Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Kingdom Hearts: A New Threat ❯ Reawakening ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9:

Iona felt weak. She heard soft murmurs, like people talking, and wanted to wake up to see what was going on, but she had no energy whatsoever. She looked around and saw what looked to be a pitch black room; but when she looked down, she could see herself.

“What the hell?” she said.

“You're stuck,” she heard a soft voice say.

She looked up and saw a girl with curly blonde hair and crystal blue eyes standing before her in a lavender sundress with matching tennis shoes.

“Huh? Where am I stuck? And who are you?” Iona demanded.

“You're stuck in a sort of limbo; between sleep and awake, life and death. And who I am is of no importance,” the girl said.

“How do I get out?” Iona asked.

“You have to understand.”

Iona waited for the girl to continue, but she didn't.

“Understand…what?” Iona asked.

“That I cannot say,” the girl said, “for it is up to you.”

Iona groaned, “Ok, I'm not very good at riddles, so spare me the run around and help me out, please?”

The girl laughed, “Oh, of course; I must've forgotten. You have to accept your fate as the fourth Keyblade bearer and the responsibilities that come with the title.”

“Are you kidding me?” Iona laughed sarcastically. “I-I can't handle that! I mean, look at me; I'm tiny and scrawny and about as scary as a kitten. How am I supposed to fight along side the other three?”

“You know you have that strength inside you; if you didn't, you wouldn't be talking to me right now.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” the girl said quickly. “My point is this; don't doubt your strength or your abilities. And don't deny yourself anything.”

Iona went to respond, but the girl started fading.

“Wait, what's happening?” Iona yelled.

“Its time for you to go back; you're ready,” the girl said.

“Who are you?” Iona yelled.

And just before the girl faded completely, she heard her say “Xonia.”

Suddenly, Iona was gasping for air as she sat straight up. The room she was in was dark, but illuminated by the moonlight through the large window. She was back in her room at Disney Castle.

“Iona, are you alright?” she heard someone ask her.

She turned to her right and saw Kairi getting up from a chair…and still on the chair was a sleeping Sora.

Iona made a mental note to bring it up later if she and Kairi became better friends.

“What…what happened?” Iona asked as she laid back down, her head spinning.

“You've been asleep for almost a week now,” Kairi explained. “We were all very worried about you. How are you feeling?”

“Confused…and weak,” Iona admitted. “Where is everyone else?”

“Sleeping…its past midnight…well, I know the majority of everyone else is asleep.”

“What do you mean?”

“Riku,” Kairi explained. “He's been acting weird lately. In fact, no one can find him. We know he's still in this World, we just don't know where.”

Iona groaned, “So what happened?”

“Well what do you remember?”

Iona had to think really hard, and even then only small bits were coming back to her; it was as if she had some kind of amnesia.

“I remember,” she said, “Everyone arriving at Disney Castle…Mr. Duck yelling at me…King Mickey talking about creatures called Duplicates I think…a dark room…a bright light…feeling very tired…then feeling an enormous amount of pain…what does it mean? What happened?”

Kairi quickly summed up the events of the previous week, leaving Iona in quite a daze.

“I was lost…in Darkness?” she muttered unbelievably.

Kairi nodded, “But Merlin, Sora, Donald, the King--”

“I really don't want to talk about HIM right now,” Iona snapped.

Her tone surprised Kairi and herself; she was usually very polite and never spoke ill of anyone, let alone someone who pretty much saved her life. Iona flung the covers off her small body and swung her tired, weak legs over the side of the bed.

“Excuse me, please; I think I need to take a walk,” she said, and unsteadily walked out of the room.

After a few minutes she regained a bit of her strength and was able to walk without using the wall as a guide. She didn't know where she was going; she was just letting her feet take her wherever they went. Soon she grew tired and decided she needed to sit and rest. She looked up ahead for somewhere to sit and saw an open door leading to a balcony. She walked out and saw someone sitting on the ledge; they were wearing a long black trench coat with the hood pulled up, so she couldn't see their face. She decided that perhaps the person should have their privacy and began to back into the hallway. Of course she got tangled up in the curtains pulled back on either side of the door and wound up falling on the floor and making enough noise for the person on the ledge to turn towards her.

“Sorry,” she said as she untangled herself…or at least attempted to.

As she continued to try to free herself from the vicious red velvet curtains, the person spoke to her.

“You should be resting.”

She looked up; she recognized that voice.

“Riku?”

“Don't call me that,” he said he snapped quickly.

She soon freed herself and instead of walking back to her room like she normally would've done, she found herself walking to where Riku sat staring at the night sky.

“Why are you wearing these clothes again?” she asked, but got no response.

She could tell was no longer looking up at the sky, but down at the courtyard instead. Iona reached out and pulled his hood down. She gasped when she saw a piece of black cloth tied around his head, covering his eyes.

“Riku why are you doing this?” she asked quietly.

“I don't need to tell you anything,” he said.

“But you should,” she said strongly. “Whether you like it or not, I'm part of this now. And even if I wasn't, you should at least tell Sora or Kairi or the King or--”

“DON'T talk to me about HIM!” Riku yelled, his head snapping in her direction. Even though she couldn't see his eyes, Iona could feel his glare. After a few seconds, he looked away from her again.

“Listen,” she said, “I'm not happy with him right now, either; and I have more of a right to be than you.”

Iona could tell he wanted to comment back, but he didn't because he knew she was right.

“What he did was horrible,” Iona continued, “both to you and to me. But you have to understand that he means well and…even though it technically doesn't apply…to err is human--”

“To forgive, divine,” Riku finished. He sighed, “I just…I can't.”