Kingdom hearts : Part 2: Rising Dreams

By: Cauryn Val

Chapter Seven: Matthew Smith

I do not own any Disney or Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts characters.

Part 2: Sora's nightmare has become reality when he wakes from the explosion. He is forced to continue alone, but he's not the only one with problems. Each member of the group had landed somewhere different, One in the grasp of Shinya, another in the waiting arms of the Guardian. To reach his friends again, Sora must fight his way to them, and find the strength inside that he didn't know he had.


When the sun did rise the next morning, Sora and the rest began the long walk back to town, Gurgi leading the way, ready to hide if the cops came by. Sure enough, half-an-hour later, the three humans were forced to hide their weapons, and Gurgi to shoot up a tree into it's topmost branches as there was a shout nearby. After they police caught up, it was only a matter of time before the three were being hurried to an ambulance back in town. They were in for a surprise, as Matthew Smith was seated there already. He gave them a grin and a peace sign.

"Hey. What's up?" He asked sheepishly. He was a bit worse for wear than they, as he had a bandage around his head and his right arm was wrapped up.

"What on earth happened to you?" Nathanial asked in shock. Matt laughed.

"Well, I kind of went looking for that tree, and got way, way lost." he said, then laughed some more. "Then I went and tripped down a steep ditch, and cut my head and arm."

"What a klutz…" Nathanial muttered as his and Anna's parents came around the vehicle. As the three teenagers were interrogated, scolded, and hugged by their parents/guardians, Sora couldn't help but notice that no one came for Matt, and the teen sat in a subdued silence, eventually packed off in the ambulance and to the hospital for further treatments after Sora and the others were deemed okay.

The look on Matt's face was unmistakable. Sora dwelled on it late into the night, slightly disturbed. It was the face of someone who had lost something, or even someone, close to him, and maybe even experienced a betrayal. His pine green eyes had held a haunting look of an old fear, but it was one the young man fought with all his heart and mind. And so it was, that Sora decided to talk to him when they returned to school.

But Matt wasn't in school two days later when Sora, Anna, and Nathanial went back. Nor was he present the next day, or the next. Sora grew more and more dejected everyday. He and the others couldn't go out to fight heartless, as they were being closely monitored. It really sucked. The key blade master hardly paid attention in class nearly a week later, tapping his pencil in aggravation. His face set into one of determination as he thought of something, the look in his eyes keeping others from asking questions. Anna and Nathaniel exchanged looks, but left him alone. It was a shock then, to see Sora walking away from them without a word after school. There was a different length to his stride, one he had picked up from being with Donald and Goofy. Since they had always served in a royal court, their habits had rubbed off on him, and only now did they take their full effect. Anna and Nathaniel looked at each other, then hurried after Sora, wondering what could be up.

***

Sora stood in silence in front of the Smith's house, drawn to his full height. He knew Matt was inside, wounded and scared. Without a word he walked to the door, and tried the bell. No answer. When knocking didn't work either, he brought out the key blade, making Anna and Nathanial gasp.

"Sora don't! What if someone sees?!" Nathanial snapped.

"You could get arrested!" Anna squealed in fright. Sora looked over his shoulder.

"He's hurt. Can't you feel it? There's something seriously wrong." He said, touching the door handle with the tip of the blade, opening the door with a soft click. He withdrew the blade and walked inside carefully, following the strange sensation he was getting. The three walked up the stairs and to the end of the hallway, to a room with the nameplate 'SAM' on it. Sora knocked once, then opened the door. Anna gasped at the sight.

There were pictures everywhere of kids around their age, some alone, some in groups. There was a large one with all fourteen, including Matt. Along with these pictures, there were pictures of who Sora recognized as Killer, each one menacing and lifelike, and every picture had an image of the black cat the Sora had met in the forest.

In the corner was Matt himself, and each one of these paintings had been done by him. Sora could tell this not only by picking out his tiny signatures, but the haunted aura that he shared with them. Sora carefully approached the teen, who had drawn his knees up to his chest, staring into oblivion in front of him. Sora kneeled, reaching out a hand carefully.

"…Matt… Matt, are you okay?" He asked. Slowly, life came back into Matt's eyes, and he looked up. It took a moment to register who they were, and his eyes widened in shock. He leapt up, slamming into the wall behind him.

"What ar-? how-? Yo-?"

"Matt, calm down! We're here to help you." Sora said. Matt slowly hung his head, starting to shake it, his two-tone mop of hair swinging back and forth.

"I couldn't save them, couldn't help her…let them die…"

"You didn't let anyone die, Matt!" Sora said sternly.

"…all my fault…my fault…didn't help…"

"Matt, what ever happened, it's not your fault!" Sora said, his voice rising, trying to break through to the distressed teen. This was worse than he thought. He should have come sooner, the darkness was slowly gripping Matt's heart again, only just after he had broken through again.

"Matt! Get a HOLD OF YOURSELF!" Sora said, shaking the other teen, glaring at him. The sharp movement seemed to work, snapping Matt back into reality.

"Shit, how'd you three get in here?"

"I'm really good at picking locks." Sora said. "What's wrong with you?" Matt sighed and looked around the room, touching a picture of a girl with long brown hair and the same type of bangs he had.

"Last year, when you were still in Jr. High, I came back from rehab for my phobia of the number 13 and Friday the 13th. It was a month after I returned that deaths in my new group of friends began occurring, one everyday, at 10:13 p.m." Matt took a deep breath, reliving the nightmare. "Soon, it was just me and the real killer, though I didn't know it at the time. Sam had taken a bullet for me the day prior, but he and I were determined to keep up our little patrols.

"That was how he got me trapped in that damn shed…" Matt's pupils were shrinking from remembering that night, the fear all to evident in his eyes. He looked like he had in the newspapers. "He almost got me. He was charging me down when I grabbed a pair of garden sheers and held them in front of me. He never even saw it." Matt covered his face, shaking as he took deep breaths to calm himself. Sora and the others exchanged sympathetic looks, Sora reaching out to comfort Matt. "Okay! Lets go to my room now!" Matt said, jumping up as if nothing had happened, giving the others mental whiplash. He led them out of the room and across the hall, showing them a room decked out with all kinds of ghost hunting gizmos.

"Go ahead, sit down." Matt said, indicating the bed and several mismatched chairs. "Ever since last October, I've been studying ghosts, and things like that. I'm pretty sure the killer was possessed, and I'm on it's tail. I caught a glimpse of this little book, real shabby one, in his school bag. Back then I thought nothing of it." Matt said, shifting through a box.

"So, you were looking at the tree for a clue, right?" Sora asked.

"Yep. Ah ha! Here they are!" Matt exclaimed happily. He turned, revealing a rather odd looking pair of goggles. He put them on, twisting the many knobs, looking at them.

"What on earth are you doing?" Nathaniel asked as Matt turned the device towards him. Matt whistled.

"Damn, you're one lucky dog. I've never seen a Fire Demon before."

"Uweeeh?!" Nathaniel jumped, looking around him.

"Dude, it's sweet looking. Anna…. Whoa. Never seen one of these either." Matt was now scribbling in a sketch book, and what he was looking at came out on the paper for the rest to see. The 'fire demon' seemed to be a large, flaming salamander, and Anna's was a cross between a dear and a horse, with 6 wings. Matt then turned on Sora, and actually fell off of his chair.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Sora asked. "What is it?"

"Damn, your's is one of legends, thought to have been sealed away centuries ago!" Matt started sketching feverishly. "It's a Phoenix. It's an extremely powerful sprit guide to have. Not to mention, it chooses it's human. There is a whole group of people that are born with out one, and they need to find it. They aren't uncommon and, unfortunately, I am one of them. There are at least two in three that are born without a familiar.

"Now there is a legend I've seen in the books, about the phoenix. It used to be a fairly common familiar, but somehow, someone found a way to kill them along with their human. Now, back then, Familiars could turn into humans, to blend in better. There was a man in those times, who fell in love with a woman he knew very well. He was like her, as in they had no familiar. Then one day, the woman came to meet the man as they usually did to hang out with friends, but she wasn't alone. The man beside her was obviously a Phoenix, with his golden yellow eyes and flaming red hair with golden tints. She had been chosen by one of the last, and the most powerful, yet no one knew that.

"As the days went by, it was obvious that the two were deeply in love, though one was human, the other a spirit, and the man's jealousy and hatred ate away at his heart. In secret, the spirit and woman married, and had two children. When the man found out, he attacked each phoenix he found, his rage rising each time the dead bird was not the one he searched for. The darkness in his heart, left unchecked without a familiar, swallowed him whole as he continued his rampage. The phoenix trapped him behind a door in the spirit world and locked it. He turned to the woman, who was good of heart, kind and gentle. He gave her a box, and inside it was the mans heart, crystallized. The woman nodded, and the phoenix vanished, having used up his strength. He was lost to the world after that, and never seen again.

"When the woman was old and on her deathbed, she gave clear instructions to her children. To her daughter, she was to protect the door to Kingdom Hearts, and to her son a great sword of power left behind by the phoenix to fight the darkness that had seeped into the world." Matt said as he finished the sketch. Sora looked at his right hand. It had been tingling the entire time Matt had told the story. "Of course, I think the legend has been a bit warped over the centuries, so it may not have happened exactly like that." Matt said, eying his work.

"S-Sora, do you think…" Anna asked. Matt looked up, a lopsided grin and clueless look on his face.

"Yeah. Thank you Matt. I…now know the origins of the heartless, and my Keyblade…" Sora said, summoning the blade. Matt jumped sky high. Sora grinned. "Wanna join?" He held out a hand to Matt, who had taken his goggles off. It took a moment for the shock to wear off, but with a grin, Matt took Sora's outstretched hand.


So there! this chapter is what inspired me to write The Legend Of Kingdom Hearts! And what Matt said was true, like all legends, this one is a bit warped, as you'll see if you ever read the affor mentioned fanfic. ^^I hope you do, there are hints of things in there that pertain to the plot and characters in this fanfic. wel, hope to see you next chapter!