xxxAuthor's note: Well, here we go! Finally, my project is going underway! This story is set only a bit after the second Kingdom Hearts, and the events are straight after Organization XIII. Sora and Riku still have their Keyblades, but Kairi doesn't until further notice. All characters (except for the Kingdom Hearts originals) are my property so if anyone uses them without my permission I will bite their heads off. I worked for a very long time to develop the plotline so if anyone takes it, I will be very very upset and incredibly pissed off. So please don't do either of those.
If people take interest in this story, I ask for them not to badger me to update because, hell, I started this idea in August and put it off because I had too much schoolwork and was trying to update the other stories (which, I might add, I also failed to do.). I will update this story and the others as soon as I can, and try to make the chapters as lengthy and as entertaining as I can.
There is no character bashing in this story and it has a basic Disney style story. So no homosexuality, nothing over PG-13 rating and all romances (if there are any) will be fickle and under-rated. There are no particular pairings. None based on the game, and no own character with original Kingdom Hearts pairings. (Those really piss me off. Honestly, why would anyone pair Sora or Riku up with themselves or some bimbo Marysue? It's never going to happen. Case closed.)
That being said; here's Rozara Mesmorame.
Rozara Mesmorame©™
… a w a k e n i n g …
"Memories… linked together.
Like the links in a chain.
A chain... of memories."
'Sora,' bright blue eyes fluttered slightly in recognition as the teenage brunet turned his head in response to the voice who called him, 'Sora, over here.' An older, silver haired, teenager waved his arm rhythmically, gesturing for the other boy to approach him. The brunet grinned as he ran towards his elder friend who awaited him. 'Look at this,' he stated calmly, letting the brunet glimpse at what the older teenager held in his hands. It was a bottle containing a rolled up piece of parchment which had a strange seal on it, preventing it from being read by unintentional eyes.
'What is it?' Sora questioned, straining his eyes to get a better view of the seal on the parchment, "a letter from the King?' he looked back up at the silver haired boy who answered with a single nod. The silver boy placed the bottle in Sora's hand carefully, the brunet thanking him after doing so. Sora grasped onto the bottle's frame with one hand, and held out his other hand flat. He gently tapped the bottle's opening against his palm and caught the letter as it fell out into his hand. Cautiously, Sora broke the seal with a single finger before unravelling the parchment to read its contents. 'Riku,' he murmured as his eyes scanned through the page, 'Riku, look.'
Riku glanced over Sora's shoulder, reading what the brunet had read just moments ago. "The secret place…" his voice lingered on those three words that caused Sora to breath out a shuddering sigh. It looked like everything wasn't going to be all right again at the islands; the King had discovered the hidden roots of darkness that could lead to the core, and by destroying the core of the darkness, there would be no more Heartless or Nobodies in the world. They would be extinct forevermore.
'Sora, Riku. The Kingdom needs your help once more.
After the Organisation XIII was defeated, and peace was finally restored to the worlds, I found something quite intriguing. It was a strange looking charm emblem that symbolised something even I couldn't recognise. I had looked it up in Ansem's reports and the DTD database, but there was no source of information behind it. I don't know what's going on, but I do know this:
The door has opened once again. You will find it quite easily; it's at the same area that Ansem had connected to the darkness. Find the door, Sora and Riku. Please. We urgently need your help.
King Mickey.'
'I'm guessing our vacation will have to wait, huh?' Sora asked, stretching his arms over his head and flexing one leg over the other in a pre-battle casually-relaxed position, ever being the optimist. Riku gazed at the younger boy, the blank expression in his eyes then brightened into a more playful glint as he had caught onto Sora's unsaid joke. The two exchanged knowing grins before Riku decided to break the silence with an odd, unnecessary statement.
'Yeah, it's a shame about that. And I was so looking forward to seeing your new swimsuit,' he snickered, catching Sora off guard, 'fighting all those Heartless must have burnt off those burgers you've been eating for the majority of your life; and I bet a lot of people would love to see you displaying your body in that position.' He laughed as Sora blinked and jumped slightly, glancing down at his features to double-check that his standing position wasn't giving onlookers the wrong idea. Sora self-consciously brushed imaginary dust off his clothes, almost like him psychologically brushing off the strange physical appeal that someone could find in him.
'Ugh, this is stupid,' Sora announced, folding his arms tightly over his chest in annoyance, 'anyway, body functions aside, how do we know that the door is in the secret place?' he questioned, his eyes now averting up to Riku inside of focusing on the floor like they were moments before. "I mean, there are plenty of places on the island for darkness to thrive. What's so special about the secret place that it has to be there?' Riku stared at the brunet as though he saw his best friend in a new light, but it wasn't a light which he particularly liked.
'Why wouldn't it thrive there? After all, darkness inhabits the sections that represent something dear to those populating that certain world,' Sora looked at him blankly, and Riku sighed, 'do you remember back at Atlantica? The door was that triton symbol in Ariel's grotto because the darkness fed on her desire to venture to other worlds.' Sora's eyes widened and he made a gesture of protest, by opening his mouth without sound passing his lips, but he was interrupted by Riku's intense stare on it. Sora instinctively closed his mouth, knowing that he said something, or said nothing, that had caused Riku to be particularly annoyed at him.
'Don't you remember, Sora? The secret place was our spot; where we used to scribble on the walls and you thought there was a monster living there.' ('Well, it certainly sounded like a monster.' Sora grumbled to himself, his arms still folded over his chest.) 'That place, our secret place, holds all our memories of our childhood. From the horribly drawn scribbles on the walls to the events that occurred in that very cave. That, Sora, is why the door would be there of all places: on that day we went there, after you insisted that you heard a monster, I saw a door,' Sora blinked in confusion and interest at the last statement, 'I think that door is our connection to the other words, and the darkness. Ansem connected our world to the darkness through that door.'
Sora mused silently to himself, touching a finger to his forehead, taking it all in. 'So you're saying,' he concluded, awakening from his trance of thought, 'that the darkness festered in the secret place because it contained our memories, our dreams, and our very beings? That's pretty messed up, even for darkness.' He looked to the silver haired boy in question, almost like he was asking the older teenager if he was correct or not. Riku nodded once and wondered when his best friend had become so theoretical in his thoughts. He always knew that Sora was a curious individual who often questioned everything that went on around him; but it never occurred to him that the younger brunet actually thought so much about the little details in life, or even the true meaning of existence. He also considered the possibility that Sora gained such psychological awareness through facing the darkness head-on so many times; or maybe it was just a kick from puberty.
There was an uneasy silence between them; which Sora had broken within seconds with his typical grin. 'Well,' he announced, 'what are we waiting for?' Riku looked to the other boy and at that moment the two shared knowing determined gazes that seemed to symbolise an unsaid oath between them. With a single nod at each other, their gazes broke away and averted towards the cave ahead of them: the secret place. They summoned their Keyblades and prepared for what they would soon have to face. Through that layer of silence; the two knew that venturing to the secret place was just the beginning of a new journey that awaited them.
The cave really hadn't changed. Everything looked the same as it had before the whole catastrophe with Kingdom Hearts and the neighbouring worlds in peril. It's dark, blackening walls were still covered in chalk-sketched drawings; and it was surprising how they managed to stay in such good condition after all those years. There was still a patch of moss that was producing the same mushrooms that Kairi had told Sora to harvest before they all departed to see the new worlds; that was their dream, the one that belonged to all three of them. Sora couldn't help but sigh at that reminder. Their dream came true, but not for the better. They all managed to see new worlds, new horizons, but the price for that was dire. They could have lost it all; they could have lost their lives.
The worst consequences came to them for their sin; their sin to dream and yearn for something that was so out of their reach. Their call was answered by darkness; and through that, they lost everything. They were separated; Sora's life was threatened more times than he could count, Riku had fallen into darkness, and Kairi had even lost her heart. All that just for their curious dreams; he balance was uneven, but the games of the darkness were never fair. However, because they all kept going and never ceased until they reached their goals, they were all reunited once again and life was once more as it used to be. No one besides them remembered what happened during the series of events involving Kingdom Hearts; and it was better off that way. The less they knew, the less they questioned, the less they would wonder, and the less they would pay for it.
A particular drawing had caught Sora's attention; it was the drawing that he and Kairi had started when they were kids, and then later finished when they matured over the years. It was just the two of them, their faces anyway, offering each other the paopu fruit. Sora smiled slightly as he remembered the happier times of their childhood; when everything was simple and all they had to worry about was whether or not they would get a good start in life. That was all before the darkness had developed into their world and devoured it, separating everyone from the people that mattered the most to them. Sora blinked and looked again at that drawing and noticed someone; Riku wasn't in their sketch. Nor was he in any sketch that they had drawn all over the walls. 'The darkness thrived and grew here, in this cave. The cave containing our memories…' he echoed; his voice only slightly audible. His eyes then wandered towards the door that stood only centimetres away from the sketch he was observing. He felt a knot of guilt develop in his stomach.
That was why the darkness had developed; not only did it find solace in the secret place but it also grew within Riku's heart. Riku had been his best friend for as long as he could remember and they were never seen without the other. Then Kairi, the mayor's daughter, had swept up upon their shore and the boys' friendship began to diminish. Sora had spent more time with Kairi since her first day on the islands, she had no friends when she first arrived and was incredibly shy about meeting new people. But the lively brunet managed to open her heart and taught her to trust and make new friends. Since then, Sora and Kairi were always together and Riku was left out in the cold. It was no wonder that Riku had grown to become indifferent to Kairi and eventually hate Sora. Sora had left his best friend out of everything because he was so occupied with Kairi, and he never stopped to think that maybe his actions were hurting the silver haired boy.
He didn't like Kairi. He did like her, that was pretty obvious, but not much more than a brother would care for his sister. Over the years he had to admit that he developed something of a crush on the pure-hearted girl, even more so as she was revealed to be a Princess of Heart, but those feelings started to wear off after they were separated once again and she stayed on the island. Throughout his journey, he knew he did still care a lot about the cheerful redhead as she was soon identified as his light, and there were those moments where he would think about her and his cheeks would have a faint shade of red on them. He often worried about her well being, but he also worried about Riku after they were separated twice. After he awoke from a long nap he didn't remember taking, he was more concerned about finding Riku as he knew that Kairi was safe at the island. That was the same case for Riku when he was so intent on finding Kairi; he often ran into Riku during his journey and didn't think much of him afterwards since he knew his friend was all right. He valued both of them equally and would never pick one over the other.
It was after the whole issue with Kingdom Hearts was over that he actually had doubts about his feelings for Kairi. He started to wonder if his fixation with her could have been a combination of sibling affection and everyone's expectations for the couple. Everyone believed that Sora and Kairi would grow up and be together forever, even Riku believed that despite how reluctant he was to admit it. He also knew that Kairi wasn't as nice as he used to think; when he thought back to before the storm, he remembered how Kairi would often shrug Riku off or change the subject whenever the silver haired boy was mentioned in their conversations. It could have been that she, also, was so occupied with Sora that she forgot all about Riku being their friend, too. Sora cursed to himself mutedly: so it was all his fault that their world ended up being swallowed by the darkness.
He remembered the paopu fruit and how he was introduced to it: Riku had given him one and explained its secret meaning while teasing him, saying that the brunet knew he wanted to share it with his special someone. Sora had thrown it away, though, not really giving the strange fruit any real thought and he knew it was also a known fact that Riku liked to tell tall tales. Selphie had also told him all about the paopu fruit's 'romantic' story while she was in the middle of her own reveries, probably thinking of the person she would want to share one with. 'Their destiny's become intertwined, and they'll remain a part of each other's lives, no matter what.' Well, he knew that he and Riku would always be a part of each other's lives, and because some of his friends would get the wrong idea if he shared the mysterious fruit with another boy, so he reconsidered it while he was wandering through the secret place and then that sketch caught his eye. That's when he decided to draw himself offering the paopu to Kairi; even though he would always be with Riku, there was no telling when Kairi would decide that she wanted to venture on her own. That way, Sora could look back to the sketch on the wall and remember that wherever she was, she would always be in his heart. Then when he looked at it again, he saw Kairi had done the same thing.
He was in the middle of his train of thought when another sketch grabbed his attention. Except it wasn't really a sketch; it was strange, almost indecipherable, writing scribbled on the wall, right next to the door. At that moment he remembered why he was there in the first place: he and Riku were preparing to fight whatever darkness would emerge from the door. 'Riku,' he called out, 'Riku, look at this.' The older boy turned his head, having been looking at the other side of the cave because they previously found out the door was locked. Riku wandered towards the brunet, looking at the younger boy curiously, wondering what he had found. 'Look, that writing. Can you read it?' the older boy squinted his eyes slightly in concentration, repeating the scribbled words on the wall.
'The Sky will be our Key,
The Shore will be our Portal,
And the Rain will divide them.'
Sora blinked in confusion. 'What does it mean?' he asked dubiously. Riku pondered quietly to himself, trying to decipher the strange riddle. He reached out a pale hand and touched the wall's smooth surface, checking if the writing was done in chalk or some other material. At the touch of Riku's hand, the writing on the wall began to glow a hazy colour as the cave started to shake. 'Riku!' Sora exclaimed, gazing up at the ceiling that was starting to fall in on itself. "Riku, what's going on?" the green eyed boy could only stare at the writing as he seemed to be frozen on the spot. Sora let out a cry of panic as he frantically looked for the exit.
The sound of a chiming bell echoed through the walls of the cave; and Sora suddenly became silent. His eyes averted to the door, his gaze glazed over and blank. Slowly, he wandered towards the door, reaching one hand out to touch it. It was when Sora was right in front of the door that Riku snapped out of his trance. 'Sora?' he quivered. 'Sora, what are you--?' the brunet turned around to face him with an eerie dreamy-looking smile that was unlike his own. The brunet's pupils were gone and his irises were empty and reflected nothing but Riku's reflection in them.
'The door has opened, Riku,' Sora sang in a neutral, mocking tone that he never used before. 'We must answer its call… the darkness awaits us.' Riku's eyes widened in shock and terror as Sora's palm touched the door's cool wooden surface. The chiming got louder as Sora's hand made contact with the door, and the frame around it began to glow strangely. 'Open your heart, Riku.' Sora's whisper somehow overlapped the loud chime of bells. 'Open your heart to the darkness.' Sora extended his arm out towards the silver haired boy and held out his hand in a beckoning gesture.
'Sora…' he breathed, his voice choking him. There was a glisten of fear in his eyes that was incredibly uncharacteristic of him. Riku wasn't usually a person who feared darkness, or even people who spoke of darkness as though it were their dear friend. But this person was Sora; his best friend Sora who was currently possessed by some twisted mighty force and murmuring sweet words about the darkness as though it were the love of his life. Sora only smiled cynically at him and closed his eyes in rapture, as though swooning in the moment. It was like a déjà vu of what happened on the night of the storm; when Riku held his hand out for Sora to grasp. A memory snapped back to him: Sora had tried to grab his hand, even if the older boy was going to lead him into the darkness. Sora had risked himself to join Riku because he meant that much to the brunet. Riku wasn't going to let Sora fall into darkness; he wasn't going to let him go alone, anyway. 'Sora!' he yelped, reaching his hand out for Sora's. The darkness was starting to develop around both teenagers; and even though Riku flinched slightly at the feeling, he remembered why he was reaching out for Sora in the first place. Sora was his best friend, and if he was to go through darkness, Riku would go with him.
Outside, it was raining. Kairi was sitting on her bed reading a book when she first started taking notice of the rainstorm on the other side of her window. It was dark now; the sun had set moments before and for some reason, the second the light disappeared into the blue waves, Kairi heard a distinctive sound of bells. She dismissed it though, thinking it was probably the other children playing with bells. But that explanation led her mind to another question: why would children be out after dark anyway, and in this weather? She pondered about it for a brief amount of time before shrugging it off once again. She looked out of the window and smiled slightly; Sora and Riku were out there, at their usual spot, probably sorting out their differences and coming to a friendly conclusion on what they would do about their on-off friendship.
At first the thought of the boy boys being reunited made Kairi shudder, she was aware of what Riku had been doing to Sora during the first issue with Kingdom Hearts; the silver haired boy played with the brunet's head, willing to put his best friend's life on the line along with his sanity. She would have liked nothing more than for Riku to have his just desserts for hurting Sora so much. And yet, she realised that Sora, no matter how much his friends would exploit him, would always come running to their aid; stopping at nothing to save them from their darkness, never thinking that they would willingly risk his life in the process. Through this, Kairi knew that nothing would ever stop Sora and Riku being friends. She was jealous of Riku, she had to admit; at the beginning because of his special bond with Sora and so she tried to separate them to keep the hyperactive brunet to herself. She knew she was being selfish by doing that, but she was only human.
Another bell chime echoed, this one being louder than the first. Kairi blinked and peered out of the darkness to see a strange glowing light, almost like a bolt of lightning. A second later, she felt the floor beneath her rumble and quake slightly which caused her to jolt in retaliation. 'What's going on?' she wondered aloud, her voice sounding like a distressed whimper. She stared out of the window again to see the light had expanded and glowed more brilliantly than it had before. Kairi shaded her eyes with her hand to prevent them from being damaged by the intensity of the light and tried to figure out where it was coming from. No children playing bells could cause such a vibrant light out of nowhere. She hastily opened her window and jumped out onto the platform, scrambling back up to a proper standing position before dashing off.
The rain was beating down on her, and at that moment Kairi cursed herself for not wearing something more appropriate for the weather instead of a pink sundress. The sand was slightly slippery beneath her shoes and she was sure she would fall over soon if she wasn't careful. She looked up and searched frantically for the source of light she saw in her room. Then, another bell chime echoed in the ferocious wind which caused her to stop in her tracks. She looked left and saw that the light was coming from a cave, and so was the chiming of bells: the secret place. She covered her mouth with her hand to muffle a gasp. What if Sora and Riku were there?
Frantically, she sprinted into the cave, using one of her arms to shield her eyes from the light. 'Sora! Riku!' she cried out, her voice reflecting off the walls and floating over the unbearably loud chimes that continued to sound through the cave's entrance.
The darkness was eating away at them. That was the first thought that crossed Riku's mind as he watched while the darkness continued to cover him and his best friend with its cold, heartless essence. He couldn't show his fear; that was how the darkness got him last time. Just when he started to believe that he would overcome it, the darkness had caught him off guard and slipped him into a discreet state of panic. He wasn't sure how Sora could have gone through with the whole process all over again without even a tinge of fear in his features. But this time, Sora was possessed. The last time it happened Sora was more concerned about saving Riku from it.
'Sora! Riku!'
The echo of Kairi's voice seemed to hush the cave's unholy sounds. Even Riku's head turned at the sound of her voice. There she was, standing helpless and fearful, watching as her friends were being devoured by the darkness a second time. Riku saw as thorns of darkness were gradually heading towards her, probably hoping to absorb her into itself, too. 'Kairi! Stay back!' Riku yelled, causing the redhead to jump in surprise as she finally noticed the darkness growing in front of her. She leapt back a bit and stood at a slightly safer distance, desperately trying to think of something she could do to help the two teenagers in trouble.
'The darkness won't stop… it will never stop…' a voice, the one possessing Sora, whispered, and Sora's pupils started to dilate again. The brunet shook his head slightly, shaking off the strange air-headed feeling he was experiencing, and gazed up inquiringly around him. 'What the--?' he wondered aloud before realising what was going on. He turned his head to see Kairi in her own dilemma; whether she should keep trying to back away from the hungry darkness that longed to digest her, or run out to help her friends while also being dissolved by the darkness in the process. 'Kairi!' Sora yelped out, panic erupting in his voice. 'Kairi, get out of here!'
The redhead snapped her head up at the sound of her name and stared fearfully at the brunet. 'I won't leave without you, Sora!' she cried back, still trying to deflect away from the dark thorns surrounding her. Another flash of brilliant light emerged from behind the two boys; the door was opening. The light began to shroud them as the darkness started to dissolve them quicker. Kairi let out a cry of distress as she ran out to reach them, but was stopped by an invisible wall. 'Sora! Riku!' she screamed, knocking her fist against the wall frightfully.
Sora's eyes widened in sudden fear as he glimpsed back to the silver haired boy beside him, 'Riku!' he shouted, 'Riku, take my hand! If we go, we'll go together!' the green eyed boy nodded at him and reached his hand out to make contact with the brunet's. Their fingers brushed against each other, but failed to connect as the darkness absorbed what was left of the two teenage boys. The light shrouding them grew dark, and the white intensity then became a mix of venomous purple and raven black. Kairi continued to pound her fist against the invisible barrier until it finally disappeared, causing her to lose her balance.
She quickly balanced herself and dashed out towards the two disappearing boys. 'Sora! Riku!' she shrieked as the darkness completely covered the area around the door and another flash of brilliant light erupted, covering the cave with its intensity. When the light faded, Kairi continued to lunge forward to reach out for at least one of the two boys. However, within seconds, the darkness disappeared. Trembling slightly with the shock of what she had just experienced, Kairi fell to her knees and sobbed as her two best friends disappeared into oblivion. We'll go together.
Rooms never change. Naminé absent-mindedly sketched into her notepad, savouring the silence that overcame the white room containing her. She remembered having another room like this; back at the Castle Oblivion where everything was white or had lighter shades of several other colours. Her time living in such plain conditions caused her to become adapted to it, perhaps even appreciate it whenever she took sight on a location with other, more intense colours. She recalled Roxas' room, during the time she would invade it to watch over the other Nobody, and how different it was to her own. His consisted of many colours she even forgot existed. Living alone in such colour-blind surroundings sometimes made her forget the other varied colours in the world, and sometimes when she saw these over vibrant colours again, she had to squint slightly to prevent her delicate eyes from being damaged by the overpowering hues.
Twilight Town: that was the place she and Roxas were fated to inhabit, living their false lives until they realised why they were really there in the first place. Naminé, however, wasn't given false memories unlike Roxas. She was the one who had to imprint these false memories into the hearts of those the Organization Thirteen wanted to manipulate. She still felt an overwhelming guilt about what happened to Sora, the original Keyblade master, only two years ago. The Organization sought out her help so they could manipulate Sora like a puppet dangling from its strings. She was bribed, of course, to keep her interest in the deal. If it was not for the bargain they had offered her, she would have instantly refused to hurt the kind-hearted Keyblade master like that. They promised her a less lonely life. Marluxia had told her that if she didn't do what she was told, she would be locked up in the Castle Oblivion for the rest of her days, forevermore to live alone within its silent, white walls.
However, she learnt how kind the young hero was. He actually sought out for her after his false memories convinced him that she was the one he had been searching for all along. It could have been his bond with his original lost friend, Riku, that made him so eager to find the blonde Nobody. During his quest in the Castle Oblivion, he began to forget everyone he had ever encountered before stepping into the castle's domain and became lost until his artificial memories were placed into his heart. He even forgot Kairi, his light, who he had once promised to come back for when he left her behind at the returning Destiny Islands. When he found out that Naminé lied to him, though, he wasn't as furious as the Nobody had feared he would be. He forgave her, and promised her that he would search for her again even if he forgot her. For the first time, Naminé had smiled and agreed that one day the two will be reunited one way or the other.
Then Roxas came into the picture. Organization Thirteen (then known as Organization Twelve) discovered that since Sora had a Heartless, he also had a Nobody. They had done research on the young Keyblade wielder, hoping to find new information on the Nobody that no one had currently known existed. After a lot of frantic searching, they eventually found him and convinced him to join their group: a society of Nobodies, like him, hoping to one day become complete. However, the reckless Nobody had left the Organization, betrayed them, because he no longer wanted to be among such a 'bad group.' Another catastrophe was caused at that, one that involved Roxas being placed in another version of Twilight Town, the side that Naminé had inhabited afterwards to watch over the other Nobody. It was only when Roxas had somehow entered a dimension that lead him to the other side of Twilight Town that he knew what had really happened to him all along. His memories of Hayner, Pence and Olette weren't real: his 'life' was never real. Everything he knew was a lie.
Naminé smiled sadly to herself as she finished another sketch. She no longer drew out Sora's false memories, as she had gained the Keyblade master's trust once he found out her true identity. She could never manipulate him again like she had to before; she just couldn't find it in her heart to. Perhaps that was what being tied to Kairi for so long did to her: she started to reflect some of the cheerful redhead's kindness, but she never behaved exactly like Kairi. Whatever she did that was similar to Kairi was also altered into her style. If Kairi were to be openly nice in public, Naminé would be friendly, though polite, to those around her that she learnt to trust. Like Sora. Sora was one of three people who saw her for who she really was and still liked her for it. A few times Naminé had separated from Kairi's physical form during the night and Sora would wake up soon after to meet the quiet blonde by the shore, where the two would share fond memories.
Sora was so kind and forgiving to her. They mostly talked about Kairi, Riku, Roxas and everyone else they knew and encountered during the Kingdom Hearts complex. He had asked her about the Organization Thirteen, and that had lead to a conversation about what happened at Castle Oblivion. He didn't believe her at first, but her anxious demeanour had convinced him otherwise. After a moment of silence, he smiled at her, held her hand reassuringly and told her. 'I probably would have done the same thing.' But moments after, he frowned and looked down at the sand. 'I'm just sorry that they had to bully you into it because of me.' That sentence had surprised Naminé, but that didn't stop her from protesting against Sora's sudden belief. The usually optimistic brunet wouldn't be swayed, though. 'If the Organization wanted me so much, they should have threatened me, not you.' Naminé looked at him with sad eyes before intertwining his fingers with hers. A strange warmth, though slightly breezy, came over both of them. Naminé had experienced it twice before with Kairi and Roxas. It must have been some connection-bond she had that caused such strange reactions from locking hands with her.
A comfortable silence rested upon the shores as the two exchanged smiles. Naminé sighed, smiling, opening her eyes slightly at the memory and gazed unfocusedly at nothing in particular. To think, Kairi had known that boy for nearly all her life and never thought to show him how special he was. If Naminé wasn't so timid about being around Sora, who she was now sure that Kairi secretly liked, she would have let him see everything she saw and sketch out a make-belief dream for the compassionate brunet, hoping it would make him smile. But, she remembered, Sora would always know her through Kairi. Never Naminé, his friend: Naminé, Kairi's Nobody. Besides, she always bonded a lot better with Roxas.
The door opened, and Naminé raised her head slightly, her blue eyes gazing up in question. A blond teenage boy wandered into the room and looked in Naminé's direction, smiling fondly at her. Naminé, in return, softly smiled back. 'Hello, Roxas. Is something wrong?' the other blond stared at the ground before reverting his eyes to the curious blonde in front of him. 'Is it Sora?' Naminé asked calmly, somehow keeping her voice at the same tone while mentioning the brunet's name. The blond slowly nodded in response and wandered towards the second chair that seemed to magically appear in front of Naminé's. He sat down and looked silently at the blonde before clearing his throat and letting his eyes wander around the white room before they landed back on Naminé, who just smiled at him patiently.
'Something's happening,' he spoke boldly after a few moments, disturbing the silence of the room with his echoing voice, 'I can't feel Sora within me anymore. It's like he's fading away… Naminé, what's happening to me? What's happening to Sora?' the female Nobody frowned in surprise and confusion at Roxas' statement. She looked at the shattered drawings on the table with a new interest and scanned for anything that would hint out what was happening to the Keyblade Master. An image of a stormy night on the island appeared in front of her, as roughly drawn as the other images, and within seconds several more images appeared; some featuring Sora, some featuring Riku, but one in particular intrigued Naminé the most: it was a picture of the door in the Secret Place, and the door was opened.
'Roxas…' she murmured with astonishment and looked up at the other blond, 'you were right, something isn't right,' her voice was slowly getting louder, but it was still raspy from shock, 'something's happening on the island, and I think Sora's involved, and so is Riku.' Even as she spoke, Roxas' eyes were widening in anxiety and fear. 'I think we might need to check it out.' Roxas nodded in agreement, and the two stood up from their white chairs. The witch opened a corridor of darkness, which was now named Betwixt and Between, and waited for the other Nobody to stand with her. 'Ready?' she asked. Roxas answered with a muffled 'Yeah.' 'Let's go,' Naminé stated as the two entered the portal in the wall.
'Kairi! Kairi, get back!'
'I won't leave without you, Sora!'
The two Nobodies had appeared in the Secret Place, but to both of their surprise they arrived through the bodies of Sora and Kairi. A transparent version of Naminé emerged from Kairi's solid form, which the redhead didn't seem to notice as she was too caught up in the moment. The blonde Nobody stared out where Sora and Riku were, and where Roxas' transparent body was now forming. Both Sora and Riku were fading into darkness and, as Naminé now noticed, so was Roxas. The witch's eyes widened in terror, 'Roxas!' she called out as she, and Kairi she noted, ran towards the three boys in peril. However, unlike Kairi, Naminé didn't wasn't stopped by the vines of darkness and just kept running towards the trio.
'Naminé!' Roxas shouted back, finally registering what was happening. 'Naminé, get out of here! If you don't go, the darkness will take you too!' the memory witch didn't take any notice, however, as she ran to Roxas' side and held him in a tight embrace which he returned. Slowly, the darkness began to devour them along with Sora and Riku, and roughly at the same rate. Roxas bit down on his bottom lip as he loosened his grip on one of his best friends. 'Naminé… leave here. You have to, you still have time. If the darkness takes you…' he trailed off, but was unable to finish his sentence as Naminé put her finger to his lips.
'Then let it take me.' She responded quietly and held tighter to her best friend. Roxas, unable to speak, just nodded and returned the embrace. 'I'll never let you go, Roxas.' Naminé's voice quivered through the overpowering darkness. Kairi was still standing, trying to get passed the invisible wall that had separated her from the other four. 'No matter what happens… I'll never leave you, I promise.' Within seconds, the darkness engulfed them and a brilliant white filled the cave, blinding everyone with its intensity. After the light had cleared away, all evidence of Roxas or Naminé's, along with Sora's and Riku's, existence was gone.
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There is a secret ending to this chapter, but I was too lazy to write it. However, I could be swayed if any readers would perhaps give me a review? If anyone wants to see the 'secret ending to chapter one', then please say so in your review otherwise I'll just update without editting this chapter which the secret ending added. Hope to hear from you all soon! Alize.