Zomg. You'll never guess what.
CHAPTER! =D
Chapter Eighty
“Orexein,” Loki spoke loudly, a firmness within his gravelly voice, “drop him.”
Complying with the orders, Orexein was more than happy to let Sora’s body fall to the cold, hard ground.
“Argh!” Sora cried. It was only when the surge of pain shivered through him that the realisation came to him. He was conscious. The initial wave of relief passed when he suddenly realised where he was.
Hearing Sora’s cry from outside, Riku smiled weakly, overjoyed to hear that Sora was alright. The booming voice made his nerves quiver, but his heart urged him forwards. He rushed towards the doorway, leaving King Mickey, skidding to an abrupt stop when he reached Orexein.
The old man gave a smirk, before moving to the side, allowing Riku a full view of the room.
Lying in a shaft of cold moonlight, Sora’s trembling body lay sprawled across a dark, tiled floor, the only lit spot in this seemingly eternal hall. Above them, a spectacular sight; the glass ceiling, portraying the vast skies, a beautiful mix of both snowflakes and distant stars, white twinkling against the deep blue of the night. However, there was something sinister about this place. Other than the lone shafts of moonlight, nothing could be seen at all. Anything could be lurking within this darkness.
Still, nothing could deter Riku from making sure Sora was alright. Adrenaline surging, his courage sent him forward, rushing to Sora’s side.
But, as he edged closer, his eyes widened in horror, noticing a lone figure, lurking in the darkness, just at Sora’s other side. Stepping into the moonlight, he was enough to stop Riku in his tracks.
Like a pillar of darkness, he stood there, seeming to engulf all light that touched him. His sultry features illuminated by the eerie moonlight, he glared back at Riku, as a wolf, glaring at some poor, doomed creature that had strayed into its territory. Riku’s eyes wandered over the man. He looked just like Mikado, stood there, sharp-faced, with a proud, educated air. With long, ebony hair falling about each large shoulder, his cold, staring eyes burning into his soul, Riku knew that there was something undeniably lupine about him. That stare sent shivers down Riku’s spine. He backed away slightly, prompting a smirk from the man.
“Go ahead,” he purred, with a wild look in his eyes. Although calm on the surface, this man seemed to hold a rage within, desperate to burst forth from him at any given second. It sure was intimidating. “Run away. It is not as though you can help him anyway.” His burning gaze found Sora, frantically pulling himself to his feet. “The man has a debt to repay. You are not part of it.”
Sora shuddered with fear, leaping back as he laid eyes upon the man. Biting his lip, he shakily summoned his Keyblade, unsure of what would happen. Just as Orexein had said, Sora was back to his usual state, ready and willing to fight. He himself wasn’t sure why he was feeling so well, all of a sudden, but he hadn’t time to question such things.
A laugh escaped the man’s lips as he raised two fingers to massage his brow.
“Put it back,” he suddenly growled, his tone changing entirely. He narrowed his glare. “I wish to speak with you, you impudent fool.” Raising a hand forward, he clicked his fingers; the doors slammed shut, leaving King Mickey behind. Riku raised an eyebrow, anxious. Sora seemed so courageous, in comparison, refusing to let fear get the better of him.
“I’m here to stop you, Loki!” Sora shouted; it wouldn‘t take a genius to figure out that this monstrous man was Loki. He gave a playful smirk, knowing just how he‘d irritate the man. “Just like I stopped Mikado.”
It was a bad plan, to say the least.
Within a second, Loki grabbed Sora by the throat, hurling him to the ground with a hideously strong force. Sora groaned in pain, dismissing the Keyblade as he writhed around on the ground. Pinning Sora to the ground by the throat, Loki gave a self-satisfied smile, eyes alight with twisted pleasure.
“I suggest you do not speak about him that way,” he hissed, tightening his grip upon Sora’s throat with every word. “I could snap this bony neck of yours with my bare hand.” Just to emphasise his point, he jolted his hand, prompting a loud, agonising cry from Sora as his crushing grip tightened. “I’d kill you right now, but I want some answers.” He leaned down to whisper in Sora’s ear, his voice sinister, and purring. “Do not worry. You will die soon enough.”
Sora gave no response, obviously too pained to talk at that moment.
“Better,” Loki purred, ripping his grip away, nonchalantly strolling backwards into the centre of the room. “You are a fool, but you have the intelligence to know my name.” He grinned wildly. “Now, then. I wish to speak with you, Sora.” It seemed his mood had swung again, and he was back to the stern, yet calm man they’d first met. He smiled, taking great joy in watching Riku help the aching man to his feet once more. Sora rubbed at his throbbing neck, blue eyes narrow at Loki already.
“What do you want?!” he exclaimed, although his voice was understandably constricted. He clenched his fists, awaiting his response. Loki smiled, curling a stray lock behind his pierced ear.
“My want?” he smiled. “Surely, you would know I am out for revenge?” Sora nodded slowly. “Then why ask questions when you know the answers?”
Sora remained silent, standing still at Riku’s side. He gritted his teeth.
“Fool,” Loki growled beneath his breath, before continuing aloud. “Then you know, it is revenge I seek.” Riku gave a stern nod. Loki scowled at Riku disgustedly, darkness radiating from him, allowing goose bumps to prickle Riku’s skin. “Did I speak to you?”
Riku shook his head, startled, incapable of words.
“Then shut your mouth,” Loki growled in response, before turning his attention to Sora. “I want answers. I want my revenge, Sora.”
“What for?” Sora asked, defiant even in the face of this wolfish man. “Mikado had to be stopped. If I didn’t do it, who knows what he would have done!” Loki smiled, shaking his head.
“He would have been the supreme ruler of this universe,” Loki smirked. “And he didn’t ‘have to be stopped’, as you put it. You could have left him to achieve his goal.” Sora’s jaw dropped at Loki’s ignorance.
“If no-one had stopped him,” Sora protested, “then millions of people would have been killed! Don’t you care that his plan would have obliterated all those people? Entire worlds would have been destroyed!”
Loki blinked, raising an eyebrow.
“And?” he questioned, uncaring for their meaningless lives. “That was none of his concern.” He stalked the room. “This is besides the point. I want to know why you saw fit to murder him.”
“What?” Sora breathed, disbelieving. “It wasn’t murder, but I just explained that. I had to stop him, for the sake of all those people!” Loki shook his head, black hair swathing around him, down his back as he paced.
“Not good enough,” he whispered. Reading his lips, Sora breathed a heavy sigh. “That cannot justify murder, Sora.”
“And what could justify the mass murder Mikado would have carried out?!” Sora retorted angrily. “All just to get what he wanted!”
Loki smirked.
“Why do you care so much?” he asked, heaving his shoulders before settling his crossed arms. “So what if Mikado intended such things? What makes you so keen to jump to the defence of the idiotic masses?”
“Because it isn’t fair,” Sora growled, narrowing his eyes even further than before. “He didn’t have the right to kill them.”
Loki raised an eyebrow, scowling deeply at Sora.
“Perhaps what you did was not fair,” he growled, radiating with darkness. Anguish seemed to flash deep in his eyes. “Perhaps you did not have the right to kill Mikado.” He stalked closer, fists clenching with each step. “You stole my brother from me. The only person in this entire universe that cared for me.” He glared into Sora’s eyes, his sour expression demanding an answer. “What gave you that right?!”
Sora could not respond, eyes glazing over. He knew what he would say, but understood that Loki would simply skirt around the issue, ignoring his words.
“Well?!” Loki roared, grabbing Sora’s chin. “The least you can do is offer an explanation!”
Sora grabbed Loki’s wrist, somehow managing to force it away. Loki scoffed at him.
“Impressive,” he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes before exploding with anger once more. “I am sure, you did not know that the other members suffered fates similar to my own?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sora growled back at him, a single eyebrow raised. Loki frowned.
“All of them have suffered greatly,” he hissed, pacing back and forth. “Every last one of them.” He stopped in one position, throwing a deep scowl. “Go ahead, name one of them. I guarantee they had suffered a great hardship.”
Sora was sceptical, but decided to try this anyway. One name popped into his mind right away.
“Alright,” he muttered, “Ikawa.”
Loki’s eyes lit with the pain he imagined Ikawa must have felt.
“Ikawa?” he repeated, in a purr. “Ikawa discovered his beloved son was not his own. The real father was his best friend.” Sora’s eyes widened slightly, before closing with sympathy for the late man. Loki revelled in the effect he’d had, treating this as a game. “Go ahead with another.”
Sora gave a sour look, and for a few moments, gave no response, prompting an annoyed grunt from the man. He thought it better to reply.
“I don’t know, Ante?” he said absentmindedly, clearly not amused with the words being exchanged. Loki was edging around the real issues. Loki gave a silent nod, crossing his toned arms.
“Ante was a prisoner of war,” he explained, matter-of-factly. “He fought for his country, and when he was captured, they did nothing to get him out of there. They left him in that prison camp to be tortured by the enemy, claiming it to be more beneficial to use their facilities on others.” He smiled. “It took them a year to finally get around to helping him out.”
“We do not take on this lifestyle for no reason,” Orexein added, smirking. Sora jumped slightly; for a moment, he’d forgotten the man was even there. “We have our explanations. No-one turns to the darkness without just cause.”
Sora looked at him blankly, rubbing his nape with his clammy hand. Picking up on the nervous energy, Orexein choked a laugh. A spark of fire lit in the darkness, sending a glow across his ancient face, before it became a simple wisp of smoke. The smell of cigarettes filled the air.
“Well…” Sora said quietly, before clearing his throat. “If others treated you badly, then why take it out on the universe?” Loki smiled, shaking his head at Sora’s inability to understand. Though, in Sora’s defence, it took a twisted mind to understand their logic.
“What goes around comes around,” he stated. “The people of this universe have wronged us. It is only right that we take revenge upon those who have treated us so badly.” Sora frowned at him, shifting his weight as he folded his thin arms.
“That isn’t right,” he said within a breath. “Not everyone treated you that way. Sure, some people may not have treated you guys well, but isn’t it mean to judge the rest of the universe by the actions of a few people.”
Loki shifted his shoulders.
“The ‘innocents’ can only blame the ones who were cruel to us,” he hissed. Sora raised an eyebrow, but before he could speak, Riku butted in.
“So… you and the members,” he said, “you guys all wanted revenge?” Loki nodded intently, a glimmer of cruelty in his eyes.
“Yes,” he said. “We were kindred spirits, so to speak. We shared a common goal. I offered them revenge to make up for their suffering.” Eyes wide, Sora exploded with rage.
“Are you kidding?” he shouted. “From what I’ve heard, it sounds like you used them all to get what you wanted!”
“And how did you come to that conclusion?!” Loki glared at him.
“You manipulated them!” Sora continued. He stepped forward. “This was a set-up! You knew I’d come looking for you when we saw what was happening to the worlds. So you lured these people into your group, insisting that they would be given the chance to get their revenge, not to mention a cushy place at the head of the universe.” He continued moving forward. “The members just helped you establish your position of power. Then when I came after you guys, you watched them die, one by one!”
Loki smiled in the darkness, eyes tilted to the ground.
“You knew they would die,” Sora frowned. “All of them. You never intended to give them revenge, not for a second. They were pawns, just there to help you get what you wanted.” He clenched his fists, disgusted at Loki’s callous plans. “You must have brainwashed them, ‘cause none of them noticed at all.”
“They were stupid,” Loki commented beneath his breath. “The only one that figured it out was Jinn. But he was disposed of.” Sora did not hear, simply continuing his argument.
“And I bet your plan is to get rid of me,” Sora growled. “Once I’m gone, no-one will oppose you.”
Loki looked up at him, giving a smirk. He reached up to tie his hair from his face.
“Maybe so,” he purred. “But what of it? If they were stupid enough to believe me, then they deserved to die.”
“That’s sick,” Riku commented, eyes hidden beneath his silver hair. “If all of them suffered greatly during their lives, you just exploited them for your own ends. You used their pain to carry out Mikado’s plans.” Loki nodded, pleased with himself.
“I know,” he grinned wildly. “Great, isn’t it?”
… he’s so mean. *huggle* [/fan girl]
Oooh. The tension is brewing.
<3
