Excuse my stupidity. Angel loves Legolas. Angel loves Pippin. Angel loves
Sam. Best to get it out of the way here. ^__^
Chapter 9: Heartless Attack
***Angel***
I had to think. I had to get away from there, from those people. Too many people, too many opinions, too many bits of past and likeness and too much love and hate and complications. I knew where the Keyhole was. Unfortunately, I knew what closing it off meant, too.
You're probably extremely confused by now.
Don't worry. You'll understand, someday.
"Excuse me?"
"Hello," I faced Sakura. "Why'd you follow?"
"I-I'm sorry...I was worried, and—"
"Acting fully within your character," I smiled sadly. "Ms. Kinomoto, do you quite understand what is happening here?"
"No."
"You don't have to know much," I said. "I sort of knew Clow when he was still young. We were friends, allies, between the three of us."
"His mistress," Sakura said.
"Yeah. Even now I don't remember her name. But I remembered her character, who she was, why she acted the way she did. Before I left, I told Clow to watch her, to wait. He knew as well as I did, but he was blinded by compassion. All men are at one point or another."
"I take it you don't trust men."
"No. I don't. Look, I need to go close off this Keyhole. It's a bit more personal for me than David and the others would like to know. I don't want them seeing the Keyhole. Eriol understands, that's why he let me leave."
"Did you—"
"No. I never loved Clow."
Sakura smiled gently, and revealed a small deck of cards in her hands. She took one out and showed me The Windy, a card I knew well.
"It's strange now. These cards are basically mine now. Mine to keep. Or mine to give. This was the first card I ever caught."
"I know," I said.
"Right before I met her, I caught a card. I think...I want you to have that card. I don't know if you'll be able to use it at all. I don't know what kind of magic you are or any of that. But still, I want you to have it."
"I don't want any of your cards, Sakura. They're yours."
"Your name's Angel, right?"
"Yes."
"Here, it was Sira, right?"
"Yes."
"Technically, you're connected to me, and my dad, and Eriol and Mr. Clow, right?"
"Yes...?"
"I want you to be able to remember me. I know what'll happen when you close Kingdom Hearts. You won't be able to come back, Creator or not. So...I want you to have this card."
She pressed the Sakura Card into my hands firmly. Hesitantly, I glanced at it.
"The Arrow Card?"
"It connects us all."
"It connects us all?"
"Yes. Take it. Keep it. Use it. Now go find your Keyhole."
"It's right here in front of me. Ice the demons, Fire the Papers, Show no mercy, In this day of Capers. It's a spell, to give the Arrow Card its power. This whole thing was arranged, just as Clow predicted. You see? You were right.
"We are all connected."
The wind whipped around us again. Lights emitted from every corner of the horizon, as at last the Keyhole, Sakura's own Book of the Clow, was locked away.
"Let's return," I said. "I've got a lot of explaining to do."
Back at Eriol's mansion, Sakura and I explained that the whole thing was a setup and I apologized to my brother. It had been, at best, the shortest, easiest solution to my little problem. The boys all climbed back aboard the Gummi Ship, but I hung back.
"Eriol...Clow...I'm sorry to rush like this." I pulled him aside, into another room. Out of earshot, out of eyesight.
"Quite all right. Still out saving the world, Sira, as always. Some things never change."
"And you're still a little boy, Clow," I smiled. "Except now you've got the body."
"I will see you again...Kaho Miyazaki."
"I wish you wouldn't refer to me by my present-day name, Eriol." I knelt and sighed beside him. "Eriol, I may never return in this form. Please, love me in my other form, not this one. I do love you, but...it just wasn't meant to be."
"I understand, Angel. Perhaps you'd better go..."
"I think so," I gave him a quick kiss and turned my back, never to return. ***David***
"It was real nice of you to not inform us of this until after we landed," I said as Angel climbed back aboard the Gummi Ship. "Why didn't you just say anything?"
"Because...I...I needed Sakura not to know. She needed to come to me of her own free will."
"And you knew this how?"
"I just know," Angel said. "All right? I know. It's weird, but I don't know why I know what I know when I already knew it. Make any sense whatsoever?"
"Not a drop," I said dryly.
"Then let it drop."
I sighed and buckled my crash webbing.
"Incoming!" Goofy shouted.
"The Heartless are attacking!"
TSEW! TSEW! TSEW!
CRASH!
"We're going to crash into the other ship!"
"AHHHHH!!"
"Help!"
"Get in the escape pod!"
Angel and Sora clambered into the tiny pod, and I waited while Donald attempted to destroy the other ship. We crashed into it, sending sparks all over the front. With a resounding scrape and a terrible concussion, sparks flew up in the air. Goofy wobbled back and landed right on top of me, his long gangly foot hitting the "Send Pod" button.
Simultaneously, Donald hit the hyperdrive.
I heard the sounds of branches scraping the outer hull, then a splash as everything went dark. ***Angel***
The escape pod swayed as gravity took hold of us. Sora was already out cold, but I watched as the hull burned bright through the atmosphere of the new world. The pod blinked with an annoyingly pleasant beeping noise. The screen flashed the last bit of information I expected to see: Middle Earth.
"What the heck?" I shouted. Alarms started blaring at that particular moment, the red lights flashing brilliantly in my eyes. The pod jerked suddenly and red swam in my vision as at last we landed. My head hit the ceiling again, and I saw a new kind of red and a new kind of light.
"Gilgalad was an elven king, of them the harpers sadly sing, the last whose realm was fair and free, between the mountains and the sea..." Singing...That voice...
I recognized that voice. The new red I'd seen earlier was gone, replaced by the dim recollections of my eyelids. But that light...I could see it still, even with my eyes closed. Was I imagining things?
"His sword was long, his lance was keen, his shining helm afar was seen—"
Oh, please! I thought. Please, don't stop singing.
"Lady? Have you awakened?"
The only answer I really had for him was a moan. He chuckled and I could feel his smile. I could feel it, like a breath of fresh air.
URRRRGGSSSssssssss...URRRRRRRRGGSSSSssssss
He chuckled again. "Seems your friend finally came back."
My eyes snapped open despite the harsh sudden light. "Sora! Is he okay?"
Everything froze.
Everything.
Exquisite linens, white, pure, golden light, dancing about, a window bathed in both, two beds, one for me and the other for—
URRRRGGGSsssss
Sora.
The man who was singing was no man at all. He was an elf. A blond elf. An elf whose name rang through my head quite clearly, whose white blonde hair and tantalizing eyes and absolute, unfettered, unbelievable face stared straight into mine. He was shocked. He had every right to be.
My mouth dropped.
I closed it, trying to find any amount of brain process.
It dropped again, but no sound came out.
I closed it again.
Open.
Close.
Open. "L-L-Legolas? Legolas Greenleaf?"
"Yes. How do you know me?"
I ignored him. "Oh. My. God. Oh. My. Oh. Dear. Um...hi?"
He blinked. "Hello to you too, Miss...?"
My mouth moved accordingly for about a minute. "A-Angel. Angel G- Galis."
"You seem surprised to see me Miss Angel Galis. How do you know my name?"
"Er...Um...I forgot." A creeping blush crossed my cheeks.
Legolas smiled. I wish he'd do that all the time. "I'm sure you'll remember. If you'll excuse me, I must get to a meeting."
"Sir? May I...go with you?"
"What about your friend?"
Instead of me answering, Sora did. "I'm awake! Angel, where are we?"
"Er..."
"Rivendell. Welcome, Sir Sora. May I ask your lineage?"
"He forgot...a long time ago," I said quickly. Sora cocked an eyebrow at me, then nodded. Extremely stupidly, I might add.
In the end, we made our way through the city to Elrond's Council, where we sat on the ground beside the extremely short Frodo. Of course, I wasn't to know that, so I said nothing. He looked at us strangely, but the matter at hand was more pressing.
"The Orcs and their new allies are moving swiftly toward us as we speak," Elrond said, commanding the attention of all in the room, including the dwarves, the Men, the Elves, and several other species.
"We must find the prophesied Key and lock them out. We must destroy the Ring, before Sauron's forces arrive."
Sora opened his mouth, but I covered it quick. I shook my head at him, telling him to wait. He didn't understand quite yet, but he understood that I wanted him to wait.
Silence fell.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's do away with the thing!" Gimili stood and raised his ax. As expected, it did nothing. It got rid of a rather nasty-looking ax, though.
"The Ring cannot be destroyed by any weapon we here hold. It was born of the fires of Mordor and there it must be unmade. Who will take it there?"
Silence.
More silence.
Where were the crickets when you needed them?
More.
More silence.
Silence.
And then...
"I will take it!" Frodo said.
"I want to help!" I shouted, taking my feet back from the ground.
"You? But you're only a child, and a woman at that," said one of the Men, probably Boromir.
"I wield the Key," I said, casting a nasty glance in the Man's direction. "As does my buddy Sora. Together, we will lock your Keyhole. We've done it before." I brandished the Keybow at them.
Sora looked at me, then at Frodo, then at Elrond. "But Angel, do you even know the way?"
I blushed. "No."
"I will help you bear this burden," a wizened man, a wizard, graying but far from feeble, marched forward.
"If by my life or death I can protect you three, I will," said Aragorn, a Man through and through. He stared straight at Frodo.
"I will aid you, in any way I can," Legolas stepped forward. He smiled and gestured to my Keybow. "I will help you fire more true than an elf, Angel. You have my bow."
I smiled.
"And my ax," Gimli said.
"And my sword," the man I supposed was Boromir said.
"Hey!" shouted Sam, coming from the bushes. "Mr. Frodo isn't going anywhere without me."
"Indeed, it is highly impossible to separate you, even when he is invited to a highly secret Council and you are not."
"We're coming too!" Merry shouted from the door. "You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us!"
"Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of...mission. Quest. Thing."
"Well, that rules you out, then," Merry and I said in unison. He glanced at me, as did everyone else.
Now the crickets start.
"Eleven companions...the Fellowship of the Ring."
"So, where are we going?" Pippin asked.
Chapter 9: Heartless Attack
***Angel***
I had to think. I had to get away from there, from those people. Too many people, too many opinions, too many bits of past and likeness and too much love and hate and complications. I knew where the Keyhole was. Unfortunately, I knew what closing it off meant, too.
You're probably extremely confused by now.
Don't worry. You'll understand, someday.
"Excuse me?"
"Hello," I faced Sakura. "Why'd you follow?"
"I-I'm sorry...I was worried, and—"
"Acting fully within your character," I smiled sadly. "Ms. Kinomoto, do you quite understand what is happening here?"
"No."
"You don't have to know much," I said. "I sort of knew Clow when he was still young. We were friends, allies, between the three of us."
"His mistress," Sakura said.
"Yeah. Even now I don't remember her name. But I remembered her character, who she was, why she acted the way she did. Before I left, I told Clow to watch her, to wait. He knew as well as I did, but he was blinded by compassion. All men are at one point or another."
"I take it you don't trust men."
"No. I don't. Look, I need to go close off this Keyhole. It's a bit more personal for me than David and the others would like to know. I don't want them seeing the Keyhole. Eriol understands, that's why he let me leave."
"Did you—"
"No. I never loved Clow."
Sakura smiled gently, and revealed a small deck of cards in her hands. She took one out and showed me The Windy, a card I knew well.
"It's strange now. These cards are basically mine now. Mine to keep. Or mine to give. This was the first card I ever caught."
"I know," I said.
"Right before I met her, I caught a card. I think...I want you to have that card. I don't know if you'll be able to use it at all. I don't know what kind of magic you are or any of that. But still, I want you to have it."
"I don't want any of your cards, Sakura. They're yours."
"Your name's Angel, right?"
"Yes."
"Here, it was Sira, right?"
"Yes."
"Technically, you're connected to me, and my dad, and Eriol and Mr. Clow, right?"
"Yes...?"
"I want you to be able to remember me. I know what'll happen when you close Kingdom Hearts. You won't be able to come back, Creator or not. So...I want you to have this card."
She pressed the Sakura Card into my hands firmly. Hesitantly, I glanced at it.
"The Arrow Card?"
"It connects us all."
"It connects us all?"
"Yes. Take it. Keep it. Use it. Now go find your Keyhole."
"It's right here in front of me. Ice the demons, Fire the Papers, Show no mercy, In this day of Capers. It's a spell, to give the Arrow Card its power. This whole thing was arranged, just as Clow predicted. You see? You were right.
"We are all connected."
The wind whipped around us again. Lights emitted from every corner of the horizon, as at last the Keyhole, Sakura's own Book of the Clow, was locked away.
"Let's return," I said. "I've got a lot of explaining to do."
Back at Eriol's mansion, Sakura and I explained that the whole thing was a setup and I apologized to my brother. It had been, at best, the shortest, easiest solution to my little problem. The boys all climbed back aboard the Gummi Ship, but I hung back.
"Eriol...Clow...I'm sorry to rush like this." I pulled him aside, into another room. Out of earshot, out of eyesight.
"Quite all right. Still out saving the world, Sira, as always. Some things never change."
"And you're still a little boy, Clow," I smiled. "Except now you've got the body."
"I will see you again...Kaho Miyazaki."
"I wish you wouldn't refer to me by my present-day name, Eriol." I knelt and sighed beside him. "Eriol, I may never return in this form. Please, love me in my other form, not this one. I do love you, but...it just wasn't meant to be."
"I understand, Angel. Perhaps you'd better go..."
"I think so," I gave him a quick kiss and turned my back, never to return. ***David***
"It was real nice of you to not inform us of this until after we landed," I said as Angel climbed back aboard the Gummi Ship. "Why didn't you just say anything?"
"Because...I...I needed Sakura not to know. She needed to come to me of her own free will."
"And you knew this how?"
"I just know," Angel said. "All right? I know. It's weird, but I don't know why I know what I know when I already knew it. Make any sense whatsoever?"
"Not a drop," I said dryly.
"Then let it drop."
I sighed and buckled my crash webbing.
"Incoming!" Goofy shouted.
"The Heartless are attacking!"
TSEW! TSEW! TSEW!
CRASH!
"We're going to crash into the other ship!"
"AHHHHH!!"
"Help!"
"Get in the escape pod!"
Angel and Sora clambered into the tiny pod, and I waited while Donald attempted to destroy the other ship. We crashed into it, sending sparks all over the front. With a resounding scrape and a terrible concussion, sparks flew up in the air. Goofy wobbled back and landed right on top of me, his long gangly foot hitting the "Send Pod" button.
Simultaneously, Donald hit the hyperdrive.
I heard the sounds of branches scraping the outer hull, then a splash as everything went dark. ***Angel***
The escape pod swayed as gravity took hold of us. Sora was already out cold, but I watched as the hull burned bright through the atmosphere of the new world. The pod blinked with an annoyingly pleasant beeping noise. The screen flashed the last bit of information I expected to see: Middle Earth.
"What the heck?" I shouted. Alarms started blaring at that particular moment, the red lights flashing brilliantly in my eyes. The pod jerked suddenly and red swam in my vision as at last we landed. My head hit the ceiling again, and I saw a new kind of red and a new kind of light.
"Gilgalad was an elven king, of them the harpers sadly sing, the last whose realm was fair and free, between the mountains and the sea..." Singing...That voice...
I recognized that voice. The new red I'd seen earlier was gone, replaced by the dim recollections of my eyelids. But that light...I could see it still, even with my eyes closed. Was I imagining things?
"His sword was long, his lance was keen, his shining helm afar was seen—"
Oh, please! I thought. Please, don't stop singing.
"Lady? Have you awakened?"
The only answer I really had for him was a moan. He chuckled and I could feel his smile. I could feel it, like a breath of fresh air.
URRRRGGSSSssssssss...URRRRRRRRGGSSSSssssss
He chuckled again. "Seems your friend finally came back."
My eyes snapped open despite the harsh sudden light. "Sora! Is he okay?"
Everything froze.
Everything.
Exquisite linens, white, pure, golden light, dancing about, a window bathed in both, two beds, one for me and the other for—
URRRRGGGSsssss
Sora.
The man who was singing was no man at all. He was an elf. A blond elf. An elf whose name rang through my head quite clearly, whose white blonde hair and tantalizing eyes and absolute, unfettered, unbelievable face stared straight into mine. He was shocked. He had every right to be.
My mouth dropped.
I closed it, trying to find any amount of brain process.
It dropped again, but no sound came out.
I closed it again.
Open.
Close.
Open. "L-L-Legolas? Legolas Greenleaf?"
"Yes. How do you know me?"
I ignored him. "Oh. My. God. Oh. My. Oh. Dear. Um...hi?"
He blinked. "Hello to you too, Miss...?"
My mouth moved accordingly for about a minute. "A-Angel. Angel G- Galis."
"You seem surprised to see me Miss Angel Galis. How do you know my name?"
"Er...Um...I forgot." A creeping blush crossed my cheeks.
Legolas smiled. I wish he'd do that all the time. "I'm sure you'll remember. If you'll excuse me, I must get to a meeting."
"Sir? May I...go with you?"
"What about your friend?"
Instead of me answering, Sora did. "I'm awake! Angel, where are we?"
"Er..."
"Rivendell. Welcome, Sir Sora. May I ask your lineage?"
"He forgot...a long time ago," I said quickly. Sora cocked an eyebrow at me, then nodded. Extremely stupidly, I might add.
In the end, we made our way through the city to Elrond's Council, where we sat on the ground beside the extremely short Frodo. Of course, I wasn't to know that, so I said nothing. He looked at us strangely, but the matter at hand was more pressing.
"The Orcs and their new allies are moving swiftly toward us as we speak," Elrond said, commanding the attention of all in the room, including the dwarves, the Men, the Elves, and several other species.
"We must find the prophesied Key and lock them out. We must destroy the Ring, before Sauron's forces arrive."
Sora opened his mouth, but I covered it quick. I shook my head at him, telling him to wait. He didn't understand quite yet, but he understood that I wanted him to wait.
Silence fell.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's do away with the thing!" Gimili stood and raised his ax. As expected, it did nothing. It got rid of a rather nasty-looking ax, though.
"The Ring cannot be destroyed by any weapon we here hold. It was born of the fires of Mordor and there it must be unmade. Who will take it there?"
Silence.
More silence.
Where were the crickets when you needed them?
More.
More silence.
Silence.
And then...
"I will take it!" Frodo said.
"I want to help!" I shouted, taking my feet back from the ground.
"You? But you're only a child, and a woman at that," said one of the Men, probably Boromir.
"I wield the Key," I said, casting a nasty glance in the Man's direction. "As does my buddy Sora. Together, we will lock your Keyhole. We've done it before." I brandished the Keybow at them.
Sora looked at me, then at Frodo, then at Elrond. "But Angel, do you even know the way?"
I blushed. "No."
"I will help you bear this burden," a wizened man, a wizard, graying but far from feeble, marched forward.
"If by my life or death I can protect you three, I will," said Aragorn, a Man through and through. He stared straight at Frodo.
"I will aid you, in any way I can," Legolas stepped forward. He smiled and gestured to my Keybow. "I will help you fire more true than an elf, Angel. You have my bow."
I smiled.
"And my ax," Gimli said.
"And my sword," the man I supposed was Boromir said.
"Hey!" shouted Sam, coming from the bushes. "Mr. Frodo isn't going anywhere without me."
"Indeed, it is highly impossible to separate you, even when he is invited to a highly secret Council and you are not."
"We're coming too!" Merry shouted from the door. "You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us!"
"Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of...mission. Quest. Thing."
"Well, that rules you out, then," Merry and I said in unison. He glanced at me, as did everyone else.
Now the crickets start.
"Eleven companions...the Fellowship of the Ring."
"So, where are we going?" Pippin asked.