Sorry this was a little late. ,=3 For two days, I didn’t go on my laptop. O.O
Fight! Fight! Fight! Gets violent but it’s not really graphic.
Chapter Eighty-Two
Sable felt electric fear buzz through her veins, surging to every part of her body. Lightning flashed again, startling her as she sat there on the freezing tile, observing the face-off from afar. Her cold lips quivered. Could she really sit there and watch this unfold? Sora didn’t seem afraid in the slightest. Either he was as courageous as they had heard, or he was incredibly good at handling fear; she feared she, herself, was not as good at this particular skill, quivering as a tree in a crippling wind. Wrapping herself deeper into Loki’s cloak, she took a heavy - yet silenced - breath, eyes gleaming as she watched. His smell filled her air as she brought the cloth around her shoulders, she released a sentimental sigh.
The days spent alone with him were nothing short of wonderful. Yes, the threat of Sora’s return had been imminent, and both had been on edge when hearing the slightest sound outside. Jinn’s attempt to topple Loki had been an unexpected event, but was easily dealt with. Other than this, she’d wished their time together would never come to an end. He was not cold, cruel and callous, as others might expect. He was warm, gentle, and loving, his every movement towards her careful and tender. His words to her were sweet, soft whispers upon her ears, but he did not have to speak to express himself to her. Simply looking at that sultry face told her what she needed to know. Just being there with him, lost in his protective embrace was enough for her. She wished she could rush to him now, curl her arms around him, and send Sora on his way, but sadly, it was not to be.
“
Loki,” she thought to herself, face white with anxiety, fingers trembling as she clasped her hands together. “
Please, don’t do anything irrational… if Sora gets the upper hand, you’ll lose, and if you lose, you‘ll…”
Her trail of thought ended there, for her eyes were becoming damp with worry. She cast her gaze to Orexein, breathing heavily as he stood there in the darkness.
“
He looks exhausted,” she thought, slightly worried for the old man. “
Fighting Sora must have taken everything out of him.”
The idea of focusing on others did not work. Her head soon reverted to the first issue; prompting silver tears to drip from her desperate eyes. Bringing the hood over her head to hide her now tear-lit face, she bundled herself up, trying to think of other matters once more; but only one lingered in her longing mind.
“
Loki…”
~*~
“Sora!”
Kairi jolted upright from her sleep, body laced with sweat. She trembled, hyperventilated as she sat there, clamping her arms around herself as her frantic eyes darted about the room. Tears rolled uncontrollably down her white, drained face, her mouth curled into a cry for help, whimpering his name again.
“Sora…” his name escaped her trembling lips as she looked around, panicking to see that he was gone. Not even the presence of Donald, Goofy, and Imari could comfort her in the slightest. “Where are you?”
Donald waddled over quickly, a wide grin upon his face, relief filling his whole expression. Imari and Goofy followed quickly, with similar, overjoyed beams.
“You’re alright!” Donald exclaimed happily, clasping one feathery hand upon her quaking shoulder. He jolted it back as tears filled her eyes again, a sob falling from her lips.
“Where is he?” she whispered, crystal tears staining their way down her face. She looked to Imari hopefully, searching her brown eyes for answers. Imari was always helpful and kind. She would know, wouldn’t she?
“Sora…” Imari gave a blank look, unsure of how to break the news. She scratched her cheek with her free hand, hoping a moment of thought would clear her mind. Knowing that this was not something she’d take lightly, Imari tried to sugar-coat the response.
Unfortunately, she was not fast enough with her gentle words.
“Sora’s been carried off by Orexein!” Goofy proclaimed, his words sending shudders through Kairi, dropping like bombs upon her heart. Her glassy eyes widened, and she shakily got up to her feet.
“Where is he?!” she shrieked, terrified that something dreadful had happened. Something couldn’t be right. If he’d been carried off, then it meant he wasn’t in the state to be going anywhere under his own free will. And if he was incapable of doing anything alone - or fighting Orexein off - he was easy prey. Easy prey for Loki. She brought her hands to her face, trying to calm herself as she stood there, tears falling through her fingers.
“Calm down!” Donald squawked at her, holding his hands out to shush her. “King Mickey and Riku went after him. He’ll be fine!”
~*~
Loki prowled closer, the gleam in his eyes revealing the unstable state of his mind, the rage that bubbled inside. Then, without warning, he lunged forward, landing a powerful punch into Sora’s cheek. Sora cried out, stumbling backwards, clutching at his face. Looking up, he saw the self-satisfied smirk on Loki’s face; a smile he wanted to wipe away - permanently.
It seemed to be enough to drive him forward. Leaping forth, Keyblade held tight within one - gloveless - hand, Sora threw his weight through the weapon, straight towards Loki’s chest. Hopefully hitting this target would buy him a few moments of uninterrupted strikes.
There was an agonising thud as the blade hit its target. Loki did not shout, but the trembling snarl upon his lips expressed all Sora needed to know. A smile of relief spreading over his face, Sora grasped the opportunity, holding the blade back to release a chain of attacks.
Inexplicably, as the Keyblade was about to strike, Loki leapt back, seemingly unaffected by the agony raging through his chest - his tolerance of pain was incredible. Forcing himself forward after this dart, eyes narrowed in a mix of rage and pain, he leapt at Sora, a fist knocking him back once more.
Sora fell back as the agony shook his jaw once more. Nursing this injury upon the cold floor, his mind raced to find an idea.
“
Does he have any weaknesses?!” he thought quickly, trying to remember all Ikawa had said about the man. “
Damn it, I don’t - ”
There wasn’t time to continue these thoughts. Sora’s eyes flashed frantic as he watched Loki bring another fist down towards his body. Deftly rolling out of the way, he heard the shattering thud as the man’s knuckles crunched against the solid tile.
Sora hadn’t time to breathe a sigh of relief, either. Letting instinct take over - after all, his mind was far too slow to process Loki’s rapid movements - he launched from the ground, dodging agilely as his opponent whirled around with a kick. Now entirely acting from instinct, Sora simply let his body take control as he somehow continued to dodge each and every attack - much to Loki’s intense frustration. He was getting angrier and angrier, making Sora even more determined to win. Not that he enjoyed making Loki angry - but he knew that if the man managed to get his hands upon him, then there was no way he’d
ever recover.
Leaping backwards, Sora managed to get some space between himself and the man stalking towards him.
Taking a chance, he stood proud, holding the Keyblade above his head. Bringing it down in a mighty, sweeping motion, he focused his energy into an attack.
“Blizzaga!” Sora shouted at the top of his voice, brow furrowed, eyes blazing at Loki as the ice swirled forth from the blade. A frosty blast of air curled forward, pierced with icicles that hurtled towards the target.
This
had to get Sora somewhere.
Seeing the arctic blast coming forward, Loki flung one arm up, shielding himself with it within a split-second. His reflexes truly were remarkable, but even preparing for this attack did not protect him entirely.
A roar escaped him as the freezing pain engulfed his limb, shooting down his side with a numbing sensation. The shattering icicles splintered his skin through his clothing. Grabbing at his arm, he could not feel the touch of his own hand. His eyes widened as he heard Sora’s raging footsteps - his breath constricted as he felt the numbness shoot to his leg, sending him to the ground.
The thought of his goal held firmly within his mind, Sora raced forward, ready to follow up this attack after seeing the effect it had. He had to admit, he never thought a blizzard attack would have such a great power against Loki, but he hadn’t time to mull over this. What mattered was defeating Loki, and this was an opening; no matter how small, it was still a chance - one Sora was not about to give up. He was on the ground; a perfect opportunity.
No, it couldn’t be. Could that be…
Footsteps?
Hearing another set of footsteps racing toward Loki, Sora skidded to a stop - and could not believe his eyes as Orexein suddenly leapt from the shadows, hurling himself into his path. Ready to explode with sheer frustration, Sora shouted aloud, flinging the Keyblade into the man as hard as he possibly could.
“What are you doing?!” Sora grunted, striking Orexein down with an incredible force. The man fell to the ground with a cry, but was quick to struggle back up - although, it was clear he was exhausted in every sense of the word.
Loki’s eyes widened further as he registered just what had happened. Orexein stood shuddering before Sora, his ancient body heaving with agony, breaths short and gasping. He didn’t know how Orexein had gotten in the way, but strangely, all he knew was that he had to get his friend out of there. It wasn’t about killing Sora now. It was about
saving Orexein. Sora would make mincemeat out of him in this state, and he was not prepared to see his oldest, dearest friend meet such an end.
It was strange to him as he rose to his feet, managing to ignore all pain that ran through his system. Concern had filled him in a matter of seconds, his mind fixed upon one thing; and that was getting Sora away from his friend. Throwing himself forward, thrusting Orexein out of the way, Loki roared towards Sora, blazing with anger.
“Don’t touch him!” he barked, flinging a giant hand at Sora, sending him to the ground. He loomed over the man, dark features smouldering. He sent a single kick into the man’s chest, hoping that would keep him down for a few moments.
Through his pain, Sora’s jaw dropped at the sight he saw as he lay there. Part of him wondered if this was just being caused by the agony he felt. But there Loki was, rushing to Orexein’s side, carefully bringing him back up from the ground, murmuring kind words of concern. This was something he truly would not believe until he had seen it with his own eyes.
Noticing Sora’s wide-eyed expression, the sheer disbelief upon his face, Loki raised a single eyebrow, a frown forming upon his lips. His breaths were heavy - it seemed he was getting tired after this battle.
“Yes?” he questioned, folding his arms. Orexein stood at his side. “Something wrong?”
Clutching at his winded stomach, Sora slowly brought himself up from the cold ground, body throbbing slightly with pain.
“I didn’t expect you to be so caring,” he replied, rather absent-minded - quite understandably, more concerned with the ache of his body. Loki scowled at Sora.
“And I didn’t expect
you to be so cynical,” he commented back. “I suppose I am somewhat of an ogre to you? Or a solitary evil genius?” He snorted a laugh. “Since I am what you refer to as ‘evil’, I am not allowed to have friends?” He smiled, noticing a wisp of smoke as Orexein lit a cigarette. “What Orexein did for me just now is no different to what Riku did earlier. He stood up for you. Now my friend stands up for me.”
“It’s what friends do,” Orexein smirked, blowing a cloud of smoke into the shadowy air. Sable smiled to herself, watching this display of solidarity. The two were cold, cruel, heartless people, but they could not be faulted for their loyalty to one another.
Sora tilted his head. He would not lie; he was surprised to see Loki’s concern for Orexein, not to mention the way they stood together. After all, he
had referred to the members as pawns in his plot.
“I thought the members were just there to help you get what you wanted?” he murmured, voicing this thought with a blank expression, and emotionless voice. The way this group worked seemed bizarre from the outside. Loki smiled.
“Tell me, Sora,” he asked, tilting his head, resting it upon one curled fist, “would
you use Riku to get what you wanted? Would you use Kairi? Any of your friends?” Sora shook his head without another thought, disgusted at the idea. “Well, then think of it that way. I would not use
my friends for such purposes. The others were not friends. Certainly not.” Sable nodded, knowing where Loki was going with this. “Three members. Only three have been my friends.”
“Orexein for one,” Sora said, eyeing the man.
“Yes,” Loki rolled his eyes, “Orexein, Kali, and Sable.” His expression soured. “Believe me, if you ever hurt them, you would not last another moment.”
Sora remained silent, but thoughts buzzed around in his head. The more Loki spoke, the more it began to dawn upon him that, perhaps, he was not as bad as they’d first anticipated. He was no psychologist, but he was trying to pick Loki’s mind to pieces, to unravel the way he thought.
And the more he thought, the more it began to make sense.
How had this all started? Mikado leaving him behind. The sole person who’d shown any sort of affection towards him was gone forever. He’d been left with a callous, hateful parent, left alone for his childhood. Learning of Mikado’s death must have crushed him even further. He was alone in the universe, with no-one to love him.
Perhaps that was all Loki truly wanted.
Love.
Is it me, or does Sora seem really mean in this chapter?
; It’s probably ‘cause I like Loki more. >.> I’m a Sora fangirl, but not when it comes to TFF. ,=3 I wish I’d made Loki less likeable.
(Trust me, you wouldn’t believe how much I’ve been stressing over these chapters. XD) But I really wish I’d written more LxS fluff, too…
Lol, the next chapter is irritating me so much, it’s unbelievable. I know exactly what I want to write, but I can’t seem to explain it properly. >o<;
On a really minor note, don’t get mad at me for getting Blizzaga or whatever wrong. If it’s wrong, that is. I haven’t played any KH properly for a long, long time. So I can be forgiven for not being right. XD
<3
