"…and that's how we got here." Sora finished explaining.
"That's a pretty farfetched story kid." Reno said disbelievingly.
"But it's the truth." Roxas said as Vincent nodded in agreement.
"He's not the same Sora we encountered a while ago." Vincent said as Elena looked confused.
"I'm not sure that I completely understand how there's more than one of him." Elena said.
"Neither do I. It's all so confusing." Sora replied.
"I'm curious. Can you tell us more about this girl, Serah, who was kidnapped?" Namine asked.
"She's been here the longest of any of us. She and her sister came here a long time ago. She supposedly knows a major clue to finding the Dreamer's Star, but she's never shared it with anyone." Ren said.
"When she was kidnapped, a small number of us went to try and rescue her. Those that left haven't returned yet. We fear they could have gotten captured or killed." Cissnei added.
"Or lost. No offence but certain members of the search party is a bit disorganized." Elena scoffed as Tseng and Reno nodded in agreement.
"Well maybe we can help. We're looking for a friend of ours too. Maybe we can help find Serah and your other friends while we search." Sora said as Ren and Vincent exchanged glances.
"I don't see why you can't help. You do have a Keyblade after all so you might be able to help us out in more ways than one." Ren said.
"Then we'll help you guys out. But you mentioned something about someone named Shera?" Roxas said.
"Did someone call for me?" a woman's voice asked from nearby. Everyone turned to see a woman in her late thirties with auburn hair wearing a white lab coat and glasses. She was wearing a pair of blue sneakers as well. She was descending from one of the nearby spiral staircases.
"I did. I sent her a text message on the way over." Tseng said as Shera adjusted her glasses.
"Hmm…you look like the boy from earlier. But I can tell that you're not the same." Shera said.
"You can?" Reno asked disbelievingly.
"Certainly. First off, his voice is definitely male and his weapon is differently colored than the other one. Besides, he's got a heart. That much is apparent." Shera explained as Reno face palmed.
"But where are my manners. My name is Shera Highwind, I'm a gummy ship scientist." Shera introduced as Sora's eyes widened.
"Highwind? As in Cid Highwind?" Sora asked as Shera's eyes lit up at the mention of Cid.
"You know my husband?" Shera asked surprised.
"Cid is your husband? He's never mentioned you before." Sora said as Shera scratched the back of her head.
"Probably with good reason. I'm something of a major screw up." Shera said meekly.
"You are not! Stop saying that about yourself Shera when you know it's not true!" Ren scolded.
"Well sorry, I'm just used to the abuse." Shera said.
"As I recall, Cid doesn't like to open up with his feelings. He'll gladly point out your problems but he won't talk about his own unless they're mechanical issues with other machines. That's probably why he hasn't said anything to Sora about you." Tseng said as Shera nodded.
"Well that's true." Shera said.
"So then I guess we should be going. We need to start looking for our friend. We'll keep an eye out for Serah while we're out." Sora said as Ren nodded.
"Feel free to use this place as a base for when you need somewhere to rest." Ren said. Before anyone could say anything else, the lights suddenly flickered and a loud noise was heard outside.
"What was that?" Axel asked as the Turks instinctively drew their weapons.
"Trouble." Tseng said as they quickly ran towards the door, leaving Shera to run back to where she had initially come from. When they emerged into the sunlit area, they saw nothing at first but then they saw a strange sight. It looked like a storm on the horizon, made of pulsing purple-ish clouds. Green bursts of light from within the clouds could be seen and an occasional green thunderbolt would appear as well.
"What is that?" Sora asked in awe.
"We call them Shadow Storms. Shortly after someone first enters the Dream Worlds, a Shadow Storm is created." Ren explained.
"What do they do?" Namine asked as Vincent stepped up next to them.
"They maintain a sense of balance to the Dream Worlds. While we are in these worlds, we cannot dream when we sleep. So instead, the Worlds take all of our fears and create from them, a single entity. We call these beings, the Nightmares." Ren continued.
"Nightmares?" Sora asked worriedly. Axel, Roxas, and Namine had similar expressions.
"They are the embodiments of our fears, doubts, and anxieties. Sometimes they're small and easy to defeat, but sometimes they are born as more dangerous beings known as Night Terrors. We all have either a Nightmare or a Night Terror." Vincent added.
"Uh, what does that have to do with those Shadow Storms?" Axel asked.
"The Storms signify that the Nightmares or Night Terrors have been born and that we need to be cautious." Cissnei said as Sora gulped nervously. He silently wondered what his Nightmare would be like.
"I can assume that there'll be four of them huh?" Reno asked as Vincent glanced at Axel, Roxas, and Namine.
"Maybe not. There may only be one." Vincent said as everyone looked at him curiously. Before anyone could reply, they suddenly saw something fly from the storm, leaving a trail of glowing green light, as it streaked towards Balamb Garden. Sora and his group summoned their weapons but before the object hit, it vanished.
"Well that was kinda disappointing." Axel said as they then saw the storm dissipating.
"Actually that's what happens every time. We've never had it hit before." Ren said as Tseng turned towards the Turks.
"Alright everyone you know the drill. Spread out, and if you see anything or anyone out of the ordinary, call it in along with your location." Tseng instructed as the Turks nodded and promptly scattered.
"What's all the commotion about?" Roxas asked.
"Even thought that thing didn't hit the Garden, the Nightmare is definitely here. We've all had to deal with an attack from each of our Nightmares before." Ren replied.
"Is there any way to stop them?" Namine asked.
"No, the Nightmares and Night Terrors are unstoppable, but they can be severely weakened. Like Vincent and I said earlier, the Nightmares and Night Terrors are a physical manifestation of all of our fears, anxieties, and doubts. We can face our fears head on and defeat them in battle but they cannot die. Fears are meant to be overcome, and thus so can them." Ren explained as the four nodded.
"How very droll." A semi-familiar voice said from nearby. They all looked around before looking up and seeing, standing on a balcony railing, wearing the skin tight black bodysuit with Heartless logo on the chest, black and red gloves on the hands, and the white frilly half-skirt around the waist, was none other than…
"Riku?" Sora exclaimed as Riku smirked. He was in Dark Form.
"Surprised to see me here, aren't ya? Well I'm surprised to see you here without Kairi. Did you fail to protect her again?" Riku asked with a dark smile. Sora looked hurt and shocked at the same time.
"Riku, why are you saying that? Kairi's been kidnapped by some evil me! We could use your help saving her!" Sora said as Riku scoffed.
"Why should I help you of all people? You're nothing more than a boy with a key shaped sword. You're nothing special." Riku said as Sora looked even more hurt.
"Sora, I don't think that this is the real Riku." Namine said as Sora looked at her confused.
"Huh? How can you say that Namine? He's standing right here in front of us." Sora replied.
"I know but I just tried to look at his memories Sora. The only memories he has are memories from your point of view. None of them are his, and they're all of your greatest fears. I think this Riku is your Nightmare." Namine said as Vincent shook his head.
"No, he's more than just a Nightmare. He's a Night Terror." Vincent said as Riku smirked.
"How very observant. So you know that I'm the embodiment of your fears Sora. That really changes nothing. I'm still not going to help you; instead I'm going to…" Riku said as he stretched out his right hand. Immediately, a long, swirling, black, mist appeared in his hand for a moment before fading away and revealing an all too familiar weapon. It was the sword: Soul Eater. (Battle Music Cue: Another Side "Battle Version" – 358/2 Days OST)
"…instead, I'm going to KILL you!" Riku said as he leapt from the balcony with his sword raised. Sora re-summoned his Keyblade and rolled out of the way of Riku's attack. Riku leapt onto his feet with a spin, and was about to attack Sora again when Namine suddenly hurled a Blizzaga blast towards him. He unexpectedly vanished in a strange blur only to reappear overhead about to attack Sora again.
This time Axel leapt up with his chakrams and hurled one of them towards Riku. Riku quickly blocked with Soul Eater as the chakram continued to spin like a saw blade.
"Time to turn up the HEAT!" Axel said as he snapped his fingers and instantly the chakram exploded in a ball of flames before Axel even touched down on the ground. He quickly re-summoned his missing chakram just as Riku reappeared behind him.
"AXEL BEHIND YOU!" Namine shouted as Riku attempted to attack Sora again but this time Roxas intercepted. Riku brought Soul Eater down but Roxas blocked with both Oathkeeper and Oblivion, crossed in an X shape.
"Roxas! Let me face him! He's my nightmare after all!" Sora said as Roxas grunted slightly from the pressure.
"Alright! He's all yours!" Roxas shouted before vanishing in a flash of bright light, causing Riku's blade to crash into the ground where he once stood. Roxas reappeared with Axel and Namine. Ren and Vincent stood nearby, watching the sight for themselves.
"Alright, Riku. You might be my Night Terror but I'm not going to let you stop me from rescuing Kairi!" Sora yelled as Riku grinned.
"You couldn't save a FLY!" Riku taunted.
"He's trying to discourage you, don't let him." Vincent said as he drew a tri-barreled pistol from his side. Sora prepared himself just as Riku lunged forward with Soul Eater reared back and Sora easily blocked the blow. Riku then leapt back and pointed his sword at Sora, firing numerous orbs of black magic towards him (Dark Firaga). Sora quickly used Reflega to block the attack, sending a sudden burst of white orbs of light out around him which quickly dissipated. Sora looked up at Riku with a determined look and quickly leapt up towards him. Riku smirked and gave the "bring it on" hand signal, as Sora reared back his Keyblade. He swung at Riku who disappeared and then reappeared.
"LOOK OUT!" he heard Namine shout. He quickly whirled around just in time to see Riku flying towards him with his sword pulled back, about to strike. Without warning, a reflect shield appeared around Sora, causing the blade to bounce off the shield. Sora glanced down and saw Namine shoot him a smile before he raised his Keyblade back up and swung at Riku who blocked.
"Getting kinda slow aren't we Sora?" Riku asked with a dark smirk. He then shoved Sora down towards the ground with a vicious swing. Sora quickly pulled an aerial recovery and landed safely on a large walkway with a guardrail along one side overlooking the surrounding forest. Riku then reappeared behind him with a dark smirk on his face. Sora spun around in a vicious swing of his own, only for his Keyblade to hit a large rectangular wall of purple energy causing Riku to smirk. Riku had used Dark Shield to block the blow. Riku grinned before thrusting his blade through the shield, but fortunately Sora leapt back in time and quickly counterattacked. This time however Riku blocked the blow, but quickly spun their blades around and then with a flick of his blade, knocked Sora's Keyblade out of his hands. Before Sora could run to grab it, Riku quickly held Soul Eater to his neck.
"Any last words before you die, Sora?" Riku asked menacingly. Suddenly two Keyblades appeared, holding Soul Eater in between the teeth of the two blades. Riku and Sora looked over to see Roxas holding Oathkeeper and Oblivion.
"Try, you lose!" Roxas shouted as Axel appeared behind Riku and hurled his chakrams vertically towards Riku. Riku snarled before vanishing again, causing Axel to recall the chakrams. Axel and Roxas both had to quickly block several shots of Dark Firaga as Riku attacked from in midair overhead. Namine, meanwhile, appeared in a flash of light, flying behind him, with her magic staff aimed at his back.
"FIRE!" she shouted and a fireball flew from the staff but Riku spun around quickly and sliced through the fireball before he started attacking her. Much to both his and the others surprise however, she was able to defend herself quite easily. She would swing her staff across in front of her and create a thin light purple ribbon of energy that would disappear the second Riku's blade hit it, and rebound as if hitting another blade. Finally he fired Dark Firaga at her again but she blocked with Reflega before teleporting to the ground. Riku disappeared just before the white orbs shot out from the shield. He reappeared on the railing behind Sora and attempted to make a decapitating swing but his swing was blocked by a sudden oval shaped bladed weapon that crashed suddenly into his blade and then flew back towards a nearby staircase like a boomerang. Everyone looked to see Ren catch the bladed weapon on her left arm, staggering back slightly as it fit into place on a strange firing mechanism attached to her left sleeve. Riku quickly vanished again and reappeared in midair and flying towards the unsuspecting Sora with his sword raised over his head.
"You're-not-getting-the-better-of-ME!" Riku shouted angrily as he brought his Keyblade down. Sora instinctively flinched as Riku attacked.
CLANG! (End Battle Music)
Sora didn't feel any pain, weakness, or anything as he opened his eyes. He then saw why as a tattered red cape drifted in the wind in front of his eyes. He turned and his eyes widened at the sight of Vincent Valentine holding Riku's sword in his gold armored claw. Riku snarled but then they heard a deafening sound for a split second that echoed. Riku grimaced angrily at the sound. It was then that Sora noticed that in Vincent's other hand was the tri-barreled pistol from before, aimed right at Riku's chest and smoking slightly. Riku attempted to raise his left hand to fire a magic spell but Vincent merely fired six more shots through him before letting go of the blade and allowing Riku to drop to his knees in anger.
"You haven't seen the last of me. Mark my words. We're not done, not by a long shot." Riku grunted angrily before vanishing in a burst of black smoke and purple magic, sword and all. Vincent silently holstered his gun and started walking away.
"WHOA-WHOA-Whoa! Hold on a minute, I thought you said that those "Night Terrors" as you call them, couldn't be defeated, only overcome!" Axel said as he quickly leapt in the gunman's path.
"Do you think we were lying?" Vincent asked as Axel scratched the back of his neck.
"What we told you was the truth. The Nightmares and Night Terrors cannot be killed, only defeated and driven away for a while. The braver you are the less frequently they appear. What we just did, was drive it away. Perhaps we should have elaborated more from the start." Ren said as she descended from the staircase.
"It would have helped." Axel said as the five Turks reappeared, running out of a large doorway.
"We heard the commotion and what sounded like gunfire, is everything alright?" Tseng asked as Ren nodded.
"Yes everything's fine now Tseng. The Night Terror was driven off." Ren said as Tseng rubbed his temples with a frustrated sigh.
"Fantastic. We have another Night Terror to contend with. As if some of the others weren't bad enough, now we have to deal with another one." Reno groaned.
"Hey! It wasn't our idea to bring it here!" Roxas argued.
"Calm down Roxas, none of us intended for any of this to happen. We just have to go with the flow for now." Namine said as there was almost a unison sigh from everyone.
"She's right." Vincent said as he turned towards Sora.
"Sora, you need to continue your search for your missing friend." Vincent said as Sora nodded.
"I don't plan to search, I plan to find." Sora said determinedly.
"Good to hear Sora." Ren said as she approached, while reaching into her pocket.
"Here, I want you to take this." Ren said as she handed Sora a small white feather.
"What's this?" Sora asked curiously.
"It's just a little good luck charm really. But all three of our missing companions except for Serah and her sister has one. If you show the feather to them and they show one back, then you know that they're one of us." Ren explained.
"Heh, he's going to have a lot of good luck what with two lucky charms and all." Axel said with a chuckle as Ren gave him a confused look.
"What do you mean?" Ren asked as Sora reached in one of his many pockets and pulled out Kairi's lucky charm.
"He means this. This belongs to the person that got taken from me. When I find her, I'm going to give it back to her." Sora said as Ren admired the small trinket.
"It's very beautiful." Ren commented as Sora pocketed the charm. He was about to pocket the white feather as well but it suddenly flashed with a brief white light. Sora, Roxas, Namine, and Axel knew what it meant. Sora quickly summoned his Keyblade and held it straight out in front of him with both hands and suddenly a gust of magical wind blew up from beneath him, creating a large magical version of his crown necklace insignia on the ground beneath him. The feather charm started to float into the air by magic and suddenly shot a beam of swirling white magic straight up into the air, and then stopped to create a keyhole in mid-air. Sora then aimed his Keyblade straight at the keyhole, causing a circle of blue magic to form around the tip before another blue beam shot forward and struck the keyhole which started to glow white. The sound of a mechanical lock echoed immediately as the keyhole disappeared.
"What…was that?" Reno asked in awe.
"He just sealed Balamb Garden's Keyhole. We're going to be safe from the Nightmares for a while." Vincent said as Sora pocketed the feather charm.
"Well I guess we should be going. We need to keep looking." Sora said as Ren nodded.
"The door you used to get here should get you back to the Dream Port. The Dream Finder should help you find where to go. I hope you find your friend Sora." Ren said as Sora smiled.
"I do too. We'll be sure to try and find your friends while we're at it." Sora said as he Roxas, Namine, and Axel started heading towards the door. As they watched the four walk away, Tseng turned to Ren.
"Do you really think that the boy is for real? You think he can really do what he plans to do?" Tseng asked as Ren nodded with a smile.
"I'm sure of it. There isn't any Cloud or Squall that could hinder them." Ren said as she looked up at the sky with a longing expression.
"Squall." She said silently.
End Chapter 8.
Shera is also from Final Fantasy VII
