Risa's inside the Darkness!
The Angel Island intruder has to be the most silent person I have ever met-I am not like Mizuki who gives nicknames sporadically-he or she has not said a word. All this person does is point, nod, and shake their head. They have not even bothered to give me a name to call them. I do not like people like that. It is ironic but I prefer people like Clancy and Mizuki, people who are happy to talk to others, they make me feel like an average person.
I will miss her company and Erick's. Especially Erick for providing an outlet for me to train and explore other worlds and giving me the chance to look for Clancy. But now that will all be over. Everything will be the way it once was before my home was taken by the forces of Darkness. Actually it is going to be much different, Father died the day all of that happened, that makes me the chief of the village. I will change my title when I get back and change so many things about that sullen, depressing place. Listen to yourself, you are not even home yet and you are already thinking of the things you are going to do.
The Angel Island intruder and I make it to the immense violet spiral at the end. When we step inside, the "sky" becomes dark as the night. The ground beneath me is squishy and damp, making little splashes where we step. When I glance behind, the spiral portal is gone without a trace and I follow the Angel Island intruder. They point to above and an olive spiral hole in the starless darkness opens up slowly. Abruptly the intruder jumps onto a high, squishy platform over us and leaps across to the next side, following a zig-zag pattern. When I bend down and hop, I float in the air as if I am in space, gravity is obviously not a factor in this world. If this world was not so desolate and dark, I would enjoy myself here.
When I land on the first squishy platform perfectly, I almost trip backwards from what I see. Thousands of yellow eyes on me, black bodies squishing together in a tight space trying to shuffle towards me. When I regain my balance, I sigh calmly, understanding that these creatures are trapped behind an inconspicuous wall and cannot reach me. It takes me awhile to turn my back to them but I do in order to jump across to the higher platform. More and more Heartless ogle me ravenously and some manage to get their claws out to reach for me but they only scratch the surface of the invisible wall. They cannot reach me, calm down. Soon I will never have to see these hideous things again. The next leap across brings me to a barrier that separates normal people and me. "What?"
I put my hand on the invisible barrier, scrutinizing the real looking people in the wall. Why would there be real people here? First looking at the faces, they are scared children, adults, elders, and even babies that are sobbing and crying out but make no sound. Is that the old woman from when Don and I went to find the Chaos Emerald? Oh, I recognize that man in there, he was the weapon crafter of the my village. His name was Harold and he is the one who made my first two-handed sword-and that woman, Willow, I once took care of her kids while she was visiting another village. Yre, that girl who would always be afraid to approach me because she said I looked scary with my hood hiding my face. As I take a small step back, more trapped faces appear and more of them I recognize.
"Why is everyone trapped here?" I wonder to myself as the Keyblade summons itself in my hand. This sword has a mind of its own but I get the feeling it is following my unspoken will. I see a particular face in the crowd of villagers-Father's face. I have never seen him look so terrified before, he looks thirty years older. His dark hazel eyes are dilated and his skin has lost its color. I raise my sword hand to strike the barrier and I slam the Keyblade's tip on it. The barrier flashes but every one of the villagers is still trapped inside. I bring the Keyblade on it a second time and something stops me the third time. The Angel Island intruder has their hand on the blade, stopping me from continuing. "Why are they all trapped here?"
The intruder takes their hand off the blade and it disappears. They simply look up at the protruding hole in the dark abyss above. As I turn away from the barrier, I look back at the familiar, scared faces, wishing that once I make it home, I can bring them back to safety. Even my father who has done nothing but hurt me my entire life deserves a chance at life. I have to learn to be chief from somebody and who can I rule over when everyone's trapped here?
I'm starting to get used to hell, it's better than the real world. In the real world I used to live in people expected me to do things, follow through, be loyal, take care of them, and love them. Mia wanted me to go back home with her, Master wanted me to be like him, a king of Darkness, my parents wanted me to find a nice girl, get an education, have kids and then retire in a lavish retirement on one of the islands. Nobody expects anything from me here. Nobody cares about the lives I've ruined, the people I left behind to struggle on their own. I'm reminded of all the pain I caused people- Xevia's cries echoed around me for a short while, Mia keeps begging me for the answer to the question I can't ever answer, "Are we still friends?" That kid from that village, the one I chose, he's now just an incomplete me. "All I wanted was the power she had," he repeats over and over again. That kid reminds me so much of how I used to be, that's why I picked him. It's Mia turn to torment me again. "Seth why did you leave me for Darkness?"
"I liked the power," I reply, the same reply as always. She shakes her head disappointedly, still in disbelief about my answer. I don't know why I never noticed it before but her bangs are gross. A long time ago, she told me she used to have long hair but it got caught off by some bullies. Now her dark blue hair doesn't even reach her neck and she refuses to cut her ugly bangs that cover her forehead.
"Are we still friends?" she asks the same question. Without a thought, I answer her robotically.
"I don't know."
"Seth, are we still friends?" Friends don't threaten to kill each other. They don't let themselves get taken by the Darkness for power. Friends don't abandon each other and let their friends suffer in the grueling world. But a friend would try to save their friend. A friend would never lose faith and a true friend would hope that a glimmer of light still existed in the friend who sank into the Darkness. No matter what, a friend would always be there for their friend. Mia was there for me when I hated Moonlight Town and I was there for Mia when nobody would even smile at her. "Are we still friends?"
"I'm not your friend Mia," I say fiercely. "I never will be." Suddenly my inner voice howls fiercely as if another me lived inside me. "Nooo!"
"It's time to wake up Pupil." Master's voice breaks all the other tormented voices and brings me back to my bedroom. I gasp for air, as if I was put underwater for more than two hours. My body throbs in pain and I have a hard time seeing my bedroom. "You're alive again. Have you had a chance to face your demons?" I nod slowly, unable to make a single sound. "Are you ready to see your former friend Seth?"
"How much farther is it?" The Angel Island intruder guides me along a dark grey path in the middle of a black void. More Heartless eyes surround the two of us for every step we take. The intruder points below us now, a sliver of light burns bright beneath us. "What is down there? My home?"
The intruder nods wordlessly. My world has been reduced to its own small light, I wonder how much longer I have to wait to get there. We walk down the slope, making light blue splashes while the Heartless seem to multiply alongside us. Darkness is coming for you, the phrase repeats itself in my head the farther I go down. Do not stray, do not stray. "Are you sure you are bringing me home?"
The intruder nods and a rush of yellow eyes suddenly cover their body. I glance to my left and right, and see the towers of Heartless crash and charge at us. The Keyblade reappears in my hand and I slash widely across the barrage of Heartless.
J.G.P.