The darkness…it is infinite. There seems to be no end to it, and I cannot even feel my movement. Am I… trapped forever in this endless abyss? And… where's Sora? I am all alone as I face the darkness, but I am not sure if I truly am able to conquer it… now that I have seen it. I said that I had no fear of the darkness, was that a lie? It must all be, because I tricked Sora into coming down this path as well, and somewhere, he too must desperately be looking for me, and he too must be alone. I was wrong. This portal did not lead to another world, only infinite darkness. As I contemplate my failure I can feel my consciousness slipping away, and I realize that this is the end. Only one thought exists in my mind now.
Kairi, I'm sorry.
My eyes slowly open and are blasted with light. It's so bright that it makes my vision a field of white. I squint and wait as my eyes adjust, and I look around to find myself in some sort of lobby. In front of me is a fountain decorated with a dragonhead, and beyond that is a short hallway leading to a door. The door has a bizarre emblem in it; it looks like a heart with, maybe a…dovetail? I don't really know, but the emblem is also divided into four slots. Seems like a rather interesting choice of décor.
"So…you made it through the darkness." I spin around as I hear the voice. It's a fairly low and menacing voice, and it is quite charismatic. I find that the source of the voice is a cloaked man. I peer into the hood to see if I can see his face and have an idea of who this man might be, but all that is there is darkness. Darkness… this man seems to not only emanate darkness, but he also seems to actually be darkness. Is that even possible?
"Who are you?" I ask, showing no fear of this man, perhaps because I have no fear of him. He might appear to be powerful, but he hasn't shown any power yet, so why would I fear him?
"My name is of no importance to you. The only thing that should be important is what I can do for you…" the cloaked man replies. I can't help but narrow my eyes at him. There is something about him that makes me want to not trust him. However, there is an even bigger part of me intrigued by what this man is saying.
"And what exactly is that?" I say, inviting me to share what knowledge he has with me.
"I know that you seek out your friends. It will be hard without me, for they are not on this world. With my help, though, I can take you to them."
"And what's in it for you?" I reply, colder than ever. I would like to meet up with Sora and Kairi again, but not until I am certain that this man is the key to doing so.
"I want nothing out of this bargain. You can trust me." My eyes narrow even further at that, showing this man just how much I trust him.
"Why are you doing this?" I ask. It is merely a rephrasing of my earlier question, but I have to know what this man's true intentions are.
"I merely will enjoy a slight windfall should you join me. An…aftermath of your quest to find your friends, if you will. Besides, you already have reason to trust me. It was through my help that you were able to get off of that wretched island."
"What?" I exclaim, and my surprise becomes evident. How could he have helped me off of Destiny Island?
"I know the urge for freedom that you have. To you, that island must have been a prison, surrounded by inescapable ocean. So I opened the way for you, allowed you to travel through the darkness."
"And how exactly did you do that?" I ask, more suspicious than ever of this man. He said that he allowed me to travel through the darkness, and I'll believe him on that count, but how exactly did he do it?
"Were you… the one who opened the door?" I say, not giving him time to answer the first question, albeit I don't think he would have anyways.
"Perhaps. But that is all trivial now. You want to find your friends, and I have a way of allowing you to do so. But first, you need a weapon, something that will put you and the Heartless on equal ground."
"The Heartless?" is the first thing that I can say. What are the Heartless?
"The Heartless are beings who have lost their hearts, hence the name. They come in a number or varieties. You saw one type of them already. The shadows that attacked your island, they were Heartless." Doesn't this man know how impossible it is to fight those shadows? Wouldn't the rest of the Heartless be like that? If so, this weapon he says I need, what can it do to make fighting those shadows possible?
"So those shadows were Heartless. They can't be beaten. Whenever it seems as though they're dead they just come back, stronger than ever." I know all of this to be absolutely correct, and he does too, and that's beyond a shadow of a doubt. But perhaps I can get him to reveal the secrets of this weapon.
"With this weapon you can fight them as though they were of flesh and blood like yourself." A green aura appears in front of me, and the aura concentrates into the shape of a sword. For a split second the aura turns black and then vanishes, leaving behind a sword that drops to the ground, clanging with the impact. I bend down and pick it up, and I closely examine it. The blade itself looks like the wing of a bat, and I can feel the darkness that it carries.
"This blade, something's wrong with it." That was all that I could say. How could a blade be emanating darkness? It's an inanimate object. The idea of it being of darkness is absurd.
"It is not the blade that is causing that darkness you feel. The blade merely channels your own darkness. The stronger your darkness, the stronger the blade becomes. By unleashing this darkness, it becomes possible to destroy even the Heartless." So, is this how strong my darkness is? Is it so strong that I can feel it? I almost feel a bit of fear overcoming me. Almost. My darkness, it is greater than I ever would have expected, and I don't want it. I have no desire for this kind of darkness. But, if this is what it takes to find Kairi, then I will do it. I will allow myself to be consumed by this darkness if need be, just as long as I can see Kairi again.
I experiment with the blade, creating a few practice swings. The sword is easy to handle, and its weight is proportioned much like my wooden blade's weight is. So easy to handle…almost as if fate chose me to wield it. It doesn't even matter now though, as now that I have stepped forward, deep into the darkness, there is no turning back. Even if I could barely even lift this sword, I would master it. All to save Kairi, all to save myself from the darkness.
"Now that you have taken the blade, for now my part is done."
"What?" I yell at him. He said that he would help me, but all he's doing is giving me a sword! How am I supposed to go to other worlds with this?
"Don't worry. All shall work out. You will see." The cloaked man then fades away, replaced by ten orbs of darkness that spread out and encircle me. I look from side to side and try to figure out what these things are.
My question is soon answered. They form into large shadows in the shape of a ball. They are able to float in the air, and they have the antennae and yellow eyes like the other shadows did. But these eyes, they don't seem empty. They seem full of glee and anticipation, as though they are eager to kill, eager to destroy.
One of them charges straight at me, biting at the air, and, if I don't act quickly enough, biting at me. I swerve out of the way and attack at the Heartless with my sword. Unfortunately I am too slow with my attack and miss entirely. I am then knocked down to the floor by another one of the Heartless, and the others begin to close in one me. I look around, trying to find a means of escape from these heartless, and find it in the stairs leading to the short hallway. I run up them with all my speed, narrowly avoiding the Heartless. I then turn around and leap off of the dragonhead part of the fountain. I come crashing down on an unsuspecting Heartless that never even saw me coming, and my sword splits it in two. The two halves are then dispelled and vanish into the air. One down, nine to go.
The other heartless box me in, trapping me against the fountain. I try to step back and find some breathing room, but there is none. A Heartless attacks me, and only through my best reflexes can I stop it. I watch as it too fades away, and breathe a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, now is not the time to be patting myself on the back, as the remaining Heartless seem intent on overwhelming me by attacking all at once.
I try my best to fend them off, but I can only do so much. The blows begin to add up, and I slowly near my demise. If this keeps up, I'll die. So, after all I've done, after coming so close to death only to make it through, will I let myself be destroyed? No, I cannot. This blade, the cloaked man said it became stronger as the darkness within me grew greater. So what if I unleashed all of my darkness? What would happen?
My thoughts turn to Kairi. If I cannot bring out the full force of my darkness, then I am doomed, and I will be unable to help her, wherever she may be. The thought spurs me on, and I feel my anger and my hatred of these shadows growing. They stand in the way of my finding Kairi, and I'll destroy them all as punishment. I feel power coursing into the sword, and I feel power coursing into me as well. Suddenly no matter how hard they hit, these Heartless cannot harm me. They cannot destroy me. I stand up, unflinching from their attacks, and I slash wildly with my blade. With each and every slash another Heartless is destroyed, and soon enough they have perished, every last one of them.
So, is this my true power? Can it be that, by controlling the darkness within me, I can become invincible? It doesn't matter in the least. If I have to do the impossible to find Kairi, then I will do the impossible. As long as I keep sight of that, I think I can control the darkness within me.
I then hear someone walking down the steps. I turn my head and see a tall woman with a long staff. Her skin is green, and she looks like a witch from one of the fairy tales I read as a child.
"Quite a display of power. But, it is unwise to steep yourself in darkness like that. The Heartless prey on those who think that they are greater than the darkness, that they can control it."
"But I can control the darkness." I say, irritated by this woman and her judgments. "Who are you, anyways?" I ask, hoping to actually get an answer, unlike with the cloaked man.
"My name is Maleficent. Of course, I should be asking who you are, seeing as how this is my castle."
"Riku. Riku is my name. So this is your castle?" I ask, hoping to find out where exactly I am.
"Yes. This is the castle of Hollow Bastion. There are a great many Heartless here, and you should be cautious of them. You have no control over them, so they might hunt you specifically. Of course, if you were to follow me, then you just might survive." I really don't like the tone of voice she uses, treating me as though I were some sort of child who needed protection. However, could this be what that cloaked man wanted? Am I supposed to follow this… Maleficent. She seems to have great knowledge of the Heartless, and even seems to be able to control the Heartless, perhaps she can help me find my friends.
"Fine. I'll follow you, but first I want to know something." I say, using great caution.
"And what is that?" Maleficent asks, once more using that tone. It annoys me endlessly. But I will just have to put up with it.
"I was separated from some friends of mine, I think they're on another world. Can you take me to them?" I hope that she can, but I wonder if I showed my hand too quickly. Now that she knows what I want, she can bargain with me."
"Of course I could take you to your friends. But…I have something of my own that needs doing." I knew it; she was going to barter with me. "It's a small task," she continued, "but I'm simply too busy to do it. However, if you could do it for me, then I am sure that taking you to your little friends would be easy enough. Do we have a deal?"
I don't like the idea of serving this woman. I am almost certain that somehow I'll be short-handed. But I said that I would find Kairi, even if it meant doing the impossible, and this was far from impossible.
"What must I do?"
Author's Note- Okay, my first chapter where I came up with the plot and dialogue. Did I do a good job? Was it as good as my last three chapters? Does it need some revision? Whatever the answer, I hope you review!