Kingdom Hearts: Dream Team

Chapter 22: An Evaluation and a New Teammate 💜

The house looked completely untouched on the outside when we got back. Inside, it looked like a twister hit the place. Couches were turned over and ripped. Curtains were shredded. Claw marks decorated the furniture and walls. Squeaky and the other cats were huddled up in a corner, puffed up and scared. I was awestruck. The apocalypse had come early and turned the main house into a disaster area. My dissatisfaction turned to sheer horror when I saw the youngest member of our team and my brother.

Rhyme looked awful. Her arms were decorated with bruises and scrapes. Her dress - the dress that Shiki made just for her - was ruined. The skirt was torn apart and covered in dirt. Noah, on the other hand, looked more worse for the wear. His shirt was shredded and he had a black eye. In his hands, he clutched two severed wooden sticks: the remains of his bo staff.

"I'm sorry, Noah," I whimpered. "If only we had gotten here sooner." A sniffle escaped from Rhyme. "Aislynn, I'm sorry about what happened to the house." I went in to hug her and she clung to me like a baby clinging to its mom. "It's not your fault," I assured, my voice feather soft. "The Heartless can't help what they are." I let go and saw that she was tearing up. "Besides, we can fix the house... hopefully." An unsettling air filled the room and I knew the time had come to reveal the details about my encounter with Cyrena.

"She's you?!" Everyone asked the question. I rolled my eyes, knowing it might take some thought to put it into words. "She isn't me," I said firmly. "She looks like me, but she isn't me. I don't know why, but she seems to be after me specifically." Beat stood up. "Then let's get her!" Typical Beat, always one to rush in with no knowledge of his opponent. Something clicked in my mind in that moment, something that I hadn't considered before. "Guys, there's something I should tell you."

"Months ago, when I collapsed in the street, a prophecy was revealed to me in dream. Part of the prophecy said that I would betray myself. When everything else started coming true, I feared that I was going to turn into a Heartless or something of that nature. In reality, that part of the prophecy was trying to warn me about Cyrena." A pause. "I guess I should have told you about this before... tonight."

A long silence followed, broken only when Rhyme stood up. She proceeded to a corner where Squeaky sat, still puffed up. He growled, folded his ears, and hissed. "Squeaky, don't be afraid," Rhyme whispered, soothingly. Her hand brushed against his head, but Squeaky didn't scratch Rhyme. Instead, he purred as she petted his head. It pleased me that my kitty was happy. Then, Beat insisted that we go after Cyrena, which I immediately rejected.

"Fights with the Heartless are easy. With my Foresight, we always stand a chance. Cyrena is worse, though. She was able to knock me out with a single hit! Plus, she's likely controlling the Heartless. Team, we may outnumber her six to one, but we are clearly outmatched." Even I had to admit the odds were stacked against us. What's worse, even I couldn't come up with a solution that could help.

"First thing tomorrow morning," I said solemnly, "I'm telling my parents everything." Noah was right. It wasn't right to keep our parents in the dark. They deserved to know and it was very wrong of me to not tell them. Noah looked at me from the ruined couch. "I knew you'd see things my way. Am I too late to ask if there is still an opening on the Dream Team?" A smile slowly stretched its way onto my face. "Of course, there is!"

"Hold it," he insisted. "I don't want a role on the team. I'm multitalented, Aislynn, and giving me a role would be insulting." I groaned. "Quiet! I'm trying to find something." Fishing though my purse, I found a pair of hi-potions. "This should help!" All of Rhyme's cuts and bruises faded away. Noah's black eye healed almost instantly. "That staff needs replacing," I said, gesturing to his broken weapon. My brother said he was already planning on replacing it with something stronger like titanium. I'd like to see that in action.

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Sleep didn't come easily that night, mainly because my bed was ripped apart. Also, I was afraid of what I would dream about. I couldn't handle another round with Heartless Aislynn... or Cyrena. All of this was awful. I couldn't even escape the problem by dreaming. It was too real and I felt more powerless in this moment than I had in my entire existence.

My home, the one place that I knew I was safest, had been compromised. The Heartless had turned the place into a trash heap and who knows if they would stay away. Regardless, I had put my entire family (and Rhyme) in danger tonight. This was my wake up call to how real and dangerous everything was. As a keyblade wielder, I have responsibilities to protect my world from the forces of darkness. I did not act on those responsibilities tonight. Oh, why am I so scatter brained.

Cyrena kept popping up in my mind. She was still out there and we still knew nothing about her.  Joshua claimed that he knew a girl named Cyrena back in Shibuya, but I was starting to doubt if they were the same. She knows about us, though. Months of observation have probably placed her several calculated steps ahead of us. What is wrong with me? My thoughts kept banging around in my head. I wanted relief: I wanted sleep! Sadly, all of this was taking a larger emotional toll on my than I had expected.

Not even thinking of Joshua helped me relax enough to sleep. It only reminded me of how afraid I was to kick start our relationship. Heck, the moment he leaned in to kiss me, I had chosen to follow my mission rather than follow my heart. That's the worst thing I think I've ever done. I love Joshua! That was it. The moment just before I reached my emotional limit, I had admitted to myself that I was in love. My exhausted mind couldn't handle all of my thoughts and I passed out.