Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Left Behind ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9

 

The silence in the kitchen was broken by a series of thumps on the floor above them. An unintelligible shout brought them to their feet. "Sora!" cried Riku, running for the stairs. Just as he reached the stairs, Cloud raced down the stairs, knocking Riku to the ground, and ran out the front door. Leon simply jumped over Riku's sprawled legs and followed Cloud. That, to Riku, was proof that something had indeed happened to Sora. He jumped to his feet, fully intending to chase after the other two men.

 

"Come on, Riku. Let's check upstairs. Sora may be in trouble," said Kairi, pulling Riku up the stairs with her.

 

Riku reluctantly allowed her to drag him along, trusting Sora's safety to Cloud and Leon for the moment, because he knew Sora would not be in that room. Leon, at least, would never have left him alone if he was hurt in any way. He was startled out of his thoughts by Yuffie's question.

 

"Hold on," she said quietly. "Has anyone seen Aerith lately? It's not like her to be gone so long."

 

"No," said Kairi. "Not since breakfast. She kinda left when Sora arrived. I don't think she likes him much anymore."

 

"She has been acting a little odd lately, even considering her problems with Cloud. Maybe something else is wrong with her," said Yuffie.

 

"Who cares?" asked Riku impatiently. "We don't really have time to sit here and ruminate on Aerith's attitude right now. Sora could be bleeding and dying while you two stand there and chat." He turned and stormed up the stairs, hesitating briefly at Cloud's door before peering cautiously inside. He immediately saw Aerith lying unconscious on the bed, and of course, Sora was nowhere in sight. "Well, I found Aerith." Yuffie and Kairi hurried up the stairs. As Riku stepped into the room, he noticed scorch marks dotting the walls and floor, indicating either fire or lightning magic. "Someone was using fire or lightning magic in here. If it turns out that Aerith was using this magic to attack Sora, I will take great delight in making sure she regrets it for a very long time."

 

Yuffie ran to Aerith and gently slapped her on the cheeks, trying to wake the other woman. "Wake up, Aerith." she said loudly. Aerith's eyes fluttered and finally opened, staring at Yuffie in confusion. "Aerith, what happened in here? Who did all this magic? Where's Sora? Answer me, Aerith. It's important," Yuffie asked insistently, shaking the other woman every time she tried to close her eyes. "Aerith, focus! Tell us what happened. Sora could be in serious trouble."

 

Yuffie's questions finally got through to Aerith. When she heard Sora's name again, she gasped and started crying, remembering all the things she'd said and done to Sora a few moments ago. "Oh god, I tried to kill Sora. I locked him in Cloud's room and tried to strike him with lightning magic. Sora summoned his keyblade to defend himself, and then everything went blank. I don't remember what happened after that."

 

Riku had lunged towards Aerith as soon as she'd admitted to trying to kill Sora, but Kairi had jumped in front of him to hold him back. "Let me go, Kairi," snarled Riku, trying to push Kairi out of the way without hurting her. "She tried to kill Sora. Are you going to just let her get away with that?"

 

"But it just isn't like her," said Yuffie in confusion. She'd known Aerith for years, and the other woman just didn't have a violent bone in her body. Something wasn't right. "Aerith, why did you attack Sora?"

 

"I don't know," cried Aerith. "Ever since the day after Cloud came back with Sora, I've just been consumed by rage. It just kept growing and growing until it completely overwhelmed me. It was almost like something was encouraging my anger, fueling it and making it stronger."

 

As Riku listened to Aerith, he felt his stomach clench. He knew that feeling far too well for comfort. "That sounds awfully familiar," he muttered softly, relaxing against Kairi's hold. "It sounds like someone was controlling you with darkness. Believe me, I know all the signs of that. All of the negative feelings you have just continue growing until they overwhelm you, forcing you to do things you normally would never even consider."

 

"Exactly," said Aerith softly.

 

"But who could have controlled you, Aerith?" asked Yuffie.

 

"I-I don't know," whispered Aerith. "I don't remember seeing anyone strange over the past few days. I don't even remember Sora leaving the room earlier."

 

"We didn't see him leave, either," said Yuffie. "He doesn't know how to teleport, does he?"

 

At Yuffie's last question, Riku and Kairi suddenly paled as a recent memory flashed in their minds. "Sephiroth!" they cried, remembering the winged man teleporting Sora out of Xanthus' castle. But he'd helped Sora then. Why would he try to hurt Sora now?

 

"He's trying to draw out Cloud," said Aerith quietly. "And of course, where Sephiroth leads, Cloud will dutifully follow." The last comment was uttered with a trace of bitterness, a sad smile twisting her lips. She realised that she no longer had a place in Cloud's life. She was tired of coming in second place in Cloud's priorities, and she wanted to find someone that would put her first for once.

 

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Yuffie cheerfully. "Let's go save Sora."

 

"Okay, but where do we start?" asked Kairi.

 

"I have no idea," said Yuffie sheepishly.

 

*****

 

Sephiroth landed nimbly on the ground, pivoting on his foot to meet Cloud's downward strike. Pushing the enraged blonde back, the winged man attacked Cloud in a flurry of strikes that managed to nick and slice at him despite his best defenses. Fortunately though, the cuts were small enough to ignore for now.

 

"You've gotten weak, Cloud, and it's that boy who caused it," sneered Sephiroth disgustedly, gesturing towards Sora. "I will end his life now to make you a worthy opponent once more."

 

Sephiroth dashed towards Sora but found his way blocked by a panting and bleeding Cloud. "You will not touch Sora," growled the blonde.

 

"Do you actually love that creature, Cloud?" asked Sephiroth incredulously. "That's impossible. You have too much darkness in your heart to feel love for someone."

 

"That's not true!" yelled Sora indignantly, immediately coming to his friend's defense. "Cloud loves Aerith. Besides, everyone has darkness in their hearts. It's how we respond to the darkness that matters. Cloud doesn't let his darkness control him, and that is what makes him a better man than you."

 

Cloud felt the light buried deep within his heart pulse to life once more at Sora's defense. After all he had done to Sora, Cloud was amazed and touched that Sora still believed in him, still saw the good in him. "I do love Sora," said Cloud softly, feeling the truth in his words all the way to his soul. "His trust and love make me stronger, and I won't let you hurt him."

 

Sephiroth sneered at Cloud and attacked once more, striking at Cloud with murderous intent. Cloud was his pet. He'd spent too much time shaping and molding Cloud to his specifications, tainting his original purity, to allow anyone else to claim his prize. The only reason he hadn't destroyed that woman, Aerith, immediately was because he knew that she hadn't truly claimed Cloud's heart. But Sora was a different matter entirely. That wretched boy had taken Cloud away from him, and that was unacceptable. If he couldn't have the blonde, Cloud would have to die.

 

Cloud parried Sephiroth's attack, making sure to stay between the winged man and Sora at all times. Sephiroth flipped backwards to avoid Cloud's strike and jumped into the air, disappearing in a flurry of feathers. Cloud, anticipating such a move, knocked Sora out of the way and rolled behind Sephiroth just as he appeared where Sora had previously stood. Before the silver-haired man could turn to face the blonde, Cloud brought his sword down, severing Sephiroth's wing with one blow.

 

Sephiroth screamed in pain and fury, staring at his severed wing in disbelief as he felt the gaping wound on his back where the wing had been, completely unable to comprehend how Cloud had managed such a feat. Seeing the blood on his hand, Sephiroth growled under his breath. Cloud would pay for doing this to him. He lifted his sword once again and charged his adversary, slicing Cloud's left arm open. Cloud ignored the wound and quickly flipped behind Sephiroth, plunging his sword through the silver-haired man's back.

 

Sephiroth stared down at the sword protruding from his chest in astonishment. He looked up at Cloud with a thin trail of blood pooling from the corner of his mouth. “H-how did you defeat me?” When had Cloud become so strong? As Cloud removed his sword, Sephiroth fell to his knees.

 

“Because I have something you don't,” said Cloud quietly.

 

“And what is that?” asked Sephiroth with a sneer.

 

“I have people who love me, people who believe in me and who are willing to share their light with me to keep my darkness at bay,” said Cloud.

 

“Heh, love,” mocked Sephiroth, coughing up blood. “Love is for the weak.” Losing the last of his strength, Sephiroth fell forward and breathed his last breath.

 

Cloud stared dispassionately at Sephiroth's lifeless body, and all he felt was relief. “Is it really over?” asked Sora. Cloud turned to Sora, watching as the teen and Leon walked towards him. “Yeah, I guess it is?” he said softly.

 

“What will you do now?” asked Leon curiously.

 

“Well, the first thing I'm going to do is take Sora back to Merlin's house because I'm sure his friends are positively frantic by now, wondering if their friend is all right,” said Cloud, grabbing Sora's hand and pulling him along. Leon just quirked an eyebrow and fell into step with the blonde. “And the next thing we're going to do is make sure Sora is the most pampered pet in existence.”

 

“We?” asked Leon softly.

 

“Yes, we,” said Cloud firmly. “Sora loves you, and you love Sora. I refuse to hurt Sora by keeping you apart.”

 

“Sora loves you, too,” said Leon.

 

“I know,” said Cloud. “I feel deep in my heart.”

 

“And Sora can hear every word you say, you know,” said Sora petulantly. “And I'm not a pet despite the collar I'm forced to wear.”

 

“Of course not,” said Leon placatingly. “You're our little Leo-cub, our lover.”

 

“I guess that'll work,” said Sora softly. He then looked at Cloud. “What made you change your mind, though?” he asked curiously.

 

“Well, my little Leo-cub. The truth of my feelings hit me when I realised that Aerith was in that room with you. All I could think about was the fact that you were in danger, and I had to get into that room to save you,” said Cloud quietly. “Don't get me wrong. I still care for Aerith, but I love her the same way I do Yuffie- like family.”

 

“I'm glad to see you finally got your head out of your arse and realised just how special Sora is,” said Leon bluntly. “As long as you continue to realise that, you and I will have no problems.”

 

“I'm not special, Leon,” Sora protested, blushing brightly at Leon's praise. “I'm just a normal teenager.” Leon just laughed and grabbed Sora's other arm.

 

They finally reached Merlin's house and opened the front door. Sora suddenly found himself tackled to the ground by an exuberant Kairi. Riku just stood back with an indulgent smile.

 

“Oh thank god, you're alive, Sora,” said Kairi, hugging Sora tightly in her relief. “We went to the castle postern, but you weren't there, and we were so afraid you'd never come back.” She then leaned back and glared at Sora. “Don't you ever scare me like that again!”

 

“You should be used to it by now, Kairi,” said Sora, climbing to his feet and helping Kairi to hers.

 

“Yeah, Kairi,” agreed Riku. “You remember what Merlin said. Sora always manages to find trouble. We just have to accept it and hope for the best. Besides, now he has two more keepers, so we should be able to breathe a little easier.”

 

“What's that supposed to mean?” asked Sora indignantly. Everyone just laughed at the little brunette, feeling lighter than they had in weeks.