Rise of the Shadows -
The Longest Day
“Hyaa! Meteordive!” Tifa jumped from a scaffolding and slammed her fist into the ground, which simultaneously caused an explosion right around her that inflicted massive damage to the fire-spewing Heartless.
It was time the others caught up. Leon and Kairi were holding their own, but they were more suited to combat that only targeted one enemy. Not this.
It was more than just an invasion. Right in the middle of the district was a gigantic hole in the ground—the world's barrier to the darkness. Heartless were crawling out of it at an alarming rate. Merlin was occupied with holding up the barrier of light they had erected over the district to prevent the rest of the town from becoming infested with the dark creatures. They needed Aerith and Naminè, who had fallen behind. Their magics could cause heavy area damage.
Tifa was just a few meters away from Leon, who had used lightning magic to extend his sword to thrice its length so that he could kill dozens of Heartless with each swing. But there was no end to this. Not only was there a legion of Heartless, but they were fairly high-grade, too. For each one he killed, two took the first one's place. Leon's legs were injured and his left shoulder had taken some damage. Tifa was just as bad—both arms, hands, and legs were covered with cuts and scratches, and there were two cuts on her left cheek. Tifa was too reckless in fighting, but that was usually okay because of Aerith's powerful protection and curative magic. Leon was…well, Leon. He tried not to overdo it, but he wasn't as quick as Tifa.
Kairi had taken the least damage. As she took Oathkeeper in both hands, Kairi made a wide jump, landing right behind a batch of quick but weak Heartless. She turned instantly around, using the momentum to cut all of them into two. They dissolved quickly, but others took their place just as fast.
“Fira!” Kairi shot a series of fireballs right at them, killing them just as they appeared.
The three were in big trouble if reinforcements didn't arrive soon.
“Leon! Kairi! Get away, I'm going wild for a bit!” Tifa yelled as she jumped back on the scaffolding and made for a half-finished staircase.
They had to close the hole in the ground, even if they had to destroy a few houses to do it. Tifa was wheezing and panting heavily. She had been the first to arrive, being the fastest of them all, and she had crashed right into the masses of Heartless. She had taken down a few big ones with extreme force, punching right through their bodies. Thank God the Heartless dissolved into darkness rather than bleed.
Leon had already evacuated, knowing well that standing in the way when Tifa went crazy was all but suicide. Kairi was following him, having made her way onto the rooftops of mostly finished houses, evading the ground that was swarming with the evil beasts. Suddenly, a good two hundred feet away, a pillar of light shot up from the ground and a immense explosion followed, basically turning everything to dust.
Aerith was there. Naminè must be too. Kairi was worried about her and she changed course, heading to the location of the magicians. They were absolutely necessary and much more important than single combat fighter types in this situation. Kairi would play the role of protector. Even the best wizard wasn't immune to their own magic.
“Shield!” Aerith shouted, erecting a magic barrier right around Naminè's body. The girl was still inexperienced in massive fights like these and she was having a hard time, but even Aerith was amazed at these numbers. It wasn't normal by any means. The previous Ultima had drained a lot of magic power from her, but it had taken hundreds of Heartless with it. As she used the time to recover a bit and refresh their protective spells, Aerith had Naminè prepare an Eidolon. Usually, she never allowed it, but the situation was grave. If the whole district was infested this badly, they had little choice but to completely level it to the ground.
“…and thy power, o Lord of Inferno, grant upon me to destroy who stands before me…” Naminè used the exact recitation Aerith had given her. That would prevent Ifrit from going out of control and destroying his master with everything else. In the worst case, Aerith would counter-summon Shiva, but she hoped it wouldn't come to that. She had to keep up her protective magic to prevent them from being fried as well.
Kairi had almost reached the place Aerith and Naminè were holding their ground when the air started to feel heavy. She stopped for a second, and looking back, she saw the rooftop of a building still under construction was glowing with a bright light.
“Always over the top…” Kairi muttered, and started running as fast as she could. She had to get somewhere safe on the ground before Tifa unleashed her power. She was a good deal away, but the shock wave could cause some of the buildings to crash down. Kairi was just too familiar with what was coming. To make it all worse, Aerith and Naminè seemed to be up to something big as well. Kairi would be caught between them.
It was raw chaos. While Tifa was at the center, preparing for a big attack, Kairi was running over the rooftops towards Aerith and Naminè, not only to support them but also to warn them of Tifa's attack. All the while, the two magicians themselves were about to unleash a huge spell.
Aerith was prepared to summon Shiva in case something happened now. Naminè spoke the last words of the recitation, and in the ground, a hole opened up and a stream of fire blew out of it. A horned, fire-breathing beast with yellow skin and red fur escaped from the hell of flames, floating in mid-air.
“Destroy them!” Naminè commanded, pointing at the approaching mass of darkness. As if to accept her command, Ifrit breathed out a large gush of fire and, raising his paws, gained momentum until he finally crashed in the middle of the mass, causing an inferno of flames that set the whole area on fire. The Heartless were gone, and half of the plaza they were in was burning.
Kairi was blinded by the sudden brightness of the flames but made her way safely down. She landed right behind Aerith, who turned around, her staff pointed at Kairi—ready to unleash a powerful spell at any time.
“Take cover! Tifa's doing that!” Kairi warned, but it was too late.
Everything went silent. It was like something was sucking away all noise. Then, the world stopped. It seemed to take an eternity, but it happened in seconds. In the center of the district something exploded. It was roughly the size of an Ultima explosion. Then the addendum of the act followed. The shock wave was so strong that it knocked all three of them over, blowing away the smaller Heartless. Tifa had just blown the center of the district to smithereens.
“I always tell her not to use Final Heaven! Last time she almost got herself killed,” Aerith complained, standing up. “We've got to save her now.”
The streets were still swarming with Heartless, but they all seemed to be heading towards the cause of the explosion now. Kairi knew about the weak points of these battles, and the three of them made fast progress to the place of the explosion. At the very center of it was Tifa, bleeding heavily from her arms and legs but still fighting the Heartless that were trying to kill her.
Kairi knew what they had to do now. As she took Naminé's hand, she looked around. Heartless were streaming in from six different streets to this center. If they could hold this ground, it would prove tactically useful. The place where the hole had been was blocked by enormous fragments of the buildings that had previously surrounded it. It was like a gigantic crater instead of a plaza now. They had to save Tifa and then get out of there.
“Stay with me, Naminè,” Kairi said, and made a horizontal slash right above Naminè's head, cutting apart a Heartless. “I will protect you. Aim for the streets. The Heartless concentrate at these. Magic will prove extremely useful. Don't use fire, they're resistant. Ifrit worked, but weaker magic won't.”
With a nod, Naminè prepared for several spells of recitation magic. If Kairi protected her, she didn't need to rely on instant casting magic. The stronger, the better for now.
Kairi danced around Naminè, slashing the crawling Heartless on the ground, cutting away the legs of the bigger ones, finishing them with ice magic and beheading them. She would only last so long. They had to end this quickly.
“Pass judgment on those that rebel against order!” Naminè fired a lightning bolt right at the entrance of a street, causing the walls to crumble and crash down on the Heartless, blocking the way for any more. “Rage of the Divine!” Another one missed the critical point this time, only turning dozens of Heartless to ash.
Aerith was holding off any Heartless that targeted Tifa, and there were a lot. Using high-grade magic like Icega and Boltga continuously was wearing even her out over time.
“We need to get out of here. No sense wasting our energy fighting these Heartless from all sides at once,” Tifa said, kneeling right beside Aerith as she let the curative spell do its work. No magic could heal instantaneously, and even Aerith was no exception to that.
Even Kairi was starting to see to see how pointless it was. Sure, if they could hold this wide space it would allow them to use vastly destructive attacks on spots where the Heartless were concentrated, causing maximum damage with minimum cost. But what sense did it make to continuously fight off Heartless if they couldn't seal the source of them?
“Kairi! Aerith! We're retreating from this place. The barrier is still up and Merlin will be able to keep it up a bit longer. We need to regroup. I have no idea were Cid is and Tifa is in no condition to fight.” Leon had jumped down from a rooftop, right in the middle of the space between Kairi's group and Aerith's group. “Get out of here now!” he shouted. He and spun around, taking care of a few approaching Heartless.
Kairi had a deep cut on her right cheek and some minor ones on arms and legs, mostly scratches. Only Aerith and Naminè were basically uninjured thanks to Aerith's shield magic, but even that was only physically. They were exhausted, and if this went on, they would break down soon.
“We're leaving!” Kairi said, dematerializing Oathkeeper and picking up Naminè. “Keep Monochrome. If something attacks us, I need you to blast it off. I'll carry you out of here—it's the only way. The streets are blocked by the masses of Heartless,” Kairi explained while already carrying Naminè as they made their way up to the roof. The ground trembled below them, but that was nothing new. Kairi couldn't afford to look what caused it, but it was probably Tifa or one of Aerith's major spells.
The air suddenly froze. That was too sudden and severe, even if Aerith had summoned Shiva. Looking back, Kairi's eyes went wide in shock. The Heartless, now freely moving through the crater, had started to merge. Slowly but surely, a gigantic Darkside giant was rising. It was already towering over the buildings that had survived the blasts.
“Shit, that thing won't even notice Merlin's barrier!” Kairi stopped on the roof of a half-collapsed building. “We need to take it out right here.” She looked over at Aerith and Tifa, who were on the other side. They seemed to have noticed too. Leon was on a high-up balcony in between. He signalized an attack. They had to take this thing out. If it got away, the Heartless could spread all over Hollow Bastion. “Naminè, can you still fight?”
“I'm okay,” Naminè answered honestly, and took a deep breath. “But I don't think my spells will have much effect on a thing this size…” Aerith had taught her well. She knew that it was important to use every opportunity to regain some of her magic power in order to lessen the burden on her mind. Having Kairi with her helped a great deal, but even so, she wasn't nearly as powerful as Aerith. “What is that?”
Kairi looked at the situation. Leon seemed to be concentrating on something. He was strong and had a few special moves of his own, but they all needed some preparation time. Aerith seemed to be preparing for something big as well, as did Tifa. They were relatively safe on the roofs, but they would have to divert the attention of the Darkside to successfully destroy the gate.
“Naminè, I know you shouldn't use it, but try to use a lightning recitation summoning. Aim it at the center of the crater. Just don't overdo it. I can't do much from here, I need that thing to go down before I can cause some real damage.” Kairi knew that it was asking too much, but they had no choice.
Naminè but nodded, took a deep breath, leaned over, and amidst all the fighting, kissed Kairi. “Helps me concentrate,” she said upon seeing Kairi's confused look. “Lightning…” Naminè knew three different entities of lighting to call upon. Ramuh was the weakest one, and by the size of this thing it probably wasn't enough with her magic potential. Something big…
Kairi started to use Fira spells, shooting at the Darkside. It seemed to have no effect other than burning a few Heartless away from its form. Good thing it was still taking shape and not completely finished. A Darkside was immensely powerful. Even if they were five against one, a single Darkside could multiply their troubles into heights never seen before.
“Beyond the clouds, in thy anger we bathe. Lord of Thunder, Voice of the Gods, hear my plea. To destroy those that do not wield thy power is my wish. Grant me thy power, o Master of Lighting. Descend, Adrammelech!”
Concentrating hard and somewhat at ease thanks to Kairi being with her, Naminè finished the summoning. Crumbs of stone started to bounce over the ground, and iron bars and girders located towards the center of the crater began to groan and bend. Was the spell going out of control? Kairi hope it wouldn't, as she was responsible for Naminè casting this.
Kairi was scared at the sight of what happened next. Small electric bolts started to emit from over the Darkside that crashed into nearby buildings, ripping holes in massive stone and ground. It seemed like an illusion or an image of blurred air, but Kairi could make out a ball of lightning floating right over the crater.
With a howl that went through bone, a lightning bolt so massive that it seemed like a beam crashed down from the ball, hitting the Darkside and splitting right through it until hitting the ground. The bolt raised a cloud of dust and dirt and was followed by an explosion. By the time the dirt cloud vanished, they could see the results of their doings. The Darkside was still there. It was only slightly damaged. It wasn't that the summoning had been unsuccessful, it was just Naminè not having enough power to actually call upon such a powerful being.
Looking around, Aerith was still preparing, but Tifa was missing. Searching for her with wild looks, Kairi spotted her jumping over the roofs to the place where Leon was. What was she planning to do? Leon was apparently still concentrating. Naminè's spell had slowed down the Darkside, but would it be enough time? Tifa passed Leon. Was she heading over here? They had caused the summoning of Volt—was she here to scold them? In this situation? Now? That was impossible.
“It's coming!” Naminè shouted, taking cover. A gigantic black claw, easily five times the size of an adult, was reaching for them, trying to grab and crush them. Kairi had fought one of these things before and she knew that even they felt pain. Making a huge jump, Kairi slashed furiously at the fingers of the beast in mid-air. With a brutal stab, Kairi plunged Oathkeeper into the top of the claw of the beast, where it stuck.
The beast whined out in pain, taking back its claw with Kairi still attached to it. Taking out Oathkeeper, Kairi started to run over the arm of the monster. It was almost as wide as a small street. When she reached the shoulder, before the beast could react, Kairi jumped and rammed Oathkeeper in the eye of the thing, causing it to bend its back in pain. It furiously began to shake its head, and Kairi couldn't keep her grip on Oathkeeper and was thrown off.
Tifa made a huge jump from one of the roofs, grabbing Kairi's arm in mid-air and pulling the Keyblader with her. They landed on a broken balcony, and Tifa immediately forced Kairi with her by not letting go of her and instead jumping back up to the roof.
“Idiot! What if I hadn't caught you?!” Tifa yelled angrily.
“I knew you would! I calculated your position from your running speed. You were in the perfect position to catch me,” Kairi answered, closing her eyes and moving her face away from Tifa. “Come!” she suddenly shouted.
Oathkeeper vanished from the eye of the Darkside that was going wild from the pain and appeared in her hand. “What are the others doing?” Kairi asked the fighter.
“Aerith is going with a full force Ultima. It should damage that monstrosity a lot. Leon, I don't know, but he could go for that, you know,” Tifa answered, and added, “I already used a Final Heaven earlier. I don't have the energy left for another. I can go close combat with it when it goes down from the Ultima. I trust you to come with me. Naminè can support us from here.” Tifa wasn't dumb either. She had a lot of experience fighting and she knew the abilities of everyone well.
With a quick look around, Kairi decided it would be wise to get back to Naminè ASAP, and Tifa followed her. After a big jump, Kairi took another quick look around, this time to the ground. It was crawling with Heartless. Falling down there meant certain doom.
“Kairi, are you okay?” Naminè came running up to her, worried.
“Down!” Kairi shouted, unable to answer the magician's question. She lay down on the roof, pulling Naminè with her. Since Kairi never gave such commands without good reason, Tifa did the same just seconds later. The electricity in the air was making the hairs on her neck were standing up, which meant Aerith must've really been giving it her all.
For in the blink of an eye, another roof shimmered with green light, and a pillar of the same green light flew towards the Darkside. The pillar went right through it, taking half of its upper body and its entire right arm with it. Tifa could see Aerith on her knees when the light vanished.
“I knew Aerith was strong, but that was crazy…” Kairi said, looking over to where Aerith was. From the corner of her eye, she noticed something else. Leon.
“Blasting Zone!” Leon yelled, raising his gunblade up. Seconds later an energy ray emitted from it, slowly forming a pillar that was at least six feet in diameter. As he jumped to a lower level, taking the pillar with him, Leon aimed his sword down, which effectively leveled two houses that stood in the way as he moved the beam horizontally. Seconds later it cut through the legs of the Darkside, making it fall over. Darkness dispersed from the cut-off part, as if it were disintegrating. Leon didn't lose any time and pushed forward, jumping onto the cut-off parts, making his way to the upper body of the beast.
“Kairi, now is our chance to take that thing down!” Tifa shouted, and when Kairi turned to look she was already gone
With a dangerous jump, she landed right on the ground and made a sprint to where Leon was, reaching the upper parts even before him. Another powerful jump later, Tifa was face-to-face with the monster and violently ramming her fist in the wound Kairi had caused earlier. Leon, meanwhile, was hacking away at the deadly wound the Ultima had left.
Kairi was the last to arrive, but her attacks had the biggest effect since a Keyblade was essentially an anti-Heartless weapon. Ramming Oathkeeper into the body of the Darkside, Kairi slowly made her way up. The Heartless on the ground were assembling, trying to repair the damage caused by the group, but they weren't fast enough.
Kairi finally reached the upper part of the Darkside where Leon was. They would need to unleash one fatal attack to kill this thing, and Kairi already knew how.
“Tifa!” Kairi shouted, and the fighter left her position to join Kairi. “Throw me. I'll finish this!”
Without complaint, Tifa stretched out her arm, standing before Kairi. The redhead jumped on her arm and Tifa instantly started to spin. With a powerful swing, she shot Kairi up in the air high enough so that she was just on par with the head of the Darkside. It was time to finish this.
Using an attack she had named “Cascade” Kairi threw Oathkeeper right at the head of the Darkside. It completely submerged in the darkness. Still rising, Kairi closed her eyes and imagined her Keyblade while putting both hands to her heart. When she opened her eyes, she stretched out her right arm, grabbing air, holding nothing.
Starting to make seemingly wild and senseless moves, the Darkside started to run amok. In an extreme frenzy, it started to hit everything in its way. Tifa tried to get away but got hit. She crashed into a nearby building, walls collapsing behind her. Leon was forced to withdraw.
Kairi landed on the ground, gritting her teeth from the pain of the impact. But she had to swallow the urge to yell out and give in to the pain and start to run, to get away.
The Darkside was collapsing, releasing countless Heartless as it started to break into parts. It was time to get out of there. Kairi managed to get to where Tifa was. The black-haired woman was bleeding heavily but managed to stand on her own. When she looked up, Kairi spotted Aerith who had Naminè with her. Seeing her made Kairi let her guard down for a second, and suddenly a few Heartless that had approached were attacking them, leaving no time to block or counterattack. Trying to get away, Kairi's legs gave in to pain and she stumbled. But in the brink of an eye, a massive blade crushed the Heartless, saving both Tifa and Kairi.
“Cloud! What are you doing here?” Tifa was amazed. The eccentric man wasn't known to care about this world or anything at all if it wasn't related to Sephiroth. Kairi used the chance to stand up and take a breather. Cloud was a formidable fighter. Stronger than Leon but more of a brute and less of a tactician, he was more than an equal match to their leader.
“If this world falls to the darkness, I will be back to nothing on my search for Sephiroth. I know he is in this world somewhere. I will not watch it vanish,” Cloud said, violently crushing a few approaching Heartless. “Get out of here. You're in the way.”
“Thanks,” Kairi said, despite his rough comment, and started to run away with Tifa.
“We're regrouping at a point right outside the barrier, next to Marle's Garage. Don't get yourself killed, Cloud!” Tifa shouted as they left the guy with the blond spiky hair behind them.
Upon Kairi's funny look, Tifa sighed. “I don't care about him like that. But he is still an old friend. I don't want him to die or become a Heartless,” she explained, and started to run faster. Kairi didn't ask any more questions, also to preserve her breath. There were unusually few Heartless on the streets now, and it was a welcome gift, as they didn't have the energy to make it up to the roofs.
The ground suddenly shook violently, and both Kairi and Tifa hit the ground, unprepared for a quake of that magnitude. Looking back, Kairi went pale. Another Darkside was towering over the crushed buildings, trying to catch something in the air.
“Cloud is fighting it all alone,” Tifa said. With a flash of light, one of the arms of the Darkside was cut off, making the monster cry out in rage. Another quake. It seemed the monster was stomping on something. “That must be Leon.”
“Leave this to them, they're going to—” Kairi stopped. In the midst of all this chaos, Cid ran past her, carrying a lance and a bag. “We need to get out of here now,” she concluded. If Cid was involved, things always went straight to hell. And to make it worse, he could actually go all out here. Kairi was hoping he wouldn't blow up the entire district. He really had a fetish for dynamite and these things.
Without further comment, they made it out of the district. Passing the barrier was no problem. Since it made them feel a bit numb, it helped to actually lessened the pain they were feeling. Aerith and Naminè were already waiting for them.
“Kairi! Are you okay?” Naminè started running towards the other Keyblader as soon as she saw her. Hugging her on reflex, Kairi had to grit her teeth from the pain. “I'm sorry! I'll heal you right away. Aerith is busy healing Tifa, so I'll do it.” Naminè led Kairi to a bench and had her sit down.
It was obvious how tired Naminè was. She was pale and sweating, even though it was cold. How long had this attack been going on? The sun was already rising on the the horizon. Would they win this battle? There seemed no end to the Heartless.
Naminè used a curative spell on Kairi. The pain rose up as injuries were forcefully closed and made Kairi almost pass out. Naminè's magic was much rougher than usual, but that was to be expected. She had been using it for almost two hours now.
“I'm sorry, but this is all I can do…” Naminè apologized and took a deep breath, holding her forehead. It was the worst she had ever felt. Not even when she had misused Celsius had she felt this bad. Was this the same sort of battles Kairi had been through in the past? Naminè finally started to understand a little why she had trained so hard. It was a war they could only win if every one of them gave it their best.
“Don't worry, you did fine,” Kairi said, and pulled Naminè close. The battle was still going on. Every now and then, they could hear explosions and the angry growl of the Darkside Cloud and Leon were fighting against. Everyone was doing everything they could. But who was leading these Heartless? Who had cut a hole in the barrier of the world? Who had the power to do that? Kairi could only think of Ansem, but he was dead. So who…?
“Can I lean onto you for a bit?” Naminè asked, not sure if it was okay because Kairi was hurt. “I want to close my eyes just for a moment…” the magician said, and looked on the ground. Before she knew it, Kairi had pulled her over and forced her to lie down on her lap.
“Sure. My shoulder hurts, but this is fine. Try to rest a bit.” Kairi was too tired to be embarrassed about this. She knew it was the best for Naminè to rest as much as possible. Aerith, too, was leaning back on Tifa as they sat on the ground. She was apparently asleep, or at least looking like it.
“Close your eyes. I'll watch out for you,” Kairi said as nicely as she could. Her shoulder still hurt, and the curative magic made it a lot worse. Faster regeneration didn't mean less pain. It was the opposite. The stronger the healing magic, the stronger the pain that came with it. But it was a necessary thing in times like these.
---Valiant Hearts---
“Hey hey hey!” Cid shouted, piercing the approaching black hand of the Darkside. It was a lost battle without a Keyblader, but both of them were too tired or injured to fight right now. Cid, Cloud, and Leon had to destroy this thing without their help, but it seemed to regenerate just as fast as they caused damage. Without summoning magic or some extreme attacks, they just didn't have enough power. Cid was busy running around the Darkside, placing something here, something there, preparing for something big.
“This thing is through,” Cloud said to Leon. Both of them were standing back to back, surrounded by Heartless that had spawned off the Darkside. Leon was exhausted, but Cloud still had some energy left in him.
“You can go home if you want, old man!” Cloud mocked Leon and made a push right in the rows of the Heartless, ferociously crushing, slaying everything that approached him, touched him.
He had tasted the power of the Heartless. He had once made a pact with Hades, and some of the darkness still remained inside him. He knew no fear, not anymore. These were just weaklings. But even so, they were infinite in their numbers, steadily spawning more. What in the world was Cid doing? He had asked them to hold out for a while, to keep this monster busy, but what in the world…?
“It's coming, and you're going to regret the 'old man'!” Leon shouted. He made a run for it, used a nearby wall fragment that had fallen down to catapult himself on top of the giant's hand, and hacking away on its fingers, causing the massive Heartless to withdraw its arm. While Leon was still on top of it, he concentrated for a second and used the same lightning magic as before to enlarge his sword. With a powerful jump and an even more powerful stab, he rammed his sword to the hilt into the chest of the Heartless. “Now!”
Cloud was standing on a roof, waiting for the right moment to strike. Cloud now unleashed a series of rays from his sword, all of them hitting on the same height Leon was on but on the other side of the wide chest of the Darkside. It was too much for the Heartless and it lost its balance, falling down. Once it crashed down on the ground. Leon immediately withdrew. Whatever Cid had planned, it was now his turn. Cloud took shelter behind a pile of iron bars, while Leon hid behind a wall fragment on the ground. Cid pulled a trigger from his pocket and looked at the Darkside. It was in a perfect position.
“Go to hell!” Cid yelled, and pushed the button, before immediately jumping and hiding behind a large piece of steel.
First came the explosion, powerful enough to turn everything in the at least two-hundred-foot crater to ash, then the shock wave, which shook ground and everything else alike. When the enormous dust cloud vanished, the crater had gained even more depth. It was easily twenty feet deep now, and the ground was still burning. Some of the buildings nearby had been turned to dust, leveled to the ground. The main problem was still at hand. The hole in the world's barrier was still there. Kairi and Naminè needed to lock that, but would they be able to? It wasn't just any Keyhole.
“Retreat!” Leon shouted. He had several burns on his arms, legs and face, but he managed to keep running. Cloud managed to burst out from the couple of rocks he had been buried under, amazingly following Leon's order. Even he had his limits, and this never-ending fight was just stupid to continue. Cid had been running long before Leon ordered to retreat.
The Heartless would take some time to build the next Darkside. It was apparently their clear intent to do so. They were already gathering in the very same spot. It was kind of unnatural, though, as usually the Heartless didn't tactically aim for such things. They were too primitive for this. Someone had to be pulling the strings in the shadows. But who had the power to do this?
---Valiant Hearts---
“The barrier still stands, and thanks to Cid's machine, whatever it's called…”
“It's the MAM, Magic Amplifier Module, you…” Cid interrupted Leon and patted his machine. It allowed Merlin to use just a minimum amount of magic to achieve the same result as before. This way they could keep the barrier up for extended periods of time.
“Yes, whatever. Thanks to this thing, we can plan our next attack. The Heartless will probably need some more time to form another Darkside, but we can't afford to sit around for too long.”
Leon continued his speech. Everyone was exhausted and resting in front of the barrier. They had been supplied with food from Maria, who worked for a bakery. The sun was up by now, which meant more than four hours had passed since the alarm. The whole town was in a state of emergency, but it was under control, thanks to Merlin and Cid and the ones that destroyed the two Darksides.
“We need to seal that hellhole. Despite whatever caused it, Kairi and Naminè should be able to close it. A Keyblade can close and open any lock. I believe it will work.” Tifa spoke up, trying to stand, but Aerith pulled her back down. She wasn't allowed to walk around for now. They had to use every moment to rest so they would be be in as good a shape as possible.
“I was thinking the same,” Leon said. “We're in deep trouble if we can't close it. I really wish Olette and Yuffie were here. They would be really helpful right now. But there's no use whining about it. We'll split into two teams. Cloud, Cid, Tifa, and I will form one team. Kairi, Naminè, and Aerith will form another. Aerith, it's your job to ensure they get through. We will open a path for you, and if there is a Darkside, we will take it down, or at least keep it busy until you seal the portal. That's all,” Leon told everyone.
Nobody complained, not even Cloud. Amazingly, he was still present, silently chewing some bread in a corner as he leaned on his sword that he had rammed into the ground.
Aerith and Tifa were still where they had been the last hour, leaning back on back on the ground. It was pretty obvious that Tifa had the same effect on Aerith as Kairi had on Naminè. Kairi could only guess how complicated the mind of a pure spellcaster was, but having their loved ones right next to them probably put them at emotional ease.
Naminè was sleeping on Kairi's lap, and it was good that way. Kairi would wake her up some time before they attacked. She would need to eat something.
Cid was doing some maintenance on the machine. It would allow Merlin to take a break. He had been holding up the barrier for the entire time now. Countless Heartless were crawling near the borders, trying to escape, but it was pointless.
Nobody was in good shape except Cid, but he had been up for far over twenty-four hours now. He could screw up. Leon did trust him, but it was a risk, one he had to take. Leon himself was sitting down, his back to a wall, watching.
Tifa was pretty bad—injured all over the place. Aerith's curative magic was strong, but even so, it was only accelerating the process. No instantaneous healing. Kairi was only slightly injured and given the situation, in pretty good condition. Naminè would probably be fine after taking a nap.
Aerith, however, seemed beyond exhausted. She wasn't in any condition to fight. Leon had put her into Kairi's team so she only had to protect them from random Heartless, not fight the big mobs. Cloud…well, he didn't seem too bad, but who knew what was up with him. Leon didn't especially care for his well-being.
Beyond just stopping this attack was the question of where it had come from and what to do to prevent this from happening again. Just from the look of it, the Heartless were locals to the world of Agrabah, but for the past year, there had been no sign of any major Heartless showing up. And disrupting and breaking a world's barrier was no small feat. Something big was behind this.
Leon made his way over to where Kairi was sitting with Naminè on her lap. “I need to speak to you. It's about this attack.”
It was an order. He would question, she would answer. Kairi was a Keyblader, but Leon was the one making the decisions. “These are clearly locals to Agrabah from what info we have from the past. Can you think of anyone having the power to do this?”
Kairi sighed. She knew someone who could do that. “A wizard named Jafar. He became a genie through the power of another genie. I sealed him in his lamp and hid it in ruins far outside the town. Nobody could have found it. Even so, Aladdin, a local guy that helped me out back there, promised to check on the hideout from time to time.” It was pretty obvious from this that Jafar had been freed. Nobody but an almost almighty genie could open a hole in a world's barrier towards the darkness.
“How are we going to deal with a genie? It'll be difficult to seal him into his lamp again. And from what I know, a genie is a multitude stronger than anything we know, including Eidolons. I will need more details after this. Try to rest for now. I need you in top condition,” Leon concluded, and walked back to his spot. “A genie. I will need to ask Merlin about this later.” Closing his eyes and laying a hand on his forehead, he got lost in his thoughts.
“Wake up. Naminè. Wake up.” Kairi was gently shaking the blond girl, trying to wake her up. She had to eat something before their next attack began. There was no telling when the next Darkside was ready, and no barrier of this world could hold a Heartless of that format. They had to hurry.
“What…!” Naminè was wide awake. She suddenly remembered what was happening, and only now noticed that she had fallen asleep.
Kairi handed her some bread and water. Even Naminè understood that this wasn't the time to fool around, and that they needed to concentrate on what they had to do. Taking the food, she spent the next few minutes chewing and collecting her thoughts. She felt much better than before the break, but she still wasn't top condition. And the inside of the barrier seemed worse than ever. The border of the barrier was a black mass with eyes and antennas. Terrifying.
“Listen!” Leon made his next move. “We will lower the power of the barrier on the borders. That'll make the Heartless try to escape. We have placed numerous members of the town militia around the district. They will fight and destroy whatever escapes. We need to decimate their numbers before we attempt to clear a path, and this is the only way without making it a suicide mission. I don't like it, but we don't have any other choice. We will commence our attack five minutes after we lower the barrier, so keep yourself on stand-by. Form your teams. I don't want to see any causalities.”
Kairi was always amazed when she heard Leon like this. His experience seemed to be from real battles. He came up with the plan of using the militia to decimate the Heartless that had amassed on the barrier's border and also had personally placed each single one of them. There were eight people on the small area where the Keyblader group had rested. Kairi only knew four of them. The other four were unknown faces to her. With three women and five men, it was a close match-up of magician and defender.
“Commence!” Leon shouted, and the message was relayed by others. The attack begun. The barrier's light-blue field lost considerable power, and countless Heartless started flowing out of it. The militia engaged them at once, firing bolts of magic and projectiles at the burn points where the Heartless density was extremely high. Kairi had to suppress the urge to go and help them.
She had another job to do. Each minute seemed to take an eternity to pass. More than often, the Heartless reached the militia members, and the defender had to protect the magician. It was already a fierce battle. They had to put an end to this before too many got hurt or died. There were no causalities yet, but given the numbers of the enemy, and the little experience the militia had, it was only a question of time.
Kairi watched Leon closely, waiting for the signal, and it eventually came. Summoning Oathkeeper and Monochrome, both girls joined Aerith and started to run. Cid was in front, throwing explosives to all sides. The district was already a mess, so nobody even cared anymore. The Heartless suffered massive causalities, and everything that took the place of its predecessor was eliminated by Leon, Cloud, and Tifa. Kairi felt horrible for just running after them, barely fighting. But she and Naminè were the only ones capable of closing the portal to darkness.
Slamming her fist in a nearby wall, Tifa smashed the outer wall of an half-collapsed building, which crushed hundreds of Heartless that were swarming below and inside the wreck.
“There's no end to this!” Tifa yelled, and took a quick look around. Heartless were closing in from all sides, even though a lot of them were leaving the barrier continuously. The Keyblade must be the cause for that.
“Keep going!” Leon ordered, and cut apart a mass of darkness right on front of him. He ignored his injuries, as so did everyone else. They had to make it through or else they would never make it at all. If they had to wait again, the Heartless would become too many to beat. Now was their only chance to save Hollow Bastion.
Behind them was a massive mass of Heartless approaching. “Blizzaga!” Aerith was at her limit. While Leon and Cloud freed the way up ahead, Tifa and Cid were responsible for their flanks. Their back was totally open, and they were moving more slowly than they had intended. The situation was becoming worse every second. Aerith cast another spell of Blizzaga magic, destroying vast quantities of Heartless. Weren't they at the center yet?
More trouble was coming—unexpected trouble. Right in front of them a Darkside stepped in their path, blocking their way. Going around was suicide. They didn't even know which streets were still intact.
“Tifa, Keep going, Cloud, Cid and I will keep this one busy. You have to make it to the center. Go!” Leon yelled, using magic on his sword almost instantaneously and rushing towards the Darkside together with Cloud to cut apart its legs.
Cid was throwing explosives like a madman, and Leon had to withdraw for a moment when the Darkside got engulfed in a explosion. The shock wave of the dynamite almost knocked Naminè over, forcing Kairi to hold her.
“Come on!” Kairi didn't waste any time, nor did Tifa. Aerith was doing her best to keep their protection spells up, but she was worried about Leon, Cloud, and Cid. Would they stand against a Darkside? They had to. Even if they closed the gate, the Heartless wouldn't just vanish. They still had to exterminate every single one of them. It didn't seem like work they could finish.
Tifa was exhausted, wheezing and bleeding from several cuts and scratches. Her legs didn't want to carry her much further, but she forced herself to go on. It was a continuous fight. There was no break, she had literally to smash through waves of Heartless. But finally, there it was, the corner towards the center.
Buildings were towering to both sides, so they couldn't see how bad the situation was. A Keyblade could work from a distance, so the roofs were a safer place to be.
“Jump!” Tifa stretched out her arms. Naminè wasn't sure about this, but Kairi already followed Tifa's order and she too, jumped on Tifa's arm. The force of motion was so strong that she almost passed out when Tifa acted as catapult and shot them on top of the building. “Now it's up to them.”
Kairi was as pale as paper. The center of the district wasn't even a place of this world anymore. Two…three Darksides were just waiting for them. It was hopeless to take the time to close the portal if they were attacked by three of these giants at once. The first one had already noticed them—noticed the Keyblade. His black paw was reaching for the girls when something hit it. A massive energy beam flew right through it, impacting the Darkside behind, and the following explosion caused Kairi to take cover with Naminè.
“That was an Ultima, wasn't it?” Naminé asked. Aerith couldn't possibly have the power to cast another after all of this. What was she doing? Kairi nodded and looked around. It was their chance. The third Darkside was confused and the other two were on the ground, regenerating.
“Listen. Concentrate on the hole. Imagine it is a lock that snapped open. We need to close it. Monochrome was my Keyblade before, so we should be at least a bit synchronous. Now!” Kairi directed Oathkeeper at the huge black hole in the ground.
For seconds, nothing happened. She held it back. Monochrome joined Oathkeeper seconds later, and two rays of light shot through the darkness, impacting the gate. Closing a gate forcefully was extremely painful, Kairi knew that from the past. Holding Naminè tightly, she pulled her so close that they were standing as a unit. “Endure it!” Kairi pressed out between gritted teeth.
Slowly but surely, the portal was closing. But they weren't fast enough. The Darkside closest to them had finished regenerating and was about to attack them. If they canceled out now, they were done for. They wouldn't get another chance.
“Dammit!” Kairi yelled, closing her eyes. Something crashed, and the ground shook. But there was no pain. Opening her eyes, Kairi couldn't believe it. “Tifa!”
It was almost breaking her legs, and her arms were about to give in. She could only hold this for a while longer. She was past her limit. The pain of bones slowly breaking apart almost made her pass out. But she had to withstand it. Aerith was right behind her, kneeling on the ground, spitting blood. She had ignored her body's warnings and had used another Ultima. Her face was distorted in pain and Tifa seemed no better.
“Hurry!” she yelled, holding back the giant paw of the Darkside. The other paw was coming, and it would undeniably crush them if they didn't get away first.
Something hit the Darkside; its left arm fell to the ground. Amidst the darkness was Cloud, going completely out of control. As he slashing uncontrollably at anything and everything, the massive Heartless took massive damage. Another Darkside, the other one that had gotten caught up in the Ultima, was approaching. Just a little more. A little more time!
“Circle of Fates!” Leon was standing on the ground, surrounded by Heartless, creating a wave of fire and destruction that was burning away the legs of the second Darkside. It fell to the ground yet again, too wounded to get up. Heartless were jumping on him from all sides, and there was barely enough time to take care of whatever attacked him before two of its kind took it's place. He had to escape to higher ground.
The gate had shrunk considerably in size. It was a matter of seconds until it was closed. Blood was running from both Kairi's and Naminè's arms and foreheads. The pain was literally overwhelming. Kairi had a bad feeling and looked behind for a second. From their back, three more Darksides were approaching.
This was the end. Even if they finished this, there was no way left to escape. Surrounded by Heartless from all sides, exhausted and injured, no one had enough energy left to make their way back out.
With a hissing sound, the gate closed, and Kairi fell face first on the ground. Naminè sunk on her knees, unable to stand up. The situation was hopeless. How would they get out of this? Was this the end? Had they survived up until now just to be destroyed in a invasion of the Heartless? No. No! There was a way after all! Kairi remembered something important.
A Keyblade could open and close any lock.
Standing up, her whole body shaking and trembling, Kairi looked at Naminè. “Help me!”
Naminè blindly followed her command, managing to stand up, and waited for further instructions.
“Cross Monochrome with Oathkeeper. This place is more of a hoard of darkness than in our world. We should be able to open a gateway here.” With a nod, Naminè crossed her Keyblade in midair with Kairi's, waiting for something to happen.
Leon had reached higher ground, the roof next to the one Kairi and the others were on. They had to get out of here, but even he lacked a plan. He hadn't thought that it would be this severe to just close the gate, that the number of Heartless was this huge. It was his failure to have miscalculated this badly. He needed to get at least Kairi and Naminè to safety. They were the Keybladers. As he jumped over to the other roof, he saw the incredible.
In front of Kairi and Naminè had opened up a small portal, barely half the size of a normal one. It was big enough to get a human through, and it was their only chance. Thank God it was ground level. Pulling Aerith with her, Kairi managed to enter the portal. Naminè followed her inside.
“Tifa!” Kairi shouted. The fighter was down on her knees, unable to hold the giant paw any longer. It would crush her any second. In the second her arms gave in, something violently pulled on her left arm causing an intense wave of pain.
Leon had just made it past her and had pulled her with him, most likely breaking her arm. With a desperate jump, they made it into the portal.
“Where are Cid and Cloud?!” Kairi yelled.
“Cid escaped when he ran out of explosives earlier. Cloud…he won't come. Close the portal.” Leon was heavily injured. They weren't out of danger yet. As long as the portal was open, the Heartless could follow them.
“Fira!” Directing his gunblade out of the portal, Leon shot a fireball right upwards. It exploded a good thirty feet over the barrier, clearly visible for everyone in the area. “They will raise the barrier again. We need to get out of here, now!” Leon commanded.
Kairi directed Oathkeeper at the portal and closed it just seconds before the first Darkside crushed the entire building they had been standing on.
The path was icy, but it was a welcome difference from the cold of the battle with the Heartless. “The barrier won't hold the Darksides. No one can take them on now. We need to torch the entire place. Thank God the district was still under construction…” Leon said, lying on his back.
“We need…to get out of here…” Kairi pressed out. She felt sick. Locking such a huge gate both put a great deal mental and physical pain on a Keyblader. “Naminè, are you…no, you can't be okay. How are you feeling, can you stand?” Kairi managed to walk over to Naminè. Just as she reached the blond girl, the magician started to crawl to the edge of the path to vomit. Kneeling right beside her, Kairi petted her head.
Aerith had fallen unconscious on the rooftop after she had spat blood a few times. She would be bound in bed for some time. Tifa was lying on her back, trembling with pain. Her left leg was clearly broken. Taking a long strap of leather from her top, she tried to fix it up at least a bit. She had lost most of her feeling in her arms, but they didn't seem to be broken.
“You all did well…but Kairi is right, we need to get out of here.” Leon stood up, unstable on his own legs and still bleeding from countless wounds. He needed medical attention right away. “Kairi, can you help Naminè? Tifa, I will carry Aerith. You can lean on me.” Leon picked up the pink-clad woman and groaned in pain. Tifa declined Leon's offer and instead borrowed Kairi's Keyblade. Kairi had to concentrate only a little to keep it in its shape even in the hands of someone else. But using Oathkeeper as crutch…
Kairi carried Naminè on her back. After vomiting and spitting some blood, Naminè had passed out. It was the first time she had to do something like this. Kairi was more used to the physical pain so it was not surprising Naminè reacted the way she did. “It would've been easier if Olette had been here…” Kairi uttered. “I would be even grateful for Yuffie to be here now.”
Kairi sighed. It made her remember what happened before. She still didn't want to lose Olette.
---Valiant Hearts---
When the gate near the canyon opened, several people were waiting for them. Everyone was given immediate medical treatment, and Tifa was taken away to the hospital. Aerith was being checked by Rydia, who was the most potent magician in the healing arts in Hollow Bastion after Aerith. The magician seemed okay, but Rydia said that she would be unable to use any magic for a while. A little more, and the strain on her body would've caused permanent damage.
Kairi and Naminè received first aid and Naminè was also checked by Rydia but there was no permanent damage. Happy to hear it, Kairi held on to the blond girl, placing her head on her lap, and finally letting go of her battle mood. She had taken more damage than Naminè, but she felt at ease that the magician was out of danger.
It was the same with Tifa and Aerith. Opening her eyes for just a little bit, Naminè reached out her hands to Kairi's face, trying to say something. The taste of vomit and blood still in her mouth, Naminè was thankful for the water bottle Kairi handed her. She took a big gulp, then coughed up most of it and spat it on the ground.
“Thanks…” Naminè said, and closed her eyes again.
Leon had lost a lot of blood, but after he had received first aid, he seemed to be mostly fine. He wouldn't be able to fight for the next hours, though. But he was needed. They had to decide what to do about the district infested with Heartless. The Darksides had been sighted slowly making their way to the border, destroying everything in their way. There were eight in total.
“Torch the whole place. Burn it to the ground. Tell Cid he has authorization to use whatever he wants. I give him level three administration for this operation,” Leon said to a guy with a massive red hairdo who slowly walked away to where Cid was resting.
Walking over to Kairi, he sat down on the wall next to them. “This whole mess…I can only conclude this genie guy is behind it. Once Olette is back and you two have recovered, we're sending you to Agrabah. Yuffie will come with you. She is the only one of us who isn't injured and she will be useful. If his influence has already reached this far, we won't have to worry about the noise one non-Keyblader will cause to another world.”
Without waiting for an answer, Leon left, slowly walking towards a bigger tent that served as center of command right now.
---Valiant Hearts---
Over an hour later, Naminè finally came to when she felt the sensation of water running over her body. Opening her eyes, she found herself sitting in the bathtub, naked, being showered by Kairi, who was being kind of clumsy with her eyes closed. “What are you doing?” Naminé blurted out.
Kairi stopped in her motions and waited for a second. “I already showered and I didn't want you to sleep like this. You were covered with blood and sweat. And, well…”
It made Naminé remember the excruciating pain when closing the gate of darkness. “Thanks.” Taking the shower head from Kairi, Naminé finished what the redhead had begun.
Kairi waited for another moment and then left. “A towel is hanging on the edge.”
After closing the door of the bathroom, Kairi sank to the ground. She felt exhausted, much more so than she had the day before. It had been a long night and morning. She could still hear bombs and explosives impacting and exploding in the district that was quite a bit away from her house. Cid was doing his job properly. More than eighty prefects of the district had been turned to nothing but ash and rubble. Once they finished the bombardment, a militia troop would take care of the rest.
Everyone was licking their wounds. The militia had done their best, but there had been a few causalities but thankfully no fatalities. Thanks to everyone, they had somehow overcome this crisis. But if this really was Jafar's doing…there would be no end to this until they were all dead. His thirst for vengeance must be burning hot. They had been lucky this time, but what if the next attack started in the middle of the civilian district? Or the industrial district? There would be countless innocent victims.
Even though Naminè was right there, in the room behind her, Kairi missed Olette. She would've been a great help and she also missed her as friend. Would they ever get along again? Or would things stay this way now? “Olette…” Resting her head on her knees, waiting for Naminè to finish bathing, Kairi fell deep in thought.
Not so long ago, Olette had confessed to her and she had turned her down. Shortly after, she was starting to fall for Naminè. If Olette had taken the same stance Naminè did, would've things have been different?
“At least today would've been different…” Kairi whispered to herself and looked up.
Inside the room, Naminè was hissing in pain from the hot water. She had several cuts and scratches, mostly from the reckless act of closing the portal of darkness forcefully. All of this had given her a good idea of how hard this life must've been for Kairi. From what Naminè knew, before Olette and she arrived, Kairi had shouldered this harsh role alone. The others could only help so much. They weren't Keybladers. If this was how a Keyblader lived, Naminè was a bit scared of going on like this. Kairi almost died once, and now they only had narrowly escaped certain doom. Did she really want to carry on like this?
“What am I thinking…?” Naminè shook her head to make these thoughts go away. She loved Kairi and would never leave her. Even if it meant to continuing to expose herself to danger like today. It wasn't much of a choice for her. Naminè would not leave Kairi.
---Valiant Hearts---
“You can't expect me to stay in the hospital if Aerith is in that condition, Rydia.”
Tifa had received treatment in the hospital and she was walking on crutches, but she wouldn't lie down. Aerith had been brought home because she had no physical injuries, and no hospital could help with the mental exhaustion of a magician.
“Don't try to stop me, please.” Tifa looked at the ground. The green-haired magician was supposed to look after the two Keybladers and Aerith for the next few days, and thinking Tifa would probably cause a ruckus if she declined, Rydia let Tifa pass. “Thanks.”
The pain was making her grit her teeth. Her leg had only been put in plaster and it was really exhausting to even walk. But she wanted to see Aerith, to check if she was okay. She blamed herself for letting the magician go too far. If she hadn't been so reckless, Aerith wouldn't have needed to use a powerful spell to heal her.
Finally reaching the upper floor of her house, Tifa found Kairi sitting on the ground, next to the bathroom door. She could hear water rushing.
“Are you okay?” Tifa asked. There was an awkward moment of silence until Kairi nodded. Everyone knew that they weren't okay. They had seen death and everyone had gone past their limits. Some had taken worse damage than others, but they all were pretty down.
“How is Naminè? That's her in the bath, right?” Tifa knew that it couldn't be Aerith, but she couldn't resist getting her hope a little bit up.
“I think she is fine. She took it pretty hard, though, just like I did the first time around.” Kairi was just starting to understand now what Naminè must be feeling. Kairi remembered that time when she wanted to throw all of this away, run away, stop being a Keyblader. She had almost died back then when she had forcefully closed the portal in Neverland. Naminè must be going through the same right now.
“Tifa…are you all right? You look…really bad.” Kairi knew Tifa pretty well by now. She had always liked Aerith more, but she knew the fighter well enough to know that she was blaming herself for what happened to Aerith. “It's not your fault. If not for Aerith's magic, we would be all dead now. And I have to thank you, too. If you hadn't stopped the Darkside…”
Kairi stopped. They both knew that there had been no other way in that situation. The Keyblade was not almighty, nor were they. No matter how strong one is, if one is alone against an army, one will lose. “We left Cloud back there. I wonder what happened to him…” Kairi added.
“He'll be fine. He's pulled through worse, believe me,” Tifa said, and took a deep breath as she faced the door that led to the bedroom she shared with Aerith. She opened the door and stepped half inside, where she stopped for a moment. “Stay with Naminè. Nobody wants to be alone, least of all after something like this.” Tifa closed the door behind her and walked over to the bed. Aerith was lying on it, still fully dressed with dirt and bloodstains all over her clothes. Physically, she really seemed fine, but…
Sitting on the bed, Tifa threw the crutches away, angry with herself. She knew it was wrong to blame herself, but… “Dammit, why is it always you who has to suffer?” With tears in her eyes, Tifa leaned down, moved a strand of brown hair from Aerith's forehead, and gently kissed her. No reaction. Stressed out and at her limit, in pain and with all of her stained clothes still on, Tifa lay down next to her lover, held her hands, and fell asleep in seconds. It had been too long of a day.
“Kairi?” Naminè had left the bathroom. The blood was all gone, but the numerous scratches and cuts were still there. Even though they had stopped bleeding, they hurt. Kairi seemed to have forgotten or was just too tired to give her new clothes, so she was wearing a long towel. Kairi herself was just wearing a long shirt she had pulled from her drawers.
“Kairi, are you awake? Don't sleep here, you'll catch a cold.” Naminè knelt down, checking if Kairi was really sleeping.
“I'm sorry…” Kairi uttered, and averted her eyes when Naminè got down to look at her face to face. “It's my fault you have to go through all this. I…would understand if you want to quit but…I need you. I need you, Naminè. Don't go away.” Kairi's voice was watery as if she were about to cry.
Naminè moved in closer, forcing Kairi to look at her. “I will never leave you,” the blond girl said, kissing the redhead on the cheek. “Never. I'm afraid of being a Keyblader. But I'm even more scared of losing you. I want to be with you.” Naminè smiled despite everything that had happened. She always smiled for Kairi.
Choking down her tears, Kairi leaned her own forehead on Naminé's. “I…thanks. Thank you,” was the only thing she could say. There had been so much she wanted to say to Naminè if she wanted to stop. Wanted to go away. To run away from cruel fate. But she was strong. Was it because of Naminè that she could think about tomorrow and not worry what would happen?
“Let's go to sleep. I'm…really tired.” Naminé said, and stood up, holding her hand out for Kairi to take. With a faint smile, the girl in the long shirt took the offer and walked back to her room together with Naminè. Switching from towel to a long shirt, Naminè soon joined the redhead in her bed.
“I love you,” Naminè said before she fell asleep. With a relieved expression, Kairi rolled over, facing the blond girl, and kissed her on the forehead.
“I love you too.”
---Valiant Hearts---
Hours later, the bombardment was finally finished. The district and everything surrounding it was covered in soot and dirt. It was a big pile of rubble now. A monument of destruction. They all had underestimate the Heartless, thought they were safe in Hollow Bastion. How wrong they had been. It really was true—Power led to Arrogance. Arrogance to Decadence. Decadence to Destruction.
Cid was exhausted beyond his limits. He and Leon were sitting near the tent that had been transformed into the center of command for the time being. The Heartless were gone now, and so was the district. Cid had burned it down literally to the ground. Nothing but ash and unidentifiable charred rubbish remained. The smoke of the fire had risen high enough to be seen from miles away. It would take a long time to fix this place.
“Not counting us and the Keybladers, we have 117 wounded. So many…” Leon said. For over an hour he had taken reports and given out orders. He was holding his forehead, distressed. What pained him more than his injuries was his feeling of guilt. Was this all his fault? Had he miscalculated along the way? Screw up? He had sworn to never lose someone important to him again. But now his past had caught up with him. People were getting injured all the time. They had to fight even though it was not their place to do so. And he could do nothing to stop it. He felt so powerless. It was agonizing.
“I don't even want to think about how much this will cost us,” Cid added and looked at the enormous smoke cloud that stretched out easily a hundred and fifty feet in the sky. His defense system had proven itself to be completely useless. It was completely powerless against an attack of this magnitude. Even he was depressed about this.
---Valiant Hearts---
“What…happened here?” Olette stood motionless in front of the gigantic pile of rubble. They had seen the gigantic black cloud rising from Hollow Bastion when they had still been miles away. Now they saw firsthand what caused the cloud. The barrier was gone, and in front of them was a massive pile of rubble. People were working on carrying stone fragments and charred rubbish away in attempts to clean up the place. Every other corner had people on it—some injured, some merely exhausted beyond their limits. It was the aftermath of a battle that had resulted in a hollow victory.
After a few minutes of looking around, Olette and Yuffie finally found Leon, who was still giving out orders. He looked old and stretched, like he had been awake for days.
“Leon! What in the world happened here?” Yuffie blurted out while Olette was unable to get out a word. They had only been away for roughly three days!
“The Heartless attacked us. We managed to hold them off, but you yourself can see the cost that came with it. Everyone is at their limit. We really could've used your help.” Leon added the last remark after a short pause.
Suddenly, Olette was trembling. This was done by the Heartless? This?! She had known that they were dangerous, but this was beyond anything she had ever imagined. This was the destruction a war held, something she only knew from books. Now that she was aware of it, she could smell it. The stench of blood, of fire. The stench of a battlefield. It instantly made her throw up and she fell on her knees. After a few pats on the back from Yuffie, Olette was wide awake. Now that disgust had passed, fear and anxiety took possession of her.
“What about the others? Is everyone okay? Is Kairi okay?”
Shocked, Olette took a step back. What if…they were gone? She had never settled things with Kairi and now that she saw all this, she was aware of just how dangerous their lives, their destinies were. Feeling a tight knot in her chest, Olette impatiently waited for an answer. Leon looked at her. He was tired. “Tifa has a broken leg. I don't know the details, but Aerith seems to be in a coma or something. Kairi and Naminè…” Leon made a pause. They had been forced to close the gate forcefully. From the past, he knew how much strain it put on their bodies. And this portal had been huge. “I think they are fine. They should be at home. They should be sleeping.”
Olette was relieved. Everyone was alive. But now something different was occupying her mind. Why had she been so afraid that Kairi was gone? Olette felt depressed. She had been sure she was through with this. Yuffie looked at her with a worried expression.
“Let's go home.”
With a nod, Yuffie laid an arm around Olette's shoulders. With worried faces, they left.
The black smoke was not only clouding the sky, but also the mood of the entire town. People were afraid and scared. Nobody wanted to leave their house.
In the end, everyone was just human. Nobody could've been able to predict this tragedy. But people still blamed themselves, some for the pain of others, some for their own failures, and some for both. Hollow Bastion had seen a dark, dark night, and an even darker day. Everyone was hoping that something like this would never happen again.
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