Author's Notes
For this chapter, I'd like to thank Lockea Stone for beta reading and improving the quality of this chapter and the many more she will help me with. Check her stuff out, you won't be disappointed.
His eyes opened slowly, a sense of unease filling him as his mind tried to orient itself. He had fallen down here, he couldn't remember how though. His eyes stared at the blackness above, his mind frantically trying to understand how he had fallen and how he had survived the fall. He awoke mere seconds before hitting the ground yet he didn't feel that he hit the ground, as if he instantly stopped inches from it. He rubbed his eyes, trying to chase away the drowsiness and focus his mind to silence the ringing in his ears. Wearily, Sora lifted himself up on his feet, slouching in fear of losing balance if he would stand up straight. His eyes widened at what he saw in front of him. White marble columns rose high, disappearing into the darkness above, with intricate vines twisting higher and higher, with life-like leaves carved unto the marble. Four of these columns were stationed on the each corner of the square shaped floor. Like the pillars, the floor was also white marble but had gray outlines, giving an optical illusion of diamond shaped squares in a cross pattern. To his left, a tall and thin block of marble spewed water from the mouths of a hundred little birds, turning into a cascade which fell into an indentation in the ground, creating a small river which fell into the dark oblivion on the other side of the square. His ears then caught the sound of angels singing, a choir of women letting out low pitched notes. A soothing song, yet it felt almost like a lament. He glanced around himself, in hopes of finding someone or something to explain to him what was happening but all he saw was the surrounding darkness, at times he could make out colors rising before dissipating completely as soon as they came.
"Welcome, Sora." A girl's voice rang out but he could not tell where the voice was coming from.
"Who's there?" He asked, surprised, his eyes searching all around him.
The voice gave no answer but simply continued to speak as two small pillars rose before Sora. The left pillar had a crown placed upon it and the right pillar, a heart of gold. The crown was a golden circlet with vines wrapping themselves around chiseled gems of various colors while the heart of gold had nothing spectacular about it.
"In front of you lies a crown and a heart. Both are important to you, both represent you, both are the opposite of you." Sora was about to reach out to touch the crown when the voice rang out once more. "Beware, once you choose, the other will be lost forever. Neither of these gifts are to be taken lightly." His hand receded back to his side, his mind trying to focus on which to choose but also wanting find an explanation for all this. "Tell me Sora, is love or friendship more important to you?"
"What kind of question is that?" He made his voice loud, wanting the girl to hear him. "You can't have one without the other, nor would I be able to choose one."
"But those are the choices given to you." The girl replied. A simple statement, not understanding the difficulty of the choice.
Sora eyed the crown and he figured it meant friendship while the heart meant love yet he knew from her words that they both meant it yet neither meant it. However, the choice seemed rather obvious and his hand now reached to the right, grabbing the heart.
"You chose the heart. A heart must be strong, filled with love, and filled with light. However, the heart can be a heavy burden." At those words, the heart seemed to have gained weight and Sora collapsed on the floor. "Few can carry the burden of love and friendship, few can understand its meaning, and even fewer live alongside their friends." Sora attempted to get up but the heart was pressing him down to the floor and he was unable to let go. "Is this the path you want Sora, the path of burdens? Can you truly handle it?" He heard steps approach him and with the corner of his eye, he saw white shoes near him and then he saw nothing but darkness.
Sora opened his eyes to see Vexen, his chemistry teacher, looking down on him. Once again, Sora felt dizzy but this time he also felt like he hit the ground.
"Sora, can you hear me?" Vexen asked him, as he held the brunet's head in his hands.
"Yeah, I'm fine..." Sora's words were slurred and he rolled off and landed on all fours, slowly lifting himself up using the table for support. "What happened?" His eyes were fixated on his hands, focusing themselves and gathering his thoughts.
"You breathed in too much of the fumes and collapsed, Sora." Vexen pointed to a few blackened vials in the back of the room. "Someone's experiment reacted strangely and started releasing large amounts of gases and you didn't seem to be able to stand them for more than a few seconds before collapsing. Don't worry, the fumes are harmless."
"Harmless?" Sora felt like arguing that he got knocked out from those harmless fumes but his head ached and he couldn't gather the strength.
"Let's get you the nurse's office; you might have hurt yourself during the fall." Vexen anchored the boy's arm over him and walked him to the nurse's office. Sora could hear murmuring around him but his mind was stuck on the image of a monster eating a golden heart. He couldn't understand, nor was he able to think clearly, but the image was so lucid: he felt he could stop the monster if he just reached out.
"Here we are." Vexen's voice rang out, snapping the boy back to reality. "I have to get back to class but I'm sure Marluxia will take good care of you."
"That I will. Thanks for bringing him in." The teacher left, leaving Sora's fixed gaze on the nurse's pink hair. "First time I've seen you in here, Sora. I don't recall you ever being hurt before, at least not in school." Sora felt the man's hands spread his hair apart, examining his head for bumps and cuts. "Well, you seem to be alright there. Follow my finger, please." The nurse moved his finger in front of Sora's eyes left and right then touched his nose and moved back. "You seem fine there too. Any pains?"
"No, just dizzy..." Sora muttered, feeling tired.
"Yes, fumes will do that to you but other than that you should be perfectly fine. Do you want to go home and rest?" Marluxia asked, walking to his desk and reaching for the phone.
"Yes." The monosyllable answer came. After listening to the nurse call the taxi, notify the school, and call Sora's mother, the brunet dared ask. "Is it possible that the fumes made me hallucinate?"
"Hallucinate? Are you seeing something right now?" Marluxia crouched down to be on Sora's eye level and looked at his eyes.
"No. Not now but before. I had a weird dream and when I woke up I could still see pieces of it."
"Must of been just been a dream, Sora. Nothing in those chemicals should induce hallucinations or so Vexen says." He then gave Sora a queer smile. "It makes sense that you saw some of it after, you seem to be quite in a daze. Just your mind trying to orientate itself; a good nap will fix you right up. Let's go outside and wait for the taxi, shall we?" The nurse offered his hand and Sora took it.
As they came out of the office, Sora noticed there were other students in the hallway, class must've ended a few minutes ago. Some didn't look at Sora and were off on their way, but most stared and murmured words to each other as they passed by them. He felt the cool air of autumn wash over him, refreshing his mind and calming down the rush of thoughts that spun in his head.
"The air is nice, isn't it?" Marluxia commented amiably, as they headed down towards the taxi parking zone.
"Yeah..." Sora's head seemed to clear up a little, but he felt like he had eaten a ton of bricks. He then realized he was holding the man's hand and let go. Marluxia seemed to laugh quietly at that.
"They provide a fast service around here." The nurse said as he walked towards the taxi, which was just pulling up and stationing itself. "Remember to rest up, hope you feel better tomorrow." He said as Sora closed the passenger door and the taxi pulled away.
The boy wondered about his dream and what the heart meant. Was any of it real or just random images playing in his head? He could not tell. All he knew is that love and friendship were a heavy burden, but he didn't believe that. How could something that filled people with happiness and contentment be a burden? He slowly started believing the dream was but a dream and it meant nothing, but the driver snapped him out of his dreaming.
"You okay, kid?" The rough man asked, turning his head to get a better look.
"Yeah, I'm fine." It wasn't the first time Sora said those words today.
"Well, mind getting out? We're here." The man pointed with his finger at Sora's house.
"Sorry. Thanks." Sora got out of the car and walked slowly and unevenly towards his front door while the taxi drove away down the street.
His house was nearly identical to all the other houses in the neighborhood; a two story house with red bricks and a slanted roof. The overall effect was nice; it seemed like a strong sturdy structure with a certain tact that went well with the tree in the middle of his yard which just started shedding its fire red leaves. Most of the surrounding houses looked just about the same but it was home and it felt nice. However, Sora wasn't able to enjoy it as the midday sun seemed to burn him and his head throbbed harder and harder. He tried opening his red oak door but he noticed it was locked. His mother must have been at work and he couldn't remember where the spare key was hidden. He turned around to see someone biking across the street, their head turned towards him leaving a trail of hair behind them. Sora couldn't make it out who it was since his eyes were heavy and unfocused.
"He's always around you, isn't he?" Sora turned around furtively and saw someone cloaked in black standing in the house's door frame. "Remember, the path of burdens is not an easy one."
"Who are you?" Sora demanded, feeling dizzy once more.
"You cannot possibly be the one..." The figure turned around and took a turn, disappearing from Sora's sight. The boy walked in and peered into the room but the cloaked man was gone.
"What the..." Sora looked in every single room of the first floor but found nothing out of place and the man was definitely gone. His mind had gotten heavy and he slowly mounted his stairs, opened the door, and fell down upon his bed.
Sora opened his eyes and levered himself up with his arms. He was standing outside of his home, it looked the same as it had when he came home, however, he could tell there was something wrong. It was broad daylight but the surrounding houses had their lights on and were covered with shadows. He took a few steps and noticed how real everything felt, he even bent down to pick up a leaf and started rolling it between his fingers.
"Hello, Sora." A voice rang out.
"You!" Sora turned around upon hearing the girl's voice once more. "What's going on?"
"Before you lays three objects; a gift box, a thorned rose in a vase, and a letter." With each announcement, the item appeared in front of Sora, suspended in the air as if hovering by magic. "Like the previous test, you may only choose one. However, this time you must also ignore one of the objects and sacrifice the remaining one."
"Test?" Sora asked, confused. "What are these tests about? Who are you? What's going on?" He shouted into the air but the girl ignored him.
"You remember that boy you saw when you arrived at your home?" She asked and seemed to wait for an answer.
"Not really, I'm not even sure if it was a boy. The hair was rather long; it could have been a girl." Sora answered after a few seconds, thinking she might listen this time, but her answer provided no such indication.
"You don't know him, do you?" This time, she didn't wait. "No, you don't. What a shame that you cannot share your heart with everyone around you. So many lives pass each other by."
"What are you talking about?" Sora looked behind him, wondering if the boy would appear there once more.
"You've lost your chance, Sora. A connection between two individuals is a rare thing." She paused before continuing. "But you mustn't give up; you chose the path of burdens. Many hardships await for you and many of them will try to destroy you. A weak heart cannot handle rejection often and will succumb to darkness quickly. Perhaps there is more than one chance at times..."
"What did I miss? Who was the boy?" Sora demanded, he was now pacing around and trying to make sense of what was happening.
"Tell me, Sora, if you chose the path of burdens, what will you use to protect yourself and those around you?" She asked, ignoring Sora's questions once more.
"Protect them from what?"
"The gift box represents something dear to you, close to your heart, which you want to give and share with others. Tell me, can you give your heart away to more than one person?"
"My heart?"
"Yes, a heart is something where you keep your love, memories, and light in. It's something no one can do without. Can you give it to others without running out?"
"I don't know...What kind of question is that?"
"The thorned rose in the vase represents vanity, love, and protection. You cannot let everyone inside of your world, now can you? There are bad people and those who do not deserve your love. Will you be able to protect your world from them?"
"Yes. I won't let anyone hurt me if I can help it." Sora replied, sure of himself.
"So you'd reject those who hurt you. Remember, those who hurt you are the ones you love. You reject love?" Sora was about to deny but she continued. "The last one, the letter, holds secrets, truths, lies, and a ribbon."
"A ribbon?" Sora hadn't expected that.
"Yes, a ribbon is something that binds something together. Like two people, bound together in love and friendship. Do you believe such a ribbon can be cut with the will of the heart? Or will it always hold onto its end of the ribbon, forever being tied to another?"
"I don't know..."
"The heart is strong and weak at the same time, Sora. You don't seem to know your own heart well."
"I just go by with what I feel..."
"Don't let your emotions influence your decision, Sora. You must now choose one, ignore the other, and sacrifice the last." At that, her voice faded away and seemed to never ring out again.
"I choose..." Sora looked at his choices and couldn't decide. He didn't understand why he was choosing or what he was choosing. He didn't understand her words. "I choose the rose." He reached out and held the vase in his hands.
"You have chosen the path of thorns. You protect yourself with an illusion of safety, you welcome those who you love as well as you reject them. Like all roses, you seem lovely on the outside yet you sting harder than most. Loving only yourself is a simple thing when those you love run from you. The heart will grow dark and deep, never understanding why its light is gone. The path of burdens and the path of thorns are not compatible; for one requires love and the other rejects it."
"What? I'll never let that happen to my heart."
"What do you ignore and sacrifice?" She asked finally, her voice calm and serene as usual.
"I ignore the letter and sacrifice the box." He speaks out, wondering what he had chosen.
"Not everyone can understand the secrets and lies of others yet many forgive and move on. It is not for them to judge what they find out, but remember the precious memories inside the box. But without the box, they can only read hate and lies and that is when a heart cuts the ribbon. A heart will always recede within itself to protect itself, believing it is safe there. It always forgets the love in the memories and reads someone else's heart like a book. A heart is not book, Sora; what is in there in not necessarily the truth but it isn't a lie either.
"Why are we talking about hearts? What does this have to do with me?"
"This has been your second test Sora, one more awaits you." At that, the street lights started turning themselves off and the sun faded away. Soon darkness wrapped itself around Sora and he could feel his bed sheets crushed under his hands.
"My sheets?" The boy looked down and realized he was sitting upright in his bed. He glanced over to the digital clock and midnight flashed with bright red lights. "I'm awake..." He fell back into his pillow and thought of what the girl said. What did it all mean? He didn't have the time to think of it before sleep took him in its embrace.
The next morning, Sora managed to forget for a while about his dreams and was smiling along with his friends at school. He was always cheerful and full of life and he wouldn't let some weird dreams get in the way of that. He certainly wasn't planning on telling anyone about them, but he wanted answers and wondered if someone might explain to him something he missed. Marluxia had caught him when he entered the building in the morning and made sure he was okay. Sora had been feeling fine ever since he woke up. All the dizziness and nausea from the fumes had worn off during his sleep and he felt like it was nothing but a bad dream. He thanked Marluxia and later proceeded on finding Vexen and thanking him for bringing him to the nurse's office. His friends were worried and bombarded him with questions, persuaded by false rumors of toxic substances and explosions.
"So, it was just an accident? No explosions or mutations?" Tidus asked, leaning against the lockers of the west aisle.
"Yeah, just fumes that cut my oxygen off and made me dizzy. I can't climb walls or lift houses yet, at least." Sora joked, hoping they'd stop asking him questions and making sure he was feeling better.
"So then, you're still up for the battle of the bands tonight?" Tidus asked, knowing the brunet would come but simply wanting to remind everyone of his big event. Tidus had recently joined Sleep & Love, a local band composed of some older teenagers that had graduated a few years ago. They had recently lost their previous guitarist due to family issues and Tidus had taken his place.
"Of course, wouldn't miss it for the world." Sora laughed and the others agreed. Somehow, Sora felt his laughter catch (changed from 'caught', tense agreement) short and wondered if he would miss it for the world. He shook off the idea and continued smiling.
"Well, until then, you and I are going to the beach." Kairi spoke to Sora, reminding him of their date. Not that they were romantically involved but he had gotten used to everyone saying they were always on dates, and he simply started calling them that as well.
"Yeah, yeah. I haven't forgotten, Kairi." Sora reassured her as Selphie pulled her away, saying something about needing some girl time with the redhead. "I'll meet you down at the beach!" He yelled behind her as she waved him goodbye.
"Another date, ya? You guys are really going at it." Wakka smirked, knowing Sora didn't like being teased about it. No matter how much Sora denied it, his friends always believed there was something going on between the two of them.
"Yeah, we're real animals." Sora grinned back, his innocent features turning comical yet somewhat serious. One thing that drew others to Sora was his face. His eyes were always bright and his smile constant. He had a special aura that others were drawn to, and so they developed friendships with him.
"Hey, no need to comment on your private life." Wakka waved his hand and Tidus chuckled, his arms folded over his chest.
"Well, I've got my free period now, I'm off to meet up with the band so I'll see you in the crowd, guys." Tidus punched Wakka on the arm and the other tried to smack him back, but the blond ran away quickly.
"Well we should get going to our classes." Sora eyed Kairi and Selphie at the other end of the hallway. "You have any plans after school?" He asked, distracted.
"Nah, but I've got to rest up. Tidus wants me to spend the night with him after the concert so I gotta rest up. Been having a hard time sleeping lately." He replied, glancing in the direction of the girls who were now giggling and approaching them.
"Is something wrong?" Sora asked, backing himself against the wall.
"I dunno. Everything is alright but I seem to be having trouble sleeping, is all." Wakka turned away and headed towards his locker which was inconveniently in the east aisle, a short (pause) walk from the west aisle.
"What did you guys talk about?" Sora asked, turning around and started opening his lock.
"Just girl stuff." Selphie gave a look to Kairi before skipping away joyfully. Kairi stationed herself in front of the locker and fumbled with the lock before diving her hand down inside of her bag, groping for her pencil case.
"Hey, Kairi." Sora started, searching for the words. He wasn't sure what he was going to ask but part of him was yelling not to ask her anything. "What does the heart mean to you?" His voice raised a notch slightly as he blew the words, uncertain and embarrassed.
"The heart?" She looked at him, abandoning her rummaging.
"Yeah, like the feelings of friendship and love." He continued, wishing he just told her to forget it.
"It's nice." She seemed to ponder it before answering with a smile. "The world has a lot of problems but it's nice to know you have someone to turn to. It'd be hard being all alone the entire time." She was about to ask 'why the question?' but Sora quickly interrupted.
"Thanks." He quickly closed his locker and ran off towards his next class, leaving Kairi confused, but the girl quickly put her thoughts aside and went back to looking for her pencil case.
As the bell rang, dozens of students quickly rushed out of their classes and headed towards their lockers accompanied by their friends. Their schoolbags anchored on their shoulders while their bus opened up their doors. There was only a few who took their time and seemed to be slower than the rest of the group. Saying their goodbyes and saying one last joke before parting for the remainder of the day. Sora and Kairi were two of those students who walked out the back doors and into the beach path.
The redhead and the brunet walked alongside each other, she bouncing lightly and he crossing his arms behind his head. The silence was comfortable and neither minded that they had already whispered to each other everything they had to say during classes. Both enjoyed each other's company as they were good friends, understood one another, and, in the end, they both knew they'd end up laughing together at the silliest things.
"You had a math test today, didn't you?" Sora asked while his eyes were distracted by the auburn leaves in the trees, wondering if they would all fall down or remain in the trees like last year.
"I did alright. Nothing I couldn't do with some studying." She smiled at him and looked at the leaves herself. "I hope they won't fall down this year either, winter is prettier with them."
"Yeah, I hope so too." Destiny Islands was located near the southern hemisphere of the world and it had higher temperatures then usual even during the winter. Only in last few years had autumn transcended into winter, snow covering the ground for only a few days with inches of snow.
"This is the last time we'll be going to the beach, isn't it?" It was more of a statement then a question.
"Yeah, it's no good when the sea breeze freezes us. It'll only be for a few months; we'll be baking in the sun before we know it." She answered, smiling softly at her memories.
"Yeah, you're right and we'll have all summer and more since we're finally graduating. It's gonna be great." He chuckled at the thought of the soon given freedom.
"Yeah..." Kairi's eyes trailed off from the path and looked further past the buildings. "Race you." She hit him lightly on the arm and darted off.
"Hey!" It took Sora a few seconds to realize the beach was only a few moments away and darted off, laughing at the game and yelling at her. The two ran past the last block of houses and then found themselves on a gray wooden path, leading them down the slope as the salty sea air filled their lungs. Sora had caught up to Kairi, but because of the set of steps along the ramps and the narrow pat, he had been forced to slow down and stay behind Kairi.
"Gotcha!" He had quickly stepped up to her and locked his arms around her waist, not letting her go any further.
"Sora! Admit you lost." She struggled and managed to slip through his arm and be the first to set her foot down upon the sand.
"Hey...It wasn't completely fair..." He crossed his arms behind his head and started walking with rigid steps, pretending he was being nonchalant.
"Sora." She was going to add something but she stopped when the boy turned around with a big smile on his face. "Yeah, yeah. I packed us a lunch for later. Help me set it up." They walked toward the shore, stopping no more than a meter away from before, and Kairi unpacked her bag and set out a large a cloth, some towels, and colored boxes containing various foods.
"Hey, Sora!" The redhead snapped at the boy as he opened a box and was about to eat whatever she had stashed in there. "Those are for later."
"But I'm hungry." He quickly picked up a few crackers that were in the box and ran away while eating them as Kairi charged at him.
As the day flew away, unnoticed by the two of them, they finished the last moments laying side by side as the sun slowly set before their eyes. The warmth of the day made way for the coldness of the night, the sound of the waves settled, soothing them, and the smell of salt numbed their senses leaving both of them in a dream like state.
"Kairi?" Sora broke the silence with a soft whisper, regretting it as he broke the calm spell that loomed over them.
"Yeah?" Her reply came back just as softly, her tone tired.
"We're gonna be late for the battle of the bands." Reality slowly settled inside of him and he remembered Tidus and all his other friends. A thought swept past him; Troublesome.
"Oh!" Kairi shot up and immediately starting grabbing hold on their things, rushing to get back to town. "Sora, grab that bag and call my mom. She can drive us over there before we miss Tidus' turn." Sora obeyed and reached inside, fumbling over small objects until he grasped the rectangular metal object. While Sora spoke on the phone, Kairi managed to cram the blanket, towels, and lunch boxes back inside her backpack and Sora's. They looked like they were about to burst but she strapped her backpack on and waited for Sora.
"We're good." Sora closed the phone and handed it back to the redhead. "She said we should walk as far as we can up the street over there and she'll pick us up when we meet up." Both, quickly ran back up the wooden path and headed towards the city lights.