Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final fantasy, Square Enix, the Square Enix franchise or any of the characters.
Wow, it's been a long time. I did not expect to be on hiatus for so long, but a lot came up. Well I'm here now and I'm ready to write! There are a few things that are going to be different this time around, but I'll tell you all about that later. I hope you enjoy my story, and I hope it was worth the wait!
Oh and if you haven't read my previous story, then I should warn you that I write A LOT.
For those who are old fans from A Tale of Hearts, welcome back! I'm glad to see you again (well you know what I mean). I hope you will continue to support and enjoy my Fanfiction!
Chapter 1: Hooded Man
Sora:
"Take care of Kairi."
Sora's eyes flashed open and he sat up instantly. He looked around, Donald and Goofy lay asleep near him, their breathing was slow and peaceful. All three of them had set up camp for the night, and now the fields were completely absorbed in the peace and tranquility of the dark. But it wasn't exactly pitch black, the moon gave off a soothing but rather eerie glow; one that bounced off each and every blade of grass in the seemingly eternal fields that they had been traveling.
I can't sleep…
For a while now Sora had been growing restless, they had been walking for days but there was still no way to find his friend and the king. He started to wonder if he should have listened to Riku when he said "take care of Kairi."
Sora stood up slowly and looked around the never ending plane. He curled his hand into a fist and placed it on his chest. The boy looked down as he felt a throbbing feeling in his heart,
No… I can't give up. Riku, Kairi, and I… we are always with each other… no matter what. As long—as long as we think of each other then we are together right? As long as we remember each other we'll be ok.
The boy smiled and looked up at the star-lit sky; his eyes gleaming in the light. He felt hope resonate within him once more, "Stupid Riku, how can you tell me to take care of Kairi? She's safe back on the islands; the only one in trouble is you, and this time I'm not going to let you face it alone! I'm going to bring you back, and everything is going to be like it was before. You'll see!" he pledged.
A sinister aura chilled the air around him. He turned around—there was nothing there.
"Along the road ahead lies something that you need." whispered a dark voice.
Sora looked around searching for the direction in which the voice was coming from. Suddenly a figure, cloaked in a black hood, appeared before him.
"However—in order to claim it, you must lose something that is dear to you." said the man.
Sora glared at him, "what are you talking about! Are you saying you know where Riku is?!" he shouted, faintly aware that his comrades were sleeping, not-so-far-away.
"Maybe—but are you willing to part with something important to find him?" the hooded figure asked.
The brunet looked toward the ground, uncertain for a second. But he soon recovered himself, "Riku is someone important to me. Right now, there is nothing more important than finding him!" he stated.
The cloaked figure chuckled darkly, "Then you will find him… but be forewarned, you may just regret that decision." Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew, stinging his eyes and forcing him to close them. When he opened them again the figure was no longer there. But the man's final words seemed to echo around him.
"But be forewarned,
You may just regret that decision…"
Sora clenched his fist, no I won't.
The three friends stood in front of a large, slightly warped castle. The building's structure was hard to comprehend; it was as if it had no actual top or bottom. The only thing definite about it was the entrance—a large, embroidered doorway.
As Sora stood in front of it, he felt a strange tugging sensation. Something told him that this had to be the place. Somewhere in there… was Riku. The brunet walked forward towards the door, his friends following closely.
He pushed against the large heavy gate, and the sound of it rasping against the floor echoed loudly throughout the castle.
When Sora stepped in he noticed that everything within the castle was white. Not a splash of color anywhere.
What's with this place?
"Hey, you think it's ok to barge in?" Goofy asked nervously.
"We gotta do it, if we're gonna find the king!" quacked Donald.
"The king! The king's here!?" Goofy looked around expectedly.
Donald crossed his wings and gave him a knowing look, "something just told me he'd be here, ok?"
The dog placed a finger on his chin, "well, now that you mention it, I was kinda thinkin' the same thing!"
Sora's eyes grew wide, "Seriously? Me too! Once I saw this castle, I just knew. Our very best friends—they're here." The boy said smiling.
"Ahyuck! Guess great minds think alike!" Goofy laughed.
Jiminy cricket hopped up on Sora's shoulder, "Wait, hey, hold on! It can't be just a coincidence—" he shouted, frantically jumping up and down.
Donald gave the cricket a skeptical look, "Wait, you don't mean…"
The cricket nodded, "Yep, I had it too, mm-hmm! That exact same feeling." He said.
The brunet placed a finger on his chin, if we all have the same feeling… then maybe…
The boy turned away from the entrance. At the end of the room, there was another large door. Something was urging him forward, something about the castle—Riku was definitely here. He knew that if he continued to move forward, he would find his lost friend.
Sora stepped forward towards the door; receiving a protest from Donald.
The boy shot the duck a challenging smirk, "what, are you scared? I thought you were a duck, not a chicken!" he mocked; placing his hands on hips.
Clearly this ruffled Donald's feathers "Don't be ridiculous! I'm not scared, come on Goofy, let's go!" he ordered.
The dog followed but he stopped after a few steps "Hey, fellahs, shouldn't we shut the door behind us before we go?" he pointed out.
The brunet kept walking, "Nah, it's not like anyone lives here or anything."
"Sora!" shouted Goofy.
The boy whipped around quickly, at the entrance was the same hooded figure that he had met in the moonlit field. The figure stood quietly as the door behind him started closing slowly, the noise of it slamming shut rang throughout the spacious white room.
Sora was getting tired of this guy; he summoned his Keyblade and stood ready to fight. "That's it who are you!?" he demanded.
The Hooded man did not speak, he only walked forward. Beginning to feel threated, Donald and Goofy got prepared to attack. Donald raised his staff, and started to chant his spells, but… he couldn't quite get them right.
Sora and Goofy glanced at their comrade with a concerned expression. The duck looked at his staff "Why isn't it working?" he asked.
By now the figure was directly in front of the trio, "I should think it's obvious." He said in a dark voice. "The moment you step foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and every ability that you ever knew."
Sora felt his body tense up, he didn't like where this was going.
So if he were to attack now, we would be defenseless?
The figure continued to talk, "In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. That is the way, in Castle Oblivion." He concluded.
"Castle… Oblivion?" Sora repeated.
A dark aura surrounded the figure and he disappeared instantly. Sora's eyes went wide; he rubbed them just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The man had actually disappeared into thin air!
Sora looked around frantically, expecting an attack.
"Here you will meet people that you have known in the past." The voice called from behind him.
The brunet whipped around quickly; the hooded man had appeared once again. He walked toward the boy, but he stopped— leaving still quite a bit of distance between them.
"And you will meet people that you miss." said the man.
The boy glanced to the side, "I miss…?" realization came to him when he found out who it could be. "Riku! You mean Riku's here!?" he asked desperately.
The figure stood quiet for a few moments, "If what you want… is to find him…" the hooded man dashed forward at an incredible speed, Sora stepped back, but it was too difficult to avoid. But instead of attacking him, the man passed straight through his body, leaving only the scent of roses in his wake. He was dazed for a second, but quickly recovered.
He turned around and slashed at the man, but he vanished—leaving many fluttering petals where he had stood.
The figure appeared once again; near the door on the far end of the room. "What'd you do!?" the brunet questioned.
"I merely sampled your memories, and from them I made this." A card appeared in the man's hand. He held it up for Sora to see, "to reunite with those you hold dear—" he threw the card towards Sora's direction.
The brunet caught it easily; he gave it a close look. The design on it looked familiar, "What's this, a card?" he asked. Not lifting his eyes from the paper.
"It is a promise for the reunion you seek. Hold the card to open the door, and beyond it, a new world." The man said, stepping back and motioning towards the door gracefully. "Precede, Sora… to lose and claim anew, or to claim anew only to lose…" the man's tone was dark and cynical. Before the group could ask him any questions, the same dark aura from before surrounded him, and he disappeared.
Sora stood quietly for a moment, eyeing the card. This could be a trap… but… what if Riku is really here. He felt the same tugging sensation in his heart. If Riku is here, I'm going to find him, no matter what! He looked up, "Come on, let's go."
The boy walked up to the door, so do I just hold up the card?
Sora took the bright blue, crown shaped card in his hand; he eyed it suspiciously but nevertheless held it up to the door. The figure had not lied; the door reacted to the magical card and was engulfed in a dazzling light. A loud "click" echoed through the room, and the door slowly opened to reveal a blinding wall of light.
The boy brought his arm up to shield himself from the glare, and he marched onward.
When the light subsided, he was better able to inspect his surroundings.
His eyes widened and he caught his breath, wait… this can't be right, we're in Traverse Town!
He analyzed the world around him; he noticed something rather odd about this traverse town. Wait it looks completely different, it's like a tiny room with lots of doors… Where's Cid's shop?
"What you see isn't real." said a voice behind him.
Sora whipped around quickly, "What!?" he shouted.
The figure vanished again; he seemed to enjoy playing games with the frustrated boy.
"This world is an illusion that manifested from your memories." The cloaked man explained.
"My… memories?" the boy asked puzzled.
He felt a tickling feeling on his shoulder, which made him jerk a little. "Hey stop that!" he protested with half laughter.
Jiminy popped out from beneath his shirt, "Forget about him now Sora! We lost Donald and Goofy!" the cricket exclaimed, jumping frantically up and down.
The boy looked around, shock lit up his face when he realized that Jiminy was right! Donald and Goofy where nowhere in sight!
"What did you do to them!?" the boy snarled.
The hooded man walked closer to Sora, he had a very calm air to him. He didn't fear the young Keyblade wielder. Now he was only mere feet from the boy.
Are you mocking me!? Trying to see if I'll attack?
The man disappeared and reappeared just as quickly, in front of Sora. The brunet was taken completely off guard and couldn't move to avoid any of his attacks. Only the man didn't attack, he simply held Sora's face in his hand "Your friends aren't here to protect you Sora. Are you afraid?" the man whispered cruelly.
The boy glared defiantly up at him, from the distance they were at, he could distinguish the color of the man's eyes, they were a soft shade of blue.
"Where. Are. They." It wasn't so much of a question now; it was more of a demand.
The man chuckled and let go of the child's face, "You aren't cute at all." He vanished, only to appear farther away from the boy. "Don't fret, your friends are fine. It is a law in Castle Oblivion that your friends be kept in cards. You may summon them only in battle. Anywhere else, you're completely alone."
Sora's heart rate quickened, and he gripped his Keyblade strongly; he had to admit that there was a certain… uneasiness that came from being alone, especially at a time like this.
"I don't care! I can take care of myself, if you say I have to walk alone, so be it!" he shouted out.
The hooded man chuckled, "The hero speaks boldly I see. Then walk the avenues of latent memory, and you shall meet someone dear to you." His voice started to sound farther away as darkness started to gather at his feet. Then as soon as he had appeared, he had gone, leaving only the echoes of his last words to prove his presence. "…and you shall meet someone dear to you."
Sora placed a hand on his heart. "Someone dear to me… Riku…"
After roaming through the false traverse town for some time, and having to engage in countless fights solo; Sora was starting to become increasingly exhausted.
It's as if this place never ends… One door leads to one room, and so does the next one, and the next, and the rest of them! How do I get out? What's the point of this!
He felt someone tap his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his skin, he let out a blood chilling wail and swung his Keyblade, nearly missing Goofy. The dog had ducked and was covering his head, "It's just us Sora—Ahyuck!"
The brunet blinked and dropped his stance; it was only Donald and Goofy. "Wait how are you guys here? I thought you weren't supposed to appear in these worlds."
"No idea, if you ask me; I think you should be happy!" the duck said arrogantly.
"And why's that?" Sora asked.
Donald pointed to all of his cuts and bruises, "Because you obviously can't do anything without us!"
The brunet looked down at his injuries and gave a small nervous chuckle, "aha— I'm just a little rusty."
"No matter how many of you there are, you shouldn't be messing around here. The Heartless will destroy you." Spoke a familiar voice behind Sora.
He turned around quickly, his face beamed when he saw who the voice belonged to.
"Leon! What are you doing in Castle Oblivion!?" he asked. Not like he was complaining, he really missed his friend, and didn't know when he would see him again; it was a nice surprise to find him now.
But the man didn't seem to share his joy, "Castle Oblivion? What are you talking about? This is Traverse Town, and how do you know my name? Who are you?" he asked.
Sora's eyes widened, "W-what do you mean?"
"I mean, I've never met you before." He said coldly.
Sora suddenly became angry, "Quit playing, Leon! We all fought the Heartless, you know that!" he snapped. If Leon was playing a joke on him, he sure didn't like it.
The man narrowed his eyes at the child, "look, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know your names."
The boy's body relaxed in defeat, "…You…don't?" he asked; his voice didn't hide his sadness.
Leon crossed his arms, "…Sorry."
"How could you have forgotten about us?" Sora asked; his voice somber.
"Look, I feel sorry for you, but I'm telling you that you've got the wrong guy. Don't dwell on it Sora." The man froze when he finished his sentence.
"Ha! So you do know us!" the boy exclaimed.
The man held a hand up to his mouth, "wait… why do I know your name?"
"Stop kidding around Leon!" shouted Goofy.
"Yeah, Sora is really upset!" Donald added.
The man glared at the two characters, "Whose kidding around Goofy? You and Donald are the one—" he caught himself again.
He placed a hand on his forehead, "what's going on? Something is wrong with my memory…"
I don't think he's playing around, he looks really confused… what's wrong with you Leon?
"Maybe Aerith was onto something after all, huh Leon?" said another familiar voice.
A raven haired girl walked up next to Leon, and he turned to face her. "Remember, she said she sensed some uncanny power, and she asked us to look into it. Well, it doesn't get more uncanny than this. Maybe you should take Sora to see Aerith?"
Sora smiled, "Yuffie, you know my name!"
The girl turned to him and gave him a thumbs up, "yep! And looks like you know mines too!"
Leon gave her a questioning look, "You know him?" he asked.
She grinned, "Nope! Total stranger, but I definitely know his name! Strange, but convenient, now we can skip introductions." she said happily.
The man closed his eyes and let out a sigh, "how is it that you can accept this so easily?"
Yuffie grinned, "Well, I've got to go fill Aerith in! So why don't you train Sora or something? Give him the grand tour!" she exclaimed. Then she bounded off, leaving a very awkward Leon to deal with the trio.
He scratched the back of his head, "well… I guess I have no choice huh? Let's go see what you've got."
Leon:
Leon led the three strange characters to district three; he wanted to see how well the boy was in battle.
As he walked through the alleys he rapidly scoured his memories for even a glimpse of the small brunet, but… nothing.
This is so strange… I don't know this kid, but somehow I do? Uh, I can't accept this as easily as Yuffie can. Who are you Sora?
When they finally made it to district three, Leon pulled out his gunblade. He turned to Sora. "Ok, show me what you've got." He ordered.
The boy instantly smiled, "alright, if you say so! But be prepared, I beat you last time too!" The Keyblade appeared in Sora's hand and he positioned himself to fight.
The man raised an eyebrow, "last time?"
The boy chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "Oh right, you don't remember… Well, let's just say you and I didn't meet on the best terms."
The man narrowed his eyes, "oh really?"
He placed the gunblade on his shoulder and walked towards the boy slowly, he wasn't planning on going hard on him. He wasn't a difficult opponent, so there was no need for him to be serious.
The boy dashed forward, which in all honesty was to be expected. Sora seemed to be the reckless type.
Leon quickly struck down with his blade, only to have it blocked by Sora.
The boy grinned up at him, and his eyes seemed to shout "I knew you'd do that!"
He swiftly retracted his gunblade only to have Sora strike a blow to his left side. Leon jumped back and winced at the pain.
"Well you know how I fight, that's for sure." He said, trying his best to stifle a groan of pain.
Sora smiled, "That's why you shouldn't go easy on me Leon! After all, you taught me everything I know!"
Everything he knows huh?
He held his gunblade firmly in front of him.
Then I guess I won't be going easy on you after all."
Leon paced himself, and surprisingly so did Sora. It seemed like he wasn't willing to go for another reckless charge like before.
Leon studied Sora's stance looking for any form of weakness, and sure enough the boy had plenty of faults. He didn't have the steadiest stance, a slight sweep would leave him on the ground in no time, and the grip on his Keyblade was way too tight. Obviously technique was not in this boy's dictionary.
Sora was also trying to find some of Leon's weaknesses, but lost his footing while his attention was focused on the young man. The older boy didn't miss a beat, he stepped forward tripping Sora so that he landed on his back. He pointed his gunblade at his neck and lifted his chin up.
"You're very careless you know that? You have such a sloppy stance it's almost insulting for you to say I was your teacher." He frowned.
Sora opened his mouth to protest, but was silenced by the cold blade that grazed his chin, warning him not to speak.
Leon pulled his blade back and extended out his hand.
"Here, come on I'll show you how."
A small tint of pink flushed over Sora's face, clearly he was embarrassed; he didn't like being treated like a kid.
Sora stood in his original fighting stance, while Leon walked around him in circles, eyeing him closely.
"Can you just get to the point; it's really annoying having you stare at me!" Sora shouted nervously.
Leon stood behind him and placed a hand on his hip and another on his shoulder.
"Keep you back straight."
He slid his foot under Sora and pushed his legs further apart.
"Broaden your stance, that's the reason you were so easy to unbalance."
He looked down at Sora and noticed that he was blushing all the way up to his ears.
Leon's face flushed and he back off, scratching the back of his head.
His nervousness has got me nervous. Jesus kid, it's not like I'm going to kiss you.
He shook his head and erased the image from his mind.
Looking back at Sora he noticed he was still gripping the Keyblade way too hard. He walked up to him and wrapped his hands around Sora's. He loosened the boy's grip with his fingers.
"There, you aren't choking a chicken. There's no reason to hold it so hard, you're just making your attacks stiff and heavy if you do that." He lectured.
A pout formed on Sora's lips, "I guess I still have a lot to learn huh?" he muttered.
Leon felt the temperature of his face rise; Sora was just… so—childish! He wasn't used to children, well unless Yuffie counted as one.
You can't make that face and expect me to be completely fine kid! You know I can't take it when you do that.
He froze, he knew Sora. He knew about his goofy expressions, childlike behavior, he also knew about his loyalty for his friends, he knew his bravery and something in his heart throbbed remembering it all.
Sora was no stranger that was for sure. His adventures with him along with everyone else might be fuzzy but the feeling was there.
It kind of filled him with sadness to have forgotten such a good friend.
He smiled at Sora and patted him on the shoulder, "how about we go a few more rounds and then we'll go see everyone."
Sora's eyes shined with happiness, "yes, agreed!"
Sora:
After a few more rounds sparring Leon; Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed him to see the others.
"Hey, you have to admit I beat you a few times!" he grinned.
"Yeah, yeah, you can say what you want but it doesn't make it true." He said sarcastically.
Sora narrowed his eyes at him and stuck his tongue out at the man, knowing very well that he wouldn't be able to see him since he was leading the way.
Feeling contempt with his immature antics he realized that Leon was very similar to Riku in some ways. They were both witty, and good at fighting; both had that arrogant air to themselves. Most of all, they acted cold but where really and truly kind people.
Realizing that, it kind of just made him sad that he hadn't found Riku yet.
It's ok though… he's somewhere in this castle… Yeah, I just have to keep looking!
Once they reached the "secret base" as Sora used to call it (though it really wasn't… it was basically an abandoned house.) Leon opened the door and allowed him to come in.
Yuffie and Aerith looked like they were in the middle of a conversation but turned to the doorway when Sora stepped through.
"Aerith!" Sora ran towards her excitedly. Aerith was probably his favorite; he didn't know who she reminded him more of, his mom or Kairi.
He wanted to hug her but stopped himself, he looked up at her and his expression saddened when he saw the happy but bewildered look on her face.
"You don't recognize me either do you?" he mumbled sadly.
"Oh, um no that isn't it Sora! Well, not entirely… it's like… I recognize you, but I don't know you. Or at least I don't remember knowing you." She tried her best to cheer him up.
It didn't really work, having your friends not remember you hits you pretty hard.
Aerith held her hand up to her mouth, "I don't know whether to say "'Nice to meet you.' Or 'I'm happy to see you again.' It's strange, like I don't know you but you belong here."
Yuffie jumped in, "Yeah! It's like we've never met, but I know that we're great friends!" she exclaimed.
"But we HAVE met, we battled heartless together remember? We were a team!" Sora shouted.
Leon studied Sora for a bit. "It feels like your right… but I just can't remember anything."
Sora glared at him, "Ok, then I guess you won't remember what you said to me in Hallow Bastion then! 'We may never meet again…"
"but we'll never forget each other…" Leon finished.
"See you DO remember!" Sora's face looked hopeful.
The room stayed quiet and Yuffie inched closer to Leon and prodded his arm.
"That's right Leon, I remember you said that before too!"
The man looked like he was searching his memory for any trace of that time, but he just sighed. "It has to be true, I know Sora. We know Sora, I just… can't remember anything." He said.
"I think your heart is doing the remembering for us, Sora." Aerith stated.
"My heart?" Sora asked.
"We don't remember you Sora, but your heart is filled with memories of us together. Those memories are resonating with ours and are telling us things we wouldn't otherwise know." She added.
"So his memories are affecting ours?" Leon asked.
"Well, it does seem that his memories hold some strange power." She said turning to him.
Sora thought back to the hooded figure, "Maybe it's just as he said… this town is just an illusion created from my memories."
Aerith turned and walked toward Sora, "Is there someone special to you in this town?" she asked.
"How did you…? Oh wait, my memories are telling you the story aren't they?" he said.
He looked down sadly, "Yeah, I have a really important friend here in this town—well castle Oblivion. I really need to find him."
"Castle? There aren't any castle's here silly!" Yuffie laughed.
"That's not exactly what I mean…" Sora sighed. He didn't really know how to explain the situation to them.
"You barely understand what is going on yourself, huh?" Aerith said sympathetically.
"Yeah, I just want to look around town and see if he's here." Sora said; glad that Aerith understood.
"Then go ahead, you can ask Cid too, maybe he might know something. Just be careful." Leon finished.
Sora smiled, "Right, thanks!"
After searching for what seemed like hours—though it probably wasn't, but Sora had a short attention span—they found Cid gazing at the three large bells in the town's plaza.
"Hey old man!" he shouted.
Cid turned around and his face looked angry at that remark, but it instantly turned into joy once he saw him.
"Well if it isn't the little pipsqueak Sora!"
He froze for a second, "wait… I don't know you, what I meant was that you look like a Sora. That spikey hair and baggy pants… I don't know the name fits you well."
Sora rolled his eyes, "It's alright Cid… my name is Sora."
A smirk formed on the man's face, "huh, so you know my name huh? I'm getting pretty famous then." He said arrogantly.
Sora just sighed; he didn't feel like explaining again so he just let the old man have his little fantasy.
"Yeah, well I'm looking for a friend; you have any idea where he could be?" he asked.
Cid fiddled with the large toothpick in his mouth before answering, "Honestly, if you can find anything but heartless here that would be a wonderful surprise. You're welcomed to look, but I doubt you'll find anything but those critters, you can't go anywhere without running into them!"
Sora's shoulders slumped, defeated.
Now what?
"What you really have to watch out for are the big ones! Woo are those things nasty! Apparently there's this really big one that appears when the bell rings, you don't want to be around when that happens!" Cid exclaimed.
The bell?
Sora gazed up to the top of the plaza tower, oh yeah, I remember, there's a bell up there!
"Well, see you kid. Good luck on finding that special person of yours." He winked teasingly.
Sora blushed, W-what are you talking about old man! Me and Riku are just friends!
Cid walked off chuckling to himself and Sora remained twiddling his fingers, face flushed.
Well… I guess I've been using "special friend" and "important person" a bit too often… b-but Riku is a special friend and he is important to me! It doesn't have to have any special meaning…
"Hey Sora!" a loud quack brought him back to his senses.
He turned to see Donald with a miffed expression on his face.
"What?" he asked.
"Let's leave!" he yelled.
"Yeah Sora, you don't know when that heartless might show up." Goofy said while looking around nervously.
Sora grinned, "What, are you scared?" he asked challengingly.
Donald burst, "Of course not!"
The brunet rolled his eyes, "Then what's the big deal—"
A loud Gong rang throughout the plaza, and it continued to ring, echoing off the walls and filling the entire area with its ominous chime.
"Uh, oh…" Sora looked back at his companions to see that they had disappeared.
He remembered what the hooded figure had told him; he wouldn't have help in fights…
Just like how he remembered it, a large clump of armor fell from the sky and started to rebuild itself.
Once completed, it sought out Sora, who was kind of frozen from the shock.
Calm down; think, just fight like how Leon taught you. Fight like how you fought it before. You've had had harder battles.
He brought out his Keyblade and prepared his stance. He wasn't going to lose, even if he didn't have help.
The armor came thrashing toward him, each step sending small tremors through ground.
The armors biggest and most reachable weak-spot were his legs, Sora remembered that much at least.
He dodged and swerved past the armor's reckless attacks until he found an opening. He lounged forward and struck at the armors feet. They didn't disappear so quickly though, the armor trashed about again and kicked Sora into the fountain in the plaza.
He was soaked, bruised, and battered up but for the most part, ok.
I really could use some help…
Something in him made him check his pockets, maybe it was just intuition but inside where his friends locked inside cards. There were only two, one for Donald and one for Goofy. He had to make it last.
He held the card up and called his friend out.
"Donald! I need your help!" he shouted.
In a flash of light Donald burst out of the card and it shattered.
The duck gave him a content grin, feeling good about himself knowing that Sora needed his help.
He raised his staff up and cast the cure spell on Sora, then turned toward the enemy and shot fire magic. He hit his mark and the armor fell apart momentarily.
Then Donald disappeared.
I guess they have a set time limit. Thanks Donald.
Knowing that, he jumped out of the fountain and dashed toward the dismembered metal body.
He destroyed what he could with his Keyblade. The legs completely disappeared now. Then the body re-made itself and started aggressively lashing its arms at him.
Sora dodged and swayed, and examined his enemy for any more weaknesses.
The torso was the main part, if he could destroy that, the whole thing would disappear, so that's what he would do.
He took out his last card, "Goofy, cover for me!"
Goofy popped out and the brunet didn't waste a second.
He dashed toward the armored heartless and bashed at his torso relentlessly. It was unable to land a hit on Sora, because Goofy protected him with his shield.
That security only lasted so long, so he disappeared just like Donald.
Sora jumped back, he was content with the damage he did though. The armored heartless lumbered toward him and he took aim with his Keyblade.
A small reddish flame formed at the tip and it soon turned into a large fiery sphere.
As the armored heartless got ever closer, Sora grinned.
"Fire!" he shot the fire ball straight into the center of the armor and its body started to shake violently and shine brightly.
A large glittering heart came out of the rumbling metal.
What remained of the armor started to fade away, and Sora wiped his forehead.
"Well, that wasn't so hard!" he said, though clearly exhausted.
He heard footsteps running towards him and he braced himself for more heartless, but it was just Leon and the others.
"Oh, it's just you guys." He relaxed.
"Are you ok? We heard the bells ring, did you fight off the heartless?" Leon looked worried.
Now that he thought about it, in reality maybe Leon was more like his mom than Aerith was.
"Yeah I'm fine." Sora said with a grin.
Leon let out a sigh and you could see the tension release from his body. "It's good you weren't hurt, we were all really worried."
Yuffie snorted out a laugh, "What are you talking about 'we', you and Aerith were the only ones that were really worried and you were about seventy percent more worried than she was!"
He bonked Yuffie on the head, "Children should be seen, not heard." He said in an annoyed tone.
Yuffie whined and rubbed the top of her head, but she wasn't discouraged. She turned to Sora, "Hey did you find your friend!" she asked excitedly.
Sora shook his head with a sad smile, "Not yet, but maybe soon. He has to be somewhere in this castle."
"Too think this whole town is inside a castle! Isn't that crazy!" Cid exclaimed.
Leon crossed his arms, "It may sound hard to believe but we'll just have to trust Sora. He seems to have a firmer grasp on reality than we do at the moment."
The brunet scratched the back of his head nervously, "Well don't give me too much credit. I barely know what's going on myself…"
Leon gave a slight chuckle, "Don't worry, no matter what come s across your path I know you can take it. I may not remember you Sora, but I know you're in my heart."
The small brunet gave him a sad smile, "Leon…"
Yuffie smiled at him as well, "Take care Sora."
Cid had a lost look on his face but he managed to say farewell too.
The group walked away after saying goodbye to their friend. Sora prepared to head out as well, a strange door had appeared and if anything it probably led back to castle oblivion.
He turned to leave but a soft voice called his name. He turned to see Aerith walking toward him.
"What's wrong Aerith?" he asked.
"… I don't have all the answers but I have to tell you one thing. Your memories created this town right?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"If that's true then this town is just a figment of your mind and so are we…"
Sora's eyes widened, he refused to believe that. "That's not true! You're standing right in front of me! The town is here too!" he shouted.
"But I'm not really me. I don't remember the things I should and I sense things I shouldn't." She paused giving him a sympathetic look. "Sora beware your memories… In the journey to come you'll be faced with more illusions. Sometimes the shadows of your memory will try to deceive you, lead you astray."
Sora crossed his arms, "So what do you mean by that?"
She smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm sorry, I'm just another illusion, the truth is out of my reach."
Sora looked at her sadly, "Don't say stuff like that! It's depressing…"
She walked toward him and grabbed is hand, placing it on his heart. "Stay strong Sora, don't let the illusions lead you astray." She said calmly.
He blinked, "okay…" he was still very confused by everything, but he knew now that he had to be careful.
My heart won't be lead astray, I know who I need to find, and that's Riku.
End of Chapter One
Ha, well one thing for sure hasn't changed, I still write way too much, but I hope you enjoyed my story anyway!
Well, now it's confession time... I'm not done with this story, so I won't be able to update every week like I did before. A lot of stuff has come up so now I'm going to have to update when I can, but I guess it isn't so bad right? My stories are lengthy anyway so you have a lot to read to keep you busy!
But I hope you know that I'm really relying on you guys to keep my lazy butt working- please send me some motivational PM's or review my story, it really helps me out and stops me from slacking off. Oh, and if you see any errors, please notify me so that I can fix it right away!
Thank you I love you all, and I hope that you will continue to enjoy my story(series?)!