Hero's Heart Chapter 10: Fallen.
Ok, Chapter 10 is finally ready! Sorry for the wait, but this chapter was very hard to write and took A LOT longer for that matter. Not only because it contains key plot moments, but also because its extra long and full of fight scenes. Anyways, I'd really like to know what you guys think about the story, what you like, what you hate and what should be improved. I also want to thank those who have reviewed/added to Favorites/added to Story alert.
Oh, and the there is mild cursing in this chapter and there will probably be more from now on. There will also be some SoraXKairi, but that is NOT the main focus of the plot. This story is mostly centered around friendship.
Disclaimer: !straeH modgniK nwo t'nod I
Notice: HH has reached 1000+ hits!!!
A single black castle stood on the cliff-like hill. Several areas of the castle had been long destroyed, making the place look more like an accursed set of decadent towers, than the lovely home of some noble or monarch. The sky had a sickly green tinge, whilst black clouds and constant thunder storms only helped to strengthen the eerie feeling that emanated from the place. Inside, the halls were dark and damp, several old tapestries hung from the walls but they were all old, torn, and rotten. There were several broken statues of what looked like demons and gargoyles in the corridors. The place also smelt strongly of mold and stagnant water, no doubt one of the causes for its decay.
Despite its seemingly abandoned state, the place was very much occupied. Amidst the occasional drip of water, the sounds of mumbling and heavy footsteps echoed through the halls. A large figure clumsily made its way through the dimly lit corridors, illuminated by torches that burnt green. Despite that, the figure's face was cast in shadow.
"Stupid brat and his stupid key." The figure muttered, along with several curses.
The figure continued to move rather ungracefully up several flights of stairs, which led to one of the towers. It finally reached the top panting, but almost fell down the stairs comically when it was startled by the thunder outside. After calming down and catching its breath, the figure continued walking until it stopped in front of a large door. It seemed to fidget nervously before opening the door and going in.
"Well Pete, you surely took your time." Said a robed figure that sat, perfectly hidden by the shadows at the end of the room.
Pete cautiously entered the room. It was round and was decorated by several strange artifacts, no doubt containing some form of magic, tapestries, and several chandeliers. In the middle of the room was a pedestal that held a strange orb that glowed green. The robed figure sat at the very end of the room on what appeared to be a crude stone throne. The figure stood up and walked towards the green orb on the pedestal. The orb's glow revealed the robed figure to be none other than Maleficent. She stood arrogantly with the look of utter disdain permanently plastered on her face. She was holding a long staff with a green orb and a crow perched on her shoulder.
"I-it´s not my fault! I-i-it was the keybrat´s fault! He just went crazy, see!" Pete stammered. Experience had taught him to never EVER get on Maleficent´s bad side, not that she had a good side to begin with.
"Once again you fail me Pete. Though it was an error on my behalf to not have foreseen such incompetence." Maleficent said coldly as she stroked her pet crow.
"B-but!" Pete stuttered, as the green orb on the staff began to glow menacingly.
"Your little encounter did reveal quite a few surprises though." Maleficent said as a sadistic smile appeared on her face. "Yes, I believe it was quite helpful."
"What do you mean?" Pete asked confused. Her tone revealed some kind of hidden truth, something that she understood and nobody else did.
"I mean it is time for us to strike back." Maleficent said, still smiling evilly at her own plan. "Gather the troops Pete."
"B-but we don't have enough Heartless to attack! How are we ever going to win?" Pete said. "Besides, what about the Keyblade Master?"
"If what I saw was correct, I believe he is in no position to resist the attack. As for troops, I see no problem. After all, I've heard that, as of late, there are plenty of them already there. All we need to do is just show them the way." Maleficent said as she put her hand over the large orb, making mist swirl in the inside and a blurry image slowly appear.
Pete gave one final salute before dashing through the door. Maleficent stroked the pitch-black feathers of her faithful pet, as the image in the orb became clearer and clearer. Soon it showed the image of a certain brunette Keyblade Master, before shifting again and showing the familiar sight of a odd looking castle surrounded by a blue landscape.
"The pieces are set, and now it is time for us to begin." Maleficent said. "Before nightfall tonight, Radiant Garden will be mine!"
The witch let out an evil laugh, that shook the decadent castle, as the thunder struck, and the rain outside continued to pour.
"Roxas…I'm afraid I won't make it…" Sora said, clutching his side, and laying his head back on a nearby wall.
'Don't say that, of course you'll make it!' Roxas replied.
"I'm sorry but…it's too much." Sora said, again as he slowly closed his eyes. "I'm really sorry about that time with the ice-cream."
'Will you seriously get a grip! It's just been ten minutes of Cid's driving.' Roxas said with a sigh, as he mentally poked Sora to get up.
They had left Twilight Town ten minutes ago in Cid's new gummi ship "Shera". But before completely leaving the world's orbit, Sora decided to eat some of the food that Cid had left for him. After all, now that he though about it , he hadn't eaten in a while, and he was pretty hungry. That was his first mistake. In his hurry, Sora had completely forgotten who their pilot was. As a result Sora was currently in one of the ship's sleeping quarters, trying to the best of his abilities to stop the food from leaving his stomach and 'decorating' Cid's new ship. Between the hunger he had felt and the nausea he was feeling, Sora would take the hunger any day.
"Uhhg. Will someone please just kill me now?" Sora whined.
'Just focus on something else, thinking about it only makes it worse.' Roxas said with a sigh. He was starting to lose his patience. Seeing how he spoke to the teen, it would have appeared that he was Sora's older brother rather than his Nobody.
"I can't, the pain is too annoying. It doesn't even let me sleep!" Sora whined, as he brought up his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He then rested his head on his knees and groaned, as the ship shook violently. "Maybe this is his way of getting revenge on me."
'Well at least you are still in one piece.' Roxas joked.
Just then, the whole room gave a 360 degree flip, as Sora along with several other objects in the room, were thrown off their positions and crashed (painfully in Sora's case) on the floor. Sora gave a muffled groan and proceeded to peel his face of the floor.
"Yeah, but for how long?" Sora said as he positioned himself cross-legged on the floor.
He brushed off some dirt off his clothes starting from the legs, then moving to the mid and upper sections of his battered body. As soon as he reached his chest and shoulders, he suddenly froze as a look of confusion crept into his face.
'Sora, what's wrong?' Roxas asked also confused.
Sora ignored him. Instead, he imitated his motions from earlier. Not satisfied, he started carefully prodding at the areas with the tips of his fingers. Then realization dawned upon him; he couldn't feel it. Panic rapidly took hold of him, as he clumsily got up, nearly falling over with the ship's movements. Roxas was now very worried, and clouded Sora's mind with questions. Sora nearly shouted for him to shut up, but stopped himself from doing so. Instead, he proceeded to rapidly take off his hoodie and T-shirt, almost as if they were on fire.
Once they came off, both Sora and Roxas stood in absolute silence. They had forgotten about Sora's odd wound, mostly because they were more focused on staying alive at the time. And now that Sora thought about it, it did seem odd that most of the wounds he received on his mid and upper chest hadn't bothered him. He had assumed that the near constant flow of adrenaline was to blame, but he couldn't have been more wrong. His chest wasn't painless, it was numb. He couldn't feel the pain, that was true, but he also couldn't feel anything else. Even as he touched the area, the skin underneath his fingers felt strange and foreign to him, as if it wasn't even his. Any pain he had felt before was replaced by emptiness.
The reason for this was obvious. The expanding black wound now covered about half of his body. His lower chest and torso were fully enveloped, and by the looks of it most of his back too. He didn't see his lower body, but since he could still feel the skin there and he didn't particularly feel like pulling his pants down and checking, he assumed he was fine. His shoulders and the area just below the neck were also black, but not entirely. Instead the infected areas looked like fiery black stripes that wrapped around his shoulders, with a few stripes that seemed to be reaching for his neck. Strangely enough he also noticed some strange bluish purple lines that had appeared on his chest, specifically where his heart was. In fact, there were several, which moved away from his heart whilst forming a makeshift circle around it, like the rays of a sun.
After what felt like hours of shocking silence, Sora slowly began to put his discarded clothes back on. His movements seemed almost mechanical, his mind was still getting over the sudden realization. The realization that he didn't have much time left. He was losing a race against time.
'Sora…' Roxas wanted to comfort him, but was unable to find the words.
Sora forgot all about his upset stomach, and instead headed out the door and towards the cockpit. He was restless, and the sudden discovery made it impossible for him to sit still, since it felt like he was wasting precious time. And even though going to see Cid would make no difference time wise, it would at least feel like he was doing something.
When he arrived at the cockpit, he found Cid driving the ship whilst shooting (and cursing of course) at the incoming Heartless. According to Cid, there had been a suspiciously large number of Heartless ships lately. The cause for this was yet to be discovered however, giving Sora a deep foreboding feeling.
On the bright side, due to Cid's insanely fast and reckless driving, they had finally reached Radiant Garden. The sight of the old castle and the neighboring town greeted Sora, as he looked outside the ship. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel that something was off about the world. Cid seemed to notice this too. There was simply too much darkness surrounding it. Once they disembarked in town, their fears were confirmed. Not a soul was in sight; the square was empty.
Cid was the first to react. He quickly made his way up the square's steps and past the synthesis shop to get to The Borough. Sora quickly snapped out of his trance and ran after the pilot. If this was indeed caused by a Heartless attack, they needed to get to Merlin's house and contact the others quickly. They didn't see any Heartless in town, but that changed once they entered The Borough. A Soldier Heartless readied a cyclone attack, but before Sora could summon his keyblade, a shuriken made it was swiftly through the air and embedded itself between the Heartless´s yellow glowing eyes, instantly killing it.
"Yuffie!" Sora cried out in surprise as the teenage ninja jumped down from a nearby rooftop.
"Talk about timing." Yuffie commented as she looked at the pair. She couldn't help but notice how awful Sora looked. He looked sick, wounded, and tired all rolled into one.
"What happened?" Cid asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Maleficent attacked, that's what." Yuffie replied. "Thankfully you guys arrived just in time."
"What about the others?" Sora asked.
"Aerith took Pooh´s storybook, and is in the shelter helping the wounded townsfolk, thankfully everyone's ok. The Gullwings are helping here and there. Tifa and Stitch and are fighting in the Restoration Site and the castle, the Heartless situation is under control there. The real problem is in the Ravine Trail and beyond, Leon and Cloud are there now, but there's too many Heartless." Yuffie said before biting her lip and continuing. "We can't send the others there because it would leave the other areas unprotected. I'm in charge of giving out supplies and checking up on everyone since I'm the fastest. I was fighting in the Bailey when I saw the ship, so I came to meet you guys."
"What about the town's defense system?" Cid asked.
"The town's defense system can't beat them. There's just too many heartless and more just keep coming. It's even worse than last time." Yuffie huffed annoyed.
"Well then, I think we should get started." Sora said as a look of determination appeared on his tired face. He could be tired, wounded, and maybe even dying, but he would NEVER allow his friends to get hurt.
'That's the spirit.' Roxas said as if proud of Sora.
"Damn right." Cid said. He went inside Merlin's House, and shortly afterwards he came back out holding a long spear in his hand. In all honesty, Cid was worried for Sora, but unfortunately, they had a war on their hands and the pilot had to admit that they needed all the help they could get.
The trio made their way quickly to the Bailey where a group of about fifteen Soldier Heartless awaited them near the metal gate. Yuffie quickly took out her rather large shuriken, while Cid swung his spear to block a cyclone attack. Sora extended his hand to summon the keyblade but failed. He froze, but instead of panicking and bringing any attention to himself from his companions, he shot a blizzard spell from his extended hand. Thankfully nobody noticed his little bluff and when he tried summoning the keyblade a second time, it worked. He was surprised however when instead of having Oathkeeper appear in its radiant white light, he was met with the black smoke and violet sparks of Oblivion.
'That's odd.' Roxas commented, perfectly reflecting Sora's own thoughts.
Instead of pondering as to why his Keyblade choice had changed, Sora decided that taking out the Heartless took priority. He could solve the mystery later. Sora quickly slashed through two Heartless, as he caught a sight of Cid leaping high into the air, with an agility he thought impossible for the smoker. Seconds later the pilot plunged down swiftly, impaling three Soldiers at once. Once the first wave of Heartless was defeated, the group moved on only to see another wave coming up the long steps below them. Cid cursed loudly and wiped some sweat off his brow. At this rate, they would never reach the others.
"You two, I'll take care of things here. Y´all just go on ahead and get to the others." Cid told the teens.
"But Cid." Sora said. He didn't feel too well about leaving his friend behind.
"These guys ain´t nothin. Now scram." Cid said in his usual tough voice, as he turned to give his back to Sora and face the Heartless that were approaching rapidly up the steps.
"…Ok." Sora said quietly as he nodded and prepared himself to leave.
"Oh, and Sora." Cid said, his back still turned. Sora looked at the older man in curiosity. "Make sure to get yer sorry hide back here, I ain´t done with you yet."
Soar couldn't help but smile warmly at the comment. If anything he knew that it was Cid's own way of showing his concern for him. With Oblivion in his hand, he leaped off the ledge that had been blown off months ago during the attack on Hollow Bastion. He zoomed down past the infested staircase and landed in a crouch. He then ran quickly with Yuffie appearing at his side, cutting every Heartless in his path.
The adrenaline rushed through his veins, numbing his body from the pain, as he expertly swung his blade at several Shadows. He had decided against dismissing the Keyblade, since he didn't know if he would have problems summoning it again. Not that he had the chance, based on the sheer number of Heartless.
Sora and Yuffie arrived at an open area, adorned by several fallen pillars and a mosaic decorated floor. Sora recognized the place as the battlefield in his fight with Demyx. Yet instead of having the Melodious Nocturne as an opponent, they were met with about thirty or more Heartless. The group was made up of Shadows, Neoshadows, Soldiers, Armored Knights, Bookmasters, and Surveillance Robots.
Sora gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath. "Just my luck."
With a deep breath, he lunged forward and took out the Bookmasters first before they even had the chance to start casting spells. He saw a Morning Star jump towards him, but was quickly able to block him with Oblivion´s shaft. A Neoshadow leaped at Sora, seeing its opportunity to attack, but thankfully Yuffie came to his rescue by hitting it between the eyes with her weapon. Sora swung his blade, throwing the Morning Star in the direction of the other impact destroyed several Armored Knights at once. Sora then turned to see a Surveillance Robot light up, this was his chance. He quickly ran past Yuffie who was taking care of some Soldiers, and grabbed the Heartless with help of Oblivion just as a massive ray was unleashed.
"YUFFIE LOOK OUT!" Sora yelled, as he moved the beam in a circular motion.
Yuffie quickly did a back flip, dodging the ray, but the remaining Heartless weren't so lucky. The intense blast left them as a mass of black smoke and disappearing hearts. With the rest of the Heartless gone, Sora quickly disposed of the one he had used as a weapon. He fell on his knees panting, as a final pink heart floated away and disappeared.
"Sora, are you ok?" Yuffie asked as she approached him.
"Yeah don't worry, it's nothing." Sora said as he got up and gave a fake smile.
Suddenly a loud explosion shook the earth. Both teens were taken by surprise, and fell down with the sudden shockwave. Soon enough they looked up to see smoke rising. Sora looked at the direction of the explosion and realized that it was coming from the Restoration Site, near the Castle Postern. He quickly looked at Yuffie, who looked at him with the same expression.
"I'll go." Yuffie quickly said. They both knew that Tifa and Stitch were supposed to have things under control, so the explosion was probably a very bad sign. They also knew that Ansem's study, as well as his computer, were in that area. They simply couldn´t afford to lose either to the Heartless.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Sora asked. He wasn't doing peachy himself, but he had always worried about the well-being of others before his own. It was simply part of his nature.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fast and I'm loaded with potions. Besides, someone still needs to get to Leon and Cloud." Yuffie replied.
"Ok then…" Sora said nodding. He knew very well that Yuffie was right. She was the fastest and would probably have no problem reaching the others, then healing them with the potions.
Yuffie waved at him goodbye and left in a poof of smoke. Sora decided that he should move on, and began running towards the trail. Sora didn´t even take three steps when a large jolt of pain shook his body. Sora let out a pained cry and fell to his knees while clutching his heart. The pain was intense, and felt like it wanted to tear his heart apart. It was the same pain that made him loose control of the ship and crash into The World That Never Was.
Soon enough the pain began to ebb away. Sora tried to get to his feet. He was panting, and struggling to keep his balance. His eyes seemed to have problems focusing, his muscles ached, and he had broken into a cold sweat, but otherwise, he was fine. Or at least that was what he was trying to convince himself. Sora wiped his brow with a gloved hand, and after composing himself, he continued running towards his destination.
Little did he know that he was being watched.
"Well that's interesting." Said a figure smugly, with a voice as cold as ice. It had been watching the whole ordeal from the top of a nearby cliff. "Hmm, lets see how this plays out."
And with a sound reminiscent of the beating of wings the figure was gone.
After what was probably one of the most frustrating trips of their young lives, Riku and Kairi had finally made it to Radiant Garden. Both teens, as well as the gang from Disney Castle, were relieved and excited. They were glad the trip was over and excited to see Sora. Even though there was no direct evidence that Sora was there, they could all feel his presence like a strong pull.
Their excitement was replaced by confusion once they landed the gummi ship and disembarked. The town was completely empty, more importantly, they could also see a large trail of smoke rising from the distance, no doubt caused by an explosion of some sort. Their fears were finally confirmed when they saw some of the Claymores move quickly past them. The town's defense system was activated, which meant that they just landed in the middle of a battlefield.
"Come on everyone!" Said King Mickey, as he began running towards the Bailey.
"Your majesty!" Donald squawked.
"Gawrsh, we gotta find Leon and the others." Goofy said.
"Right." Riku and Kairi said nodding. Although Riku wasn't personally familiar with the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, he knew enough about them from the stories that Sora and Kairi told him. To him they seemed nice enough, if not a bit eccentric.
Soon, the group made it to Merlin´s house, but once they discovered that it was empty, they were taken by surprise by a loud explosion. They followed the sound up several stairs that led to the Bailey. There, they found a very tired looking Cid fighting off a large group of Heartless. The group quickly got into position; King Mickey summoned his Dark Realm Keyblade, Riku summoned his own Keyblade, Way to the Dawn, Kairi summoned her own weapon, while Donald took out his staff, and Goofy his shield. Spells flew, and the sound of clashing metal filled the air, and soon enough, there were no Heartless left.
"Cid, are you alright?" The King asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's gonna take A LOT more to get rid of me, that's for sure." Cid said tried to catch his breath.
"What happened?" Goofy asked.
"That old hag Maleficent is up to her old tricks again." Cid said. "We were hoping to get some help. But I sure am surprised to see you guys here. Especially you Kairi, it's been a while. And if you're here then that there must be Riku, correct?"
Riku nodded. "Nice to meet you."
"It's great to see you again, but truth be told, we came here looking for Sora. Have you seen him?" Kairi asked hopeful.
"Yeah, he went on ahead to meet up with Cloud and Leon." Cid said. "But there's somethin you should know first."
"What do you mean?" Riku asked. He was very perceptive when it came to reading people. As a result, he didn't failed to notice the concern etched in Cid´s features. ' Whatever it is, must be very serious.' He concluded.
"I'll tell you on the way." Cid said, in a serious tone.
That being said, the group made their way down the stairs through the now heartless-free area. Kairi walked with her eyes downcast and both her hands fidgeting nervously. Riku took one of her hands reassuringly after he realized that she was visibly trembling. Riku's other hand was clenched in a fist so tight that his knuckles had turned white. They could both feel it in the air, much like the calm before a storm: Something was terribly wrong.
Cloud was completely immersed in the fight. He had reached the point where his mind was in a trance like state, and his body moved on its own accord. It was as if all his moves had been practiced beforehand like some intricate dance for an invisible audience. He swung his massive heavily wrapped blade with a speed and grace that seemed impossible. Each time he would hit his target and move on, there was no room for mistakes, just as there was no time to get tired. It was a deadly dance, where the battlefield was his stage, the sound of metal clashing was his music, and he was the lead performer.
Suddenly the 'music' stopped and Cloud was snapped out of his trance. The row of Armored Knights in front of him were about to attack, when suddenly, in a flash of light and the swooshing sound of a blade, they were instantly defeated. Anyone would have stopped and looked at the scene in amazement but Cloud knew better. He recognized that sound anywhere. He quickly took a defensive position, and just in time too. Almost instantly, several invisible slashes were blocked by his massive sword. Several pieces of cut bandages fell off.
"Well looks like someone has been practicing." Said a figure that seemed to have materialized behind the blonde.
"Sephiroth!" Cloud snarled, turning around to face his sworn enemy.
There he stood, indifferent to the masses of approaching Heartless. He had long silvery hair, pale skin, and green cat-like eyes, which, much like cats, had a look of arrogance, and utter disdain. He wore a long black trench coat, that left his chest partially exposed, shoulder guards, long boots, black pants, and an iconic bluish black feathered wing on his right shoulder and another two at either side of his hips under the coat.
"Nice to see you again, Cloud." Sephiroth said in a cold voice.
"What do you want?" Cloud snarled threateningly.
"What I want Cloud, is to let you in on something interesting." Sephiroth said while an evil smirk graced his features.
"And what would that be?" Cloud said, not letting his guard down for one second.
"That friend of yours, the Keyblade wielder. He is dangerously close to the darkness. I just thought I would let you know." Sephiroth replied slowly, a small smile on his face like that of a cat toying with a mouse. "He is on his way right now and we wouldn't want anything to happen to him, now would we?"
Cloud opened his mouth to ask what the one winged being meant, but Sephiroth had already disappeared in a swirl of black feathers. Cloud swore, as more Heartless started to approach. He swung his sword, readying himself for the fight but his thoughts were elsewhere.
'What did he mean by that?' Cloud wondered.
Leon wiped the sweat off his brow, as he panted for breath. His muscles were tense and protested his every movement. He would no doubt feel it in the morning. He had been fighting for hours and still the Heartless continued to pour in, giving him little to no time to recover. This was their true power. Alone, Heartless were not all that hard to defeat, they were dangerous opponents, not difficult ones. But together, Heartless could easily destroy a world. This fight wasn't about strength, it was about endurance.
'That´s odd, the clouds are stirring. A storm maybe?' Leon thought to himself and he lowered his weapon, resting the tip of the sword on the ground.
His train of thought was suddenly stopped by a sound he had become familiar with the years; Heartless. Several of them and approaching fast. Leon quickly brought up his gunblade as he braced himself for what was to come. Soon, Heartless began swarming from every corner of the ravine. Leon cursed. There were so many of them. Just where were they coming from?
'I guess that's what I get for spacing out on the weather.' He thought bitterly.
In a matter of seconds Leon found himself completely surrounded. And once the first heartless began attacking, all the rest followed. The swordsman quickly sliced a leaping Neoshadow, and then turned around and threw a fireball at a Soldier that had attempted to hit him from behind. A bright bolt of light followed by a sharp jolt of pain made him wince. He gritted his teeth and attempted to ignore the pain. He looked around and attempted to find the source, of what he realized was a thunder spell. On his far left was a Bookmaster. Leon groaned, he hated those.
The brunette tried to force his way over before the Bookmaster had the chance to cast again, but he was so focused on the spell casting Heartless that he failed to notice in time a sneak attack from a Neoshadow directly under him. The attack made him stumble, giving every other monster the opportunity to strike. In seconds, Leon found himself being ganged upon by several heartless while a few others formed a pile on top of him to keep him from moving. He furiously struggled to break free but with no success, he couldn't even cast in this state.
The Heartless continued to deliver blow after blow without mercy. Leon knew that at this rate he wouldn't make it. Even now, he was struggling to remain conscious. His vision started blurring before slowly being enveloped by darkness. But before the darkness had the chance to take over, he heard hurried footsteps and a loud shout.
Sora arrived just in time to find a battered Leon under a pile of about twenty Heartless that were either beating him up or pinning him down. Sora called his name but the older brunette seemed unresponsive. Instead, Sora quickly charged a strong blizzard spell towards the heartless, and once frozen, he swung Oblivion at them, shattering them in the process. Then, Sora knelt next to his fallen comrade and cast Cure. The older brunette stirred, and then slowly opened his eyes.
"Sora?" Leon asked. He had to admit, he was both relieved and surprised. Surprised mostly because of the teen's appearance. He was sure he had never seen Sora in such a bad condition as he was now. Though he probably wasn't in the position to talk. 'I must look pretty awful right now.'
Leon slowly got up. He was still feeling tired, but the Cure spell had thankfully taken care of his injuries. This wasn't the time to celebrate, however. Several Heartless had all ready prepared their attacks, and oddly enough, they were all targeting Sora. But before any of them could unleash their attacks, Sora had already jumped into action. He attacked relentlessly, not allowing any Heartless to escape his anger. He was perfectly aware that they were just mindlessly collecting hearts, but that didn't change the fact that they had hurt his friend. To him that was unforgivable.
In a couple of minutes, Sora and Leon defeated the Heartless. Leon was surprised by the fierceness in the younger brunette's attacks. If anything, it was disquieting. Sora had always reminded Leon of a bright star. He was always bright and cheerful, sharing the mood with anyone that came into contact. In troubled times he shone brightly, like a beacon of hope. In battle, he shone ever brighter, giving his all for his loved ones. But as the saying said, the star that shines twice as bright, only shines for half as long. And just as he witnessed, Sora was shining particularly bright at the moment.
'No!' Leon thought, stopping his train of thought. Sora wasn't going to die! Sure there had been close calls, but the boy always made it through in the end. He – no – everyone would make sure of that.
Both brunettes quickly made their way to Crystal Fissure with Sora in the lead. By going through the small cave-like fissure, they could make it to the large area where the Thousand Heartless battle took place. Hopefully Cloud would be there.
Neither Sora nor Leon spoke on their way. Sora was too caught up on his own thoughts to notice the older male eyeing him warily. Leon could tell that Sora was tired. There were small beads of sweat making their way down the sides of his face. His messy brown spikes of hair, that would usually stand proud, seemed to falter, no doubt because his hair was slightly damp with sweat. Moreover, Leon noticed his ragged breaths for air, each short and uneven. This told him Sora had trouble breathing and was probably in pain. Though the latter was probably a very obvious conclusion, based on the fact that Sora was covered in cuts and bruises.
They were near the tunnel's exit when Leon caught a sight of something that made his blood run cold. At the base of Sora's collar, there was black marking, similar in shape to a long flame, that was snaking its way up the side of his neck. The marking was way too dark to be a bruise, not to mention it seemed to be spreading. Just what hell was it? Leon was about to shout for Sora to stop, but the teen had already exited the fissure, oblivious to what had just happened.
Cloud was currently surrounded by a large mass of Heartless. In fact, all he could see around him was black and yellow, with exception to the blue rocky walls of the canyon, the entrance to Crystal Fissure in front of him, and exit to Dark Depths behind him. Somehow, the canyon was able to hold even more Heartless than last time.
The Heartless hesitated to attack and simply surrounded Cloud, leaving a couple of meters of distance between them. Occasionally, one would be brave (or foolish) enough to attack, some of the others following its lead. But after they were defeated, the rest of the monsters would hesitate. As much as they wanted hearts, Heartless also had the instinct of self preservation. They knew they were no match for the blonde swordsman.
But Cloud knew he couldn't keep this up forever. Even he had to admit that he was getting tired, and if all the Heartless decided to attack him at once, even he might not make it in one piece. At the same time, he couldn't simply relax and drop his guard, it would be like an open invitation for them to attack him. In fact, he was almost sure that the Heartless were purposely trying to tire him out.
'Dammit!' Cloud mentally swore. He couldn't stay like this forever! His only real option was to act soon, and if things got too bad, just make a run for it and regroup with the others. As much as that would hurt his pride, he would at least live to see another day.
Cloud was about to carry out his plan, when he noticed the Heartless stir. They all turned to face the entrance towards Crystal Fissure, as if expecting something to happen. They were right. In the distance, the sound of running footsteps echoed from the tunnel and soon enough, the familiar figure of Sora burst forth, Oblivion in hand. Quickly following after him was a distraught Leon, that seemed to be trying to make the younger brunette stop.
The reaction from the Heartless was instantaneous. They all seemed to forget about the blonde swordsman and swarmed straight towards the boy. The boy on the other hand, didn't seem all that surprised, and quickly went into battle mode. Cloud went forward to help but when he got near enough, his eyes widened in shock. To say that the boy looked awful was an understatement. He looked like he had just fallen out of the skies, only to be mauled by a pack of Behemoths. Yet, the most disturbing things were the pitch-black markings that had appeared on Sora's body. There were some at each side of Sora's neck, while some were wrapping down his arms. Now there were also small stripes spreading slowly on his face, on his cheeks just below each eye, before coming to a stop about halfway to the nose.
Suddenly, Sephiroth´s warning became all too clear. He could feel the darkness inside Sora. Yet, it was unlike the darkness he himself had once fallen victim to. This darkness was…malevolent. It was a common misconception that light was 'good' while darkness was 'bad'. Light and darkness do exist as opposing powers, but whether they are good or bad depends solely on the person wielding them and their intentions. But if this was true, then why did this darkness feel so…evil?
"SORA!" Cloud yelled. He realized that he had to act quick, or otherwise it would be too late. The darkness was pulsating dangerously, almost like a bomb threatening to detonate at any given second.
Sora quickly killed a Neoshadow and then turned to the person who had called his name. Noticing Cloud's alarmed look, Sora cocked his head in confusion. He was obviously ignorant to what was happening. Behind him, Leon tried to catch up, despite looking like he would collapse any minute.
Cloud ran towards Sora, shouting for him to stop. Suddenly, his reflexes kicked in making him jump backwards, as a wall of emerald green flames erupted in front of him, preventing him from getting to the teen. The same seemed to have happened to Leon at the other end of the area. The two walls of flames trapped Sora, as more and more Heartless swarmed to overwhelm the Keyblade Master. Cloud was about to strike at the magical wall, when a ball of green fire zoomed towards him, forcing him to dodge.
"We can't have you spoiling the fun, now can we?" Maleficent said, as both her and Pete appeared in a flash of green flames, on top of a cliff.
Cloud turned around to scowl at the witch. He honestly didn't care what the evil hag had to say. Cloud readied himself one more time, this time three fireballs were launched at him. Instead of dodging, he stood his ground and blocked them with him blade. Immediately after that, Cloud brought his sword down, and used blade beam. A blue beam of energy was unleashed, and struck the green flames. The flames were temporarily diminished, giving Cloud enough time to cross over and join Sora in his fight.
"Why you little…! Heartless, after him!" Maleficent yelled in indignation. Despite her commands, the Heartless refused to budge, and instead continued going after Sora.
"What's happening? Why aren't they listening?!" Pete said, panic evident in his voice.
Cloud looked up to see Maleficent, and witnessed a mixture of emotions cross her features. She was looking at the scene before her with anger and confusion, and then turned to look at the skies and the mass of black storm clouds that had appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Suddenly, realization and understanding appeared on her face. She turned to look at Sora who was desperately trying to fend off the Heartless. Suddenly, she did something that made the very hairs on the back of his neck stand on their ends; she smiled.
Cloud quickly looked at the young teen, to see what would evoke such a reaction from Maleficent. There were so many Heartless between the two that, had it not been for Cloud's enhanced senses, he would not have been able to see it. Sora was tired, the stripes beneath his eyes now had a definite tribal-like pattern. His movements had become sluggish, his arms were shaking slightly, and his eyes were glazed over. He would blink occasionally, as if he had trouble focusing on a target.
Cloud cursed, Sora looked like he would fall over unconscious any second. The blonde slashed at the Heartless in front of him to clear a path. He killed about five or six with each swipe, mostly because they were so preoccupied with Sora that they didn't even seem to notice he was there. Despite that, more came flooding in and Cloud's attempts to reach Sora proved to be futile. He could always try using his stronger attacks but he was sure that if the Heartless didn't kill Sora, then his attacks would. He looked past the flaming wall and saw that Leon wasn't doing any better. He was helping in the side lines by attacking all the Heartless within range, but that was all he could do.
Sora continued fighting nonstop. If this were a normal fight he would've fled, but unfortunately, he was completely surrounded. Even if he somehow managed to escape, in his state he wouldn't get very far. After all, he was feeling awful; he was cold, even though his lungs were on fire, his arms were trembling, making it harder to fight, he was damp with sweat, his vision was blurring, and his entire body felt numb as if he was under the effects of anesthesia.
'What did I get myself into?' Sora thought ruefully.
'Sora!…Hang in there Sora!' Roxas shouted as loud as he could.
There was a voice calling out to him, but he couldn't make out what it said. The same happened to his surroundings; the flickering of flames, the clashing of steel, the pounding of footsteps, the hissing of Heartless, even the cries of his companions. And soon, everything was replaced by silence. It was as if the world itself had stopped. Slowly, he could feel the darkness overtaking his vision, his muscles losing strength, and his body falling forward.
"I´m…sorry…everyone." Sora whispered softly, before darkness overtook him.
Cloud was still trying to clear a path, when he saw the flash of lightning followed by the loud booming of thunder. Being somewhat startled, he looked around, and what he saw made a chill go down his spine. Sora had just fallen forward with an almost inaudible 'thud', several Heartless were now forming a pile over his unconscious body.
"SORA!" Cloud shouted loudly, ignoring the droplets of rain that were starting to fall.
Leon instantly looked past the green flames, as his eyes widened in shock.
"No!" He yelled. It just couldn't be.
"Now nothing will stand in my way to power!" Maleficent declared victoriously before unleashing a wicked laugh. The loud crashing of thunder only made her look more evil.
Cloud growled angrily, grasping his sword so firmly that his knuckles turned white. He glared at the Heartless that had formed a pile over Sora and raised his sword. He hated doing this, but if it gave them at least a chance for Sora to survive, then it was their only choice. He readied the attack, but before he had the chance to unleash it, a large dark blast erupted in the area, the center being the pile of Heartless. All monsters within the radius were instantly killed, even Cloud was nearly blown back from the impact. Something flew past him, smashing into the cliff side, but he couldn't properly see what it was. The blast also managed to knock several Heartless back, making Cloud think it was perhaps a particularly unlucky monster.
Cloud narrowed his eyes, hoping to see through the thick black smoke, created from the Heartless remnants. To his surprise, the flaming wall was completely gone. But that wasn't what worried him. In the center of the blast was a crouched figure, he couldn't tell exactly who or what it was, all he knew was that it was black, flaming, and just felt wrong. There were no words to describe it. Just looking at 'it' made him feel a surge of negative emotions course through him, more intense than any Heartless he had felt before.
Suddenly, the winds seemed to pick up through the thunder and rain. The thunder continued striking, as the wind began blowing wildly around the figure, whipping Cloud's blonde hair around, as well as his clothes. It created a vortex around the figure, causing the black fire enveloping it to increase in size despite the falling rain.
Cloud spared a sideways glance at Leon who appeared knocked out from the explosion. He found himself unconsciously gripping his sword harder. The small voice in the back of his head was screaming at the top of its lungs, warning him of impending danger. As if on cue, there was a loud snapping sound. The figure amidst the dark whirlwind opened its eerie yellow glowing eyes, arched its back, letting out a horrifying bloodcurdling roar.
In another flash of lightning, the figure was gone, disrupting the wind vortex and making powerful gusts of wind blow in every direction. Cloud shielded his eyes from the strong wind, but quickly brought up his sword when he sensed an incoming attack. He felt a strong force clash against his sword, along with the distinctive sound of clashing metal. Once the gale was over, he finally got a good look at his attacker; the black figure.
"SORA?!" Cloud said in alarm. The creature definitely had Sora's likeness, albeit black, wispy, and with several Heartless features, like yellow glowing eyes, a jagged mouth, and long slender claws. But it wasn't the appearance that gave him away. In his heart, Cloud just knew this was Sora.
Sore replied by giving a low hissing sound and opening his fanged mouth threateningly. He then moved so fast behind the blonde that the latter barely had anytime to block. Sora continued to fiercely strike against the massive sword again and again, making sparks fly each time claws hit metal. Cloud was still recovering from the shock and confusion of what had just happened. He continued guarding against every attack berserker Sora threw, unsure of how exactly to respond. Was he really a Heartless? He didn't see him lose his Heart, but then again, he couldn't be sure. Why did he feel different from a Heartless? If he was a Heartless, should he attack back? Could he attack the boy he had come to see as a friend and ally?
"Why do you hesitate?" Maleficent asked mockingly. "The Keyblade Master has fallen, his heart has been poisoned by darkness. You can't save him either way, he belongs to me now."
"Here that? There ain´t nothin you can do about it, so just get out of our way, see." Pete added.
Cloud growled at the pair. He couldn't attack them however, because he was still blocking his constant blows.
"Now Heartless, come to me and serve your new mistress!" Maleficent said, while raising both her arms for effect.
Sora seemed to hear the voice and instinctively turned to face the source. He faced Maleficent on all fours, but rather than following, he growled and hissed defiantly, while arching his back like an angry cat.
"How dare you!" Maleficent yelled angrily for his lack of obedience. "Heartless, attack!"
Immediately, five Neoshadows and two Wyverns appeared surrounding the fallen Keyblade Master. The Neoshadows prepared their attacks, but Sora was too fast for them. Even Cloud had to admit that he had trouble keeping track of his movements. In the blink of an eye, two Neoshadows were easily disposed of, a third was critically wounded. The Wyverns dived from the air towards their target, but Sora leapt towards one, sinking his claws in it, killing it and then used it as leverage to jump towards a Neoshadow. Once killing it, he faced the other Wyvern who was preparing to dive. Instead of pouncing at it, he jumped, landing on its back, then jumped again high in the air. He turned around and faced the area that included the Heartless and the cliff, and then he spread his arms in front of him, gathering a large amount of black energy and then shot it. The whole area he had faced erupted in a large explosion, while Sora landed softly in a crouch, rain still pouring down on him. The smoke dispersed, revealing a very tired and beaten Maleficent and a very unconscious Pete.
"I may have lost this battle, but this has yet to be the last you will see of me. Maybe not tomorrow or after, but I will come back yet again, and when I do, I shall rule all!" Maleficent spat angrily, before she and Pete disappeared in a flurry of green flames.
Cloud slowly got up to his feet. He had to quickly dodge away from the blast and even then he was blown back because of its power. He had little time to recover however, because next thing he knew, a large force collided against chest, knocking the wind out of him, then pushing him against a cliff wall. He opened his eyes to see Sora in front of him, he had just tackled him and, was now harshly pinning him by his right shoulder and left arm. His hold was so firm that the claws were digging painfully into the skin, drawing blood, and shredding the fabric of his clothes. Sora raised his right hand, releasing Cloud's left arm, and prepared a hit, aimed straight towards the blonde's heart. Cloud saw this, but he was still recovering from the last hit, even if he moved his bleeding left arm to defend himself, the hit would be too fast and he wouldn't be able to make it in time.
Cloud watched Sora move his clawed hand towards his heart as if in slow motion. But before the hit could connect, a fireball hit Sora from behind. Instead of suffering from a mortal blow, Sora's claws on managed to scratch him across the chest. It was painful, but he would live. Sora hissed before turning around and meeting Leon's tired gaze. He had apparently woken up just in time to hear Maleficent and understand what was going on. He held his gunblade in front him, ready for a fight. He knew Sora wasn't doing this on purpose, but he also knew that in this state, he was just as dangerous as he was powerful.
Sora quickly lurched at him, claws ready to tear. Leon managed to block his strike and throw him backwards. Sora landed on all fours and leaped again, frantically trying to claw at him. The swordsman managed to luckily block all hits, and then hit Sora with another fireball, throwing him back a few feet. Sora landed flawlessly again, and ran at him. Leon assumed he was going to leap at him again so he blocked, but to his surprise, Sora vanished, only to reappear right behind him. Leon's eyes widened; it was too late to block. And sure enough Sora brought his claws down and in a swipe, tearing clothes and skin alike. Leon fell on the floor in pain, the fabric on his back tainted red. But before Sora could move in for the kill, Cloud managed to get next to Leon and perform a cross-slash, hitting Sora and hurdling him back against the canyon's wall. Sora hissed angrily, turned towards the wall, and ran up along it, jumping at the end, facing the two swordsmen and gathering more black energy.
"Shit!" Cloud cursed as he realized what would be unleashed upon them.
Cloud braced himself for what was to come, but before it got a chance to hit, he saw a flash of white and black, and found himself in a familiar barrier of light along with a fallen Leon next to him. Just then, he took notice of the one who cast reflect and his eyes widened in shock. It was a blonde teen, that looked about the same age as Sora. The teen was giving his back to him so he couldn't see his face but that wasn't what shocked him. The teen was transparent, like a ghost and in each hand he held a Keyblade, Oblivion in his right and Oathkeeper in his left.
"You guys alright?" The teen said, as he turned to face them.
Cloud froze, something that seemed to be happening a lot to him lately. He just couldn't believe what he was seeing. One look at the transparent boy's face and he immediately recognized it as Sora´s. Although the teen´s hair, skin tone and clothes were different, everything else was exactly like Sora. It just wasn't possible. Who was this guy?
"Who are you?" Cloud asked a bit more harshly than he had originally intended.
"There's no time, I'll explain later!" The teen said, before running off to confront Sora.
Cloud checked Leon's condition and to his relief he was only unconscious. He picked up the brunette, doing his best to avoid worsening the injuries, and took him as far away from the fight as he could. Looking down at his battered and bloody body, he had to recognize that he was pretty injured too, the only real difference was that he was conscious. He looked back at where the two teens fought, and found himself entranced by their fight. It was as if the knew each other's moves before they even took place. It also reminded him of Yin and Yang symbol; two opposing forces of equal strength. The teen's mostly light colored clothing contrasting to the darkness covering Sora, as well as the physical similarities between the two, only made the similarities to the symbol greater.
The fight seemed to drag on for an eternity. Neither Sora nor the mysterious blonde seemed to be able to get the upper hand. When the fight seemed to turn in favor of one of them, the other would do something to set the balance straight again. That is, until Roxas failed to block one of the hits and the fallen Keyblade Master slashed at his side. Taking full advantage that his opponent was down Sora pounced, slashing twice. One hit scratched the blonde in the left arm, while another down his right leg, effectively immobilizing him. The blonde summoned Oathkeeper in the hand of his uninjured arm and brought it in front of him in defense, while Sora closed in on him, baring his sharp fangs.
He was just about to strike, when running footsteps and shouts interrupted him.
Riku, Kairi, Cid, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey ran full speed through the ravine. If what Cid told them was true, then they had to reach Sora as soon as possible. They were joined by the missing HBRC members, when they realized that all the Heartless had stopped attacking and instead, swarmed towards the area where Cloud, Leon and Sora were. Aerith left the townsfolk, and caught up with them. She had an extremely bad feeling and decided to come in case someone needed healing. Yuffie and Tifa also left Stitch behind to guard the area, while they met up with the group.
Although there were no Heartless on their path, the group still felt weary. There was this dreadful feeling in the air. The thundering black clouds and the rain constantly pelting down on them only served as omens for what was to come. After several large explosions, they quickened their pace to reach their destination.
They ran quickly through the crystallized tunnel undeterred. Once outside, they were met by the rain and a sight that left them utterly shocked. Cloud stood only a few meters away next to the cliff, leaning his back heavily against it, mostly because it looked like he would fall otherwise. He was clearly wounded, since blood ran down his arms and stained his clothes, as well as the ground and even the bandages on his sword, which were now torn. Leon was now unconscious on the ground facedown, a pool of blood underneath him. The back of his jacket was tainted red masking the original design of red wings. Moreover it had four long gashes across the back, that had torn right through the jacket and shirt underneath, revealing a heavily bleeding scratch.
Yet the most shocking thing was the battle that took place in the middle of the Canyon. There were two individuals, one completely covered in darkness, resembling a Heartless, while the other was a transparent blonde teen in light colored clothing, that was now injured on the ground. Kairi gasped, as Riku paled. They both recognized the black figure immediately; it was Sora. He was currently trying to kill Roxas and their group arrived just in time to see the finishing blow.
"SORA!" Kairi and Riku shouted as they ran towards the fallen Keyblade Master.
Sora stopped his attack to look at those who had interrupted him. Upon seeing Kairi, he let out a feral growl and ran at her on all fours. Kairi stopped in her tracks, eyes wide, as Sora leaped towards her. Riku quickly ran in front of Kairi and blocked the blow with Way to the Dawn.
"Stop it! What's wrong with you?" Riku yelled as he swung his blade, making Sora jump backwards and land in a crouch.
"Riku, he doesn't understand what you are saying, he doesn't even know what is going on." The King said seriously, with a hint of sadness.
"What do you mean?!" Riku asked as he blocked another hit from Sora.
"You have to listen to me, Sora has fallen into darkness. In this state he could kill all of you and yet have no idea what he was doing." Mickey said.
"But he isn't a Heartless!" Kairi snapped. "He may look like one but his heart is still in there, I can feel it!"
"I never said that Sora was a Heartless, but right now he is very close to being one." King Mickey took another deep breath. "I can't say for sure, but I think the darkness inside of him poisoned and corrupted him to the point it took complete control. You could say he is being possessed by darkness."
"Gawrsh, then what are we gonna do?!" Goofy said, hugging his shield closer to him.
"Yeah, we can´t just abandon him!" Donald squawked.
King Mickey shook his head. "I really don't know. There isn't any guarantee that there even is a way to save Sora."
"Well I'm going to try!" Kairi said before running towards where Riku and Sora were fighting. The Disney trio followed after her, while the others stayed behind to heal Cloud and Leon.
"Kairi! What are you doing!? Get back!" Riku shouted at the approaching Kairi. Sora used his distraction as an opportunity to slash Riku in the side, who knelt over while clutching the wound.
"Riku!" Kairi shouted worried. "Sora, come on! Snap out of it!"
Sora seemed to hesitate for a moment. He gave a violent twitch followed by a seething growl, then turned to face her, yellow eyes glowing brightly. Sora crouched down, preparing to pounce but before he had the chance, he was truck by a beam of light.
"Oh no you don't!" Roxas spat, slowly rising to his feet with Oathkeeper pointing at Sora.
Sora hissed angrily at the light and retaliated with a pounce. This time his hit was blocked by King Mickey, whom he tried to attack, only to be shocked by a thunder spell from Donald and shoved backwards by a hit from Goofy.
"Sora, you gotta get control!" King Mickey said as Sora recovered from the hit.
"Come on Sora!" Goofy said.
"You can do it Sora!" Donald squawked.
"He's right, you're stronger than that Sora!" Riku said, as he once again got to his feet, despite the now bleeding injury.
Kairi saw Sora stand there looking at them. She approached him slowly but surely, while searching for something in her pockets. After finding it, she gave a bittersweet smile and extended it to Sora; it was her lucky charm.
"Sora, please. I don't want to lose you again." Kairi said softly as she moved in to hug him, a tear rolled down her cheek.
Sora stood in a black misty place. His eyes were half closed and held naught but a vacant expression. He had no idea where he was, but it wasn't like he cared. He barely held any awareness as it was. It was like his mind was asleep. In a way, this was nothing like dreaming. When he dreamt he could see, hear or feel all sorts of things even if they didn't make much sense. Here however, there was nothing but an endless void of nothing.
Yet slowly, the world around him changed as Sora 'woke up'. He slowly became more and more aware of his shifting surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the voices. Although he couldn't make out what they said, he was sure they were calling for him, as if waking him from the void filled dream. The mist dispersed and his surroundings cleared, revealing a bleak world of twisting shadows. Sora knew this place and yet he couldn't remember from where, or why it made him feel afraid.
A small voice in Sora's hazy head, joined the others and began calling him. The voices became louder and more clear, as six large shadows surrounded him. He could only stand there and look in morbid fascination. Soon one of the figures approached him and reached for him. He didn't know what to do as the darkness approached, but he was surprised when a strong light erupted from it. He looked down at himself and noticed another light erupt from his own chest as if responding to the first. The light then grew and seemed to drive the shadows away, revealing a world of colors, unlike the one from before. The figures in front of him turned into people, whose faces he could not see, yet they were familiar, one of them was even embracing him. Although the light couldn't completely vanquish the shadows, it did rid him of the haze inside his mind, making memories rapidly start to play before his eyes. Soon, a full realization hit him.
The whole group was shocked when Kairi hugged Sora and even more when he didn't attack her. Instead, he jumped back and stared with wide glowing eyes and a slack jaw.
"Ka-Kairi." Sora stuttered through jagged fangs. His voice sounded hoarse and hiss-like, but everybody understood him. He spotted the other two teens and then looked down at their wounds. "Ri-Riku, Roxas."
The group was about to approach Sora, when the brunette suddenly clasped his clawed hands on his head, and let out a pained scream that resembled a howl. Sora fell to his knees, crying out in pain, as black flames began emanating from his body.
"What do we do?!" Donald squawked.
"Quick! Aim at Sora with your Keyblades!" King Mickey instructed, as he raised his own blade. The three teens hesitated.
"D-Do it!" Sora hissed, as his claws dug into the ground, from the pain of fighting the darkness.
The teens somberly obeyed, and soon rays of light shot out from the weapons and hit their friend in a blinding flash of light. The force of the hit made Sora fall backwards onto the floor. He looked at his friends once more, with tired yellow eyes that no longer glowed as bright, before looking up at the clearing sky and slowly closing them. His arms and legs fell on the ground limp and the darkness slowly disappeared from his features, revealing the tired and battered body of the boy that was so much like a star.
Canis: "So there it is! What do you think?"
Crystal: "I hate you so much right now." *glares*
Canis: "Aww come on it wasn't that bad. You're just grumpy."
Crystal: "I am going to go find the bluntest object I can find, carve a comma into it, and beat you senseless with it."
Canis: "Yeah but if you did and something unfortunate happened, then who would continue the story?" *smiles slyly*
Crystal: *groans* "I need a nap."
Canis: "Well before we leave, here's a little sneak preview. Don't forget to review!"
Beginning´s End:
He was falling deeper and deeper into the abyss. Nothing but darkness surrounded him as he fell, and yet he was not afraid. A voice called to him from the darkness, strange and yet familiar. He remembered hearing it once in a dream. The day of the real start of his journey. Heeding the strange voice, he opened his eyes.
"Where am I?"