Kingdom Hearts: Consumed by Darkness

Darkness peeled away like mist as Kurai stepped through the rift, the unconscious Skuld slung lightly over her shoulder. The realm of Olympus greeted her with the familiar scent of fresh but scorched air and ancient stone. Jagged peaks loomed in the distance, framing the gates of the Underworld where rivers of fire still trickled like veins of the earth. No Heartless patrolled here—either destroyed or driven deep underground by Kurai's last descent.

She moved quickly and quietly through the charred canyons, eventually settling on a cave carved into the shadow of a cliff. She stepped inside, laid Skuld gently against the rock wall, and lit a faint blue fire using her keyblade's tip, casting just enough light to bathe the space in flickering calm.

Then she waited.

An hour passed. Her eyes never strayed far from the girl. Kurai neither meditated nor dozed, instead sitting cross-legged with her fan resting across her knees. She watched the way Skuld's chest rose and fell—slightly faster than normal, healing but unsettled. Even unconscious, the girl radiated light.

Finally, Skuld stirred. A faint groan escaped her lips before her fingers twitched, and her eyes snapped open. She jerked upright in a panic and immediately summoned her keyblade, pointing it toward Kurai in a guarded stance.

"You—!" she gasped. "Where's Aqua? What did you do to her?"

Kurai didn't move. She just gave her a flat look, one eyebrow faintly raised. "Little girl, before you start yelling, perhaps look around first."

Skuld blinked, hesitated, then slowly scanned her surroundings. No tower. No Aqua. No sky of stars or courtyard ruined by battle. Only the still gloom of a cave and the quiet hum of an outside world that looked slightly familiar.

Her hand lowered slightly.

"Where... where are we?" Skuld asked more cautiously. "And where's Aqua?"

Kurai rose to her feet, brushing dust from her fully restored clothes. "Near the gates of the Underworld. In the realm of Olympus. That girl named Aqua is safe. For now."

Skuld's stance slackened a little, but her keyblade stayed in hand. "Why... why did you bring me here?"

"To heal you. So that you may help me to rescue someone," Kurai replied without pause.

Skuld blinked. "Rescue who?"

Kurai turned toward the cave mouth and replied, voice even: "I believe you know a young man by the name of Helios."

The name struck Skuld like thunder. Her eyes widened. Her keyblade almost fell from her hands.

"H-Helios?! Wait—he's here?! What do you mean? Is he hurt? Where is he? Why are you—?!"

Kurai turned her head just enough to give her a sidelong glare. "Quiet."

Skuld paused mid-breath.

"Save those questions for him," Kurai said. "He's the one who deserves to answer them, not me."

Skuld frowned. Her instincts screamed to distrust this woman—this enemy who had nearly killed her and Aqua without hesitation. And yet...

Her hand moved unconsciously to her chest. Her heart wasn't afraid. It wasn't recoiling in pain or grief. It pulsed with something else—urgency, maybe. Resolve.

"I don't get it," she muttered. "But... my heart is telling me I need to help you."

Kurai gave a small, humorless smile. "Maybe it knows something your head doesn't."

Skuld tilted her head. "So you're saying Helios is really here? And you're here to save him?"

Kurai turned and gave her a nod. "He's in the Underworld. Being tortured by Hades. And I'm going to get him out. I don't have time to argue or explain everything to you. Rest. Recover. You'll need all your strength for what comes next."

Skuld stood up fully, determination burning in her eyes. "Then let's go now! If Helios is in danger, we shouldn't wait another second—"

Kurai didn't wait for her to finish.

With a smooth step forward and a flash of motion, Kurai raised a single hand and tapped Skuld's forehead with two fingers. Darkness coiled around the girl's body like silk, and her eyes fluttered once.

She dropped, unconscious once more, caught before she hit the ground by a wisp of Kurai's shadow.

Kurai exhaled sharply and whispered, "Annoying."

She knelt beside the unconscious girl again and rested her back against the wall, looking once more toward the cave entrance.

"Rest now. We'll walk into hell soon enough."

The cave was quiet.

Kurai sat cross-legged near the entrance, her eyes half-closed, arms resting loosely over her knees. Darkness coiled at her back like a second cloak, yet it no longer pulsed with rage. Instead, it ebbed in steady, fatigued waves, gradually curling inward like a tide receding from a storm-wrecked shore.

She had used too much.

The Void Dominion, the storm of blades, the manipulation of Aqua's own magic—each technique drew from a well deeper than mere stamina. She had let herself go too far, too fast. Not because of recklessness… but because hesitation had no place in a battlefield against two capable warriors who fought for something dear.

She had held her own. Dominated, even. But it came at a cost.

Now, she rested.

The war fan, folded shut still dripped with faint motes of darkness as it transformed back into Shadow Sovereign its keyblade form. Kurai's eyes flicked to Skuld's still form. The girl had put up a fight. For someone so young, having no memories and so newly awakened, she'd moved with impressive grace, driven by something deeper.

It wasn't raw power that impressed Kurai. It was the strength of heart.

The hour passed in silence, save the soft whistle of wind passing through the cave's broken mouth. Then, without warning, Skuld stirred. Her fingers twitched. Her breath caught. And her eyes—bright, green, and fierce—snapped open.

She sat up quickly, eyes locking on Kurai.

"You—!" she gasped, and her keyblade appeared in a flash.

Kurai didn't move. She merely tilted her head and looked at the girl like she was a particularly loud bug.

"Stubborn," she repeated quietly.

It was hours later when the two of them emerged from the cave.

Kurai walked in silence, her pace steady. Skuld, now fully recovered, kept beside her, no longer pressing with questions, only glancing over occasionally in silence.

They crested a ridge of jagged stone—and beyond it, the blackened gates of the Underworld loomed like the jaws of some ancient beast.

Skuld's breath caught in her throat.

"That aura…" she murmured. "It's him. I can sense him. Hades."

Kurai nodded once.

"Then you already understand what we're walking into."