Okay, this chapter is smaller than I hoped, but I thought it was a good cutting off point. Here ya go, people. Oh, and in case you haven't guessed, someone familiar is going to show up. :D

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 Three: Committed To Memory

"So, there were intruders on the scene?" a man in black said, rubbing his chin as he stared at the one kneeling before his throne.

"Yes, sir," the other cloaked man replied. "A boy. We weren't able to make him out, but he had an accomplice. We are relieved to say, however, that it wasn't the traitor."

The leader hesitated. "This could be bad. Did you reveal yourselves?"

The underling shook his head. "No. We attempted to eliminate them, but they fled too quickly. I've never seen speed like that. To you think the Chasers have returned?"

"Not quite," the leader replied, "But the boy is still a threat. We must eliminate him, but it will not be an easy task. No doubt the traitor will be defending him…"

"I understand," the underling said, standing. "I will take immediate action, master. Rest assured the boy will not go far."

"I think we lost them," Sora said, gasping for breath as they chained their bikes to the docks.

Riku nodded. "Whoever they were, they won't follow us to the island. Come on."

The two boys got in their boats and started rowing. The entire trip over was rather quiet, only filled with the sound of their oars hitting against the water. They didn't splash each other playfully like they normally did, or talk while they went over. They just rowed, and they rowed quickly until they reached the other island's dock. There, they tied their boats in place and climbed up onto the docks. "We'll see them coming if they try to follow us," Riku assured Sora.

"Yeah," Sora replied. He glanced back and noted that, sure enough, no one was coming. He sighed in relief and cast a glance back at the waterfall nearby. It wasn't far in the island, and Sora had often gone in there to just sit and let his feet turn all prune-y in the water when he was younger.

Riku clapped a hand on Sora's shoulder and started walking forward. "Come on. You said you were going to talk about it. You can trust me."

Sora smiled weakly, following his friend toward the waterfall. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt. See, when I went in the temple, there was this other room past the one with the map and stuff, and there was some weird pedestal with a light in it."

"A light?" Riku echoed.

"Yeah," Sora replied, nodding. "It was about the size of my fist, and it kind of floated there." He waved a bit to emphasize his point. "I don't know why, but I kind of felt comfortable in there. When I tried to touch it, my fingers went through it."

Riku gazed at Sora in alarm before glaring at him. "You actually tried to take it?"

"No!" Sora insisted. "No, no…I just wanted to feel it. It was really pretty…but then something happened, and it grew bigger and shot one of those weird beams at me like you see in sci-fi movies or something. I thought the pain would never end."

"That explains the flash and the scream," Riku commented, still disgruntled. "What happened next?"

Sora shrugged. "The light just sort of disappeared, and the whole place started falling apart. I'm still not sure what happened or how I managed to get out, but I did."

"And there wasn't a scratch on you," Riku concluded. "You sure you're not damaged on the inside, Sora?"

"Positive," Sora replied, staring at the sky for a moment. He didn't know why, but he simply couldn't shake off a feeling within him. There was something in his heart building up, growing stronger, and it wanted his attention. If only he knew what it was, he could respond… Did it have something to do with that mysterious light? If it did, was it sentient? So many questions swarmed in Sora's mind that he hardly noticed that Riku had spoken to him. "Huh? What?"

"I asked if you were okay, Sora," Riku repeated. "You're obviously not. Do you need a nap or something?"

Sora shook his head. "No. I'm fine. Kinda…energetic, actually. Why?"

Riku shrugged. "You zoned out for a moment. I guess it's nothing…but with what happened with you in the temple and the stuff at school, something weird's got to be going on."

Like that guy that chased us, Sora mused. Just who was he?

There was a twinge of foreboding, coming from that same sensation that was steadily growing stronger within him. It seemed to be reacting to the question he had asked himself. Not expecting it, Sora had gasped quietly and jerked a bit, causing Riku to look at him in concern. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah," Sora insisted. "Whatever that light did to me is just making me a bit jumpy, that's all."

"Let's hope that's it," Riku sighed. "You've got the attention span of a goldfish at the moment. Come on."

As the duo headed for the seaside shack, Sora felt his mind wandering. The presence in his heart was trying to speak to him. It was calm and soothing, but at the same time there was a great power within it that he couldn't rightly explain. He tried to focus on it, he tried to get it to speak to him, and most of all he tried to understand what it was. But no answer came. He focused on it so intently that he was following Riku almost blindly, his physical senses guiding him into the shack, barely noting that he had picked up two long, wooden objects, and up the stairs. His feet moved for him, his eyes gazing blankly forward. But his mind was focused. He wanted that voice to answer. He at least wanted it to tell him what it was.

Almost as though to answer him, Sora's hand tingled very slightly. He was afraid for a moment that he would have another accident like with the faucets or the chemistry lab, but luckily nothing happened. The feeling gradually got stronger as Sora focused on it, which he did, hoping that maybe, just maybe, if he did focus long enough, he'd get his answer.

It wasn't until Riku had stopped that he snapped back to reality. They had gone past the docks and were now standing on the smaller islet that the old, crooked paopu tree was on. While disappointed that he was snapped out of his daze and thus away from the answer he wanted, he was eager to see what Riku had brought him to the island for.

"I want to see what you can do," Riku said plainly, tossing Sora one of the wooden sticks he had brought.

Sora caught the object without even fumbling…which was odd, since he tended to be quite clumsy. Looking at it, he noted that the object was a toy sword made of paopu wood. "What's this for?" he asked.

Riku sighed. "Weren't you listening? I wanna spar with you. If that's okay, that is."

"I don't see why not," Sora replied, "But…why?"

"Sora, I've taken martial arts for almost my whole life," Riku said sternly. "And sword fighting is one of my best areas in that. I'm one of the sensei's best students. You can't just be able to block like that, let alone break a sword made of bamboo with no experience whatsoever."

"So you want me to spar with you again?"

"Yeah."

Sora sighed. "Well, sounds good to me, I guess. Don't hold back, okay?"

"I wasn't planning on it," Riku replied just as he raced forward and prepared a downward strike.

It happened all over again. His vision focused, his hearing heightened, his skin felt every tiny gust of wind against it. Sora felt as though he had done this his entire life and before, even. He blocked Riku's strike and shoved him away, taking a battle-ready stance. As Riku was in the middle of recoil, he studied every inch of him. Swift. Powerful. Only fights with one hand on his sword. The moment Riku started forward again, Sora also charged, batting at his opponent's weapon away when he tried to strike again. Sora made for his own offensive, only for Riku to leap away the moment he would have struck.

As fast as he had left, however, Riku was back in the fray, sending a blow at Sora which was quickly blocked. Sora had seen, heard, and felt it coming. The next one, too. And the one after that. But when Sora made to block again, Riku knocked his sword clean out of his hands, and went for another blow.

He was going too fast, Sora knew it. He didn't see that Sora had lost his sword. Hopefully Riku would notice in time and stop, but Sora instinctively brought his hands up to shield himself from the danger as Riku's wooden sword approached.

The tingling in Sora's hand returned, much more strongly than before. As he watched, Sora saw a shower of light extend from his hand in a straight line before forming a long, metal object that deflected Riku's blow, the impact causing Sora to recoil backward. Riku backed off, eyes wide, and Sora dropped whatever was in his hand, eyes widened in shock.

Lying on the ground was a sword-length key, silver in color with the end boxed off in what was stereotypical for old-fashioned keys, a crown silhouette cut into the teeth. The handle was black, the gold-colored guard around it shaped into a square. At the very end of the weapon's hilt was a small loop, onto which a keychain was connected. At the end of the keychain was an odd little charm, shaped with two circles sitting on top of a much larger one. Overall, the weapon looked dangerous, but not quite as lethal as a sword.

Riku was staring at the thing with wide eyes, though not quite as wide as Sora, whom was the one that had the object appear in his hands. "What is that?" he asked.

"Search me," Sora replied. "You knocked my sword out of my hand and it just…showed up."

"I noticed," Riku said, staring at it but not moving.

A curiosity piqued in Sora's mind, and he slowly approached the object. He reached out, exercising great caution, and touched the handle with the very tips of his fingers. When he did, he felt something surge from the weapon into his hand, up his arm and-

He pulled away, startled. Riku glanced at him oddly. "What's wrong? It shock you or something?"

"Not exactly," Sora replied, attempting to pick up the object again. This time, he expected the rush of…Power? Energy? Whatever it was…and successfully clasped his hand around the handle, picking up the entire weapon clumsily. He never was good with swords; what was he supposed to do with a giant key? "What do you think it's for?"

Riku shook his head, stepping forward. "No idea. We don't even know what it is." He paused a few feet in front of Sora. "Mind if I look at it?"

Sora nodded. "Sure." He handed the key to Riku, whom grasped it much like he did a sword. He hadn't even held it in his hand for two seconds when it vanished in a flash of white sparkles, only to appear in Sora's hand in a similar fashion. Both boys – Sora especially – jumped back at this new development, eyes wide and mouths gaping.

"How did you do that?" Riku asked after several moments had passed.

"I didn't," Sora replied. "Maybe it likes me or something."

Riku took the opportunity to give Sora a blank look. "Sora, it's a giant key."

Sora returned Riku's gaze. "Well, what other explanation do we have?"

Shaking his head, the silver-haired boy noticed the sword he had lent Sora lying on the ground, and went to pick it up. "Whatever it is, I don't think it's a good idea to let anyone see it. Can you hide it anywhere?"

And therein lay Sora's new predicament. He had somehow frozen the plumbing in the boy's bathroom, caused an accident in the lab, was sparring incredibly well when he very well knew he had never held so much as a dagger before in his life before that day, and now this key showed up out of nowhere. "I have no idea," Sora replied truthfully, glancing at the waterfall absently. "I mean, weird stuff has been happening all day, and I don't know of a good place to hide all this. Mom likes to clean my room, and if she sees it…" Or if she picks it up, she might get shocked just like I did. I don't want to have to explain any of this to her.

Sora's hand tingled oddly again, just like before when he had lost focus while following Riku. He glanced back down to examine the key, only to find it gone, a few sparkles of light just then fading away. Riku blinked. "Well, I guess that'll do it."

"Guess so," Sora agreed, flexing his fingers. Suddenly, everything seemed so foreign to him. "What now? It's only Thursday. We have to deal with school tomorrow, and I haven't even done my math homework yet."

"Homework still exists?" Riku said, laughing. "I can help you with that, at least. Everyone knows Mr. Braig isn't an easy teacher to deal with when it comes to that."

Casting aside the issues of mysterious giant keys and exploding burners for the day, the two gathered their backpacks and headed down past the docks and toward the waterfall, where a small cave was hidden just beneath the roots. Sora had often gone into the cave, as it was one of the few places that he'd never be bothered. Doing homework in there wasn't exactly a remarkable or relevant idea, but Sora didn't want anyone intruding on him in case something strange happened again. Riku followed him in, and they quietly headed to the back of the cave.

They had found the cave several years ago, and it had been entirely empty aside from the odd, wooden door that stood at the end for no particular reason. Sora now knew what the place was, thanks to his history lesson, and began to recall what it had been like when they found it. Sora had been startled when he heard a howl coming from the cave, so he and Riku ventured in to see what monster would have made the noise, but nothing was found. Being the children they were, they had no real sense of respect for the cave's natural appearance, and had begun playing in the cave regularly. Eventually they had drawn pictures on the walls, a face on one of the boulders, a man in a black cloak lying on the…wait.

Sora's eyes widened. There, lying in front of the door, was a person, draped in a similar black cloak as the other people whom had attacked him and Riku at the ruins. The hood was up, obscuring his face from view, but it didn't do much since the man was face-down on the ground.

After a stunned moment of silence, Sora spoke. "You think he's dead?"

Shaking his head, Riku edged toward the man. "I doubt it. He's probably just unconscious or something."

"He's wearing the same black cloak that the other guys were wearing," Sora warned his friend. "What should we do?"

"Don't ask me," Riku replied, wary of the stranger.

Curious, Sora approached the man and quietly bent down to see him more clearly. "He's breathing," he began, "So he's definitely alive."

Riku glared at the man in suspicion. "Should we help him?"

Sora didn't answer. He struggled for a moment before pushing the man over onto his back, revealing part of his face. He looked to be at least in his twenties, give or take a few years, and there were odd markings underneath his eyes, shaped like upside-down triangles. Who is he? He kinda seems familiar…

"Are you sure you wanna be doing that, Sora?" Riku asked in a whisper. "He might try to attack you."

"I don't think he will," Sora replied, then pausing at his own words. Riku stared at him questioningly, and he shrugged. "Just a feeling I got."

The man groaned, wrinkling his nose a bit. Bright turquoise eyes cracked open, remaining that way for a moment before he sat up, his hood falling off to reveal long, messy red hair. Sora tried not to stare at it; it had to be illegal to have hair that shade of red. The man glanced around warily. "What the…"

Sora tilted his head. "You okay?" he asked.

Glancing at Sora, the man quirked an eyebrow. "I'll live," he replied quietly. "How long have I been here?"

There was a moment while Sora counted the days in his head. Eventually, he just shrugged. "I dunno. The last time we went into this cave was a few weeks ago."

"Figures," the man grumbled, glancing around. When his eyes rested on Riku, the boy backed away a bit. The stranger got the message and looked around more. "Man…the last time I was here there weren't so many…rocks."

"Just who are you?" Sora asked.

The man grinned. It was an odd grin, almost like a smirk, or a mischievous smile. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

Sora blinked. "Um…sure. I'm Sora."

Riku crossed his arms. "It's Riku," he said. "Mind telling us how you got here?"

"I'd like to know the same thing," Axel replied, beginning to stand but only finding himself stumbling back onto the ground. "You guys haven't seen any other guys in black cloaks, have you?"

"Why do you want to know?" Riku demanded.

Sora shot his friend a knowing look. "C'mon, Riku," he said before turning back to Axel. "I saw a few, but they didn't seem to happy to see me."

Axel snorted humorlessly. "Looks like we've got something in common, then," he muttered. "You mind showing me the way out of here? I've got a feeling if I use the same way I came in it won't exactly work."

"Sure," Sora replied. "You need help standing up?"

"I'll be fine," Axel insisted, but the moment he was upright he staggered a bit. Sora and Riku both winced as he looked down at where his leg was. "Still stings a bit…shoulda known. I can still walk, though."

Sora reached forward to help the man upright, but was waved off. Reluctantly, he led him toward the entrance to the cave. "What happened to you, Axel?"

Axel sighed. "My group and I were in another fight," he replied. "But I wanted it to stop. They didn't listen to me, so I lost my temper…blew up on them, pretty much. I don't remember being in a cave when that happened, though."

That sounds incredibly familiar, Sora thought. If only he could remember where he had heard it…

"I'm alive now, though," Axel continued. "And from what you said earlier, so are the others."

"You mean the guys in black?" Riku asked, suspicious. "Are you with them?"

Axel shook his head. "I was, but I didn't like the way they ran things. They tried to…oh, wow, it's bright out here."

Sora grinned. "What'd you expect? We're on a tropical island."

No comment was made to that. The three headed forward into the daylight and Axel stared at the ocean. "Never changes," he muttered. "Would you two happen to know where you saw those other guys in the cloaks?"

"In the cave we just left," Riku retorted.

"Other than me."

"I know where they went," Sora replied. "It's a bit of a walk, though. They were down by some temple ruins on our home island."

Axel paused. "Temple ruins, huh…"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. There was an old temple behind some bushes near our school. It's collapsed by now, though."

For a brief moment, a grin spread across Axel's face, but it left quickly. "Can you take me there, by any chance?"

Riku and Sora exchanged glances. Was it really a good idea? "Getting to the main island might be a bit tricky," Riku started. "We've only got two boats and two bikes. Besides, I wouldn't wanna be around if those guys show up again."

"I can meet you nearby it rather than right at it," Axel suggested. "That way, we won't be seen in case someone's there."

"Sounds good to me," Sora said. "How about this evening?"

Axel nodded. "I'll be waiting."

As the two walked off for their boats, Riku gave Sora a suspicious look. "Are you sure you can trust him?" he asked. "He could be trying to trick you for all you care."

Sora just shook his head, untying his boat. "I just feel like I can trust him. Besides, if he wanted to hurt me, he could have already done it, and he probably knows something about that temple that might help us figure out what's going on."

Riku still wasn't sure, and they spent the rest of the trip over the sea in silence, their math homework completely forgotten.