Lemme get a few things out of the way before we go further. While there is a High School in this fic, it isn't the center of the plot here. There won't be any school drama making its way into the main plot. For those of you that like that sort of thing, sorry. You won't find it here.
Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...
More Than A Legend
By FlikFreak
Chapter Two: Accidents
Sora woke up the next morning feeling unusually full of energy. He at least thought he would have had some sort of stinging headache or a sore limb, but he felt perfectly fine. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that the sun was rising, and he was sleeping on a bed that wasn't his. Sitting up, he recognized the striking white room, devoid of much mess other than three empty sleeping bags on the floor.
Why was he in Riku's room?
The brunette was about to get up when Riku himself entered, along with Tidus and Wakka, whom were both already dressed. "You're awake," Riku observed, walking over to him. "You feeling okay?"
"Never better," Sora replied, but his mind was racing. What had that light been? It had only floated there peacefully, and then it attacked him…and just faded afterward. Had it thought of him as an intruder, and then decided to dispose of him?
Riku gave Sora an odd look. "You don't look okay," he said flatly.
Sora shrugged. "Well, I feel fine. What happened?"
"There was this insanely bright flash of light from inside the temple," Tidus said, "And the place just started falling apart. We were going to go look for help when we heard you shouting, then you ran out the front and knocked yourself unconscious falling down the steps."
"I looked you over when you came out," Wakka added, "But you only had a few scratches. You're lucky to be alive, ya?"
"I guess," Sora said, the words sinking in. Just what exactly happened back there?
"Anyway," Riku interrupted, "It's time to head to school. I took the liberty of getting your clothes washed, Sora, so get changed. It's on the desk. We'll be down getting breakfast, okay?"
Sora nodded. "Alrighty."
The three boys left. Sora quickly changed out of his red outfit into his school uniform before slipping on his shoes and heading downstairs, careful not to make any noise even though he heard the news going on downstairs. When he made it down to the kitchen, where Riku had laid out some toast for Sora, he sat down and began his meal.
"-this morning about the mysterious collapse of the Temple of Light just down the abandoned road near Destiny Islands High School. Eyewitnesses say they saw light coming from inside the structure before it caved in. The cause of this event is still a mystery. We'll have more news on the temple's collapse this evening."
Sora quirked an eyebrow at the television, where he saw a reporter sitting at a desk. There was no video footage of the temple, but the report by itself was interesting. Part of Sora, however, felt nervous. "Are you guys sure no one saw us?" he asked.
"Positive," Tidus assured him. "It was probably too dark to make out who was who anyway, at least from a distance. Whoever saw it probably didn't see us, or only saw the collapse."
"You had a lot of guts to be running in there like that," Riku pointed out. "Like we said, you're lucky to be alive, Sora."
Sora grinned knowingly. Yeah…I am. I'm still not sure what kept me that way.
Wakka had not salvaged Sora's bike from the bush near the ruins of the temple, so he ended up sharing a seat on the back of Riku's bike, and he planned on heading back to the brush to retrieve his precious dual-wheeled contraption once the school day was over. He made his way lazily into homeroom and went to his favorite hobby: staring out the window.
When the role call began, he sat up and replied when his name was called. Mr. Dilan gave him an odd, suspicious look, but let whatever issue was on his mind slide. Sora felt a chill go down his back for no reason at all, but went back to the window.
The first few classes of the day went without any uncommon events. It was only at lunch time that anything really happened. When Sora sat down with Riku, Tidus and Wakka, he was ready to discuss things like Blitzball or Pep Rallies with a renewed interest – probably since he nearly escaped death from a collapsing temple he decided that they were interesting after all – when a different subject came up.
"So, did you find anything in there?" Tidus asked.
Sora had had his mouth half-way onto his sandwich when he paused. Would they really believe him about the light that he had found? And even if they did, what would they say? He began to speak about it, but something held him back. Something just didn't want him to talk about it. Making a decision, he shook his head. "There was a wall with some scribbles all over it. Other than that, I didn't find anything." Deciding that would do for now, he took a bite out of his sandwich.
"What kind of scribbles?" Wakka asked. "There had to be something in there, ya?"
"Eh wooked wike a naf of eh ihramf," Sora replied.
Riku rolled his eyes. "Sora, don't talk with your mouth full."
Sora swallowed. "I said it looked like a map of the islands," he said, this time far more clearly. "There was some writing in there, too, but mainly just a map. I think there was some jewelry on the top shelf in that old room, but most of the temple was underground. I think someone might have lived there or something.
"That doesn't sound very exciting," Riku said, shoulders sagging as he reached for the juice box he had packed. "But how does that explain that light we saw? You sure you're not hiding anything?"
"I'm sure," Sora said slowly, stuffing the rest of his sandwich into his mouth for good measure. They wouldn't believe me, anyway.
Catching the look in Sora's eye, Riku gave him a suspicious look, but let the issue slide. Sora swallowed the remainder of his sandwich and looked up as he saw two girls walk past them. One of them was the ever-studious Selphie, while the other was Kairi. He found himself staring as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ears with her delicate fingers, sitting on her knees on the ground as she pulled out a bag lunch. She smiled, deep blue eyes glistening like sapphire gemstones in the outdoor sun…
"Yo, Sora."
Sora snapped out of his daze and looked up. "Yeah?"
Wakka crushed the can of cola he had just finished and tossed it behind him into a trash bin. "You comin' to the big game on Saturday?"
While he was somewhat disgruntled that he had been snapped out of his thoughts by something so meager, Sora only shrugged in indifference. "I guess. I don't have anything better to do on Saturday unless Mom drags me off somewhere."
"We'll see if we can save you some front-row seats, then," Tidus said enthusiastically. "Zanarkand doesn't stand a chance against D-I-High!"
The two blitzball players shot each other a high five while Riku and Sora exchanged odd glances.
After the lunch bell rang, Sora made his way to the bathroom to wash his hands before heading off to History class. He was reaching for the faucet when he felt his hand tingling, as though it had fallen asleep like his foot tended to during Algebra. He stared at his hand curiously; it was the same one he had used to reach for the light. After noting that nothing was wrong, he shrugged and turned on the faucet.
He was about to place his hands underneath the water when he felt a cold sensation spread down his arm and into his fingers. He shivered for a second, and began to rinse his hands when he found that his fingers hit a column of ice.
What the…
Sure enough, the water that had come out of the faucet was frozen in mid-fall. It hadn't even hit the sink yet. Sora eyed it suspiciously, and moved onto the next faucet in hopes that it wouldn't suddenly decide to give him an icicle rather than some water.
The second faucet didn't like him very much either. When he reached for the handle he once again felt the chill, but this time the water didn't freeze; the entire faucet became covered in ice. Sora blinked in disbelief. What's a guy gatta do to get his hands washed around here? He thought, flustered. He stared at his hand in disbelief, and could have sworn he had seen the air look a tad frosty around it when he picked it up. He flexed his fingers experimentally, blinking, and then moved on to another faucet.
Unfortunately, the next few sinks had also frozen over. Deciding that the plumbing in that building must have had some vendetta against him that day, Sora gave up washing his hands and headed for class.
Things only got stranger throughout the day. Professor Even, his chemistry teacher, had assigned them partners for the lab assignment that day. Riku had been stuck with Selphie while Tidus and Wakka were lucky enough to be put together. Sora had a lucky strike: he was paired with Kairi. He didn't know whether to be excited or nervous.
To Sora's surprise, Kairi was quite outgoing and polite, but she still focused on the task at hand just enough to where she wasn't an all-business stiff and not an all-nonsense goofball like Tidus tended to be. The moment they started their assignment, she had gone to the back of the lab to get an apron and pair of goggles for Sora as well as some for herself. When he gave her a shaky thank-you, she just smiled and headed for their table.
What neither of them knew was that putting Sora in charge of the burner would be a big mistake.
"Are we using a Fahrenheit or Celsius scale?" Sora asked.
Kairi looked at the sheet carefully. "It says Celsius here," she said. "Ours is too cold."
Sora doubted her; for some reason he was sweating. "You sure about that?" he asked, wiping his brow with his sleeve. When did it get so hot in here? I'm not wearing long sleeves…and why isn't anyone else complaining about the heat?
"Positive," Kairi replied.
"If you say so," Sora replied, reaching for the burner. He kept a close eye on the meter, turning it slowly so he wouldn't burn the mixture they were heating. It was hard to do while he felt like he was melting. Kairi had the assignment paper in one hand and a pencil in the other, her eyes on the vial of liquid.
All at once, Sora felt a pang of heat shoot down his arms and to the tips of his fingers. He jerked back in alarm and the burner flared up considerably, causing the chemicals they were studying to fall to the floor and catch aflame. Kairi's frantic cries alerted Professor Even, whom made immediately for one of the fire extinguishers. Unfortunately, part of Kairi's uniform suffered from the assault as well, and Sora, acting on instinct, held out the palm of his hand. In a flash, the flames died from the girl's uniform, but now Kairi's entire body was sopping wet. Sora made for the burner and shut it of while Professor Even put out the fire, and the mess was over faster than it started.
Sora's eyes went wide at what he had just seen. Not only had the burner flared up without warning right as he had felt a flash of heat go through him, but a single wave of his hand had doused the fire that had caught onto Kairi's uniform. No doubt the girl would be rightly upset, but at least she was alright. What's going on…?
While the class calmed down from the sudden fiery fiasco, the Professor gave Sora a look that would have sent grown men hiding in corners. "Would you care to explain this, young man?"
The spiky-haired boy blinked. "I was turning up the burner and it exploded or something, I guess…I was careful, I swear!" He looked over helplessly at Kairi, whom was stunned into silence. Great. How am I going to face her now?
"I suppose accidents do happen," Even replied, visage still firm, "But I'm afraid I cannot allow you to participate in any mote laboratory-related assignments this semester, Mister Kagi. Back to your seat in the classroom, young man."
Sora stared at the ground in defeat.
Physical Education was, to say the least, much less disastrous than Chemistry had been. Coach Aeleus had been gracious enough to allow them to choose whatever activity they wanted, and most votes went for sparring, much to Riku and Sora's amusement. Grabbing the practice bamboo swords from the gym closet (which was actually an old, wooden shack near a cluster of trees), they lined up on benches and went two at a time. Coach Aeleus stood at the side lines and watched, his whistle in his mouth as usual to prevent foul play.
"Do you even like the martial arts, Sora?" Riku questioned.
Sora shrugged. "I always thought it'd be cool to know how to use a sword. Maybe one day I'll be as good as you."
Riku laughed, and Sora only grinned at the sentiment. Both of them knew that Riku frequented a local dojo, and he was one of the best students there. He had taken classes since he was at lest seven years old, so even if Sora began classes, he wouldn't surpass Riku's skill.
"Who wants next?" Coach Aeleus called. Sora and Riku instantly raised their hands, and he nodded to them. "Alright. Mister Kagi, Mister Tekra, you may have the field."
Several whispers broke out in the crowd. Sora wasn't known for his athletic ability – he was an active teen, but he never participated in sports of any kind – but Riku was quite the opposite. They believed that the match was already decided before it began, but Sora ignored them. Holding his sword forward the same way as Riku, he stared very closely at the blade's tip. It waved very, very slightly back and forth in Riku's grip. Sora tightened the grip on his own sword, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.
"Begin!"
Riku made a lunge forward immediately. Sora staggered out of the way just in time; knowing Riku he would have begun like that. The silver-haired boy bright his sword down for a strike which Sora brought his own sword up just in time to block. The impact of the hit spread through the sword and went down his fingers and arms, all the way down to his legs and feet, causing his knees to bend a bit. The moment Riku made to lift the sword, something happened.
Everything seemed to slow down in Sora's mind, but it still went the same speed as normal. Suddenly, he could see more than before: the tiny beads of sweat on Riku's skin, every strand of hair on his head, the incredibly small splinters that had flown off when both swords had impacted. He could even hear more all of the sudden: the cheers from the other students, the birds in the trees nearby, the otherwise unnoticeable breeze, even the sound of Riku's breathing.
The opposing sword lifted and made to strike again, but Sora batted it away like it was a fly. He stepped forward, striking horizontally, only to have Riku block it by inches. Riku got a chance to unleash a flurry of attacks, all of which Sora completely anticipated and blocked. Up. Left. Down. Left. Forward. Right. Upper right. Lower left. Forward. It came far too easily for him than it should have.
The cheers from the students became gasps of shock as Sora parried every blow delivered to him by his adversary. Finally, Riku wheeled back a strike from above, but he waited too long. Sora took his chance, swinging his own attack to hopefully shove the sword out of Riku's hands.
The impact snapped Riku's sword clean in half.
In shock, Sora dropped his own weapon as both he and Riku stared at the remains of the bamboo sword. Everyone knew that the school was in need of getting new equipment, including replacing the sparring swords, but it still took a lot of force to break bamboo. Sora turned helplessly to the observing students, whom were all frozen in shock. Coach Aeleus was gawking at the display, his whistle having fallen clean out of his mouth. Nervously, Sora took his seat back in the bleachers. Riku followed, and the next match began without a word.
"How did you do that?" Riku asked as they headed for their lockers. "You've never set foot in a dojo, Sora!"
Sora shrugged. "I wanna know that, too. Maybe I just swung too hard or something."
Riku shook his head. "It's not just the broken sword, Sora. You blocked every blow I sent to you. Since when were you that good?"
"I don't know," Sora replied. "I've never even held a sword before today. Well, I haven't sparred anyone with one, in any case."
"At any rate," Riku continued, fiddling with the lock on his locker and opening it, "Wakka and Tidus have ball practice today, so we're on our own. Wanna head over to the island?"
The statement might have sounded redundant, but everyone knew that in that context, "the island" referred to the Island of Light, where many of the children had built a number of simple wooden structures to play on. Sora nodded eagerly, but hesitated once he did. "Sure, but…Riku, I need to talk to you about something."
Riku gave Sora an odd look. "Sora, we're best friends. You can talk to me about anything."
"Well," Sora began, "I'm more worried about you not believing me."
"Does this have to do with the temple?" Riku asked plainly.
Sora paused, making sure no one was paying too much attention, and he nodded. "Yeah. I think so."
Riku shut his locker and heaved his backpack onto his back. "Well, come on. You can tell me on the way to the ruins. We have to get your bike back anyway."
"If you say so," Sora replied. "I've just had some weird stuff happening around me all day, and I'm not really sure what to make of it…"
"Like the burner going nuts in Chemistry?" Riku suggested.
Sora nodded. "Yeah. And when I went to wash my hands after lunch, all of the faucets froze over. And when we sparred today…I dunno, I got lucky when I blocked that first hit, and then suddenly…well, I really don't know what happened, but next thing I knew I was blocking your hits and I broke your sword. It's all a bit of a blur."
Riku stared at Sora for a moment, then led him outside the school and began to unchain his bike. "That does sound weird and all, but…what's it got to do with the temple?"
"I didn't want to say it before," Sora began, "But I actually found something in there. Other than the map thing, that is."
"I thought so," Riku replied, hopping on the front seat of his bike. "Come on. Let's get your bike first, then you can tell me."
Sora nodded, and the two headed off for the ruins. The paved road was much smoother than the gravel road – Riku's bike wasn't suited for rougher terrain – and they dismounted once they were far enough down the road that no one would be onto them. After Riku stopped, Sora dismounted the back of the bike. "I'll be right back," He said, heading forward.
The gravel road wasn't very long; Sora reached the end in less than a minute at a quick jog. He spotted his bike and breathed a sigh of relief, heading for the chain it was connected on. He had just stuffed the chain in his backpack when he heard voices.
"…must have found it."
He froze, quickly looking around to make sure no one saw him before peeking through the bushes. A few people stood in front of the ruins of the temple, all cloaked in black with their hoods up. He leaned in a bit closer to eavesdrop.
"I doubt it. Even the most daring of researchers would not come in. The temple was falling apart. Besides, we had a ward up around it anyway."
"Yeah, but that ward doesn't work on everyone, you know. Do you think it is still in there?"
"No. I went inside and checked it out. We found some of his old trinkets, but it was gone."
"Oh, that's just great. You know that it took ages for us to pull that thing into the state it was in. Thanks to whatever gust of wind blew this place over, it's been dispersed back to where it came from."
"I'm aware of that. If we had just brought him in earlier and given it to him, we wouldn't have to worry about that."
"But it wouldn't accept anyone, you idiot. What are we going to tell the boss? 'Oh, hi. Sorry, but the light we finally managed to conjure? The temple it's in collapsed and now it's gone. Let's take another fifty-something years doing it all over again.' Yeah, that'll go well."
Sora gasped quietly. Light? Conjured? They know about what's in the temple? Who are they?
"Guys, quiet. I think I heard something from over there."
Crap! Busted!
Sora wheeled around, jerking the bike out of the leaves and getting on, wheeling out of the area as quickly as he could. Angry shouts from the strangers followed, but he ignored them. There was a small sound of gunfire and an arrow-shaped red projectile the size of his forearm grazed past his cheek and landed on the ground in front of him. Several more followed, missing by inches as Sora pedaled with a speed he never knew he could reach. When he saw Riku ahead, he didn't wait for the question he knew was coming. "Look out!"
The silver-haired boy took the hint and was right on Sora's trail. The arrows were coming even faster now, sticking upright in the ground. The world went by in a flash until Sora finally made it to the main road with Riku. They screeched their bikes to a halt and looked behind them: the arrows remained in place, not vanishing. There had to be thousands of them, and Sora didn't feel like wondering how deadly they were.
After catching his breath, Riku stared at Sora in disbelief. "You mind telling me what just happened?"
Sora could only shake his head in equal shock. "I don't know…but we should get out of here in case they decide to follow us."
Riku said nothing, but the look on his face was enough of an agreement for Sora. They left quickly, leaving the questions for somewhere safer.
