Kingdom Hearts III

I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts. Please R & R :)

Opening

Sora gritted his teeth; he could taste his blood in his mouth. It was metallically bitter - disgusting. He tried spitting out the blood, but it was impossible to get rid of the taste. It didn't really matter anymore anyways, the way the battle was going, the way he was bleeding into his mouth; it would soon be filled with that taste again. Still, he needed to try to get rid of it. He needed to try to wake up from this nightmare.

A man towered over the badly injured Sora, smiling sadistically at the pain Sora was experiencing. The man was partially illuminated from behind by a spectacularly bright heart shaped moon. Kingdom hearts. But even the light of all lights could not diminish this man's powerful darkness. He took a step toward Sora, the ground and light shuddering and surrendering to the movement of his feet and his body. His movement changed the influx of light from onhigh, and the light shimmered across metal shards that lined the ground around the two combatants. The man's shadow washed over Sora and Sora's blood ran cold.

"You are pathetic." Came the ominous and threatening voice of the figure. His voice had a certain, haze to it that made it seem as though it were coming at you from all directions. He raised his right hand from his side, aiming the held weapon, the dark twisted keyblade he wielded directly at Sora. "I think it's time we ended this. Your futile attempt to stop me has failed wouldn't you agree?" He added, as his amber eyes fell to the weapon in Sora's lowered hand. To Sora's keyblade. Or at least what used to be his keyblade. What remained in Sora's hand was only a shattered remnant of it's former self. The handle and a small protrusion of metal were all that was left of it in Sora's hand. The rest of the blade had been shattered, existing only as the metallic shards that littered the battlefield. They had vanquished so many enemies before, but now all they could do was reflect the light from Kingdom Hearts.

"I can't give up! Not yet!" Sora thought. But what was he without the keyblade? The keyblade was broken, destroyed, what hope did he have now? Magic? What use would that be against the menace in front of him. Someone who in a few powerful strikes of his own keyblade had rendered Sora's useless and destroyed. Was there even any point in trying to fight back? All he was without the keyblade was that same weak little kid when this whole thing started.

"No. No I can't think like that! I have to protect Kingdom Hearts, I have to protect everyone! But where are they... where's Riku? Where's Roxas? Where was the King? They were supposed to be here. I can't do this by myself... especially now..."

But Sora buried these doubts, hiding them behind his unshakable determination. "No! I don't agree. I can't let you win!"

A laugh escaped the dark figure before Sora as Sora raised up the handle of his keyblade, his eyes staring right back into the figure's with great defiance. "I must admit, you are more strong willed then I thought. I had hoped to break you before I killed you, but I guess one can't always get what they want. Ah such a pity."

Sora opened his free hand, extending all his fingers. His body hurt all over, it felt nearly as broken as the keyblade he held, but he had to try. He had to. Sora moved forward, striking the keyblade of his enemy with the handle of his keyblade while he charged all the energy he could muster into his off hand, lightning began to arc around the rapidly growing focal point just before his palm. The figure seemed caught off guard by Sora's attack as the strike of from the handle of Sora's keyblade successfully deflected away the menace's own, leaving him open for Sora's follow up attack. Sora pushed his hand forward so that his palm and the focal point of the powerful Thundaga spell was just in front of the figure. The spell erupted forward, quickly engulfing the figure in powerful electric arcs. There was dark groan of pain and the dark figure reeled backwards from Sora. Sora braced himself against the ground, ready to take full advantage of his opponent's dazed state, but when he put his right foot back, it surged with pain. The pain overwhelmed Sora's senses and he cried out in pain as he fell onto his his right knee. Sora, through sheer force of will was able to stand back up, teeth and hands clenched as he pushed through the pain. The source of the pain had been a shard of his own keyblade that had become deeply embedded into his right leg when his keyblade had shattered. The act of moving his right leg back had cause it to twist in jsut the wrong way to cause the agonizing pain he was now feeling. Sora reached down, ripping the metallic shard from his wounded flesh with his free hand, feeling the incredibly strong urge to pass out or vomit from the pain. But he couldn't. He had to win. He was the only one who could do it now. He felt the blood begin to flow, a trickle of sickly warmth on his leg, but the pain was bearable now. He began to raise the hand still grasped around his keyblade.

"Curag..." he began to say, but was stopped as a cripplingly powerful grasp wrapped around Sora's spellcasting hand. The grip constricted as Sora looked forward, into the amber eyes of his assailant. Sora could just see it from the reflected light of Kingdom Hearts but the assailant was smiling, relishing in the pain on Sora's face as his hand constricted around Sora's wrist. The grip was unbelievably strong, so Strong, Sora was unable to keep his grip around the handle of his keyblade, and it felt from his hand to the ground with a rattle. Sora moved his free hand back, his fingers slippery and dyed red with is blood. He charged up another thundaga spell, ready to free himself from this man's grip. But then he felt it, the embrace of cold steel against his midsection. On the front and the back of his body. The cold feeling faded pretty quickly, as a warm thick wetness replaced it. Sora looked down, seeing the keyblade of the figure had pierced through his abdomen, blood slowly oozing out and dyeing his clothes that dark scarlet. The blade was held, pierced through Sora for several seconds as Sora's mind attempted to comprehend what was happening. There wasn't pain. No there was only numbness, leeching forth from that spot just like his blood was. The dark figure released Sora's hand as he slowly withdrew his blade from Sora's body.

Sora was quickly loosing feeling in his body, losing the ability to keep his body up under the massive stress it had endured. He fell, hard to his knees, but he didn't feel it He didn't feel any of it. His body fell forward forcing Sora to move his hands in front of him so was on the ground, on his hands and knees. Sora strained to look up, his strength rapidly flowing out of him as his blood embraced the ground below. He felt cold.

"This is it." The dark figure said, gesturing his hands upwards as he observed the battlefield, fully taking in the moment of his triumph. "This is the end for you." He lowered his hands as the dark keyblade he weld was once more pointed towards Sora, dark energy gathering and surrounding the blade.

"No.... this can't be happening... I feel... so cold..." He'd felt this feeling once before. But only once. When he'd begun to die as he turned into a heartless. "I... I failed...."

"Don't feel too bad. You put up a surprisingly good fight for someone so weak. It's too bad killing your friends won't be such good sport." the dark figure prodded the thoroughly beaten Sora. He had gathered the necessary energy to finish off the keybalde wielder infront of him, he was just relishing the last few moments of his victory.

"It's not supposed to end this way. It can't end this way. I'm supposed to beat you. I'm supposed to save everyone."

"Sorry Sora, but this is my world now. I make the rules. There are no happy endings for you, and no one can save you now." the figure said amused with his own reply. "Game Over." He concluded, launching the dark energy off his blade with a mighty swing. It sped forward, streaming out into a projectile headed directly for Sora. Sora looked to the ground as his face expressed something that was foreign to Sora. Defeat.

"Kairi, Riku, Roxas.. Donald, Goofy... everyone... I'm sorry. I... I wasn't strong enough. I failed." Sora said, his mind running through everything that had led to this moment. To his last moment.

Chapter 1

"What does it say?" Riku asked Sora anxiously, attempting to move himself into a proper position to read the letter. Kairi was just as anxious as the two boys, wondering what this was all about but she patiently waited for Sora and Riku to read the letter.

Sora's eyes quickly darted back and forth as he continued to read:

To Sora, Riku and Kairi,

I must apologize in advance for what I'm about to write, but circumstances leave me little choice. There are events that are threatening to transpire, new information I've gathered, and information I've withheld from you that you need to know. It would be insufficient to attempt to tell you everything in this letter, so I need you to please come to my castle. We have a great deal to discuss. I am truly sorry you three couldn't have more time after the ordeals you've already been through, but this requires immediate attention. I hope you don't find it presumptuous, but I'm taking the liberty of assuming you are willing to join me here. Please be ready for the 29th of June. I believe that is the proper date in your world.

Sincerely,
King Mickey

P.S. some old friends will be picking you up

"He wants us to leave on the 29th?? That's tomorrow!!" Sora said shocked. A whirlwind of thoughts tore around in Sora's head, as his hands supporting the note dropped to his sides, and his eyes to the ground in front of him. He was semi-excited at the prospect of a new adventure. As dangerous and difficult as the adventures that had occupied his life for the last several years were, they bestowed meaning, a great destiny to his life. There was nothing more rewarding then being able to protect and save your friends. He remembered the look of gratefulness and awe he'd seen on his friends faces; particularly Kairi's. Not that he didn't like the smile she always seemed to have on her face when he saw her, but it wasn't quite the same. At the same time, his adventures usually came at the cost of his friends being put in some form of peril while he was away from them. Leaving Destiny Islands had usually meant leaving their sides. This time though, it looked like the three of them would be going together.

"No.." Kairi's voice, uncharacteristically heavy and solemn said. Sora looked up, slightly confused. "No what?" he thought, as he looked into her eyes, her eyes blue and deep like the ocean, threatening to overflow. Sora opened his mouth to ask what he'd said that had made her so upset, but was quickly interrupted when she literally leapt at him from where she stood a few feet in front of him

"Hey!" Sora blurted out, taken aback by her gesture. She wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"I won't let you leave again" she cried burying her face into his shoulder. Sora could hear the tremble in her voice. Sora let the note, still held in his right hand slip through his fingers and fall to the ground. With his hands now free he wrapped his arms around her as well. As much as he liked hugging her, her natural warmth, her radiance and affection were quite possibly the greatest things he'd ever received, but he couldn't take them and enjoy them under the pretense of her being upset and sad. So he dutifully broke the hug after a few seconds, moving his hands so they firmly rested on her should and bending down slightly so their faces were at the same level. She turned away from him though, casting her gaze to the ground.

"Kairi..." Sora began, his voice soft and comforting. Kairi looked up from the ground, their eyes meeting again. Sora smiled softly as he wiped away the lone tear that'd cast itself on her face. "It's okay. You're supposed to come too!" The change is Kairi's facial expressions were radical, quickly changing from a look of forlorn sadness, to one of frustrated confusion, and then just as quickly to one of happiness. The two exchanged a brief smile before Sora added "Riku will be coming too, we'll all go together!" Kairi and Sora both looked to Riku at this remark. He'd been silent during Sora and Kairi's exchange, and merely had a smirk on his face after having witnessed it. Riku's smirk made Sora very aware that he was still holding on to Kairi, and he immediately withdrew his hands with a mumbled "oh.. um.. uh.". He felt a quick rush of blood into his face which he was sure dyed his face a deep scarlet.

There was an awkward silence. Sora scratched the back of his head as he often did when he was feeling nervous or uncomfortable.

"So guys... I guess we should start getting ready huh? We might not be back for awhile. What are we going to tell everyone?"

"I'm not sure. But you're right. We definitely need to get ready."

The rest of the day passed quickly. The three teens had so much to do, and Mickey had given them little time to do it.

It was nearly nighttime now, and Sora stood, the lone figure on a long string of rocks that protruded lightly off the Island and into the sea. The suns last rays were just fading away, casting a gentle glow on the horizon. Sora closed his eyes, his body embracing the light breeze that rode in from the sea. He raised his right arm from his side, repeating a motion that'd become almost second nature to him now. As his arm became level, he snapped his fingers, summoning forth the Oathkeeper. This was without a doubt his favourite keyblade, but not because it was the most effective in battle; that was a right exclusively owned by the Ultima Weapon. Rather it was his favourite due to the symbolic meaning. While it had initially been tied to a promise to return to Kairi, it'd turned into an Oath to always keep her safe, no matter what. That was one oath he had no intention of ever breaking.

He blured forward, skimming over the rocks at his feet with such speed he hardly touched them, before thrusting the Oathkeeper forward hard. As soon as his momentum had stopped his moving forward, he kicked off from the rocks beneath his feet, propelling himself into the air. Sora twisted as he back-flipped in mid-air, cutting a full circle in the air before landing in a crouched position, keyblade extended, on another rock in nearly the same place he'd started. He was still in as good of fighting shape as ever, helped no doubt by frequent practice he and Riku had been engaging in. Sora stood up before hand springing backwards, flattening both his hands out to produce more leverage and avoid hurting the fingers that had previously been curled around the Oathkeeper. As he his weight began to tilt him the rest of the way through the handspring, Sora pushed off the gorund, wrapping his fingers back around the keyblade so it followed with him as he once again became air borne. While still in the air, Sora brought his right arm back and whipped it forward, sending the Oathkeeper hurtling away from him at amazing speed. The Oathkeeper sped along a circular trajectory, making its way back towards Sora as he made a perfect landing on another rock face. He put his hand out again and a moment later the Oathkeeper had filled his grasp. He smiled to himself.

"Whatever King Mickey has waiting for us, we'll be ready. After taking down Xemnas, anything else should be easy." Sora thought aloud. With Riku and Kairi by his side, they could take on the world.

"Still practicing eh?" A voice spoke to Sora. It seemed to come from all around. It was distinctly familiar.

"Who's there??" a bewildered Sora demanded, moving himself into his traditional attack position as he looked all around for the origin of the voice; only to find nothing.

"Psst, over here!"

Sora whipped himself towards where the voice had come from. Again, nothing.

"Come on Sora!"

"That's it! It's his voice, I know it!" Sora thought. "Roxas! Where are you?"

"Ah, good Sora. I was beginning to think you'd forgot about me." The words echoed from a place directly in front of Sora. A moment later a ghostly, faded image of Roxas had made its presence known, appearing where the voice had come from.

"Roxas!" Sora said the name again with a mix of happiness and confusion. Sora lowered his keyblade before moving forward and reaching out to grasp Roxas, only to find his hand passed straight through the ghostly vigil, as though nothing were there.

"Whoa! What the?" Sora questioned, taking a quick step away from Roxas' ghostly form.

"Heh sorry about that." Roxas grinned, scratching the back of his head much like Sora did. "I don't really have a physical presence."

Sora cast a doubtful look at Roxas, not sure exactly what to make of what was going on. "So you're like what a figment of my imagination? A delusion?"

"Well no don't be silly. I'm very real. A delusion? Perhaps that would be more accurate. I'm not really standing here in front of you, nor is my voice speaking to you from in front of you. I'm all up here." Roxas exaplined, tapping the side of his head just above his left ear. "I'm speaking to you from in your head. I just thought it'd be easier to talk if I appeared to have a presence before you."

"Oh," Sora responded flatly. He didn't fully understand what Roxas had said nor how he was doing the parts that Sora did understand, but he felt that wasn't the most important question he needed to ask.

"So you like, have a presence inside me?"

"Yeah I guess that's the simplest way to put it."

"But.. how?"

Roxas shrugged. "Wish I could tell you. If I were to guess, it has something to do with the fact that when we recombined, you weren't a heartless but I was a nobody. If you can reunite a nobody with their heartless, and they choose to willingly they can turn back into what they used to be. But you weren't a heartless when we recombined. Like I feel like we're the same now but I still feel like I'm me too you know? I'm part of you but separate too. It's weird."

"Very..." said a highly perplexed Sora. The two were silent for a moment. Roxas had a look on his face as though he were expecting something. "Wait a sec! Does that mean Kairi and Namine are like us too??"

Roxas smirked. It was clear that's exactly what he was waiting for. "Yes, I believe they are. That's part of the reason why I decided to talk to you now, since we're off again."

"Part of the reason?" Sora questioned. Sora was actually just about to ask why Roxas had shown up to start talking to him now.

"Well Sora I gotta be honest." Roxas put his hand to his chin, a strongly contemplative look on his face. "there's things that you've been doing since we recombined that are just damn frustrating for me to watch."

"Huh what?" Sora asked. That was truly the last thing he had expected. "What do I do that frustrates you??" Sora was a little taken aback. He was actually a little insulted, but curious as well.

"Well I guess the first thing..." Roxas' gaze fell to the Oathkeeper which was loyally held at Sora's side.

"What you don't like this keyblade? Didn't you use this one all the time too?"

"No no that's not what I meant. I'm more concerned with the fact that you're still only wielding one keyblade."

"We both know I can only wield one except in Drive form" Sora protested. How could Roxas not know that?

Roxas shook his head, dismissing what Sora had just said. "That's not true at all. If I can do it you can do it. Have you even tried since we recombined?"

"Well no but..."

"Well then don't say you can't do it Sora. It's just like summoning one keyblade. I'll teach you how, but that can wait for later. Something else I'm wondering about, why haven't you done anything about her?"

"her?" Sora asked, genuinely uncertain who Roxas was referring to. For somehow who was essentially the same as himself, Sora was finding it hard to figure out what Roxas was thinking.

"You know who I mean Sora, Kairi."

Sora blushed. "Um what about her?" He asked Roxas, knowing full well "what about her" Roxas was talking about.

Roxas sighed irritably, well as irritably as a ghostly image can sigh, rolling his eyes as well. "You're borderline in love with her man, I don't even have to look into your head to figure that one out."

Sora swallowed hard. He knew there was no use denying it; it was true after all. It just felt strange to have someone say it out loud.

"But.. um.. what about her and Riku..."

Roxas chuckled. "You need to be more observant Sora. Kairi only has eyes for you. The way she talks to you, the way she looks at you. Add to that the whole you've saved her life several times, and I don't know what you're waiting for.

"I uh... I..." Sora stumbled with his words, his nerve and thought process quickly unravelling. It was so peculiar. He often had thoughts that would tell him the same things. That he should go for it, that Kairi was totally interested in him, but up until now he'd completely dismissed such thoughts. Now that there was a voice before him, saying and enforcing those thoughts it was hard to ignore.

"So what do I do?" Sora finally managed to say after recomposing himself.

"Man I can't do all the work for you Sora." Roxas responded with a smile. "Just be a little more straightforward. Show her that you're interested. But I need to be going for now Sora. I'll catch you later. Just remember I'm up there too." Roxas added pointing to Sora's forehead.

"Roxas wait! There's still more I have to ask!" Sora yelled, grabbing at Roxas despite knowing these efforts were fruitless. Sora's hands passed through nothing as the last traces of the ghostly image of Roxas faded from Sora's vision. Sora remained standing in silence for several moments, contemplating what had just happened. Roxas was still here. What power did he still wield? He could still see and form an opinion on things, and he seemed to be able to read Sora thoughts. But Sora could not do the same. In fact Sora had no idea of Roxas' continued existence until tonight. He didn't dwell on this long though, as the reinforcement about Kairi from Roxas was far more pressing and interesting.

"Sora?" A voice spoke, shocking Sora out of his thoughts. He immediately moved to engage the voice, summoning forth the Oathkeeper.

"Whoa Sora!" Kairi said raising her hands in front of herself in a defensive position.

"Oh Kairi! It's you." Sora sighed in relief, un-tensing himself and dismissing the Oathkeeper with a flick of his wrist.

Kairi dropped her hands from in front of her. There was a faint smile on her face, but it was predominantly filled with concern. "Are you okay Sora? I thought I heard you talking to someone"

"Yeah..." Sora replied, his hand instinctively moving to scratch his head. "I'm okay. Just a little anxious I guess."

Kairi took a few steps toward Sora, so the two were only standing a few feet apart. "You always did excited about leaving here, even when we were kids." The two smiled at each other. Sora felt the familiar hotness in his face.

"Well not without you. I never wanted to leave without you Kairi."

The smile on her face grew even larger and more distinct as she took another step forward. She reached out with her left hand grabbed ahold of Sora's right hand. "I know Sora. When I thought you were going to be leaving again, I got really upset. It really made me think. About how much I hated not being able to see or talk to you. About how happy I am when you're around." Her eyes were locked on his. "You know... I never really did thank you properly. For everything you've done for me; for everyone. You came for me when no one else could.."

"Of course I did. How could I do anything else? I swore I'd come back to you didn't I?"

Another step forward. Their faces were mere inches apart now; so close Sora could feel the warmth of her breath on his face. He could smell her distinctive fragrance. Sora felt his heart beat with an intensity like never before, it was so fast and loud he felt for sure Kairi could hear it too. Her right hand moved from her side and between them before gently grazing Sora's face. The touch of her skin on Sora's face was exquisite, like the feeling of fine silk, a prelude to the fulfillment of his seemingly lifelong desire.

"Kairi, I -" Sora attempted to say but was stopped when she moved her hand from the side of his face to his lips, the gesture indicating that the two no longer had a need for words. She leaned in, the distance between them closing agonizingly slowly for Sora. Almost there...

"Sora! Kairi!" An unfortunately timed voice rang out, cutting through and obliterating the moment Kairi and Sora had a moment previously, been having together. The two instinctively broke apart not wishing to be seen in so delicate a position. Both their faces became flush as they looked towards the voice. Given the darkness it was hard to tell exactly where the speaker was located.

"Damnit Riku..." Sora thought as he continued looking for his friend through the darkness that now layed heavy on the Island. "Did he see us?" was Sora's next thought, causing him further exasperation.

"Riku! We're over here!" came Kairi's response, having regained her composure. There was a soft swishing sound as Riku made his way quickly across the sand. This made it easier for Sora to locate his friend