Kingdom Hearts III: Eternal Light
Chapter 95: The Trial of Kefka
Back on Destiny Islands, the Princesses of Heart were still inside the Keyblade temple. During the flash of light, not one of them was brought into Kingdom Hearts.
"Did you see Sora's face as they passed through? He had such a pure smile." Cinderella asked. Belle nodded, having seen the same smile. Back on the beach, as the princesses exited the temple, they found the remaining members of Sora's group.
"Hey! It's you! The princesses, right?" Olette asked. Aurora nodded.
"Where's Sora?" Hayner asked "There was this big flash of light and everyone but us suddenly vanish." The girls turned back to the temple.
"He is in Kingdom Hearts now, possibly fighting for the safety of the worlds as we speak." Belle said.
"I believe the light only took those who were brave enough, like Sora, to face the great darkness. But...it's a real surprise to see that not all of you went with him." Alice said. Rai groaned.
"Oh great! And I suppose it took Seifer too, ya know?" Rai asked. Pence crossed his arms.
"Well, we have to leave it to Sora I guess. Nothing else we can do for him now. We'd probably be in the way. I mean, we don't even have any weapons." Pence said. Hayner groaned.
"Great." he muttered. Olette had a feeling Pence was right and she looked up towards the sky.
"Sora? Kairi? Don't you guys lose now. We're counting on you." Olette said. Fuu seemed dead quiet until everyone heard someone approaching.
"Not alone." Fuu said. Everyone looked back and saw a young woman with long soft brown hair, a red buttoned top and a long blonde skirt.
"Who is she?" Olette asked. Selphie, Tidus and Wakka recognized her right away.
"Where's Sora? Have any of you seen my son?" she asked. Olette and the others gasped.
"Wait! You're...You're...Sora's MOTHER?" Pence gasped. The woman nodded as, back in Kingdom Hearts, the battle was escalating faster by the minute. Guard Armor attacked Seifer and Richter by spinning around with its arms extended out.
"Gah! Why you!" Seifer yelled. He lunged into the air and sliced down one of Guard Armor's hands. Hercules grabbed Ursula by her tentacles and slammed her to the floor.
"With all these villains surrounding us, I don't know how we're gonna get through!" Hercules groaned. Clayton rode on the back of his Heartless and tried attacking with rapid shots from his gun.
"Ha! Take THAT fools!" Clayton laughed. But suddenly, he was grabbed from behind by Presea.
"You stop attacking my friends you big meanie." Presea said. Without any effort, she flipped the Heartless over and slammed them both to the floor. Sora and Riku were busy shielding themselves from the onslaught of Trinity Armor and Ventus was outmanuevering the Mad Treant.
"Come on! You want a piece of me?" Ventus shouted. The Unversed roared and started throwing bombs towards them. But Aqua deflected some with her Keyblade and stunned the Unversed before attacking. Suddenly, Sora saw the Dark Knight rising up towards the top of the volcano.
"Hey! Come back here!" Sora shouted. As he was suddenly ambushed by Scar, he swiftly struck him down and made a break for the start of the staircase. Kairi was close behind after evading an attacking Sa'luk. Jafar was suddenly grabbed by his cape and thrown to the floor by Cloud.
"I don't know if you're the real deal or some cheap imitations the knight created, but you won't get in our way! Now beat it!" Cloud yelled. Jafar snickered and fired a spell at Cloud, knocking him away. But suddenly, Genie came and rammed into Jafar from behind.
"Ha ha! That ought to leave a mark." Genie mocked. Stitch rolled into a ball and lunged off Zelos' shoulder, biting onto the head of Lexeaus. Vexen laughed as he summoned multiple ice shards and shot them towards Ventus.
"Ven! Behind you!" Aqua cried. Ven saw the attack coming and ducked. But as Vexen was attacking Ventus, Roxas came from behind and slashed him down. Axel was busy keeping Symphony Master back with his chakras as Xion was driving away Cursed Coach. But suddenly, the Unversed was preparing to bite her.
"Xion! Look out!" Naminé cried. Naminé quickly casted a spell and fired a bolt of ice into the beast's mouth. The Unversed hissed and stepped back.
"All right Naminé!" Xion cheered. The girls laughed and high fived each other. As Sora was reaching the stairway with Kairi, Riku, Mickey, Donald and Goofy close by, he looked back to the rest of his team fighting the dark army. But he suddenly saw Leon step out after slashing the Emperor down.
"Sora! Get going! Go after the knight! We'll keep these guys distracted here!" Leon yelled. He suddenly was ambushed from behind by Clayton, but was struck down by Rikku and Yuna.
"But Leon...!" Sora shouted. Leon groaned.
"Just GO!" he shouted. Sora watched as Leon turned back to the Emperor, grabbing him by his neck. Kairi and Riku turned to Sora.
"Come on Sora. We've got to stop the knight before he tries and unleashes that Heartless." Riku said. Sora groaned, turning to Riku with a nod, and led everyone up the stairyway. Suddenly, from behind, Ventus and Aqua managed to escape the battlefield and caught up to them.
"Ven? Aqua?" Goofy asked.
"We're coming too! So don't count us out yet!" Ventus called. Aqua said they would fight with Sora against the knight. But as they were coming to the first large platform, they were stopped when a laugh cackled out.
"What was that?" Riku asked. Sora gasped.
"Wait a second. That...laugh..." Sora muttered. He looked into the sky overhead and there was Kefka Palazzo.
"Hello kiddies!" Kefka laughed. Everyone quickly drew their weapons.
"What? YOU again?" Sora groaned. Kefka chuckled.
"I bet you didn't forget about little old me, did ya know Keyblade bearer? Or have you thought that since the Legion of Chaos is no more, I'D be out of your hair too?" Kefka asked. Riku groaned.
"That's what we hoped." he said. Kefka only laughed.
"Not a chance kiddo! You see...you haven't killed ME yet. I was only toying with you the last time we met. But for what you did to the rest of the Legion...as WELL as ruining my fun TWICE...you're all going to DIE! RIGHT HERE! RIGHT NOW!" Kefka screamed. Suddenly, Kefka began to glow a dark purple glow as he started tightening up.
"Whoa! What...What's going on?" Kairi asked. Kefka continued to laugh as his skin began changing purple and he grew giant angelic wings from his back. The dark aura completely engulfed Kefka in a pitch black orb. It remained in the air for a while before they started to see it pulse.
"Watch out! Here he comes!" Mickey cried. Suddenly, the orb began to break as the wings emerged from it. And in a flash, the entire orb shattered to pieces and Kefka floated in the air. His skin was now completely purple, he only wore a dark red robe around his legs and flew in the air with angelic wings.
"Prepare children. For your road...ends...HERE!" Kefka bellowed. He casted a barrier around the platform, sealing Sora and the others inside. Kefka laughed and casted bolts of lightning below him. Everyone quickly dodged and rolled away. Sora threw his Keyblade at Kefka and struck his head before it came back.
"Come on boys! Let's get this clown!" Mickey cried. Kefka laughed and eyed the mouse.
"Lights out squeaky!" he called. He pointed to Mickey and fired a bolt of lightning. Mickey was struck down and crashed into Riku. Suddenly, Kairi casted a spell and fired Blizzara at Kefka. Aqua quickly followed up with Barrier Charge.
"Get out of our way Kefka! We're not interested in YOU!" Sora called. He leaped at Kefka and unleashed a combo attack towards his front. But the floating titan did not seem to flinch.
"Fool. Don't even TRY to compare your power to that of a god." Kefka said. Without moving an inch, Sora was blown away by Kefka's aura and crashed into the wall. Aqua groaned and leaped into the air.
"Why you...!" Aqua cried. She and Ventus attacked together, hacking away at Kefka's body. But suddenly, Kefka fired magical orbs from him and blew them back.
"Ha ha ha! This is fun! Don't stop now! Show me what you can ALL do!" Kefka laughed. Sora groaned.
"Stop toying with us Kefka! This isn't a joke! You're NOT gonna stop us!" Sora called. He yelled and leaped into the air. But suddenly, Sora was grasped by Kefka in midair.
"Sora!" Kairi gasped. As Sora struggled to break free, Kefka eyed him.
"Let me tell you something boy. You know what I could never stand? Huh? Fools like you who believe in this silly "hopes and dreams" junk. So...you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna destroy ALL OF IT!" Kefka cried, clutching tighter to Sora.
"You won't Kefka! Those silly "hopes and dreams" are what keep people going! It's why we're not going to lose to you!" Sora shouted. Kefka groaned.
"Really? Then how are YOU going to stop me when you haven't laid so much as a scratch on me?" Kefka asked. Sora groaned. But then, he saw his Keyblade artifacts on his hand.
"Simple. Like THIS!" Sora called. He activated Atlas' charm, temporarily blinding Kefka and freeing himself from his grip, before landing and calling forth Atlas' Keyblade. Kairi and Riku got the same idea and brought forth the power of their artifacts. Kefka looked around him.
"What? What is this?" Kefka asked. Suddenly, without warning, Sora lunged at Kefka and swung. The blades not only heavily impacted on him, but they actually hurt Kefka.
"Ha! Now we can hurt you!" Sora yelled. Kefka gasped.
"No! That can't be! This power...what is it?" Kefka asked. He was suddenly attacked by Kairi and Riku, leading as a cover as Aqua and Ventus attacked next. Kefka was now being injured as everyone's attacks were soon making him lose balance in the air.
"Kefka! As long as we have our dreams, you can't beat us!" Aqua cried. She leaped at Kefka and swiftly struck him down. Ventus attacked next, entangling Kefka in his Salvation attack. Kefka was fired directly towards Sora, Donald and Goofy.
"Let's go guys!" Sora called. His friends nodded, turning to Kefka who was riddled with shock. As he growled, his fists started to glow.
"Annoying little trolls! You WILL NOT BEAT ME!" he roared. But just as Kefka tried to cast a spell, Sora and friends triggered a Trinity attack and battered and beat on Kefka before pulling him into their final attack.
"Taste the true power of LIGHT Kefka!" Sora exclaimed. Uniting their weapons together, a great sphere of light pulled Kefka in and struck away at him before it finally exploded, inflicting great damage to him. Kefka screamed.
"NO! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" Kefka screamed. As the attack wore off, Kefka powered down and collapsed to the ground, returned to his previous form. He looked at his hands with tear riddled eyes.
"No...it can't be. I...I can't lose to...to...to...children. NO!" Kefka yelled. Sora and the others stood nearby as Kefka was shaking with fear. He then started to laugh, sounding more depressed and derranged as his body was fading away.
"NOOO!" Kefka shrieked before completely evaporated. His body became black dust that blew away in the wind. The barrier he casted earlier also vanished.
"All right! Looks like we can move on now!" Mickey exclaimed.
"Then come on! Let's move it before anybody else shows up!" Donald squawked. Sora agreed and led everyone up the next flight of stairs. As the battle waged on below, Sora's friends could see them progressing upward towards the top.
"Go Sora! You can do it!" Jack cried.
"We believe in you Sora!" Marta and Emil called. Sora and the others passed through another platform, which was riddled with Heartless. But they were effortlessly slashed down by Sora and Riku, clearing a path to the next platform.
"I think we're gonna make it! What's going to stop us?" Kairi asked. But just as Sora and the others approached the third platform, a strong dark force could be sensed on the approach.
"Whoa!" Aqua gasped. She came to a skidding stop, feeling the presence before her. Ventus looked back.
"Aqua? Aqua, what's wrong?" Ventus asked. Suddenly, they all saw someone descending down onto the platform. They saw a man with long silver hair and wearing a white and black jacket. It was Xehanort's Lifeless.
"Oh great. Look who's back." Riku said. Sora and Ventus growled, drawing their Keyblades as they eyed Xehanort. The evil man looked on with a sly smile and an intent to kill in his eyes.
"Hello again...warriors of the Keyblade." Xehanort said.
TO BE CONTINUED...