Becoming the Nightmare
Chapter 1
"Endings are only beginnings"
The horror that was the Nobodies was finally over. So was the seemingly never-ending threat of the Heartless. All was well with Kingdom Hearts yet our hero still felt that something was amiss. For just over two years Sora had fought valiantly to bring about such an end but now that it was here, the reality of no longer being the Keyblade wielder began to sink in. What had also began to sink in was the harsh unavoidable fact, now that the quest was over Donald and Goofy would be returning to their posts in Disney Castle and even worse still the connection between the worlds that the Heartless had made in their attempt to acquire Kingdom Hearts was slowly but surely being disconnected. All in all Sora felt that peace had indeed a higher price than he had expected.
"So how much time do you think we have left before it's all over?" Sora inquired as his eyes raked the horizon line.
"Don't know, perhaps a month or two, maybe less but however long we have we should make the best of it... I bet there aren't many people who can say they faced down the forces of Darkness and won." Riku replied from his perch on a fallen palm tree. Folding his arms behind his head he continued. "We should do something."
At this Sora straightened on his own perch.
"Like what?"
Before Riku could answer however there came a familiar sigh from about water level. Looking down they saw their childhood friend Kairi emerge from the sea.
"Hey what's wrong Kairi?" Sora leapt down to offer her a hand up.
"Its just…once the connection goes down we may never see them again. Donald, Goofy, all the gang in Radiant Garden…" Shaking her long red hair over her shoulder she leaned against the fallen palm. "I mean part of me is glad it's over but…"
"Yeah I know how you feel."
Both teens just stared out to sea unable to say anything more.
"It is true what they say after all."
Sora turned.
"Hmmm what's true?"
Kairi turned.
"Yeah Riku stop being so mysterious."
"History repeats itself, that's all…, Remember that night two years ago…"
"Remember! How am I likely ever to forget! Being chased by shadows up and down the beach wasn't fun."
It felt for all present as if an enormous shadow had momentarily sheathed the sun. As quickly as the feeling came it had passed but the memory of that terrible night two years ago still clung to the air.
"Before the Heartless came, we were sitting here trying to figure out how to travel to other worlds and here we are exactly as we were trying to figure out how without the connection we can travel to other worlds…There's almost poetry in it."
A broad grin broke on Sora's face.
"You! A poet! Well come on then recite something for us."
Riku sat up. Wiping his silver hair from his face he coolly stared down at the two.
"Hey it's just; maybe now that I'm back, I seem to be taking more notice of things I didn't fully appreciate before."
Even though his friend's tones were neutral Sora couldn't help noticing the slight redness that rose on his neck and ears. Something deep inside told him he would be better off not pursuing the subject but unfortunately Kairi had other ideas.
"So what are the things you appreciate now? I hope as a friend I'm one of them."
"Of course… You mean a lot to me Kairi."
Heat was rising fast up the back of his neck but Sora hadn't a clue how to get out of the situation. Luckily escape came in the form of their parents calling them to dinner. Slowly they gathered up their things and in silence walked over the bridge to the beach.
Suddenly Riku stopped.
"Hey lets meet up later back here. We can discuss what we're going to do."
"Perfect. It'll just be like old times." Kairi then turned to Sora. "Don't you think so Sora?"
Sora hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation so Kairi's question took him by surprise.
"Uh…Yeah…like old times."
A smile lit up her features at his answer. Riku also smiled but Sora found rising a smile a bit difficult. He managed something more like a grimace than a smile then the two turned and his face fell again.
All of a sudden Sora wanted to be on his own.
"Hey I'll catch you guys up."
They looked around once before setting off up the beach.
As Sora looked out to sea again strange yet disturbing thoughts, that had been plaguing him since his return, sprang uncomfortably to the forefront of his mind, now left vacant since the withdrawal of his friends. In all his time away he had never thought of anything else but being with his friends on the Destiny Isles. Yet things had changed. His friends had changed. He had changed. But he was still glad to be back. Wasn't he?
Unbeknownst to Sora the wheels of Destiny were again turning, only this time for a more sinister purpose.