddles and logic problems, but this one was quite the hard nut to crack.
“I will wait five minutes.”
Luxord started laughing, certain of his victory. They didn't need all three of the Keyblader. One would suffice. This was just minimizing the risks.
Kairi just couldn't come up with anything that fit in all categories. Glass, Stone, Flesh, Ice, those were just too different. There must been some trick to that question.
“Four minutes.”
Naminè was feeling ill. Not only had she to watch Kairi struggling finding a answer to this ridiculous question, but it was also really frightening to be hold hostage like this. To top it all off, if Kairi couldn't come up with the right answer, she would...
“Two minutes.”
What was the answer to that riddle? Wind? Greed? Any other emotion? But then, joy and hate were parts of it, and those are also emotions. An adventure? That could be, but how did this all describe a adventure? And how did one trust in something but doesn't know anything about it? Maybe there wasn't even a right answer to this? Maybe is was a trick question? One with a question as answer?
“One minute.”
But if that was the case, what should she do? Leaving Olette would mean that she would die. Attacking without leaving Olette would mean Kairi was too slow. He would kill Naminè. Each way, they couldn't do anything. But what should-
“Time's up. Cards, slice h-”
A odd sound disrupted him speaking. Naminè could feel his grip loosening and seconds after, he fell over, unconscious. Behind him appeared a puzzled looking Jack Sparrow, armed with a wooden paddle. He obviously had knocked him on the head. It was a really odd way to attack such a foe, and Kairi was first confused for a moment, then glad that they had somehow, even though it was luck, escaped his trap.
Naminè ran over to Kairi, a few tears in the eyes, not out of fear but for being happy that Kairi didn't get hurt more than she already was.
“I don't think I've yet have heard a thanks from ye, or any gratitude for my brave act of rescuing this lady,” Sparrow said.
Kairi had no time to deal with him. Olette had partially stopped breathing in the meanwhile. The situation got much worse when upstairs started to give off a lot of noise. It seemed that those pirates had one or two things to talk over with Sparrow.
“What was your name? Jack Sparrow? Do you have any means of escape from here?”
Kairi had little choice but to ask him for help. She didn't knew this world, its laws and other things. They were basically aliens here. Sparrow at least seemed to have some association with this ship. He should know a way to escape.
“Ye could swim to the island that's near. But I don't recommend that, as there is naught but-” Jack was cut off by Kairi.
“Naminè, use the strongest Blizzara magic you have and fire it at the stairs. Then use a Firera magic to melt the ice instantly.”
Did Kairi lost her mind? Naminè didn't understand the sense of this. If she melt the ice, what good would it do to cast it in the first place? But, after all, it was Kairi that said it. There must been some reason behind it.
Blizzara was a easy spell to cast just randomly at one point. What made it a complicated spell to use was the many many different versions one could summon due to the use of recitations. If a simple ice block was good, then this was really easy.
“Freezing lands that move in the shades!”
Monochrome sent off a at best fist sized ice crystal that slowly flew over to the stairs. As soon as it touched the stairs, a staggering amount of ice grew out of the crystal and blocked the stairs completely.
“Now the fire spell. After you cast, be ready to run for your life. Jack Sparrow, I recommend that you escape as well. That guy over there that you knocked out will not think highly of you. And you don't want him to get mad at you.”
Kairi had given him a warning. It was now up to him to escape.
“Ifirt, lend me your lance!”
The same fire lance as before shot across the room, having a unexpected impact at the ice. In seconds, the ice had melted and not only the whole brig was filled with the water mist of the melted ice but it also would engulf most of the upper level of the ship.
They wouldn't be able to capture them like this.
Kairi still carried Olette and now had taken Naminè's hand to prevent losing each other in the mist. Up the stairs, she took a moment to look around. They weren't on deck yet. Which way was the right? Kairi had never seen the inside of this ship before. They could only try and hope the mist would hold a while.
“Over here, this the right way.”
That voice belonged to Jack Sparrow. It was hard to guess which direction it came from, but in the end, Kairi found a shadow in the mist that moved down right strange. That must be Sparrow.
Following the shadow close up, Kairi could feel the mist lifting a bit and fresh air a little while later. They must be on deck. Unfortunately, the mist lost its concentration faster than expected. It was a matter of seconds until they would be spotted. Kairi couldn't take the weight of three people. At least Naminè had to hold onto something that could carry her weight. Naminè had told Kairi once that she didn't know how to swim, when Olette told them a story about the beach.
A wooden plank would do, but where to get... But they were on a ship! Kairi kicked without further ado as hard as possible against a part of the rail and as expected, a quite long part of it broke. It was a bit rotten, so it could withstand water and the usual activities of a ship, but not a brutal kick of someone that was running for her life.
“Sparrow! There is Sparrow! And those imbeciles, seize them ye idiots!”
That voice was Barbossa. They had spotted them, and if not now, they won't be able to escape.
Kairi took Naminè's hand, and they jumped together. The water was not cold as expected. And Sparrow was right. The island was about a mile away. Naminè hold onto the wooden plank that was floating into the water. And now of all times, Kairi had to notice a huge mistake. She couldn't swim while carrying Olette. If she were to hold onto the wooden plank, it would sink. It could only hold about one person, and now Kairi had a huge problem. Olette's weight pulled her down, and it was very straining to just keep over water, let alone swimming a mile.
A few meters beside her fell something into the water, and seconds later, Sparrow surfaced.
“I'd recommend that ye ladies swim before those sorry excuses for honorary pirates start firin',” Sparrow said and was about to make a run for it when Kairi hold him back.
“Help me out and we... help you get back your ship,” It was the only thing Kairi could think of. She needed his help now and had to lure him with whatever was appropriate.
“Ye ladies helping me getting back my Pearl? I do see a profit in this. What do-” Sparrow couldn't finish his line.
Kairi couldn't hold herself up anymore with Olette on her back. Sparrow wasn't a idiot. With a short dive, he took Olette from Kairi, who now surfaced and took a deep breath. They weren't out of danger yet. The first bullets from the pirate's rifles hit the water right next to her. Grabbing the wooden plank and looking after Sparrow who carried Olette, Kairi tried to swim as fast as she could. Naminè had never learned swimming but paddling with her feet was at least helping a little.
“Whaddya doing, ye idiots! After them!” Barbossa angrily shouted.
“I wouldn't recommend that, Captain Barbossa. The longer you wait to grab that treasure, who knows who else Sparrow told of the map or the island? Someone might take advantage of the delay to capture those sore losers.”
Luxord couldn't afford to have them all killed by the pirates. At least one had to get away. And on a marooned island, there was no escape for them. It was a bitter taste, after being cheated like that, to do this, but Xemnas would simply behead him if all three of them died.
“Ye have your point. Ye make a fine first mate. Got sense for the important things ain't you.”
---Valiant Hearts---
“That was really a long story. Literally,” Olette said, by now sitting next to Naminè. “But why did they not follow us?”
“Ask them yourself. Or ask Sparrow,” Kairi said, rolling her eyes and pointing towards the other side of the beach.
Olette took a moment to recognize what Kairi was pointing at. Sparrow seemed to lay there, once in a while drinking out of a dirty bottle something.
“He is probably now even more drunk than before. It's been a few hours. Looks to me that Sparrow isn't here for the first time. He left you on the beach and vanished into the little jungle on this island. Apparently looking for something. I have no idea what he is drinking, but it smells really nasty,” Kairi explained, leaning back.
“What do we do now, Kairi?”
Naminè had been quiet for a while, and Kairi was relieved that she didn't seem to have any permanent trauma or something from this. It was more a exception that things went such a bad way, but this wasn't the worst Kairi had every experienced.
“Thats a good question...” Kairi answered, looking in the sky.
---Valiant Hearts---
The entrance to the inner cavern of the Isla de la Muerta was the mouth of a vast skull, embedded in the islands rocks. It was a frightening view, but the greed of the pirates was bigger than any fear. They went inside, and the first few jumped in the unnatural icy water, just to swim by themselves to the inside, to be the first that could grab some of the gold pieces inside.
Luxord rubbed the back of his head. He had still a bump from the hit with the plank. He was not important. Xemnas wouldn't complain if he killed him. And yes he would. That damn Jack Sparrow.
They had left the girls and Jack Sparrow on the tiny deserted island a day ago. By this time, they should notice the hunger and thirst one suffers when marooned.
“A fine treasure tis, we found here. Ye ingrates, we're not here to grab leftovers and dinky gold. The map tells there's some mighty treasure inside,” Barbossa shouted at the pirates that already crawled on the ground, picking up every gold piece, stashing in every pocket they had.
Luxord was already inside. He was sitting on a huge chest, made of granite, filled to the edge with pure gold amulets. The chest itself was resting on a little mountain of gold and treasure.
Barbossa had led a good dozen of his pirates further inside, leaving the rest to collect whatever they could take and bring it over to the Black Pearl.
The last room was a big, dark and wet grotto in the heart of the island. Every corner had piles of gold, treasures all over the place, and in the center of all was the chest with the amulets, with Luxord sitting on it.
“Welcome to the true treasure of the Isle de la Muerta,” Luxord said, walking down the pile of gold in the center.
“Ye a bit too friendly about this. I smell a rat. Ye ain't playing fool's game with me, mate?” Barbossa's mistrust was awakened.
Why was this man so free about this? No man in this world would be that calm when surrounded by those riches. And yet, this Luxord fellow was amazingly giving in this matter. It was smelling like a trap.
“I don't have any use for gold. My only concern were those three girls, and they've been dealt with. My thanks for that, Captain. The gold is all yours,” Luxord defended his behavior. "But when I had to ask for a deal, Captain Barbossa, I assume I would be free to do whatever I want with Jack Sparrow, in case he somehow will escape that island,” Luxord asked.
“I doubt that bastard's alive, but if ye find him, you can tear him to pieces,” Barbossa responded with a laugh.
That was exactly what Luxord wanted to hear. He had a nice little game for Sparrow in mind. One that would make him wish he would never have meet him.
It still didn't seem quite right to Barbossa. But the sheer treasure before his eyes was blinding him. The pirates had already started plundering the grotto, but none had touched the chest yet. Barbossa would server their hands if they'd touch something like that before him.
“Tis better be no treasure with a hook on it, mate,” Barbossa warned and then went off, climbing the pile of gold, looking inside the chest.
A chill went down his spine. Whatever it was, those amulets had a scary feeling about them. The chest was filled up to the rand. Barbossa reached out his hand, taking one of the amulets. The same second he picked one up, a strange feeling went through his body. Touching chest, legs and arms, feeling flesh still on his bones, Barbossa dismissed it as simple side-effect of the excitement.
“Just as I planned,” Luxord muttered, walking away while supressing a sadistic laugh.
Quietly opening a portal of darkness, Luxord left, leaving behind a unimaginable mess and chaos. Nobody noticed that two pirates had been missing ever since they had started to explore the cave.
Silently in the darkness, in the shadows of the grotto, something was crawling. And the darkness was engulfing the gold.
----Valiant Hearts---
Luxord was particularly happy in a sadistic way that his plan had been a huge success. The curse would soon show first symptoms. The pirates would curse him, would curse the gold and their greed. It was their own fault. It wasn't he who told him to take the treasure. It was their own greed, the mad longing for gold.
He had found the island they had left Sparrow and the Keyblader. It was small enough to find them soon. There was no escape for them. He had to make sure that at least one of them survived, or Xemnas would take his head.
Only a short while later, Luxord was wondering where they had gone. They couldn't have left the island. The surrounding sea was full of Heartless he had left to roam free there after the Black Pearl had left this god forsaken place.
They must've been somewhere there. It was dark out, so they would probably sleep somewhere. But what if there was one of those annoying portals the Keyblader could use on this island? If they had left the world, to get support? It hardly mattered, but it would delay his plans and anything else.
Still, that pirate Jack Sparrow had to be somewhere. He had searched the ground several times and... the ground! That was it. They must be-
Luxord was taken out of his own thoughts a second later. Another dark portal opened up next to him. It was Saix.
“Xemnas is calling for you. He wanted to see results, not your fooling around here. You will return immediately Luxord,” Saix said with his usual cold attitude and waited for Luxord to open his own portal.
They wouldn't run. They couldn't run. Those Keybladers were doomed. There was no escape.
Opening his own gate to the path of darkness, Luxord looked a last time around, mentally swearing that he would get his revenge and fun, and then left through the darkness.
Saix left shortly after. Xemnas had been very displeased. Not a single heart had been collected since Luxord started his mission and over two weeks had went by. He would be lucky if the Superior only punished him.
Xigbar was sitting on a balcony, far above the crosspoint of the dark paths the Organization had used to build their headquarters around. Luxord would appear any moment. Saix never took too long to finish his missions. Unlike Luxord, Saix didn't play and fool around, he came right to the point all the time. That was the reason Xigbar couldn't use him.
A dark portal, it was the gambler indeed, appeared on the platform, and a troubled looking Luxord came right out of it.
Xigbar lost no time and teleported down, next to the blonde. There was no saying what would happen to him when the Superior found out that Luxord had been fooling around with some humans. The man with the eye-patch had his own spies on the back of every Organization member. Xemnas's goal surely was important, but there were things beneath that. And Xemnas didn't see that. Marluxia had taken the wrong approach and acted too soon.
“I need to speak with you.” Xigbar was unusually friendly. He never talked much to most of the members.
“What do you want Xigbar? The Superior is waiting for me and I'd rather not have him waiting longer than necessary,” Luxord was torn between listening and just walking away. If Xigbar wanted to talk, it had to be important.
“I know of your little, let me say, dispute with the Keybladers. I have a bill with one of them too. Xemnas might be right about collecting the hearts, but we can't endanger the Organization. Look at what happened to Marluxia and his pawns. They're not a force to leave aside like this.”
Xigbar had his points. It was true, the Keybladers themselves weren't the real problem. If the whole group of those pests from Hollow Bastion would attack them again, it could well cost him his life. Luxord decided to listen to what the scar face had to say.
“I had insight in some of the studies of Xemnas's Somebody.” That came out of the blue. Luxord didn't even know who Xemnas's Somebody was. Xigbar really knew what he was doing if he found out that much.
“So? Anything interesting? A new kind of card game maybe, that you talk to me?” Luxord had to stay guarded. Whatever Xigbar was suggesting, if he was doing it behind the back of the Superior, it was very dangerous.
“You know how we're created, don't you.” Xigbar slowly walked around him, almost literally whispering poison for Luxord's mind. He couldn't resist the urge to know, and Xigbar apparently knew it.
“Of course I do. I don't have to be reminded of that by the likes of you,” Luxord responded rather unpleased.
“So, I assume you're also aware that most of your physical abilities are taken from our somebodies. The books I've read so far affirmed that.”
Xigbar was avoiding the main point like a mouse the trap. But he still wanted the cheese, and in this case, Luxord had fallen right into the trap.
“What is your point? I already know that much. We all do. Zexion didn't research Nobodies for nothing.” The gambler was starting to get annoyed. By now, he could already have meet Xemnas and finished his report.
“What do you think would happen if one of those Hollow Bastion plagues would create a Nobody? Or even better, one of the Keybladers?”
Luxord could literally feel Xigbar smiling. It was a disgusting and abhorrent feeling. It wasn't right to smile with that face. But indeed, what would happen to them?
“If they can fight us at equal level as humans, imagine how powerful their Nobodies could be. Xemnas's plan might be to of great importance to us, but what after we accomplished that task? What beyond that? Wouldn't we need to strive for even greater power?” Xigbar continued.
For a moment, Luxord could smell the reek of malice and betrayal. But what Xigbar said infiltrated his head, confused his thoughts. Yes, what was beyond that point?
“But how do you want to make them into Nobodies? It isn't so simple. I assume you've already thought on something, don't you?”
He was interested. Yes, this could prove to be the greatest game ever. This wasn't betraying Xemnas like Marluxia attempted to. This was much better.
Xigbar's thoughts were roaring in laughter. He hadn't even told Luxord that the Nobody of one of those Keybladers should theoretically be able to wield a Keyblade. There was no need to rely on enemy force to have their plan succeed. It was so simple, yet, Xemnas hadn't given it the benefit of a thought. Or did he simply don't know?
“Just having their hearts stolen by a Heartless won't work. What if the body is taken away too? Nothing left to form their Nobody? But whatever the Somebody of the Superior studied, he came up with a experimental way to create artificial Heartless. I just looked into that and used some of Zexion's old records and I found something very interesting.”
Xigbar's smile wasn't just disgusting anymore. It was shining with disaster and chaos, and for a split second, the gambler was scared of this man.
“What did you find Xigbar?”
He couldn't supress the urge to ask. It was impossible. Not after all Xigbar had said.
“Heartless and Nobodies are both created by and from humans and their heart. The process to create a Heartless is easy. The process for a lesser Nobody just as much. But what we're longing for is a method to create high level Nobodies of those people.”
Again, he avoided the question, rambling on with some secret knowledge he gained. But whatever Xigbar said, it made sense to Luxord. His thoughts were poisoned by this game, the risk, the tension and the possible outcome. It was all in the air.
“What now, if I would hold the knowledge to create a high level Nobody from someone's body without involving the Heartless in the process”
For a moment, Luxord's thoughts stopped. It took him a moment to comprehend the possible options such knowledge would bare.
“I still need to test the process, but anyone of considerable power will suffice. Bring me one of them,” Xigbar emitted in this moment the same aura the superior had. There was a clear difference in power between them, but Luxord couldn't refuse this temptation.
“Soon,” he answered.
Minutes later, trying to disguise any excitement, Luxord walked straight into Xemnas's private quarters. The superior was standing right in the middle of the hall, his face digress from the gambler.
He didn't feel the need to kneel or anything. His plans in that world were about to add up, and if he told Xemnas that he was right in time, then-
He couldn't finish his thoughts. Immediately when he stopped walking, the superior had shoot a ball of energy against his chest, sending him flying across the whole hall.
“I could be wrong, but didn't I assign you the mission to bring chaos to a world and collect more hearts, Luxord?” Xemnas was obviously very displeased.
“And that I did. The hearts will come soon, more than you could ever imagine, Superior. My plan is about to enter it's final phase. That world will provide us with a never seen amount of hearts, and I even got all three of the Keyblader trapped-” Luxord was disrupted again.
Xemnas had hit him, smashed Luxord against a wall, robbing him his breath.
“I had ordered you to collect hearts, not play games. You will bring me hearts immediately Luxord. I will not tolerate failure.”
With that said, he let the man go, turning around, repeating his warning.
“I will not tolerate failure.”
Slowly walking away, vanishing into the shadows of his private quarters, his gaze flew up to the ever pitch black sky. Soon, his plan would succeed.
Luxord was angry by all means. Even though he knew the Superior had him let off easily, it had been unnecessary to punish him.
All this was the fault of that man. That pirate. And those girls. He would get his revenge. Soon, very soon.
“It will be a game good enough to die for.”
The last words echoed through the room.
“Good enough to die for.”
He didn't know that there was someone else that was playing games.
---Valiant Hearts---
“This has proven most useful. And it is just the peak of the pile. I need to know more... much more.”
The room was Zexion's former laboratory. There were notes and records laying everywhere. His latest research had been the about the very nature of the Nobodies' self. Where they came from, how they came to exist, the rumor of the unflawed Nobody, where they went to when their existence faded and much more.
There was one piece of information that was most useful. No, it was even beyond it. If it was true what there was written, they already held the key to unlimited power in their hands.
Reiterating the words out loud once, he looked at the record, asking himself if there was a limit to being lucky.
“A Nobody doesn't die. He only fades.”
End of Chapter IX
Author note: I'm looking for someone that's gifted with Art design and photoshop or some other CG program. If one of you would happen to be experienced with such things, I'd like you to message me on fanfiction.net.
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