"Hearts are made of Light and Darkness… But even the brightest Light can fade. And sooner or later, all hearts must fall back to Darkness."
It was like the calm before the storm. Sora sat on the front steps of the Mysterious Tower, Donald and Goofy on the step above him as he looked out into the seemingly infinite nothingness around the small piece of land. Riku was up speaking with Yen Sid and Mickey about things only a Keyblade Master could know, so he'd been shooed out for the time being until he was summoned again to discuss finding the others that would make up the Seven Lights to counteract Xehanort's Thirteen Darknesses.
The three Good Fairies were continuing their work in aiding Lea in his training now that he actually had managed to summon his Keyblade, and Sora had offered to spar with him. But they had refused, telling him that he needed to rest and recover after his ordeal with the Nightmares and didn't want anyone swinging a Keyblade in his direction. He sighed as he pondered it.
"Something wrong, Sora?" Goofy wondered, and Sora leaned his head back to look at the knight captain.
"Nah, not really," he replied. "I'm just kind of bored. I mean... Just because I didn't pass doesn't mean I'm useless... does it?"
"Of course not," Donald insisted. "You just need more practice fighting the Darkness."
"Right..." he mumbled. "Riku's gotten really good at it... He doesn't have any problem controlling it anymore." He leaned his head back further and sighed again. "I guess I've fought it for so long that I didn't know how to defend myself if it managed to get to me. He's kind of the oher way around." He smiled a little. "But I guess that's why we're a team."
"Yeah!" Goofy agreed. "You've always got Riku's back, just like he has yours. And so do we!" Donald nodded in agreement, and both threw their arms around Sora's shoulders. He grinned and laughed as he tried to shove them off.
"Yeah, yeah," he said. "I'd be nothing without you guys. Thanks."
"Give yourself some credit," a new voice advised, and Sora turned his head to find Riku walking down the steps before sitting down next to him. "You're kind of the glue that holds us all together." He smiled and punched Sora's shoulder lightly.
"You done talking with Master Yen Sid?" the brown-haired boy asked, and Riku nodded.
"For now, anyway. I never realized just how much there is to being a Keyblade Master. They said I should take a break so I can process everything and they don't overwhelm me."
"Well, as long as you still know how to have fun," Sora teased, and Riku grinned at him.
"Yeah, you never did tell me why you were having a tea party," he recalled. "And where did you even get those glasses?"
"Well, I-" He fell silent and his grin faded to be replaced with a rather serious look on his face.
"Sora?" Riku beckoned, resting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "What is it?" But Sora didn't reply, and he seemed lost in thought. "Sora? Sora!" Donald and Goofy scrambled forward to observe the Kingdom Key's wielder, but he again didn't reply. "Sora! Answer me!" Riku demanded as he shook him gently.
Out of nowhere, Sora suddenly screamed in pain, making his companions jump, as he gripped and clawed at his shirt and jacket over his chest, his eyes wide and blank as he bowed forward. He fell to his knees on the grass in front of the Mysterious Tower and clenched his teeth as he groaned and whimpered. Riku jumped to his feet and crouched down in front of him, his hands on Sora's shoulders as he looked into his eyes.
"Sora! What's wrong?! You gotta tell me what the problem is if I'm gonna help!" Sora's gaze, for the most part, focused in on him for a moment before he cried out again, clawing at his chest once more.
"M-My heart...!" he gasped. "H-Hurts... P-pain!" he collapsed to the ground and curled up on his side, trembling, and Riku's mind raced to think of something he could do. "Riku, it hurts!" he nearly yelled, his eyes watering. "G-Get rid of it!"
"Sora, I can't," Riku replied. "I'm not gonna spend another year tracking down your Heartless and Nobody. We don't have time for that." He meant it as a joke, but he bit his lip as he realized that actually was what Sora was asking of him.
"J-Just do something!" he begged as his tears spilled from his eyes, and Riku felt panic crash over him like a wave. He looked up to Donald and Goofy, both obviously worried for their friend.
"Go get Master Yen Sid!" he practically barked, and they looked up at him before they both scrambled up and raced inside. Once they had gone, he returned his attention to his friend and rested his hand on Sora's shoulder. "Stay with me, Sora. We'll figure this out. You'll be okay."
"I-It hurts..." Sora whimpered again, his voice alarmingly weak. Riku chewed his lip, willing Donald and Goofy to hurry and hoping that Yen Sid would know what to do to help.
"You'll be okay," he repeated. "We'll get this straightened out. We'll stop the pain." Sora didn't say anything else, but only trembled as he remained curled tight on his side. After several moments longer, he again made Riku jump with a sudden outburst.
"K-Keyblade!" he shouted before falling silent, suddenly eerily still.
"Sora?" Riku prodded his shoulder, but he didn't respond. "Sora!" Still nothing. He turned the boy onto his back and found he had fallen unconscious. Again, Riku shook him gently. "Oh, come on, Sora! Wake up!" Still, he did nothing. "Errgh... What's wrong with you?!" But he received no reply, and he sat in silence until Yen Sid and Mickey came out with Donald and Goofy panting behind them. He quickly explained what little he knew about what had happened to the old sorcerer, who listened intently and appeared genuinely concerned.
"Keyblade?" he repeated once Riku had told him the last thing Sora had said. "Hrm... Riku, bring him up to my chamber. I will observe him there." Riku nodded and carefully hoisted Sora up on his back, locking his arms under him with the brown-haired boy's head on his friend's shoulder. Even then, he didn't stir. "Keyblade..." Yen Sid repeated again. "What did he mean by that? What was he trying to say?"
"I think he wanted me to take his heart," Riku replied. "I told him I wouldn't. But it must have really been hurting him if he was asking for it."
"Gosh... I hope he's okay," Mickey said from behind them. "Oh!" He hurried forward to Yen Sid's side. "Master Yen Sid... You don't think Sora meant the χ-Blade, do you?" Yen Sid stopped suddenly, and Riku nearly ran into him.
"What do you mean 'the Keyblade?'" he asked of the king, and Mickey turned to him.
"Not that kind of Key," he explained. "It can be pronounced 'kye' too. It kind of looks like a funny-shaped 'X.'"
"Oh, that χ-Blade," the new master muttered as he adjusted Sora's weight on his back.
"The χ-Blade," Yen Sid mused. "Why would he speak of it now?"
"Something's happening in his heart," Mickey said. "And from the sound of things, it isn't anything good."
"I will need to observe him," Yen Sid reiterated. "Whatever this is, we will have to hope and pray that it passes without harming him or anyone else." Riku swallowed and picked up his pace, indeed hoping that Sora would come out of this unscathed.