Here we are with the latest chapter of Awaken the Light, detailing the emotional fallout from the tail end of last chapter. For those who were curious, what Sora ended up feeling was Kairi going into her coma that was mentioned during the Limit Cut episode in ReMind. Which has led to what you are all about to read. Putting this warning out now, there is graphic violence, character death, elements of PTSD in this chapter. Sora is getting put through the emotional ringer here.
As always, a thank you to everyone who has followed and favorited this story thus far. And a special thanks to 7, Gamelover41592, Finalcool720, Blazer777, SomeOne Random, Otakufreak1799, SuperSaiyanFever, and Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros for leaving reviews. Without further ado, let's dive right in.
Sora was falling. He wasn't sure how long he had been falling, but he had been falling in the endless abyss. It had all started when he had arrived at his Station of Awakening, but it was different compared to before. It was completely shattered, broken into various pieces, with some completely missing. Like his heart had been fractured and damaged beyond repair. That wasn't what had horrified him however.
No, it was that his friend's faces that had been on in his heart for so long were now gone. Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy were all wiped away, leaving blank spaces on his heart. He had hesitantly taken a few steps around to see if he could find their missing faces or any missing parts of his platform when the section he was on collapsed from under his feet, sending him falling into the darkness.
After what felt like an eternity, Sora finally reached the next location, the Keyblade Graveyard. But it was different, not like when he had gone back in time to rescue Kairi, this felt wrong, like a chill encompassing his heart. He didn't get time to think about what was going on however, as a massive swarm of Heartless began to stalk towards him, yellow eyes gleaming.
He extended his arm and tried to call upon his Keyblade, but nothing appeared. His heart was pounding as he tried to force something to happen, but nothing did. No Keyblade, no magic, no matter what he tried to do, nothing would happen. It wasn't until the hoarde was nearly upon him that his legs were moving in the other direction, towards the labyrinth that Xehanort had created. He wanted to fight, stop these things however he could, but right now he was powerless. Helpless. USELESS.
'Donald...Goofy...anyone, please help!' He was getting closer to the entrance of the labyrinth, but the Heartless swarm was getting closer and closer. He could practically feel their claws brushing against him as they were mere inches away from him now. He wasn't going to make it, he was going to die here.
"GO SORA!" "ZETTASTORM!"
Sora's eyes widened as he felt the metal of Goofy's shield push against his back, sending him flying into the labyrinth. He was able to turn his head in time to see his friends begin to try and hold off the hoarde. Massive bolts of lightning and extreme gusts of winds that were nearly generating tornadoes were beginning to rage all around as purple and yellow runes surrounded Donald. Massive amounts of Heartless were being obliterated in droves, however the strain on the wizard was becoming obvious and it wasn't something he could keep up for long.
Goofy meanwhile was currently doing his best to keep the Heartless that were managing to evade Donald's spell from getting to the labyrinth's entrance. His shield was like a wall, nothing moving past it as the royal captain bashed every Heartless that came close. When one nearly got past his spot, it was immediately met with the shield grinding against it before it was destroyed. The shield was not indestructible though and with every blow that it stopped, every Heartless that was destroyed, the shield was chipped away. Piece by piece, it would only last for so long before it was destroyed.
And all Sora could do was watch helplessly as the labyrinth entrance began to close. He wanted to go out there and help, but his power still wouldn't come to him. It felt like days passed for him, but it was scant minutes. The runes around Donald began to fade, while Goofy's shield was half destroyed with the rest soon to follow. The last that Sora saw of his friends was the Heartless overwhelming their defense as the wall slammed shut.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Sora wailed as he had practically watched his friends die and it was all because of him. Because he couldn't be there for them.
The next few moments passed by faster than he could follow as he was forced deeper into the labyrinth, deeper into despair. The next thing he knew, he was watching Riku fight against Xigbar and his replica all alone and he was losing, badly. Without being able to get into the arena, he could only watch his friend fight...and lose.
Soon enough, Riku was disarmed of his Keyblade as the replica stood triumphantly over him, foot stomped on his chest and holding his blade at his throat. The look on his face was smug as he looked down on his opponent, having longed for this moment. "Well, looks like I'm the real one after all."
Riku glared up at his replica, panting in exhaustion as he tried to summon his Keyblade back to him, but all that resulted in was the replica stomping on his chest harder. To the clapping of Xigbar, who had now desummoned his arrowguns, the weapons no longer needed. With his one eye glaring at Sora, a smirk on his face.
"Good job kid, he's all yours. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some final preparations to make." And with that, the sharpshooter was gone, leaving the two Riku's alone with Sora unable to do anything except watch what happened next.
Riku Replica now had his blade pressed against Riku's throat, not hard enough to draw blood yet, but it was certainly enough to cause discomfort. "So, the new world won't need two of us and I don't think Xehanort wants any Guardians coming along for the ride. Besides, you've already clashed with two darknesses, I'm sure he won't mind if you're taken off the board."
"You won't...win…the others will...stop you…" Riku glared at his doppleganger as his tone was enraged, defiant to the end. Even if he failed, the others could still pull through and stop the Organization.
"You sound so sure of that you fake. But the others are falling as we speak, there's no hope left for any of you. After all, Sora left you to this fate." Riku Replica raised his blade up as Riku's eyes widened at the implication of his replica's words.
"Sora wouldn-" "RIKU!" Before Riku could finish defending his closest friend, the replica silently shoved his sword through Riku's throat, decapitating him with the darkest look on his face as he sneered at the sobbing Sora, the brunet still unable to enter the arena. His hands were pounding on an invisible barrier, while the replica began to cackle.
"Well, look at that. Ready to defend you to the bitter end when you just left him to die. Well, go on, sure you got more friends just waiting to be let down." With that, Riku Replica vanished in a dark corridor while Sora was whisked to the next area in the labyrinth. He couldn't stop crying now, he had been forced to watch three of his closest friends die. And the sinking feeling in his stomach told him that it wasn't going to get any better.
The next thing he saw was Mickey fighting against Luxord, Marluxia, and Larxene, the Keyblade Master struggling to fight against all three of them at once, especially now that the former had been granted additional power by Xemnas. The King was a skilled fighter and his small stature and speed had enabled him to outpace his three opponents, but without help it was a fruitless endeavor.
A stray knife cut here, a slash of the scythe there, fighting three on one was clearly taking its toll. Especially with Luxord now powered up, Mickey knew that if one of those cards made contact, the result wouldn't be good. In his mind, it was better to take a few small hits here and there than to risk being taken out of the fight entirely. Especially if he could hold out until help came.
Unfortunately, that help would not be coming, with Sora being unable to enter, Mickey was fighting what would be his final battle. The king was panting as Larxene and Marluxia smirked, with the former throwing her knives to surround Mickey while Marluxia began to open dark pools of energy that had thorns at the edge of each pool. Before the King could react, pillars of lighting and pillars or thorns were surrounding him on all sides, leaving him with no way to get out.
Which made the perfect opening for Luxord to finally trap the mouse in a special cage and put an end to this battle. With a flick of the wrist, a single card was sent flying at Mickey from his blind spot, the object cutting through the lightning with Mickey barely noticing it in time to block it. But a point of contact was all that was needed thanks to his increased power.
"Well, it looks like this game is over. Such a shame, perhaps with a second player, you could have come out on top." Luxord looked directly at Sora as the card began to emit a purple light before Mickey became enveloped by it and sucked into the card, the last thing anyone would hear the King say being nothing more than a panicked scream.
"MICKEY!" Sora could only watch as the card now showed Mickey floating and encircled by nothingness, eyes closed. Luxord merely chuckled as the card returned to his hand, before nodding to Marluxia and Larxene who proceeded to vanish in a corridor of darkness as the two were no longer needed here.
"Let him go Luxord!" Sora pounded on the invisible barrier with tears streaming down his eyes, this tantrum being all he could do to try and save one of his friends. He had failed so many already, he couldn't fail another one.
"Let him go? But Sora, you have nothing to offer us in exchange. After all, you can't fight us, thus meaning you cannot help forge the x-blade. In fact, you no longer have a Keyblade to speak of, do you? I wonder, just how many more of your friends will pay for your weakness?" The gambler gave a smirk as his hands began to pull at two separate ends of the card, his intentions clear as crystal. He was going to rip the card in two and in the process, kill Mickey Mouse.
"STOP IT!" Sora's eyes flared yellow for a second as he glared at Luxord, the Nobody seemingly unresponsive to the explosive moment. A second passed. And another. And then the worst sound possible in that moment for Sora occurred. Luxord had ripped the card clean in two through the middle, bisecting Mickey had he still had a physical form. Sora's eyes widened as they changed back to their normal blue, tears dropping to the ground.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't hear you in time Sora. Unfortunately, I don't have anymore time for games at the moment. Perhaps later once all of this is settled."
"As if I'd ever play games with you!" Where Luxord got the delusion that he would ever agree to something like that was beyond him.
Luxord merely chuckled at that as he let the pieces of Mickey's card drift to the ground as he vanished in a corridor of darkness, leaving Sora alone again. He had watched four of his closest friends die. He didn't want to see anyone else die, he just didn't!
Thankfully he was spared the sight of seeing Mickey's corpse as he was whisked to the next section of the labyrinth. What he saw though wasn't like before, where a friend was fighting to the death. No, this fight had already been concluded and in the worst way possible.
Aqua was currently on her knees and Keyblade dropped to the ground as Terra-Xehanort stood above her, keyblade aimed at her heart. Off to the side, Ven had completely collapsed on the ground, with Vanitas nowhere to be found. The two keyblade wielders had clearly lost, but what was being said was what made this just as bad as watching the others die.
"You said that you were going to cast me out of Terra forever, but yet here we are. Terra's heart belongs to the darkness now, merely another part of me. There is no saving him, much like there is no saving Ventus now. We have both accepted the darkness, completely and utterly."
Aqua bit her lip as she trembled a bit, sparing a side glance for her other friend who was slowly beginning to stir. "No...Terra would never give in. And neither would Ven. This is all you, Xehanort."
"I will freely admit that I helped them down the path, but we both know that darkness is the heart's true essence. Don't tell me you learned nothing during your time in the Realm of Darkness?"
Aqua's eyes widened for a brief moment before they narrowed, her tone defensive. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Now there's no need to lie to me, that's quite unbefitting of a Keyblade Master." Xehanort made a tsk sound, shaking his head. "We know about the brief period when you gave into the darkness thanks to the help of Ansem. We know what you did to your friends when they came to rescue you."
"It was a moment of weakness, one that I'll regret everyday for the rest of my life." Even though she knew that she would likely not have a life for much longer.
A chilling laugh filled the air as Ven finally stood up, Aqua and Sora freezing as the laugh sounded exactly like Vanitas. Looking at the brownet, Aqua immediately realized what had happened, a repeat of what happened over a decade ago. Vanitas had taken over Ventus's body, but unlike before, she couldn't hear Ven's voice mixed with his.
"Come now Master, you shouldn't regret something like that. After all, Venny certainly doesn't regret agreeing to let me in and merge."
"You're lying."
"Maybe, but you've felt it too haven't you? All those lights being extinguished. Ventus accepted that the Guardians were fated to lose this battle and that shattering his heart would only result in more pain for both you and himself. Besides, the squirt really wanted to be with Terra again and this is as close as it'll get."
Aqua gritted her teeth as she clenched her hands, nails digging into her palms. "Shut up. He's not Terra. And you're not Ven. Let my friends go!"
Xehanort and Vanitas merely chuckled at that, with a corridor of darkness opening several feet behind Aqua, the distinctive sound causing Aqua to freeze in fear. Xehanort was the first to speak, his tone even.
"This is what your friends have become Aqua, we have embraced the darkness. Now, you have a choice to make. You can accept the darkness of your own volition and join us, it'll be just like old times, except we shall be in shadows instead of the light. Or…" Vanitas picked up where Xehanort left off, his tone filled with mirth.
"...you can go back to the Realm of Darkness and survive in isolation again. I can assure you that no one will be coming for you this time if you make that choice. Are you truly selfish enough to deprive Ventus and Terra of their friend? Even in darkness, at least you three will be together."
Aqua was practically trembling at their words, the choice being an impossible one for her. When she had dove into the Dark Realm before, it had been to save a friend from being lost and she didn't regret that decision one bit. But if she chose to do that now, she'd save no one. She'd only destroy herself by going back to that place.
She didn't want to be alone again, she had spent over a decade trying to get back to her friends. Her mind flashed back to when she had chased after illusions of her friends in the destroyed Enchanted Dominion, consequences be damned. Even if they were different, even if she would be different, this was her last chance to be with them again.
"I…" Eraqus would be ashamed in the choice that she was making, but it was becoming abundantly clear that Xehanort was going to win this battle. No one had made it in time to save Ven. And no one was going to be able to save her this time either. Even if those two weren't truly Terra and Ven, she could pretend. At this point, she was willing to accept being delusional if it meant she could be with them.
"I don't want to be alone again. I don't want to go back there. I'll embrace the darkness...just don't go..." Her voice was small, broken as she allowed herself to be selfish. As the darkness in her heart began to grow. Her glassy eyes looked up at the two darknesses and for a brief instant she saw her friends again as how they used to be. That was only a dream now though.
Xehan...no, Terra smiled at her choice, Keyblade emitting darkness. "A wise choice, Master Aqua. Welcome home." With those words said, a bean of darkness shot at Aqua's heart, with the master not resisting it. There was an involuntary gasp as darkness flooded her heart, hair turning a mixture of white and blue and eyes turning yellow, just like her friends. She had willingly embraced that what she had succumbed to in the Realm of Darkness, for the delusion of being with her friends again.
The now corrupted woman stood up slowly, dusting herself off as her keyblade remained on the ground, now disconnected from the heart of its wielder. The first thing she did was embrace Terranort and Vanitas in a hug, before turning and glaring at Sora with a sneer. "You can't save anyone Sora. Can you even save yourself?"
The trio soon vanished after those words were said and Sora felt his heart tighten even more at what he had just witnessed. Aqua and Ven had given up and had willingly joined the Organization. Was it...was it really that much better to just give into the darkness? No, it had taken away so many people he had cared about, he wouldn't give in. He couldn't. Even if his heart was wanting to break under the pressure.
And just as before, he was whisked away to the next section of the labyrinth, the battle here already determined as well. Kairi was still standing, albeit barely with her Keyblade in hand while Saix was bearing down on her, energy radiating off of his body. Meanwhile No. i stood over a dead Lea, his keyblade becoming lifeless and joining the many others in the graveyard.
The sight made Sora sick to his core while he felt Roxas's heart for several seconds, before it faded. Axel and Xion had been his anchors, but with the former now dead and the latter being unreachable, there was no way for Roxas to awaken. His only fate now was to fade entirely and Sora felt it happen. His heart was now empty, no one else was in him and he had never felt more alone. He began banging on the invisible barrier that once again cut him off from his friends, the noise not reaching Kairi.
Saix began to make his way towards Kairi, now looking rather calm, the berserker having exited his berserker state. His ploy to try and redeem himself had failed, the Guardians had lost and his closest friend was now dead. His only path now was to continue the facade, to play the role he was given. It was ironic in a way, that he was as much as a puppet as the replica.
"And thus one of the New Seven Hearts is all that remained of the Guardians. It seems Axel was right, you were their trump card."
Kairi placed her free hand over her heart, shaking her head in denial. "No, I can still feel Sora's heart out there. This fight isn't over yet."
"You cling onto a falsehood. Just look there…" Saix raised his arm and pointed behind Kairi, right to where Sora was, continuing his fruitless endeavour to try and make it through the barrier. "...and see how powerless he is to save any of you."
Kairi was hesitant to turn around, but Saix stopped moving towards her and merely gestured with his head with No. i still staring blankly at Lea's corpse. With neither enemy approaching, Kairi allowed herself to look and gasped at what she saw, nearly dropping her Keyblade in the process.
Sora was currently banging his hands on the barrier, the things slowly getting bruised and broken from how hard he was hitting it, tears flowing down his face as he screamed, but Kairi couldn't hear him. What truly shocked her was the yellow that had taken over Sora's eyes. "Sora…?"
The teen stopped pounding immediately as he heard her voice, immediately trying to get her attention, but his voice was still non-existent. His eyes were now a mix of blue and yellow, unable to get his darkness under control.
"There's nothing that you can do for him now, not that you should. After all...he left all of the others to perish." Saix's voice was cold, forcefully so as he hit Kairi in the neck with his free hand, dropping her to the ground instantly. Detached yellow eyes glanced at Sora who was now raging again, before picking up the unconscious princess and taking her away in a dark corridor, with No. i following moments after.
Sora was now on his knees, nails digging into his hands so hard that he was cutting into them, blood dripping onto the ground as the world faded around him. He seldom hated in his life, he rarely did things for revenge or some other dark purpose. But right now, he wanted the Organization to die, horrible agonizing deaths. His eyes were a pure yellow as darkness wrapped around his body, despite the tears that were still falling.
When Sora could see again, he was at the end, the entirety of the Organization was assembled around him, including it's newest additions. Master Xehanort stood atop of them all on a high pillar, disappointment evident on the old man's face.
"So it appears that light expires after all and the false light has given way to darkness." Sora roared, it wasn't a human scream, but something far more primal as he tried to rush the old man, only to be pinned down by Young Xehanort, Ansem, and Xemnas, all of them planting their feet on his back, stomping him to the ground as he could only glare up at the old man now.
"Shut up!"
"Unfortunately, the Seven Guardians of Light could not clash with our Thirteen Darknesses enough times in order to forge the x-blade. And now, because of the Guardian's weakness, we will need to gather the New Seven Hearts in order to open the way to a new world. However, one of these New Seven Hearts was also made to be a Guardian."
As Xehanort spoke, he raised his free arm and with it, Kairi floated into the air behind him. She was wrapped in dark chains, clearly struggling to try and break free, having regained consciousness from when Saix had knocked her out before. But it was a futile effort, the darkness was far too strong, even for her pure light.
"This heart knows how to truly use its power and if simply left prisoner, she could attempt to thwart our plans in more ways than one. Until the time comes for the way to Kingdom Hearts to be opened...she must be removed from the playing board."
"K a i r i!" Sora snapped as tendrils of darkness sprouted from his body, wrapping around the three keeping him pinned and slamming them to the ground as he rushed towards Xehanort, the other Organization members merely observing this futile resistance. They all knew that the hero would fail, his light was practically nonexistent now.
As Sora was about to begin running up the pillar to try and save his final remaining friend, Xehanort struck her with his Keyblade. Her body crystallized in an instant, before shattering like glass, leaving nothing of her behind. And this time, Sora couldn't save her.
The boy consumed by darkness immediately collapsed, darkness washing off his body as he sobbed, now completely broken. His friends, people who were practically family, were all gone. Killed or corrupted by the Organization. And he had been completely unable to help them. Like he hadn't even been there at all to help them fight. And as the feelings of helplessness and despair sunk in, Sora could no longer breathe, the entire world going dark.
So, I am fully expecting for people to call for my head after what Sora just experienced, but this will be the worst of the nightmares for a long time. I needed to dive deep into what Sora's thinking and feeling with this because it is going to be critical while he's adjusting to his new life in the My Hero world. As for Sora's Quirk as I've had many a reader either leave a review or message me about it being similar to the Lantern rings, that was not my intention, just happened to be a coincidence. Honestly, at this point it's more so the opposite of Tokoyami's Quirk and partially Momo's Quirk. The only reason Sora is going to have an advantage over the Creation Quirk, is due to all his Keyblade Transformations that he had and that he's used to wielding them. Otherwise, he'd be starting from scratch in figuring out what to make, which is why he borrowed from Xemnas for that barrier used last chapter.
With that out of the way, onto questions.
From SomeOne Random
Sora cannot replicate his magic through his constructs, while he could make something resembling say a flamethrower, if he used it, it would spew forth light, not fire. Flowmotion is a unique situation as we were never given an explanation for how it worked in canon and I've chosen to have it work off of Sora's Light Constructs for his Quirk.
As for Sora being able to stand beside All Might in the Nomu attack, the real question isn't whether or not he'll be able to stand by All Might when he arrives. It's whether or not Sora is still going to be standing. Just keep in mind that Sora has over a year of experience of being in constant life threatening situations for when we get to the USJ Incident.
Those are all the questions for this chapter, so until next time, take care.