The three teenagers sat inside the Gummi Ship as it flew through the empty space on autopilot. Sora sat in his chair, eyes glued to the floor. Kairi's arm was around his shoulder in a comforting gesture. Sora was usually optimistic and she expected him to have positive thoughts about this, like he usually did. The difference of this situation was that his positive nature came greatly from Donald and Goofy. How could he cheer up when the ones who gave him that optimism were missing?
Kairi shook Sora gently to get his attention. "Those two are very strong, Sora. If anything bad had happened to them, they'd know how to handle it."
"Thanks..." Sora replied with a weak smile. "I'll try to cheer up, but I won't be able to rest until I know what happened to them." He flexed his fingers placing his right palm down on his lap. It reminded him of when he and his two missing friends would circle around and form their hands in the center of that circle. All for one and one for all, he sounded in his mind.
Riku stepped casually over beside his friends. "We're almost there," he announced.
Sora was out of his seat almost immediately. He peered out the window, trying to get a glimpse of Radiant Garden. If anything could illuminate him in such a time, seeing his friends in this world could be exactly what he needed.
"Approaching destination," the ship's computer informed, though it was unnecessary. As the trio stood, they could easily see it through the windshield on their ship. Looking out the windshield, they saw Radiant Garden, a place that had been home to many of Sora's old friends before Maleficent had conquered it. Now they had taken it back and it was looking to be in very good shape so far.
Sora remembered the time where he had been the 'key' that Donald and Goofy needed to find, while at the same time Mickey had been nowhere to be found. Now the roles had been changed up. Sora was the one searching, these people known as the Elements were now the 'key', and Donald and Goofy were now missing in action. Sora took his new role seriously and would not give up until he had found all of them and saved the universe once again.
The ship rumbled a little bit as it entered the world's atmosphere, starting its landing sequence. Many clouds passed directly over the ship as it gently took itself down. When land had revealed itself, the three Keybearers could see that a landing platform had been established near the outskirts of the town. The trio walked towards the door in preparation.
The landing area was not elaborate, instead just an open space designated with a sign. The ship whirred for a bit until it was quite, setting down gently upon the ground. Once the ramp was done, Sora stepped outside and headed for the entrance to town, Riku and Kairi following. He spotted shops he had used before, such as the items shop, but now it had expanded. A few residents of Radiant Garden were walking the town in the area and a few more shops had been set up. Sora spotted one in particular, a shop that had a large ornament in the likeness of sea-salt ice cream.
"Hey!" Sora called. He picked up the pace, running towards the shop. He had spotted a familiar figure in front of it whom he knew was the owner: Scrooge McDuck was standing proudly in front of the shop, eyeing the shop with great pride. Sora ran faster. "Scrooge!"
Scrooge stopped licking his ice cream to look, jumping up in surprise. "Sora, me lad!" He waved as Sora and his friends ran up to him. "Nice to be seeing you, again!"
"Great to see you too, Scrooge!" Sora greeted. Scrooge nodded, then looked up at Sora. His head tilted to the right and the left, looking upon Riku and Kairi. "Oh, right!" Sora held his hand out before them. "These are my friends, Riku and Kairi. Guys, this is Scrooge McDuck."
Riku nodded, reaching down to shake Scrooge's hand. "Hey there."
Kairi crouched a little to make better eye contact with him. "Nice to meet you, Mr. McDuck."
"The pleasure be all mine, lass," Scrooge replied, holding out his hand for her. She held out her own and they shook. "It is an honor to meet a Princess of Heart such as yourself."
"So you finally got your ice cream shop up?" Sora observed, pointing to the vendor.
"That I did, my boy!" Scrooge declared proudly. "After perfecting the recipe, I knew I had to get on the market quick!" He stood on the toes of his webbed feet. "Any chance you three would like to be my first customers?"
"I like the sound of that," Riku replied. "How much?"
Without another word, Scrooge hopped into the air and vaulted in through the window of the vender, going behind the counter and digging beneath the counter. A moment later, he came out with three sea-salt ice cream bars. "Here you are. As my first customers, I'm putting them on the house!"
Kairi took one. "Wow...thank you!" She smiled and looked over the ice cream bar she had been given. She gave it a lick and sampled its flavor. She blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Is it supposed to be salty?"
"Yeah," Riku replied. "It gets sweet after you've been eating for a little bit." He took a few licks of his own, sighing happily when the flavor hit. "Ahh...that's good." Kairi, curious, took another lick. After a few seconds, her face lit up as her taste buds finally realized the sweetness of the treat. She eagerly took a small bite from it. Sora lifted his own up, licking his lips.
"Take a bite already! I haven't had one of these in forever!"
Sora gasped softly at the voice he had heard in his head, but calmed after a moment. It had just been Roxas. With a small chuckle, he took a bite. The salty flavor settled in for a bit, but soon gave way to a very sweet taste. The three friends smiled widely as they enjoyed their treats, finishing them a few minutes later.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Scrooge brought up as they finished. "The others are lookin' for you three. You'd better get down to Merlin's house!"
"Oh?" Sora halted his ice cream where it was and nodded. "Alright. We'd better get going, then." Sora motioned to his friend's. "Follow me. Merlin's isn't far."
Staircases and squares of cement led them down to the lower ground of the town. Upon that, they traversed under a bridge that, since Sora's last visit, had been touched up. The stone was no longer cracked and it was filled with fresh cement. Turning left, they rounded a corner to enter a small courtyard. Right in front of them was a small building looking very much like a house. It looked ordinary, but Sora knew that it housed an extraordinary being.
Riku took a look over the house, then took a deep breath. It did not go unnoticed by Kairi. "Nervous?"
"Nah," Riku replied. "I just feel out of place. I spent a lot of time sneaking around these past few months. Operating openly will be a change, to say the least."
"Relax, Riku," Sora answered. "These guys are great." He confidently knocked upon the door a few times, upon which it swung opened. A girl with short black hair was behind it. She wore a black band wrapped around her head and had skinny grey boots going just above her calves. A black shirt with white flowers covered most of her torso and she wore a black vest lined with grey, as well as zippers.
"Oh!" She smiled widely. "Welcome back, Key-boy!" She lifted her hand in front of Sora. With a smile, Sora proceeded to give her a high-five. "And Kairi! I haven't seen you in forever. You've grown a lot since then."
"Thanks, Yuffie!" Kairi replied, giving her fellow woman a hug. "You've changed a lot too. I like it!"
"I like your changes too," Yuffie answered. "Sora didn't tell me you'd gotten so pretty in the meantime."
Sora's cheeks reddened a bit. "Well, er...I haven't seen her in a while...so I wouldn't know, you know?"
Yuffie chuckled at his rosy cheeks. "Well, everyone can see that you're thinking it." She called inside. "Hey, everybody! Sora's here!"
Sora quickly stepped into the house to stop any further inquiry about his rosy cheeks. "Hey there," he greeted.
The first figure, a blonde-haired man in a white T-shirt and jeans spun his seat at a computer with a large screen to face them. "Wassup, kids? Sorry we forgot to roll out a red carpet."
"Nice to see you too, Gramps," Sora retaliated. Cid grumbled a little at that chosen nickname and fell silent.
Meanwhile, the second girl was a tall woman with brown hair. She had a pigtail in the back, tied with a pink ribbon, and wore brown boots. She clasped her hands together as she approached. "Welcome back, Sora."
"Thanks, Aerith," Sora answered. He saw Aerith look to Kairi and nod. Her gaze fell upon Riku and her head tilted a little bit. "Oh, right," Sora remembered. "Everyone, this is my friend, Riku."
"Riku?" Yuffie repeated. "Isn't that the name of that friend of yours that turned evil and sided with Malefi-" She paused abruptly when she saw inhaling deeply. "Er..." She hopped in front of him, smiling wider than normal. "It's nice to meet you!"
"Yeah..." Riku skeptically said in return. "Right."
"Now, don't be like that," Yuffie insisted. "You're not evil anymore, after all!"
"That don't make up for what he's done, though," Cid reminded, standing up and walking over. "Lemme ask ya this, you little punk: Did you destroy anyone or anything while you were sided with all them people?"
Riku grumbled at the thoughts that were resurfacing in his mind, but he pushed them back. "Not that I can think of..." Then he shook his head in finality. "Except some Heartless and property of the people I worked with...nothing."
Cid's expression loosened up and he smiled. "Then I'm thinking we'll let that one slide, m'kay?" He took hold of Riku's hand and shook it. "Cid Highwind. Glad to meet you, Riku."
"Yuffie Kisaragi," Yuffie greeted again. "But you can call me the Great Ninja Yuffie!"
"I'll stick with 'Yuffie', if that's okay," Riku answered, accepting her handshake this time. His scowl had vanished, at least.
"I'm Aerith Gainsborough." Aerith stepped up to Riku and bowed gently before him.
Riku was slightly surprised by this gesture, but decided it respectful to bow in return. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."
Among the reunions, Sora noticed a few people absent, namely the owner of the house. "Where's Merlin?" Sora asked. "I would think he'd-" A POOF of white smoke detonated behind Sora, startling the Keybearer and causing him to turn around. The smoke cleared and revealed the wizard clad in blue robes and a hat, Merlin.
"Oh, not to worry," he spoke. "I'm right here. I had a feeling you'd be around soon. Welcome, Sora, Kairi, and...er..." He raised his eyebrow at the third in Sora's group o friends. "Oh, and you must be Riku. Delighted to meet you, lad!"
"Good to meet you too, Merlin," Riku answered.
"Yes, yes, right," Merlin agreed, nodding. He cleared his throat a bit. "Now why did I come here again? Leon had a message of some sorts. For the life of me, I forgot what it was."
Yuffie and Cid each let out a long sigh, very accustomed and very annoyed of this quirk of the wizard.
"Oh, that's right!" Merlin declared. "Leon wanted to see you all. He is busy with work in Ansem's office, so you'll have to go to him."
"Haven't heard that one before," Yuffie grumbled. "If you want anything done, you have to go to that office. It's like Leon lives there now."
"He has important duties, Yuffie," Aerith reminded gently. "He needs to oversee the things going on in town. That's a lot of responsibilities to take care of. It's because of his work that we no longer have a Heartless problem in the town."
"No Heartless problem?" Riku echoed. "You've gotten rid of the Heartless?"
Aerith nodded. "A few still linger here and there. But they get taken care of as soon as we detect them."
"Nobodies too?" Sora asked hopefully. Aerith nodded with a smile. "That's great!"
"Guess this means you get a bit of a break from bein' a hero, eh?" Cid mused. "You're welcome."
Sora nodded to Cid in return. "I guess there's nothing left but to go see Leon."
"I'll go with you!" Yuffie declared excitedly. "Waiting for you is all I've had to do today. I want to be where it's all happening." She dashed past them and flung open the door, running outside. "Might wanna hurry, though," she warned. "It's looking real cloudy all of a sudden!"
Sora peeked out the door. The dawn-colored hue of Radiant Garden's sky had been replaced with dark clouds, like that of a heavy rainstorm. "Guys?" He spoke to Sora and Kairi, keeping quiet. "You remember what Mickey said about-"
"Yeah," Riku interrupted. "A large storm gathering. It wasn't dark outside when we entered, so this is way too sudden to be a coincidence."
"One of the Elements is here," Kairi affirmed.
"No time to chat, you three!" Yuffie called from several feet away. "Let's get a move on!"
The trip to Ansem's office took them through the bailey, which had been touched up from the many brawls that had taken place here. Trailing down, the stairs had been reconstructed since his last visit so that they could actually be descended by the group of four rather than requiring them to jump down. Sora remained tense throughout the trip. The grey clouds were too reminiscent of the ones in his vision for his own good.
They got to the postern, then took the trip down the spiraling staircase that led to the entrance of the corridors inside the headquarters. When they had turned their first corner, the problem of several pathways presented itself.
"Ugh!" Yuffie grumbled. "I'll never get used to this place being a maze. It makes doing business around here too complicated."
"Maybe a map would help," Kairi suggested.
Before the point could be argued further, Riku, Yuffie, and Kairi heard a computerized voice speaking. "Take a right on this hallway."
Sora stepped forward, following the direction of a small, rectangular screen device that rested in his left hand. "Thanks, Jamie."
"You're welcome, Sora," it spoke back.
"We need to take a right," Sora informed. "Let's go." After a few seconds of hearing only his steps, he turned around to see the odd looks he was getting from his friends. Kairi's in particular seemed to be quite irritated. "Oh, this? Chip and Dale took all of my world maps and programmed them into this device."
"Why is it called Jamie?" Kairi asked, her eyebrows furrowing a tiny bit.
Sora backed away, a little nervous. "Chip and Dale named her that before they gave it to me. I just knew we'd get lost here, so she's helping us a lot."
"She?" Kairi asked in shock.
Sora, not being very discrete, stepped quickly to get ahead of the group, following his electronic map. There were three turns, two rights and a left, before there were on a path that only had one way to go: the right way. Another left turn took them towards the wooden door of the office. Opening it up slowly, they took a look inside. Sora had seen the office before. Ansem's research, scribblings, and other such things had been left on papers strewn about the office and even written on the walls. Now all of those things had been tossed out, leaving few traces of the original setup, save for the desk and the picture of Ansem the Wise on the wall.
"Talk about an overhaul," Sora observed. The office was now much more organized, actually having an overall sense of neatness to it.
"Yup," Yuffie agreed. "We decided this place needed a bit of TLC once the bit of action you guys brought about had subsided. It was mostly Leon, though. This place is not really Ansem's anymore."
"Can you blame me?" The door frame through which they had come into the office was now blocked by a man. He still had long brown shaggy hair, the scar across his right eye. He wore a fur-trimmed black vest over a plain white t-shirt. An eagle symbol on the side of the vest matched the emblem he wore as a necklace. "I work best when the space feels like it's mine."
"Leon!" Sora greeted, stepping up to his old friend. Humoring the boy, Leon held out a hand, which Sora slapped happily.
"Welcome to the new Radiant Garden, Sora," Leon said. He gestured to his friends. "Kairi and Riku, right?" The two Keybearers nodded. "Thought so. Glad to see you guys here as well."
Leon walked behind the desk and casually pulled out the chair and sat in it. "So what brings you guys here?" He propped his feet up, sighing gently in satisfaction. "I'm guessing you are here because of something, right?"
Sora, Riku, and Kairi exchanged glances for a bit, mostly with Riku and Kairi looking to Sora for confirmation. After a second, Sora decided that he would speak. With a nod, he began. "Leon, if we tell you, I need you to keep it a secret, just for a little bit. We don't want anybody freaking out."
Leon was about to answer when Yuffie jumped up beside him, placing her arm around him and saluting Sora and his friends. "No worries, Sora! We can keep a secret!"
Leon pulled his feet from on top of the desk and lifted Yuffie's arm from his shoulders. "You won't be keeping the secret, Yuffie. I'm asking you to leave for this."
"What do you mean?" Yuffie leaned in closer to Leon, putting on a pleading expression. "C'mon, Leon! Please? Please? Pleeeeeaaaase? I won't tell anyone, I swear!" She leaned in closer with each word she spoke.
"Yuffie, I have my reasons," Leon replied. "The last time I made you swear not to tell something, you told a ton of people my real name."
"That was different!" Yuffie insisted fiercely. "That was just something that was funny to me! I can tell that this is really serious and I would never break a serious promise like that. Please, Leon, just gimme a chance!"
Leon inhaled deeply, then sighed to the same extent. "Fine, you can stay and listen." He gestured to Sora. "Well, we're waiting. You might as well start."
Sora spent the next few minutes relaying his vision to them. He proceeded on with the departure from the islands, the new enemies, and the prophecy about the Elements.
Leon and Yuffie were speechless for a moment. Leon was very stoic while Yuffie's eyes were very wide and her mouth hung open a little bit.
"So let me guess," Leon began, standing up. "The dark grey clouds out there either mean that Radiant Garden is in danger again or that one of the Elements is here?" Sora nodded to confirm it. More silence followed until-
"Leon!" A voice, the sound of a young man, sounded from a communicator on Leon's desk, a circular device. "Come in, Leon!"
Leon took it up and pressed the button that allowed his voice to be heard on the other end. "What's going on?"
"Heartless everywhere! They just appeared without much warning. Hurry here! We can't hold them by ourselves for long!"
"Right!" Leon shut off the device and put it in his pocket. From beneath the desk, he drew his Gunblade. "Let's go!" he urged.
As they ran behind Leon, Sora feared he'd get left behind trying to fumble for Jamie, his GPS. Then again, he had forgotten to count on the fact that Leon lived in Radiant Garden. He knew the way like no other. They dashed up the stairs and reached the postern. The clouds had darkened even more, leaving a great shadow over the world. A clap of thunder sounded, followed by more of the lightning that had crossed the sky before they had come outside. This lightning created more thunder and before long, rain began to pour down.
Before they could calm down and be relieved by the fact that it was just a storm, a darker shadow began to cover them. It gave way to several portals upon the ground. Forty Heartless, Shadows and Soldiers, pulled their way out of them and stood in the path of the five warriors.
"This is bad," Leon said,. "The system can't handle such an excessive amount in one area." Sora, Riku, and Kairi summoned their Keyblades. Yuffie pulled out a few small shuriken. Moments later, a flash of black seemed to pierce the air. As it came a by, a burst of indigo energy was blasted in the center of the Heartless crowd. A large explosion of fire followed, terminating most of them and severely burning the others.
"Holy-!" Riku exclaimed, stepping back. "What just happened?"
"That was so fast," Kairi gasped. "I barely saw it!"
Without taking another hint, Sora hurled his Keyblade forward into the crowd of burning Heartless. It resulted in a boomerang effect that took down whatever Heartless that barely survived the blast. After they had withered and faded back into darkness, a creature soared above them. It flew for some distance before turning around and diving towards them.
"It's coming for us!" Sora realized, holding up his Keyblade.
"No!" Leon snapped. "It's okay. He's on our side."
The creature landed before them, slowing its pace just before it got to the ground. For the first time, the Keybearers could see it close enough to realize that it was, shockingly enough, a dragon. It was pretty large, almost dinosaur-like. Dismounting it was a boy with shaggy brown hair. He had a green shirt with a brown leather vest and torn blue pants. The thing that caught their attention was his left foot. It was made of metal and fabric, attached to his leg.
"You can't hold out much longer, huh?" Leon lowered his sword and relaxed a bit. "Good job, Hiccup."
"Thanks, Leon," the boy answered, dismounting the dragon. The dragon blinked a few times. It had wide green eyes with a large black iris in each one. Its gaze fell upon the Keybearers and it opened its eyes wider. After some intense staring, it darted at Sora. Sora was heavily startled and backed up. The boy, Hiccup, followed the dragon quickly and took hold of reins that had been tied to its back.
"Whoa, whoa! Easy, buddy," he said, calming the creature. "You're Sora, right?" Sora nodded to confirm. "I'm Hiccup. This is my Night Fury, Toothless."
"Toothless?" Kairi echoed. "Why is that?" In response, Toothless opened his mouth, revealing no teeth. "Oh, should have guessed. That makes-" She yelped a little bit when several razor sharp teeth emerged suddenly from Toothless' gums. Kairi shook a little bit. "N-n-nice dragon..." She reached out her hand slowly. Toothless perked up his ears and stepped forward, rubbing his nose against her hand. Kairi smiled a bit. "You like this, I see," she giggled, petting the dragon more comfortably now. "Aww! He's kind of cute!"
"What's happening, Hiccup?" Yuffie asked, putting away her shuriken. "You sounded overwhelmed a few minutes ago."
"I can't really explain it," Hiccup replied. "It's so weird. We were on patrol and everything was fine. The next second: BOOM! Heartless are coming from everywhere. It doesn't make sense!"
"We can't figure it out either," Leon informed. "Look, we need to move forward. Can you and Toothless fly ahead and be sure our path is cleared?"
"Sure thing!" Hiccup stepped beside Toothless and placed one foot inside a stirrup, a piece of a saddle strapped to the dragon's back before pulling himself up and getting secure. "Let's go!" he ordered and Toothless quickly took to the skies again.
They made it as far as the bailey before they had to stop to defend themselves. Looking up, they could vaguely make out Toothless and Hiccup, surrounded by Wyverns and Sky Soldiers. No air protection meant they were on their own.
Leon pounded two in a row, becoming angered pretty quickly. "I don't have time to deal with you anymore!" he bellowed as he cut down the Heartless.
Kairi, the least inexperienced of the fighters, felt overwhelmed very quickly by the Armored Knights. They circled quickly around the group. They were fast enough that she had a hard time keeping sane. This was her first fight. "Stay still!" she demanded, swinging at one and missing.
"Keep it together, Kairi!" Riku urged.
"I'm trying!" Kairi backed away from the advancing creatures. "But there's so many!"
"Keep your ground!" Sora shot a Fire spell at one of them. "They're scared of you, remember? You're a Princess of Heart with a Keyblade. Double trouble for them!"
"R-really?" Kairi replied, feeling her strength increase a little. "You think so?"
"I know you can," Sora reassured. "You have to make it happen!"
Kairi held up her Keyblade. "Right!" Confident, she burst forward. "Eat this!" she cried at the Heartless. She swung at one of them, which hit back at her Keyblade with its own sword. The two collided and Kairi felt the impact through her body. "Ahh!" She winced, trying to stay firm. She swung upwards, reversing her swing. It made a cut in the Heartless' armor. Seeing that she had done something, she cheered and made another strike, even more powerful. This one eradicated the Heartless and sent the heart floating to the sky.
Kairi blinked several times. Then she laughed in triumph. "Guys, I did it!"
"Great job, Kairi!" Riku congratulated.
"Yeah, splendid," Leon quipped blandly. "But we have about fifteen more to take care of!"
"We can get them," Sora promised. "Leon! Riku! Let's create an explosion."
The two other warriors took Sora's cue, followed shortly by Kairi. The men cut a path through the Heartless to get through as Kairi followed. She cut down another Heartless on her way out. Riku, Sora, and Leon formed a horizontal line facing the Heartless. Sora and Leon held out their weapons while Riku drew his hand in, gathering in dark energy.
"Ready?" Riku called.
"Yeah!" Sora and Leon's weapons glowed orange, burning with flame. The Heartless gathered into a formation and marched towards the group.
"FIRE!" Leon bellowed. Fire belted from his Gunblade and Sora's Keyblade. From Riku's hand, a Dark Firaga was blasted. Leon aimed straight for the Heartless. Sora and Riku shot at an angle, but towards the same targets. The three blasts collided in front of them and expanded into a larger blast, enveloping the Heartless and created a bright flash of light. Kairi covered her eyes. Sora and Riku looked away. Leon just stood very still with his eyes shut.
It was several moments before Leon decided to open his eyes. "It's clear," he informed. The three Keybearers squinted, then opened their eyes further. Seeing that the Heartless had all vanished amongst the small burning flames that remained of the blast that Leon had teamed up with Sora and Riku to create.
"Whoa..." Kairi gasped. "I knew you guys were powerful, but that was incredible."
"That was nothing, Kairi," Riku boasted proudly. "We only took care of about twenty Heartless here."
"And there's probably more," Leon reminded. He put his fingers to his chin in thought. "But what the heck could've brought them here?"
The thought was present in Sora's mind very quickly. One of the Elements is here, he thought. Which could mean that some force of darkness is trying to- Sora was struck with an epiphany and gasped. "Maleficent!"
"Maleficent?" the others repeated.
Riku clenched his fist a bit. "You think it's her?"
"I'm almost completely sure," Sora declared. "One of the Elements is here for sure. I'm sure Maleficent would be interested in recruiting them."
"Where do we start looking?" Kairi asked.
"Follow the storm," Sora answered. "At the place where it's the strongest, we'll find what we're looking for." He advanced onward from the bailey and peered over the edge of the rocky terrain, down towards the castle gates, the area where he had faced and destroyed the Nobody Demyx not long ago. The scattered tiles were absent now, repaired and returned to their rightful spots. The destroyed archway was now completed once again and the floor had a polished shine to it. Two beings stood upon it, one of which Sora recognized.
Uncertain circumstances surrounded a teenage boy. He had shaggy brown hair, blue eyes, a grey shirt, slightly tattered jeans, and black shoes on his feet. Standing before him was a woman that stood at a higher stature than him, at least seven feet tall. She was donned in a cloak of black with dark purple lining on the inside. Her skin was a very pale green and the wooden staff she held was topped with a green orb.
He took a step back. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice trembling.
"I'm someone who can help you, dear child," the woman spoke in a luring voice. "I know who you are and I know what has happened to you. Your world has vanished, your family and friends are gone, and your life as you know it has crumbled." She cupped her fingers beneath his chin, tilting his head to look up at her. "What if I told you I could get you everything you loved and cared for back?"
His eyes widened in longing. "You could do that?" He relaxed a bit, listening to the words of this woman. "Who are you? And why do you want to help me?"
The woman smiled as she ran her hand along the boy's face. "My name is Maleficent," she revealed. "And I want to help you because, inside you, I see great power and potential. Join me, and we can accomplish great things together." She chuckled sweetly at him. "What's more, we've just met and I already feel a connection between us, like a mother to her son."
The boy lifted his hand carefully to touch the one on his face, feeling the skin of Maleficent. As he did so, another boy's voice sounded in the area.
"What's this, Mom?" Maleficent whirled around to see a silver-haired teenager landing upon the ground and walking towards her. "Trying to find a replacement for your old son?" He smirked widely and laughed. "I knew you never really loved me."
"Riku!" Maleficent snarled. "You're a fool to face me now."
"I guess so," Riku answered dimly, sighing deeply. "Wish I had backup." On cue, three more figures, two boys and a girl, hopped down from a ledge and landed beside Riku. "Oh, wait a second: I do!"
The first boy beside Riku had very spiky hair and a black outfit clad with many zippers and pockets, as well as very large shoes. The girl had red hair with a pink outfit, wearing just as determined a look as her friends. The last was a taller individual that looked more serious and grown-up than the others.
Sora and his friends looked over the boy that Maleficent stood in front of. His hair was a shaggy brown and he had greyish-blue eyes. He wore some tattered clothing, a grey shirt with torn pants. There was a black wristband worn on his right arm. But a key feature caught Sora's attention and that was a necklace around the boy's neck, in the shape of a lightning bolt.
"Listen to us!" Riku urged from where he stood. "Don't listen to Maleficent! What she's trying to do to you almost destroyed me. She'll seem to help you, but you'll just be her puppet! Then she'll burn you once you aren't useful to her anymore!"
The boy's eyes widened even more and he looked up to Maleficent. She didn't falter, turning her back to the others. "See the truth, boy. Don't listen to those imbeciles! They only desire to use you for your power based on some dated belief called 'destiny'. I want you for more than your power. I am also a friend."
"She's lying! Don't listen to her" Sora yelled.
"Open your eyes, child!" Maleficent egged him on.
"Please, don't choose her!" Kairi called to the boy.
The boy looked back and forth between the two groups of people. His head started to hurt and he held onto it. "Ugh..." He seethed loudly. The pressure between the two opposing forces was causing him to become more riled up. "Stop it!" he yelled. The violent storm that raged above them became more intense. Rain began to pour down as he yelled to the sky.
Then, something else happened. His hands began to crackle. What appeared to be bolts of electricity began to form in the palm of his hands. The energy continued to form, creating an aura around his forearms as well as his hands. Rain poured down and the eyes of the boy began to glow with a bright white color.
"Yes, yes!" Maleficent cackled wildly. "Good, boy! Release your power! Let yourself reach your full potential."
The boy marched forward, heading towards Sora and his friends. He was growling audibly, powered up with electricity coursing into his being. His power had created the storm around them and now he had brought the storm into the palm of his hand. He lifted one hand and pointed it towards the Keybearers and Leon.
"No!" Sora summoned his Keyblade, preparing to defend himself.
Leon held up his Gunblade in anticipation. "Don't expect me to go easy on you, kid!" he bellowed in warning. However, neither group seemed to notice that while one hand was trained on the gang, the boy was moving his other hand to point at Maleficent. The oblivious witch cackled as he moved.
"Very good, my boy! Show those fools what power you possess!" She held out her arms in triumph. "Fulfill only your own-" Her gleeful expression vanished when she saw his hand now pointed at her. "What? What are you doing?"
The boy flung his head back and yelled to the sky. "RAAAAAAH!" The electricity was released from both of his hands. One blast of the spell aimed at each group, round and two feet in diameter. Maleficent quickly morphed into an orb of green and floated above the scene to dodge the energy headed her way. The Keybearers and Leon ran to the sides and jumped out of range. That blast made a significant amount of cracks in the stone structure behind them and the blast intended for Maleficent burst through the reconstructed archway, demolishing it once again.
By the time the flash of power had vanished and the Keybearers had recovered, Maleficent had decided to depart. Her orb was nowhere to be seen any more. In the meantime, Kairi moved her arm away from her face to catch a glimpse of the boy running away and around the corner. "He went that way!" She pointed in the direction he had gone. "Let's go!"
"Hey, guys! Up here!" Hiccup's voice sounded out loudly and Toothless dove towards the area from the air just ahead of them, coming to a stop in the middle of the now-demolished courtyard. "Hop on. I can get one of you there faster!"
"Sora, you go!" Riku suggested. "We'll meet you down there in a minute."
"Alright." Sora climbed onto Toothless' back, sitting behind Hiccup. Taking hold of one of the latches on the saddle, he secured himself. "I'm ready." Toothless reared his body up, then shot into the air quicker than Sora could've predicted and darted across the landscape of Hollow Bastion. "Whoaaa!" Sora took a tight hold of the harnesses. They held him in place, but he could feel his arms being tugged by the heavy wind created by the sheer speed of the dragon he was flying upon.
"Sorry!" Hiccup called back in apology. "Don't worry, It's a bit shocking for everybody the first time around!"
They flew over the Great Maw, a place where a massive battle had taken place only a couple of months before. The area was rocky and natural, but jagged in places where battle had tarnished it. Hiccup slowed up a little bit, gliding over the area. Once Sora got his bearings, he looked down. Ignoring the height that unnerved him a bit, he narrowed his eyes upon the terrain. Running across it was a figure that could only be the boy. "Take us down!" Sora urged.
Meanwhile, the boy was sprinting as fast as he could across the Great Maw. His breathing was heavy, more from shock than from any sort of exhaustion. Toothless let out a cry in the air before he took initiative to descend, slowly. When he neared the ground, Sora swung his leg over to the other side, then gently hopped off, aiming to land by the kid.
The boy continued to run, but he slowed up, then stopped. His fatigue was beginning to catch up with him and he needed to regain his energy. "Why is this happening to me?" He heard a small clap on the ground and he turned to see Sora. He had little energy left to run away with, so he didn't bother.
Sora was glad he wasn't running. It'd be easier to talk him down this way. "Please don't run." He took a couple of steps closer. "I just want to talk to you for a bit."
"Why are you guys after me?" the boy asked. "What is so important that you have to come after me?"
"Don't take it that way," Sora began. "I know what's-" Before he could finish, the column of green fire appeared once again. Sora called his Keyblade as Maleficent materialized before them.
Toothless remained hovering in the air, hissing loudly at the presence of Maleficent. Hiccup tensed up, preparing for the worse just in case he had to.
"Oh, lovely," Maleficent grumbled. "You're still here." She faced the boy and smiled widely. "You have an impressive power boy. But power does little without discipline." She held out her hand, coaxing the boy to her. "Come with me and I will help you."
"Leave him alone!"
Maleficent looked ahead and scowled. Kairi had called that to her, followed by Riku and Leon, both with determined looks upon their faces. Weapons were instantly drawn as they charged. "That does it!" she yelled. "Deal with this, you rotten imbeciles!" She raised her staff above her head and clutched it tightly with both hands. Closing her eyes, she focused her energy. Green flashes of darkness slowly began to gather around her person. When it had built a layer of greenish glow all around her, she opened up her eyes and cackled. "Come forth, Heartless! Attack!"
Behind her, blackness covered almost all visible ground. From them, Heartless after Heartless crawled up. Twitching in the mindless manner that they did, the Heartless ran at the group, bypassing the boy and heading straight for the Keybearers and Leon.
Sora threw his Keyblade, spinning it into the advancing army of Soldier Heartless, whose numbers were still steadily increasing. Seven were eliminated from the initial throw and three more were struck down as the Keyblade zipped back into his hand. Upon this, he retreated back to his friends, holding up his blade. "Any ideas?"
Seeing the approaching, Kairi's eyes widened heavily. "Ahh!" she screamed very audibly. She shrank, back, huddling her Keyblade close to her.
"C'mon, Kairi!" Riku yelled back, cutting three Heartless down in three quick strikes. "You've got to pull through!"
Leon leaped back. "Cover me!" he called. He held his sword firmly in his hands and focused. His muscles trembled, showing just how much he was putting into this attack. "I need a few moments to get this ready!"
"Alright. I got your back!" Sora jumped before Leon. "Reflect!" The magical barrier was placed before them, Sora holding off intruding Heartless. Before long, they tried to get around the field of energy. "Kairi! We need your help!"
Kairi shook her head. "I can't do it!" she cried, her voice trembling as she neared tears. "There's too many for me!"
"Fire!" Riku yelled, blasted a small group of Heartless from a pack that was beginning to surround him.
"You can do it, Kairi!" Sora promised. "You're a Princess of Heart. You just have to focus!"
Kairi took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She stepped forward, still shaking. "Alright...I'll...give it a try." She stared down into the face of Heartless that was circling her and she lifted her Keyblade. "Don't come any closer," she threatened. Staring the mindless creature in the face, she focused very hard. "I guess I've been so scared, I forgot who I am." She took a breath again and charged at the Heartless, who simultaneously leaped at her. Kairi's Keyblade emitted a bright light. "Take this!" She swung it at the Heartless, tearing through it without any troubles. The light didn't fade and she charged forward, swinging it again and again as her power began to emerge.
"Yeah, now you've got it!" Riku complimented. "Now- Whoa!" He ducked to avoid the pounce of a Heartless before he turned around and stabbed into it. He quickly pulled his Keyblade and swung it behind him to fend off Heartless taking his off-guard moment as an advantage. "Now can you help me out a bit?"
As the boy watched the battle unfolding, the dark creatures caught his attention. He didn't have to have intensive insight to feel the evil emanating from the creatures. Already, their presence was beginning to strengthen images in his mind that already claimed a spot at the front of his mind...
Flashback
He lurched up from his slumber when he heard screams from outside. He opened the curtains and looked outside. People were in a frenzy outside, running down the street as the wind blew pretty violently outside. With no idea what was happening, he took a look tot he sky. The clouds were more than just dark. They were pitch-black and showed heavy traces of some purple energy.
He flung open his closet and quickly threw on a shirt and jeans. He flung open his door and ran into the hallway. He went to his brother's bedroom and charged in. "Look outside, T-" He ceased speaking. The covers of the bed had been flung off and his brother wasn't there.
"What the heck is happening here?" His shock getting the better of him, he quickly ran downstairs and threw open the front door and ran into the front yard to get a look. As he looked eastward, he saw people running west. He stepped further down the road, his eyes blinking multiple times. Dark black fog was plunging from the sky and covered the area.
The sound of a scream broke him from his shock-induced trance. The fog before him had thickened. An elderly woman was running from the fog with surprising agility, but the fear she felt caused her to tremble and eventually stumble. Falling to the ground gave the fog the opportunity to loom upon her. Forming a small stream of energy, it took hold of her ankle and began to pull her away. "Someone help!"
The boy sprinted, ignoring that the fog was spreading even more and took hold of the woman's hand. "Hold on, miss!" He took a tight hold, halting the fog's efforts.
The woman's scream ceased. "Oh my god!" she whimpered, taking hold of the boy's arm. "Please, please, don't let go!"
The boy held her arm with his other hand. "I won't!"
The fog was not a trifle to fight against, though. Its catch had been halted, so it increased its hold, wrapping around the woman's legs and pulling harder.
"Help me!" the woman cried, tears starting to fly from her eyes.
"I'm not letting go!" the boy assured, but the fog's grip was strong on the woman. His muscles were aching heavily. "No..." He yelled in agony, but didn't let go. The fog seemed to let up again, but then more energy came out and snatched the woman's torso into its hold. One more forceful yank ripped the boy's hold from the woman and tugged her into the darkness.
"NOOOO!" the woman shrieked. "AAAAAGGGH!" Her screamed quickly became distant and had been totally silenced one second later. There was no sign left of her in the fog.
Now that the fog had taken the woman, it now bore down upon the boy. With no other option, he turned tail and run. He had never had such capability to run in his entire life, but he had also never faced such an unexplainable, frightening danger. Looking behind him as he ran, he could see a few others meeting the same fate as the woman. It was too unbelievable to be real. It had to be a dream...but he felt very wide awake...
He stopped, ahead of the fog by plenty, and smacked his own face very hard. "Aaah!" It hurt pretty badly, but it convinced him. "This isn't a dream..." He took up another burst of speed, running onto the park. The wind started to pick up, forcing him forward faster than he was able to control. His feet smacked against the ground and he was pushed over by his forced clumsiness, landing on the ground and being rolled forward by the wind. The fog was not far from him, only about ten yards away. The boy was too hurt to run and he closed his eyes, preparing to meet his fate.
With his eyes closed, he heard something slice through the air before him. Opening his eyes, there was a man, wearing a large red overcoat, a black shirt and jeans clothing him beneath it. His left arm was in a sling built into the overcoat, as if broken. The second arm held a sword forward. The boy saw that the fog had dispersed a little, becoming not as thick and no longer moving towards them.
He looked up at him "Who are you?" The boy asked weakly as he tried to push himself to his feet.
The man looked down upon him. "My name is Auron," he revealed. His voice was deep and level, demanding a certain aura of command on his person. He sheated his sword in a large scabbard behind his back and took hold of the boy's arm, hauling him to his feet. "Now we have to get moving. It'll be back before long."
The boy took a deep breath, nodded, and began to do as Auron said. Auron followed close by, running at the same pace without showing the same fatigue that the boy was clearly experiencing. After several seconds, he made a quick dash forward and shocked the boy by leaping into the air, landing safely on top of the roof of a house.
"What the-?" The boy ran towards the house and tried to jump up as high, but he did not possess a power to jump like that. None the less, Auron was prepared, leaning over the edge and grabbing the boy's hand when it came into range. He waited a moment, then hoisted the boy up easily.
"Auron," the boy panted, still in intense surpise. "What is happening here?"
Auron's face turned to the city and he pointed. Waves of darkness were cascading through the city. Some of them towered a hundred-foot skyscraper. Every building was damaged heavily and began to topple. People's screams echoed through the air for a moment. The next, they were silenced.
The boy's eyes felt like they'd burst from his skull if he could widen them any further than they were. "Auron, tell me what's happening!"
"It's been happening in many worlds, not just here," Auron replied. "I have seen it done. The stories of hundreds of people have come to an abrupt end."
Before further explanation, a shriek sounded. A small mass of fog was launched from the massive cloud and came down beside the two. It extended, taking form and growing yellow eyes, sharp claws, but still retaining some foggy form. Six more similar projectiles came from the sky and formed identical creatures.
"Watch yourself," Auron warned. "My sword's power takes too much power to inflicte damage on these creatures. They are made of the very fog itself." As he heard it, a static sound was made. He turned to see the boy's hands crackling with electricity.
"What the-?" The boy had noticed it as well. "What the heck is this?"
"It's exactly what we can use." Auron pointed at the creature. "Use that energy and attack!"
"How do I do that?" The boy was panicking and the creatures weren't taking their time. One of them charged at Auron. In this moment, the boy's instincts snapped into place and he thrust his arm forward. The electrical energy traveled forward and struck the fog monster that attacked. It was instantly lit brightly by the massive shock as electricity coursed through its entire body. Thrusting his other hand forward, the boy was able to electrify a second one. The first monster flared up and dissolved. The electricy from the destruction of the first creature intensified that of the second one. It spread to the third, and fourth, which stumbled into the remaining three. Before long, all seven of the creatures had been eliminated.
"Darkness or not, fog is composed of water," Auron explained. "Water conducts electricity." He turned to the boy and raised an eyebrow, opening his squinting eyes a little bit. "I didn't expect my search to yield results, but I was wrong. It looks like you are one of them."
End Of Flashback
He was pulled back into reality after hearing those words a second time in his head. The creatures had formed a pattern of marching towards the group of Keybearers, along with Leon. The boy felt a great evil from these creatures as he had from the ones he had encountered. He closed his eyes, feeling the same as he had felt in the heat of the danger that had engulfed his own world. He opened up his eyes to have them glowing with a white light. He placed his hands together, allowing more electricity to gather in between them. Once a sufficient crackling had formed, he whirled to face Maleficent.
"What do you think you're doing?" Maleficent snapped. "Think, boy! I can help you and you would dare to strike against me?"
The boy lifted his arms, letting the lightning loose. "That's right!" Maleficent threw up a barrier of her green fire, but the energy pushed through it and struck her, knocking her back to the back of her small army of Heartless.
"Gaah!" A cry of pain escaped from Maleficent. With a heavy, seething anger, she struggled to her feet. "We will meet again, boy!" she said. "This I can promise!" She plunged her staff into the ground and erupted a column of fire around herself. Her figure faded from the area, disappearing as mere streaks of darkness into the sky.
As she vanished, the portals from which the Heartless were emerging began to close up. By now, there was well near two thousand of them, with very few being destroyed at a time. The boy turned to face the Keybearers. Looking lower, he set his eyes on the army and charged.
"Wait a second!" Sora called. His call was unheeded and the boy ran ever closer.
Predicting the boy's move, Leon stepped away from the Heartless and turned to run. "I think he's about to attack. Get back, everybody!"
Kairi, still in her stride, willed her heart to feed the Keyblade more light. She released the energy at last when she swung it. A wave of light cut through four Heartless. "Now, guys!" she called to Sora and Riku before following Leon's example.
"I'm not one to run," Riku stated. He dismissed his Keyblade and fired two Dark Firagas at the advancing army. "But if this kid wants to share the job, that's fine by me."
Sora followed Riku, being the last one to retreat from the battle. Their attention, however, had been mostly shifted towards the boy and the energy he emitted. In a wave, the Heartless turned and marched towards the boy. The boy didn't falter anymore, standing confident. The Heartless at the front of the pack's center shuddered in preparation, then leaped at the boy. At the same time, the boy thrust his arm forward.
An intense light filled the area, a light that forced the eyes of Leon and the Keybearers to avert from the sight of it, clenching them tightly closed and covered them as well. A large rumble was heard before them. They couldn't see, but the sound of vanishing Heartless was traveling throughout the air, so they knew that he was doing something about it.
Daring to squint, they waited for the light to fade and took a look ahead. What was witnessed opened the eyes of everybody. They moved forward to get a closer look at what had happened.
Many of the Heartless surrounding the boy were now gone, with only the small number of nineteen remaining. The boy opened up his eyes, which had abandoned the glow, and he now held in his hand a Keyblade.. The handle on the inside was black. The surrounding frame was yellow. The extending blade was a black pole with a lightning design etched into it. At the tip of the blade, three sparks of lightning stuck out, shaping the end of the key. From the handle, a keychain hung in the shape of a thundercloud.
The boy heard voices around his head. The words Lightning Storm echoed within his head. Multiple times, he heard the voices. As soon as they vanished, he took the hint. This weapon heavily resembled the one that two of the boys and the girl that had sought him out were using to fight the Heartless. Without further need to consider it, the boy stepped forward and struck at them. A simmer of electricity coursed through the Heartless for a brief instant each time he hit them. After a few hits apiece, the Heartless went down.
The boy, curious for what his weapon could do, tried to copy the girl's attack. He held his Keyblade inward and it began to gather a heavy amount of electricity. Lifting his weapon into the air, it conjured up points about ten feet above him that that emitted small lightning strikes, bringing them down upon the Heartless.
"Should we get back in?" Kairi asked.
"Why bother?" Riku replied. "This kid gets it now. He can take care of them by himself."
Sora, confident, began to walk over. Just as he had arrived, the boy was chopping the last Heartless into a crumpled mess that quickly vanished in a whisp of darkness and a rising heart, just as the others had. "Way to go!" he congratulated. "You got them all by yourself!"
The boy was silent. A sigh escaped him as his Keyblade disappeared from his hand and he started to walk away. He was not urgently running away. He merely walked.
"Huh?" Sora stepped forward to try and talk to him again, but he felt a hand upon his shoulder.
"Sora." Riku's voice was heard behind him. "Give the kid a few minutes. He's been through a lot."
Sora looked back at the kid, watching his solemn steps, and nodded in agreement. He stood with his friends, biding his time for a few minutes to give the kid to be alone.
The boy entered the Dark Depths. A patch of smooth terrain on the cliff was separated from most other parts of the world, a perfect place for isolation. He sat down at the edge, staring out into the ruins of the castle in the distance. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Before long, he could feel warm tears streaming down his face.
Why? he said in his mind. Why my world? I haven't done anything to deserve this. I never asked for any of what's happening to me. So why me? He opened up his eyes. Frustration and sadness were building up within him and he rose to his feet. "GAAAAH!" he yelled. As he did so, his hands had built up an electrical blast. He pounded the ground with his fists. His power was a bit weaker than before, but it still made plenty of small cracks across the terrain.
He could not see behind him, where the group had quietly followed him here and caught up to him. Staying in the darkness of the passage leading to the flat area where he sat, they were cautious.
Sora looked to his friends. "I'm going to try and talk to him," he informed.
"Watch yourself," Leon warned. "This kid looks pretty unstable."
Sora nodded and stepped forward. The boy had taken a seat again, run his hand through his hair as he sniffled. Sora quietly sat beside him. He looked over to see the boy's eyes covered by his hair. Sora could barely see the eyes, so he knew that the boy could see him. He did nothing to harm Sora, which was a good sign.
"You did a great thing back there," Sora said.
The boy shrugged. "I did what anyone would do."
"No, you didn't," Sora replied. "Trust me, there are people who wouldn't be able to do the things you did. That took a lot of guts."
The boy wiped his face with his hand. He pushed his hair from in front of his eyes, revealing his face some more. "What's happening to me?"
Sora took the time to explain the vision he had to the boy. He told him of the darkness, the Heartless, the creatures the boy had faced in his world that had wound up destroying it. He explained Maleficent to him, followed by his adventures to save the universe and the Keyblade.
"So..." The boy blinked a few times. "So you just need me because I'm part of some prophecy? That's the only reason you're so insistent on bringing me to your side?"
"No, of course not," Sora promised. "I know what some people go through during times like these. There are so many horrible things out there. I worry if that stuff happens to anyone, not just me or people I know."
"Do you know?" the boy replied skeptically. "You're trying to tell me that you've watched people you care for and love get swallowed by some dark power or you know your friends are getting killed knowing you'll never see them again? Have you watched the world that you've grown up in just collapse around you before? Huh?" He sighed deeply. "I have a hard time believing that you have even a clue about what I'm going through."
Sora flinched a little bit at the harshness of the words, but he affirmated himself quickly. "I do." The boy looked up in disbelief. "My entire homeworld was swallowed by darkness when I was fourteen. I know you have to believe me when I say that nothing is scarier than that." The boy could tell Sora was telling the truth and he slumped his head in dismay. Sora's tone softened a little bit when he spoke next. "But that's not the end of it."
The boy's head jerked up from its drooped state and looked at Sora. "Are you saying I can get my world back?"
Sora nodded. "Once the dark forces I was fighting against were defeated, the worlds were restored and its inhabitants were brought back to life."
"Really?" The boy lurched to his feet, his tears now completely gone. "So I can save my friends? And family?"
"And everyone else in the world," Sora promised. "We're trying to do the same for a bunch of different worlds that have met the same fate as yours. They'll all be brought back. There's powerful stuff out there and we could use your help, if you'd like to give it."
The boy smiled widely. His doubt was practically gone now, as Sora's words had given him high hopes. "What're we waiting for?" he said happily. "Let's go get 'em!"
Sora laughed. "I like what I'm hearing." He stood to his feet, as did the boy. Sora held his hand out. "By the way, my name is Sora."
"Sora?" the boy repeated. He grabbed Sora's hand and shook it. "Good to meet you. My name is Tylor."
"Tylor." Sora repeated the boy's name. "I really hope we can put this behind us and be friends."
"Oh, don't worry" Tylor replied, smiling a bit. "You just caught me in a teenage crisis. I'm easy to get along with."
Sora and Tylor ceased their handshake and Sora gestured the opposite direction. "Come on. I'll introduce you to the others."