The energy radiating from the portal, pure Light as much as the Keyhole machine contained a pure Darkness, seems to rejuvenate Sora in the fleeting moments he is inside of it, calming him and restoring his strength.
When he steps through, the feeling fades, and he finds himself in a large cave of purple rock, illuminated only by light shining through the entrance. After making sure Azlyn and Telary are with him, Sora steps out to greet the End of Worlds.
He and his companions stand on a small stone island in a vast sea of clear water, so reflective of the purple and white sky above that it is hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. The odd sea stretches out to the source of the area's light, a mass of pure white that gleams powerfully just behind a bevy of large pillars of stone.
"What the hell kind of place is this?" Azlyn marvels, looking all around and trying to comprehend it all.
"Belle said that it's everything that's left of the worlds the Darkness has taken," Sora reminds his companion, similarly awed, though trying to contain it. "So I guess it's kind of like a Heartless world."
"Just hearing you say that gives me the creeps," Azlyn notes with a shiver and shake of her head.
"But everything will be restored when we beat Ansem, though," Sora tries to assure his companion, placing a hand on her shoulder to offer what comfort he can. "Things will go back to normal, worlds will reform. Everyone will go home where they belong."
"But where do I belong?" Azlyn says, sounding stressed as a million different thoughts course through her nervous mind. "I mean, if you asked me I'd say that Disney Castle is my home, but I'm from Hollow Bastion. So when things get restored, where will I go?"
Sora frowns as the thought hits him, suddenly worried that the restoration will see him returned to his islands and Kairi back in the dilapidated castle of Hollow Bastion. Once the walls between worlds are restored, how can he ever return her charm to her, fulfill his promise?
And if his actions restore the worlds that the very place he is standing in is made of, who's to say that he won't merely disappear along with it? Even with victory, survival is far from guaranteed.
"Would you two just relax already?" Telary chimes in unexpectedly, shocking both of his companions out of their melancholic reveries. They snap to attention and fix their eyes on the mage as he steps forward, facing them with a serious look in his eyes. "No matter what happens, no matter how bad things could get, even in the worst of worst case scenarios, our hearts aren't going anywhere!"
"But…" Azlyn attempts to protest.
Telary cuts her off with a deliberate shake of his head and wag of his finger. "Oh there aren't going to be any 'buts' here, missy, I won't accept them." His expression softens, his genial nature returning. "How many times have we said that our hearts will find their way back to each other, that we can't truly be separated as long as we remember? Are we just going to forget that now, leave our promise unfulfilled?"
Sora's hand goes to the charm in his pocket. He draws the star-shaped object out, holding it in his hand and looking at it, remembering the moment Kairi gave it to him, and feeling the phantom tingles of Kairi's lips on his.
Azlyn looks at her charm too, the necklace she'd turned into a bracelet, always there to reassure her when things seem dark.
And although Telary has no token, he can feel his sister in his heart as clear as anything, as eager as he is to return to each other, become a completed family once again.
"We made a promise to Kairi, and I don't know about you guys, but I intend to keep it, eh?" He holds out his hand, and at the sight Sora and Azlyn reach out as well, joining their Kairi objects together as well as their hands. "All for one, and one for all?"
"All for one…" Azlyn repeats, smiling brightly.
"And one for all!" Sora finishes as the trio throw their hands up into the air. Confidence restored, Sora takes a tentative step out onto the water, finding that despite its liquid appearance it holds his weight. As someone who's been surrounded by water his entire life, the dream of walking upon it like a path has been a part of him for as long as he can remember using imagination. There's a certain lightness to his steps as he begins to walk further out, heading towards the stone pillars and their light.
"Yeah, let's go beat up on some Darkness!" Azlyn laughs courageously, obviously well over all her doubts.
Telary frowns down at her. "Y'know, Azlyn, I'm pretty sure the kind of Darkness we're talking about isn't exactly anything you could punch."
The knight shrugs aloofly. "I dunno, Tel. I've punched a lot of stuff."
The wizard rolls his eyes and takes to looking around, the solid sea seeming to stretch out for infinite miles in every direction, any recognizable horizon lost in the perfect reflection of sky against sea.
He looks down in hopes of divining anything he can underneath the mirror-like surface, but instead of seeing anything underneath, he finds his eye caught up in the reflection of the sky. In particular, the spheres of pure black Darkness that are falling from it.
Startled, he looks up, confirming that he and his companions are indeed being set upon from above. "Guys, look up!"
Sora and Azlyn immediately whip their eyes skyward at the wizard's command, seeing the orbs raining down on them, growing ever closer. Without a word, they begin to sprint for the light beyond the pillars, pushing their legs to the limit.
Telary tries as well, but finds himself stumbling over a tiny rock jutting out in the midst of the sea. He falls to his knees, splashing up a few drops of water upon impact. Looking up, he just barely catches sight of a falling orb before it touches against his back. With a final scream, he disappears into violet light.
Azlyn hears Telary's screams and hesitates her next step, looking back just in time to see her counterpart vanish. She cries out his name and foolishly takes a step back towards his last location, stepping right into the path of the next falling sphere and disappearing just as the wizard had.
Sora keeps going nonstop, dodging and weaving around the deluge of dark spheres that threaten to swallow him like they had his friends. His legs begin to ache but still he pushes onward.
It seems like hours before he reaches the first pillar, stopping to catch his breath as he notices that the onslaught of dark orbs has ceased, leaving him alone in the endless wasteland.
After spending a fleeting, futile second glancing across the vast plain for any sign of his companions, Sora turns reluctantly for the light, holding his hand up and squinting against its brightness.
Azlyn… Telary… he thinks, running through Telary's speech once more in his mind for reassurance, Please be okay. Please.
The End of Worlds
A steady drip, like water leaking from a faucet, slowly draws Azlyn back into consciousness, dispelling the darkness inside her head. She opens her eyes and sits up, taking in a good look at her new surroundings.
She seems to be in a cave of some kind, dark grey stone as far as the eye can see. Despite long tunnels leading both right and left, the space feels as cramped as a shipping crate after experiencing the vast openness of the odd sea.
Turning her head for further examination, as well to work out some stiffness that had appeared in her neck, Azlyn spies something protruding from the stone wall. She stands slowly, shaking out further stiffness in her joints as she rises.
Moving slowly, she gets close enough to examine the object sticking from the wall: it's a gem as large as her fist, so deeply purple it almost looks black. She rubs a finger along its length, feeling its smoothness. It's odd, she thinks, that an uncut stone could be so smooth to the touch.
There's a sudden burning pain and Azlyn retracts her finger, hissing as the ache fades.
There's another round of dripping behind her, and the knight turns to find the sound's source, eventually noticing a steady dropping of liquid from a crack in the cave's ceiling. Surrounding it are more gemstones, varying in size and cut, all colored the same deep purple.
Looking around, Azlyn begins to notice that the entire area is filled with the precious stones. For a fleeting moment she wonders how much all of these jewels might be worth, once mined and polished and cleaned.
She shakes the thought clear of her head, pulling her focus back to her friends. Her lack of death makes her much more optimistic about the fate of Telary, but she still fears for the older boy, lost and alone in a strange world quite literally made of Darkness. Sora must be alone as well, she remembers.
The knight stops and takes a moment, holding up a hand to get a feel for which way the breeze is blowing, and therefore which tunnel leads to escape.
"And leave behind all of this loot?" a voice suddenly chimes in to interrupt her thoughts, so distinct and unmistakable Azlyn can't help but recognize it.
It's her own voice.
The knight whirls back around to see a shadowy version of herself leaning up against one gem-encrusted wall, leering at her with glowing yellow eyes. It reminds her of the dark copy of Sora she'd fought on Hook's ship. An AntiAzlyn.
"Are you feeling well?" the dark reflection asks mockingly, pushing off the wall and sauntering closer to her human counterpart. "After all, it's hard to imagine you leaving behind such a treasure…"
"My friends are in danger," Azlyn replies pointedly. "I have a job to do…"
AntiAzlyn laughs uproariously, cutting off the genuine article, and pissing her off too. "What do you care for those people? That's not why you set out on this journey, stole the Gummi ship and derailed your king's plans. You never once thought about those in danger, helping anyone, did you? It was all about your destiny, your name. Wasn't it? And of course, whenever you caught sight of an opportunity to loot the worlds you took it. Or don't you remember jeopardizing the lives of your 'friends' in the Agrabah cave?"
Though she knows it's falling right into AntiAzlyn's trap, the knight can't help but analyze the words. She knows that she didn't set out with altruistic motives, cared little for the actual mission. She'd even mistreated Sora when he wanted to help an innocent girl in need. Not a very heroic action, to be sure.
"Maybe you're right, lady," she concedes with a little nod. "Maybe I took off on this quest for selfish reasons, maybe I do go a bit overboard when it comes to munny. But I've learned stuff, make no mistake about that. I know that things are bad, and the universe is in trouble. It's my job to help Sora stop that from happening." She steps forward and draws her shield out. "And y'know something, I don't care if nobody ever finds out it was me that did it. I'll know that I did, and I'll know that when destinies got handed out, I got one hell of a great one!"
AntiAzlyn scowls. "Very well," she says, her form already beginning to shift and change, the words bolder, echoing off the walls as she deforms into a group of Shadows. "I'm glad to hear that you don't care about the accolades, because here's a little secret, honey." The swarm charges, and Azlyn prepares to fight.
"There's not going to be anyone left around to give them to you!"
KH-KH-KH
Telary stares up at the absolutely enormous castle above him, once immaculate white towers now fractured and dirtied, dark thorny tendrils growing out of every crack and wrapping themselves anywhere they can. Dark clouds loom above, violet lightning crackling through them and occasionally lighting up the area.
He's in a large square courtyard, just before the steps leading up to the castle's grand doorway, a violet light shining from within. Across the courtyard, past a large fountain long dormant, a wrought-iron gate stands tightly shut, leading into a dark woods beyond. Several broken carriages litter the grounds.
To distract himself from the utter fear he feels standing in the dark area, he begins to think on how exactly the sphere that struck him had brought him to this wretched place. Obviously some sort of teleportation spell, but where has it taken him? Is he even still within the End of Worlds?
He deduces that he must be, and this is merely a broken fragment of a world overtaken by the Heartless, a small piece that has clung to existence instead of succumbing to fading away.
Unfortunately this scientific, logical conclusion leads him once again to fear, wondering what kind of dark and terrible things could be hiding in such a place. He nabs his staff from its holster and holds it up.
"Do you really think that is going to do you any good?" a mocking voice that Telary barely recognizes as his own berates the wizard.
Looking up, Telary is shocked to see a shadowy version of himself standing at the top of the castle steps, sneering down at him with a cruel look that Telary knows he himself would never wear.
"You cling to your magic, your so-called 'knowledge', like an infant clings to its security blanket," AntiTelary says derisively, slowly stalking down a trio of steps. One look at the dark facsimile's glowing eyes is enough to send the true wizard back a step. "All you know is fear, Telary, admit it. I'm surprised you've even made it as far as you have. I suppose it's mostly due to hiding behind your friends, isn't it?
"You are a coward, Telary, plain and simple. What good are you compared to the great bravery of your friends? They are fighters, warriors with courage enough to risk their lives in combat, while you hang back and 'analyze'. How can you stand beside them and declare yourself their equal?"
Telary's breathes quicken as he thinks on the shadows words, leave him feeling paralyzed with doubts and, yes, fear.
"I guess you have a point, AntiTelary," Telary admits, looking down to the ground. "I've been scared to death ever since I read the king's letter, I admit that." He looks up, a fiery determination in his eyes that sets AntiTelary back a few steps. "But when I think of everyone out there I love being in danger, whether it's my friends, or the people who raised me, or my sister, suddenly it doesn't matter how afraid I am, how much I want to run or hide. My friends are brave, buddy, and that's what inspires me to want to be brave like them!" He raises his staff, energy gathering at the tip. "THUNDAGA!"
Several bolts of lightning fly down from the darkened sky, pure white light against the dark backdrop of the world fragment. They crash into AntiTelary, cooking him into crispy dark oblivion before he can even cry out in pain.
When the bolts fade, Telary's legs finally can't take anymore and he falls back into the dusty courtyard with a fleeting sigh. After that moment of courage and display of magic, he desperately needs a rest.
"Telaaaary…" a high-pitched voice sing-songs from somewhere behind the wizard, the very sound of it sending a jolt of pure energy coursing through the young man's veins. "Telary, find me…"
Telary rises and begins making his way towards the familiar sound, his heart feeling lighter than it has since learning of his sister. When he reaches the gates they swing open of their own accord, allowing him entry into the dark forest. Remembering his earlier speech about overcoming fear, Telary steps out of the courtyard.
The road outside the castle starts out a wide, dusty lane, but soon begins to narrow as it extends into the forest. Within minutes there's hardly a path at all, and Telary can feel the bare branches of tall trees scratch against his clothing, occasionally getting caught and requiring a tug to separate.
It's during one of those tugs that Telary makes the mistake of looking up at a tree's trunk. His breath grows short and he feels a cold shiver of fear as he gazes up into a twisted face, staring out at him from the trunk. With jagged teeth and two hollow eyes that look like they'd been carved into the tree with a knife, it's enough to send Telary running further into the woods. He looks back and sees a pair of trees with similar visages, peering at him maliciously. The once benign branches seem to reach out, attempting to grab hold of him and drag him to some dark, unknown fate.
The wizard trips, falling to his knees and landing hard enough to send a pins and needles sensation shooting up his hands and arms. He suddenly hears something out in the brush, something small and quick, darting towards him, and the sounds of cracks and snaps as it fights through the brush.
"Telaaaary…" the familiar voice whisper-calls once again, and the wizard quickly regains his feet, placing a hand on his staff and preparing to draw it out as the mysterious beast looms ever closer…
Azlyn breaks through the last bit of brush between her and her counterpart, her eyes lighting up in the darkness of the forest when they find him. Telary sags in relief as well, holstering his staff and going to the girl with open arms.
They embrace for but a brief moment before stepping back, each checking the other over for injuries.
"Glad to see you," Telary says as soon as he finishes checking up on his companion. "When that dark sphere hit me, I ended up in a castle not too far from here, and there was this, uh, this shadowy me clone and…"
"Me too," Azlyn replies, checking the woods for any dark things that may be lurking about. "But I was in this mine, and then the shadow turned into a bunch of Heartless and then… Then I heard…"
"His voice?" Telary interrupts, biting his lip and looking hopefully down at the knight, who nods slowly. "Do you think it could really be the…?"
Azlyn shrugs. "He hasn't been anywhere else we've looked, so it's a good bet he's been here the whole time. Maybe he has a plan to stop…"
"Come find me, Azlyn…Telary," the voice rings out again, echoing throughout the empty forest. When it fades, Telary finally takes a moment to stop and be disconcerted by the sheer silence of the dark forest. No bugs hum, no birds chirp, the only sound is that of he and Azlyn breathing.
And then Azlyn begins hacking through branches towards the voice, either not noticing or not caring about the tree trunk faces looking down on the pair with their empty eyes. They travel this way for an indeterminate amount of time, occasionally being guided by the gently calling voice.
Finally the pair break through into a large clearing, a wide open space with only a few spare trees growing. In the middle rests a large rock, a person no taller than Telary's waist sitting upon it. At the sight of the familiar three circle silhouette of the figure's head, Azlyn and Telary feel a powerful rush of pure joy.
"Your Majesty…" Telary breathes out, stumbling forward a few steps. Beside him, Azlyn moves forward almost as clumsily, shock overcoming her usual graceful steps. "Is that you, Your Majesty? We've been looking for you…"
"Have you now?" the king interrupts, something dark, haunting, and downright strange in his high-pitched voice. The words stop the pair in their tracks. "So, you've finally found me, eh? I suppose it's about time…"
"Like Telary said, we've been looking all over for you. After we found the key, of course, like you said," Azlyn picks up her counterpart's explanation, moving closer to their seated sovereign. "I, uh, I know that you said Donald and Goofy were the ones you wanted to find you, but, um…"
"Oh, I know all about your insolence," King Mickey hisses mockingly, his head shaking in pure disgust. Just the motion makes Telary's heart sink to the bottom of his stomach. Azlyn feels nothing, only numbness. "Your stupid, selfish decision. You thought you knew better than me, hm? You thought you could just lie and steal away in the Gummi ship, risking not only your own worthless lives, but those of everyone in my kingdom?
"And I suppose you thought that maybe, just maybe, if you somehow managed to bumble your way across the universe and cheat death time and again, I would just forgive you for it all? Well, it's too late…" The king stands and turns to face the pair.
Telary nearly falls to the ground and Azlyn takes several uncoordinated steps backwards, arms pinwheeling as she attempts to escape. For a moment all is silent, only the sounds of the Disney Castle pair taking frequent shallow breaths.
The King's eyes glow the sickly yellow of the Heartless, and he wears a blood-red jumpsuit similar to that of a Soldier Heartless, complete with Heartless emblem across the chest. Sharp claws extend from black gloves, hands curling in and out in anticipation of bloodshed.
"I've seen the Darkness, in its true form," the dark king taunts the pair, leaping off its rock and slowly stalking towards them, jagged mouth curved in a derisive sneer. "While you two were out playing hero, I was here, facing the true Darkness and being defeated. With Donald and Goofy on my trail I may have stood a chance, but because of you two, I…"
"No!" Telary cries out defiantly, standing tall and puffing out his chest confidently. Behind him, Azlyn watches the brave display in awe. "Whatever you are, whatever you're trying to do, it won't work! I know the king, he's been like a father to me since the day he took me into his castle, and he could never be like you!"
"He's right!" Azlyn backs up once she regains her voice, inspired by her counterpart's valiant example. "King Mickey is the toughest person I know, by a long shot, and he wouldn't be defeated by Darkness. This is just another trick, like those shadows. Well, guess what! They didn't work on us, and neither will this. You wanna beat us, huh? Well then you're just gonna have to do it the old fashioned way!"
Heartless Mickey stops in his tracks, gazing up at the pair before him with something like respect. Slowly, his form begins to twist and elongate, growing taller and wider until Ansem stands revealed before the pair.
The transformation startles them, but neither Azlyn nor Telary give an inch, standing strong against the dark man.
"You have faced your Darkness well, I see," the former scientist says enigmatically, looking over the pair with something like admiration. "Fine companions for the wielder of the Keyblade." He turns away, hands clasped behind his back. "It's only too bad that you have no way to locate your friend," he says over his shoulder. "This world is vaster than most, and finding him will be an impossible task. By the time you do…"
"Sora can take care of himself," Azlyn argues, her fists clenched so tightly it almost hurts the knight. "But he won't have to for long, because I promise you that we can find him, and we will."
"Sora's heart and ours are connected," Telary adds. "That's how we'll find him, and when the time comes, that's how we'll defeat you. Together!"
Ansem shrugs noncommittally. "Perhaps you will, perhaps you won't. But know this, children. Whether he fights with you or alone, the Keybearer will fall, and the Realm of Light with him." The madman fades away into the air, leaving no trace of himself behind.
Ansem is barely gone before Telary starts forward again, pressing on to the other side of the clearing.
Azlyn tilts her head and calls after him. "Where are you going? Is that the way to Sora?"
Telary pauses long enough to shrug, then continues to move ahead. Bereft of other options, Azlyn rushes off after him, following her best friend back into the dark forest in search of the Keyblade master.
KH-KH-KH
With a last loud, keening roar, the Behemoth drops to one knee, surrounded by a nimbus of pink energy as it faces its final moments. Seconds later, the creature dissolves into nothingness and releases its captive heart into the air.
Exhausted, Sora falls back on his butt in the cold snow piled up in the small area, surrounded on all sides by purple crystalline structures. Ignoring the howling wind and the chill it puts through him, Sora drops his head into his hands and takes a much needed breather.
The strange light beyond the pillars had led him here, to a cold, barren wasteland of snow and rock, wind constantly blowing hard enough to make even simple walking difficult. But Sora had soldiered on, eventually arriving in this canyon where a Behemoth awaited.
He knows that he has to keep moving, to find Riku and defeat Ansem, discover what happened to Azlyn and Telary, but he also knows that if he doesn't take a second and rest, he'll collapse later on.
He feels Kairi's charm in his pocket, and takes it out for another look, examining it from both sides and any angle he can.
Overcome with a sudden urge, he summons the Keyblade and looks down at the keychain attached to it, a silver heart that gleams even in the faint light that seems to emanate from the very rock of the crystalline canyon. He licks his lips in thought, then slowly brings Kairi's charm up to the end of the chain links.
Setting the Keyblade down so he can better manipulate it, Sora swaps the original keychain for the charm.
There's a sudden light, beginning at the bottom of the Keyblade and growing until it wraps the blade's shaft in pure Light. When it fades, the Keyblade has changed.
The hilt is silver now, surrounded on each side by soft, feathery wings, like those of angels. A silver heart surrounded by black sits on the blade's pommel, and two silver shafts grow up from it about two feet. At the top, one shaft curves and becomes yellow, forming half of a heart that the other shaft curls to complete, two halves making one whole heart. From the left shaft spouts a seven-pointed star, forming the blade's teeth.
Suddenly, the word Oathkeeper flashes through Sora's mind.
"That's as good of a name as any," he chuckles to himself, thinking again on his promise to return Kairi's charm to her. He's glad he thought of this, not only because he can feel the power of Light radiating off the sword, but also because now there can be no way to separate him from the charm.
Suddenly reenergized, he stands, stretching out his legs as he prepares to get moving, perhaps find all of his friends. He sets out the opposite of the way he came, going what he's pretty sure is southeast.
Only the sound of the wind and his footfalls crunching against the packed snow keep him company, an eerie quiet for one so used to noise and activity.
After walking for what must be half an hour, Sora reaches an intersection, three paths snaking off in different directions. Pausing, the boy considers his options, trying to figure out the best path to take.
His decision is made for him soon enough, as out of the corner of his eye he catches a glimpse of something moving out through the leftmost path. He turns quickly to face it, but only catches a fleeting glimpse of something tall and in black before a gust of wind whips up a cloud of fine snow, obscuring his vision.
Curious, he takes off down the path, a thin, snowy trail that can't be any more than ten feet wide, surrounded on both sides by crystalline walls. The wind is strong in the tiny space, and Sora hugs his arms tightly to his chest as he proceeds.
Every minute or so he'll catch another glimpse of the black figure, which seems to be purposefully keeping just enough distance between itself and Sora that the Keybearer can't get a good look without it being obscured by blown snow.
After a few minutes of travelling, the canyon widens and opens up into another space, a large circular clearing ringed by purple rock. Just ahead, looming over Sora in a way that reminds the boy of the Cave of Wonders guardian, is a large cave, stretching back into the canyon wall and disappearing into darkness.
Cautiously, Sora creeps into the cave, realizing thankfully that it provides a perfect shelter from the winds, though the boy can hear them howling outside like a wounded animal. Moving further into the cave, he finds that it begins to slope downward, going deeper into blackness than Sora's eyes can pierce.
He summons the Keyblade almost instinctively, gripping the handle to remind him of the strength at his disposal before walking into the darkness of the underground. As he goes, he notices that the Keyblade emits a silver light, driving back the gloom and giving Sora a way to see where he's going.
Not for the first time, he wishes that Azlyn and Telary were here with him physically, their presences comforting him as he travels alone in the darkness within the caves of a dead world. He can still feel them in his heart, but at the moment that seems to not be enough. Still, the Keybearer takes his fear as a good sign, reasoning that Ansem would only retreat to the darkest part of the world, the most dangerous place he could find.
Suddenly Sora becomes aware of a light ahead, the violet-tinted color he has come to associate with Darkness cutting through the shadows. He surges forward, finally meeting a tall cliff, light spilling over its edge and filtering down to him.
There are several obvious handholds in the rocky face, and Sora dismisses the Keyblade to better manage the climb up, ascending quickly towards the mysterious luminescence.
With a last strong pull, he heaves himself up, looking out at a vast field of columns of purple light, softly glowing in the darkness of the cavern.
Curious, Sora walks to the nearest pillar and summons Oathkeeper. He takes an exploratory swing, only for the blade to pass harmlessly through the pillar with no more resistance than a swing through thin air.
Emboldened by the thought, Sora reaches out and plunges his free hand into the pillar, wincing preemptively against any pain. But there is none, his hand plunged to the wrist in the mysterious light. Taking a deep, Sora moves the rest of his body into the pillar.
He's standing in Traverse Town, the 3rd District plaza where he had met Azlyn and Telary, defeated the Guard Armor, and seen Riku for the first time since his island's destruction. It's empty and quiet, and Sora can feel the cool night air of the town, hear a faint music being played off in the distance.
Then he's gone, whisked away in a flash of light that fades out momentarily to reveal the Locus Forrest of Wonderland, tall multicolored grass still stretching high above and blocking most of the sun. There's a small rustling noise, and Sora turns to see a trio of insects zipping by, with the long bodies of matured butterflies but wings made of buttered bread.
Sora barely has enough time to be confused before he's engulfed in light again, this time leaving him in a clearing in Deep Jungle, the buzz of insects and distant howls of animals filling a silence the boy has become so very used to.
Flash after flash, Sora moves from one world he'd sealed the Keyhole of to the next, stopping only momentarily before moving on.
Finally the light diminishes, only for Sora to be engulfed by a sudden confusion. He's in a long hallway, surrounded by metal floors and ceilings. At the far end, seeming to hang on the wall like a painting, is a Heartless emblem that Sora thinks must be as tall as Telary.
Sora steps forward, tilting his head and examining the emblem from every angle. Drawing the Keyblade, he taps it against the symbol. There's a faint whoosh noise from behind, and he whirls to see that a doorway he must have completely breezed past has opened itself automatically.
Sora walks inside to find a huge machine, massively complex and built directly into the wall. The most prominent feature is a large ovoid tank of some kind, oddly glowing purple fragments of something too small for Sora to see floating inside. The tank sits on a half-circle base, with six pods attached to it and spaced about two feet apart. Looking through the heart shaped observation glass, Sora can see the tubes are empty. This whole set up is hooked to a small keypad and viewscreen, reminding Sora of the Gummi ship's computer.
Cautiously, the Keybearer taps a button, and the screen lights up, words scrolling across rapidly. Sora tries his best to keep up, but all he can make out and understand are a scattered few words: "Heart", "Darkness" "Door" "One Key".
"Kingdom Hearts"
When the last word disappears, Sora reaches for more buttons, hoping to find a way to pull the words back, play them at a speed slow enough for him to understand them all.
He doesn't have time, though, as he feels a presence behind him. He whirls around to face the newcomer, Keyblade in hand and ready to strike.
His visitor is a tall man dressed all in black: boots and gloves, pants, his long, zippered coat. And the hood that is pulled over his head, shrouding his face in shadow.
"Who are you?" Sora demands, waving the Keyblade emphatically. "What are you doing here?" The man says nothing, nor does he move even an inch. "Do you… Do you know what this machine is supposed to be?"
"Hearts," the strange figure says simply, his voice deep and rough and hauntingly familiar.
Sora barely notes it though, turning around to once again peer up at the purple fragments floating in the container. Slowly, he comes to realize the significance of the hooded man's statements. Those glowing objects aren't fragments of something at all: they're hearts!
"So this is some kind of Heartless machine?" Sora wonders aloud, almost forgetting about the enigmatic presence of the man in black. "Is this how Ansem created the Heartless?"
"Much work was done here, in the pursuit of knowledge," the man behind Sora speaks up, shocking the Keybearer a bit. "It needed to be done here, where the meddler could not deter us. Here were many mysteries unlocked, regardless of what he considered right and wrong. Such is the nature of all important work, I imagine."
By the time the man in black finishes his odd soliloquy, Sora is barely hearing the words, only the voice that spoke them. "Ansem!" he accuses, dropping into a fighting stance.
There's something in the way the figure's head tilts that conveys a sort of fond bemusement. "No, that's not quite right. Though the name is familiar, it doesn't quite ring true." The cloaked man takes another step forward, and Sora countersteps backwards instinctively, his back brushing across the cool metal of the Heartless machine.
"Who are you?" he demands. "What are you doing here? Where's Ansem, huh? You said you knew him, where…?"
"You remind me of him," the man who is not Ansem remarks, still sounding playful and amused. "You certainly are two sides of a whole. But neither complete."
"What are you?" Sora asks, out of any questions other than the one.
"I… am a mere shell," the cloak says, taking a step forward and reaching out a hand to touch Sora's chest.
The Keybearer cries out as he feels the memories of his journey flash by, all the pain and joy and triumph and loss shooting through his head like a rocket through space and time.
As quickly as it had begun, it's over, and Sora opens his eyes to an empty room, only he and the Heartless machine, plus all the hearts trapped within.
Sora rushes into the hall, but it is empty as well, though a violet pillar of light now stands at the end opposite the Heartless emblem.
Had there been someone else, somebody in that room with him? Sora swears there was, but all of the details of any encounter seem to have slipped away. For some reason, he thinks back on the cave with the door on Destiny Islands.
But, whether or not Sora was alone in the room with the Heartless machine, he is definitely by himself now, only the low hum coming off of the violet column of light. With one last look at the odd machine, he senses it is time to move on, stepping into the column of light just as he had back in the underground cave.
The light deposits him in a long tunnel, perhaps twenty feet long with a large round hole in the floor of the far end, a light shining through. Looking around, Sora can see various objects growing out of the tunnel walls: a twisted, dead tree, a few crumbled pillars, even what appears to be the entire façade of a small cottage. He figures they must be remnants of dead worlds absorbed by the End of Worlds after their destruction.
When he reaches the end of the tunnel, Sora drops down into the hole, landing lightly on a mint green surface, hard like rock but with a sound like tapping against glass when he walks upon it. Purple rock surrounds the space on all sides and above, leaving Sora with the impression that this is a cave he won't be escaping.
The notion is enforced by a Heartless emblem at the far end of the chamber, though it seems to be made of craggy rock, rather than the smooth metal of the one in the hallway outside the machine chamber.
Sora takes a step towards the emblem, but stops in his tracks when he sees a Shadow rise from the ground in front of him, staring him down with its yellow eyes and twitching its body erratically.
Sora summons Oathkeeper and steps forward in a single movement, cutting the Heartless down as easily as he might swat a fly.
The easy victory makes him careless, and he nearly misses the pair of Shadows jumping to attack him from above, only barely managing to get turned around in time to slice them into nothingness with his blade.
More Heartless emerge from the floor, one by one rising and stalking toward the Keybearer. Gritting his teeth, Sora prepares for a fight.
Individually, the Shadows pose no problem, easily taken care of with single slashes of Oathkeeper. Some of the creatures even seem afraid of the blade, backing off against the faint white aura surrounding it, only to still be destroyed by it.
But though the Shadows are not cooperative and seem to have little regard for strategy, their sheer numbers increase the likelihood of simultaneous attacks tenfold, keeping Sora on his toes and swinging his key.
One Shadow scrapes its claws against Sora's leg before getting slashed, drawing first blood in the fight and putting Sora off balance long enough for a trio of Heartless to get inside his guard.
They slash at his feet, but the Keybearer manages to dodge the attacks and strike back, feeling the weight of two Shadows on his back as he does so. With a yell of outrage he summons a fire spell, and a nimbus of flame whirls around his body, crisping the pair hanging on and pushing the rest of the swarm cautiously back.
It's the opening he needs to get his concentration together for a Thunder spell, eliminating another swathe of enemies. Seeing a chance, Sora rushes the gap, waiting until he's outside the swarm to turn and plant his feet again, readying for another rush.
The Shadows turn to face him, and behind his mask of calm battle-preparedness, Sora longs for the comfort of Azlyn and Telary by his side, to share in this battle and perhaps give him a moment to compose himself.
Suddenly he feels something hot, like the sun baked rocks he used to collect off of the beach as a child. Taking a moment away from thinking about the coming hoard, Sora reaches into his pouch and locates the smooth object. Pulling it out, he realizes that it's the red orb recovered from Maleficent's cloak! Similar to Simba's summoning gem in every aspect but color, the stone sparks an idea in the Keybearer's mind.
Just as he had done atop the Gizmo shop, Sora looks into the gem, deep into the tiny light glowing at its center…
The stone becomes unbearably hot, even against Sora's gloved palm, and he yells out in shock, dropping the stone to the floor. It lands and there's a sudden explosion that takes out a few Heartless on its own, thick gray clouds of smoke emerging from the impact point.
A shadow rises from them, towering over Sora and filling his heart with hope. How could those Heartless possibly manage to stand against him whilst he has such a…
A tiny lizard, thin and red with a scaly yellow belly, strides confidently out of the smoke. Looking him over, Sora supposes the red claws of its hands and two tiny blue horns atop its head could do some damage.
As with Simba, time seems frozen around Sora as he prepares to greet the summon. Mushu is the lizard's name, he knows instinctively.
"Why you lookin' at me like that?" the summon sasses up to the Keybearer, crossing its arms defensively. "Haven't you ever seen a dragon before?"
Sora shrugs. "Uh, yeah I have, but that one was a lot bigger and…"
"And what?"
"Well, uh, fierce," Sora replies sheepishly.
"Oh, you want some fierceness, Sora?" Mushu says with a laugh, skittering up Sora's body to rest on his head. "I'll show you what fierce really means, my man!"
Time returns to its normal flow, the Heartless crawling forward to claim the heart of the Keybearer. Sora hears Mushu above his head, the miniscule dragon drawing in a deep breath.
He exhales and balls of fire come rushing out of his mouth, pelting the Shadows like artillery fire. The first line is burnt up in seconds, and the second barely has time to retreat before Sora rushes forward, Mushu spewing flames at the Heartless. What Shadows escape the blaze, Oathkeeper takes care of in a few easy slashes.
Within a minute, the area is Heartless free. Already feeling a return to stone form coming on, Mushu jumps off Sora's head, turning to face the Keybearer with a smug look on his face.
"So, do ya think I was fierce enough back there, huh?" Mushu goads the boy, waggling his eyebrows cockily.
Sora smiles at him, bending down to look Mushu in the face. "You definitely were, Mushu. I owe you one, big time!"
Mushu shrugs. "Well, if you ever find yourself down in the Land of Dragons, I'll be sure to cash that in, buddy. Best believe I will!"
"Totally, Mushu," Sora chuckles as the tiny dragon vanishes in a burst of light, leaving his red stone behind. Sora scoops it up and stands.
The Heartless seal still stands, barring Sora's passage into the room beyond. Wondering if perhaps the Keyblade can do something, Sora steps forward.
He stops dead in his tracks at the sight of a descending ring of dark orbs, followed by another, then another. There's a rush of purple flames, and when they recede, three large Heartless float above the floor, rounded blue swords in clawed hands. Their jet black skin has the sinewy-strong look of muscle, and a tiny section of heart-shaped flesh is missing from each of their chests.
They move forward, propelled through the air by purple wings and dark fireballs on their feet, swords raised to do serious damage.
A golden shield flies above Sora's head and catches the lead Invisible in the chest, sending it hurtling backwards into the path of a lightning bolt from above.
Sora's gaze follows the shield's flight path back into Azlyn's right hand, the knight still midair from jumping down into the cavern. Telary is right above her, staff out and prepared for battle.
"Azlyn, Telary!" Sora exclaims joyously, giving his companions a wide smile that is returned by both.
"Sorry we're late," Telary apologizes as the pair rush to battle positions beside Sora, facing the pair of remaining Invisibles, as well as a new trio that has shown up for the fight. "Azlyn wanted to see if there was a gift shop around here."
The girl shrugs. "I figured nobody'll believe me about this place without a postcard to show off. That a new Keyblade?"
Sora nods. "I'll have to remember to thank Kairi for it later," he says, holding up the key so his friends can see the thalassa charm fixed to its chain.
The time for banter ends, the Invisibles charging forward through the air with swords raised. Sora ducks under a sword swing and bats one creature aside with Oathkeeper, sending it into Azlyn, who slashes the monster straight through with her shield before twisting in the air and kicking another Heartless in the face, sending it down hard against the glowing floor.
Telary blocks two sword swings from two different Invisibles, ducks aside to avoid a thrust, then swings his staff out to connect with the Heartless's face, sending it back a few paces. Telary presses forward, though, knocking it again on the head. In a rush of dark flame, the Invisible disappears.
Watching Telary's back, Sora blocks a sword swing, turns the blade aside, and stabs through the Invisible's chest with the silver tip of Oathkeeper. When the Invisible fades, he turns and slashes diagonally through another.
Azlyn engages two Invisibles, turning from one to the other to block sword strikes and follow up with her hardest kicks. She turns aside a sword strike and spins, slashing through the other Heartless's neck. She turns back to deal with the remaining one, but feels a sudden rush of cold, turning to find a Heartless icicle courtesy of Telary. With a grunt, she shatters the beast with a single fist.
Sora slashes an Invisible's head off, then turns to his companions, suddenly feeling an idea coming in directly from his heart.
"Guys!" he calls to get Azlyn and Telary's attentions. They turn to face him and he raises the Keyblade into the air.
Understanding without a needing a word, Azlyn raises her shield and Telary his staff, the weapons meeting in the middle of their circle, white light glowing between them. Around the trio, a holographic ring of orange symbols appears and surrounds them.
Sora pulls the Keyblade back, taking the orb of light against its tip.
"Power of three! Trinity Limit!" he calls out, plunging Oathkeeper into the exact center of the trio. Suddenly yellow circles spring up in the ring around Sora, Azlyn, and Telary, depositing columns of light that radiate out to engulf the entire cavern.
The light fades, and the trio find that they don't even need a moment to adjust after the burst of brightness. The cave is empty of Heartless, and the seal at the end of the room is gone, leaving only a hole in the wall into the next chamber.
"So what was that about?" Azlyn asks with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, I didn't even think that was possible!"
Telary shrugs. "That's kind of what friendship is about, isn't it? Doing the impossible?"
Sora and Azlyn both roll their eyes at the cheese of the wizard's statement, but in their hearts they know it to be true.
"Let's get out of here before Telary comes up with any more phrases to sew on a pillow," Sora suggests.
"Says the 'my friends are my power' guy," Azlyn counters with a good-natured laugh, following behind Sora as he leads them through the hole in the wall.
They enter a small chamber of purple rock. Water flows from somewhere overhead to land in a bowl set into the wall, some of it spilling out onto the surrounding floor. Sora hardly notices, too fixated on the double-door in front of him.
You are the one who will open the Door
"Not gonna lie," Azlyn says, though Sora only hears the words as a bare whispers. "I was kind of expecting something better when it came to this Door everybody has been yammering on about."
Telary inspects the door, noting the pink marble of its face, the golden handles, and the yellow and pink stained glass above it. He steps forward for a closer look, but fails to notice a puddle of spillage from the bowl in the wall, slipping and sliding and tumbling down to land on his back.
The noise shocks Sora out of his haze, and he and Azlyn just look down for a second before bursting out in laughter.
"Hey!" Telary says warningly as he sits up, shaking a finger at his friends, both of whom are nearly doubled over. "That's not… this… this is no time to…Hahaha!"
The trio's laughter spreads and rises, filling the entire dark chamber with the sound of light and happiness, friendship at hope.
Sometimes, when faced with the End of the World, you just have to take a moment for laughter.
After a minute the guffaws fade out, leaving the trio standing together in the tiny cavern. Sora reaches down a hand to help Telary up, smiling at the wizard as he rises to his feet.
"Thank you guys, for everything," Sora says sincerely to the pair. "There's no way I could have gotten this far without you."
"Well, we did have the ship," Telary points out with a shrug.
"Thank you too, Sora," Azlyn tells the Keybearer, fixing him with her most sincere smile. "When you found out we'd been lying to you, you could have easily told us to hit the road, but you didn't. You believed in us just as much as we believed in you. It's that kind of friendship and love that brought us to this point, and it's what's going to save the universe." The three clasp hands once more. "No matter what happens, we'll always be friends."
Nodding, Sora lets go of his companions' hands and summons the Keyblade, pointing it at the Door. Light gathers into a beam and shoots into it, both halves of the door opening just a crack, sending light spilling out into the tiny space.
Let the final battle commence! Once again I'd like to thank everyone reading this, and encourage reviews
I know I didn't include Chernabog, but to be perfectly honest he was kind of useless plotwise in the game, just another boss. I tried a few ways to maybe include him during the outline stage, but none of them really fit, so if you were looking forward to that battle, sorry.
Well, only two chapters and an epilogue left! I can't believe I'm at this point after significantly less than a year, and I'm glad that this story has touched the hearts (haha) of all you reading.
Thank you once again, and I promise to update soon!