It was a beautiful day on the destiny islands and Riku hated it. This was because every day for the past month had been the same and before that 90 percent of the days had been beautiful for the past 15 years. 'But at least the raft is almost done, if I could get Sora and Kairi to help.' The three bright spots in his doldrums life were, in order, Sora, his best friend and rival, Kairi, whom he liked (he wasn't sure wither or not it was boyfriend/girlfriend like or brother/sister like, but he'd figure it out later.) and the Raft, half finished and the only way he was getting off the islands anytime soon. And speaking of Sora and Kairi, there they were just down the beach. Sora was curled up in a ball and Kairi was going over to wake him. As he walked closer he say Kairi's face scrunch up in concern, and thus picked up the pace.

"Hey, Kairi, What's the matter with sleepyhead over there?" he asked lightly, trying to get the worry out of her face. Then he heard what was causing her distress, Sora was whimpering quietly in his sleep, and now that he was closer he could see that the reason he was curled up was because he was having a nightmare and trying not to make too much noise. He had never seen Sora do that before. Whenever Sora had a nightmare he lay unnaturally still and flat as a board, but was so loud you'd think he'd wake the dead.

"He won't wake up, Riku. He's so scared by his nightmare he won't wake up!" Kairi was a tightly wound coil of worry and so was he. Riku lent down and started to softly shake Sora.

"Come on Sora, wake up. We're here and everything's fine and wake up. Nothing here's gonna hurt you, so wake up." Sora twitched and next thing he new he had a shaking brunet in his lap, apparently intent on never letting go of his waist. But he still wasn't awake. He started to gently rub his hand up and down Sora spine and to Kairi said, "Come on, Kairi, help me calm him down. He needs to calm down before he wakes up." By now the scene had attracted the attention of Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie, who were walking over with worry written as plainly on their faces as it was written on his.

"Sora, Sora, come on Sora, we're really worried about you. Guys help us wake him up, say something to help calm him down." Kairi said addressing the crowd of three that had formed.

"Err ok…." Wakka was the first to open his mouth. "Come on man, your scaring Riku and Kairi with you not wakin' up, so do that, yah?" Riku glared briefly at Wakka for assuming that anything scared him before turning his attention back to Sora whom wasn't shaking so bad anymore. He tuned out the other words spoken by the group, focussing on his rival as he slowly woke.

"Back up guys, give him room." He snapped at the surrounding group who paid as much attention to him as he had them. Sora stirred and in the sudden silence looked up at him. His heart nearly stopped at the haunted look in the normally carefree eyes. It looked like he'd aged 30 years in a combat zone.

"Hey Sora bout time you woke up! You had us worr-!" his sentence ended in a squeak as Sora nearly broke his ribs with how hard he squeezed them. He opened his mouth to tell Sora to let go, when he froze solid at the words Sora was mumbling into his shirt.

"They're still alive, they're not dead, they're still alive."

In a sudden leap of logic he realized what Sora had dreamed of to make him so frightened he couldn't wake.

"Yah Sora, we're all still here. We're all safe. We're all alive and well, it was just a nightmare." The others looked at him when he said that before they too made the leap of logic that told them what Sora had dreamed of. "It never happened."

It wouldn't be all that long before Riku realized why Sora burst into hysterical laughter at that last statement, before it tapered to tears.


Night was falling in the destiny islands, and Riku and Kairi had stayed with Sora the whole day after he had cried himself out. To say they were worried about their friend was like saying a bridge support line was just a bit tight. They had both figured out that Sora had dreamed of them dieing but they couldn't figure out why he would dream of such a horrible thing. They were hesitant about going home and leaving Sora there alone, but he swore up and down that all he was going to do before he left was get some rope and a sail for the raft, which they belatedly realized they had done nothing on the whole day. He seemed to be back to his cheerful self again saying that the only reason the dream had affected him so was because that was his greatest fear, that they would die and he wouldn't be able to do anything. He said that that he was fine now and he wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that he'd held up the raft and that they should go home and rest, he could see that they were tired. He'd be along shortly, go on.

And so they left, leaving him on the island alone with many a backwards glance. This was just what he had been waiting for. As soon as they were out of sight he ran to the secret place to the door to the worlds heart.

"Hey Rox, ya there?" he asked the air and moments later, Roxas stepped out of the shadow he had melded with.

"Man, Rox! You still look 40!" and indeed he did. Roxas looked like the 40-year-old, scar-covered, 6 foot 5 war veteran he was. Sora, on the other hand looked the part of the young, innocent kid, which he was defiantly not. "You've even still got those scars you got when a Balverene nearly took out your eye!"

"Yah, yah, Sora, rub it in. at least I don't look like the first Summoned Imp I came across would eat me for breakfast. Have you even tried to summon any of you old weapons? Your armor won't fit that's for sure."

"Ha! You've forgotten," Sora taunted as he summoned Epitaph and his armor, which fit him perfectly, "all our armor has been charmed to fit anyone like a second skin, be they tauren, dwarf, or human! And Epitaph has always been light in my hands." The last sentence was said bitterly, because the unspoken reason Epitaph was the lightest of the keyblades was that all the weight was the weight of sorrow and loss, which had no physical weight, and so much mental weight that it nearly crushed Sora to look at it, let alone wield it.

Epitaph was a keyblade like no other. Its main core was made of obsidian but you could barely see it for the engravings in white marble. The engravings were the names of people that Sora had witnessed die, had failed to protect, and was a reminder of what he fought for. The jagged headstone that served as to make the blade a key as well as the chain itself was engraved with the part that gave the blade its name. "Him I have known, who died in the fray. Her I have known, who died in sorrow. They I have known who died in the defiance of fear. They I have lost, who were my heart. They I remember every night and day. All I shall carry, until I do die."

Sora stared at the blade for several moments until roxas coughed to get his attention.

"Do you still bear the mark?" Roxas asked politely.

"Of course I still do, you wouldn't be here if I didn't." was Sora's mysterious response.


A lone figure sat on the end of the dock and watched the moon reflect on the ocean. The figure sighed and said, "That's it. I'm going back after him."

"Ok Riku, we're coming too." Kairi voiced from where she, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie lay behind some crates on the dock. Riku and Kairi had gotten to the main island docks to find the trio waiting for them and Sora. After a brief squabble over the fact they had left Sora alone, they had settled down to wait. They had watched the sun set and had waited an hour after that for the boy to get back, before Riku had lost patents with the boy and announced the intent to go after him. If he had waited 30 more seconds it would have been a toss-up between the rest on whom would have announced the desire first.

Riku looking over the moon-drenched ocean still saw a large shadow moving far faster than a rowboat could have. Then he saw the glint of moonlight on metal. Lots of metal.

"Pirates!" he hissed to his companions as he dove behind the crates to hide his distinctive silver hair. The destiny islands had only been invaded by pirates twice, but all children had been trained to hide and be silent if they saw a fast moving ship after dark. This had saved several children from being seen by a pirate scouting ship when they had been sleeping on the Play Island, and Riku remembered this, having been one of those children.

As the children peered between the crates they saw the shadow was actually three smaller shadows two of which didn't seem to be touching the surf.

"Sorcerers!" Selphie hissed in awe before she was silenced by elbows to her ribs. Sorcerers were rare on the destiny islands but not unheard of. They also tended to be employed by either pirates or the government. Government sorceress almost always came during the day and by normal means. Which meant that the sorcerers that were coming their way were almost certainly employed by pirates. It looked like a master student pair, with the student towing a boat. The master touched down on the dock first and confirmed the idea that he was in a pirate's employ. No person with any good intentions would wear such worn armor or have such evil looking blades without sheaths. They sat very still, sure that their beating hearts would give them away. The master sorcerer look out to the water as his student landed with as much grace as he had.

Then the master spoke, and they realized who the student was.

"Sora, are you sure about just vanishing?"

"What else can I do, Rox? I can't tell anyone why I'm leaving, no one would believe that I have knowledge of the far future and am leaving to fix it so that the total population of the universe is not mostly heartless and demons! They'd think I was insane and try to stop me, and then I'd have to vanish in front of their noses, and that would make it so that I could never come back."

"Sora, if you take this path you can never come back anyway. It will take at least 2 decades to steam the burning legion on top of the years it will take to stop the heartless threat. Not to mention Organization XIII is on the move, and looking for you. Also you have apparently forgotten something very important."

"What have I forgot that is so skrrrk-ing important, Rox?"

"Kairi is a princes of heart. Riku is a keyblade bearer. Malificent, Xehanort, Xemnas, and Marluxia will do anything to get their hands on them. How will you keep them safe if you are not here? Sealing this world's keyhole will not stop the heartless. It will not stop Malificent from coming to kidnap Kairi. It will not stop Xehanort from coming to take Riku. It will not stop any of them."

"I know that Roxas." Sora's tone made them tense as one, for they knew that tone. It was the tone he used before he did something the rest of them would disapprove of. "that is why I'm going to do something you'd hate."

"and how will you keep me from stopping you?!" the man identified as Roxas looked like he already knew the answer.

"I've always been faster than you." Sora's voice came from behind roxas as he suddenly collapsed without any warning aside from a glow from Sora's hands.

"And I've always been better at defensive magic."

"that's nice Sora," Riku said as he got said boy in a headlock, "that means you can wake him back up so we can go to my house and have a nice long talk about life, the universe, and how the heck you know magic and what you meant by 'knowledge of the future!'"

all Sora could say in response to the fives' glares and Riku's words was "Ah, Skr'reek'kawmrk."


Roxas woke to the sounds of the waves and quickly ran though the last memories he had to figure out why he was laying on a dock.

"Sora, I'm going to kick your ass so hard-" he broke off seeing that Sora was not alone. "Sora, I had thought that you had it in your mind to not tell anyone else." His tone was one of congeniality, his gaze one of amusement as he matched names to faces.

"They decided to wait up for me." And Sora was in a champion sulk.

"Heard everything did you, Riku, Kairi, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka?" he said bemusedly.

"We're headed to Riku's house to discus the matter. Would you like to come along." Wakka phrased it as a question, said it as a statement.

"You will yell 'pirate' at the top of your lungs if say no, won't you?" he was still bemused.

Blindingly cheerful smiles were his only response.

"then how could I say no?"


The sun dawned bright and cheerful on Riku's house and those within it were still awake to see it.

"So its decided," Roxas began, having become the official 'adult' in the discussion, "You five will be coming with us to try and stop the heartless and burning legion, screw what anyone else says." Here he turned and stared at Sora, who was looking just a bit overwhelmed. He had gone so long without close friends that he had forgotten that they have a tendency to go 'All for one and one for all, and screw you if you think we aren't helping.' He had argued vehemently against any of them coming, but had seen sense where Riku and Kairi were concerned. As for Wakka, Tidus and Selphie…. Well Tidus had threatened to stick his head out the window and yell that pirates were kidnapping Sora and Riku, Wakka had said that he'd do the same, and Selphie's surprisingly strong argument had also been the most surprising. They had all known that she was adopted, but when Sora had objected to her coming she had simply said, "I want to see how Squall and Sifer have grown up." This had gained many looks of shear shock, and secured her the right to come along, and by proxy Tidus' and Wakka's right too.

"Ok then, I want all of you, yes, you too Sora, to write letters to your parents saying that you've been accepted into apprenticeships as apprentice sorcerers. That will cover for your abrupt absences. Then gather 5 changes of fighting cloths and 4 meals and come back here."

"Ok Mr. Roxas!" was Selphie's cheerful response as she bounced out of the house at the heals of Tidus and Wakka.

"That girl makes me feel old." Roxas said as he sat down on the couch.

"Roxas, you are old." Sora poked roxas in the ribs.

"Ok I'm done." Riku said as he came out of his room. "and I got some extra food just in case- Ahhh… hi mom, you went due back for another day or so."

"Riku you have 5 minutes to tell me where you are going and who you are going with." She said as she marched Riku into the living room. Then she caught sight of Roxas, still in full armor minus his helm, which was sitting on the coffee table next to The Sun Eater and Blazefury. She took one look at Roxas and opened her mouth to scream. Riku put his hand over her mouth and said, "Mom! It's ok! He's a friend! He's gonna be teaching us kids magic and fighting."

"what!" Riku's mother screeched. "my little boy learning magic from, from some pirate?!"

"He's not a pirate mom, he's from another world."

"WHAT!!"

"This is going to take some explaining." Roxas muttered as Sora helped guide Riku's mother to the recently vacated couch.


He ended up explaining it 6 times. It turns out all of the kids ended up running into their parents, except Sora's parents who ran into Kairi's parents on their way to see if Sora had spent the night at Riku's. He gave an abbreviated, parent friendly version of what he was doing there. It did not go down well.

After listening to the Parents proceed to deny vehemently that they were going to let their sons and daughters be taken by a ruffian they were sure was a pirate, and trained in the arcane arts and arts of war for 10 minutes Sora had had enough. He got their attention by summoning Kingdom Key and using Blizzaga on the table, freezing it solid.

"Enough. Roxas give them the real version, no matter how hard it is to swallow." Sora said, and suddenly, for the briefest of moments, the assemblage saw Sora as he had been in the future. Scraggly brown hair gone almost completely silver, enough scars to make him resemble a topographical map where his skin showed, worn armor that made him look like a demon, and haunted blue eyes that told of ten thousand dead friends and comrades, with a dark blade on his back that had its own aura of crushing sorrow. Then he was Sora again but the blade, armor, and eyes stayed. They parents stared as Roxas gave them the grim truth, and crumbled as he told of their fates and the fates of their children.


if you start expecting an update a day you will be sorly dissapointed. i think. and you can thank Crystal Feathers that this thing is here at all. Stupid plot mice.