A/N: The concept of the story seems to be liked. First chapter proved successful, with five favorites, and four reviews, thanks going out to everyone who read through the first chapter, and those who left a review: expect a cookie in the mail. I hope for even better success, and hope this story never ceases to entertain, even after it's completed. Compared to the other chapter before it, this chapter is incredibly tame, and gives a lot of insight to the AU worold... and introduces a very important item.
The being inside of me… he keeps slipping away from my grasp and running wild... like a puppy getting loose from his master...
I see him wandering in my house, I see his eyes everywhere…
I can't escape from him, he follows me everywhere, whispering the same thing, "I'm going to feast on your flesh…"
He's in my mirror, smiling at me… haunting me in my dreams… driving me to the brink of insanity…
Or maybe, I'm the insane one, and he's the saint that will alleviate the turmoil of being insane.
Despite the encounter, the court date, attempted conviction of Sora as a murderer, and the weird darkness that was reported, life seemed casual. Kairi, while a slight bit more cautious of the outside world seemed just fine. Riku, their best friend (and Sora's better in fighting) was a bit more protective of Kairi. Other than that, the two of them simply made one hell of a story to go around school like wildfire.
Kairi, the victim, was swarmed by girls who worried for her, and wanted to know what it was like to be on the spot like that. They asked what it was like to be protected, and they asked all sorts of questions Sora had no doubt that they made her uncomfortable…
But, Sora could not approach her in school anymore. Sora ran into an issue with those around them. The students inferred that he had killed the man, as there had been no one else around. While it is not known how the man got so badly torn up, Sora was now known as a proven killer. Capable of killing anyone who got close to him, as well as protecting those nearby. However, no one knew which way Sora swung. Mass murderer, or righteous savior? No one really knew yet. Honestly, no one really wanted to find out, either.
So he was stuck with only his two best friends now: Riku and Kairi, the ones who had stuck with him through thick and thin. Unfortunately, they were the only ones, and he couldn't tell them anything about the weird dark form he became… or the voice he heard. The dark whispers that constantly haunted him now. When he dreamed, he dreamed of a shadow trying to take him into darkness. The mirror reflected half of him normal, half him like a shadow beast, grinning at him with its sickly smile. He was confused, he was lost, he was everything but knowing.
Which, Sora planned to fix. That day after school, Sora entered the schools computer lab, and dropped his stuff off beside his chair. Quickly dropping down, he opened the internet browser, and began searching. "Okay… how do I describe this shadow…" He asked himself, typing in the word 'shadow being' on the internet. All that popped up was a short wiki article on Shadow Men, or something of the sort. Those were all supernatural ideas that were brought about and scientifically explained. He didn't need that information. He was a dark being when he fought, and in the mirror, he knew it was no mistake on what he saw. Looking again, he typed in 'dark being' again, only bringing up more supernatural ideas and scientific proofs they don't exist. All the other sites were simply things to summon a 'dark being' or command one.
Sora ran a hand through his hair, "This is hopeless, I'm already out of adjectives to describe myself…" He sat completely stumped, and began typing random stuff in, each one pulling up different results that weren't really related to the dark being within him.
"So, you know the shadow those gang members were talking about in the murder case recently?"
Sora perked up, that was interesting to hear… given, it was about himself and it probably wouldn't end up too well in the conclusion. But, he couldn't help himself, they were talking about him. Silently getting up, he moved himself out of sight from the doorway… he didn't want them to see him and stop speaking.
"Yeah, what about it?" The other voice responded, probably a junior girl.
"Well, I was just thinking, since we're both in AP History… doesn't that sound a lot like the Heartless Curse?"
"You mean the one given to all of those who tried to betray the old royal family?"
"Yeah! That one! Anyway, the eye witness accounts all match up to what the cursed people may have looked like, don't you think?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah…"
Their voices faded out soon after that, and Sora's lightbulb turned on. "Thank you AP students." He whispered to himself, and quickly jumped back on the computer, typing in 'Destiny Islands Heartless Curse' and this time; he actually got five credible sites to browse, not counting the wiki site. "Alright Heartless Curse, let's see what you've got me down for…" Opening all six websites, he began reading the first one. "The Heartless Curse, the story behind the legend… In the year 300 B.D, or Before Destiny, there was an attempted uprising to betray the royal family of Destiny Islands, or as it was known back then; Fatum. The uprising- lead by Taichi- sought to over throw the royal family of Fatum, for the king was being unreasonable, and killing his people.
"The attempted coup d'etat nearly succeeded, had it not been for the royal princess of the time. Unbeknownst to the king, the princess had fallen in love with the rebel leader, and the rebel leader only stopped because she had stood in his way. Furious by this, the King decided to kill Taichi, and with magic, cursed the remaining rebels with a curse that would eventually turn them into shadows on the ground, forever cursed to roam the world as nothing more than darkness. After Taichi was killed, the Princess herself was sent into exile for betraying the King. Shortly afterward, the bloodline died out. There is no known surviving heir to the throne."
Sora nodded at this newfound information, and closed that website out, opening the next one. "The myth of the Heartless Curse… sounds good." Slowly, he progressed his way down all the remaining sites, learning nothing more than his first results had pulled up. Just myths and how they were scientifically disproved.
There was one little detail that caught his eye, though. According to textual evidence, the curse was supposed to die when the cursed men finally died. This meant in turn, that even if he were related to the men who were cursed, he shouldn't have the curse to begin with. Sora sat back, befuddled as to how he could have been given the curse.
With his resources exhausted, and he himself a bit tired, he got up. According to myth, he had only three months before the curse would consume him, and turn him into a shadow… and according to that same myth; there was only two ways to remove it.
Ancient weapons called Keyblades.
There were thousands made, and on Destiny Islands, the site where a major battle was fought with Keyblades, finding an old rusted one your dog found wasn't too uncommon. However, the myth called for two specific blades, and either one, or the other. The Keyblade of People's Hearts, or Oathkeeper. No other Keyblade would suffice. Oathkeeper would lock his heart (so the myth went,) and it'd save him from the Heartless Curse. The Keyblade of People's Hearts would instead, unlock his heart, allowing the curse to spread faster, and in spreading that fast, would kill him before the curse could take full form.
He really hoped he found Oathkeeper first.
Leaving the school grounds, he sighed. Finding two very specific Keyblades was near impossible. There were dozens around Destiny Islands, a lot of the more valuable ones were in collectors homes, and the historical ones were in museums. The odds of him finding one of the two he needed to cure his curse was rather slim.
Sora sighed in defeat. "I could scan all the nearby collector shops and never find the one I need…" Without a lead, he walked to the boat dock and dropped his stuff, looking out at the ocean water. The calming breeze was a nice change compared his frenzied mind. Sora looked out over the horizon, simply letting time wash over him, letting the sun set before him.
"You seem a bit lost, no?"
Sora quickly turned around and looked at the man who had startled him. "Wow, you scared me!" He laughed, taking in the older mans appearance. The guy had definitely seen his fair share of the worlds. Plenty of scars around his body, and the wrinkles definitely proved his wisdom. "So... what're you out here for?"
The old man smiled and sat down on the dock, taking his fishing pole, baiting it, and launching it out to sea. "I think for the same reason you are. To simply relax as the sun goes down."
Sora couldn't argue that. He laid back and watched as the bottom part of the sun met the ocean's surface off in the distance. "My names Sora Yamato." He turned to face the man and grinned widely at him. "What's yours?"
"Ohhhh, so you're his son!" The older man was fully focused on Sora now, who was slightly taken aback. "Now that I really look at you, your father had the exact same hair color, and that grin... it's definitely his. I fought with your father, Sora. During the Worlds War. He was one of the best Gummi pilots I ever saw."
Sora leaned in a bit now himself. This man here knew his father... but, his father was young. Really young when he died. No older than twenty seven. "But.. my dad wasn't that old. How did you all fight together?"
The older man chuckled. "I was an old coot back then, too. On my last legs as Gummi pilot, as a matter of fact. I flew with your father until those damned Nobodies from the World that Never Was got him. Shortly after that, I got promoted..." The old man paused for a second in thought, then blurted, "Oh! I forgot to tell you who I was. I'm Danny Vice, a Major in the Gummi Armada... most of my men knew me as Major D. Vice though."
With a nod, the old man continued, and watched his line a bit more closely as Sora looked back out over the waters. The man next to him really knew his father, and flew him when he was in the Gummi Armada... incredible. His mom hadn't been lying. His dad really was just how she described him to be. He kicked his feet over the edge of the dock, smiling to himself. He always imagined what his dad looked like... but, according to Danny, his dad was just like Sora.. just a bit older. That was something to think on later. He had a lot to ask Danny, the old man probably had some stories about his father.
But, before he could ask, the older man spoke up first. "Say, Sora, you heard about the Royal Castle and what they found there?"
Sora shook his head, "No... what'd they find?"
"Well, your necklace reminded me of it. But. apparently, they found a chest with that symbol on it hidden in a secret compartment under the kings throne. They think there's a special Keyblade in it!" Danny exclaimed, feeling a bite on his fishing rod.
Sora's heart skipped a beat in excitement. There was a special Keyblade... maybe that was the one he needed: Oathkeeper. Without wasting anymore time, Sora bolted up from the dock and took off running for the Royal Castle. He heard the man shouting after him, warning him the castle was closed for the day. However, Sora didn't have the time to waste sitting around. If that was the Keyblade he needed to fix the Heartless Curse, he needed it.
Sneaking in was a piece of cake. The security guards were worse than the mall security guards. The poor guys didn't even carry a flashlight bright enough to even come close to penetrating the darkness of night. What's more; Sora was incredibly light footed. The security guards didn't even here his footsteps over their own loud clanking of dress shoes. "Careful, don't scuff 'em." Sora snickered sneaking by the throne room guard. Pendant hidden in his pocket so as not to reflect the moonlight.
The throne room was massive. The ceiling reached up to at least five stories. The pillars were extravagant, each one finely detailed and polished. The red carpet, well furnished and gold trimmed. A place really befitting royalty. Sora walked up to the throne, and saw the old box. The last member of the royal family was a great king, however, the guy never had an heir... and somehow, the people defied the social norm of the time, and created a democracy... or at least, something really close to it. So, whatever the last king left behind... it couldn't be all that bad. Maybe his will? Or some secret to the royalty? Maybe even a holy relic... like the Oathkeeper Keyblade.
He sat down at the box, and grinned. Finding engraved on the oddly shaped lock a small riddle, "Thy royal knight who hath protected the Royal Family... show thy loyalty." No wonder the historians were stumped. According to history, the royal knights betrayed the King, and received the Heartless Curse. After that, the royal knights ceased to exist. Sora looked to and fro for anything that may have pointed him in the right direction. Then he heard the jingle in his pocket... his pendant. Right!
Danny told him how the lock resembled Sora's pendant. And, if Sora's idea was right, and his necklace was an heirloom, then his crown pendant would work! He reached into his pocket and pulled the crowned necklace out. With a grin, he put the crowned portion into the lock, and awaited confirmation. There was a quiet click as the lock opened up, and inside, there was a note. Picking it up, Sora read it lowly to himself, "Thy royal knight, as my final act as your king, I bestow upon you the greatest treasure the Worlds have ever seen: The sacred Kingdom Keyblade. Fight well, and protect our homeland from the coming darkness.
"Darkness?" Sora repeated, before he heard the large throne room door open.
"Hey! You! What're you doing here?"
Sora quickly turned around, and the Keyblade disappeared, as well as the note. There was a small light in the distance that barely shined on him. "Oh shit... how am I going to explain this..." He muttered.