Of Wizards and Keyblades: Chapter 17
pairings: Sora/Kairi, HP/GW, RW/HG
author's note: thank you for all the reviews! I'm over 100! I never would believe I'd actually hit 110! Keep 'em coming! They make me type faster^_^
MINOR OotP SPOILER: nothing too revealing, it's a place that was mentioned in Book I, so it's not a new thing.
Injured children littered the fifth floor, some moaning in pain, others deathly quiet. McGonagall, and some of the elder Years were holding out against a whole regiment of Light Killers. Only about fourteen had been taken out by the wizards and witches, and more were streaming out of midair.
Sora, Goofy, and Donald shouted out a battle cry, and summoning their weapons, jumped into the fray. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Dumbledore took out numerous Heartless while the three other-worlders magicked and slashed and mangled the little demons to tiny bits.
In a span of fifteen minutes, they had sufficiently stemmed the Dark tide enough to survey the damage. Two First Years were seriously wounded. The girl had a gruesome abdominal wound, and the boy had been stabbed in they eye. Both were unconscious, but still breathing.
Dumbledore, and McGonagall were terribly shaken to see that one other student was broken beyond repair. A third year boy had his throat cut in one long, deep gash. He was gurgling incoherently, and a long trail of crimson seeped from the side of his lips. As Dumbledore bent down and tried to stop the flow of blood, the boy grew still and quiet, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. He was dead.
But there was no time to grieve, and they regretfully had to leave the body there and hurry to the Chamber. Hermione, Ron, and Harry went to help some of the injured up, when Dobby, who had actually assisted in the battle rather well, piped up.
"Harry Potter and Sora must come quickly! The Door is here!" He tugged on both the boy's robes, and tried to lead them down the hallway.
"But we need to help the kids get to safety!" Harry argued, hoisting Ginny into his arms, since she had a broken ankle. Sora came to a quick decision.
"Harry, I'll go with Dobby to the Door. If you have a chance, you can come back. But if Voldemort has broken into the castle, defend the chamber! Good luck!" The Keyblade Master said quietly, and Harry gave him a hard look and swore that he would return. Hermione gave him a quick hug, Ron shook his hand, and Ginny leaned over Harry's shoulder to peck him weakly on the cheek, before her rescuer rushed off with the rest of the Gryffindors. Dumbledore nodded his head in assent, and whispered so low that Sora almost didn't catch it, "Good luck, son. It was an honor meeting you." Before helping McGonagall off down the hall.
Sora stood there, feeling betrayed. Did Dumbledore think he wasn't going to make it? Dobby grasped his hand and lead him down the opposite way.
But wait....if he found the Door, he wouldn't come back! The Light would suck him off to some other place...and he would probably never see Dumbledore, Ginny, or Harry again. He tried to delay his approach to wherever it was Dobby was dragging him.
"Sora, Sir! You is needing to concentrate hard on the Door you is wanting....thinks of nothing else until Dobby says!" The elf said matter-of-factly. Donald and Goofy followed, bewildered, as Sora forced himself to forget his hesitations.....this world's future was resting on him finding this Door. He needed to seal the Darkness once again. This might lead to the Keyhole.
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After pacing the hall five times, Dobby pointed out an old door that was definitely not there before. Dobby called it the Room of Requirement. How....convenient. The elf wished him good luck and disappeared with a 'crack!'
With his two friends behind him, Sora turned the doorknob, and hesitantly stepped inside. The walls were bare, as was the floor and ceiling. The room was exceptionally drab, except for a plain wooden door on the opposite end of the room. It bore the Crossed Heart Seal, but Sora didn't need that to tell him this was the Door he had been hunting for ever since he fell into this world. He dared hope that it might even let him go home to Destiny Islands......
The Door rattled alarmingly, and the three took an instinctive step back.
"What was that?" Donald whispered, brandishing his God Save the Queen staff.
"I think it's the Heartless......they're trying to get out...." Sora hissed back, summoning his courage and moving forward.
The Door burst open, and Sora cried out in alarm. Inside was an endless space of Black.
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Downstairs, a war raged on through the halls. The teachers, after securing the students safely in the Chamber, had emerged to battle the Death Eaters, who had broken in and were trying to make a way to the girl's bathroom.
Dumbledore pulled Harry aside the first chance he got, and thrust the Sword of Gryffindor into his hands. "Use it well, Harry." He whispered before dashing off to one of the teacher's aid.
Harry was holding his own against the dark wizards. He had put down three, injured seven, and scared off five. He was trying desperately to make his way into the center of them, where Voldemort surely stood.
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"Sora! We need to close the door! The Heartless will take your world if we don't!" Riku yelled to his friend, who seemed to be a thousand miles away, yet was only standing six feet in front of him.
"Come back to the other side! We can do it from over here! I won't leave you in there again!" Sora yelled back, trying to tug Riku to his side of the door frame. Riku hesitated, but King Mickey appeared, the Keyblade's brother in his hand.
"Riku, I think we are safe now to free ourselves from the Darkness." And he stepped over the barrier. The alabaster-haired warrior hesitated, then took Sora's offered hand, and entered the room.
"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Sora grinned, letting go of Riku's hand and moving towards the door.
"Let's go, boys! It's nice to see you, too, Goofy and Donald!" Mickey smiled as his two friends hugged him and cried out in joy.
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"Harry.....we end this." Voldemort hissed, and drew his wand. Harry dodged his curse narrowly, and rounded to the side. The Death Eaters had cleared a path for them, knowing that their Lord wanted to kill the boy himself. Ginny had followed him, however.
"Tom! Stop picking on Harry!" She yelled defiantly at him, shoulders squared and eyes narrowed. Voldemort stared at her in blunt surprise, but before he realized it, a sharp, searing pain pricked his back, and a long silver sword shot out of his chest. Harry had ran him through with the Gryffindor blade.
The Dark Lord staggered, and turned to his bane. He looked down at the sword's tip in disbelief, then anger. "You.....this was not supposed to happen! Your just a stupid little boy-"
"Yes, but I am the boy, who lived." Harry snarled, and grabbed the tip of the sword, ignoring the pain in his palm, and twisted it hard. Voldemort cried out in pain, and crumpled to the floor. Blood spewed from his chest and back wounds, and his eyes unfocused and glazed over. He was finished.
Harry wiped his forehead, and almost missed it. He did a double take and felt for it again, but did not find it. His scar was gone.
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Riku, Goofy, Donald, Mickey, and Sora heaved on the Door, and it slowly creaked, moving inch by slow agonizing inch, until it finally snapped shut.
As they had done a time before, King Mickey and Sora shot beams of light from their blade tips, sealing it shut.
Mickey turned to them all, looking sad. "It's time to say goodbye. We have different homes to go to, Sora."
Donald and Goofy spun around to face their best friend. Goodbye?! No! They couldn't say goodbye, they were an inseparable team!
"I know it is terrible, but that is the way it has to be. The worlds must remain hidden, disconnected. But don't loose hope!" The King said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "We will always be connected, through our hearts. The strongest bond of all is love, a friend's love, a family's love. We are family. We are always together."
Goofy and Donald rushed over and hugged their friend hard, tears in everyone's eyes. Donald was the first to speak.
"We'll see ya, Sora. No forgetting, no regrets." He whispered the last part, unable to continue through the lump in his throat.
Goofy bawled, holding Sora tight in his arms. "'M gonna miss ya, Sora! Yer my best buddy! But I'll always be with ya."
"You both will never forget me, right?" Sora tried to joke, but his grin was as clearly transparent as glass. He would not cry...he would not cry...he would not, oh damnit.
"Never." Said Mickey, and he gave the Keyblade Master a hearty handshake, before stepping back with Donald and Goofy. Sora cried silently as his friends faded from his eyes, and disappeared, back to their home, where they were wanted and belonged.
"I'm going back to Destiny Islands." Riku murmured, looking at Sora with warmth. I'll see you there. I'll tell Kairi you're on your way." And he too faded from view. Sora was left alone in the Room of Requirement.
The Door that had once been the gateway to the Darkness transformed into part of the wall. In the center of this space, a large keyhole appeared. It was surrounded by minute golden and silver stars, moons, and lightning bolts. As he raised his Keyblade instinctively, Sora thought that he had never cried so hard in his life.
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The Death Eaters fought a bit more after their Lord's death, but as the word spread, and they felt their Marks fade, most conceded to defeat. A few still fought, but with their grief and rage, they were easily defeated. Harry had forgotten momentarily about his friend upstairs, and as soon as he remembered, his shot down the corridor, up three flights of stairs, and came across a new door that hadn't been there before......
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Sora turned quickly when Harry rushed inside, expecting it to be Voldemort or a Death Eater. He wiped his eyes, but he couldn't hide the fact that he'd been crying.
The first thing he said was, "Harry, where's your scar?" Harry rubbed his forehead, and for lack of a better answer, said,
"I killed Voldemort."
Sora's eyes widened in surprise. "That's great, Harry! I....ah....."
"What?" Sora was acting a bit odd.
"I just sealed the Keyhole. I'll be going soon." As soon as that was said, a faint white aura shone around him, and Harry reeled with alarm and grief.
"But-! Will I ever see you again?"
Sora bit his lip to keep from crying again. "No. Not until we're dead, anyway. But we do have our link," he held his hand to his heart, "and maybe there's a way to communicate through that. You rest assured that I WILL find a way if there is one!"
Harry moved forward, and clasped his friend's hand in his own. "I will miss you beyond belief. You've changed my life, mate."
Sora smiled, reaching up to touch the place where the lightning bolt scar once marred his forehead. "And you mine."
The brunette's body, starting with his feet, began to disintegrate into millions of beautiful bright golden flecks of shimmering light. Before he was forever gone, Harry pulled him into a brotherly embrace. Sora hugged back, and whispered, "but don't ever forget Harry; wherever you go, I'm with you."
Harry watched in amazement as Sora trickled like glitter from his arms, and evaporated into the air. And for the first time in many years, he cried.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Author's Note: Woo! Almost done! Only the epilogue left! I'll do that tomorrow if I find time. I know there was a lot of mush and crying and sap in this chapter, but hey, it's a sad topic, and they really are rather mushy and sappy in the game^_^ Please Review!!!!!!
