Chapter V: Road Revived

Through an unusual reversal of fortunes, Tracy sat in a singular chair in the same bedroom that he himself had awoken to not even an hour before. His attention centered on Felicity, another survivor of Madison's demise, he greeted her as she began to stir, "Well, howdy there, li'l lady. Rise an' shine, puddin' cup!"

"Bite me," was her enthusiastic response.

Tracy smirked at his good friend before commenting, without the accent, "I see your spirits are as high as ever."

"Tracy?" asked Felicity as she finally began to regain her senses. "What're you doin' here?"

He looked at the ground briefly before standing up and walking to her. "I could ask you that, too, ya know."

At last, the girl's eyes opened, and she sat up in the bed, looking around the room. "Where's this?"

"Traverse Town," he replied simply.

"Traverse Town?" she laughed as she got to her feet. "What kind of crack are you sniffing? And I guess the Heartless invaded Madison, right?"

"Actually..." he began.

"Exactly," Zidane confirmed for Felicity as he entered the room. "So, you're Felicity, Tracy's friend from Madison?"

Felicity's eyes were wider than the Grand Canyon as she stared with awe and disbelief at the man who just ten seconds ago couldn't have been real to her. "Z-Z-Zi—"

Tracy swiftly and forcibly held her mouth shut with his hands as he told his new friend sincerely, "Uhm, Zidane, listen. Felicity here and I need to exchange words privately, 'kay?"

He raised a brief eyebrow at Tracy before shrugging. "Sure thing, Tracy," he agreed, walking out and closing the door behind him.

Felicity chose that precise moment to break free of Tracy's grip. With all the excitement of twenty toddlers in a toy store, she pointed at the door and whispered loudly, "That's Zidane! Zidane from Final Fantasy IX! How in—"

"It's real, Felicity!" he finally told her, "Everything we know about the fantasies are real!"

"So this is really..."

"Traverse Town," he repeated, "Yes, but from what I've seen, it's in shambles. I dunno why yet. The Heartless are real, and they destroyed Madison. I even saw the Keyhole with my own eyes!"

The slightly older girl sat down on the edge of the bed while she tried to absorb the knowledge Tracy was giving to her. "If Madison's destroyed," she risked, "then what about the others? Darian, Ashlyn, Kristen — could they have...?"

Tracy sighed heavily, "I'm not sure. I didn't even know you were alive until some guy brought you here. There's always the possibility, but until we see any of them, we have to assume the worst and go on from here."

"Go on?" she questioned, "Go on how? To where? With what? To do what?"

"Well, honestly, Felicity..." he paused himself, trying to come up with an action.

"Nothing?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Silence fell upon the room as both Tracy and Felicity were left to their own thoughts. Tracy truly had little idea of where to go on to from there. Aside from the house, he hadn't seen anything else of Traverse Town, but he heard from Zidane that the whole city was in ruin. Besides that, he also knew how little he could do in his position. He was only a fifteen-year-old kid with a wooden stick as a weapon and knowledge of the people and worlds that Sora had—

Sora?

"Here's a thought, Felicity," Tracy Starlight finally voiced knowingly, "We find Sora."

—————

Sitting within the confined space of the secret place, it was easy to get lost in thought. The light of the fire was dimming slowly as it ate away at the burning logs, but there was just enough of a glow to illuminate Kairi's exquisite visage as she slept in her sleeping bag. She was pretty, there was no denying that. Her chestnut brown hair flowed off of her head and over the sides of her face like water down a river, and Sora imagined the beautiful bluish-purple eyes that rested beneath her eyelids. In addition to the outward beauty of her body, he knew that she was a caring and kind person with a heart as pure as sunlight and a will stronger than the mightiest steel. The only way that he could describe her was perfect.

When the echo of footsteps sounded from the long rock corridor that led to their refuge, Sora's attention deviated from Kairi for an instant. He nearly drew his Keyblade, but when he listened to the subtle pattern of the steps, he knew it wasn't necessary. Rather, he hoped it wasn't necessary.

"Riku?" Sora whispered, trying not to disturb Kairi's slumber, "Riku, is that you?"

When the silver-haired Riku rounded the corner and locked his eyes on Sora and Kairi, he answered the question in a similar whisper, "No, it's your mother."

The pair shared a few laughs between them before Sora finally asked Riku, "What're you doin' here, and what's with the...?" He gestured to the Wing Edge in the grip of Riku's right hand. "Not a good time for—"

"A star went out, Sora," Riku cut the younger kid off, "I saw it go out myself!"

Sora's heart skipped a beat as he heard the shocking news. He darted to his feet, careful not to fall into the dying fire. "You did?" he almost shouted, "But that... How could the Heartless have regained strength so quickly?"

"Let's find out, Sora," he suggested immediately, "Let's go! We have that gummi ship of yours, the Excalibur, right?"

The Keyblade master hesitated to respond to Riku's bold plan when he gazed to Kairi, resting peacefully, oblivious to the danger unfolding in the stars. "We've only been back for just over a week," he muttered, "and we have to go already?"

"C'mon, Sora!" Riku urged, speaking in a normal-volume voice, "What's there to think about?"

Kairi... I'm sorry to go so soon, but I have to do this. I hope you'll understand.

"If you won't go," Riku warned, "then—"

"Riku," Sora cut his friend off, "can't we wait until sunrise? If we leave Kairi without saying anything..."

The older one began to speak, but he halted himself as he looked at the sleeping Kairi. His face showed his disappointment in his choice as he told Sora, "All right... We'll leave tomorrow morning." He turned to exit the secret place, but he turned around to say, "She's not coming with us, Sora. It's way too risky," before exiting certainly.

Left alone once more, Sora sat down next to Kairi as he ran a gentle hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, Kairi," he spoke aloud to her, "but it looks like the journey's beginning again."

—————

"But I thought the Heartless were gone," Aerith put forth, worried. "Why are stars going out?"

Cloud, Cid, Leon, and Yuffie sat with Aerith around a table in Hollow Bastion's library. All of them were just as disturbed by the recent events as Aerith, but none could find any answers. Cid was the first to offer a theory. "Those Heartless broke the barriers between the worlds when they came," he explained, "As long as they're causin' trouble, the walls won't return. Have any of you noticed that interworld travel hasn't become impossible yet?"

"That only gives us evidence that they still exist," Leon countered seriously, "It doesn't tell us why they're still here."

Yuffie spoke up, "I've heard from Agrabah, Olympus, and some other worlds. There aren't any signs of the Heartless on any of them."

"It might just be a matter of time, Yuffie," Cid grimly stated, "Before long, the Heartless'll be back in the neighborhood just like before."

Leon stood from the chair and declared to his allies, "Then we stop them! We'll find a way to get rid of them once and for all! I'm sure—"

"There is no way, Leon."

The whole group, surprised and curious, glared at Cloud, who had been oddly silent throughout their meeting.

"There's no way to destroy all the Heartless," he went on, "They're born out of the darkness itself, thriving on it and spreading it wherever they travel. I've learned something important in my time away, and it's that once the darkness gets a hold, there's no way to remove it." He looked over his left shoulder as the strange black wing spread itself out. "Believe me," he whispered, "I've tried."

Cid scoffed at the blonde-haired fighter, "Well, there's no way that I'm just gonna give up an' roll over!"

As the others spoke up in affirmation, Cloud spoke louder, "I didn't mean to suggest that we give up, but it's foolish to think we can destroy them forever. The recent defeat of Ansem proves that they can be defeated, if only temporarily. I think that is a more realistic goal."

The party fell silent at Cloud's words as they pondered to themselves. As Leon sat back down, Cloud's eyes drifted slowly to Aerith. I wanted to tell you earlier, he thought, almost believing absurdly that she could hear him, I opened my heart to the darkness, and it'll never let go now. It'll linger on within my heart for as long as I live. Aerith... I hope you'll understand.

"No matter what action we take," Leon finally summed up, "we will need the help of the Keyblade."

"I hear that Sora went back to his island," Cid offered helpfully, "The Highwind'll get us there in a jiffy!"

Aerith and the others, save Cloud, chuckled at Cid as Yuffie noted, "Any excuse to use your new gummi ship, right, Cid?"

Cid grimaced as he crossed his arms and nodded with pride, "Well, you know me!"

"I look forward to seeing Sora again," said Aerith.

"Me, too," agreed Yuffie, "Even I miss the little guy!"

"We'll see him soon enough, people," Leon told the party, "We'll leave ASAP for Sora's island. 'Til then, we'll prepare ourselves for the worst."

Cloud walked away from the group without another word, his dark red cloak billowing behind him as he strolled down the stairs of the library. The worst, the darkened warrior told himself, is yet to come.