Kingdom Hearts; The Dark's Keeper

Chapter XXXII; Into The Fortress

"Roxas," Yuki whispered as she looked up to the sky.

Moments later Sora reappeared like nothing had happened. He stood not far from them, looking down at the ground.

"You make a good other," Sora said. Yuki could feel her entire body tense.

"Are you ok?" Donald asked.

"What, just happened?" Sora asked. He looked up and at the group, his eyes searching them for some kind of explanation. Yuki looked at X. He was frowning, his arms crossed.

"Gawrsh, I dunno. You just disappeared. Then we had to fight some Nobodies," Goofy explained.

"Your heart was at war, we could feel it," Yuki said softly. She hoped she was wrong. If Sora was here after the fight, then it would mean. She scolded herself mentally. She couldn't go thinking like that.

"He said, he defeated Riku," Sora said. Yuki felt her heart sink.

"Who said that?" Donald asked.

"That guy. In the black coat," Sora said, looking at the group. Yuki pressed her lips into a thin line.

"But nobody could defeat Riku," Donald said in confusion. Yuki doubted that. Riku was tough, but not unbeatable.

"Y-Yeah, you're right," Sora said.

"A black coat means Organization XIII. He musta been tryin' to trick ya," Goofy suggested.

"Yeah, that must be why we didn't see him!" Donald added.

"Huh?" Sora asked in confusion.

"You must be tired, Sora," Donald said, crossing his arms.

"C'mon, let's just find a way to get into that castle!" Goofy said, taking the lead and heading toward the castle. Taking a moment to glance around, Yuki realized they had lost the King somewhere along the way.

They reached the edge of a cliff. The castle was in front of them, floating in mid-air with no clear path to it. Mickey was waiting for them, looking up at the castle with a frown.

"Dead end?" Sora asked as they stopped beside the castle.

"There's gotta be a path somewhere," Mickey said, looking around desperately. Sora looked at the castle for a moment before his keyblade glowed. He pointed it toward the castle forming a new path.

"Kairi," Sora said. "We're almost there."

They had hardly entered the castle when Sora tried to get ahead of them, looking around frantically.

"Kairi! Where are you?" he yelled. Mickey jumped in front of him, holding out his arm.

"Shhhh! Remember where we are! This is their stronghold!" Mickey warned. Just those words were enough to cause Yuki's stomach to tighten into knots. They were really about to do this.

"Which probably means they already know we're here," X said. The tension Yuki felt only grew. X was right of course. There was no way they couldn't know. Mickey hesitated for a moment then took off running. Yuki had no idea where he was going, but she didn't want to risk chasing after him. There was no time.

"Wait! Your Majesty!" Donald yelled.

"Be careful! I think we got company!" Goofy said, summoning his shield. He wasn't wrong, as the others summoned their weapons to their hands they were surrounded by Nobodies. For the most part, it was only Dusks. But it was still proving to be a challenge to make their way through the castle.

*<3*

Y flipped her hair over her shoulder, panting heavily. She and Riku had managed to clear the path. Now they just had to find Naminé in the chaos that was overtaking this world. Y wondered if Xehanort had planned for this, everyone attacking the base at once. If he did it worried her. He would never allow that unless he had another plan.