Entry 2- A Fight for Control!
A few minutes into the battle, Sora was already struggling. This new enemy, who or whatever it was, was much faster than he was used to in a Keyblade-wielder. For every strike he made, he was forced to block three more. Every time he dodged, his foe was there to try his attack again.
"Rgh!" he growled in frustration.
"What's the matter?" gloated the figure, "Am I too fast for you?"
Almost instantly, Sora had to fend off a solid thrust at his chest. "What am I gonna do?" he thought, "None of my attacks are landing a hit….And this guy's impossible to predict!"
As they watched Sora's struggle against the mysterious being, Riku and Kairi felt helpless. Neither of them could unlock the door in order to join the battle, and the glass of the windows was too thick for them to warn their friend of incoming attacks.
"No, Sora! Dodge left! To the left!"
"Relax, Kairi," Riku said, "He can't hear you. All you're accomplishing is hurting my ears."
"Well, sorry about that, Riku, but I have to do something."
"How about think? You're better at that than either me or him," Riku said, jutting a thumb at Sora. "Try to figure this out. Meanwhile, lemme try again to break the seal on the door." Descending the stairs to the ground floor, Riku began using his Keyblade to blast the door in every way he could think of. Fireballs, shards of ice, bolts of electricity, even beams made of light and dark power. Nothing so much as put a scratch in the enchantment covering the door, which had taken the appearance of a translucent barrier.
"'Think,' he says! 'Try to figure this out,' he says! Whaddya think I'm trying to do?" Kairi thought desperately. "There are just too many unknowns…..What's with that sudden darkness? Why does Sora recognize that Keyblade? Who's that girl?"
Desperate, Sora attempted to summon the mysterious Keyblade again. Back on Destiny Islands, it had opened a portal. Perhaps it could help him in battle? Focusing as best he could while blocking a barrage of blows, Sora searched for the origin of that Key.
Eventually, he heard a familiar voice. "Hey there, looks like you need a little help!"
"Roxas?" asked Sora. About a year ago, Sora himself had lost his heart and turned into a Heartless. By some twist of fate, however, his body transformed into a human-seeming creature known as a Nobody. Once he reunited with his Nobody, dubbed "Roxas" by Organization XIII, who had found him first, and became complete again, Sora's body and soul played host to Roxas's seemingly separate consciousness. Sometimes, they were able to hold conversation. However, it didn't seem likely to Sora that this was Roxas talking to him. Ever since his return to the Islands, Roxas usually manifested when Sora was near Kairi, as a reaction to Kairi's own Nobody, Naminé, who was in a similar situation.
His suspicions were confirmed when the voice spoke again, saying, "Nah, I'm not Roxas….I'm just a friend. So would you like some help?"
"If you're gonna help me beat this guy, then go right ahead!"
In a flash of light, and amid much clanking, Sora suddenly found himself in a foreign suit of armor, though it felt familiar, somehow. In his hand was the Keyblade from before, which he now somehow knew was called "Wayward Wind". Feeling himself move faster than ever, Sora renewed his offensive against his opponent.
"Interesting plan," the mysterious warrior muttered. "Looks like it's time to bring this little show….to a close!" he shouted, charging his blade with dark energy.
Almost automatically, Sora charged his with light energy. In the resultant clash, a blinding explosion of energy ripped through the tower's courtyard, and the sheer force shattered the seal on the tower doors.
Rushing outside to check on the combatants, Riku and Kairi were astounded to find that both their friend and the stranger had been blown to opposite sides of the courtyard.
"Ngh," Sora grunted as he staggered to his feet. "That was intense!"
Kairi gasped, staring at the center of the battlefield. "Sora, Riku, look!"
Revolving slowly in the air where she pointed was an impressive-looking sword, seemingly having two intercrossed Kingdom Key Keyblades as guards, with a more conventional blade extending from the point of intersection. Everything about the lower half of the Keys was fused, including the Keychain, whose token depicted crossed Keyblades. While it hung in the air there, it gave off a powerful aura, as if it possessed enough power to cause untold destruction in a single swing. Without warning, however, the glowing weapon began to deteriorate, ultimately splitting back into its component parts, the Wayward Wind and the Void Gear Keyblades, each flying back to its wielder.
Sora, having long favored using the Keyblade as a sort of boomerang for long-range attacks, deftly caught the blade by the handle as if it were nothing. In yet another burst of light, the blade once again transformed into the Kingdom Key.
Rising from where it had fallen, the mysterious figure rose and grabbed the Void Gear as it flew towards it. Almost immediately afterward, however, the figure knelt, stabbing the blade into the ground. With a sound like a gust of wind, a cloud of darkness flew away from the figure and the Keyblade like dust in the wind, revealing Mei and her Keyblade. Waiting a few seconds for Mei to finish gasping for air, the trio approached her.
"You alright?" asked Sora.
"Y-Yeah," muttered the raven-haired girl. "Sorry about that, I dunno what that wa—"
"Don't worry about it," replied Sora reassuringly. "Possession, right? It happens. Riku here got possessed himself just a year ago!"
"Don't remind me," the older boy grumbled.
"All kinds of things happened last year, didn't they?" noted Kairi.
Struggling to her feet, Mei stumbled forward.
Steadying her, Sora admonished her, "Hey, be careful. You could get hurt." After making sure the girl was alright, he cast Cure on them both, healing their wounds.
"You….You know magic?" asked Mei.
"Sure do!" replied Sora."I know a lot of spells….Most of them are offensive though."
"Haha, same here," Mei said, smiling. Maybe getting used to her new situation wouldn't be such a big deal, after all.
"We're going up to see Yen Sid," Sora continued. "You wanna come with us?"
"Sora," Riku warned, "She's not one of us. How do you know we can trust her?"
"Well, Riku, she only attacked after being possessed. By your logic, why should we trust you?"
"Th-that's different," he muttered.
"It's alright," Mei butted in.
"I'm used to being alone. You guys don't need to fight over me; I'll be fine by myself."
"But—" Sora began.
"You heard her," Riku said, cutting him off. "I still don't trust her."
Kairi, who hadn't said a word during that exchange, finally spoke up. "Riku," she said, "I'm not sensing any evil from her anymore. Do you?"
"Well…No," replied the silver-haired youth begrudgingly.
"If neither of us can sense anything—"
"It's not that simple," he replied, "What if whatever possessed her hid deep inside, too deep for us to sense?"
"Riku, really," Kairi replied in a warning tone.
"I get it," Sora said, a mischievous grin on his face. "Riku, it's because you like her, isn't it?"
"Wh-What'd you say?"
"Ah, I see," said Kairi, playing along, "You're trying to make it look like you're not too eager to have her around, right?
"Wrong!" Riku shouted, though it was clear they were touching a nerve."Oh, alright, she can come along! But I'm keeping an eye on her!"
"Hey, that'd better be the only part of you that you 'keep on her' in front of me, big guy," Kairi teased.
"Grr," Riku growled, "You guys are impossible!"
"Um," interjected Mei, "Are you guys always like this or something?"
"Yep, pretty much," Sora said cheerfully.
"We're just playing around, though, so don't worry too much about it!" Kairi said, grinning.
"Remind me why I hang out with you two again…?" asked Riku exasperatedly as they made their way to the tower staircase.
"Aw, don't be like that!" said Sora.
Mei couldn't help but smile at the humorous display, but she was also left wondering- did Riku have feelings for her? As she didn't know anything about him, she couldn't know for sure, but something about the way he was reacting to their teasing made her wonder.
As they finally reached Yen Sid's chamber at the top of the tower, the group was surrounded by Heartless.
"Sora…?" Kairi asked, clearly unsure of what was going on.
"Don't worry, this always happens," the boy replied self-assuredly.
"Whenever Donald, Goofy and I used to come here, Heartless would just pop out, like they are now. We just have to beat 'em up and move on, that's all!"
"Oh really?" Riku asked sarcastically as he blasted dark fireballs at several of the creatures.
"Hey," Mei said, doing the same,"How come your flames look like mine, when your friend is using different ones?" As she asked, she motioned towards Sora with her free hand to indicate who she was talking about.
"Dunno," Riku replied, slashing more of the monsters, "Maybe you only learn the dark versions of spells growing up in the Realm of Darkness, because that's what I was using." Calling down lightning to strike most of the remaining abominations, Mei simply nodded.
Concerned, Sora briefly looked over at Kairi. She had been training vigorously ever since receiving her own Keyblade, but she still didn't have much experience in battle. However, much to his relief, she seemed to be doing well….For a rookie, anyway.
Eventually, the pack of Heartless was eliminated and the chamber doors opened. Walking in, the teens immediately realized the room was completely deserted, save for a few motes of dust.
"Let me get this straight," Riku said, "Yen Sid is supposed to be here, but he's suddenly a no-show? What gives?"
"I….I dunno," Sora said, looking perplexed.
Noticing a crystal ball sitting on a stand atop the desk, Mei quietly approached it as her companions discussed the sorcerer's possible whereabouts.
"Maybe he's hiding from some enemy?" Kairi asked.
"Way to be pessimistic, Kai," Riku teased.
"Come on," she whined, "I'm just trying to be helpful!"
"Guys, stop," Sora chided, "Now's not the time."
"Uh, guys?" Mei addressed them, "What's with this ball?"
Gathering around it, all four friends peered inside.
Riku was the first to speak. "Sora, isn't that—"
"Hollow Bast- er, I mean Radiant Garden, yeah," Sora replied. Within the globe floated scenes of a world familiar to the Destiny Islands trio, for they, especially Sora, had been there numerous times. The first time, the world had fallen to the forces of darkness, re-christened "Hollow Bastion" by the resident villain, the evil sorceress Maleficent. However, once Sora restored the worlds at the end of his first adventure, the world had eventually returned to using its old, true name: Radiant Garden.
"That's where most of your other friends live, right Sora? The ones you met on your adventures?" asked Kairi.
"Yep," the boy replied, "But why is this ball showing us that world?"
"Maybe this 'Yen Sid' guy is there right now?" asked Mei.
"After all, any decent magic-user can use a teleportation spell." When the others gave her a blank stare, the raven-haired girl blushed. "Um…I guess not?"
"That gives me an idea, though," Kairi said.
"Hang on." Opening her sketchpad, she began to run a few calculations.
Looking over her shoulder, Sora whistled. "Man, Kairi….What're all those?"
"Just your standard probability calculations," she said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Just to see exactly how likely it is that he went there."
"Do you even have enough data?" Mei asked. "What are the other options?"
"For now I'm limiting the options to him teleporting there, hiding somewhere out of sight around here, or concealing himself to hide from an enemy," Kairi stated, "As those three are the most likely to be true."
As the girls discussed their calculations, the boys quickly grew bored and began to search around for clues to aid in the investigation.
"Hey," called Sora, pointing out a model civilization situated on a table in a corner of the room, "Look at this! It's like a tiny world!"
Merely granting him a quick glance, Riku admonished him, "It probably is, if this guy is as good as you say. I wouldn't touch that if I were you." Noticing a scrap of paper on the desk, Riku picked it up. In hasty scribbles, it said, "Dark anomaly in Radiant Garden. Must investigate further." "Hey guys," Riku called, "I think it's pretty safe to assume he did go to this Radiant Garden. Take a look at this!"
Giving the note a once-over, Sora nodded, saying, "Yeah, as best I can tell, that's his handwriting…..I guess we'd better get there quick!" As if on command, the image in the crystal shifted to that of a keyhole. "Whoa," Sora breathed. "Do ya think….?"
"Do it," confirmed Riku. Raising his Keyblade to point at the keyhole, Sora unleashed the magic beam that allowed the weapon to unseal any lock.
CLICK.
At that, the transparent sphere morphed into yet another portal, which immediately sucked all four of them in. With a crash, they managed to land in the courtyard of Maleficent's ruined castle.
"Ugh," groaned Sora, holding his head, "Is everyone okay?"
"Y-yeah," Kairi replied shakily.
"Kuh," Riku grunted as he rolled his shoulder."That was a little rough, but it looks like we all made it."
"Guys, look!" Mei shouted, pointing a short distance off to their side. What had originally seemed like empty space had turned out to be some sort of odd spatial distortion. When the group went over to investigate, Mei immediately summoned her Keyblade without warning. Ignoring the shocked expressions of her new friends, Mei walked toward the anomaly, Keyblade extended.
"Is…Is she in another trance…?" Kairi whispered.
However, neither of the boys had time to reply, for in the next instant, Mei's Keyblade had "unlocked" the distortion as Sora's had unlocked the crystal ball portal back at the tower. Stepping out of the resulting portal, a Corridor of Darkness, came a most unexpected figure- Aqua.
Stepping forward hesitantly, as if afraid to leave the Realm of Darkness, she gingerly left the portal. As she was stranded in the deepest darkness for so long, she was afraid that her very Realm might reject her, though thankfully, it did not. Squinting in the bright noonday sun, the young warrior caught sight of her old student almost immediately.
"M….Mei?" she exclaimed.
"Sis…?" came the reply.
At this, the two girls ran at each other and embraced, finally having been reunited after so long.
"Oh, I missed you so much!" cried Aqua. Mei didn't answer verbally. She was too busy trying not to completely break down in front of her new companions, as that would've been needlessly embarrassing. Her tears could wait for later; while she was overjoyed to see her adopted sister again, she was concerned by both the fact that the portal remained open, and the fact that they had yet to lay eyes on the mysterious sorcerer whose note had led them there.
Noticing Mei's unwavering gaze at the portal, Aqua began to wave at it with the hand that wasn't busy mopping up tears, as if beckoning someone out. "Hey," she called, "Come on! It's great out here!" At this, a hooded figure in a black cloak stepped out, triggering the immediate dissolution of the Corridor.
All of a sudden, Sora flew into a rage. "What the….? The Organization? I thought we wiped you guys out a long time ago!" Summoning his Keyblade, he dropped into a battle stance.
The figure, however, merely raised one hand in a placating manner and doffed his hood with the other. His face, once revealed, was shown to be that of an elderly man, with moderately long, faded blond hair and a beard of the same color, framing tanned skin, golden eyes, and stern features.
"A-Ansem the Wise?" Sora gasped as he broke his stance in shock. "What're you doing on the other side of that Corridor? How were you even in the Realm of Darkness? How'd you even survive that explosion?"
"'Explosion'?" Aqua asked credulously, a quizzical look on her face.
"Yeah!" Sora replied, "Toward the end of my- er, our last adventure, this bad group called 'Organization XIII' created an artificial Kingdom Hearts—"
"Kingdom Hearts….As in the Kingdom Hearts? The Heart of All Worlds?"
"Er, no," replied the bearded man, "This Kingdom Hearts was formed of human hearts, those freed from the Heartless by the Keyblade."
"I see," replied Aqua, "And?"
"And Ansem here tried to use a machine to vacuum up as many hearts as he could—"
"In the hopes of turning them into data inaccessible to those fiends," added Ansem. "Er, right. Anyway, the thing blew up and took him with it! So how did you survive?"
"I shall explain that later," Ansem said calmly. "Let us return to my castle first. This one," he said, gesturing to the ruined structure behind him, "Makes me feel…uneasy."
Just then, there was a resounding crashing sound, similar to a large bomb going off.
"What was that?" Sora asked to no one in particular.
"Dunno," replied Aqua blithely, "But maybe it's time to see what you rookies have to fight these days!"
As she raced off towards the source of the din, Sora fixed Mei with a disdainful look. "Rookies? Did she seriously just call us 'rookies'?"
"Hey, don't look at me like that," the crimson-eyed girl retorted, "And plus, she's got every right. She's been using Keyblades longer than any of us. She even taught me everything I know."
As his new friend sped off to catch up with her "sister", Sora sighed. "Well, guess we got no choice but to show 'em what we got, right?" he said as he himself began to run.
Ansem was the only one not to move from that spot. As a cool breeze began to blow, he closed his eyes and uttered only one thing:
"It begins."
Ansem's always been a little bit shady, but what's up with that line? And how did a portal to where he and Aqua were just appear? What the heck happened to Yen Sid, anyway? Come back next time to find out! (And leave a review while you're at it...It might be awhile until my next release.