Catalysis [Sora, Kairi, Axel]

[Aerith]

Fear for Safety
--------

Sora's resistance had been expected. And she did agree with everything he was saying. There was no way of knowing if this was actually some trick. All she had to go on was the Champion's word that he would not lie to her. But there was other motivation, as well.

"I know. I know all that. But..." She examined Sora's face for a few moments before continuing. "He said that if we didn't open the door again, he might have to... he might have to kill you." Worry crept into her eyes. She wouldn't watch Sora get hurt, much less get murdered. If there was something she could do to prevent that, she would do it.

"And besides, there's obviously something very wrong with the worlds. Shouldn't there be Heartless attacking us right now?" She looked around to emphasize the point. They were quite alone. Not even a whisper of Heartless. "We have to do something to fix it, right? I just have this feeling that if we don't do anything at all, things are just going to get worse."

[Castle]

So, the Champion had threatened to kill him if Kairi didn't agree to open the door? That definitely did not make Sora feel any better about the situation. It wasn't the death threat; he was used to people wanting and trying to murder him, such as Kadaj a few minutes earlier. That was an occupational hazard. What bothered him was the fact that this person seemed like they were trying to manipulate Kairi through the people she cared about. No good could come of that, right?

However, what she told him next caught him completely off guard. Had she really said what he thought she just said? Sora stared at her, completely baffled.

"Whoa, whoa, wait," he exclaimed, waving his hands, "Are you saying that having the Heartless around is a good thing? Since when have the Heartless done any good for anybody?"

Well, there were the helpful mushroom things that gave him stuff sometimes, but overall the Heartless were just destructive little monsters. And it wasn't like they were part of the natural order of things. In every world Sora visited, the residents found the Heartless to be completely foreign, foreign and terrifying. Jack Skellington had even gone so far as to try and put on a show with them because they were new and exciting.

[Aerith]

Protective Instincts
--------

Kairi tried to remember exactly how the Champion had explained things. This concept of balance was new to her. She had always assumed that darkness was bad and light was good. "The Champion told me that unless there's balance between light and darkness, the whole universe could be destroyed." She looked up at Sora, fierce determination in her eyes. "If I can do something to stop that, then I will, even if it makes me uneasy."

Shifting her eyes toward the castle, she sighed a little. "I really don't know what to do, but I do know that allowing all of the worlds to fall is not an option. But if the others don't see it that way... there isn't anything I can do about it."

She knew the Heartless were no good. She knew they destroyed people's lives, some lives worse than others. Like Axel's. But maybe there was some good to them somehow? Kairi couldn't believe she was even thinking all of this. She had seen nothing good at all come from the Heartless. But her protective instincts were kicking in, and she knew she had to do something to help the worlds.

[Castle]

Her talk of the balance made more sense. Sora calmed down a bit and considered her words. If the entire universe was at stake, then of course he would help stop that from happening. On the other hand, the Champion could be a liar. It occurred to Sora that he didn't actually know anything about the Champion other than that he worked for the darkness and caused a great deal of damage to the Radiant Garden. It seemed like it should be clear, but with this new development, it was harder to judge.

Darn it, these bad guys were getting more complicated.

"The balance between light and darkness..." he mused, resting an elbow in one hand and fingering his chin with the other, "Yeah, that's pretty important, but how do we know we can trust that guy?"

He sighed and let his hands fall to his sides.
"If only we knew more about what he really wants."

[Aerith]

Action is Necessary
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Trust was a fragile thing, Kairi knew. The slightest lie could shatter it completely. The problem was trying to know what was a lie and what was the truth. Even though the Champion had said he didn't lie to people, there was always the possibility that very statement could have been a lie. It was a vicious cycle that quickly became very frustrating.

"Knowing more would be nice," Kairi agreed. "But we can't just sit around hoping information will fall into our laps."

She turned to Sora and took his hand, tugging him along with her. "Come on. I still want to go see the castle, anyway. And if we happen to find Cinderella, then I'll talk to her."

[Castle]

"Uh, okay. I guess."

Sora let himself be tugged along, the feeling of Kairi's hand on his a surprisingly effective distraction. It reminded him of the trust he had in her. Like him, she knew how to follow her heart, and that usually led them to the right conclusion. That didn't stop the situation with the Champion and the universe from being any less messed up, but it did make things simpler for now. They would just have to go with a simple course of action and figure things out as they went.

Business as usual for the Keyblade bearers.

"Maybe she'll know more about this than we do," he mused. He didn't know Cinderella very well personally, so for all he knew, maybe she did know something about all this.

It didn't occur to him that he was on his way to visit a castle with dried blood all over his face, arm and side.