Kingdom Hearts 4

Soul Chronicles

Ch.1: The Soulblade

Falling. Sora was falling faster and faster in the darkness. He didn't know where the bottom to this endless pit was, or if there even was a bottom at all; then he saw something: a circular stained glassed window with Oblivion and Oathkeeper on it. He thought he was going to break the glass and fall straight through it but, 3 inches before he hit the glass, he stopped abruptly. He floated there for a few seconds and then fell onto it. He got up and looked around-there was nothing but him and the stained glass window.

"Sora..." Sora looked around, but saw no one. "Sora...the keyblade..."

"Who are you? Where are you?" Sora shouted looking around again seeing no one.

"The keyblade has yet to become complete." Sora was bewildered.

"What do you mean?"

"The soul blade...is within your grasp." Sora had no clue what the voice was talking about.

"What?"

"Sora...Sora...Sora..."

"What do you mean?" Sora shouted. Then Riku appeared in front of him. "Riku, what are you doing here?" Riku said nothing; he just turned around and walked away. Suddenly, a great black oozing blob arose from out of nowhere, opened its mouth, and engulfed Riku. "Rikuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!"

Sora was awake and was sitting upright in his bed with nothing but the covers on. Riku was lying right next to him, also with nothing on, just looking at him. "Sora, are you okay?" Sora just stared at Riku.

"I...I had a strange dream. Something about the Soulblade and then this monster engulfed you, and I..." Sora started to cry and Riku pulled Sora into his arms.

"Its gonna be O.K. Sora. It was just a dream. I'll never be taken away from you." Riku held Sora in his arms for awhile and caressed his hair. Just then a large commotion was heard outside.

"What was that?" Asked Riku.

"I don't know Riku; we had better go check it out." Riku and Sora both got dressed, grabbed their weapons and some items, and then headed in the direction of the noise.

On their way there they ran into Aerith. "Sora! The town is being attacked by creatures, but they aren't heartless. They don't even resemble anything I've ever seen!"

"O.K. We're on our way now."

"Good luck to the both of you!" They started off again and ran as fast as they could to the 1st district. A few minutes later they reached the 1st district gates and opened them. When they finally saw what was going on they were amazed-there were creatures black as night attacking Leon and the others, but looked nothing like heartless. They looked more like cloaked phantoms.

Squall and Yuffie were already down there trying to ward them off. Sora and Riku jumped down there and joined in.

" 'Bout time you got here Sora! Were you and Riku that into it that you couldn't here this racket?"

"Shut up Squall! Less talk and more fighting." One of the phantoms came up behind Sora, but Riku came and beat it back. Sora looked behind him and thanked Riku.

"Thanks Riku."

"No problem Sora." Sora then slashed one of the phantoms with the Keyblade, but it just went straight through them. "What?" Sora kept slashing and slashing but it just kept going straight through the phantom. "O.K. fine then take this! THUNDAGA!" Lightning bolts flew from the sky and hit the phantom. It just stumbled a bit then straightened itself. "O.K. Well then take this, FIRAGA! "The spell hit the phantom but it just stumbled and straightened itself again. The same thing happened with all the spells Sora tried on the phantom

"Sora what's wrong?"

"I can't hit it with the Keyblade! It's as if they're immune or something, and my magic attacks do nothing."

Sora kept on hitting them with his magic but they wouldn't die. Sora was running out of magical power and the phantoms still weren't beat back. "What am I going to do?" Just then, a light appeared out of no where and hit the ground. A figure appeared, and it was Yuna. She summoned Ifrit and it pushed back all of the phantoms out of the 1st district.

"Thanks Yuna that was some impressive work there."

"Don't mention it Squall; now, where is the one called Sora?"

"I'm right here." Sora said before Yuna walked over to Sora and looked at him. She then glanced at him.

"The Keyblade sure does work in mysterious ways, but there is still untapped power inside."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"You know that there are different keychains that transform the Keyblade into different forms, correct?"

"Yes I know that."

"Well, there is one final keychain that will unlock the final form of the Keyblade. It is called the Soul Keychain."

"Oh, so where can I find this Soul keychain?" Yuna didn't answer. She instead raised her staff, then danced and chanted while moving her arms and the staff around gracefully. After a few minutes a bright golden light appeared before Sora. The light started to diminish and a clear Keychain in the shape of a star appeared. It drifted towards the Keyblade and then fused with it. The Keyblade shined brightly and then its transformation began. First the hand guard turned a clear color, the handle and the blade turned a silver color and the hand guard then changed into a six pointed star shape.

Sora felt the awesome power of the newly formed blade course through his veins.

"The power that you feel coursing through your body; that is the power of the Soulblade."

"Soulblade?"

"Yes, the Soulblade has the power to defeat the soulless and restore order to the worlds. The soulless are after your soul Sora, just like the heartless were after your heart. Be alert Sora, a great evil has arisen in Hollow Bastion. I can feel it."

"What?! Is it Maleficent?"

"I can't be sure, but Maleficent should be dead, along with the rest of her evil comrades."

"Oh, well thanks again Yuna. I don't know how to repay you."

"No needs to thank me, young one, just destroy the evil."

"O.K."

"So Sora..." But Riku was cut off by a shrill shriek. "That sounded like Aerith! Riku lets go!" Sora and Riku ran through the second district but were stopped by some soulless shortly after. "Ready Riku?" asked Sora. "Ready." Riku replied. Sora charged at one of the soulless and slashed it repeatedly. After a few hits it imploded and was no more. Riku was having a bit of trouble so Sora used thundaga and they were instantly destroyed. They started off again and were ambushed by soulless a couple times-but Sora took care of them.

After a couple minutes they finally reached the third district. When they entered they didn't hear or see anyone around. "Where's Aerith?" asked Sora. "I don't know Sora, but I don't like this. It's too quiet." Sora and Riku walked closer to the fountain. Then when they were just a few feet from it they heard a noise behind them and turned around. The doors to the 2nd district were blocked by a barrier! They started to look around to see if anyone was there. Then a voice came behind Riku and said, "Time to release your soul darling." Riku turned around and stepped back. There he saw Aerith, but she was deformed. Her face was misshapen, her hair grey and tangled, and her clothes all black. But her eyes...they were pure black! "What in the hell happened to her?" "I don't know Sora, but we can't attack her, we have to figure out something to do." "GIVE ME YOUR SOULS!!!!!!!!!" Aerith shot two dark energy balls at Sora and Riku. They both dodged and landed away from each other. Then a dark aura started to appear around Aerith and she started bombarding them with dark energy balls, one after another. Sora and Riku were quick in dodging them. She kept going and going, never stopping, never tiring.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep up with this Sora."

"Neither do I Riku. We have no choice but to attack her and wear her down."

"But, Sora she's our friend! Plus she's a lady."

"I know Riku, but still, she's not in her right state of mind right now, and we need to wear her down so we can figure out what happened to her."

"But..."

"Riku! Do you want to save her or not?"

"I do, but it just feels wrong, and why are you so keen on doing this?"

"Riku this is no time to argue, I don't want to do this anymore than you, but it has to be done in order to save Aerith. Whether or not you like it I'm sticking with my plan." Sora then lunged at Aerith and struck her with the Soul blade. She fell over and Sora tried pointing the Soul blade at her to see if it would return her soul to her, nothing happened. Then Aerith sat up and shot a dark energy ball from her hand, but it wasn't aimed at Sora. Riku was too in shock from seeing Sora strike Aerith to notice it. "RIKUUU!!!!!!!! LOOK OUT!" Riku snapped out of the shock just in time to notice the dark energy ball and dodge it.

"Sora, please, there has to be another way." Sora turned to look at Riku

"I can't think of any other way. I've already thought of everything I could. Unless you can think of something better, I'm sticking with what I have."

"INFIDELS, YOU CANNOT DEFEAT THE SOULESS! NOW FEEL MY POWER!!!!!!!" Sora then turned back around to see that Aerith had gotten up, she had her arms raised and her head was looking up. Sora looked up and saw a giant meteor in the sky. "What the..." It was Meteor, Sephiroth's ultimate attack. "How the hell can she do that? She would need the black materia!" Sora didn't know what to do. How would he manage to block meteor? He thought and thought. The attack was getting closer; they had no escape out of the third district. Meteor would take Aerith and everyone in Traverse Town with it.

Aerith sent a barrage of dark energy balls at the two; she wasn't going to wait for meteor to hit. "YOUR SOULS WILL BE MINE!!!!!!!! Even if you manage to block my dark meteor's power, all of your friend's souls will be taken. So just give up, and save yourselves the effort." She then launched another barrage of dark energy balls at Sora. Sora easily dodged all of them and faced Aerith.

"Aerith, why are you doing this? Please remember us, we're your friends."

"Soulless have no friends, they only have loyalty to their master. You shall soon be..." But she was cut off by a loud explosion.

Sora turned around to see that a hole had been made in the wall near the door. Sora squinted to see who had made it. Three people started to step through it. It was Squall, Yuffie, and Yuna! Squall looked down at Sora.

"Hey kid what the hell is going on?" Sora pointed up and Squall looked up.

"Oh my fucking God...How the hell can that be?" Yuna and Yuffie both looked up as well and gasped.

"Don't panic; hopefully I can harness the power of the lifestream. Here goes." Yuna chanted and waved her staff in a circular motion at the ground. Green wispy energy started to emerge from the ground. It started to rise and head towards meteor. More and more came from the ground and all across Traverse Town. The lifestream finally hit meteor and stopped it dead in its tracks. Then it slowly started to fade away until it was finally gone, and the lifestream returned to its rightful place.

"Thanks Yuna, I don't know how we would have survived that without you."

"No problem so..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Aerith screamed in enragement and started throwing dark energy balls everywhere. Yuna chanted something and put a barrier around everyone. Aerith then started shooting dark lighting from her hand at everyone. Once it touched the barrier, the barrier held out-for a few seconds, then exploded along with Aerith's attack.

"Sora, you must strike her with the Soul blade. Once weakened Aerith's soul can be returned to her."

"O.K. Yuna, you got it." Sora once again lunged at Aerith dodging her barrage of dark energy balls. He struck her multiple times. With his last strike he sent her flying into the wall. She then outstretched her arm and was about to unleash her attack on Sora when the Soul blade shone brightly and sent a beam of light at Aerith. But before it hit her she put up a barrier and blocked it.

Aerith rose to her feet and spoke, but it wasn't her voice; it was a dark and evil voice that filled Sora's heart with terror. "Fine, if you won't give up I'll take what's most precious to you Sora!" Aerith outstretched her arm and black ooze started to come out of it. The ooze got bigger and bigger, until it was about half the size of a Bahamut. Then it opened its mouth and headed towards Riku. Riku stood there, poised to fight. Yuna tried as fast as she could to chant a spell. Squall continuously attacked it with his gunblade and Yuffie attacked it as well, but it was no use. The creature just kept going. Sora then lunged at it but Aerith stopped him by shooting a barrage of energy balls. When the ooze monster finally got close enough Riku lunged at it and struck it with his blade, but it had no effect. Riku stood there, in shock. The monster moved its mouth towards Riku and engulfed him entirely.

"RIKUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Aerith had stopped her barrage long enough for Sora to be able to watch in horror as his beloved was engulfed by the monster. Then the monster was sucked back into Aerith's hand. Sora was enraged. He didn't care if Aerith was his friend or not, he was too angry to care. He lunged at Aerith and struck her repeatedly. When she got back up, Sora lashed at her again and again until Aerith fell down and just lied there. The Soulblade then shined brightly again. Sora pointed it at Aerith and the beam of light hit her this time, but it was too late. Aerith was fading fast. Sora, realizing what he had done, went to her side and wept. "I-I-I'm so sorry, Aerith. I can never forgive myself for what I did." Aerith looked up at Sora wearily and then she closed her eyes, and her body went limp. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sora pulled Aerith close and sobbed. "I'M HORRIBLE! WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!!!!!!!??????? I'm not worthy of the Keyblade, Soul blade, or any other blade." Sora then tossed the Soul blade as hard as he could, and continued weeping for Aerith.

Yuna walked over to Sora and kneeled next to him.

"Sora..." But Sora interrupted her.

"No...don't say that it's not my fault, because it is. It's my fault that I got pissed and killed her. All my fault..." Yuna sighed and stared at the ground. "Sora..." Squall then came next to Sora and grabbed him by the collar.

"HOW COULD YOU BASTARD!" Squall then swung at Sora and sent him flying.

"Squall, No!" Yuna stood up and stood in front of Sora and extended her arms.

"Get out of my way Yuna. He killed Aerith."

"I know what he did Squall, but Aerith's soul was out of her body for longer than her body could handle; even if Sora didn't go all out on her, she would have died anyways when her soul was returned to her." Squall clenched his fist and tears started to fall down his face.

"God Damn, we...we were too late to save her. I'm sorry Sora." Sora just sat there, not saying a word. Squall and Yuna stared at him.

All was quiet for a few minutes until Sora spoke. "I don't want to hold all of this responsibility on my shoulder anymore. I don't want to be the wielder of the Keyblade." Yuna and Squall just stared at him for a few seconds then Squall grabbed his collar so that Sora's head was level with his. "You listen here kid. You are the only one capable of stopping this threat. Time and time again you have saved us all. All of the worlds are probably being devastated with this menace, and they need your help. Plus Riku is gone. I know how devastated you are but you need to get up and fight. To help save all the worlds, and Riku." Sora just stared at the ground for a few seconds then he looked up at Squall. Tears were streaming down his face. "O.K. Squall, you can let me go now." Squall put Sora down and Sora ran to the Soul blade, picked it up and ran.

"He's gonna need a gummi."

"Well do you have any means of contacting the king Squall?"

"Sure do." Squall then set off for his room in the 2nd district hotel. Sora was about to embark on his greatest journey yet.

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Meanwhile back at Disney Castle Donald was on his way, as usual, to the Kings throne room. Donald approached the door, knocked and then went in. He was expecting to see the King on his thrown, but instead saw a weeping Queen with a note lying in front of her. Donald walked up to her and started to speak but he was interrupted by the Queens words. "H-h-he's gone!" Donald picked up the note and read it. It said:

"Dear Donald or Goofy, A threat to my Kingdom has arisen. I fear that Maleficent has somehow risen from the grave and is using things called the "soulless" to capture Sora's soul. She must be stopped at all costs so I am taking the liberty of finding the Summoner Yuna to get her to unlock the final form of the Keyblade. I don't know how long this will take me but say not a word to my beloved Minnie. This journey is dangerous and I may not return. Find Sora, stay with him, and protect him at all costs. Thank you and remember to not say a word to the Queen, I don't want her worrying about me. Signed, Mickey Mouse."

Donald read over the letter again and again to make sure that he wasn't reading wrong. How could Maleficent have come back from the grave? What is her plan now? The Queen was still crying so Donald thought that he would comfort her.

"Queen, please don't cry. Sora, Goofy, and I will find the King." The Queen looked at Donald.

"Please, bring him back safely. I beg of you!"

"Yes your highness, I will."

"Oh thank you Donald, thank you."

Donald headed off to find Goofy. When he finally found Goofy, Goofy was running around yelling Donald's name.

"Donald! Where are ya?!"

"Over here!" Goofy looked in Donald's direction and ran toward him.

"Donald, I got a message for ya. Ayuck"

"Well?" "It's from Leon, he wants us to come to Traverse town to pick up Sora so we can go fight the umm... what are they called...uhh..."

"Soulless?"

"Yea! Them things."

"Let's go to the gummi bay."

"Ayuck, Ok." So Goofy and Donald headed for the gummi bay. Once there they told Chip and Dale to ready the Gummi ship. In a matter of minutes it was operational and ready to go. Donald and Goofy jumped into the ship and prepared for launch. The bay doors opened and they were ready for take off. The Gummi's engines started up and then, the floor below them opened and they fell out the bottom bay door. Once outside they flew off into space.

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Elsewhere in Hollow Bastion, a dark shadow is seen looking at a crystal ball in the center of a dark room. "So, the boy now wields the Soulblade." The figure then steps into the light and a black robe is seen. Behind her the door opened and a dark figure stepped inside the room, looking as though they were holding something.

"Ah, Hades I see you have the lamp."

"Yeah, just as I promised." Hades then handed the lamp to Maleficent.

"Come on babe, I held up my end of the deal. I brought you the lamp and everyone that the brat killed."

"Patience Hades I must summon Jafar first."

Maleficent stepped outside and rubbed the lamp. Thick red smoke came out of the spout and got bigger and then took the shape of Jafar in his genie form.

"FINALLY! I have been released from the lamp."

"Yes you have Jafar, now you owe me three wishes." Jafar stared at Maleficent.

"Or you can go back into the lamp."

"NO! Fine I will grant you three wishes."

"Very good, now for my first wish..." Maleficent motioned for Jafar to come closer. Jafar leaned over and Maleficent whispered her first wish into his ear. "Your wish is granted." Jafar raised both of his hands and magic was sent out from the tips of his fingers to right in front of Maleficent. A box appeared with caution tape around it. Maleficent picked up the box and looked inside it. "Now for my second wish, I require the seven princesses of heart." Jafar once again raised his hands and made the 7 princesses of heart appear in front of Maleficent. Maleficent then raised her staff and they all disappeared.

"Very good. Now for my final wish, I wish for your soul."

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me Jafar, without it you will be more powerful than ever."

"Never Maleficent, never."

"Very well." Maleficent raised her staff and dark green smoke swirled around Jafar. Then the smoke started to pull Jafar into the orb on top of Maleficent staff.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jafar struggled to get out of the smokes grasp but failed to do so. Jafar was finally absorbed into the orb. Maleficent felt Jafar's cosmic powers pulsing through her staff.

"See what happens to people who don't follow orders Hades?" Hades glared at Maleficent.

"What do you want Maleficent?"

"I want Hercules alive, and the child and his companions eliminated."

"Fine, fine, now how am I supposed to do all this?"

"With this." Maleficent waved her staff and a black spiked bone appeared in Maleficent's hand. She handed the bone to Hades . Hades took the bone and examined it.

"Feed it to Cerberus, but before that you must turn Hercules into a soulless."

"Fine babe, wish me luck." Hades then disappeared in a burst of blue flame.

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After a few hours travel Donald and Goofy finally reached Traverse town. They stepped through the gates to the 1st district. Once through they saw Sora, Yuffie, Yuna, and Leon.

"Hey Sora!" Goofy and Donald yelled at Sora.

"Hey Donald, Hey Goofy."

"Come on, let's go!"

"Alright I'm coming." Sora started to walk toward them when Yuna stopped him.

"Sora, do you know where your going?"

"Yea, we're going straight to Hollow Bastion, to see if Maleficent is lurking around there in her usual place."

"Well, you're gonna need some help, I'm coming with you and so is Leon and Yuffie. Also we'll need to pick up Cloud and Tifa from the Arena world. O.K.?"

"Alright, the more the merrier."

"Good, let's go!"

"Hold on a minute, how are we all gonna fit in that one small Gummi ship?"

"Don't worry Donald; Leon has his own ship. We'll follow in that one."

"Oh, O.K. well lets go already!"

"O.K. cool it Donald we're going." Sora, Donald and Goofy got in their Gummi while Leon, Yuffie, and Yuna got in theirs. They then launched and were out in the depths of space.