[Name] wasn't against the whole training to be able to survive. What she was against was the whole exercise of trying to hit a pole with a who knows how many pounds wooden sword. She lied on the grass feeling the cooling affects on her skin after an hour of trying to raise the sword above her head. Her body still ached from the first day of training and she felt fatigued. She had fallen asleep walking home yesterday. Yes, while walking. It was a surprise when she woke up the next morning on her bed.
Her stomach growled as she waited for Demyx to return with lunch. He had taken over supervising for the moment until Zexion returned. Looking next to her, she saw the wooden sword along with her enchanted hat. Right now she didn't carry if anyone found her, not the guards or anyone. She slowly sat up feeling all her muscles protest.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch," she mumbled to herself trying to lean on the tree. The sword next to her seemed to mock her or the hunger was starting to fog her thoughts. She shut her eyes hearing the wind shake the leaves of the trees. The cool breeze felt nice and she felt herself surrender to sleep. Everything felt peaceful until she heard distant laughs and talking. A frown set on her mouth as she slid one eye open.
Two girls were admiring the garden, one a blur of white and the other pink. That was all she could see currently. Dozing back to sleep, she tried to ignore the chatter until one of them screamed. [Name]'s eyes snapped open to see black creatures surrounding them. She recognized the creatures as the Heartless from the book named Shadows. Without a thought, she picked up the wooden sword, surprised at how light it was, and ran towards the two. Ignoring the pain rising in her sore body, she hit forward as the girl in pink summoned a flowery weapon.
[Name] tried to stay focus and hit at the Shadows, only to see them flatten themselves. She dodged any of their attacks, blocking them with the sword or twisting away. She had learned to block in the intense, two day training session. She made her way to the pair to see that the girl in pink could handle herself as well as the girl in white who had a dagger drawn out.
"Nice to get some help," [Name] heard the girl say as she expertly sliced at a few. [Name] stayed silent trying to look like she wasn't having some difficulty with the sword. She grimaced, watching the other girl gracefully swing her sword and land hits while [Name] bluntly smacked away at the enemies missing some of them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another of the Heartless appear. This one had the symbol embedded on it and skittered around in the air. It then pointed, towards the two girls, a small cannon.
[Name] growled kicking at one of the Shadows. The fire was shot and [Name] ran in front of them, arms spread wide. Her eyes snapped closed waiting for the pain until she felt nothing. Blinking, she saw a sort of dome had formed around them. Any attack seemed to cause a shimmering wave to sweep through the dome. All around them black seemed to swallow them with only a small piece of the sky visible.
"You must be the one that has the castle in an uproar," the girl in white giggled. The other girl stared in awe at the shield. The one in more of a shock was [Name], who had no idea how this had happened. She slowly put her arm out and touched the glittering dome. It felt cool to the touch and she could see a slight reflection of herself until another Shadow slammed into the dome.
"I guess I am," [Name] chuckled, trying to process everything. "That's me."
"Well," the girl in pink rubbed the back of her neck. "Sora and Riku didn't have a reason to worry about her safety. Right, Namine?" Before the girl could respond, another slam sent a tremor through the dome. A crack appeared in the defense and all three stared as the damage began to increase..
"Kairi?" Namine pulled on the girl's dress.
"So, what now?" Kairi asked, pointing her question at [Name].
"I have no idea," she gulped. [Name] felt a sharp pull at her hand. The sword gained weight throwing her off balance.
"Zexion?" she asked aloud. Another crash caught their attention and they saw as the dome was engulfed in flames. The red flames ate away at the Shadows fading the black to red. Water than replace the fire and seeped through the crack. The relief [Name] felt when she saw familiar figures through the clear dome was quickly replace with a dizzying feeling that caused her legs buckled and the dome shattered around them. The two girls caught her before she slammed into the ground.
[Name] couldn't see straight and could only recognize the black of someone's coat. She could hear her name being called and she could feel herself trembling. The emptiness in her stomach causing her head to become clouded. Someone lowered her down and tried to hand her something. Someone else than shoved a burger into [Name]'s mouth.
She bit and began to chew before ravenously eating away. Her hands shook as they held the burger and she could feel herself choke. Someone handed her a drink that she gulped down. With a bit of food in her stomach, everything began to clear along with her embarrassment. Everyone surrounding her with a look of worry was a total stranger. She recognized the two girls but the two males were new.
"When did you dye your hair purple?" Demyx stared at their hair.
"No time to explain," Zexion sighed, giving the two a look. "The guards are on their way. Axel, Demyx stay and explain what happen. Roxas with me." [Name] felt herself be pulled up as the dizziness returned. She felt Zexion hike her up onto his back and she quickly grabbed her arms around his neck.
"I do hope you don't say a word, Princesses," Zexion sighed, ignoring the disappointed looks on Axel and Demyx.
"About what?" Namine smiled innocently. Zexion nodded and began his run. [Name] could only remember hearing something about food before she slipped out of consciousness.
A crow settled itself onto the surrounding walls looking down at the garden. It's beady, red eyes stared at the others until they disappeared into the tunnel. It turned back to the remaining four with curiosity.
"I hope she'll be alright," Namine watched them go into the tunnel.
"More importantly," Kairi picked up one of the now opaque shards of the dome. "What's her power?"
"No idea," Demyx smiled. Axel ran a hand through his hair before snapping. A fire burst onto one of the large pieces. He quickly leaned to the side as the fire bounced back.
"The material looks like a mirror," Kairi stared back at her reflection. "So, she has control over mirrors?"
"We've had stranger powers," Demyx shrugged. "Saix's is pretty weird."
"It makes sense," Axel grabbed a piece. "It reflected those attacks." The four sighed as Kairi dusted herself off.
"Anyway, Namine and I will cover for you guys so, you can go look after her," Kairi stretched. "We'll say that you went on hot pursuit after the remaining Heartless."
"Too late," Namine whispered. They all look towards the other entrance to see a disheveled Sora and Riku running towards them. Behind them a few guards began to appear, all of them out of breath.
"So, how come you dyed your hair?" Demyx asked again. Axel began to explain until interrupted.
"Are you guys okay?" Sora hollered, running towards them. Riku ran after and both of the girls couldn't help but giggle. They both look as if they had just fallen out of bed. Sora's leather jacket was absent and his shoelaces almost caused him to trip. Riku was a bit more composed but his hair was sticking up in certain areas.
"We're both alright," Namine smiled, hiding her smile behind her hand. "Late night?"
"Yeah," both of them groaned, Sora rubbed his eyes while Riku rotated his shoulders.
"Anyway," Riku shook his head and turned to Axel. "What happened?"
"The two lovely princesses decided to take a walk around the town without any guards," Axel shrugged, leaning onto Kairi. She rolled her eyes and leaned onto him. "Me and Roxas split to look for them and I found Demyx on his way to lunch so we came over here and they were attacked by some Heartless."
"Are you sure you guys are okay?" Sora asked, glancing at the aftermath.
"They should be considering who else came to the aid of your precious princesses."
They all turned to the source of the female voice, weapons ready. Chakrams appeared in Axel's hands in blazing circle of flames. Sora and Riku unsheathed their swords, readying themselves. A burst of bubbles brought out Demyx's sitar. Kairi pulled Namine behind her and summoned her keyblade.
All of them glared at the apparition that appeared from the black and sickly green smoke. A proud woman dressed in black glared down on them. The crow flying to her shoulder as she tapped her staff twice.
"Well, this is quite the audience," she mused. "The young royalty of the most powerful countries, members of the Organization, and Riku." Riku tried not to wince as he saw Sora silently growl and glare at the woman.
"What do you want, Maleficent?" Riku shouted, keeping his calm. "You shouldn't be able to enter the city!"
She chuckled, her lips drawing into a sly grin, "This is but a mere illusion that this crow has been very fortunate to deliver to you. That and an old friend on your side did me a small favor."
Axel pulled his arm back, ready to throw and hissed in a strained voice, "Get. To. The. Point."
"How rude," she scoffed before shrugging. "I suppose I shall." She began to paced on the wall surrounding the garden. They watched as the vines that crawled along the wall began to wither with just the touch of the staff.
"My first intention was to negotiate but your brother lost his opportunity," she tossed something that glinted in the sun. The others stared as the object fell, not noticing Sora's expression. His earlier glare had fallen leaving behind a desperate and sullen frown. He ran forward catching the silver necklace shaped like a lion. His brother's necklace.
Everybody watched as the sword morphed into a Keyblade. Riku tried to stop his friend only to watch the end point at the woman and light gather at its end. Before anyone could stop him, a ray of light shot forward. Riku's eyes flashed to Maleficient only to see her reappear a few feet were the shot was fired. Riku jumped to control Sora, holding him back and seeing the tears building in the corner of his eyes.
"It's seems you wouldn't have want to attempt to negotiate otherwise," she sighed. "I also came to see the new owner of the Star Shard. Quite impressive the power she can control. A quick learner. It was as if she could mirror your actions. Right, Number IX?"
Demyx tensed under her scrutinizing eyes. Only a few people every really frightened him and one of those few people stood in front of him.
"Where's Leon?" Sora fought against Riku and Axel's hold.
"Now, is that the right way to ask something of someone. You Leonhart's are all the same," Maleficent's image began to fade. "I'll just leave it to your imagination so it may torture your mind."