Chasing Hearts -- A Kingdom Hearts Story--

Chapter Ten: Disney Castle

The breeze was cold against Demi's skin, but she made no move to retreat from her seat on the balcony's thick ledge. It was far past midnight, but after the events of the day, Demetria knew that she wouldn't fall prey to the blissfulness of sleep. They had prepared to land on some new land, which was now postponed, due to the surprising attack on Radiant Gardens. This new villain, one who had already confronted the young teen during their travels to The Land of Toys, had made his mark on the rest of their friends and had put one in critical condition. Upon learning their base had been burnt to the ground, as well, Mickey offered the attacked residence in the castle.

Yuffie hadn't woken up, yet. Which, as Merlin had explained before Leon had stormed off, was due to this boy throwing her against the wall. Her head had slammed against a stone as the boy disappeared, and the rest of the group had finally made it past the little beasts to find Kairi screaming. She was coated in blood from clutching Yuffie's limp body. Whether the injured girl had a good chance of living or not wasn't something anyone wanted to think about, either, as it was obvious to all of them.

It had also been announced that no one was allowed to leave the castle until further notice, and they would have to share rooms. They knew Kairi needed someone strong, so Demi and Kairi were placed together. It wasn't as awkward as Demi had prepared herself to deal with, but it also wasn't as bearable. The silence had been their only companion, and after the redhead had fallen asleep, only snores could be heard. They eventually disappeared, though, and hadn't been heard since.

"You know, it's my fault Yuffie's in that coma." Kairi's voice had appeared behind Demi, but it affected the teen in no way. "She was the one who distracted that guy before the others arrived in Merlin's cottage."

"What did he want?" Demi was quick to respond, eyes never leaving the courtyard.

"He said something about Sora. Sora and you." It was expected that he wanted her, but not Sora. Demetria had an odd feeling that he wouldn't back down, but to go after someone so honest and pure with such awful methods, was almost surprising. Seeing as she hadn't yet come accustomed to the regularities of this life, these evil people were only comparable to the vague memories of video game characters and animated shows for children. Silence hung in the air as Kairi climbed on the ledge opposite of Demi, crossing her arms over her stomach.

"It's not your fault, and I don't want you to go around thinking it," Demi muttered, locking eyes with the other girl. "Believe me, blaming yourself for other people's choices isn't a road you want to venture down. It only leaves you hurt." Kairi nodded slowly, a conflicted look on her face as she pondered whether or not to ask the question. "Max, the one your little foe has been taunting me with, gave himself up for me. It was probably my dad that handed him into Maleficent, too."

"That's awful," Kairi gasped, covering her mouth and shaking her head. "How could he do something like that to the one who obviously loves you?" Demi's cheeks flared red from embarrassment, shaking her head.

"Oh, no. Oh, God, no. We weren't—I mean –He was—We were best friends." Deciding to end it there and not venture further into the abyss that was Demetria's spark of feelings for the older friend, she cleared her throat. "At least, we never talked about anything like that."

"Maybe he just didn't get the chance to," Kairi replied, frowning softly. "I know it took Sora a long time to be ready to talk about us, and even then we didn't fully say how we felt." Demi let out a shaky breath, biting her lip slowly as she began to realize just what Max might have wanted to talk about that day. "Hey, are you okay?"

Demi could only shake her head no, covering her mouth as memories came flooding back to her. "God, I'm such a hypocrite," she whispered, climbing off the edge and hurrying back into the room to slip on her slippers. Kairi hurried off, as well, calling after her as the other girl, rushed out into the hallway. Demi disregarded her worried cries as she hurried to the King's study, where apparently he had been formulating a plan to catch the boy. The door was left cracked, and so she slipped in, wiping a tear so that Mickey couldn't witness the weakness Demi was filled with.