Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

Kairi stood up straight, turning around to face the area once more. She lowered her arms, seeing that where the building once stood was now a big pile of rubble and covered in grey dust. She coughed slightly, her eyes scanning the area for any sign of the boy-turned-dragon. He was nowhere to be found.

 

Sora put one foot underneath him, and then the other, slowly rising so that he was standing upright. He shut his eyes tightly and hissed softly at the pain, his hands in tight fists because of how badly he was hurting. However, he couldn't focus on the pain. He needed to make sure Nathaniel was dead.

 

Kairi saw Sora rise to his feet out of the corner of her eye, but she only glanced at him, her eyes going back to the rubble like there was something pulling them there. She was shocked into silence, not sure what to say or if she could say anything at all. It was when she saw something move underneath all of the rubble that she gasped, one of her cold hands covering her mouth at the sight. There was Prince Nathaniel, crawling out from underneath all of the mess.

Nathaniel winced, his body protesting all of the movement as he dragged himself out of the pile of debris. He didn't stop until his legs were free, and then he collapsed on the snow that was underneath him now. He knew instantly by the light feeling he got in his head and the pain enveloping his body that he was going to die, unless he managed to somehow heal himself.

 

Sora had opened his eyes in time to see Nathaniel fall out of the rubble and onto the snow beside the building, and Sora's eyes became hard with anger that surpassed any of the pain he felt. He walked forward, limping faintly but otherwise fine as he stopped by Nathaniel's head. He had something he wanted to say to him.

 

Nathaniel's head hurt badly, his pulse throbbing harshly and causing him pain. He groaned slightly, but otherwise opened his eyes when he heard footsteps. He saw Sora standing above him and the Prince simply frowned. "What?" he spat. He knew that he had lost, and that he was going to die one way or another. He'd failed his father, his kingdom, and he couldn't imagine going back a failure.

 

Sora looked down at him, his eyes burning as he glared at the Prince. "Do you want to know what your third mistake was, Nathaniel?" He didn't wait for an answer; Nathaniel was going to hear it whether he wanted to or not. "Your third mistake was thinking that you could take advantage of Kairi and not suffer from any consequences."

 

Nathaniel's frown only deepened at the thought of the Princess. He had lost her to the Keyblade master, her strongest protector. He laughed softly, though without much humor. "There's only one consequence I'm facing, and that's death," Nathaniel said, looking up at Sora. "Isn't that right?"

Kairi could hear the conversation faintly, only catching her name and a few other words. She didn't like the sound of it, so she crossed her arms over her dirty coat, letting the cold nip at her skin as she stared at the boy who had tricked her into giving him her heart.

 

"You're getting off easy," Sora said softly, realizing that what Nathaniel said was partially true. He had gone through a lot of physical pain to get to this point, but in the end, death was his punishment. In Sora's eyes, it wasn't enough. Of course, there was nothing he could do about that.

 

Nathaniel only frowned, not having anything to say to that. Maybe it was true; maybe he was getting off easy. It would be much harder to go through any more pain, whether mental or physical. If he survived and traveled home, he would have to deal with shame and the disappointment from his father and kingdom, and he believed that would be harder to face than death.

 

"Anybody who would even think of taking advantage of somebody as pure as Kairi should be taught a lesson," Sora said, staring down at Nathaniel. "I can sense all the darkness inside of you, but I still can't believe that somebody would be wicked enough to hurt somebody so sweet and innocent." Kairi was a Princess of Heart, which meant that her heart contained pure light. Sometimes, it clouded her judgment, but it was a part of who she was.

 

"So tell me, Sora," Nathaniel started, ignoring the agony inside of his body. "Have you finished teaching your lesson?" The kid looked like he wanted to kill him, but he hadn't done it yet. If he were going to leave him die slowly, fine. Nathaniel knew that he was going to die; he could barely move, and there was no way he could survive long in these temperatures anyway.

 

Sora shook his head, keeping his bright blue eyes on the green ones that stared right back at him. "Not even close," he said honestly. He was angry at what Nathaniel said; he was so self-centered that he hadn't even addressed any of the things that Sora said. What a lowlife.

 

Nathaniel only continued to frown up at the boy at the words, not saying anything. After a minute he turned his head slightly, looking behind Sora to the girl that stood on the edge of the street, her eyes meeting his.

Kairi's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before she turned her head to look down at the ground, feeling like she was going to cry. The happiness and care that she had seen in those green eyes was gone; now she only saw the guy for who he really was. He was no longer Nathan. He was Prince Nathaniel, somebody she despised and was foolish enough to fall for.

 

Sora saw Nathaniel look at Kairi and he frowned deeply. "Unbelievable," he said, shaking his head. "Even when you're dying, you still don't care about anything." He had the nerve to look at Kairi after all he did to her, and that infuriated Sora. How could anybody be so heartless?

 

The Prince's eyes turned back to Sora. "And you do?" Nathaniel said, feeling much like the teenage boy he was, though he was forced to grow up some due to his title. "You left for months, and when you were given the opportunity to come back, you declined. Who else doesn't care about anything but themselves?"

 

Sora's eyes widened, his hands turning into fists at the words that he heard. "How did you know about that?" he asked, his voice low and serious. Had Nathaniel somehow been keeping an eye on him while he was out defeating Heartless? Was that even possible?

 

"The Darkness has its perks," Nathaniel answered, the slightest hint of a smirk turning up on his lips. He knew he struck a nerve, and that was enough for him.

Kairi only heard small parts of the conversation, but it was enough for her to understand that it had been about her and about Nathaniel. She tucked her arms tighter around her, a light breeze making her colder. That wasn't the only thing that made her feel worse; what was happening now was just as bad. Two boys that she cared for, one who was true to her, the other who lied--they were against each other, and that was a hard thing to watch.

 

Sora set his jaw firmly, glaring down at Nathaniel. He didn't understand what he meant, and it was frustrating. "What do you mean?" he asked coldly, defensive. He had his reasons for not returning home, but it was still a wonder to him that Nathaniel knew about that missed opportunity.

 

"I mean, it's a good thing you did." Nathaniel dodged Sora's question, referring back to the boy's decline. "It gave me a lot more time to get close to Kairi." The Prince gestured toward the redhead with a jerk of his head, though it made him wince afterward.

 

Sora would have kicked Nathaniel in the head at the comment, but he feared that the blow would kill him. He knelt down in front of him, eyes burning with anger. "Nathaniel, if you don't answer my question, I'm going to make your death a lot more painful then it has to be. Now, tell me how you knew about that."