Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ A Fragmented Tale ❯ The Plot ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A/N: I made changes, changing the main character's name to Aleron and changed the names of Riku's weapons. Thanks to Swordstuff!

A Fragmented Tale by cursed_l0ve

Chapter Four: The Plot

At the World that Never Was, up high in the floating castle, knocking was heard.

"Mistress?" a voice called out, nervously. No answer.

The knocking on the door came again.

"Mistress? There's somebody here to see you... Well, actually a Nobody!" The door opened a bit, sunlight seeped into the darkness.

"Mistress?" Pete called out, peeking inside the room.

"Stop your bantering and let whoever it is in! I heard you the first time!" a cold, entrancing voice hissed.

Pete gasped and straightened up, saluting. "Ye-yes, Mistress! I'll let it in at once! Sorry for disturbing you!" He scampered down the hallway, down to the main entrance.

He arrived, panting. He peered up, taking breaths, "You, Nobody, the Mistress will see you now. Follow me."

The black hooded figure said nothing, but gave a nod. Pete straightened up, starting to lead it up clumsily.

Pete made to open the door and allow the stranger in. The hooded person only yanked on the dog's collar and pushed him away. The stranger stepped in the dark room itself, shutting the door behind it.

The Nobody let down its hood and greeted, "Hello Maleficent."

The witch stood from her seat on the throne, walking off the dais towards the figure. A scratching sound followed her, made from her scepter being dragged on the stone floor. She had horns that grew out of her head and wore a long black caped dress. Her skin was vampiric pale. Her black eyes narrowed at the Nobody standing before her. Her eyebrows arched.

"Well, well... Look who decided to show up!" she hissed.

The figure chuckled, flipping back her shoulder-length metallic violet hair, "Yes, you know why, my Mistress. I had other orders to do before meeting with you."

Maleficent nodded and motioned her to go on.

"First, a few nights ago, I had to check on Destiny Islands for those pesky boys. Unluckily, one of them saw me. So, I sent in a replacement the next night. He did a good job making them suspicious. They won't go after me, but him instead. How fun this is to distract them!" she chuckled.

"And what is this grand plan?" Maleficent asked.

"Shh, I'm not finished yet. I am simply explaining the basics..." the Nobody said, waving the witch off.

Maleficent sighed, "Go on, then." She made her way back to her throne, sitting down in it. The Nobody waited as she did so before continuing.

"Anyway, I had him go get that girl, you know, Aleron. She's now just where we want her to be! I even caused it to snow! It certainly threw them off, making them confused. Also, I forgot to mention that I sent my partner after them again. They were looking for him, so they were getting in the way of the plan. He managed to make them go back and wait." The visitor started pacing back and forth, announcing the plans as she went.

"This is the plan... The snow I sent there were actually something I set up to put the whole island to sleep. The snow is full of sleeping draught that I brewed. All we had to do was wait for it to melt and seep into the ground. Tomorrow, the sun will be at its' highest, sending off 105 degrees of heat. It'll dry up the island, taking moisture from the ground. By that time tomorrow, people will be asleep!"

Maleficent was cackling, "Very good! What is it about this girl? And those three islanders?"

A dark blue crow flew down from a perch on a nearby wall to land on Maleficent's shoulder. It gave out a loud caw. The Nobody glared at it. Her deep burgundy eyes meeting its inky black ones.

The Nobody put her hands behind her back and approached the witch.

"Well, she IS a key."

Maleficent blinked, "A key?"

"Yes. She unlocked the door hidden in the cave at Destiny Islands. After that, I had to send her back home."

"So, you're telling me that she started it all?" the witch said, with a new found interest.

"Well, you could say that. It was Xehanort, as you already know. But, this girl certainly helped boost our other plans," she nodded, crouching down on the floor to rest her legs.

"Well, why bring her back now?" Maleficent said, arching an eyebrow.

"So she can unlock something else. And… someone as well. A beast, if you say." the violet-haired girl said, smirking.

"Well! Do tell me!" The witch was nearly jumping up and down in her seat.

The girl stood up, "She will unlock a graveyard, the Keyblade Graveyard, actually. And… when she is finally asleep, the beast will awaken."

"A graveyard of keyblades?"

"Yes, it is in a desert, not far from the islands. Hard to find, but with her... it will be revealed. Have you heard of it?"

Maleficent fell in thought, "No, my dear. Do tell me more." The Nobody sighed, pacing again.

"Mistress, there is too many things to tell. I cannot possibly tell you all at once. But... I shall tell you this..." she turned and went to the doors. She opened it, and turned to look back. "It all began... with birth by sleep."

The witch was left in the darkness to watch as the Nobody left. She sighed, but then smirked. Her eyes shone in the darkness.

"Well, well! This certainly will be interesting! And… I'll finally have my revenge on that brat!" she cackled, banging her scepter on the dais. The room was bathed in green, and then all was darkness.

"God! Kee, you finally decided to show up!" he hissed at the approaching girl.

"First of all, stop calling me 'Kee'! And, second of all, I was letting our boss know what the plans were!" she said hotly, sticking out her foot and crossing her arms.

The boy shook his head, "Sheesh, sorry. Kerri, O' dark and mysterious one!"

"Cut the formalities as well, Donovan," the said girl sighed, rolling her deep rose eyes. She bent down, gathering her violet hair up into a ponytail.

"Alright, alright. So, tell me, what are we supposed to be doing now? The snow has been done. The girl is where she is supposed to be. The morning is near," Donovan said, standing up from his sitting position on top of a rounded rock. His hood was down, revealing deep purple washed with pink eyes. His hair was dark brown, highlighting copper in the light. It was not spiky like Sora's, nor was it straight. It was curly and messed up to give him a windy look.

"We only have to wait until they all have fallen asleep, especially the girl. Then we go in and bring her to that circle deep in the forest, where she shall open the Graveyard of Keyblades. She shall unleash the beast sleeping within as well."

Donovan watched his partner pace and then smiled, "Oh yes... From there, the chaos shall begin! The Keyblade Master shall wish he never wielded the cursed thing! The worlds will go into darkness... And without the girl to balance it, it will be the death of them!" He snickered.

"Yes, like the legend... 'One says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he brought chaos and ruin upon it.' Ha-ha! I want to see the look on his face when he finds out that he has, indeed, saved the world... but the second piece will play out. He will bring chaos and ruin this time..." Kerri smirked, shading her eyes under her bangs.

Donovan nodded, "So Kerri, what do we do to kill time?" He drew his hood up, hiding his face.

"Put them on a crazy goose chase... They'll think it was you, when it was really me all along. You know you're just a diversion, right? So, we do this... and see if they realize there was two of us!" the girl explained, drawing her hood to the point where only her nose to her chin was visible.

"Let's do it," he said, chuckling.

Both drew black portals and disappeared.

"It's so boring..." Aleron sighed, closing her eyes again.

They were all sitting outside Kairi's house. Riku was propped on the railing of the porch, his back resting on the white post. His arms and feet were crossed. He was staring off at nothing, more likely boring a hole in the other pole in front of him.

Kairi was on the porch swing, her legs crossed in front of her. Her head was on Sora's shoulder. Sora had his feet on the wooden boards and used them to push the swing, so they were going back and forth lightly. His right arm was around his girlfriend's shoulder and his spiky head was on top hers.

Aleron was sitting on a chair, which was in the corner, next to where Riku was sitting. She had her legs dangled over the armrest. Her head rested against the back of the chair.

Upon hearing Aleron's phrase, Riku turned his head to look at her. He gave her a cold glare.

"Well, you aren't the only one that's bored!" he said, sarcastically.

She opened her eyes at the tone and growled at him, "Then we should find something to do than sitting around all day waiting for something to happen!" She gave him one of her glares in return.

"Just what I was thinking!" he said, closing his eyes, snapping his face away from her.

"Oh wow, we finally agreed on something! About time!" Aleron yelled, standing up and started walking down the two front steps.

"Hey!" Riku yelled, his gaze following her retreating form. "Where do you think you're going?"

"FOR A WALK!" she shouted, without even giving a glance back to them. She went up the street and out of sight.

Riku kept his glare at the spot where she disappeared off. Sora and Kairi had amused looks on their faces.

"Hey Riku..." Sora said, looking at him.

"What!" the silver haired boy hissed, snapping at his direction.

"Don't you think you'd better follow her?" the brunette said. "She might get in some sort of trouble..."

Riku jumped off the railing and landed on the grass. He turned to look at his best friend. "What kind of trouble would SHE get into? And why don't YOU follow her if you're that worried?"

Sora stood up and approached Riku. He frowned, "Well, duh! The black hooded guy might choose this time to come after her! She is important to them, whoever it is plotting this... We don't know why... So, don't you think we should be keeping a close watch on her?" He glared up at Riku as he crossed his arms.

Riku was staring at him with an incredulous look on his face. He was right... They should be keeping a close watch on her. He guessed he'd better go after her before the guy caught up with her.

He sighed, destroying his stoic stance, replacing it with a soft, worried one. He looked over at Sora, and then went after the girl without saying another word.

'Me and my attitude... I seriously need to tune that down... If I keep this up and hide my true self... I'd end up losing her, shit...' he shook his head as he ran up the street. Riku stopped at the town center. He looked around, but saw her nowhere.

"Where is she?" he muttered under his breath. He scratched his head, placing his free hand on his hip. He glanced over to the west and caught a glimpse of something black. 'Oh shit!'

He ran in that direction, calling his Souleater with pure determination. When he reached the end of the street, the black figure was gone.

Where had it gone? If he did not find it, most likely, it would have gotten to her. 'I won't let it happen... nobody is taking her from me again!' he mentally growled.

Riku snapped up when he heard a faint chuckle. The black figure was on the roof of the grocery store. He hissed under his breath and jumped up on the empty crates piled up against the wall in the alley and made it to the roof.

"Looking for her?" the figure chuckled.

"What? Where is she?" Riku yelled, gripping his Souleater tighter in his right hand.

"If I remember, I saw her run off towards the other side of the island in the opposite direction from where we stand," it said.

Riku could see a smirk from under the hood. "Who the fuck are you? Where are you from? And what are you plotting?" he spat out.

"My, my... what a strong-willed one. Perhaps you should have been the one to wield the keyblade," it said honestly.

"Me? Why me? I'm glad it was Sora who was chosen! I'd only have brought darkness to the worlds instead of saving them!" Riku growled, standing up straight.

"It is he who will bring darkness to the worlds this time... there is a legend, did you know?"

"What... legend?" Riku said, confused.

"I shall say exactly what it said in Ansem's report... 'One legend says its wielder saved the world. While another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it.' Do you understand or do I have to explain it?" it said, placing gloved hands on its hips.

"Ansem the Wise wrote that?" the boy said, surprised. "You mean Sora will be the one to ruin the peace established in all the worlds he's saved?"

The hooded figure nodded, "Yes, that's pretty much it. Now... shouldn't you be getting the girl? Wait... too late. She's been caught!"

"What! Give her back! And who the hell are you?" Riku yelled, clenching his fists.

"You'll find out who I am soon. And she will not be harmed. Don't worry... We only need her to unlock a couple things. She is the key, didn't you know?" the mysterious visitor said, chuckling. It formed a portal and disappeared before Riku could say anything else.

"Damn it!" he yelled, jumping off the roof and rushed to tell Sora and Kairi.

It was noon. The sun was at its highest. Sora and Kairi were drowsy. The heat was getting to them. They barely noticed Riku rushing to them.

"Sora! You were right! They got her! C'mon!" Riku yelled, shaking his best friend.

Sora jumped up, getting a new burst of energy. Kairi was already asleep on the swing. He looked down at her.

"Leave her, we gotta go!" Riku hissed, grabbing Sora by the wrist and practically dragged him all the way to the forest.

"What happ-" Thud.

Riku spun around, finding Sora asleep on the pathway. He slapped his hand against his forehead and let it fall down to his chin. 'What's going on? People are falling asleep everywhere!' He glanced around town. Everyone was asleep on the streets, in the benches, on store counters.

"It's about time before I end up like them... Better find her before it catches up to me," he said, running into the forest.

"Hey Kee, what did you do? That boy's coming," Donovan asked, with amusement written on his face. He jumped down gracefully from the branch of the huge sycamore tree, and landed softly on the balls of his feet. Almost like a cat.

Kerri looked up at her accomplice and shrugged. She was currently fixing the girl to lie in the correct position on the huge stump in the center of the circle. "Nothing, just gave him pieces of unanswered information. I didn't expect him to find us so soon!"

She frowned as she stood up. The bottom of her cloak brushed against her legs as she rose. She wiped her gloves against the front of her jacket and sighed. 'What to do? What to do? Wait... Why hasn't he fallen asleep yet?'

"I thought he'd have fallen asleep like all of the others... He must be a one determined guy! I knew he should have been the Master... Anyway, we'll just fight him, and then capture him and he can watch his precious girlfriend perform the first phase," Kerri announced, smirking at the last words.

Donovan gave a nod and hid amongst the trees. Kerri glanced down at the girl who was tied up and bound to the stump. She leaped up into the branches, where she would have a better advantage against the stubborn silver-haired boy.

"Here he comes," he breathed as the darkness formed his katana in his hand.

Riku was nearly out of energy. He struggled to keep his eyes open, but they drooped almost half-shut. His legs continued to move, allowing him to keep running, but his feet constantly missed a step.

"Shit…" he swore under his breath. He had a feeling that he was very close. Very, very close. Alert rose in the air around him, his eyes snapped wide open. Danger gave him only a tiny piece of energy.

Upon arriving to the end of the destined path, the clearing came into view. He stopped only a few feet away. They were waiting for him now, he knew it. He could feel it. He flickered his eyes around the surrounding in front of him. A glimpse of green caught his attention. His gaze looked to focus on the source of the color. It was her.

'Aleron...' he thought quietly. He fixed his glance around the clearing again, looking for the black figure. Drawing his Souleater in one hand, and the Way to Dawn keyblade in another, he moved forward. Sleep was tugging at him, but he wouldn't give in. Not yet.

Riku stepped in the clearing and heard a quick movement behind him. He whipped around and blocked the attack in time with the Souleater. He slashed the enemy with a counter-attack across his stomach with the keyblade. The enemy stepped back, releasing the hold on the first attack.

"Why are you not asleep yet?" a male voice hissed at him.

Riku stood ready, holding his keyblade up, and his Souleater horizontally. He scowled.

"Cause I will not allow it to win over me, like the darkness did once so long ago," he answered, glaring daggers at the enemy. "Now tell me, who are you? What are you doing with her?"

The enemy only smirked. And it glanced up, causing Riku to whip around puzzled, and see another one fly down in front of him. Riku gripped his weapons tighter, shooting glances at both of them back and forth.

"Hello, miss me?" the new one called out, teasingly. He gave an inaudible gasp.

"YOU! It was you!" Riku yelled, anger flaring in his eyes.

"It depends on what you blame me for," it said, pointing it out.

"Clever... You're clever, all right. Tell me what the catch is!" he said hotly.

"Ha-ha! Well, you'll find out because you're just in time to watch the show!" it laughed, putting the hood down, revealing metallic-violet hair. "I'm Kerri by the way. And that's Donovan, my partner."

"What?" Riku barely shouted out as the said man grabbed him from behind, causing him to drop his weapons. "Hey! Let me go!"

Kerri was smirking, amusement danced in her burgundy eyes. Riku struggled against Donovan, but with sleep weighting down on him, he quickly lost the battle. He fell against the male Nobody, limp.

"Wow, I thought he'd do better than that..." Donovan said, disappointed.

"Yeah, yeah! Well, just tie him up!" Kerri brushed him off, getting impatient.

"Geez, Kee... You need to chill out, seriously!" He scoffed, dragging an almost unconscious Riku to the nearby Sycamore tree. Kerri glared at him and he winced, hurrying in his task.

With Riku tied up on his wrists and ankles, and bound to the tree, they approached the sleeping girl. The said boy gave a long sigh and desperately tried to struggle out of his bonds.

"Aleron..." he managed, barely whispering. His eyes finally slid closed.

The two Nobodies smirked and focused at the girl lying on the stump. She had just begun to glow in the dying light. A sign that everyone inhabited on the island were all finally asleep.

"And so... it begins!" Kerri announced, calling out to the sky. Donovan grinned mischievously.

The sun burned against the lids of her eyes. She groaned and tried to cover her face with her hands, but only found the fact that she couldn't move. She squinted her eyes open. The sun was in the middle of the sky, shining directly in her face. She sighed. She couldn't see. She couldn't move. Where was she? And what had happened?

"Where am I?" she said to herself out loud.

Suddenly, she heard another voice not too far off. It was male, and very familiar.

"Aleron!" he called out. It was Riku. "Are you alright?"

"Riku? Where are you? Why can't I move?" she yelled, struggling to get free.

"Stop moving! You'll make yourself bleed if you keep doing that! I can't help you, either... I'm tied up to a tree." Aleron stopped struggling and gave out a frustrated sigh. Her wrists hurt now.

"So what happened?" she asked.

"Well... Supposedly, Kerri and Donovan, whatever the fuck their names are, put the whole island to sleep. Kerri said something about you being the key. Donovan kidnapped you and brought you here to perform a ritual. I guess that since you're a key, you must have unlocked something. I have the feeling that it wasn't good..." Riku explained.

"I am a what?" Aleron said, confused.

"A key. You're a key."

"O-Kay... And who the hell are Kerri and Donovan?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Nobodies. Kerri's the one that brought you back here. All this time I thought there was one person, when there were actually two. They planned the whole thing to throw us off."

"Oh... Well, how do we get back?" Aleron asked, not really expecting an answer.

"I really have no idea..." Riku sighed.

"Okay... Let's do what everyone does... Scream!" Aleron said, and then started screaming. "SOMEBODY HELP US!"

"God, Aleron! That won't help! Everybody's at least a mile away, and they're probably still asleep!" Riku hissed, rolling his eyes.

"Well then, Mr. Smarty Ass Guy. What do you have in mind?" she said sarcastically.

Riku looked around the surrounding. There had to be something to help him get free. His weapons were on the ground a couple centimeters away. There was no way he'd reach them. He didn't have anything else on him that was sharp enough. He wouldn't be able to reach for it anyway. There had to be somebody that could help them. A certain face appeared on his mind and a light bulb went off. 'Sora! He's not far! Maybe if we called for him, he'd find us!'

"SORA!" Riku shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Sora?" Aleron asked, quizzically.

"Yeah, I dragged him until he fell asleep close to the forest... SORA, GET YOUR LITTLE HERO ASS OVER HERE!"

"SORA! PLEASE HELP US!" Aleron shouted along with Riku.

"SORA!" they both yelled.