A/N: I already know what you're thinking, "This chapter is late!" There's not really a good reason other than I just discovered Spotify, which I keep playing my favorite songs on. Now, here's the chapter I took so long to write, sorry about that. I swear I will update regularly after my school year ends, which is about two weeks from now. Let's get on with it!
"Master Xehanort," a cloaked being with a distorted voice said. "Why must we wait?"
He walked toward the center of Hollow Bastion, where the fountain was. They were working so hard to restore their home to the way it was. The dark sky made the world seem dead. The being had his eyes glowing red from under his hood.
"I wonder how you will go through with it," It said, looking up. "I always wondered about you."
He hung his head down, walking toward a portal he opened to get to his next destination. From over his shoulder, he heard running footsteps. Without speeding up, he walked through opening he created. Looking over his shoulder, he saw what appeared to be someone he remembered.
The portal closed as his final step was heard. Leon stopped as he saw the person who caught his interest disappear. He didn't know who or what, it was, but the person he saw was up to no good. The aura that surrounded it was something that a Heartless or Nobody or something dangerous could give off.
Leon heard Yuffie chasing after him earlier, but could no longer hear anything but the crickets that chirped. He walked up to the fountain, where the being once stood. He rested his hands on the rim of it as he sighed. His entire mind was blank, not being able to process what he saw.
Was it the Organization? Or something worse? He didn't know if he would ever be able to answer those questions, but he did know who could. But he had no way of reaching Sora at all. The only thing he could hope for is his inner plea for help to reach him. Unless he can find someone who was able to travel through worlds.
"Cloud?" Leon asked himself, knowing that Cloud was able to go from Olympus Coliseum to Hollow Bastion. He turned around, running toward his headquarters, also known as Merlin's house. With a fast pace, he ran through the streets to meet his blond rival. Hopefully, one of his attempts would go through.
"Castle Oblivion, such a worthless shell of its former world," Vanitas said as he walked closer to the entrance. His helmet had been shattered when he fought Sora. Funny, he didn't think that Sora would believe it to be all a dream.
He walked slowly, wanting to take in the sight of the place Aqua had formed. That girl had so much potential wasted on saving her friends. If only she could have used it to further his plans, not to hinder it. Vanitas ran his golden eyes over the castle that was once the place of operations of Organization XIII.
He wanted to see what sort beings took his place as a threat. When he was only a matter of yards from the gate, he stopped. Vanitas held out his hand to face the keyhole that was placed in the middle of the door. From a flash of darkness, his keyblade, Void Gear, appeared in his hand. Despite being a creation of darkness, the light that unlocked the keyhole was a beam of bright light.
The keyhole disappeared, the door opened to reveal the sleek, silver interior. He smirked at the small sight as he continued walking. When he stepped onto the marble floor of the castle, he became the most noticeable thing in the room. As the door shut behind him, Vanitas looked at the Nobody symbols that covered the walls.
He continued his strut through the castle, with a psychotic smile on his face. To match his look, he laughed loudly, echoing through the near empty palace. Along with his laugh, he said in a loud voice, "Ventus, come out, come out wherever you are."
Sora held a Paopu Fruit in his hand, holding it up to the dimming light of the sun. Time really does fly by when you're having fun for him. He felt someone push his head down to face the sand of the shore. Without looking up, he shouted, "Riku!"
"Come on," Riku chuckled. "We have to get back home soon."
Sora looked at the Paopu fruit, wanting to share it with Kairi, but he already knew that she was on the other side of the island. He would never make it in time to give it to her, even if he would go at full speed.
As he looked back at the island, he felt Riku grab the back of his shirt, pulling him to the boats. He was trying to regain his balance while fighting off Riku's grip. "H-hey, can't we wait for Kairi?"
Riku shook his head, telling Sora that she would spend some time showing Donald and Goofy around the island and all of its fun secrets. He felt some jealously grow within him as he wanted to spend more time with her.
Accidentally, he dropped the fruit as he was trying to get away. The yellow fruit was stationary as the water of the shore moving closer to it. Sora knew that they were getting closer to the boats as he heard the footsteps of Riku on the wood of the dock.
Letting him go, Riku started to board the small boat. As he stood still, Riku held out his hand for Sora, who was turned toward the ocean to the main island. From the corner of his eye, Sora could see his friend offer to share the boat. With a slow movement, he grabbed onto Riku's hand, keeping his eyes on the shore of the other island.
He sat behind Riku, grabbing an oar to paddle with his friend. As the two of them moved in the water, he heard footsteps on the dock. Sora turned his head to see Kairi, Donald, and Goofy waving to him and Riku.
"See you guys tomorrow!" She shouted at them with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, see you," Riku answered, still paddling the boat with Sora.
With a small grin, Riku turned to look forward at the other dock. His eyes drifted over to see over his shoulder. He teased, "You like her, don't you?"
"What? Now, I don't! Stop making things up, Riku!" Sora defended, moving the oar faster. Before he could tell Sora to stop being so reckless, Riku say something bright on the far side of the main island.
He looked up at the sky to see a beam of light coming down from the sky. Riku, out of surprise, dropped his oar on the side of the boat. It landed inside of the boat with a loud noise as Sora looked to see what was going on.
Sora watched the beam disappear, something making the sky glow from the opposing side of the island in front of him. Something within him had to go to it. He didn't know what it was, but he had a need to get to that part of the island.
"Riku, what is that?" Sora asked, stopping all of his movements. He felt Riku jump out of the boat and into the water, making a splash. Before his eyes, his friend was in the water, swimming to the shore. Following his friend, he swam to catch up with him. He turned his head slightly, watching as Kairi was returning to the other side of the island.
He gave a sigh of relief as he saw that her back was turned to him. Sora continued moving through the water to follow Riku. The older boy could feel something strange in his heart. Something that was reawakening the darkness within him. Although he tried to suppress it, it kept becoming a bother to his mental state.
As he sprinted on the shore, soaking wet, he felt the ache in his heart again. Riku could feel it wasn't his heart in trouble; it was someone close to him that he barely knew at all. The only thing that came out of it was that his friends weren't in danger that he knew of. But the question he wondered: Who was?
"Why don't you just surrender your heart to me, boy?" Xehanort wondered his old voice was gruff.
The two stood facing each other in the dark remnants of Terra's heart. Their physical body has been lost, only left to be a wandering heart. Their souls clashed many times during their fusion, but neither of them had the power to overwhelm the other.
"I won't give up until I can repay Aqua for saving me. I won't stop until I return the favor to her by saving Ven," Terra said.
"Such a foolish way of thinking. You simple-minded youth," Xehanort chuckled at the boy's words. "If I were you, I would be thinking about myself, not the ones who are supposedly your 'friends'."
"Shut up!" Terra yelled, agitated at the old man's bold choice of words. "You don't know either of them like I do!"
"Oh, I don't know the friends you shut from your life to go on the path of darkness? I think I know Ventus more than you ever will," Xehanort retorted.
A/N: I needed to get this out before June because I won't leave a story alone for too long. I think it's good enough for a fourth chapter. But I do need to explain how Vanitas is there, or materialized. I got that done in my head already.
So, the only thing I need to say is that Void Gear is the name of Vanitas' keyblade, if you didn't know. Well, it's the name of the one you get from the Vanitas remnant in the game. Sorry about the late update.
Well, if you like how this story is going or the chapter, leave a review! Please? It's just a compliment to give, guys.