Re: Kingdom Hearts: Hearts in Unison (Chapter 48 posted)
Okay, despite all 1.5 ReMix playing and also having to work again I still managed to prepare that next chapter, and a truly important one it is on top, mainly because we will not only see Roxas finally discarding all his doubts and fears of not knowing what the heck is going on but to just believe and start to follow something that he doesn't yet realize he has.
Secondly we'll see how all this misusing of Sora's heart and his connection to Riku is affecting them both.
And then there is the Prelude to the end of the conflict between Vanitas and Terra, with us finally hearing Vanitas' side of the conversation with Anti-Sora which we got to hear in the last chapter.
The name of the chapter is not "Escalation" for nothing has for the heroes the real shit starts now and I can already tell you all that holding a Mark of Mastery-exam won't be Yen Sid's main concern in short order...
#####
As he finally settled down beside his twin-in-looks on both knees he could estimate the damage done almost in a blink of an eye, recalling Ven's explanation that the visible form of his sense of self reflects the state of his heart.
Not only had Ventus' form now lost both shoes, the legs of his pants were also nearly shredded into ribbons, on the left leg the fabric of the pants was even ripped away completely nearly two thirds up the boy's thigh, several bleeding wounds visible.
Both the hip-wound and the shoulder-stab had also been ripped open again while his upper body sported several awful looking bruises.
Roxas gently cradled his friend's limp form in his arms, letting out a small whimper at seeing this misery.
Noticing a small trail of "blood" was trickling from the left corner of Ven's mouth, Roxas own feelings of guilt and anguish at being helpless flared up even stronger, his tears no longer about his own pain.
Why? Why had it to come to this? If I only had moved faster...ghh.
Squeezing his eyes shut he gulped heavily several times, cursing his own still hurting head and chest from preventing him of thinking clearly.
His heart is worse off than before, hngh...
Another memory suddenly hit him like a flush of cold water.
"Wait..." He murmured aloud, "...there IS something I can do!"
His eyes widened in realization.
"Yeah, "your presence does help to improve the healing ability of my heart.", that's what Ven said just after he woke up and shortly before I noticed him having "regained" his other shoe. Screw all the rubbish of not being able to make sense out of it, if I CAN help Ven to heal just by being near him, so I shall do that!"
With grim determination Roxas proceeded to lie down while never breaking the embrace he hold his "twin" in, additionally taking his left hand in his own.
"Whatever magic it is that helps him heal due to my presence, do your best!" He whispered to no one in particular.
A weird sensation hit him as an answer only moments after, that strange, warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest again, several magnitudes stronger than before, overlapping even the lingering pain from the mental torture beam .
Uh, uuhuh? What...what is this? I had this before, but never so intense!?
Confused, the boy shivered as he pulled the unconscious Ventus closer in his arms.
What by all worlds is happening with me?
---
The sensation was excruciating, as if he was thrown into a bowl of boiling water.
This wasn't an "harbinger" anymore, this was pure torment in itself, and Sora could feel it wasn't just from one person.
The brunette didn't really wake, but it also wasn't just sleep, more like a pain-induced delirium as without noticing he rolled out of his bed with a loud thud.
This is...impossible! What is this? Roxas? What's happening in my heart, damn, damn it!
Twitching, Sora continuosly pounded the floor with his right fist as he desperately tried another dive to the heart, his consciousness sinking back into the black abyss.
It took only a short time until he was stopped by the wall of black bricks with eerie dark yellow spaces glowing between them.
"LET ME IN!" Sora shouted in a mix of pained rage and desperation, summoning his Keyblade and hacking away at the wall.
Circumstances had it that this outcry came out of Sora's mouth also in the physical world, in such a loud tone that Kairi was shot awake in the neighbouring room.
Eyes widened, the Princess realized that something was amiss, very amiss.
"That was Sora!? Oh no, my heart beats faster than anything, it feels that something is very wrong with him..."
Tossing aside the blankets Kairi hastily put on her nightgown and rushed out into the corridor, bumping directly into Riku right before Sora's door who came from the other side.
"Riku? Just what...?" The Princess couldn't suppress a scream as she realized Riku's state. The silverette was not walking, but tumbling with a pain-distorted expression as he held one hand pressed against his chest, heavily gasping.
"My heart...aching!"
Those were the only words he managed to utter before forcing himself past Kairi to throw open the door to Sora's room.
Riku tumbled inside, nearly collapsing.
"Stop it Riku! You cannot help him if you're nearly collapsing yourself!" Kairi shrieked, running in as well and catching the older teen before he could really fall down beside Sora.
Ghhh. I have to do something, help them. But how? Am I useless again?
Brought nearly to tears Kairi managed with great effort to steer Riku towards Sora's bed and lay him down.
"K-Kairi, I...need to..."
"Stay there and don't move, Riku!" Kairi interrupted harshly, working on picking Sora up as well, who was still heavily twitching and screaming at some unknown address to "let him in".
Due to her small frame it took her very much effort to lift both boys up one after the other, but she finally managed to pull the spiky-haired brunette up and maneuvered him into the bed as well.
Being in the same location, Sora and Riku instinctively embraced each other for solace from the suffering they had to endure with Kairi standing there shaking.
Her heart was shining and eager to help, but she couldn't think of any action that could do so. Tears flowing freely, she desperately tortured her own mind to think of something to do.
The King...I need to inform the King! I can't yet do anything myself!!!
She bent down over the pain-stricken faces of her best friends.
"Hold out! I'm getting help!"
Having spoken as such, Kairi swirled around and rushed out of the room and down the corridor as fast as her feet could carry her.
---
Terra changed into the Rockbreaker Command Style and continued to batter the black wall with very powerful attacks.
Vanitas' eerie chuckling from behind it didn't help at all for him to keep a cool head.
"You're wasting your energy." The dark boy exclaimed between his chuckles.
"Shut up!"
A rumbling noise was suddenly hearable, giving Terra a chilling feeling.
"What the heck is that?"
He risked a quick glance around, but there was nothing unusual to see in the vast darkness of Vanitas' heart.
"Doom approaches." Vanitas sneered from behind the wall.
"It's finally time to throw you out of my heart, failure!"
"I'll gladly go, as long as your tumor of a heart is also purged out of Riku's!!!"
There was a short silence before Vanitas retorted with an angry growl.
Up to now he had largely ignored Terra's insults and countered with his own vicious statements, but this one made him truly mad.
How dare he...how DARE he devaluing my heart as if it's some kind of disease!!!
Trembling in hot fury the boy didn't even notice that he bit his own lip so hard it caused more bleeding.
"Filthy bastard, it may be pure darkness, but my heart IS STILL A HEART. No wonder you're unworthy to be a Keyblade Master!!!"
That last remark also hit a spot, as becoming a true Keyblade Master was Terra's life dream.
There was no room for another furious answer from Terra's side though as the rumbling noise became very loud, the whole location shaking.
Unseen by him due to the black wall, Vanitas clenched his hands on the armrests of his chair so hard his fingers cramped, eyes widened with growing fear.
"Damn shit, the incoming attack is way too powerful."
Swirling around Terra's expression froze in surprise and disbelief.
What-the-heck is that???
The rumbling originated from a broad, dark red energy beam surrounded with black lightning that came rushing directly at him.
Terra performed a sidways slide to avoid the beam, which crashed into the black wall instead.
A burst of energy vaporized the wall and a big dark red sphere grew so fast that it engulfed Terra before he could perform another slide.
After a second that he experienced like an eternity, everything in Terra's perception exploded into a shower of pain.
Several voices of different persons, among them Aqua's, Ven's and even his own echoed in his mind shouting or whispering the suffering they have to endure.
Howling, Terra tossed his Keyblade in Vanitas' general direction despite knowing that it was not him who started this vicious attack.
He pressed his hands hard against his own head as it felt as if it would explode, a massive mental attack that shook the very foundations of his being.
It was as if the suffering of several beings was condensed and deliberately let loose on his mind.
The expanding sphere put out an enourmous pressure, tearing new cracks into the already heavily damaged awakening platform.
Vanitas sat in his armchair as if he had a heart attack, his cramped fingers clawing into the leather of the armrests.
"Have you gone mad? Your attack is so powerful it nearly rips my heart apart!!! You have no sense of scale, you Idiot!"
His voice fluctuated between a scared and angry tone.
Listening to that while futilely trying to regain focus Terra's only thought was who the heck Vanitas was conversing with all this time.
"You saved my ass? Nearly destroying me alongside the failure counts as saving for you??"
With an angry fit Vanitas ripped a piece of leather from the right armrest as he continued to pant heavily.
"How do you expect me to be able to absorb such energy when I need everything to keep my heart stable? You're also as subtle as a herd of elephants stampeding through a storehouse of glass. By using that connection Riku certainly got wind of what happened!"
There was a small ounce of satisfaction as Vanitas saw how Terra staggered under the pressure of the attack, nearly driven to tears and to lose control of the hold his consciousness had in Riku's, and by extension, his own heart.
The next answer of his partner drove him even more angry though, angry at his insolence and his own, damned weakness.
"That was a completely different situation. Testing my state of recuperation with some Unversed didn't use the connection between them, you moron! Why did you use an area-of-effect attack anyways? The battle has undone much of my recuperation since Riku somehow managed to cut off my access to his darkness."
Terra struggled to regain some composure, the voices and the pain he could feel from them, especially Aqua's and Ven's, had a firm grip on his heart though and made his anger at Xehanort and Vanitas for causing it boil up again.
It was not a source of comfort at all that the heart of darkness apparently was in as much peril as he himself was at the moment. In the back of his head, he could spot an image of a grinning old man with golden eyes, forming some words he didn't understand. To divide one's consciousness between more places than one was very strenuous and demanding, and Terra knew that he wasn't very good at it.
"You call me worthless? Me? I triggered your awareness in order to have help with my plan. Without me, the being that you are wouldn't even exist, so don't speak with me in this condescending tone."
Vanitas' voice rose in bitter rage and hatred as the being he himself created proceeded to look down on him more and more, reminding him of how Xehanort always treated him.
#####
It's seems like I'm constantly upping the ante here, but this is still only the tip of the iceberg I can ensure. ^__^
Okay, despite all 1.5 ReMix playing and also having to work again I still managed to prepare that next chapter, and a truly important one it is on top, mainly because we will not only see Roxas finally discarding all his doubts and fears of not knowing what the heck is going on but to just believe and start to follow something that he doesn't yet realize he has.
Secondly we'll see how all this misusing of Sora's heart and his connection to Riku is affecting them both.
And then there is the Prelude to the end of the conflict between Vanitas and Terra, with us finally hearing Vanitas' side of the conversation with Anti-Sora which we got to hear in the last chapter.
The name of the chapter is not "Escalation" for nothing has for the heroes the real shit starts now and I can already tell you all that holding a Mark of Mastery-exam won't be Yen Sid's main concern in short order...
#####
XLVIII. Escalation
Hasting forwards Roxas nearly fell over his own feet, still holding his aching head with one hand.
As he finally settled down beside his twin-in-looks on both knees he could estimate the damage done almost in a blink of an eye, recalling Ven's explanation that the visible form of his sense of self reflects the state of his heart.
Not only had Ventus' form now lost both shoes, the legs of his pants were also nearly shredded into ribbons, on the left leg the fabric of the pants was even ripped away completely nearly two thirds up the boy's thigh, several bleeding wounds visible.
Both the hip-wound and the shoulder-stab had also been ripped open again while his upper body sported several awful looking bruises.
Roxas gently cradled his friend's limp form in his arms, letting out a small whimper at seeing this misery.
Noticing a small trail of "blood" was trickling from the left corner of Ven's mouth, Roxas own feelings of guilt and anguish at being helpless flared up even stronger, his tears no longer about his own pain.
Why? Why had it to come to this? If I only had moved faster...ghh.
Squeezing his eyes shut he gulped heavily several times, cursing his own still hurting head and chest from preventing him of thinking clearly.
His heart is worse off than before, hngh...
Another memory suddenly hit him like a flush of cold water.
"Wait..." He murmured aloud, "...there IS something I can do!"
His eyes widened in realization.
"Yeah, "your presence does help to improve the healing ability of my heart.", that's what Ven said just after he woke up and shortly before I noticed him having "regained" his other shoe. Screw all the rubbish of not being able to make sense out of it, if I CAN help Ven to heal just by being near him, so I shall do that!"
With grim determination Roxas proceeded to lie down while never breaking the embrace he hold his "twin" in, additionally taking his left hand in his own.
"Whatever magic it is that helps him heal due to my presence, do your best!" He whispered to no one in particular.
A weird sensation hit him as an answer only moments after, that strange, warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest again, several magnitudes stronger than before, overlapping even the lingering pain from the mental torture beam .
Uh, uuhuh? What...what is this? I had this before, but never so intense!?
Confused, the boy shivered as he pulled the unconscious Ventus closer in his arms.
What by all worlds is happening with me?
---
The sensation was excruciating, as if he was thrown into a bowl of boiling water.
This wasn't an "harbinger" anymore, this was pure torment in itself, and Sora could feel it wasn't just from one person.
The brunette didn't really wake, but it also wasn't just sleep, more like a pain-induced delirium as without noticing he rolled out of his bed with a loud thud.
This is...impossible! What is this? Roxas? What's happening in my heart, damn, damn it!
Twitching, Sora continuosly pounded the floor with his right fist as he desperately tried another dive to the heart, his consciousness sinking back into the black abyss.
It took only a short time until he was stopped by the wall of black bricks with eerie dark yellow spaces glowing between them.
"LET ME IN!" Sora shouted in a mix of pained rage and desperation, summoning his Keyblade and hacking away at the wall.
Circumstances had it that this outcry came out of Sora's mouth also in the physical world, in such a loud tone that Kairi was shot awake in the neighbouring room.
Eyes widened, the Princess realized that something was amiss, very amiss.
"That was Sora!? Oh no, my heart beats faster than anything, it feels that something is very wrong with him..."
Tossing aside the blankets Kairi hastily put on her nightgown and rushed out into the corridor, bumping directly into Riku right before Sora's door who came from the other side.
"Riku? Just what...?" The Princess couldn't suppress a scream as she realized Riku's state. The silverette was not walking, but tumbling with a pain-distorted expression as he held one hand pressed against his chest, heavily gasping.
"My heart...aching!"
Those were the only words he managed to utter before forcing himself past Kairi to throw open the door to Sora's room.
Riku tumbled inside, nearly collapsing.
"Stop it Riku! You cannot help him if you're nearly collapsing yourself!" Kairi shrieked, running in as well and catching the older teen before he could really fall down beside Sora.
Ghhh. I have to do something, help them. But how? Am I useless again?
Brought nearly to tears Kairi managed with great effort to steer Riku towards Sora's bed and lay him down.
"K-Kairi, I...need to..."
"Stay there and don't move, Riku!" Kairi interrupted harshly, working on picking Sora up as well, who was still heavily twitching and screaming at some unknown address to "let him in".
Due to her small frame it took her very much effort to lift both boys up one after the other, but she finally managed to pull the spiky-haired brunette up and maneuvered him into the bed as well.
Being in the same location, Sora and Riku instinctively embraced each other for solace from the suffering they had to endure with Kairi standing there shaking.
Her heart was shining and eager to help, but she couldn't think of any action that could do so. Tears flowing freely, she desperately tortured her own mind to think of something to do.
The King...I need to inform the King! I can't yet do anything myself!!!
She bent down over the pain-stricken faces of her best friends.
"Hold out! I'm getting help!"
Having spoken as such, Kairi swirled around and rushed out of the room and down the corridor as fast as her feet could carry her.
---
Terra changed into the Rockbreaker Command Style and continued to batter the black wall with very powerful attacks.
Vanitas' eerie chuckling from behind it didn't help at all for him to keep a cool head.
"You're wasting your energy." The dark boy exclaimed between his chuckles.
"Shut up!"
A rumbling noise was suddenly hearable, giving Terra a chilling feeling.
"What the heck is that?"
He risked a quick glance around, but there was nothing unusual to see in the vast darkness of Vanitas' heart.
"Doom approaches." Vanitas sneered from behind the wall.
"It's finally time to throw you out of my heart, failure!"
"I'll gladly go, as long as your tumor of a heart is also purged out of Riku's!!!"
There was a short silence before Vanitas retorted with an angry growl.
Up to now he had largely ignored Terra's insults and countered with his own vicious statements, but this one made him truly mad.
How dare he...how DARE he devaluing my heart as if it's some kind of disease!!!
Trembling in hot fury the boy didn't even notice that he bit his own lip so hard it caused more bleeding.
"Filthy bastard, it may be pure darkness, but my heart IS STILL A HEART. No wonder you're unworthy to be a Keyblade Master!!!"
That last remark also hit a spot, as becoming a true Keyblade Master was Terra's life dream.
There was no room for another furious answer from Terra's side though as the rumbling noise became very loud, the whole location shaking.
Unseen by him due to the black wall, Vanitas clenched his hands on the armrests of his chair so hard his fingers cramped, eyes widened with growing fear.
"Damn shit, the incoming attack is way too powerful."
Swirling around Terra's expression froze in surprise and disbelief.
What-the-heck is that???
The rumbling originated from a broad, dark red energy beam surrounded with black lightning that came rushing directly at him.
Terra performed a sidways slide to avoid the beam, which crashed into the black wall instead.
A burst of energy vaporized the wall and a big dark red sphere grew so fast that it engulfed Terra before he could perform another slide.
After a second that he experienced like an eternity, everything in Terra's perception exploded into a shower of pain.
Several voices of different persons, among them Aqua's, Ven's and even his own echoed in his mind shouting or whispering the suffering they have to endure.
Howling, Terra tossed his Keyblade in Vanitas' general direction despite knowing that it was not him who started this vicious attack.
He pressed his hands hard against his own head as it felt as if it would explode, a massive mental attack that shook the very foundations of his being.
It was as if the suffering of several beings was condensed and deliberately let loose on his mind.
The expanding sphere put out an enourmous pressure, tearing new cracks into the already heavily damaged awakening platform.
Vanitas sat in his armchair as if he had a heart attack, his cramped fingers clawing into the leather of the armrests.
"Have you gone mad? Your attack is so powerful it nearly rips my heart apart!!! You have no sense of scale, you Idiot!"
His voice fluctuated between a scared and angry tone.
Listening to that while futilely trying to regain focus Terra's only thought was who the heck Vanitas was conversing with all this time.
"You saved my ass? Nearly destroying me alongside the failure counts as saving for you??"
With an angry fit Vanitas ripped a piece of leather from the right armrest as he continued to pant heavily.
"How do you expect me to be able to absorb such energy when I need everything to keep my heart stable? You're also as subtle as a herd of elephants stampeding through a storehouse of glass. By using that connection Riku certainly got wind of what happened!"
There was a small ounce of satisfaction as Vanitas saw how Terra staggered under the pressure of the attack, nearly driven to tears and to lose control of the hold his consciousness had in Riku's, and by extension, his own heart.
The next answer of his partner drove him even more angry though, angry at his insolence and his own, damned weakness.
"That was a completely different situation. Testing my state of recuperation with some Unversed didn't use the connection between them, you moron! Why did you use an area-of-effect attack anyways? The battle has undone much of my recuperation since Riku somehow managed to cut off my access to his darkness."
Terra struggled to regain some composure, the voices and the pain he could feel from them, especially Aqua's and Ven's, had a firm grip on his heart though and made his anger at Xehanort and Vanitas for causing it boil up again.
It was not a source of comfort at all that the heart of darkness apparently was in as much peril as he himself was at the moment. In the back of his head, he could spot an image of a grinning old man with golden eyes, forming some words he didn't understand. To divide one's consciousness between more places than one was very strenuous and demanding, and Terra knew that he wasn't very good at it.
"You call me worthless? Me? I triggered your awareness in order to have help with my plan. Without me, the being that you are wouldn't even exist, so don't speak with me in this condescending tone."
Vanitas' voice rose in bitter rage and hatred as the being he himself created proceeded to look down on him more and more, reminding him of how Xehanort always treated him.
#####
It's seems like I'm constantly upping the ante here, but this is still only the tip of the iceberg I can ensure. ^__^
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It's high time the King gets involved.
Spoiler