Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Notice: Hello, this is Deiru Tamashi. I would like to thank all of you who voted on my poll for helping me decide the title of this fic. So now, I present to you the sequel to Redemption. Hope you enjoy!
The story so far…
Dexal, a wielder of the Keyblade, trained alongside his three friends Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. But when the worlds are threatened by the Unversed he departs, traveling apart from the other and trying to regain his memories from before he came to the Land of Departure, along with the answers to his own mysterious powers. After traveling to several worlds Dexal learned from Master Yen Sid that Xehanort had used Terra to strike Master Eraqus down, and traveled to the Keyblade Graveyard. Once there he was reunited with Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, and fought alongside each of them in three separate battles. Using his powers of twilight, power that allowed him to wield both darkness and light, Dexal destroyed the X-Blade in the final battle and freed Ventus, later finding helping Mickey find him and Aqua in the Lanes Between.
After they were healed Aqua and Dexal resolved to find Terra and give Ven a safe place, transforming the Land of Departure into Castle Oblivion and placing him inside the Chamber of Waking. Leaving, Aqua and Dexal found Terra in Radiant Garden possessed by Xehanort, and in the subsequent battle both Xehanort and Dexal stabbed each other with their Keyblades at the same time. Aqua saved them from the Realm of Darkness by sacrificing herself, the two of them ending up on the cobblestones of Radiant Garden. Dexal and Xehanort taken in by Ansem the Wise, their memories wiped clean. Ten years later, Dexal is residing on Destiny Islands. The same event that caused Xehanort and the other students to lose their hearts also caused him to regain him memory, even at the cost of losing his heart as well.
Rather than become a Nobody Dexal became a Heartless, and he only retained human form because of the Stormfell Keyblade Aqua had handed him when she sacrificed herself. Blaming himself for the fates of his friends and his own becoming a Heartless, Dexal is overcome by guilt and secludes himself on the islands. He makes friends with only those who visit it, including Sora, Riku and Kairi. When the islands are fallen and Sora obtains the Keyblade, Dexal resolves to help Sora as a way to "redeem" himself. At the end of their journey he sees a vision of Terra, Aqua and Ventus, and through that overcomes his guilt, combining forces with Sora, Donald and Goofy to defeat Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness. They manage to close the door to Kingdom Hearts and seal it away, and afterwards the exposure to the light of it caused Dexal to fade away, just as Ansem.
Kairi is returned to Destiny Islands and the worlds are restored, and Sora and the others continue their journey to find Riku and King Mickey, and to also pass on Dexal's last words to Terra, Aqua and Ventus. The three of them see Pluto holding a letter with the King's seal, and when they ask if Pluto has seen them the dog runs of. Excited, Sora, Donald and Goofy chase after Pluto, ready to keep going to find their friends.
The Ties That Bind
Ch.1 A Strange Encounter
After Sora, Donald and Goofy had begun chasing after Pluto, they had followed him for days, possibly even weeks. During one of those nights they were all resting in the endless fields of grass next to the road, and Sora awoke suddenly. He looked over at his side and saw that Donald and Goofy were asleep. Sora tried to go back to sleep, but the act escaped him, and eventually he stood up. He looked around and called "Hey Dexal, where-?" But then he stopped, frowning as he remembered. That's right. Dexal was gone. Now completely awake thanks to those memories, he walked out of the grass and onto the path, wandering ahead. To his surprise he eventually came upon a fork in the road. He blinked; there hadn't been any in the days prior. As Sora stared into the sky, he suddenly heard a voice behind him say "Along the road ahead lies something you need."
Sora spun around, but there was no one there. He looked around quickly, until he sensed something behind him, and turned around again. The stranger was there, dressed in sort of black hooded coat that zipped all the way down. "However, in order to claim it, you must something that is dear to you," he said, turning around. Sora chased after him, but he faded out of sight in the direction of the fork in the road. Quickly he woke up Donald and Goofy, and the three of them hurried down that path. Far ahead, in a pure white room, a young girl wearing a white dress was drawing in a sketch book. She colored in and brushed the marks off, admiring her work. It was a crayon drawing of a castle, and at the same moment she was looking at, Sora and his friends were approaching the end of the road.
Before them stood a massive castle that looked eerily similar to the girl's drawing, and they all looked at it. As they stared Sora became transfixed. There was something about this castle... He gasped quietly, and began walking forward. "Huh?" Donald said, seeing him. He followed and Goofy did the same. Once they reached the front doors Sora pushed one open, stepping inside. As he did he could feel a strange pull and a lightness in his head, but it faded just as quickly as it arrived. The inside was composed of a single stark white hallway, with stone pillars and vases on the sides. At the end of the hall was a set of steps, and at the top was a small raised area with a door, leading on. "Hey, you think it's okay to just barge in?" Goofy asked. "But we've got to do it if we're gonna find the King!" Donald pointed out.
Goofy jumped, looking around. "The King?! King Mickey's here?!" he asked. Donald crossed his arms, saying "Something just told me he'd be here, okay?" "Really? Cause now that you mention it, I was kind of thinking the same thing," Goofy said, scratching his head. "Seriously? Me too!" Sora added, smiling. He looked up at the ceiling. "One look at this castle, and I just knew- Our very best friends, they're here," he said. "A-hyuck. Guess great minds think alike," Goofy replied. From the hood of Sora's jacket Jiminy Cricket emerged, saying "Now, wait. Hold on! It can't be just a coincidence!" "Oh no, Jiminy. You don't mean that...?" Donald began. Jiminy nodded. "Yep, I had it too. I had the exact same feeling!" he finished. "Gawrsh, maybe it's contagious," Goofy said. "No, no, something's screwy. We'd better go take a look," Donald announced.
"Okay," Sora said, turning around. "Wha-? Where are you going?" Donald asked. Sora pointed. "That way. To the door," he replied, before smiling. "Are you scared?" he asked. As proud as ever, Donald barged right past him, saying "Aw, don't be ridiculous. Come on, let's go, Goofy." "Hey, fellas, shouldn't we shut the door behind us before we go?" Goofy asked, turning to do just that. But then he froze, calling out "Sora!" He and Donald stopped and looked back, seeing the same hooded stranger from before standing there, the door closing behind him. Sora glared at him. "That's it. Who are you?" he demanded, summoning his Keyblade. To his surprise the blade that came forth was the Kingdom Key, rather than the Oblivion. Before he could question it the stranger began walking forward, and Donald called "Heartless! Oh yeah? I'll try some magic! THUNDER!"
He pointed his staff at the ceiling, and waited for a bolt of lightning to drop down, blasting the stranger. But nothing happened. He looked at his staff. "Come on. THUNDER! THUNDER!" he called. The stranger stopped, and Sora and Goofy looked at Donald. He frowned. "Come on... Blizzard? FIRE!" he called. But those spells failed as well. "Why isn't it working?" he asked. The stranger chose that moment to speak, saying "I should think it's obvious. The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and every ability you ever knew." Sora gasped. That would explain the lightness he had felt in his head when he walked in, and why he was holding the Kingdom Key. The stranger held up a gloved hand. "In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. That is the way, in Castle Oblivion," he said.
"Castle Oblivion...?" Sora repeated. But then the stranger was suddenly enveloped in darkness, which faded to show that he was gone. He reappeared behind them. "Here, you will meet people that you have known in the past. And you will meet people you miss," he told them. "I miss...?" Sora asked, before it clicked. "Riku! You mean Riku's here?!" he called. "If you want is to find him..." the stranger began, holding out a hand. From his palm a gale of wind and flower petals flew forth, and Sora tried to hold his ground. When he did the stranger turned transparent passing right through Sora. When that happened he could feel the same light-headedness as before. He turned and struck at the stranger, who vanished in a burst of petals. The same shadows he had vanished in before showed up in front of the door at the end of the hall.
"What did you do?" Sora asked. "I merely sampled your memories. And from them, I made this," the stranger said, holding up what looked like a card. "To reunite with those you hold dear…" the stranger began, before throwing the card. Sora caught it and looked, seeing a picture of Traverse Town on it. "What's this? A card?" he asked. "It is a promise for the reunion you seek. Hold the card to open the door, and beyond it a new world," the stranger said, gesturing to the door behind him. "Proceed, Sora. To lose and claim anew, or to claim anew only to lose…" he said, before vanishing into the shadows once more. Sora looked between the card and the door, and eventually said "All right. Let's go." He began walking forward and Donald and Goofy hesitantly followed. They walked up the steps to the door and Sora stopped in front of it.
Also experimentally he held up the card, and it vanished in burst of light. Not a second later the doors swung wide open, untold amounts of light shining out. Sora winced at the sudden brightness and walked through, closing his eyes as he was surrounded by the light. Sora kept walking even as his eyes were closed, and when the light faded he opened his eyes. When he did the area before him was one he recognized, but it shouldn't have been there. Not in this castle. "What the-? We're in Traverse Town!" he called.
And so ends the first chapter of The Ties that Bind. Hope you all enjoyed it, and know that there will be more to come!
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)