Chapter 2
Sora's eyes flickered open slowly. It was dark and he yawned a little. The sun's not up yet? Feels like I've slept for days. He reached up and rubbed his eyes then sat up. He became immediately aware that he was not laying in his bed, he was laying on a hard stone mantle. He was no longer in his room back home but in a room where it was completely dark. He couldn't see the walls, it was as if he was laying on a stone mantle in a vast darkness.
He frowned a little. "What the..."
"Sora." Came a deep voice. Sora looked over towards the voice, but he couldn't see anything, it was too dark.
"Who's there?"
"Sora." Came the voice again, a whisper but it was loud so it was as if he was whispering right into Sora's ear. Sora got to his feet, standing on the stone mantle. There was a flash of light and the keyblade appeared in Sora's right hand.
"Whoever you are, come out and show yourself!" Sora shouted bravely into the darkness.
"Sora" The voice was behind him now. Sora spun around. He stepped over to the edge and looked down but all he saw was more darkness. Was there even a floor?
"Sora"
"Sora"
"Sora"
The whispers were coming faster, more and more of them, and they surrounded Sora. Sora was turning, clenching the keyblade, but he didn't know where to look, what to do.
"Stop it!" He shouted. "Shut up!" But the voices took no heed. They began to grow louder and louder, to the point where they were unbareable. Sora dropped the keyblade and placed his hands over his ears. "No! Enough!" He tried to shout then gave a whine as it almost started to sound in his head. He bent over, falling to his knees and let out a shout.
"STOP!!"
Sora gasped, opening his eyes. He was still for a moment, staring up at the smooth tile ceiling. Was it a dream? Am I... No, he wasn't back in his room. He tried to move but found himself unable to. He lifted his head to look and found himself bound down to the smooth metal table by leather straps, over his legs, wrists, and one across his chest. The stap that went across his chest had a large hole in it, but it was an intended hole as the leather wrapped around the opening, which laid directly on his chest. He noticed then that, though he still had his jacket and shirt, the shirt was ripped down the middle so it revealed his chest.
Sora turned his head, looking around. He appeared to be in some sort of dimly lit lab. The straps were tied tightly, Sora could barely move an inch. He clenched his teeth, trying to wiggle them free.
He heard a door open and close somewhere above his head and he paused, listening.
"Sora." Came a deep voice, the same one he heard in his dream.
"Who are you?" Sora asked, straining to try and see him. The man came into view, but his back was turned to Sora as he walked over to a large tank of water that sat on the otherside of the room. "Who are you!" Sora demanded, louder.
"I am nobody." The man said. His tone was dead, unemotional. All Sora could see of him was that he had a long black jacket on and black hair.
"You're...you're a nobody!" Sora said. He and his friends had just destroyed Organization XIII, but it didn't rid the chances of other nobodies. Roxas was a nobody, he was still alive, inside Sora.
"Nobodies are still someone..." The man answered, again, no emotion in his voice.
"Then...if you're not a nobody, than who are you?"
The man turned and Sora was suddenly striken by how pale his skin was. As he walked over, Sora also noticed the man's eyes. At first, the man's eyes appeared to have no color in them, just a white ball with the black pupil. But as he neared Sora, Sora can see the very subtle hint of blue in his eyes. It was almost as if someone has been draining the blue out of his eyes.
"Who...what are you?" Sora asked, his eyes widening a little.
"I have many names..." The man said, his face lacking the same amount of emotion as his voice did. "Some have called us Heartless...some have called us Phantoms."
"Phantoms..." Sora repeated quietly to himself. He frowned then. "Well, no matter, let me go!"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I." He approached the table, looking down at Sora.
"Need." He placed his hand on Sora's bare chest, through the hole in the leather strap. Sora frowned and tried to wiggle free.
The man looked at Sora and Sora paused, meeting the man's eyes.
"...your heart."
He suddenly pushed down on Sora's chest and there was a large dark red glow. A great excruiating pain swept through Sora's body, focused mainly on his chest, and Sora opened his mouth and screamed in pain. It felt like his chest was going to burst open, felt like the man was ripping his insides out of his body. The man frowned, as if confused, or troubled, and he pressed more. Sora's screaming increased as his body was put through more agony.
"...a nobody." The man said slowly, as if he could see into Sora's body, see in his heart. "...interesting." He curled his hand into a fist on top of Sora's chest and yanked his arm back, as if pulling something out of Sora. Suddenly, Sora's scream split into two, as a body suddenly appeared out of Sora's and was thrown half way across the room, skidding on the slick floor.
Roxas squeezed his eyes closed tightly, whining in pain, as he weakly pushed himself up to his hands and knees. Never before has he ever been forced out of Sora's body like that, and never has he ever experienced such pain. He heard Sora's scream die as he was released from the pain and looked over, seeing his other on the table, breathing hard.
The man turned away from Sora and walked over to Roxas. Roxas growled, pushing himself to his feet and the keyblade appeared in his hand.
"Now it's your turn to scream." Roxas growled and ran forward to attack the man. The man put his hand out and Roxas gasped, feeling himself flung forward, right into the man, who grabbed his neck and held him up in the air. The keyblade disappeared and Roxas put his hands on the man's hand, trying to force it off but the man was too strong.
"Yes..." The man said slowly. "I see...you have no heart."
"R-Roxas..." Sora said, still breathing hard and he began to struggle against his binds again.
The man threw Roxas to the side and Roxas flew to the wall. Leather straps flew out of the walls and pulled his wrists and ankles down, trapping him. The blonde grounded his teeth and tried to pull loose but it was no use. He watched as the man turned back to Sora. He reached out again and placed his hand on Sora's chest. Sora gasped, trying to break free, to get away from the pain that was coming.
"No!" Roxas yelled. "Don't-" He was cut off when Sora screamed again. Roxas clenched his teeth, looking away, his hands curled into tight fists.
"What do you mean?" Kairi asked, looking at Riku with widened eyes. "How can he just be...gone?"
"He wasn't in his room this morning...and I just spent 3 hours looking around the island for him! Sora...he's gone. I don't know where he is!"
"Now now," Kairi said calmly. "I'm sure there was just some mix up. You probably just missed him or something."
"Kairi..."
She sighed. "Right. I'll tell the others and we'll look as well..."
"No, Kairi." Riku said impatiently. "If Sora was here, I would have found him! There's just....I don't know, but this just doesn't feel right, I have a bad feeling about it."
"...so...what do you think happened?"
"...I'm not sure..."
"Hmm...he wouldn't have gone on another adventure without telling us..."
"He might need our help. Kairi, we have to tell the King, and Donald and Goofy."
She nodded. "You're right. Let's tell them right away!"
