Chapter 5: A Special Hell
When the light subsided, Sora found himself standing in a glass tube. He pushed against the tube, only to find that there was in fact a door in front of him. So, he stumbled out of the tube, which on further inspection seemed to be a teleport chamber.
Sora looked at the machinery. "Someone really wanted me here," he panted, out of breath from the teleportation.
Sora didn't have time to analyze the situation, as a voice that seemed to come out of nowhere seemed to speak. "Hello, Sora," it said, in a voice similar, yet deeper to Sora's, "Why don't you relax, get a cup of tea? Because I am coming for you, Sora. And I will get you. You can delay the inevitable all you want, but I will always be one step behind you. But, you can escape your fate! That's right! I don't have to kill you. As long as I get some answers."
Sora nervously laughed. "You seem to know a lot about me. What do you need to know, that you don't already know? I've got the keyblade of course… but so far, no one's been able to take it from me. What makes you so certain that you can?"
Evil laughter emanated from the room. "I don't want your keyblade. I want information. Information about Destiny Islands."
Sora gasped. This enemy wasn't playing around. That was the one secret he had to keep to his grave. And he would if it came down to that. But he would escape. So he started running. First down one corridor, then another, and then another. He kept running and running and he didn't stop. Until he found a door with an image of Riku on it.
He gazed over the door, analyzing, trying to see if there was some sort of meaning in it. "Is Riku here? Is Riku trapped here? I've gotta find him!"
The entity laughed. "I can tell you that if you tell me one teensy weeny thing. What was the role of the Destiny Islands Council?"
Sora shook his head in disapproval. "You must not have done your homework then! It wasn't exactly a secret to normal residents, so I guess I'll tell you. It was to defend Destiny Islands from falling to darkness."
The entity sighed. "I guess that counts. The answer to that question is that he's not trapped in that room. But you're welcome to look. Because I'm right behind you!"
A sickening squelch was heard as a keyblade passed through Sora's stomach. Sora gasped. Not just because he got stabbed, but his assailant looked just like him, but raven-haired and yellow-eyed. And then, the entity was lifted by an unseen force and transported away. Sora limped out of there, etching the word "Trap" into the wall.
He limped back to the place he started, seeing two leads. "I won't make it. But maybe another me will… The human body has a lot of energy."
He then grabbed the leads and turned on the machine. Agony gripped him as he was turned to dust. All that was left, and all that perhaps ever was, was a skull where he used to be.
Sora stepped out of the glass tube. Sora and the entity had the same conversation, but this Sora kept running this time, only slowing to spot the word trap near the door painted with Riku's likeness. And he kept running. And running. Until, Sora and the entity met face to face. Sora was near a window where Sora could see that this place was a fortress in the middle of the sea. There was also a table and chair nearby, comfortable for seating.
Sora saw that the entity was like a darker reflection of himself. "So, I guess I am speaking to the entity on the megaphone. What's your name?" Sora moved to grab the nearest chair.
"Might as well tell you. It's Vanitas. Any last words before you die? Perhaps some information?"
"Yes, I do. For your information, I will never tell you anything." And Sora through the Chair out the window. They heard the sound of glass breaking followed by a splash! That told Sora all he needed to know. So he leapt out the window as Vanitas was lunging at him.
In the time between throwing the chair and hearing the chair splash, Sora had calculated the distance from the top to the bottom and figured out that it was safe to jump. But Vanitas didn't know that.
So as Sora plummeted to relative safety, Vanitas cackled at Sora's apparent stupidity. "I don't care how you die, Sora! Just that you do!"
Splash! Sora had just ended up deep in the water and now he was all wet. A door was ajar, and Sora could see that there were dry clothes there, just like his wet clothes. So, Sora changed into dry clothes. A fireplace was raging on in that room, drying the clothes. The fireplace was a warm respite after the endless running. Sora began to reminisce on his experiences.
Sora found that he could not summon his keyblade in this accursed place anymore after the first few rooms had shown no escape. However, there were tons and tons of things on the walls about room 1. So he had been searching for it when he finally came face to face with Vanitas.
But Sora was very hungry now, and so he scavenged for food. He eventually found a table full of food, as if for a feast, and he began to eat. He finished quickly, not wanting to be discovered by Vanitas. But as if the Universe hated him, he heard footsteps coming ever closer. So Sora did the only logical thing to do. He ran. And he ran. And he ran.
He ran to the top of a tower. But what he found there was shocking. The stars were all wrong, almost as if Sora was 20 million years into the future. "If I didn't know better, I'd say I was 20 million years into the future."
"Really? All that from stars? You really are pathetic."
"Pathetic, yes. Correct, also yes. Do you want some information? I'll tell you then. Just put the keyblade down."
"First tell me, why does Destiny Islands exist?"
"To act as a shield."
"A shield for what?"
"A world."
"Fine. You get fifteen minutes."
So Sora ran again. But the Castle had been shifting everytime Sora answered a question. And so, Sora found himself standing right in front of the mystical room 1. He opened the door, and he saw a large crystal wall.
"All this hope for salvation, and all I get is a brick wall. Not a brick wall. No, a wall made of pure diamond"
"Ready to give up yet?" said a familiar voice.
On second thought, Sora decided that it was better to go down fighting. So he began to punch.
"One punch. Oww. Two Punch. Owwie."
And he continued to punch until Vanitas stabbed him through the stomach.
That is the moment that Sora finally realized what all those signs were. Who they were made by. They were made by HIM! So Sora gathered all his energy and trekked back to the room. Vanitas was forced back to his starting position while Sora was turning on the machine. And as the machine turned on, and all that was left of Sora was a skull, Vanitas lost his memory. And the same thing repeats. Over and over again. Leaping and falling, stargazing and seeing stars that shouldn't be there, and punching the wall.
Vanitas slowly approached every time, asking why he was still doing it. So as he punched the wall, he began to recount a tale from the Brother's Grimm.
"There was once a shepherd's boy, who was renowned far and wide for his wisdom. He was once asked the question, 'How many seconds in eternity?' The Shepard's Boy said, 'There is a mountain made of pure diamond, and it takes a day to climb it and 6 days to go around it. Every year a bird comes to sharpen its beak at the tip of the mountain. When the first inch of the mountain has been chipped away, the first second of eternity will have passed. That may seem like a long time, but really, it's nothing compared to that bird's perseverance!"
All these times Sora was never able to finish saying it before Vanitas got to him until the wall had been chipped away leaving only a thin layer of crystal. So as Sora finished saying the words, he delivered the final blow to his prison.
And the light shone through, and Sora was free. Vanitas did not share that same fate. Instead, the light crystalized him and left him unable to do anything.
But Sora felt happy. And for the first time in eternity, Sora summoned his keyblade.
