Home Sweet Home - Hollow Bastion to Fabled Countryside [COMPLETE]

[twisted_face]

At the prospect of finally returning to his own castle, Adam was practically galloping down the hallways of Hollow Bastion to get to the gummi docks. Having already caused plenty of scenes, he resigned himself to a brisk walk. For the first time in months, his heart felt lighter. Even if he and Belle only took a couple weeks for themselves, it

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[twisted_face]

"It should still be daytime, if I'm not mistaken." Early morning, actually, but Adam didn't care if it was the dead of night. He would probably still tackle everyone in the castle before taking a bath and sleeping in his own bed.

With their warp gummi, it was a short time before they began approaching their home. Once their planet was visible in the dark of space, Adam's posture straightened and he looked on with eager eyes. A smile crept across his face. Their welcome world drew closer and closer. Slowly trees came into view. The gates to their home grew larger. The tall imposing structure of his beautiful castle loomed large.

Only....

Only it wasn't morning. It wasn't even daylight. Their home was barely defined against the uncharacteristically darkened sky. It was storming and the black of the "night" held an alien and unnatural air. Negative energy surged through the atmosphere, easily penetrating their small gummi ship, and wrapped around the pair. Adam visibly shivered, his happy look now crashing to the floor, and his hackles instinctively raised.

He looked on as he waited for the ship to continue their automatic descent into a place that didn't remotely feel like home anymore. Deep within the reaches of his heart he knew something was terribly wrong.

"Oh my god."

[livre_du_coeur]

Belle looked at their home and checked the clock again. Her husband was right, it should have been morning. Something was very wrong. She'd never seen this kind of storm, either. She felt Adam's tension rising and the way his grip tightened on her hand.

And then something else. The shadows outside began to feel like a living thing. They crept into the ship, permeating every surface. They pulsed with their own dark rhythm. Something flashed into Belle's mind, the memory of a dream.

My heart, a light in the darkness...

And she knew. The Darkness had returned to their world. As a Princess of Heart, she couldn't mistake it for anything else. All the same, she had to put voice to her fear.

"Adam, what's going on?" she asked, though she kept her eyes locked on the scene outside the window.

[twisted_face]

For a few aching moments, Adam couldn't even reply. Even with little else to go on but a dark sky and a sick heart, he immediately knew what was going on. They had been away far too long. He had been selfishly thinking only of his own comfort sa reasons to return. He had almost forgotten that his own world had been slowly descending, and he was one of the only ones to have attempted to lower their number... The Heartless had exploded in their absence, and while not a single yellow-eyed creature were apearing, he had a thick awareness of their presence.

Adam's initial expression of shock melted into a guilty grimace, and then sharpened with determination and anger. There was a battle waiting on the ever approaching ground. He knew it. His nerves tingled with anticipation, and finally weighted words growled out of his mouth.

"The Darkness has grown."

He wasn't perfectly sure how strong or how much damage they had caused already. But he knew they were searching for the keyhole. He knew they were attempting to devour their world yet again. In his heart, he knew.

Finally, their gummi ship met land, just inside the gates and just a mere few yards from the castle. There was no light other than what their ship emitted. It was difficult in the ebony dark to see beyond their window. And yet, still no Heartless eyes. No evidence of their presence. It was disturbingly quiet. Dead quiet. And nothing but a deadly hum of darkness indicated there was anything to fear at all.

Adam's chest began to ache, but he gave it no attention. His mind was focusing, his senses alert. He had no choice. He had to go out into the inky black. He had to find everyone.

[livre_du_coeur]

It was one thing to have her own fears, but to hear them confirmed out loud made her tremble. To her side she felt Adam's anger grow, ready to tear through whatever got too close. It wasn't a comforting sensation.

Belle's thoughts jumped to Maurice. Where was her father, the castle or his own house? But she knew that in her absence he always preferred his little old cottage by the stream. On the other side of the forest and far away from her now. She ached to go to him, but she knew it was impossible. Please be all right, Papa, she prayed silently.

The only sounds were the storm and Adam's low breathing. The eerie twilight was dull and dead through the windows. The next question had to be asked.

"What are we going to do now?"