Dive into the Heart

Sora was falling

Deeper

Deeper

Into darkness.

Nothing but darkness surrounded him, as he entered into a empty void of nothingness, only he was the single light that illuminated through the dark.

One minute earlier he had found himself standing in the middle of a ocean looking forward to see his best friend Riku holding his hand out to take him, as a giant wave began to overcome him.

For a brief moment Sora had hoped he could reach out to him in time but failed.

The wave had swallowed him whole taking him into the ocean below out on the beach his other friend Kairi waved to him to come back. He tried, only for everything to shatter and him to fall.

It was the strange sensation of nothingness that made the experience all the more bizarre as he fell onto a black empty void. There was nothing, no water, no air, no sky, no nothing. Everything felt cold, and then felt nothing. All the feeling in his body went away, it was like floating in mid air.

Finally the fourteen year old boy found himself standing straight as he gently touch something solid on the ground.

Light emerged and a glass platform began to form underneath him. All the colors began to form a tapestry, a image of a young woman with hair black as ebony and skin white as snow. She looked beautiful.

For a moment Sora stood there, running his gloved hand through thick layers of spiky brown hair. He looked up to see nothing but the empty void, it wasn't even the sky for there was not a single star to be found. It was like being in the middle of a dream, empty void of absolute darkness, only one shining light in the midst of this massive seas.

"What is this place?" He asked himself as he took a few steps forward. "Hello! Anyone here! Riku! Kairi! Anywhere here….Hello!"

Sora just stood there looking up at the bright sky. He felt a strange chill blow up against his back. Tugging at his jacket he wished he hadn't worn his red onesie and instead put on a longer pair of pants that morning.

"Cold, cold…" he said jumping up and down to warm himself. "This is a very strange dream. Except...You're not supposed to feel in dreams."

That thought caused his heart to beat a bit faster.

"Uh oh."

He was completely alone, stuck in the middle of a void standing on a platform with no one in sight. His friends had been there one minute and gone the next. The last thing he remembered was taking a nap on the beach after a tiresome morning. Having the snack his mother packed for him as he went to the Play Island to hang out with his friends.

Suddenly echoing around him a voice begins to speak. Soft comforting, it didn't seem to bear any malevolence as it rung in his ear.

So much to do so little time

"Who's that!" Sora asked stepping back. He looked for any sign of the voice yet couldn't see anything. Instead all he saw was just more darkness.

Don't be afraid, step forward.

"Uh…" He hesitated, yet did as he was instructed.

The ground started to shake as three large pedestals emerge from the glass below.

One by one each begins conjure up a different object.

One pedestal holds a sword, gold and sharp.

The second, a blue staff with three ringed orbs on the top.

Third, a shield with that same symbol.

Sora looked at all three of these weapons with awe and confusement. He'd neve seen weapons like these before in his life. Most of the time he had been confined to just wooden swords back home. These though, these were as real as the stories he would love to read as a kid.

Slowly he approached one, the sword, his favorite weapon from legend, and picked it up with both hands. Carefully he held it, feeling the metal press up against his gloved hand. His blues eyes gazing at it with awe and wonder..

"This is so cool." He muttered.

It will give you strength….But you must choose.

Choose? He had to pick only one. Something about that didn't feel fair. He'd rather have all three like a proper warrior. A shield to defend himself, a sword to use against enemies. Only the staff didn't seem proper, he wasn't much into magic and spells.

"Okay then, I choose the sword." He said holding it up high, only for to plop onto the ground do to his lack of strength. "Oof, okay this is heavy."

He struggled to keep it up.

This felt right though, the sword was the weapon of the warrior. The one brave knights would use to slay the dragon and defeat the evil wizards that captured the princess. So many times Sora would imagine himself being the brave one who would go on such epic feats of heroism.

Once his choice was made the other pedestals vanished back into the ground and the glass beneath his feet again shattered.

Sora again found himself falling.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Until he began to land on his feet once again, this time arriving at a second glass pedestal, this one made of blue colors and a beautiful blonde hair girl in a silver gown painted on it. Again she was quite lovely.

The sword he choose appeared in Sora's hand.

You've gained the power to fight.

"Fight what?" He asked.

There will be times when you need to fight. Keep your light burning strong.

"Fight what!" Sora asks again this time with more urgency.

His question was soon answered.

Behind him, popping up from the ground several shadows begin to rise from the platform. They take the form of tiny bug like creatures with glowing yellow eyes and two antennas sticking from there head.

They all began to gather closer, there smell was horrid, decaying almost. The young boy didn't know what exactly it's as about that scent but something about it felt unnatural, wrong almost.

Sora turns around instantly and sees them rise into the air trying to strike them. He leaps backwards to avoid there sharp looking claws as they begin to surround him. In a moment of fear he takes his sword and slashes right into one causing it to vanish into shadow.

For a moment Sora is in complete disbelief of what he just did.

"Did i just-" He doesn't think twice as another strikes. Again he takes his sword and slashes right into it. "I did!"

Now he's ready. Without a moment's hesitation he charges and slashes down the other shadow creatures one by one until they all vanish into the darkness.

"Yes!"

Sora felt his heart beat faster as he got a kick out of this. First time in battle and was already a success. He couldn't wait to tell his friends if he got out of here. He bet Riku would be jealous of his deeds, fighting with a real sword against real enemies.

Though his victor was fleeting.

Suddenly he felt a cold chill come down upon him as he looked down and saw a horrid pit of black ooze form around his feet. Again it had that same strange decaying smell.

Sora found himself sinking into it, struggling to release itself as the cold ooze began to overtake his entire body. It stung and chilled yet it wouldn't stop, now beginning to blind him, he tried to reach for something to pull himself up but couldn't until finally all became dark.

But it was not to end.

Light returned as Sora, struggling on the ground pops his blue eyes open and finds himself back to normal. Now standing on his third glass platform this one pink several strange designs yet no image to speak of.

Taking a deep breath he gets up and sees a door standing right next to him. Examining it closely he put both hands on the levers and tries to open it yet it's heavy.

"Ugh, it's stuck." He mutters. "Come on, come on...Open already would yuh."

Finally he manages to get it a crack and is instantly blinded by the light shining within it.

Once it faded Sora gazed upon a familiar sight.

The sound of a light wind pressing against the trees. Ocean waves echoed in the distance and a flock of seagulls flew overhead.

"Home." Sora found himself standing over a Island bridge. Leaning over the rails he looks out into the oceans closing his eyes to hear the familiar sound of his ocean home again. It was nice to be back in a familiar environment after all the dark void.

As he looked up the sun thought something felt a miss. The light didn't have the same warm feeling as before. In some ways it felt almost hollow. Even the breeze didn't have that same chill like it would normally have.

His moment of thinking came to an end when three children appeared before him now each taking the image of one his Island playmates.

"Tidus? Selphie? Waaka? What are you guys doing here." Sora asked as he saw them.

They didn't answer.

Sora sighed. "Oh...Looks like I'm still in the dream then."

Hold on. The door won't open just yet. First, tell me more about yourself.

"What door, I opened that door, didn't I?"

A brief pause.

"Anyway, what do you want to know, I don't even know anything about you, maybe you should tell me something about yourself first before I tell you anything about me."

Sora stood there arms folded waiting for a response.

None came.

"Okay fine I'll do it." Sora muttered looking at the three kids now. "Alright, what do you wanna know."

Selphie was the first to step up to him. "What is most important to you?" She asked, her voice monotone almost lifeless.

"Uh….hmmm…." Sora tapped his chin to think, a lot of things were important to him. His friends, his family, people who mattered. Even as a kid he had a firm sense of right from wrong and always tried to do what was best for everyone. He hated seeing people sad, and always wanted to cheer them up.

"Friendship!"

Selphie nodded and stepped back, now it was Tidus turn to speak.

"What do you want out of life."

Another strange question. For the most part he didn't want much. He enjoyed what he had, good friends, his mother that loved him dear. Perhaps if anything though he did want to see what was out there beyond his Island home.

"To see new sights." He answered.

Finally it was Wakka's turn to speak. He stood in front of him for a few moments as if to examine him, see how he would react before he spoke.

"What are you most afraid of."

That question sent a shiver down his spine. Sora wasn't afraid of much in terms of small things. Spiders, bugs, the darkness. But he did have one fear, something burned deep inside him throughout all of his life and he tried to avoid it throughout all his life.

"To be indecisive." Sora spoke with vindication in his voice.

Waaka paused again before nodding and stepping back.

In a same flash the three children vanished and a bright light overtook Sora again blinding him. The voice from before returned

Your adventure begins in the dead of night. Your road won't
be easy, but a rising sun awaits your journey's end.

The day you will open the door is both far off and very near.

Again the light flashed as Sora found himself standing on his fourth platform. The repetitiveness of this dream was starting to get annoying. This one was of a woman with a red rose, surrounded by thorns as if they were about clutch her.

A beam of light then appears and moves upwards revealing a staircase to a fifth platform higher up.

"I'm starting to hate this." Sora muttered as he ran off.

Heading forward, those same shadow creatures emerged from the darkness. Sora sword emerged in his hand and with a firm clench he slashed and clashed against them as he pushed forward up the staircase more and more continuing to appear. There attacks were simple, jump and slash. Each time getting struck down by Sora's sword.

"I'm getting better at this." A cocky grin began to grow on his lips

Finally he arrived at the fifth pedestal.

This one had a women in yellow dress who was asleep, images of what looked to be appliances and nick nacks who were awake littered the screen. The image that stood out though was that of a hairy beast, snarl and hideous. Sora got to his knees to touch the image curious to get a good look at it. Instead of fear he was curious by him, he looked fierce and brave. Something he yearned to be one day.

The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.

Sora jumped up as the voice rang around him, something starting to feel out of place.

Looking down Sora saw his shadow began to grow an emerge. It's one normal shape began to twist and morph, becoming three dimensional and alive. It rose to face him, forming two yellow eyes, similar to the bug creatures from before. It rose it's hands and began to walk toward im.

"What's going on." Sora said stepping back, pointing the tip of his sword towards his neck. "Stay back!"

Sometimes the Heart can be a prison

Even if you are not the prisoner!

That last voice was not the same as before, that voice was cold and harsh.

Soras stumbled landing on his back losing his grip of the sword.

The shadow stopped and began to grow now. More darkness began to overtake it, making it large and larger until it no longer looked anything like Sora. Now it looked like a hideous creatures of human undertones but with sharp claws and a face covered in tentacles, with two bright yellow eyes glowing straight at him.

This monstrous demon horrfied him, Sora tried to scootch to the edge of platform but stopped when he was trapped and had nowhere to go. The scent of the beast was also horrid, smelling of that unnatural decaying smell completely surrounded him.

Sora eyes darted to his sword.

Quickly he grabbed it and stood back up looking sterned face at the creature, knowing he would have to fight against him or die trying. He wished though that this creature wasn't so big.

The creature summons a ball of energy and punches the floor. Sora trembles as a void of darkness appears in the floor, summoning several Shadows. He tries to swallows his fear and attacks them, while dodging larger blows from the creature while striking down the smaller shadows with his sword.

Again the larger creature wraps his fist and punches the ground causing the ground to shake. Sora stumbles but doesn't fall. Instead he charges force and tries to smash his sword against the beast.

It worked for the beast raised his hand in pain using his other face to strike at Sora knocking him back onto the ground.

His sword vanishes.

"No!"

He is defenseless, the dark creature looms over him now as a dark pit forms underneath the boy and begins to sink him in.

Don't be afraid.

The Voice.

"Help-" Sora struggles but can't break free as he continued to fall

Falling.

Falling.

Into darkness.

You hold the mightiest weapon of all