Kingdom Hearts: Kingdom Hearts: Light Chaser

Enzo nodded. "Aww, that's alright buddy. You take all the rest you need for your emotional state," he smiled, patting him on the shoulder. He felt the stone that Torrin was trying to move and knocked it a few times with his knuckle, to get a feel for it. He then proceeded to fold his fingers together before stretching his arms and palms outward, preparing to do some menial work. "Okay, here we go..." He leaned back, hearing that Torrin was still in pain and attempted to pull the stone as hard as he could. "It\s not... pulling... out," he grunted. He stopped pulling before trying a different tactic .He instead decided to push it and felt it push a little more. "Oh hey, it's a push-y, not a pull-y..." He turned to Torrin and said it louder so he could hear. "Hey Torrin! It's a push-y, not a pull-y!"

He looked back to the stone and began to push it forward, watching as the stone was being pushed further nd further from it's slot. It was like watching a jenga block being tensely removed. Inch by inch the stone moved, until it finally fell through onto the other side. A small faint glow began to surround Torrin and himself. "Oooh, tingles," Enzo smirked. He rubbed his fingers togther before stepping back a bit. His eyebrows lowered as he created a powerful gust of wind from his hand, breaking down all the stones in front of him. Each clock tumbling down after the other.

"Weeeeeeeeell," he began in a singing little tune.
"Now the wall is down, and it's thanks to me,
So we both can walk away."
He stopped his little song to walk back to Torrin, taking one of his arms and putting over his shouler, to support him. He used his hand and waved it over his wound, sparking a cure spell to slowly heal him.
"So we'll find your friends and you'll tell them all,
Of how Enzo saved the day!"

 

Not good, this was very not good, and if Tinarah knew anything about healing and she knew it was already too late and the couldn't waste too much more time before getting to Torrin, they had to hurry up. They didn't have time for all of this. The dragon creature was providing cover from above, but she still needed to do more, they needed to get in there and quick. Tinarah was off her keyblade glider before she even hit the ground as she summoned it to her hand, she would fight through them if she had to. A blast of ice spread out in front of her as she took it to her advantage. "We don't need to kill them all, but we need a path. I doubt Torrin will be holding on for much longer with the amount of blood I had seen. We have to do something!" Tinarah called out desperate to get through more, they had to keep going. The Flammie was clearing a path but they kept closing in, so Tinarah made sure she kept moving and made use of the space that the Flammie did buy her. ​

 

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Aria. Kidagakash. Merida. Pocahontas. Anastasia. Eilonwy. Six names were written over and over again and no matter what happened, the seventh name would not appear in his book. He tapped his fingers impatiently against his desk and shook his head. "It should have been revealed to me by now." He spoke lowly. He flipped back several pages, going through his own accounts of his students' Mark of Mastery exams and even further back as he glanced over details of Koa being brought into the fold and even when Chrysanthemum had been taken under his wing. All were pages that were useless to him now since they might as well have been set in stone. The Light Chaser shut the book and stored it back in his coat.

Waiting was no longer proving to be useful. The time to act had come.

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"This is not the first time I have been called upon to help settle the differences between two masters. There is no need to act so abrasively towards me. I just believe that we should all be on the same page as we are all on the same side."

"We don't need a counselor." Atmos spoke bluntly. "I already know exactly the kind of person my sister is." She spat as she shot a glare towards Aster who was sitting on the opposite end of Stamatis's room.

"Maybe if you weren't so stubborn you'd realize that I was acting in your best interest. I always have. Do you think I enjoyed hiding Avra's whereabouts from you?"

"Don't act so high and mighty with me. You may be the eldest but you've never been the brightest."

"Oh? Let me tell you what would have happened if I told you the truth of what happened to our little sister. It shouldn't take long so you don't have to worry about your precious time being wasted." Aster spoke coldly. "You would've done the same as you always do and thought it was your place to protect her. You would've gone after her and guess what? You would've gotten yourself killed!"

"You don't know that!"

"Atmos, Aster, I think we should all take a deep breath and–"

"Shut it, Stamatis. That mediation garbage isn't going to work with me." Stamatis raised an eyebrow at Atmos's outburst but allowed her to continue. "Someone had to look after her, Aster. You were so eager to leave home weren't you? I had to pick up the slack when you weren't there and I had to act as both sister and mother to her! You don't have the right to tell me you were acting in my best interests! You don't even know your own sister!"

Aster stood up, her eyes burning. "I wasn't going to lose you too. You have no idea what I've had to protect you from or what I have lost. Going after Avra would've only gotten you killed and I refuse to let anyone else I love be taken from me."

"So what?" Atmos rose up and stepped over to her sister, standing just an inch shorter than her. "Do you know how many people Choma has lost? He and his students have had more encounters with the darkness than both of us combined and he's still here trying to help while you're doing nothing but shutting out everyone close to you. You don't even realize that you've already considered Avra a casualty of war, do you? I haven't and you should be ashamed of yourself for thinking you had the right to keep this from me. I mourned her for three years, Aster. All that time we could have been working to bring her home and...and..." She held up her fist, shaking with rage and sorrow and lowered it, unable to find the words. She turned and headed for the door.

"Atmos, wait!"

"Let her be, Aster. It's obvious the two of you will have much more to work through than I could have known." Stamatis rubbed his chin as Aster turned towards him now that the two were alone.

"I...I tried so hard to keep them safe. I thought by being a part of the Council I could do that but now I'm losing them both..." She sat back down and buried her face in her hands. "Where did I go wrong..?"

"I would suggest going to her when things have calmed down. Perhaps it is finally time you told her of what you know of him."

"But how? I don't think she could understand..." She lifted her head and looked to Stamatis for answers he did not have have. "She would never forgive me for ever being close to A..."

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"Knock knock!" Zeno called out as he knocked on Chrys's door. "The Master woke me early and has had me going about telling the others that he'd be out. It appears that our training will have to wait. Ugh I didn't even have time to fix my hair too." Zeno caught sight of his reflection in a window and winced in disgust before he running his hand through his blue hair in an attempt to style his already flawless hair. He shook his head in disapproval and sighed dramatically. "Since Pagos is spending the day with his nose in the books and Avra is out sparring with Koa, that leaves us normal people to be sensible about how to spend our time. There's more to life than work, dear girl! And I hope today isn't the day you pick to be a heavy sleeper. I'd hate to repeat myself and lose the spirit of my words."

"I shall be waiting by the courtyard fountain. Perhaps we could find some other way of entertaining ourselves besides being as dull as our companions."

 

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Torrin chuckled at the ridiculousness of the situation. Even if he knew that Enzo was hiding something at least his general attitude was beginning to grow amusing to him. Or perhaps it was the loss of blood making him delirious and rekindling his old sense of humor. Either way, Torrin was glad to feel his magic beginning to return to him when Enzo freed the stone from its place. "Good work." Torrin nodded in approval once the wall had been blasted asunder.

"Ah...thanks..." Torrin gritted his teeth when Enzo helped him up. From what he could tell Enzo was comfortable casting magic and was strong enough to mostly heal his wound. "I think I'm good enough to walk on my own. Just don't sing so loud next to my face. My ears are still ringing." The two stepped through the broken wall to find themselves in a hallway that reeked of death. Around the corner came a rolling green mist. Sensing a powerful evil force nearby he summoned his keyblade in his left hand. "On your guard. We're not out of the woods yet."

True to his word, a pack of skeletal warriors came lurching around the corner. "What the? Undead incoming." Torrin narrowed his eyes. The instant the Cauldron-Born caught sight of Torrin and Enzo the undead soldier came charging at the two.

Flammie continued to circle overhead, launching fireball after fireball down at the Cauldron-Born to help clear a path to the castle's entrance doors. Every time the Cauldron-Born were struck down by magic or blade, they would rise up once more, formed whole again to continue the fight. Even from the ashes's of Flammie's magic they would begin to reform, albeit slowly. Even with the army looking to be invincible, the time it took them to reform was enough to begin to make an opening for the others to run through and make it to the chambers where the Cauldron and the Horned King was held.

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Thallasa rubbed her wrists where the chains had left their mark. "We're not running. An army like that won't stay down unless they're stopped at their source." She narrowed her eyes at the Black Cauldron. "We'll find a way to destroy that Cauldron that doesn't involve any sacrifices. For now we need to clear our path over towards it."

"A-and what about us?" Fflam asked as he, Taran, Eilonwy, and Gurgi gathered around the keyblade wielders.

"And what of the Cauldron? You still have no way to stop those dreadful abominations, do you?" Ardyn stepped out from behind a pillar and into view. "I do beg your pardon for the harsh way I treated you, Illiana." Ardyn bowed courteously. When Thallasa looked ready to strike him down he held up his hands out in front of him. "Temper temper! Now you wouldn't want to fight me and the undead and the Horned King, would you? I've come to you with nothing but good will, my fair ladies."

"We don't need the likes of you. I suggest you disappear before I cut you in two."

"As fun as that sounds, I believe we have a mutual goal. While the Horned King did...force me into an unfortunate contract to help him acquire the Black Cauldron for him, the deed has been done and I am once more a free man! You see I was a victim in this just as much as you women were." Ardyn frowned. "But there is another way to stop the Cauldron that I'll bet those witches never told you about. If the wielder of the Black Cauldron's dark magic were to suffer an unfortunate accident and happen to fall into the Cauldron...well...I'll let you see for yourselves, shall I? Now please, be a good bunch of girls and dispose of that petty sorcerer for me, will you?" Before Thallasa could do or say anything Ardyn vanished in a flash of red light.

The Cauldron-Born, having seemingly ignored them while Ardyn was present, now set their sights on the keyblade wielders and began to slowly creep over towards them flashing their blades and sharp finger bones.

 

Magic, magic seemed to working the best. While they still reformed, it took longer, giving them a better chance to get through. Following up a blast from the Flammie with one of their own. The blasts might not have been as grand, but they still got the job done. She was not going to sit back and do nothing, no she was better than that. "Come on, I will help hold them off and will follow behind. My magic keeps them down longer!" Tinarah called as she ran with everyone, stopping close to the entrance where she could continue keeping the Cauldron-Born down while her friends got to the main chamber. She didn't plan to stay much behind them, just enough to make sure that they were all safe. Another fire blast left her hand, crippling five more of them for the time being. There was a sense of urgency in her eyes as she watched the rest of her comrades run past before following herself. ​

 

Enzo raised an eyebrow as Torrin mentioned that the undead were incoming. He didn't sense much of a presence from the soldiers in front of them, but he could tell that there was something definitely off about them. "Well that's not very fair... I mean just because they look and act a certain way, doesn't make them undead." As he said this, a giant fireball came crashing down from the flying dragon above, scattering the bones of the skeletal soldiers in front of them. One of the soldier's skulls fell into Enzo's hands as he rubbed his hands around the skull. Holding in front of his face He felt around the outside of the skull and inside the eye holes, the skull's jaw opening and shutting as it made clanking, demonic sounds with it's maw. Squinting at the skull, Enzo made his conclusion.

"Okay yeah, they're undead." Enzo tossed the skull into the air and did a quick roundhouse kick, knocking it into the other skeleton's head. He then dashed forward to one of the skeleton soldiers holding a large shield and ran upward on it, kicking the soldier's head off. Doing a flip, he landed crouching down, and swept the soldier's legs off in a breakdance-style move. "Sweep the leg Torrin! Sweep the legs!" He yelled, doing some quick leg movements, as he swung his legs around his alternating arms. He eventually boosted himself off the ground and began walking across their heads, balancing himself on two of the soldiers' heads. He looked up at the dragon flying overhead and smiled. "Aww... what a nice birdie."

The skeletal soldiers swung their blades at him, causing him to hop from head to head, causing a few of them to crumble in the process. "Where to new friend?!" he asked Torrin.

 

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Torrin struck down one of the skeletons that came their way. A fireball that exploded before them had come from the sky and by the time Torrin looked up all he could see was a blur of motion that left his line of sight before he could make heads or tails of what it was. "Pretty sure birds don't spit fire. Unless it's a Heartless bird. Then maybe it does." Torrin leapt into the air and came down, destroying another enemy as he crushed it beneath his blade.

"Thanks for the advice but I'd prefer just destroying...these...oh great..." As he spoke one of the skeletal warriors they had destroyed was already beginning to reform. "Forget it! They'll only get back up. We need to get to the source of this mess and my gil's on that castle being the source. Come on! Follow me." Torrin charged his keyblade with elemental magic using Spell Fencer, his blade glowing blue while sparks of electricity arced around its edge. He sprinted forward with renewed vigor, cutting down Cauldron-Born that got in his way with single cuts of his blade.

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"It doesn't matter if he has an ulterior motive. Right now the Horned King is our concern, not Ardyn. So you either fight or you stand here and wait for those creatures to overwhelm you." Thallasa looked at Taran, Eilonwy, Fflewddur, and Gurgi then back at Illiana. There was no one better suited to keeping them safe than herself. "I need to keep them safe. Our mission was to find the next Princess of Heart and we have one right here." She looked to see Aria running ahead and saw that the Cauldron-Born she had been knocking down were already getting back up by now. "You need to back her up. Now."

"Numbers aren't on our side...we could really use the others right about now. Just where are they?" Right as she asked that question a group of Cauldron-Born were blasted backwards by a surge of water and broke apart upon crashing into several pillars.

"Sorry it took so long! Just what the hell did you guys get yourselves into?" Torrin called out after entering the chamber from back entrance. He looked over at Enzo then at Thallasa but there was no time for introductions. "Hope you're up for a fight. Otherwise you can always turn back and run." He spoke towards Enzo while Torrin's eyes scanned the area in front of them to figure out what move to make next. He spotted Aria weaving and cutting her way towards a tall figure standing by what he could only assume was the Black Cauldron he had learned about from the pig keeper. Which meant that Aria was trying to fight her way to the Horned King.

"If you're going to fight, then stick close to me. We're heading into the thick of it." Torrin narrowed his eyes and made a beeline in Aria's direction regardless of Enzo's response, his keyblade striking down everything that came in reach as he forced his way through the mob.

Thallasa saw the others begin to arrive at the same time as Torrin and called out to them. "The Horned King! Get to him and force him into the Cauldron! It's the only way to stop his army!"

 

As everyone ran past, Tinarah ran after them just in time for her to hear Thallasa. So the man wasn't entirely wrong, they were here, they found them, but now they were all in trouble. There was a heavy sigh of relief and stress as she kept running in. Nothing was ever easy, with all these... things... she doubted getting to the Horned King would be that easy. Hopefully though he fought with minions because he was incompetent himself and once they cleared the distance it would be easy to push him into the cauldron, something that Tinarah wouldn't be of much help with, not with her limited strength.

As she ran, suddenly she noticed Torrin just ahead. He was standing by not well. At least he wasn't bleeding out though. How he managed to survive, she didn't know, but she was thankful for it. Tinarah pushed herself and her magic to clear a path closer to Torrin. Her breath burned in her lungs as she slowly neared him. "You need to stop dying." She said dryly as she cast cure on him. She was the last one that should have been talking, but it seemed that for someone she wasn't fond of, he seemed to be needing her healing help a lot, and she couldn't stand to sit there and watch anyone suffer. ​

 

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"Oh you. I don't scheme! But it is funny you should phrase it like that, Chrys. Especially considering the adventure I have planned for us today." Zeno snapped his fingers. "Master is out and, from the sound of it, he might be gone for some time. At least long enough for us to get a few questions answered." Zeno walked over towards Chrysanthemum and lowered his voice as if their master could still hear them. "With Dentro gone, it's made me realize how dangerous this could really be for us. I don't want to die knowing half of the story." He gave Chrys a gentle pat on the shoulder and smiled innocently. "Oh don't you worry, sweet Chrysie. We're not going to sneak into the Master's own study. We're just going to ask a few questions here and there and I just happen to know the first place to start." He stepped away from Chrysanthemum and began walking.

"I know it's not the usual kind of trouble I'm interested in getting us into but..." He stopped for a moment and sighed. "After all this time, there's still so many unanswered questions. I haven't even seen the Light Chaser's face." He shook his head but soon returned to his normal upbeat tone. "Perhaps that old woman at the flower shop might have some answers. I've seen him go there a few times. Maybe she's related to him! Just think of it, our master could be a regular guy with a cookie-baking grandmother! What a sweet man?" Zeno smirked.