Volume 8

Chapters

Story

Chapter 28: Castle Siege

Disney Castle is under attack by the heartless. Rei finds Queen Minnie talking to Sora, Donald, and Goofy about the situation in the Library. Queen Minnie, sensing her presence, calls out to her. The reunion is short lived when it is revealed that the Queen has been unable to reach the other members of the castle or the citizens in the town. The team splits up, with Rei heading to Disney Town.

The heartless are terrorizing the citizens. Rei quickly intercepts them and begins to evacuate the citizens. She heads towards a scream, and finds Max trying to defend him and Roxanne from the heartless. Rei saves him, but before she can leave, Max stops her, asking her why she always has to run off. He couldn't believe it was actually her. He believed she left because of him. Rei quickly dispel those assumptions, and encourages him to do what they couldn't during the Dream Festival: protect the citizens and get them to safety. They go to find P.J. who has become more experienced with magic, and they work together help protect the town.

Afterwards, Rei returns to the castle, but is frozen with fear when she sees the Hall of Cornerstone covered in thorns and Maleficent towering over her.

Chapter 29: Darkness From the Past

Sora calls out to Rei, who has fallen to her knees, a look of complete dread on her face. Maleficent greets Rei with an excessive amount of familiarity, saying that she did a good job letting the heartless into the castle. Everyone else is confused. Queen Minnie asks Rei what she's talking about. Rei tries to deny it, but her voice falters against Maleficent's. Maleficent begins filling the room with lies. Rei begs her to stop, but the words continue to overwhelm her. Her hair begins to turn white as her emotions rush out of her. Sora slashes away at Maleficent's shadow, releasing Rei from Maleficent's power. This snaps Rei out of her trance, but runs away before anyone can stop her.

Sora turns his anger towards Maleficent's illusion. Maleficent laughs at Sora's defensiveness, telling him that he knows nothing about Rei or what she did. Sora says that he doesn't need to know anything to know that she hurt and used Rei, and he won't listen to the lies she's trying to feed him. Maleficent disappears, saying that he'll learn to watch his tongue when she finally takes control of the castle. The Queen expresses her worry about Rei, and how she feels guilty for not being there for her. Sora promises that once they fix the Castle, they'll go and find Rei and make sure she's okay.

Rei had taken refuge in her Gummi Ship. Her white hair draped around her shoulders as she trembles.

Chapter 30: Punishment

Having lost Kairi, Axel arrives in Hollow Bastion to face Sora himself. He ends up running into Rei by the Maleficent's Castle, and is shocked to see her changed appearance. The roots of her hair have turned white. When he calls out to her, she turns around with a blank expression on her face. Rei turns back to the castle, recalling her time there. She would do anything to please Maleficent, even if she didn't like it or if it felt uncomfortable. She was afraid of disappointing her. Axel tells her that she was young and being manipulated. He says she didn't know better and Maleficent took advantage of that. Rei bursts into tears.

"That's the thing though I did know better! I knew that I was uncomfortable, I knew I should say no.

I knew that i was involving myself with bad people. I just... I don't know why i kept coming back or

why I wanted her approval so badly. I just...I ended up ignoring what I knew what was right

just because I wanted this person to like me."

Rei expresses her distress. How is it that after so long this continues to affect her?After all the work she's tried putting into herself and all the people she tried going to. She feels like she hasn't gotten better. No matter how far she tries to separate herself, the memories still plague her. They still reduce her to nothing.

"You're here aren't you? That's something to be proud of."

Axel's words help bring Rei to her senses. She begins to cry as the white in her hair begins to recede. Axel pulls her into an embrace to help try and calm her down. Axel tells her that she doesn't have to say anything else. She doesn't have to explain herself to anyone. By forcing herself to come back here, she's doing nothing but punishing herself for something that isn't her fault.

The two are interrupted by a sudden violent earthquake. Rei helps them reach higher ground, where they see heartless fill the Great Maw. Axel tells Rei that this is probably the Organization's doing, and that they're using Sora to draw out the powers of the Keyblade. They decide to part ways, and Rei uses her Gummi Board to join the battle.

Chapter 31: Broken

As Rei is providing support to the Battle of 1000 Heartless, she spots Lius on the cliffs, watching her, and she goes to confront him. She hops off of her gummi board and draws her sword. Lius says he's impressed, for he was sure that going to Maleficent's Castle would be her breaking point. Rei tells him that she will not be his puppet. Just as Rei gets the upper hand during their fight, Lius catches her off guard by shapeshifting into Helga Sinclair, and begins beating her down. He transforms into Ventus as he disarms her, and kicks her to the ground. He mocks Rei, telling her that she was so easy to manipulate by using this face, and even now she lets it get to her. He transforms one more time, Rei desperately turns around to block her view. Lius calls out to her, asking her what's wrong. She kneels on the ground, her back to Lius and her hands covering her ears. Rei can feel him behind her, approaching. She begs him to stop. He taunts her, wrapping his arms around her.

"It's quite curious the way this form affects you though.

The face is the same, the voice is the same. What's the difference?

I can make him say anything you know.

I can make him say whatever you want to hear."

Lius summons his blade, stabs her through her heart, and throws her limp body to the side. In his hand, he holds fragments of her heart, and he disappears.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy are lost in an empty realm when hooded figure appears. He leaves a box with a sea-salt ice cream, a picture of Roxas, Hayner, Pence, Olette , and Rei. Besides it, Rei herself, unresponsive.

References

Original Characters

Rei • Rin The Forsaken • Lius

Kingdom Hearts Characters

Sora • Axel • Heartless • Nobody • Ventus • Roxas • Riku • Hayner • Pence • Olette

Disney Characters

Queen Minnie Mouse • Donald Duck • Goofy • Max • Roxanne • P.J. • Maleficent

Locations

Disney Castle • Disney Town • Hollow Bastion

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