Home is Where the Heartless Are Chapter 09: I Loved You Then Like I Love You Now The first thing Sora saw when he woke up was white, blinding light that stung his eyes and made him groan incoherently. He let his eyelids, which felt heavy and hot, slide down to change the bright light to red across his vision. He tried to open his mouth to speak, to call for somebody he knew, but his mouth was dry. "Sora, it's Vemme." The other Keybearer spoke gently as he touched Sora's arm, calloused fingertips rubbing the soft skin. Sora forced his mouth open again and mumbled something softly. Vemme bent down to hear and Sora repeated it. "Where's Riku.?" "Riku's fine. His shoulder was dislocated and he had broken or cracked ribs, but you pumped a lot of healing magic into him. He's also had a couple days to heal since, but his shoulder is still bothering him, because you obviously couldn't heal it." That made Sora's eyes flutter open, finally waking up. "A couple days?" Vemme nodded, leaning back to stand straight with his arms tucked across his chest. "You've been out for two days. It's nine AM." His eyes seemed lighter, as if some dark burden had been hovering above them. Sora realized he was relieved, and sighed quietly as he closed his eyes. He felt..worn out. But he knew Vemme and the others would take care of things, and that let his body relax. "Where is Riku?" Vemme sighed. "He took his.defeat hard. He's been throwing himself into tuning his body, and it really isn't healthy." "That asshole," Sora muttered, frowning. "What happened after I passed out?" "Heartless went into the store and Stella rushed in as soon as he felt you black out. The Heartless were all over the place, but they didn't seem to care about you guys. You collapsed onto Riku and hid him, but that doesn't really explain why they just.ignored you. You obviously still have your heart." Vemme sat down next to the bed. Sora looked around the room as he thought, recognizing it as his room in the Esthar palace. A heart monitor was beeping next to the bed on the nightstand, but that was the only piece of medical equipment in the room. "Because.I don't have a heart." Vemme's hand twitched. He sighed deeply and nodded. "You are a Heartless. Or, at least, you don't have a heart. Real Heartless need to feed off hearts when they're away from the Black Planet; you obviously don't." "Then how am alive?" Sora looked at Vemme. The older Keybearer leaned back into his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "I don't know." Silence dropped across them like a tarp, both Keybearers tired and weary. Sora closed his eyes slowly and let his breathing come long and slow. Fighting constantly was taking its toll on his body, muscles straining and joints aching. His skin felt heavy on his face and even after two days of rest he felt run down. Finally, he pushed the tired feeling away. "Was anybody else hurt?" He asked. Vemme shook his head. "No. The Heartless Defence Force, HDF, brought a mobile cannon in when the border guards reported the Heartless you and Riku fought. The cannon totally obliterated it and the rest of the Heartless were weak. You and Riku were the only two injuries. The only other damage was the shop window, the car you slammed into and a mailbox." "So no civilians were hurt?" "No. You have to remember, Esthar is used to Heartless attack. Everybody is required to take a special course on what to do when Heartless attack, beginning at age five. Each sector has a defense plan in case of an attack, and most homes have plans as well. Planning for Heartless attacks is like planning out what to do in case your house lit on fire as a kid." "What is the plan in case of a huge Heartless attack?" Sora seemed to be digesting information quickly, filing it for later use. Vemme knew Sora was constantly gathering knowledge and tuning his memory, subconciously preparing himself for anything. "All civilians and unneeded military personel are to retreat to sector B-2, where everything from commercial to military air craft will evacuate them to a safe location, which would most likely be Balamb, which is across the ocean. If the Esthar military cannot handle the Heartless, SeeD would be hired immediately. If Esthar and SeeD cannot defeat the Heartless, the remaining personel would retreat to B-2, where they too would be evacuated to Balamb." Vemme's voice droned, as if he had read it out of a textbook. "You don't sound particularly impressed," Sora said quietly. "I'm not. It's impossible to evacuate a city this big using only aircraft. If the Heartless were to attack in such a number that this plan was to be put into action, the number of casualties would be massive. If the Heartless were to ever really attack a city, they wouldn't bother coming from the outside. They would teleport or fly right into the streets, into buildings, into schools. I think the only reason it hasn't happened yet is because we are a food source for the Heartless. They don't want to hunt us into extinction and starve themselves." "Can I get out of bed?" Sora asked, stretching. He was still tired, but his entire body was stiff. He wanted to see Riku as well, to see with his own eyes that his friend was okay. "I'll have to go get the doctor to check you over," Vemme replied, standing. Sora smirked. "Shouldn't you have done that when I woke up?" "Probably," Vemme responded, his own pale lips turning up in a smirk. The curl of lips combined with his strongly brushed features gave him an almost bad-boy quality. It was something he and Riku shared. Vemme walked out of the room and Sora sat up, leaning back against the duvet. He peeked under the blanket and saw he was wearing boxers, along with a baggy T-shirt that had 'Don't hate me because your boyfriend wants me' across the chest. Sora chuckled and adjusted himself, having to keep reminding himself not to tug the heart monitor off his wrist or risk the wrath of a doctor. Doctors hated it when you messed with their equipment. The door opened and Stella walked in, grinning from ear to ear like the Cheshire Cat. "I'm guessing you're the one who put me in the shirt?" Sora asked, raising a ginger brow. "Yep. Riku got so pissed when he saw the last one I put you in, it was great." Stella flopped down into the chair Vemme had been sitting in. "The doctor went out on a lunch break, so Vemme's heading across the palace to the kitchen." "What was on the last shirt?" "Uh, an arrow pointing up that said 'the man' and an arrow pointing down that said 'the legend'. I also tried to sneak one on you that said 'stunt girl' but Riku caught me." Stella was fighting to keep a straight face now. "He started bitching at me and Laguna was laughing his ass off behind us. Did you know Riku turns really red when he gets pissed?" Sora started laughing too. "Yes, and then he starts flinging his hair around and his ears look really big for some reason." "Oh my god! Yes!" Stella doubled over laughing, chicken feet appearing at his temples. "I found the doctor," Vemme said as he walked in the door, pausing in mid step. He snorted and shook his head as Stella laughed harder, the doctor casting the Keybearer a strange look as he walked across the room to Sora's bed. Vemme moved towards Stella and yanked him up, dragging him towards the door. "We should leave before you make Sora bust a gut." Stella giggled again and waved as he disappeared into the hallway. Sora took a deep breath and looked at the doctor, surprised by the man's laidback appearance. His hair was shaggy strawberry blond, hanging into his blue eyes. He wore a faded blue shirt and a pair of swim trunks draped with flames under a white lab coat. An ID card was clipped in his hair, holding some of it back from the right side of his face. As he moved around the bed, Sora heard the slaps of flip-flop shoes. "I'm Dr. Wrathlorne." His voice was calm and collected as he checked Sora over. Sora didn't mind; his touch was quick and impersonal. Wrathlorne stood back after poking and prodding the Keybearer for a few moments. "You seem fine. How do you feel?" "A bit stiff, my joints are sore and my head kind of hurts." Wrathlorne nodded. "You have been in bed almost constantly for the past couple days, and you suffered a minor concussion. I'll remove the heart monitor and you can move around a bit. But don't over do it. Your friend is already making me chase him around to get him to rest." "I thought I healed him," Sora replied, cocking his head. "You did, mostly. But he's still sore and covered in bruises." He turned off the heart monitor before detaching it from Sora's wrist. He then stood back and folded his arms across his chest. "You're fine. Just take it easy and don't go gallivanting off to fight for a couple days, okay?" Without waiting for an answer the doctor turned and walked out, leaving Sora alone in the room. Sora yawned and stood up, wobbly for a few moments. He moved around a bit, stretching his body, before looking around for something to wear. He spotted a pair of neatly folded jeans on the dresser and slipped them on before walking outside. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked down the hall, bent on getting something to eat. He rounded a corner to find Vemme and Stella talking. "We could just use a tranquilizer gun," Stella said as Sora approached. "Kinky." Sora said, with raised brows. Stella rolled his eyes and kicked lazily at the youngest Keybearer. "Shut up." "Means I love you," Sora said in a sing-song voice. "Did you hit your head that hard?" Stella asked, laughing. "I'm not the one who was putting perverse shirts on comatose people!" "I just couldn't help it, you're so sexy when you're knocked out!" "Can we not talk about pseudo-necrophilia?" Vemme asked, forehead wrinkling as he frowned. "Only if we can talk about food. I'm hungry." Sora rubbed his stomach. "And where's Riku?" "I'll go get him and Stella will take you to the kitchen," Vemme responded. "All right, this way mademoiselle," Stella said, bowing with a flourish. Sora walked by him and into the elevator at the end of the hall gracefully, moving as if he were draped in a long gown. Stella followed and Vemme turned towards a small side hall, where the stairs were. ------ Vemme paused in the middle of the dark stairway, feeling a familiar presence beginning to appear. He stood calmly as a wind began to whip through the stair well, lifting his cloak and hair. As the winds died down, a small figure bounded up the stairs towards him. The King in Rags wore his usual attire of a ratty old brown cloak and a small pack on his back. "I came as quickly as I could when I realized what happened," he said. "Are they all right?" Vemme nodded. "Sora woke up just a little while ago. He spent far too much energy in battle. Riku took the brunt of the attack it seems, but he'll be fine as well." The King let out a breath, a deep sight of relief. "That is very, very good news. And you'll be happy to know that those on the other side are preparing as well. They don't know what for, but the Cetra warned them. There are Nobody there as well." "How long have you known about the Nobody?" Vemme asked. "Quite a long time, but you know I can't tell you everything. I am sorry, I would rather tell you everything, but I can't." "I know," Vemme replied, shaking his head. "Don't worry." "Hm, also, the ship you are going to use is almost ready. The Ragnarok. Stella can fly a space fighter, correct?" "He can, and Riku and I both know how to use the battle guns." Vemme paused and opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. "What is it?" The King asked, tilting his head. "Nothing you can answer," Vemme replied. The King nodded slowly and adjusted his pack. "I'm going to go and check up on the summoner now. I keep forgetting there are two sides of the battle that I have to keep up with." "Travel safely." "Always!" With that, the King hopped down the stairs and into the darkness. Vemme followed, but knew he wouldn't catch up with the small man. He moved quickly down three floors before exiting into another long hallway, this one red in color. Rich red carpet, crimson ceiling, golden wallpaper with a fire trim. A painting was hung on the wall, showing a woman in a brilliantly red dress sitting against a black background, her blond curly hair pulled up to tumble down and frame her. A small plaque below it read 'Xerampelinae'. Vemme paused to run his graze along her hair, the highlights a mixture of golden and light bronze doused with sunlight and silver. The hair fell in rings and arches against her face, curling around a pair of sapphire eyes that twinkled happily. The dress seemed to move, as if a wind were somehow shifting the paint, red melding with liquid ruby and rose petals. The background was black, an abyss so deep it was like looking into the dark cloak created by the Heartless. The oldest Keybearer shook his head before walking into a colorless room, eyes almost hurting after the brilliant red of the hall. The floor was cold concrete and the lights were simple fluorescent ones. In the center of the huge room a black mat was spread across the floor. Riku slipped across the mat, sweat gleaming on his body, long black hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. The black haired man moved elegantly, dark Keyblade grasped in his long hands, swinging the sword around effortlessly. He swung the blade down and jumped forward, trying to do a one-handed flip. However, he used his left arm, and with a grunt his shoulder gave way under him. He crumpled to the ground, pain screeching through his upper body. Vemme quickly moved across the room and knelt next to him, sweeping some of his hair away from his face. The hair was sticky with sweat, as was Riku's entire body. "How long have you been working out?" Vemme asked quietly. Riku closed his eyes and panted heavily for a few moments before responding. "About four hours." "How long has your shoulder been bothering you?" "A while." Riku stood slowly, using only his right arm. Vemme noticed him nursing his left arm and shook his head. "You need to rest, or it won't heal as quickly." Vemme sighed as Riku shrugged, then winced in pain. "Is there anything in particular you need?" Riku asked sharply, irritation lacing his voice. Vemme's face remained impassive, emotions collected like scattered leaves. "Sora's awake." Riku jerked around to stare at him. "Since when!?" "About twenty minutes ago. He and Stella should be in the kitchen by now." Riku toweled his bare chest off quickly before throwing on a t-shirt and rushing out the door. Vemme shook his head, watching with slight amusement as Riku's Keyblade was willed away by its owner. The oldest Keybearer picked up Riku's bag and followed his friend at a leisurely pace. ----- Sora flopped down at a small stool in the huge Esthar Palace kitchen, watching as Stella wove in and out of the cooks. Sora smirked as Stella ducked under a cook's frying pan as he brought it from the stove to a chopping board. "Aye! Stella! Watch where you are going!" The man yelled, taking a swing at the Keybearer with a dirty spatula. "Yessir!" Stella replied, dodging the swing. He opened the stainless steel fridge and pulled out a few things in plastic bags before snagging a butter knife and two pieces of bread. He slipped back to the table Sora sat at, now out of the way. "You forgot a plate," Sora said, chin resting in the palm of his hand. Stella's eyebrow twitched comically. "You can just eat off the table." He began to put a sandwich together, handing it to the other Keybearer when he was done. "Thanks." Sora took a huge bite out of the sandwich and chewed noisily. "Bwahaha, I am master chef Stella!" He stood up and went back to the fridge. The double doors of the kitchen burst open and Riku came rushing in. He wasn't nearly so graceful at dodging through the cooks as Stella was and it showed when he bumped into people, generally wreaking havoc. "Oi! Get the hell out my kitchen!" Geoffrey, the head cook, yelled. Stella grabbed Riku and yanked him outside, waving to Sora to follow them. Sora shoved the rest of the sandwich into his mouth and managed to get out of the kitchen without bumping into anybody. "Are you alright?" Riku asked, moving in close to Sora, as if checking him over. "I'm fine," Sora replied, smiling. "Are you?" Riku nodded, stepping back. "Fine." "Geoffrey's pissed. You better apologize." Stella muttered at Riku. "If I get kicked out of the kitchen because you made Maria drop a plate of deviled eggs.." "I'm so very afraid. I'm sure you'll get back in and bake many more apple pies Stella," Riku replied sarcastically. "It's not like you have anything better to do." "Hey, shut up! You're just pissed because you got your ass kicked!" Stella shot back. "You would have been beaten if you were there," Riku snarled, pride obviously hurt. Stella's voice raged. "I wouldn't take it out on other people like a spoiled bitch." "No, you'd just blame somebody else and let them take the fall." Riku voice was vicious and covered with razor edges that seemed to cut Stella deeply. Stella's eyes went blank, vacant and empty, as emotion was pulled away from his face. Riku's rage seemed to disapear suddenly, as if he realized he went too far. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Stella was moving already. Stella lashed out in a blur of fury, fist landing solid against Riku's temple. Riku stumbled and before Sora could stop him, Stella landed another hit to Riku's crown. Riku sagged to the floor, lights and stars flashing across his vision. Sora stepped between Riku and Stella, body tense and alert. Stella shook with silent rage, and Sora shuddered as a darkness slipped under the older Keybearer's fury for a moment. A terrible pain that seared like heated metal, years old but still hot to the touch, passed across Stella's eyes. Then it was gone, replaced with his anger once again. "I have something to do," he said, voice barely audible. With that he walked quickly out, nearly running into Vemme in his rush as the older man walked in. "What happened?" Vemme asked as Riku slowly got up with Sora's help. Riku wavered for a moment, dizzily slumping against Sora's shoulder. He closed his eyes and fought the urge to vomit. "Stella and Riku.had an argument," Sora replied, leading Riku into a long dining hall near the kitchen. It was empty at the moment, breakfast already served and lunch being prepared. "He mentioned Stella blaming somebody, didn't he?" Vemme asked as Riku sat down. Sora nodded slowly, ginger spikes waving. "Yes. I take it that's a touchy subject?" "It is. We all have things we don't want to talk about, but Stella doesn't take his very well. He doesn't know how to deal with it." Vemme set Riku's bag down on the table. "Mention it, and you're walking on egg shells." "Fuck, I'm such an asshole," Riku muttered quietly. He felt something evil curl inside him, something that liked the horrible agony that drained Stella of his emotions. Something rotten and decayed that dripped and oozed maliciousness into him. It wanted that apathetic ocean to drown Stella, to pull him down with cold water and suffocate the life out of him. The darkness inside him grew. "Only when your pride's at stake. You really need to get over that." Sora sat down next to him. "I know." Riku's voice was quiet and detached. After a few moments, he looked up at Sora, and read the shirt he was wearing. "Stella got you with another shirt." "Yeah," Sora replied. "You don't need to protect me Riku." Riku nodded, feeling useless. Sora didn't need him, nobody seemed to. He was a disadvantage. The gaping hole left by the Heartless and Ansem seemed to grow bigger, handicapping his Keyblade. It needed a will to fight to grow, needed him to be of use. And it didn't have him, nobody did. A powerful weapon was sitting in his hands, yet he couldn't use it to its full potential because he was afraid. The last time he called the Keyblade's power together, Ansem had formed. Ansem had slithered to life from the shadows, seeping out of the walls of Hollow Bastion, appearing suddenly as Riku vanished. Only a sudden light had helped Riku protect Kairi, he couldn't do it alone. He couldn't fight the darkness outside him, and he couldn't fight the darkness inside him. However, his thoughts were invisible on his face. He showed only pain and a bit of sadness. He focused and his emotions spilled away, leaving only a calm expression. "We'll give Stella a couple hours to cool off, he'll come back when he's collected himself." Vemme leaned against a wall. "I'll explain what's happened while you were asleep. The Black Planet exploration project is now fully underway as the first craft was launched last night. It should reach the planet at about six pm. Midgar was also attacked by a Heartless of the same breed as the one that attacked you. However, it happened a few hours afterwards, and we sent out a warning to all planets about the new breed. Their officially called 'Whip Paws', and Esthar is already creating a secondary Heartless Defense Force to combat them and similar Heartless." "So, this is the first time you've seen one like that?" Sora asked. Vemme nodded. "Yes. Usually, the Heartless just grow bigger and stronger. This one was small compared to Behemoths or Guard Armors, but unusually fast and tough. A Whip Paw's senses are pretty dull and its vision only sees movement, but its speed and plain strength make up for it." "The Heartless are getting stronger." Sora noted. "Yes. Or whatever designs them is." "This is bad. Anything else?" "Yes. A strange distortion was picked up in space by a military craft about three hours ago. Its sensors picked up an object in front of it, but they can't see it, and they can't find anything out about it. All we know is that it's there and that it's flat." "How'd you figure the flat part out?" Sora asked, slanting his eyes towards Riku for a moment. His friend was sitting quietly, as if wrapped in his own thoughts but not disturbed by them. "The ship, the Caraway, sent out a few people in small craft to investigate it. They ran smack into something flat and very solid." "Great. Pretty soon guys riding birds and amazons will show up. Reality is turning into a bad sci-fi flick." Sora sighed and leaned back into his chair, feeling a headache coming on. He frowned. "You had a minor concussion, so if you have a headache, that's probably why," Riku said, breaking his silence. "Wrathlorne gave you some medication. It's probably up in your room's bathroom." Vemme stood and headed towards the door. "Take the day off and make sure he does too." "I don't need anybody to look after me," Riku muttered. Vemme froze. "Obviously, you do. This isn't easy on any of us, Riku. Do you think Stella and I didn't care that Sora was hurt? That you were hurt? We shouldn't have let you go off alone as such an easy target for the Heartless. We are the more experienced two here; we should have been on guard and we weren't. I'm not criticizing you; I'm trying to look after you." With that he turned and left quickly, the door sliding shut behind him as Riku looked down. "I'm just pissing everybody off today," he mumbled, laying his head down on the table. "He's not pissed, just worn out. I think he needs a vacation." Sora stood up and patted Riku's back. "I'm going to get those painkillers, do you want to come with me?" Riku shrugged. "Sure." ------ Squall sat behind his desk, flipping through a folder of reports about the general condition of Hollow Bastion. Though his rating had shot up, the economy was slowly slipping down. Not enough to frighten him, but enough to be aware of. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, taking off his reading glasses for a moment. More folders were strewn around him, all of which needed to be read and some his signature as well. He rotated his neck slowly, trying to work the aching cricks out of it. His phone rang and he snatched it up quickly on instinct. "Hello?" "Sir, Captain Mermot of the Tiamat needs to speak with you. He insists it's urgent." "Patch him through." Squall waited for a few seconds before static erupted on the phone, the transmission distorted by space. "Captain Mermot?" "Sir, we've just picked up something strange between Agrabah and Atlantica on the scanners." The captain's gruff voice was calm, but the noise behind him alerted Squall to the fear on the Tiamat. "What is it?" "We don't know. We can pick it up on everything except visual, and we can't tell how big it is. It's like a big invisible stationary rock. We've run total system checks and our equipment is fine." "Is it dangerous?" "Doesn't seem to be." "All right, send an unmanned craft out to investigate it. If it attacks, back up to a safe distance and send out a call for the ship nearest you. If it doesn't, stay there. The Exploration and Retrieval Squad will be dispatched immediately." "Yessir!" Squall hung up as the line went dead before picking the phone back up and dialing an extension. ----- A harsh wind ran abusive fingers through Kairi's long auburn hair, whipping it around her eyes and against her soft cheeks. Powerful waves were crashing against the shores of Destiny Island; storm clouds whirled overhead. Hail stones crashed down onto the ground, pelting Kairi painfully, but she didn't notice as she slogged through the sand. Her shoes were full of wet dirt and her clothes were soaked with rain and sea water, but she pushed onward. She grunted and gasped with the effort of pushing against the winds, but a simmering red power inside her burned with a need to know. Her powers as a princess of heart seared in her chest, a warning light that wailed inside her. She stumbled and fell into the sand, some of it falling into her mouth. She sat up and coughed, spitting it out as she stood. She shook her head, reaching up to shield her eyes against the hail and rain. She fought her way into a small cave, into the Secret Place. She grabbed the walls of the cave, having to bend down to walk through it. An ancient tree was growing above the tunnel and she used one of its long roots to hold herself up. Her legs ached, but the feeling thrummed inside her harder. She felt around in the dark, using the root to guide her, and walked down the curving path. When she walked into the main room, she froze before dropping to her knees in shock and weariness. Even in the dark she could see it. The wooden door lined with gold veins that lead to the world's heart was set into the far wall. The Keyhole gleamed even in the dark, set into the center of the door. The door was supposed to be gone. It had vanished when Sora had, cloaked itself to wait for a time when a Keybearer to seal it was on that side of Kingdom Hearts. But did that mean Sora was back? Then the door flickered, growing faint, then slowly becoming solid again. Kairi pulled herself over and leaned against a rock, huddling to wait out the storm now. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, burying her face in her knees. Her eyes closed and she slipped off into sleep, her princess of heart powers still glowing strongly. As she fell under the veil of slumber, another princess of heart awoke from it. Yuna sat up in bed, reaching up to hold a hand against her head. Images of a half-forgotten dream, splinters of a fantasy, flashed before her mind's eye. A young boy wielding a strange sword, a girl lifelessly flopping to the ground, a silver haired man throwing another teenage boy across a dark room violently. More flashes and half-pictures were there as well, however they seemed to fade before she could fully remember them. Vaguely, she remembered colors and sounds, but no clear images. Then came the memory of black, endless black, with no escape and no hope. She shivered and pulled open her curtain, letting the sunlight stream in. Though the light hurt her eyes, she was happy to see it. ~end of chapter 09~ Yeah, this one's shorter than the rest, I'm sorry! Augh, my wrists hurt! Damn you, carpal tunnel!