The fire crackled loudly. It tried to stay lit but it just wasn't strong. Not enough for its company, three people, Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
"We need more wood." Donald said.
Sora nodded his head.
"Yeah I know. I'll get some." He sighed.
He stood up and started to walk off the road into the forest. He heard Donald say something about heartless attacking him so he turned back and pointed a finger in the ducks face and grinned.
"You had best watch yourself Mister. Or you'll be the one doing the dirty work." He threatened playfully.
He turned and went into the woods. It got darker and quieter as he moved on. He felt something moved behind him. So he spun around and blinked. Nothing. He turned back and walked on some more. And again he got the same feeling. This time he was a little annoyed. He pulled out his keyblade and walked on again. The strange feeling didn't happen again but he started to hear voices. He couldn't tell if they were in his head or nearby. He couldn't make out the words, but he could tell they were English.
"Hello?" Sora said.
He looked all around him, nothing but trees and darkness.
"Donald? Goofy? If this is some sort of trick you had better stop." He said.
No answer. So he walked on looking for firewood. With every step he took he could hear the voices clearer than before. Then all of a sudden he saw light. Someone else was here in the forest. And the light was moving towards him. Sora stood there waiting to see who or what it was. Finally the light came so close that Sora could make out a silhouette of a person running towards them when all of sudden they collided with Sora, plunging with him to the ground.
"OW!" He yelled
"Hey!" the person screamed.
He pulled himself up, stood up quickly and managed to pull out his keyblade into battle position before the other person even got their balance. He was able to get a good look at the person in front of him. It was girl, no older than he. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes like his. She was a little shorter but what she lacked in height, she gained in beauty, Sora couldn't think of anyone prettier than her but Kairi. But you wouldn't give a second chance because of what she was wearing. Her skirt was singed and torn, her white blouse was all muddy and her face was severely bloody. She stood up quickly picked up her lantern and started to run again. Before Sora realized what he was doing, he was following her.
"Good you're heading straight for them!" He thought.
"Hey come back!" He called out to her.
The girl looked back and said quickly that she didn't have time to waste. And she kept running straight towards Goofy and Donald.
Meanwhile Goofy and Donald were waiting for Sora to come back when they heard "Hey Come back!" from inside the forest.
"That's Sora's voice!" Goofy said.
Donald and Goofy watched as they saw light coming towards them from the forest. They saw the girl running towards them and Donald was they first to think, he pulled out his staff and yelled out,
"STOP!"
The girl froze right there. Sora caught up and saw the girl frozen in mid- stride. He grabbed her hand and waited for the short spell to wear off; when it did the girl fell to the ground again.
"Huh? What the hell? Hey you let me go!" She yelled.
"No, not until you tell us why you're running!" Sora said.
The girl stop struggling for a moment to think.
"Do you promise to let me go?" She said slowly.
"Yeah, I just want to know, we don't mean any harm." Sora said.
He let go and the girl rubbed her wrist.
She stood up and looked Sora in the eye.
"The reason I was running is because they want this." She said.
She pulled out a long keyblade, like Sora's. It was long, and metallic red. And dripping with a black liquid.
"So, I'm not the only one, I mean there are others besides me." He said.
She looked at his expression and wondered.
"You mean, you thought you were alone?" She asked.
Sora looked back up at her and shook his head.
"I mean besides me and this friend of mine, I thought there was no one else who had a keyblade." He stated.
"Well maybe you should be running away with me." The girl said.
Sora shook his head.
"What? I'm sorry, what did you say?" He asked.
She frowned and sat down. She put her keyblade beside her and pulled out her canteen. She looked up at Sora and said,
"I said that maybe you should be running away with me, you do have a keyblade too right? Well that's what you said. Anyways I said that because then you can hide from them." She said.
Donald wanted to get some attention so he said,
"Who's they?"
She looked over at the Duck and answered to him,
"The Endless."
"The Endless?" the others said in unison.
"Yes, the Endless. They are quiet similar to those they call heartless. They are simply, endless. If that makes any sense." She said.
She smiled and continued
"Anyways, I fought against a really tough Endless named Uso, which translates to Lie. Oddly enough he knocked me out. I was alone, so I had no allies to back me up. When I came too I was in a dungeon cell. I used my keyblade to break out. Let's just say I didn't exactly tiptoe out of there either. I'm pretty sure they heard my escape and realized I'm gone by now. So they're out here to look for me and my keyblade."
She said it as if it were biggest deal in the whole world. Sora sat there and watched her take a break from her story. She gulped her canteen till it was empty. And the suddenly she broke out again.
"Of course they aren't exactly the smartest things every known and I ran here so it would take a while for them to follow me, stupid things. And that's why I said you should run with me too, if they knew who you are, then well that's one more target for them to track down." She finished.
Donald just sat there watching her talk to Sora. Goofy was listening while making stew, and Sora just sat there stunned, he was still letting the fact that there was another keyblade wielder out there sink in. Sora shook his head.
"Sorry, but I don't think I've even told you who I am." He said quietly.
The girl was combing her hair now; since it was all natty she decided to groom herself.
"Oh no, I'm sorry, well who are you?" she asked.
He grinned and said.
"I'm Sora. This is Donald Duck and Goofy, servants of King Mickey."
She sat there stunned.
"K-k-k-king Mickey?!" She said quickly.
"Yeah." Donald said offensively, "Why is that a problem?"
The girl quickly stalked to talk.
"Ohmygosh no! You see I was sent by his wife, Queen Minnie to look for as many keyblade wielders as possible. She said that it was a message from Pluto the dog who was given the message by Mickey himself. The message said that if I found you three that I was supposed to take you to a certain place. I was supposed to arrange for a meeting between all keybladers. And they were all supposed to go to Kingdom Hearts and release King Mickey, but he said that if I find you three to send you to another location. He said that you would be familiar with a place by the name of Hallow Bastion and that I was to go with you. He said to go there by this mirror that Queen Minnie gave me. Once we get there we are supposed to find a man by the name of Auron and we would learn of more information there. You got all that?" she finished.
"I think you broke my head!" Sora said as he sat down.
"Well what are waiting for?" Donald said.
Sora looked over at the girl.
"Look I believe you and all, but just one thing." He said.
"Yeah, what's that?" the girl asked.
Sora kinda chuckled at himself and then looked at the girl,
"Do you even have a name?" he asked exasperatedly.
The girl cocked her head and then frowned.
"I do, but the thing is, I don't remember it. Everyone just calls me Hoshi, because of my keyblade see. It has stars all over it. When I was transported from my home, I forgot everything, whom my friends were, the names of my parents, even the name of the boy I liked. I lost everything. Well enough about that. How about we leave tomorrow morning, I have a feeling we'll need our rest." She said
Donald looked at Sora, who looked at Goofy then Donald and then turned to Hoshi,
"Sure, I mean you're welcome to join us, I guess we're all in this together right?" he asked.
"You got that right. I guess now I have do whatever I can to protect you guys. You're more valuable than you think." She said.
Goofy pulled out an extra bowl and poured stew for everyone. After they ate, they all went to sleep. Once Goofy and Donald dozed off, Sora asked Hoshi about herself.
"I told you, I couldn't remember much. All I do know is that a boy named Riku showed up there the same day I was sent to Traverse Town. He came around mumbling about some girl named Kairi. Heartless this, and Endless that, it was somewhat sad, and me and the other people confronted him he'd get violent. The village elder just told us to give him his space and said that once he found or didn't find what it was that he was looking for he'd leave, and that's what happened. Then after he left a giant Heartless named Darkside attacked our home sending me to Traverse Town. And from there on I made my way around to meeting King Mickey. After that he sent me to Disney Castle to be safe, from there I went wondering into an Endless factory where they locked me in the dungeon cell that I just escaped from. Then I met you."
Sora stared at her.
"You met Riku?" he asked.
She looked at him funny.
"Yeah, you know him?" she said.
"Well I lived on Destiny Islands. With Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Riku and Kairi. One day Darkside attacked our home. Sending me to traverse Town where I met Donald and Goofy. They said that King Mickey told them to look for me. From there I went looking for Riku and Kairi. But I only met Riku along the way in T-Town. He ran off before I could really do anything. So we went on and ended up defeating Ansem who took Kairi to release the heartless all over the place along with six of princesses. He tricked Riku into falling into the darkness too. But in the end I killed Ansem and that meant trapping the real Riku and King Mickey inside Kingdom Hearts. I sent Kairi back home and since then us three have been looking for anything to help us find them. I think you're the 'anything' we've been looking for." He explained.
Hoshi sighed.
"For your sake I hope your right."
Sora turned over and said that they should get their sleep. He quickly drifted off into sleep leaving Hoshi all by herself. She looked up at the stars. She thought about all of the other keyblade wielders she had sent to Kingdom Hearts. Wondering if they were okay, she too started to drift off to sleep. But then something came up and grabbed her. Whatever it was there were more than one. It was hard to tell what they were because it was pretty dark out. But when the girl was being dragged away she managed to pull herself out of the gag around her mouth.
"Sora! Help!" she screamed.
The things that had been carrying her stopped. Sora got up and quickly realized something was wrong. Goofy and Donald got up too; they started running towards the kidnappers. Sora looked around and saw Hoshi's keyblade, he picked it up and pulled out his own, he was going to use them both, and something he had never done before.
"Let her go!" He yelled as he charged.
Suddenly all of the fighting began and light was being ignited each time one of the kidnappers was stroked. It turns out that they were black- cloaked figures. They're eight of them. One by one the trio killed the figures until there was only one left. It was the one holding Hoshi. She was kicking and screaming profusely but it wasn't working.
"Sora! If you need to hurt me, don't worry I'll be okay!" She yelled.
Sora hesitated. He didn't want to hurt her, but the fact that she said she'd be fine seemed to lift his spirits. So he lunged forward and used strike raid. The two keyblades went flying and Hoshi managed to grab hers. She swung her key through the guy and defeated him in one blow. Sora's keyblade flew back to him and he caught in mid air. He ran towards Hoshi and so did Donald and Goofy. She fell to the ground panting.
"What was that?" Sora asked.
Hoshi looked at Sora his fear in her eyes.
"The Endless, they found us, and know they know who you are!" She cried
She started to cry. Tears soaking her already ruined clothes. Sora knelt down beside her and put an arm around her.
"Hey, don't worry. I've been in worse problems. I mean look who you got here with you. We're not useless. It'll be fine. I promise." He consulted.
Hoshi looked up at him. She wiped away the tears and a small smile appeared on her face.
"You mean it?" She asked.
Sora nodded his head.
"Promise. And you know what else?" he said.
"What?" she asked.
"As long as I'm here those cloaked figures won't even dare lay a finger on you, because if they do,"
Sora said then punched the air with his free hand.
"-They will pay." He finished
Hoshi smiled wider now. And then she suddenly engulfed Sora in a hug.
"You're the first actually friends I've made since I came here And you know what else?" She said.
"What's that? Sora asked.
"I remember my name, as I was being held by the figure I remembered. I'm Likah Kinaseasas."
"Well Likah Kinaseasas it's been my pleasure." He said jokingly.
Sora pulled her up with him. He saw Goofy and Donald packing up.
"Well, since they know we're here we can't wait any more, we have to go know." Sora said quickly.
Likah stood up and nodded. She took off her backpack and pulled out a small silver hand mirror.
"This is the mirror that Queen Minnie gave me. Since the world's connections have been broken, this mirror has become the new mode of transportation for me. It used to be gummi ships but that's old news." She explained.
She handed the mirror top Sora so he could get a look at it. He examined it and gave it back to her.
"How do we use it?" Sora asked.
"Well, we have to all be connected, so that means we all have to hold hands with one other. So Sora you can take my left, Goofy take his, and Donald, take Goofy's." She instructed.
They all did as she asked. And Likah put on her backpack.
"Ready?" She asked.
"Ready." They all responded.
"Hallow Bastion." Likah said calmly.
Suddenly there was a flash of light. And then the four fighters were no longer in Disney land. They back at Hallow Bastion. They were at the front of the Entrance Hall doors.
"So this is it?" Likah Asked.
"Yeah. This is Hallow Bastion." Sora said.
Sora walked up to the doors. And tried to push them open.
"They're locked again!" Sora grunted.
Likah and the others decided to help Sora push the door open.
"It won't budge!" Donald said.
They all gave up and looked around for ideas.
"Hey you know what we have to do?" Goofy asked.
"What?" Donald said.
"We have to unlock them down in the dungeon. Remember? Just like last time." He said.
"Oh yeah!" Sora said.
"Okay we'll go down there and you two can stay guard up here if someone happens to walk by. Let them know whose here, okay?" Sora commanded to Goofy and Donald. "Likah and I will go turn off the lock."
Donald and Goofy nodded their heads.
"Okay lets go." Sora said to Likah.
"Right!" Likah responded.
The two walked around the corner and down the small flight of steps. It was quiet between them. Until Sora activated the crystalline. The were transported onto the elevator and started moving down.
"You know what?" Sora asked.
"Whats that?" Likah said.
"You remind me of somebody." He said.
Likah looked over excitedly,
"Who?" She asked.
Sora looked away, turning red.
"Kairi, the girl that Riku and I went looking for." He said.
Likah turned away in disappointment.
"Is she your girlfriend or something?" She asked.
"Well I can't really say. We're connected through our hearts so it's a bit more than a girlfriend and boyfriend thing." He explained.
Likah turned back and saw disappointment on his face too.
"Oh," She said "That's, weird."
"Yeah." Sora said, brushing off the awkward moment. : What about you? Any love interests of your own?"
Likah sighed.
"I told you before, I don't remember. But it would be nice to have somebody to protect." She said.
The elevator came to a halt. And they got off. They walked over to the bubble that took them into the dungeon. When they got there Likah continued on.
"Somebody to help, if they were in trouble or pain. Somebody to rely on if you were in trouble. I don't think I ever had anything like that." She sighed.
In the back of Sora's head, what Likah had just said had triggered a thought into his head,
"Maybe since you're lonely, you and Riku would make a good match."
They walked through the maze in silence. Then they found the switch. Sora hit it with his keyblade and it unlocked the doors. They started to walk back when a voice behind them spoke,
"You shouldn't be here. You are not allowed." It was a female voice.
Sora pulled out his keyblade, and Likah pulled out hers. They went into battle position. The woman stepped out of the shadows. She was wearing a black and red dress. She had long brown curly hair and red eyes, and when she spoke she had a hint of grim in her tone.
"Who are you?" Sora demanded.
The woman smiled.
"I am what I am, my name is Gigi. And you are not allowed here keybalde masters. So be gone!" she spoke.
And with her words she waved her hands and the two keyblades disappeared into thin air and suddenly the ground beneath them started to shake. Sora grabbed Likah's hand and started to run away but then Gigi casted them into the Dark Abyss. They started to fall. They kept falling and falling.
"Sora! Don't let go!" Likah cried.
"I won't if you won't!" He cried back.
They were slowly being pulled apart but they hung tight. Suddenly they hit a solid ground with a loud thud. They were unconscious for a few hours. When Sora came too he looked over and saw Likah still asleep. He crawled over to her and lifted her head and rested it on his lap.
"C'mon, wake up!" he yelled.
He started to panic, if he wasn't alone he would've been okay fighting off creatures but right now it was just him and a knocked out girl. Whom both they were being hunted for.
"Likah!" he cried into her face.
He didn't know what to do. He felt somewhat responsible for her. Just then, he remembered what Likah said about her trying to protect him no matter what when they first met. He felt a jab of pain in his heart. This girl was willing to do anything to keep him safe. And yet he wanted to do the same, but then he'd feel like he as betraying Kairi, then he made up his mind.
"I deal with Kairi later." He said to himself. "Right now you need me." He said to Likah, as though she were awake and listening.
But she didn't move.
"You want someone to protect you? Someone to help ease your pain? Somebody to protect when you can? Well I'll be that someone, Likah. I promise I'll be that someone till the day I die." He vowed.
Suddenly his and Likah's keyblades appeared in front of them. They started to glow. They transformed into indentical keyblades only one was blue and one was pink. A voice illuminated around them.
"Lisesaver..."
"Sora?" a voice said.
It was Likah, she was waking up.
"Thank God, you're okay? I thought you were gone." Sora said.
Likah sat up and smiled.
"No, it'll take more than a deranged woman to get rid of me." She said.
They grabbed their keyblades. And looked around them.
They were in what looked like a sanctuary. There was nothing in the room. Just walls, filled with rainbow stained glass windows.
"Now how do we get out of here?" Likah asked.
"Well we can't come they way we came." Sora said.
"I think we're trapped. But where?" Likah said.
Sora grabbed her hand because at that instant laughter, cruel and loud laughter filled the room echoing in their ears.
"Things just keep getting worse." Sora said.
Likah just closed her eyes and hid into Sora's chest.
"A lot worse." Sora continued.
Again they felt themselves being pulled into darkness, but this time the started to float upwards and not falling down. It felt very calm. The evil laughing had died out, because now a new sound had drowned it. It was the voice of a woman. Not an evil voice, it felt calming. She was signing. A song that suddenly opened up memories in Likah's head.
"What a nice voice. "Sora said.
"Mai!" Likah shouted.
The woman started to dance around the two. She kept signing and they kept moving up faster and faster. The darkness around them soon vanished and was replaced with light.
The woman stopped signing. She smiled and cocked her head to one side. She giggled.
"Silly girl. It took you long enough to remember. What took you?" Mai asked.
Likah stared in disbelief.
"I dunno. I just, I dunno." She said.
Mai floated over to Sora and lifted his chin with her hand.
"Yeah you're Sora alright. You have the eyes." She said.
"What are you talking about?" Sora asked. "How do you know me?"
Mai floated away.
"Touchy today aren't we? Listen kiddies, why don't we go someplace more comfortable?" She said.
Then she waved her hand and the next thing they knew Mai was standing on the floor of a study room. Filled with cozy armchairs, bookshelves, and multiple fireplaces. Sora and Liakh fell to the ground.
Mai picked a reed leather chair and sat down.
"Please take a seat I need to talk to you." She asked.
Likah and Sora picked a cushy couch and sat next to each other, they both uncomfortable in her presence.
"Time is crepping behind me. And I have no idea how much longer I'll have." She staed
"What are you talking about?" Likah asked.
"Don't you understand?" Mai said "The endless have gone all over the entire galaxy, running lives. After you left. We were defenseless, with your heart I mean the endless knew we were vulnerable." She explained.
"So why didn't anyone go after Likah?" Sora asked "And you still haven't told me how you know me?"
Mai frowned and grabbed for a cup of tea next to her on an end-table.
"Okay, I met with Riku and King Mickey. I've been inside Kingdom Hearts with them for about two months. With our power we had enough strength to release one of us back into the real world. We decided that I was our best bet because it would give us time to devise an army. Mickey said you would have sent all the other keybladers to Kingdom hearts by now. And he said to go to Hallow Bastion and wait for you two." She said.
Sora and Likah exchanged confused looks.
"So, King Mickey and Riku told you about Sora then right?" Likah asked.
Mai nodded her head.
"Preciesely." She said.
"But what about Goofy and Donald?" Sora asked.
"King Mickey told me to only take you two, and I didn't see them anywhere, they should have found Sir Auron and Lady Rikku by now." She said.
"Lady Rikku? That's no one in relation to my friend Riku, are they?" Sora asked even more confused.
Mai shook her head.
"No, Sir Auron and Lady Rikku are two friends from another world of King Mickey's. they were told by King Mickey to give his followers new orders. Don't worry you'll see them again. I'm sure of it." She said confidently.
"What the hell is going on here?" Sora asked himself.
"What the hell is going here?" Likah asked herself.
Liakh stood up knocking over the coffee table.
"You're not Mai Ahara! You are an imposter!" Liakh shouted.
Sora stood up too.
"How do you know?" He asked her.
"Because," Likah said "You ever just get those gut feelings that something isn't right?"
"Yeah." Sora
"Well, That's all I can feel right now." Likah said.
Mai sat quietly in the chair smiling at them.
"Yes, that's right, forget your past Likah. I'm not the real Mai. Am I?" she said.
"Who are you!" Likah screamed. "I demand you tell us right now!"
Sora shook with a little fear. He didn't realize that Likah could be so overwhelming. Likah ran over and tackled Mai to the ground.
"What have you done with Mai?" She asked.
Mai just smile don the floor.
"It's not what I did, it's what you did." Mai said.
Likah let go of Mai and stood up shaking.
"Oh shit." She said.
She held her head and kept shaking her head.
"No, no, no, there isn't any way, it's impossible. I couldn't have done it!" Likah shouted.
Mai stood up and smiled.
"Yes, use that denial Miss Kinaseasas. And drive it into your own power. Like I did when I took Yuki's life too." Mai said.
Liakh backed up and tripped over the couch. She lifted her finger at the imposter Mai.
"You did it. You killed Yuki Sanwanbe!" She shouted.
Mai nodded her head.
"Yes it was me and what are you gonna do about it?" she asked
Likah stood up and pulled out her keyblade.
"It's all coming back to me now, I saw over Yuki's body for a moment before the others came. And Mai... Mai was gone too I thought you were gone, but you killed her too didn't you?" She asked "Who are you?"
The woman nodded her head.
"You are correct in all aspects. Now tell me, why would I kill them?" She asked.
Likah shook her head.
"No, I asked you first who are you?" She asked.
Sora walked up beside Likah, just incase...
"I am Aura. The Queen of Azure Hell." She said.
"Azure Hell? Whats that?" Sora asked.
"It is simply, Hell." She said. "Now it is your turn to tell me, why do you think I killed Yuki Sanwanbe and why am I about to kill you?"
At that instant Likah fell to the ground.
"Likah!" Sora yelled.
He knelt down to study L:ikah.
Was she breathing????
Stay tuned for chapter tew! Oh yeah and please Rand Review. Right now I am currently in search of names for characters so if have an idea or want to see your name in the story let me knwo kay??