Chapter 12: Birth by sleep.
When Sora and Riku entered the hideout; Jim, B.E.N., and Morph were gone. Dilbert informed them that they had taken the 'back door' out. It seemed there was a hatch, which opened to reveal miles, and miles of machinery, that ran through the entire core of the planet. Jim and his friends went to retrieve the map from where it remained hidden on the ship they had used to arrive.
"Should we go after them?" Sora asked, nervously eyeing the strange hatch.
"We have no idea which way to go from here," Riku was looking through the front opening of the hideout.
Dilbert suddenly addressed the two boys. "It appears that nearly all of the pirates are out here and Jim's always been very resourceful, I think he'll do fine."
"Well, then we'll just wait until he gets back and you've finished your trade before we head on," Sora told the doctor.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," stated Riku, still looking out the front opening.
"Why not…Riku, what's wrong?" Sora crossed the room to stand beside Riku.
Riku pointed to the horizon, where an eerie green glow could be seen beyond the trees, in the direction that they had pinpointed the strange reading earlier, "That."
Sora had followed Riku's finger and saw the odd light. Then he looked back at Riku, "What is it? Do you know?"
Riku kept his gaze on the memorable (if only to him) light, "Maleficent."
The two friends reluctantly left to investigate the new threat. Their concern was quickly justified, at the appearance of several of the same strange heartless that they had previously encountered on this world. They both summoned their Keyblades, and met the foes directly.
While facing off with one of the strange heartless, Sora noticed a dark shield appear beside him, blocking him from an energy shot that came out of nowhere and giving him time to finish off the heartless he was fighting. He turned and saw two of yet another new kind of heartless; these ones shooting energy bolts similar to the ones Jim and the pirates fired from their weapons.
Riku threw several dark aura spells at one of these, which successfully destroyed it. However, now more of the other kind, which were clawed and particularly agile, were appearing. Riku jumped, struck a couple of the offending heartless while in the air, and landed behind Sora. He then created another dark shield, which blocked them both from a series of energy bolts.
Both of the Key Bearers combined their energy to summon their thirteen guardian blades, and each threw out dark aura spells as these spun around them. All of the remaining heartless were destroyed. Both boys released the guardian blades and their own Keyblades. They faced several more onslaughts as they made their way through the dense foliage.
Finally, they reached a clearing, which lay between the jungle and a steep cliff that led to an immense wasteland.
There, looking over the cliff stood Maleficent. She turned to face the two boys and set her menacing gaze on Riku. "Well, well. It seems I may have underestimated the strength of that heart of yours, my dear child." Then her eyes moved onto Sora. "Ah, still playing hero are you? However, I do not see the king's lackeys. They could not possibly have expected a naïve boy and his broken playmate to defeat us on their own."
Sora was already fuming by the time the witch finished speaking, "Big talk from someone we've both defeated in the past."
"Defeated? You forget; I am still here. You have saved nothing; the worlds are still going to be mine." The sorceress chuckled, "And your friend still hasn't truly escaped the darkness that you so willingly deserted him to."
Sora tightened his grip on his Keyblade, "I didn't have any choice! Besides, Riku isn't a part of the dark realm anymore! There's dark and light in everything-" Sora cut his statement short when it occurred to him that she was not listening. In fact, she was not paying any attention to him at all. Her cold, harsh eyes were fixed on the boy beside him. Sora shifted his eyes onto Riku. Something was plainly happening... Riku was still standing strong, Keyblade in hand, but his muscles were contracted as though he were currently fighting and he was a few shades paler then usual. "Riku…?"
Riku kept his own cold gaze on the witch as he spoke to his friend, "Don't let her words distract you, Sora."
Maleficent was wearing a small, pleased smile as she addressed Riku again, "He's speaking to you now, isn't he? Do you really think you can fight us both in your current state and win both battles?" Her eyes flashed onto Sora for a second and then returned to Riku. "One heart will not survive this. Soon a decision will have to be made, and we both know what will happen in the end."
Now Riku fixed her with a small sardonic smile of his own, although his eyes remained cold and his body tense. "You can't pull the same trick twice, Maleficent. Half-truths and misguided emotions will not serve you. Not with me..." The smile vanished, "Not this time..." Before Maleficent could respond, he threw a dark aura spell at her.
The Key Bearers charged her now, however the sorceress slammed her staff against the ground and a shield of green light appeared around her. Sora did not stop in time, and he roughly collided with the magic shield.
"Sora," The mentioned boy felt himself healing even before the pain settled in as his friend cast his curing spell.
Suddenly, heartless began appearing everywhere. More than Sora had ever fought at one time. The Key Bearers used every spell and attack they knew, but each time they destroyed one of the heartless, another appeared to take its place. After using thirteen blades and all's end, they had a small clearing around them. The two friends stood back to back, as this clearing grew smaller.
Sora looked around at all the heartless that were surrounding them, "Uhh, Riku? Got any ideas?"
"Just one... Sora, I'm sorry." That last part was barely audible, and then Riku abruptly released Way to Dawn, took a step forward, and raised both his arms out at his sides. The ground began to glow in the now familiar symbol of a heart. All the heartless were destroyed that were standing on the heart or inside it. Riku raised his normally lowered head to the sky as a rain of light began to fall. Nearly all of the heartless were reduced to nothing more than black smoke. Then the light shower stopped, the heart faded away and Riku fell to his knees, looking exhausted and even paler than before.
The remaining few heartless attacked, Sora intercepted one before it reached Riku, who was its intended target. He destroyed the heartless and began fighting two more. A third lunged at him from behind and instead collided with Way to Dawn.
"Riku! You okay?" Sora continued his battle with the heartless as he called over his shoulder. The powerful attack had reminded him of one he had seen Axel use once, that had been the Nobody's final act. He had been afraid the same thing was happening now.
"It's… a little different …when you have a heart." Riku called back, fighting a heartless as well. He sounded worn, and looked it too. Sora had told him about Axel's sacrifice, and it seemed he knew what had worried his friend. Although it did sound as though the attack was of a similar nature, this one was less finite.
Then what did he apologize for? Sora, hoping he was perhaps more concerned then the situation called for, turned as he finished off the heartless he had been battling. He saw Riku finish the one he had been fighting as well.
Riku turned to face his friend, it took every ounce of energy he possessed just to remain standing. The pain in his chest increased.
Are you going to say farewell?
This is what she meant. Riku saw that Sora was facing him from across the clearing. He was speaking, but Riku could not make out what he said. He could hear nothing but his own heartbeat and that voice he had come to despise. It was a trap.
You are the one that wished you could just follow your heart. Now this is where it has led you. To destruction...sorrow, pain, shame…darkness. Always the darkness. You will never escape it…or me.
He could not force the voice away anymore; he had given up too much. The edges of his vision were beginning to grow dim. Sora began moving towards him. It was worth it.
There is that weakness again. You are losing more ground with every heartbeat. Very soon, I will be able to take control.
Suddenly that recognizable green light appeared between the two friends and then Maleficent was back.
"I see everything is going as planned." She was facing Riku, her back completely turned to Sora as if he were not even there. "You wouldn't risk it, would you?"
Riku did not answer. He did not even appear to hear her. Sora did not like the way this was looking. He had missed something again...something important. In addition, Maleficent was getting too close to Riku, who did not seem able to move.
However, Sora could. He had never used this attack without the aid of Riku or Donald before, but it was not nearly as powerful as what Riku had done a moment ago. If he can do that on his own, then I can do this. He held his Keyblade in both hands and aimed at the sorceress. He could feel his energy level drop as a shot of light left the blade and flew towards the witch.
Just as the light was about to strike the witch, she vanished. Her cruel laughter on the other hand, did not. It rang through Sora's ears as the shot struck Riku in the chest. Sora's eyes widened in terror as he watched his friend fall back and land on the ground, seeming lifeless.
Maleficent appeared beside Riku, "Indeed, he is strong; death will not take him yet. Now is your chance; fight. Free yourself. Use the boy." She was speaking over Riku, but she was clearly addressing Xehanort.
Sora came out of the shock that had hit him upon seeing Riku fall. He tightened his grip on his Keyblade and lunged at Maleficent, only to collide with another wall of green light. He landed on his knees beside Riku. Upon turning, he saw the witch send a flame of green light in their direction. Sora leaned down, blocking Riku's chest and head with his body while shielding his own head with his arms. He wished he had restrained himself earlier; then he would have had enough energy for an aero spell. He heard the sorceress' spell strike, but felt nothing.
Sora raised his head from Riku's shoulder and saw that Riku's head was turned slightly, facing Maleficent. His eyes were barley opened and seemed to be struggling for that much. Looking over his own shoulder, Sora could see Riku's right hand and forearm raised slightly, with his palm out toward the witch, holding his dark shield in place behind Sora. His entire body was trembling with the effort of holding the spell.
Maleficent smiled at this, "Indeed you are strong. Xehanort will have quite the challenge in destroying your heart."
At those words, Riku's hand strained and his dark shield vanished as a dark aura shot out, striking the over confident sorceress. Sora saw his chance and charged. He managed to hit her three times in succession, before striking her with a powerful finishing move. He staggered a few steps to keep his balance, and then prepared to strike again, but Maleficent used the brief opening to create a dark portal and step through.
Sora's attention was brought away from the fading portal when he felt the familiar warmth of a healing spell wash over him. He turned around just in time to see Riku's hand fall limp. His head had rolled to the side and his eyes were finally closed.
Oh no. Sora ran to kneel beside his friend and tenderly placed a hand on Riku's chest. He could feel his heart beating hard, as if he were still in battle. Sora released the breath he had been holding, "Riku…"
Just then, he noticed the darkness pooling on the ground around Riku. It began to crawl over him, pulling him into its depths.
"No! You can't take him! Riku, come on…" Sora tried to pull Riku up, away from the offending darkness, but it was unrelenting as it drew him in.
Sora, go! Get away from it!
Sora froze. The voice was Riku's, but it was not coming from his unconscious form. Somehow, his friend was speaking to him. He did not have time to think about that now.
"Riku, no! I'm not leaving you in the darkness again."
Don't worry, Sora, I'll find my way back to you again. I promise.
An invisible force seemed to grip Sora's chest and pull him away from the shadows. It released as the darkness closed around Riku and disappeared with him.
"Riku…" Sora could not pull his eyes away from the spot his best friend had vanished from. He felt tears streaming down his cheeks, but did not care. Sora punched the ground beside him. Don't give up, Riku. You've always found me before. Sora had searched everywhere for his friend in the past, and he would do it again. He would look for him until they found each other. Maybe this time I'll be the one who saves you.
A rustling in the shrubbery brought Sora's focus back from his thoughts and sorrow. He could hear some voices in the distance; they were getting closer. Then one familiar loud voice came across clearly.
"Was I ever dancing with an android named Lupe?" cried B.E.N. in near hysterics.
Sora sighed; there was always something that had to be taken care of first. In the storybooks he and Riku used to read, the hero saved the world, the damsel, or his friends and then went home to live happily ever after. It seemed to him that the worlds always needed to be saved again. Or perhaps Maleficent had been right, and they had never fully saved them to begin with. 'Ansem' and Xemnas had been defeated, but that seemed to work in favour of bringing back Xehanort, who was now the biggest threat as far as Sora was concerned. After all, if Maleficent did find a way to open Kingdom Hearts and take control of the worlds, they would still exist. He and his friends could fight her afterwards, but if Xehanort destroyed Riku's heart, he would lose his best friend forever.
Sora stood and raised one clenched hand to his own heart. Riku had spoken to it a moment ago; he had done it before too, when Xehanort's heartless had nearly defeated Sora. He knew that their hearts were connected somehow, he had heard enough throughout these journeys to know that they were connected in several ways. As Key Bearers, as best friends, and now this light/dark, other half of the same something that Yen Sid spoke of. One thing was certain, he had to find him.
But the worlds needed to be saved too.
Sora stood, "Riku… just hang in there. I need some time. I have to do this too." He spoke the words weakly, wiped away his tears and waited for whatever was going to enter the clearing.
