Kara woke up a little under an hour later.
"Kar! You okay?" Ava asked her sister, alarmed and running to her side.
"I'm fine." Kara said, sitting up as Ava breathed a sigh of relief. "Was Mom really mad?"
"Honestly, I don't know… The subject of us skipping sort of vanished once my dream came up."
"Oh… did you tell her about… me and the keyhole's feelings?" Kara asked, pulling her knees up to her chest.
Ava shook her head, "Of course not, Kar." She said, walking over and sitting next to her sister, "It's up to you if you want to tell her or not."
Kara smiled a little, "Thanks."
XXXX
"Girls? Can I talk to you?" Sora knocked on his twins' door.
"Sure, dad." Kara's voice called from inside. Sora opened the door and walked in, sitting down on Kara's bed because the twins were on Ava's.
"You were at the keyhole earlier, weren't you?" Sora asked, getting right to the point.
Ava's eyes widened, "How did you know?"
Sora held out a bobby pin, "Riku and I found this lodged in the door."
Ava blushed, embarrassed that she'd left it there.
"Ava, I need you to tell me exactly what you saw in your dream." Sora said, "What did it have to do with the keyhole?"
Ava shut her eyes, "Okay, I'll try." There was a short pause as Ava struggled to recall her dream, "There… were… seven girls. One was mom, and these keys… And it said something like… the seven keys and the seven keyholes unlock the heart… but it's not very clear now."
Sora nodded, "Okay."
"Dad," Ava opened her eyes, "Please tell me what's going on!"
Sora sighed, "Okay. If you promise to tell me exactly what you saw at the keyhole." Sora said.
"Of course, dad." Ava nodded.
"Have you two been taught about the heartless?" Sora asked his twins.
They both nodded.
"About 20 years ago, Riku and I fought the heartless. After you two were born I sort of… retired, but I was dragged right back in. I'm the keybearer." He said, reaching a hand out and summoning his long, silver key out of nowhere, "The keybearer has to stop the heartless. To make a long story short, there's a new form of heartless." Sora said, "It's trying to steal the power that the Princesses of Heart sealed away 15 years ago."
"So… those seven girls were the Princesses." Ava said.
"Yes." Sora nodded.
"And mom was one of them?" Kara asked.
Sora nodded again, "That keyhole that you saw is, in a way, a part of your mother's heart. Sealed behind it is the part that made her one of the Princesses, and the key that seals that keyhole is the only thing standing in between the heartless and that power."
Ava pointed to the keyblade.
Sora shook his head, "Not this key." He dismissed it, "The Princess keyholes all have their own specific key."
"Oh." Ava said.
"So, that scar…" Kara thought.
"What scar?" Sora asked, alarmed.
"Didn't you see it?! At the keyhole!" Ava said, "It was pretty obvious!"
"That's just it, girls. The keyhole won't let RIku or I near it." Sora said, "It's put up some kind of barrier- won't let anyone get close. Please tell me what you saw."
Ava nodded, "Alright."
"The keyhole was glowing." Kara spoke, "And there was a huge scar along it- like something slashed at it with a sword- but the keyhole itself wasn't hurt."
"I see." Sora said, "Anything else?"
"That's all I saw." Ava said.
"Me too." Kara lied. She didn't want to bring up what she'd felt- she didn't feel like explaining it.
"Thank you for your help, girls. And I promise- no harm will come to either of you as long as you stay here." Sora said, standing up and hugging each of them.
Kara nodded, "Of course, dad."
Sora smiled, and left the room. Once he was gone, Ava turned to her sister. "You can't be serious."
"Serious about what?" Kara asked, confused.
"About staying here and staying out of trouble!" Ava shouted, "We have to help!"
"What are we supposed to do, Ava? We can't fight- we don't know how! We'll just get hurt." Kara argued.
Ava froze, knowing her sister was right. A moment later she spoke up again, "The keyhole."
"What about it?" Kara asked. "Dad said he couldn't get past the barrier."
"He couldn't, but maybe WE can!" Ava said, jumping up, excited. "Come on, we were there earlier! You said it was worried for us! Please?"
Kara looked up at her sister, "Ava…"
"I hate standing on the sidelines, Kar… please? If we can help…" Ava frowned.
Kara sighed, "Fine. If I said no, you'd go anyway."
"Thank you!" Ava grinned, hugging her sister. She grabbed her boots and sat down on her bed to put them on and lace them up. Kara sighed again and slipped her feet into a pair of her sandals. She grabbed a coat, tossed one to her sister, and waited as Ava popped the screen out of their window with expertise gained from practice. Ava slipped out and helped her sister through, and the two hurried down the street towards the school.
XXXX
The door to the basement was unlocked when they got there, so the girls headed right through. When they made it to the bottom of the stairs, Ava saw exactly what Sora had explained- a purpleish glowing barrier blocking the doorway. She reached out her hand, and to her surprise and excitement, it slipped right through.
Ava walked through, and her bewildered sister followed her.
"This is weird, A…" Kara spoke as the two walked towards the keyhole in the dim light of the basement. "I feel like we shouldn't be here."
"Shh…" Ava hushed her sister, "Come on." She stepped over to the keyhole, glancing at it. It was still glowing, and the scar was still there, but there was something different in the flowers that were growing across it. Ava just couldn't place what.
"The lily!" Kara exclaimed, hurrying over and touching the delicate flower that had grown in the less than five hours that the girls hadn't been there.
"Hey, there's a note attached." Ava said, surprised. With Kara's help, she untied the note without hurting the lily and unfolded it. "That's weird. Whoever wrote this knows our names."
Kara read the note over her sister's shoulder.
Ava and Kara,
If you're reading this, it means that my barrier worked and you two are the only ones on the island capable of getting to the keyhole.
I urge you to seek me out.I need the power you two posess- we all need the power the two of you hold to save the worlds. It's vital to the existence of EVERYONE. Your parents are aware of that, but they're too afraid to risk you, so they would never tell you.
Please, meet me on the small island where your parents used to play.
-Evan
"No. No WAY, Ava! We don't even KNOW this guy, it could be a trap!" Kara crossed her arms.
"Kara…" Ava whined.
"I'm not budging on this one, Ava." Kara insisted.
Ava sighed, "But, Kara… if we can help…"
"No, Ava. Now let's get home before we get in trouble AGAIN."
XXXX
Once at home, the two girls didn't speak a word to each other before dinner. Dinner was awkward- Sora was distracted, Kairi was worried, and the twins were angry with each other. Finally, after everyone had finished, Sora spoke up. "Girls?"
The twins glanced over.
"I'm going to be leaving tomorrow." Sora said, "RIku and I are going to try and figure out what's going on."
Kara nodded, "Okay, dad."
"While I'm gone, I want you two to stay out of trouble. Don't go near the keyhole- don't go out at night." He said.
"Of course." Kara nodded.
"Ava?" Sora asked his other daughter.
"Fine." Ava grumbled.
"Good." Sora smiled, "Thank you."
XXXX
Kara was exhausted, so she went to sleep shortly after dinner. Ava, however, lay awake in bed, staring at her ceiling. She glanced over at her sister before sighing and saying softly, "I'm sorry, Kar…"
Throwing on some clothes and a pair of sandals that were probably her sister's, Ava climbed out the window for the second time that day and hurried in the direction of the small island.
Main street was a mess, quite literally. Heartless of all types were parading down the street, looking like they had no care in the world. She stood there, shocked, for a moment, before one of them suddenly noticed her. It pounced. Even though it was just a Shadow, Ava had no experience with the heartless whatsoever, so she was perfect target. She squeezed her eyes shut.
SWISH.
"Are you insane?!"
Someone grabbed Ava's arm and dragged her off of mainstreet and down an alley between two buildings, holding her down behind a box. When he finally relaxed and let her go, Ava looked at him to find he was just a boy not too much older than her, holding a sword. "I don't think they'll find us here." He said, glancing out of the alley and then back to Ava.
"Who are you?!" Ava shouted, obviously having no idea what was going on.
"My name's Richard. Call me Rich. And you are?" he asked.
"Confused!" Ava cried.
"Shh! Shh!!" Rich jumped down to quiet her, "Well, Confused, where are you from? Do you live in this world?"
"My name's Ava." Ava spat, "And yes, I do. I have to get to the small island, fast." She stood up, walking towards the end of the alley
"Whoah, Ava, not a good idea." Rich hurried after her, "The path there is practically a sea of heartless. You'd get your heart stolen LONG before you got there."
Ava froze.
"What is it?" Rich put a hand on her shoulder.
"So it was a trap…" Ava muttered.
"Well, whoever called you there probably didn't expect you to come out at night." Rich said, "The heartless don't have as much power during the day- not like this."
Ava was about to answer, but Rich looked at the sky and then shouted, "Fuck! Get down!" he grabbed her, pushing her to the ground and shielding her.
An explosion covered the Destiny Islands.
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Sorry for the delay on this, folks. Lemme know how it is!