Here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

There will always be Light chapter four: The Test

Sora knew something had changed within his heart and when he opened his eyes he was at his Station of Awakening. Before him stood four different figures. The silent voice was speaking to him 'Your true being has awakened but first you must be tested.' "What do you mean?" One of the beings suddenly came into focus. It was Roxas. "Roxas what happened? Who are these people?" "Don't you know Sora?" Roxas was looking at Sora with expectation in his eyes and suddenly Oathkeeper and Oblivion appeared in his hands. "What are you doing Roxas?" Sora tried to summon his own keyblade but nothing happened. "Roxas where is my keyblade?" "Why it's right here Sora" And he pointed at Sora's chest. "Where? My heart? I know that, why can't I summon it?" Sora stared at Roxas in fear and anticipation. He knew that he would fight Roxas even if he didn't have a weapon. Roxas charged and so did Sora. A moment before Roxas cut him in half Sora was standing in the middle of the room again with Roxas at his side. Sora jumped into his fighting stance and felt something taking shape in his hands-his keyblade.

'You pass the first test. You faced an opponent with the advantage of a weapon and you fought anyway. You have proven your courage. Now the next test.' Suddenly a new figure appeared in front of him. He looked to his side and saw that Roxas had vanished. The person in front of him looked exactly like Roxas but younger and less battle worn.

"Who are you?" "I'm Ventus and you must be Sora." "Yeah how'd you know?" "Do you remember when you were younger and you told Riku you felt sad for some strange reason and you let someone else's heart into yours?" "Yeah, how'd you know? Don't tell me that was you." "Why shouldn't I tell you it was me?" "Because you were sad. Why were you sad Ventus?" "Because my friend was lost to the Darkness." "That's terrible. How about I help you get your friend away from the Darkness." "Would you do that for me?" "Of course. We're friends now and friends help each other's out of tight situations" "Thank you Sora." "Ventus do we have to fight?" "I'm afraid so Sora. How else will you get strong enough to protect your friends from the Darkness?" "Oh alright. It makes me sad to fight for no reason, but I'll give it my all if you do the same Ventus." "Okay. Let's fight." And with that they rushed at each other and clashed. They exchanged blows for a few minutes until Ventus suddenly yelled 'Fever Pitch' and resumed fighting at about four times the speed. Before Ventus could land a single blow however he disappeared and Sora was again standing in the middle of the platform.

He looked to either side and both Roxas and Ventus stood at his side smiling at him. 'You have passed the second test. You have shown reluctance to fight for no reason. You have shown a level head. The third test awaits.' Another figure was revealed and Sora was surprised at what he saw. He saw a mirror image of himself, but with golden eyes and black hair. The other was also a few years older and slightly taller than him.

Before Sora could speak his other spoke first. "So you actually beat that weakling Ventus huh. Pathetic. If you had only been smarter and given in to the Darkness you wouldn't even have to become stronger, you'd be strong enough." He sneered at Sora "Scared of the Darkness little boy? Come on fight already. Are you deaf or just stupid?" Sora merely stared at him with a level head and told him with resolve in his voice. "I won't fight you. I refuse. Where is your respect? Do you even respect yourself? If you insult a warrior you're not hurting him, your merely hurting yourself." With a roar of rage the unknown warrior rushed at Sora who didn't even move. Before the first blow was struck he disappeared and Sora was once again in the middle of the Station of Awakening. He looked to his side and saw that the warrior had joined Roxas and was smiling at him with the rest of them.

'Forgive Vanitas. He still has much to learn. But you have passed the third test. You have shown that you respect your fellow warrior no matter how cruel they may be. You have shown pride. Now the final test. This test is different from the others. You must defeat your opponent to pass.'

Sora looked in front of himself and saw that the fourth figure was much taller than he had thought. In reality the fourth figure wasn't even human. It was a slender dragon. It was a Chinese dragon. The dragon had silver scales of differing colours. His horns were cream-coloured and his mane was a mix of red and silver. His eyes were a vibrant blue. "My name is Thorn. I have recently been awakened in your heart Sora. I am your familiar." When Sora stared with a blank look on his face Thorn sighed "Like Ansem's guardian. I am your protector and friend. When you are in danger I will protect you with my life. The power you will receive if you defeat me are numerous. But you will receive my power whether you defeat me or not."

With those words Thorn kicked off from the ground and sliced through the air. He turned around in mid-air and threw a black fireball towards the ground where it exploded. Where the black flames licked the tiles it turned to ash just to regenerate seconds later. Thorn sent down fireball after fireball without stopping. After about thirty minutes of dodging fireballs left and right Sora was getting tired. Ash covered him from head to foot and his clothes were singed and torn. Every time Sora jumped and boosted himself upwards with magic Thorn blew him back down with a breath. When Sora finally managed to hurt Thorn by blowing his own black fireball buck upwards with a combined Reflectega and Aeroga. Thorn fell downwards and Sora hacked and slashed at him but he could not penetrate Thorn's covering of scales. When Thorn recovered from his own fireball thrown back at him he flew upwards again and used different attacks. Arching lightning generated by rubbing his scales together flew down and charged the tile floor with electricity. Bursts of ice flying out of his mouth in wide arch's and small boulders erupting from the ground. After about two hours hater Sora thought he couldn't go on. Then he finally figured out how to defeat Thorn. He stood on top of a boulder Thorn had aimed at his head and waited for the next attack. Thorn began rubbing his scales together for another arching lightning. Just before he released the attack Sora threw his keyblade in a strike raid at his head. When the keyblade hit Thorn Sora did something Thorn would never have expected. The second his keyblade hit the dragon Sora yelled out 'gravira' effectively causing the keyblade to stick to the dragon. Sore then cast Magnega on the boulder he was standing on and it shot upwards toward the dragon. The boulder impacted Thorn directly and he fell down toward Sora. Sora then cast Aeroga on some of the ice Thorn had shot at him earlier and shot them back in slivers. When Thorn was too weak to move Sora cast a firaga at the boulder that had knocked Thorn out of the air. When the boulder was glowing a cherry red Sora finally dropped it onto Thorn's head. Before the boulder touched Thorn Sora was again standing in the middle of his Station of Awakening. At his left and right shoulder two warriors stood. At his left stood Roxas and Ventus. At his right stood a very smug looking Vanitas and a floating Thorn. "Well done Sora. I'm proud to be your familiar." "Thanks Thorn, I'm proud to have you as my protector." Sora looked at all four warriors who were great warriors in their own right. "I'm honoured to have you all share my heart."

'As you should Sora. There was a reason you were brought here. That reason was for you to become worthy of all four's memories and various powers. You already had some memories of Roxas and with those memories came experience. You must master each individual warriors power and gain their experience quickly.' "I don't know. I already felt strong when Roxas gave me his power so why do I need to get stronger?" 'The stranger you met today will be the next great threat to the worlds. He is many times more powerful than Xemnas. He has no desire to gain the power of Kingdom Hearts. He has enough power already that Kingdom Hearts would barely give him any more strength. And he knows this. He has no desire to just conquer various worlds. He has no need. He has the power to extinguish a worlds Light without any trouble whatsoever. It's up to you to stop him'

"What about Riku and Kairi?"

'What about them?'

"They will try to come with me and I will allow them if it to merely give me some company. And besides their friends. I want them involved."

'They both have great power sleeping within them but they must awaken it on their own time. If their power is forced to awaken it will destroy them.'

"Oh so I'm expected to do this on my own. Fine I'll destroy the stranger but what happens if I die. The power sleeping within my friends would be forced to awaken wouldn't it?"

'What you say is correct. Their power will be awakened through the help of the Nobodies that helped them escape Dante.'

"Oh so they helped Riku escape did they?" 'Why yes Roxas. At the moment their pouring their strength into Sora's body in an attempt to awaken him.'

"Huh. Sora" Roxas turned to Sora with a strange look on his face. "These Nobodies are quite special. They have a heart. And over time true emotion has altered their appearance and they have grown more powerful with the passing of time. We can use them." Sora looked at his Nobody with a strange look on his face. "What do you mean we can use them?"

"Well they have their own realm where they reside. It's a dimension outside of time and space. Meaning that no matter how much time is spent in the Twilit Realm, I think it's called, no time passes outside of the realm. They have existed for millennia but in our time they are only about two years old"

"Huh that does sound useful. Do you think we can use it?"

"Well I am their master so probably."

'Yes use the Twilit Realm to train and prepare. But pay me heed, no matter how much time is spent in The Twilit Realm you will not age for your body ages at the same pace as it will if you were on your home world.'

"Huh that'll help, I think."

'Good luck'

Suddenly Sora found himself surrounded by Nobodies but he paid heed to the voice of Roxas in his mind 'Relax, they're here to help.' Suddenly the Nobodies parted to let him pass.

Through the hole they'd made he saw Kairi sitting on the sand looking exhausted. "Kai-"Sora tried to speak but found himself unable to but Kairi had heard him anyway. She rushed towards him but a Nobody stopped her. He understood the caution the Nobody felt, he would have felt it if he was in his place. Sora tried to take a step but his feet gave way beneath him and he found himself facing the sand. 'Enough of this' he thought and started to get back up. He felt the presence of Vanitas suddenly in his mind. 'What are you doing? Acting like a simple peasant. You have my power to use so use it.' And with that his mind was silent except for his own frantic thoughts. Sora did however heed the advice given to him. He suddenly remembered summoning dozens and dozens of Unversed. He picked a kind that didn't look at all threatening. Sora snapped his fingers and four Flood Unversed appeared. "Master" they whimpered and started to help him up. When Sora was standing firmly again the Unversed took defensive positions around him. 'My power next.' 'Yeah Roxas sure.' Sora snapped his fingers and the Unversed disappeared and a single Nobody appeared in its place. It saluted Sora and began changing into something that could support his legs. Its arms changed into wings and its legs changed to a harness. It slipped the noose round his body and began flapping its wings rapidly. The Nobody's wings were so powerful that Sora barely felt his weight resting on the sand. Sora took a step forward and the Nobody mimicked his movements. When Sora could bear his own weight again the Nobody flew off his back, saluted and disappeared with the word 'my liege' floating through his mind.

'How could either of you be so cruel and calm about this power? You have your own personal slaves and you misuse them.' Sora tried his best to have disgust take root in his mind. Roxas hesitated in speaking. Vanitas however had gone through this thought in his youth so many times that he already had the perfect answer. 'Sora, what would either of the Unversed or the Nobodies do if they didn't have a master? I am the source of the Unversed, in other words they are an extension of my body. I have seen what they would do if they have no master. They've been doing it for over a decade and let me tell you it's not pretty.' 'Oh really Vanitas what happened?' Roxas wanted to know so he can use it to his advantage another day, Sora wanted to know because he felt he was to blame.

'The first year or so they waited for me to call them. The longer they waited the weaker my hold over them became. They are Darkness made alive and Darkness doesn't want to sit idly by doing nothing. The stronger ones defected first. They began devouring the weaker ones in an attempt to gain more strength. I had foreseen a situation like this however. Once the first Unversed still under my control was consumed the rest of them under my control fled that place and began hiding in space-time pockets awaiting my return. As the years passed my power failed over almost all of the Unversed except for the weakest and my personal army. You have summoned the weakest so my power will steadily increase again. In time I will be master of them all again.'

'Well that's terrible Vanitas but what's the point of this story?' Roxas sounded insulting and his voice was dripping with sarcasm. 'At least the Nobodies will never defect.' 'Roxas they already have. I mean what did you and Axel do? Wasn't that defecting? From the strongest Nobodies to the weakest.'

'Probably but now the Nobodies have a new master. Far more powerful than any in the Organisation.' 'Huh good point Roxas. Oh sorry Vanitas, you can continue your story.'

Vanitas sounded insulted and his voice dripped scorn 'Oh can I continue Oh Great and Powerful keyblade wielding whelp? Fine my point Roxas is that without a master the Unversed would destroy themselves which probably won't be a bad thing in your minds but keep this in mind. With every negative emotion felt an Unversed is created and with every Unversed that negative emotion is felt by the surrounding people and more Unversed will be created. So it's better to limit exposure to people when trying to control Unversed. My old master was a prime candidate as to why you should stay away from people. My master was a Darkness user of the worst kind. He had no control, he was powerful and he had the keyblade. That makes for a sticky situation. Imagine gaining control of a very weak Unversed and you struggled with that task for days on end an then the old idiot would arrive and his hatred or anger would create an incredibly powerful Unversed and you had no choice but to cut it down making it create weaker more easily controlled Unversed. Id did do something though. It gave me experience wrestling control over a great multitude of Unversed in seconds, and that in turn strengthened the Unversed, for the stronger I become the stronger they become and vice versa.'

'Sora your friends are started to look kinda worried with you just staring at the ocean like that.'

With the advice of Ventus Sora looked around at his surroundings and saw a great multitude of eyes looking at him. Feeling suddenly self conscience Sora swept his hair out of his eyes and everyone gasped at him.

"What? What are you all suddenly staring at." Sora swept his hand over his face and felt again the blood running down his face. He wiped it away and blinked to clear his vision.

"Sora, your eyes." Kairi stared in awe and her voice was hushed.

"What about my eyes?" Sora tried to inspect his reflection in the seawater but the waves distorted his image too much. He saw a flash of brown and a faint sheen of silver before another wave messed it up again. He suddenly had an idea. He cast gravity and Reflectega on the waves and the water became perfectly smooth and Sora nodded in self-success. Kairi walked to his side with a look of silent wonder on her face. "Look." She pointed at the water at their feet and Sora looked towards where she had pointed. What he saw chilled him to the core. His hair had slightly changed in colour, it was darker. Almost the colour of Vanitas's own dark head. His hair hung in waves swaying in the wind. His skin had paled significantly. It was the colour of Ven's skin. But the most shocking change was his eyes: where they had been sky blue before they were now a bright silver. Sora blinked and they momentarily changed to a hypnotic white.

"What happened to me?" Sora was beginning to panic. He didn't know what to do so he did the easiest thing he could. He became enraged. He screamed at the hearts inhabiting his body "Roxas!" Roxas appeared as a ghostly image in front of him. "Ventus, Vanitas Thorn." Each time he screamed a name the ghostly shadow of that being appeared in front of Sora. "What have you done too me!" Thorn floated forward with a distained look on his serpentine face. "You knew this would happen. You knew you would change. That change in appearance is only the first step. You knew something was going to happen to you and so it has." With that said he drifted back in line and said to all those gathered

"Guard your friend well, for he is what binds you all together. He is going through an unspeakable change. You must protect him in this change for if you do not he will be broken." With that said Thorn vanished in a silver shroud. Ventus stepped forward next "Sora is strong but he is one person. All people become weak from time to time. In this change he will be at his weakest. Guard him well." He stepped back and disappeared in a bright white shroud. Roxas stepped forward next "Not just our power, but our memory is slowly moving into Sora's heart. He is vulnerable in that time." Roxas stepped towards the seven Nobodies with a smile. "My friends its good seeing you again" The Nobodies nodded excitedly and bowed one by one "Please take my friends to your Realm when they are ready to depart. In the meanwhile stay hidden but protect them if you can." With that Roxas stepped back with a smile and vanished in a shroud of black and silver. Vanitas was the next to step forward and approached Kairi. Riku stepped in front of her and told her to step back. Vanitas laughed cruelly and swept his right arm forward. In a flash of black and red he held a keyblade in his hand. "Move whelp. You are nothing compared to a true master of the keyblade." With that said he swept his arm horizontally from right to left and a strong wind blew Riku to the side. Vanitas stepped towards Kairi and fell forward in a sweeping bow. "Princess, Sora loves you deeply. I hope you realise that and if you do, do not hesitate to show your feelings to him. He may be stubborn but he will not hesitate to confess his love to you. Good luck."With another bow and a peal of cruel laughter Vanitas stepped back and vanished in a deep black shroud.

Well I hope you liked the fourth chapter of There will always be Light. I hope you continue reading my story. Next chapter: Warrior Of Dawn.

And remember to review my story. Please?

9