Chapter 21: The Falling

To Lucy, she preferred fighting a monster that lived within a Keyhole of Darkness versus having to come across the White Witch again in the future, though she was saddened by the fact that she couldn't have one fight without the other to come. Lucy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy carefully made their way to the sanctuary. They tried their best to avoid fighting anymore Heartless for they wanted to save their strength for the monster that lied beyond the Keyhole to Darkness. They made it to the sanctuary without having to confront any Heartless, though they did have a few close encounters. Now, they were standing before the Keyhole to Darkness. Streams of dark magic seemed to be emanating from the rainbow colored Keyhole.

"So, where's the creature?" Donald asked.

"It's waiting for us," said Lucy as she gripped her sword tightly. "I can feel it." Sora looked at Lucy and then back at the Keyhole.

"I can feel it too. It's just sitting in there, waiting for its next victims," Sora said as he gripped his own weapon tighter. Donald and Goofy gulped.

"Are you guys ready to face it?" Goofy asked. Lucy and Sora nodded while Donald nodded nervously. They approached the Keyhole and extended their hands towards the rainbow surface.

"On the count of three, we all go through," said Sora. "One."

"Two," said Lucy.

"Three!" cried Donald and Goofy. They all thrusted their hands forward.

Lucy felt a powerful force grab her arm and pull her through the entrance of the Keyhole. She managed to land on her feet and struggled to examine her surroundings. She was standing in a large room. The room's walls, floor, and ceiling all looked like rainbow colored gases and yet it felt solid underneath her feet.

"So, we're inside the Keyhole?" Goofy asked. Sora shook his head.

"No. This is only the entrance. Look," he said as he pointed towards something on the opposite wall. The glowing outline of a Keyhole was situated in the center of the opposite wall.

"That was easy," said Donald.

"Don't let your guard down just yet," said Lucy. "It's here, the creature." Just then, something strong smashed into Lucy's side. She flew through the air, smashed into Donald, and hit the opposite wall.

"Lucy! Donald!" Sora cried. Lucy's vision became slightly blurred from the attack and her entire left side ached with pain. She looked to see Sora and Goofy fending off a rainbow colored creature. Lucy stood up and tried to help Donald up, who was just as dazed as she was.

"What's that?" Donald asked as he pointed towards the creature that Sora and Goofy were fighting. Lucy closed her eyes and took a series of deep breathes. The pain in her side faded away. When she opened her eyes again, her vision was clear.

Sora and Goofy were fighting what appeared to be a monster formed from the rainbow, gaseous walls that constructed the room they were in. Its eyes were huge and yellow, its mouth was large and black, its feet were thick and strong, and two tusks protruded from its face. A large Heartless emblem was imprinted on its chest. The creature let out a roar and charged for Lucy and Donald. Lucy grabbed onto Donald and pulled him out of the creature's path. The duck magician was still slightly dazed and Lucy didn't want anything to happen to him. Sora and Goofy charged at the creature. Goofy threw his shield while Sora attacked with the Keyblade. The creature took a fair amount of damage from the attacks but recovered quickly. It aimed its tusks and tried to impale Sora. Sora dodged the attack and returned the favor with a few attacks of his own. Donald soon regained his senses and charged into battle with his staff. Lucy was about to follow him when she noticed something odd. Something was calling her. It wasn't a voice but more of a force. It wasn't an evil force nor was it a good force. It was just...something. Lucy walked towards the Keyhole to Darkness. It didn't look that different from the other keyholes aside from the fact that it was in a wall constructed of rainbow colored gases. Lucy suddenly realized how close she was to the Keyhole. She could hear Sora, Donald, and Goofy fighting the creature in the background but her focus wasn't on that. Her focus was mostly on the Keyhole. She slowly reached out her free hand and extended it towards the Keyhole. She hesitated for a moment. She felt like she was in a trance. She didn't know what would happen if she stuck her hand into the Keyhole. It could kill her. It could grant her power. It could do absolutely nothing. Was she willing to take the risk? Normally, she would have already rushed into battle with Sora and the others but something about this Keyhole fascinated her. She then plunged her hand deep into the Keyhole.

She was falling. Lucy was falling into darkness. She felt herself leave her body and plummet down into an endless abyss of nothing. She didn't know what was happening. She knew she wasn't dead and yet she didn't feel alive either. She just existed somewhere in-between the worlds. She wasn't in Hollow Bastion anymore. She was somewhere else. The darkness began to fade. Lights began appearing all around her: stars. Lucy smiled as the stars surrounded her. Upon closer inspection, she saw that these stars were rather big. Of course, she knew that stars were normally big and yet she found it odd that these stars were big. In relation to normal stars, they were pretty small. They were only about as big as a large bag of watermelons. She then realized that these stars were vibrating...no...they were beating. They were beating like hearts. What if they were hearts? Lucy found herself drawn towards one star that didn't look complete. It looked like a half star. Half of it was complete and the other half extended into darkness. Lucy floated around the star. She pressed her hands against the surface. It felt warm and cold at the same time. Her head began buzzing with thoughts. Random images popped into her mind: a town full of people, a cloud of darkness exploding from a castle, a man in a coat walking away from a destroyed town, a lion approaching the man as he slept.

"Wake up. Wake up Hollow Bastion. Save it," said a voice in the darkness. Lucy couldn't recognize the voice but she knew that she knew it well. Was it Aslan? Possibly. Was it Ansem? Maybe. Was it the cloaked man that she and Sora had met earlier? Another possibility. Something grabbed onto Lucy's arm tightly and the abyss of stars disappeared.

Lucy pulled her hand out of the Keyhole. She felt light on her feet and slightly woozy. She was near collapsing out of sudden exhaustion. Sora was holding onto her sword arm.

"Lucy! Lucy!" he cried. "Are you okay?!" Lucy looked and saw that Donald and Goofy were busy fending off the creature. She then looked down and noticed that her sword was glowing. Sora's Keyblade was glowing as well. Sora looked and quickly noticed the glowing weapons. "What the...what's going on?!" Lucy felt an odd power rush through her body and into her sword. Suddenly, Lucy's sword and Sora's Keyblade stuck together with a loud clang. Lucy felt like she was half asleep so she let the sword do all the work. Sora's eyes widened and his grip tightened as the bonded sword and Keyblade pointed at the creature. Before Sora could ask any questions, a large beam of light shot out of the weapons and destroyed the creature in a massive explosion of light. Donald and Goofy cheered in celebration of the creature's defeat. Lucy lost control of her legs and fell to the ground. Her ears were ringing and the world was fading away around her. Sora knelt down next to her and Donald and Goofy rushed to her side as she began to lose consciousness. The Keyhole began emanating a shrill scream. Sora grabbed the Keyblade and quickly sealed the Keyhole. The rainbow room began to vanish around them. Lucy felt Sora pick her up and carry her from the room as quickly as possible. Donald and Goofy were right behind them. It wasn't until they passed between the Keyhole entrance and the sanctuary that Lucy lost consciousness.

Lucy was falling again. She felt so lost. So afraid. So...calm. She was being led somewhere. The Keyhole had confused her and now it was time to put her back into place. She found herself standing in the middle of a hotel room in Traverse Town. Kairi was sitting in the room with Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid. Their eyes widened as they noticed Lucy's sudden appearance.

"Sealed. Safe. Return. Hollow Bastion. Home," Lucy croaked through her trance. The room then disappeared and Lucy found herself flying over a world of rock islands, reflective water, and an endless horizon that led into a purple vortex. She then found herself lying on a beach. She felt so weak and lost that she didn't even have the strength to ask questions. A familiar boy with white hair stood over her. He knelt down next to her.

"I am waiting at the End of the World," said Riku. The White Witch suddenly appeared behind Riku.

"So am I," she said. Lucy looked and saw the man in the black cloak standing at the shoreline. The cloaked man disappeared and was replaced my Ansem.

"Just try to stop me," he teased. Lucy's eyes rolled up into her head. She felt like falling asleep again. She pondered the possibility of even being able to fall asleep while asleep. Then, he appeared. Lucy was in darkness again but Aslan was with her. He looked down at her and smiled.

"The time to sleep has not yet arrived. You and the others still have plenty to do," he said. Lucy could only give a small smile. Aslan chuckled and placed his paw on Lucy's face. Then...Lucy woke up.