Luminary Uprise 5

A Kingdom Hearts II fan fiction with some special crossovers

5: Nightmares

“You called, Master?” Christopher Carrion asked, appearing at Xehanort’s side.
“Ah, yes, Carrion,” said Xehanort. “I think it is time to show the traitors and the forces of light what they are dealing with…in your usual way.”
Carrion smiled widely. “My pleasure, Master.”
He disappeared in a cloud of darkness.
That taken care of, Xehanort strode toward Yagami’s chambers. He found the boy sprawled on the floor, paper-white and sweating, clutching a tattered notebook to his chest.
He sat up with difficulty. “Xehanort…” he choked. “I was right. It was too powerful to handle. The Death Note is only supposed to be used on human and animal hearts…not the Heart of All Worlds…”
Xehanort had earlier ordered Yagami to write “Kingdom Hearts” in the Death Note, thereby obliterating the Heart of All Worlds. It hadn’t quite worked.
“But look!” Xehanort pointed out the window. The great heart-shaped moon, already pockmarked by the explosion Ansem the Wise had caused, was currently missing an entire chunk, which had broken off and floated away. The moon no longer resembled a heart…it was more like a blob.
“All we need to do is write it once, maybe twice more!” Xehanort encouraged Yagami.
“Are you insane? Look at what it did to my Death Note!” Yagami waved the notebook in Xehanort’s face. Half the pages were missing, and the cover looked as though a feral beast had dragged its claws across it. “One more writing will destroy the weapon entirely!”
“Yagami…you will learn to follow my orders, or else…”
“I’m sorry! I’ll do it!” Yagami whimpered.

Sora leaned over his unconscious girlfriend. “Isn’t there anything we can do to help her?” he whimpered.
“I know who’ll know,” said Axel. He disappeared into a dark portal. Five minutes later, he returned, Vexen and Zexion trailing behind him.
“See?” Axel said, motioning to Kairi. “Here she is…”
Kairi shifted a bit. “Mmmph…”
“We’ll take her back to her house,” said Vexen.
He and Zexion picked Kairi up and began to walk toward her home.
“Are you sure those two are qualified to handle this?” Sora asked.
“Relax,” answered Axel. “Vexen’s a science geek. He’s actually medically trained. Kairi won’t die on him. And Zexion spends so much time reading, he pretty much knows anything.”
“If you’re sure.” Sora looked wistfully after the two men disappearing into the twilight. “I think I’m going to go to bed now…I need to sleep all of this off.”

Later that night, Kairi lay in her bed, still semi-conscious. She wriggled every once in a while, and mumbled something incoherent.
“My Curagas haven’t been working,” Vexen mumbled. “Perhaps if a Potion was given through injection…”
The two were interrupted by the appearance of a hooded member of the Neo-Organization. The hooded figure gave a slight twitch, as though he hadn’t expected to find people awake in the house at that hour. He clenched a fist, and then opened it, letting two very strange creatures fall on the floor. They resembled vomit-yellow worms that squirmed jerkily.
The figure then vanished.
“What was that?” Zexion asked.
Vexen charged forward to meet one of the creatures. “Quick!” he shouted. “Kill them!” He brought his boot down on one of the yellow worms, crushing it. Zexion hurried to squash its mate.
“Those were nightmares,” said Vexen, “in corporeal form. They looked nastier than any other nightmares I’ve seen.”
“You don’t think he was planning to use them against—“
“That’s exactly what he was planning, Zexion.”
Zexion turned to the door. “I’m going to check on them.”
“Zexion!” Vexen called out. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather stay with Kairi? I can go check on the others…”
“I’m the one who got us into this trouble,” said Zexion.
“Not really…listen, sometimes I think you’re working yourself to death. You need a break. Stay here.”
Zexion walked out the door without a reply, leaving Vexen to watch over Kairi.

Screaming.
Terrible screaming, as though the dreamer was being disemboweled with hot irons.
Zexion could hear it from outside the window of Myed’s house. He quickened his pace. He didn’t bother with the door; he simply leapt into the air, and, defying gravity, sailed through an open window that led right into Myed’s bedroom.
At first, the sight was horrifying…Myed was writhing more violently than the worms, screaming until he was red in the face. His dreams had obviously been invaded by something malevolent.
Jack Skellington burst into the room—for he was one of the heroes to stay with Myed—and emptied a large bucket of water onto the tortured dreamer.
Myed immediately awoke and sat up, still screaming and holding his head.
“Myed!” Zexion cried. “Stop! It’s over!”
Myed fell silent but for heavy gasping. He then looked over at Zexion. “Horrors…” he whispered, “horrors…”
“Xehanort sent one of his lackeys to plague us all with nightmares,” Zexion explained. “That’s what just happened to you.”
“Can’t go back there…can’t face that again…”
Zexion turned to Skellington. “Didn’t he try and infect you?”
“As a matter of fact,” Skellington said with a smile, “I did have a nightmare! It was the best one I’d had in years…quite grotesque. It gave me some ideas for next Halloween, although some of it was TOO graphic to pull off…I was rather disappointed when the pained screams of my host interrupted my dream.”
“That’s right…” Zexion thought out loud. “You’re a child of fright…born and raised in Halloween Town…a veritable Lord of Nightmares yourself. Any nightmare would be a pleasurable experience for you.” He turned to Myed. “Be very thankful,” he said, “that you have a housemate who is bizarre enough to think of throwing your element at you.”
“Thank you…Jack…” Myed wheezed.
“Since you’re immune,” said Zexion, “I’ll need your help. I’m going over to the Usual Spot to check on the other Nobodies. While I’m there, I need you to go to the others’ houses and wake up anyone who’s suffering.”
“How shall I do that?”
“Same way you woke up Myed. Throw water at them.”
“But water’s his element. That was meant to comfort him. Won’t water cause the others discomfort?”
It was at times like this that Zexion realized the merits of not having a heart. “I don’t really care about their discomfort right now,” he said. “I care about them not being trapped in nightmares. Now let’s go.”
“NO!” Myed screamed. He burst into tears, sobbing, “Don’t leave me…don’t leave me alone in the dark…”
Suddenly, a roar came from the lower floor.
“Who else is staying here?” Zexion asked.
“Simba, Pence, and Peter,” Skellington answered.
“Of course, that roar would be Simba…let’s take care of the others in this house first. Then we’ll go out and find the rest.”
“Fear not!” Skellington cried, rushing out of the room. “The Master of Fright shall save you!”
Not even Zexion could wrap his mind around that oxymoron.

In a matter of minutes, Pence, Peter, and Simba were awakened, and they gathered in Myed’s bedroom along with the still-sobbing water mage.
Simba kept shaking his head, eyes squeezed shut. “My father,” he moaned. “I saw him die…again and again…”
“That was easily the worst night of my life,” said Pence, “and the sad thing is, the night’s not even over.”
“I’d suggest staying awake for now,” said Zexion. “Jack and I are going out to see to the others. Also, STAY TOGETHER. That will help not only with defense…but I’m really not sure ANY of you want to go back to your rooms alone.”
With that, Zexion portalled away, and Skellington ran out of the house.
“We’ll just have to hope that doesn’t happen again,” said Peter.
Pence curled up into a sort of cross-legged ball on the floor.
Myed shook uncontrollably until he felt the heat of someone warm and furry climbing onto the bed next to him. Simba, for some reason, felt drawn to the water mage…perhaps it was because some quality about him reminded Simba of the charming young lion who had courted his daughter. Simba nudged Myed’s face with his nose and began purring, hoping to calm his frightened friend.
Myed looked up at Simba. “Zexion’s right,” he whispered. “We gotta stay together.”
“Don’t worry,” said Peter, “I know you three are shocked beyond belief, but I’ll stay here and protect you.”
“Admit it,” said Pence, “you’re scared too.”

“AAAARGH!”
It was hard to tell if Riku was screaming because of the nightmare he was leaving, or because of the cold water that had just been dumped on his face.
He sat right up in bed. “Jack?” he asked the skeleton who hovered over him with a bucket. “Did…did you give me that nightmare? Because…let me say…it was way worse than your usual standards…”
“It seems to be Xehanort’s doing,” Skellington explained. “Come down to the kitchen. The others are waiting there.”
Riku hauled himself out of bed and down to the kitchen, where Mickey, Hayner, and Captain Sparrow were sitting around a table with cups of hot chocolate. All three of them were staring into the cups with different expressions. Mickey looked terrified due to the dream he had just exited. Hayner looked as though someone had drained him of his usual exuberance. Sparrow looked as though he wished terribly for some rum to slip into his hot chocolate.
“Did Xehanort’s nightmares get you too?” Riku asked his housemates.
“It was horrible…” Hayner whispered, “the worst thing…”
Mickey just closed his eyes in rememberance.
“You kidding?” Sparrow slammed his fist on the table and stood. “I came face-to-face with me worst fears!”
“Zexion advises that you all stay awake and stay together,” said Skellington. “I’m going to go over to Sora’s house and see if they were affected too.” With that, he breezed out the door.
“It was like all of the darkness within me that I had to face in my past,” Riku explained, “bubbled up inside my brain and attacked me over and over again…I was constantly facing the darkness inside myself, and I was losing.”
“Sounds almost as awful as my dream,” said Sparrow. “I was on a nice little rowboat filled to the brim with all the gold a decent pirate could want, when these horrible monsters leap out of the sea and start takin’ me gold! At the end, I was left on the rowboat with no riches left!”
Riku scowled. “THAT’S YOUR IDEA OF A NIGHTMARE?”

“EEEEEEYAHH-HOO-HOO-HOOEEEEEE!” Goofy yelled, having been ripped from his bad dreams by a splash of water.
“Oh, dear,” said Skellington. “I should have known that not everyone would appreciate the water.”
“Gawrsh!” Goofy couldn’t stop shaking. “I just had the most awful nightmare!”
“Everyone is having them,” said Skellington. “It’s an attack by Xehanort.”
Hercules and Leon wandered into the living room, where Goofy had been sleeping on the couch. “He’s trying to break us down,” said Leon. “We have to show him we’re not afraid.”
“But it was so scary!” Goofy protested.
“At least it was just a dream,” said Hercules. “Now, as long as we stay together, we’ll be able to face whatever Xehanort has next.”
“We’ll just need to get Sora down here,” said Skellington. “Where is he?”
“He’s sleeping over at Riku’s tonight,” said Hercules. “He said that Kairi’s plight was causing him too much stress, and he needed his other best friend at his side tonight to calm him down.”
“I was just at Riku’s house,” said Skellington. “Sora definitely wasn’t there.”
For the first time, actual horror swept across the skeleton’s skull. “Oh, dear. Zexion will not be happy.”

Zexion charged into the Usual Spot to see all of his friends in the Organization battling the nightmares in their sleep. He rushed from Nobody to Nobody, shaking them awake. Most of them just shuddered quietly upon awakening, but Larxene sat up with a scream.
“NO!” she cried. “NO, YOU MONSTERS, LEAVE HIM ALONE!”
Zexion barely had time to wonder before he progressed to the last and most precious…Marluxia.
“Marly,” he said, shaking the flora mage’s shoulders. “Marly, wake up.”
Marluxia pried his eyes open. “Locusts…” he muttered. “They ate my garden, and they started eating my flesh…”
“It’s okay,” said Zexion. “They weren’t real. It was a nightmare, sent by Xehanort. You’re okay. There are no locusts.”
“So horrible…”
“Only a dream.”
Marluxia looked about himself to confirm that he was indeed in the Usual Spot and not in an insect-ravaged garden.
“Listen,” said Zexion, forming a change in plans in his mind. “I’ve got to go back to the islands to make sure everyone else is okay, but after that, I’m going to tell Vexen to watch over Kairi on his own. Then I’m coming right back here to stay with you, okay?”
Marluxia nodded, looking nothing less than shell-shocked.
Zexion left the Usual Spot and began to conjure a portal.
“Wait,” said a voice from behind him.
Zexion turned to face Larxene. “What?”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No. Stay here with the others.”
“Listen, pal. The Prince felt it when Belle was in trouble, Myed could tell when Axel was drowning, and Aladdin felt an instinct when Jasmine was getting sick…assuming the same thing happened to her that happened to Kairi. I just want to make sure my particular dream didn’t come true, that it wasn’t one of THOSE instincts.”
“You dreamed of someone in trouble?”
“Yeah, and I need you to take me to him.”
Zexion stared at her, curious.
“Well, if you MUST know,” Larxene hissed, “I dreamed that indescribably grotesque monsters were tearing Axel limb from limb. I just wanna make sure he’s okay, that’s all.”
“Larxene, you’d be rather in my way—“
“I DEMAND that you take me to the islands NOW!”
Zexion couldn’t argue with the fit of rage. “All right,” he sighed. “Come on.”

Axel was drowning again. However, there seemed to be no surface to get up to…the water was endless in all directions. Shady sea monsters squirmed past in the distance, providing for his only company as he came closer and closer to death…
He suddenly felt an electric current running through his muscles. It had come from some alternate form of reality…the REAL reality…
The water was only a dream. Axel was in his bed, nightmaring.
He noticed two things: first of all, he was in a cold sweat…an alien feeling.
Second, when he opened his eyes, he came to face a strange sight…he never thought he’d be so glad to see that sarcastic smirk hovering over him.
“Have a good sleep?” Larxene asked.
“Of course not,” Axel growled.
“I know. Xehanort’s sending us all nightmares. You okay?”
“I don’t exactly know yet. Give me a minute.”
“Okay then. Donald, Aladdin, Tarzan, and the Prince are already awake, and Zexion’s milling around somewhere. You stay there. I’ll go make us all tea. Now don’t you go back to sleep now, and whatever you do, don’t you DARE even think about scaring me like that again.”
As Larxene left, Axel wondered what she meant by his having scared her…but he didn’t care. He stared up at the ceiling. His hazy eyes almost hallucinated the sights of little pink hearts and chirping bluebirds whirling around and around his head.
There was no doubt that Axel was thoroughly twitterpated.

Zexion left Axel’s house to go make his way to Kairi’s. He was intercepted by Skellington, who had been making his way over to Axel’s place to check on its inhabitants.
“Don’t worry,” said Zexion. “I’ve already taken care of them in there.”
“Oh, good!” A smile swept across Jack’s face, only to be replaced by a worried frown. “There is another problem, though…”
“What is it now?”
“Well, you see, Sora seems to have gone missing, and nobody knows where he is.”
Zexion thought it over. Sora was crazy for Kairi…Kairi was bedridden because something was amiss at the Heart of All Worlds…
“He DIDN’T!” Zexion screamed. “That little IDIOT! Now I’ve got to go save his sorry butt! Skellington, just keep up the good work.” He gritted his teeth as he opened a new portal. “I’ll be back.”

Sora tread the alleys of the World That Never Was carefully. He didn’t want to get caught by Xehanort or any of his new lackeys.
Perhaps, he thought, he should have brought a friend with him, or at least not lied to the others about his whereabouts. However, they would have suggested waiting it out to see if Kairi would come to on her own first, and accused Sora of being blinded by love. Besides, in this particularly volatile world, someone was going to get hurt, and Sora preferred that he be the only one to do so.
He finally came to a point where he could view the great heart-shaped moon…or, rather, the moon that was once heart-shaped. A whole chunk of it was missing.
“I see you have chosen to do the foolish thing,” came a metallic voice from behind the young hero.
Sora spun around to come face-to-face with one of the Neo-Organization. The man took down his hood, but his face was still not visible, as he was wearing a black mask that amplified his breathing. This man was known in some circles as Anakin Skywalker, but more commonly as Darth Vader.
“What are you doing to Kingdom Hearts?” Sora screamed.
“That is not your business,” said Vader. He drew a light saber from his side, and brandished it at Sora.
Sora smiled. He had faced this sort of weapon before and prevailed.
The battle between the two was long, and there were near misses—at one point, Sora almost lost his head, but a quick movement ensured that the light saber only sliced through the chain of his necklace and not his neck—but in the end, Sora had Vader pinned beneath his foot, the Keyblade jammed against his neck.
In a rush of darkness, Vader portalled away, leaving Sora to lose his balance once the body beneath his foot was gone.
Sora shook off the memory of the recent battle and continued to make his way to the broken heart.
A hand roughly grabbed the back of his shirt, and a steely voice hissed in his ear, “What do you think you are DOING?”
Sora turned to come face-to-face with an irate Zexion. “I was only trying to help Kairi…” he explained.
“Yes, I can SEE that. But did you have to do it in such an IDIOTIC way? Get much closer to that moon, and Xehanort and the others will come down here and strike you dead, all at once.”
“I thought I could…”
“Do you think you’re invincible? You’re irreplaceable! You get yourself killed, and our whole purpose dies with you!”
Sora was flattered and humiliated at the same time.
“Come on, then,” said Zexion, “let’s get back to the islands. And we’ll pay a little visit to your girlfriend while we’re at it. Maybe she’s better by now, and you can stop getting these suicidal plans in your head.”

Once they returned to the islands’ mainland, they walked in silence down the streets. Sora couldn’t help but stare at the man’s chest, remembering the story Myed had told him.
“Myed told you,” said Zexion, “didn’t he?”
“Wha…?”
“I see you staring at me. Worried.”
“Axel made him do it. I tried to tell him not—“
“It’s all right.” Zexion stopped in his tracks. “Are you wondering?”
“Kinda…yeah.”
Zexion unzipped his cloak. Underneath, he wore a simple black shirt and pants. He lifted the shirt.
Sora gasped. It was worse than he had pictured. Zexion looked as though he should be hospitalized for anorexia. He barely had a stomach remaining, and his ribs were a defined mountain range across his chest.
Once he was sure Sora had looked his fill, Zexion lowered the shirt and went about redoing his cloak.
“Zexion…” Sora started. “I know we’ve never been the best of friends, but if there’s anything I can do to help you…anything…”
“Save it,” said Zexion. “Just help me get rid of Xehanort. That’ll help a lot.”
“Okay.”
They resumed their walking in silence.

“I was under the impression,” Xehanort snarled, “that your sort of weapon was the toughest in the multiverse. You should have been able to destroy the Keyblade easily.”
“I would have thought that you, my liege, of all people, would have remembered that a light saber is no match for a Keyblade,” Vader argued.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You fought him with two and failed.”
“They are not light sabers! They are aerial blades! There’s a difference!”
“I’ve seen your weapons. They look like light sabers. They sound like light sabers. They function like light sabers. They are light sabers.”
Xehanort was fuming on the inside, but managed to retain outward composure. “The point is, I ordered you to dispose of our intruder, and you failed. Such action deserves the maximum punishment.”
“I did manage to get ahold of this,” said Vader, holding out Sora’s crown-shaped pendant.
Xehanort’s face lit up when he saw it like a child’s face lights up at the sight of a brightly wrapped birthday gift. “On second thought, you are pardoned.”

Zexion and Sora entered Kairi’s house to find all of the houseguests crammed into one room. Kairi was in the middle of the bed, fully conscious (to Sora’s relief), sitting up and sipping some soup. Mulan and Ariel, still suffering from their nightmares, were snuggled in under the blanket on either side of her. Olette sat at the foot of the bed. Leaning over the bed in concern were Kairi’s adoptive parents, Letitia and Loran. Vexen loomed in the corner, making sure his patient did not relapse.
“Sora!” cried Letitia. “Thank goodness you’re here. Kairi woke up, and you were the first person she wanted to see.”
Sora approached the bed, barely noticing that Zexion had vanished. “Kairi? You okay?”
Kairi nodded. “Whatever happened, it passed.”
“I went to Kingdom Hearts, Kairi. It was broken, like they were trying to destroy it.”
“Sora…where’s your necklace?”
“I lost it in a battle there.”
“Battle? Are YOU okay?”
Sora smiled. “Never better.”
“We’ve all had a rough night,” said Loran. “Perhaps we had better find a way to relax.” He reached for a remote control.
Televisions were a rare item on the Destiny Islands, only belonging to the wealthy. Kairi’s adoptive parents, however, were financially gifted, so the young princess had a television in her room. Loran flicked it on and began to channel-surf.
“Can we check the IIS?” Sora asked. “I want to see if any of this has made the news.” He then sat on the end of the bed next to Olette, finding Kairi’s feet under the blanket and squeezing them with his hand.
The IIS, or Interdimensional Information System, was a channel that had been added to every world’s airwaves ever since Sora’s journeying had awakened everyone to the existence of other worlds. It covered news from all corners of the multiverse.
Instead of the customary news anchors at their desk, however, Xehanort’s face filled the screen.
“And under my new order, the worlds shall prosper, no matter if it seems ‘cruel’ at first,” he announced. “Remember this…if you doubt I can be trusted, notice that I am a chosen one.” He gestured to his neck.
“He’s wearing my necklace!” Sora yelled.
“I will work for the betterment of the worlds,” said Xehanort, “and all you have to do is submit to my leadership.”
“Yeah, right!” Sora yelled. “What does he think he’s playing at?”
The camera zoomed out to show Xehanort’s whole body, and everyone in the room gasped. The villain had an Oblivion Keyblade in his right hand.
Sora made for the door.
“Where are you going?” Olette asked.
“To talk to the one person who can make sense of this,” Sora answered.

Zexion entered the darkened Usual Spot.
“About time,” said Xaldin.
“Is it safe for us to go to sleep now?” Luxord asked.
“I don’t know…but the nightmares should have worn off by now. We could all try it.”
“Okay,” said Marluxia. “But since Larxene and Vexen left…the couch belongs to me.” He rushed to the worn-down sofa and stretched out on it.
“No fair,” the other Nobodies chimed. They all accepted it, however, and closed their eyes.
Zexion walked up to the sofa, kneeling at Marluxia’s side. “You shouldn’t have any more nightmares,” he assured his beloved, “but if you do, all you have to do is wake up. I’ll be right here.”
“Okay,” said Marluxia, blinking drowsily.
Zexion watched the pink-haired man drift slowly into sleep.

Later that night, Marluxia did suffer another nightmare, but not one induced by Xehanort…this was more of the garden variety bad dream.
His eyes flicked open. He glanced around in terror, but his gaze eventually settled on the side of the couch. Zexion had fallen asleep while kneeling at his side, and his head rested on the edge of the couch cushion.
“Zexion,” Marluxia whispered under his breath so as not to wake the silver-haired man.
It was then that the idea first occurred to him…a Nobody, by definition, should not have felt so calmed at a sight of another that all nightmares were instantly forgotten. Perhaps a piece of his heart still remained inside him, causing those feelings…
He said again, quietly so that Zexion could not hear, “Glad you’re here.” He reached out to ruffle his downy, silver hair.
He then settled back to sleep and better dreams.

Sora burst into Riku’s kitchen. “King Mickey!” he cried, remembering to bow respectfully at the last minute.
“Sora!” the King cried. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s a problem,” Sora began. He told the whole story of Xehanort’s appearance on the IIS with a Keyblade and his necklace.
“This is bad,” said Mickey.
“No duh,” Riku interrupted.
“You see, Sora,” said Mickey, “well…I should start by asking, how long have you had that necklace?”
“Since I was really little? I don’t remember.”
“Did you ever wonder why the standard Kingdom Key carried the same pattern in its blade that was on your necklace?”
Sora thought about it. “I never noticed that…”
“That necklace was bestowed upon you sometime at your birth,” said Mickey, “to signify that you were to be the most powerful Keyblade Master of your generation. If Xehanort has it, he can convince the world that he instead is the most powerful Keyblade Master, and those who don’t know any better will follow whatever he says.”
“You see?” said Sparrow. “The boy’s lost his pretty trinket, just like I lost all the gold in my dream, and he looks more horrified than me.”
“There’s a difference!” Riku practically screamed.
“I fail to see the disparity.”
“That’s terrible!” Sora cried. “If Xehanort has that much power…”
“I know,” Mickey said somberly. “And to top it off, I don’t even know HOW he got hold of a Keyblade of his own. I’m afraid things just got a lot worse for us, Sora. A lot worse.”