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Hi, everyone! Welcome to the second installment of the Triad of Keys! Review, please?
Chapter 2: Norfolk, Destiny, and Traverse
**David**
What happened? One second, I'm safe in my bed. My sister screams at me to wake up and go look at the river during a storm. That isn't so out of the ordinary, though. She loves seeing the river, especially during lightning storms. Then suddenly she's pushing me back in. More screams. Screams of terror. I grabbed onto whatever I could. My clothes, my school bag, my canteen, and a strange, round ball.
And then…darkness. Is this what my dream meant? That going out in a lightning storm would kill me? But if I'm dead, how can I be thinking about it right now?
"Hey, kid! You okay?"
"Angel?" I murmured.
"Angel? Yo, kid, I'm Wakka. You hit your head there, ya?"
Quite suddenly, a blinding light touched my eyes. I rolled over and blinked against harsh sunlight. Then, I saw a very familiar face. A face so familiar, I could have picked his name out, even before he told me it. Right there, in my face, was Wakka, blitzball player, guardian, warrior.
"Yah!" I screamed in surprise. The palm of my hand slipped in the white sand as I tried to back away from the red-haired man I knew only too well from Final Fantasy X.
"Whoa! Kid, calm down, ya. That twister you came in on…bad news," he said. "Praise be to Yevon that you survived."
"Uh…" I blinked at him. Shock does not describe anything. And then…"Angel!"
"Look, kid, I already told ya, I'm Wakka."
"No, no, she's my sister. Have you seen her? She's my twin, only she's got brown hair," I said. "She came in on the twister, too. Or…I would think so. Do you think she ended up somewhere…somewhere else?"
"I don't know," said Wakka, shaking his head. "Sorry. Maybe you'll find her somewhere else on the island, ya?"
"Maybe…" I said.
"Ask Tidus," said Wakka, pointing to the bridge. "He knows everything."
"Really?" I tilted my head. "I thought he was the clueless one."
"Huh?"
"Never mind," I said.
**Angel**
"Hey, are you all right?"
A blond sunshine blocked the rays of the true sun. He was more vibrant than them, but in a different way. He smiled. I think he was glad that I was okay. I hope he was. He was too cute!
"That storm you rode in on…awesome," he said. "What's your name?"
"Angel," I said. "Where am I?"
"Destiny Islands," he said. "I'm Tidus. Angel, huh? Pretty name."
"Thanks. Um…have you seen a boy about my age? He's got blond hair, but it's dustier than yours. His name's David."
"Nope, can't say that I have," Tidus said. "Why don't you go ask Sora? He lives over there."
"Okay," I grinned. "Thank you." I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and skipped toward the house. Had I looked back, I would have seen the deep blush on Tidus's cute face. My addled brain didn't click until five minutes later.
"Are you Mr. Sora?" I asked a boy as he passed by. The sun was setting and he was walking with a red-haired girl about three years younger than me. I would have sworn that Kairi would have been much shorter…and Sora, too. I wonder if I'd shrunk while I was in the tornado. But then my clothes would have, too.
"Are you okay?" Sora stared at me.
"Um…I feel okay, but I did just ride here in a tornado," I said. Speaking of the tornado…Why is it that I'm okay? How did I get here? The excitement of seeing Tidus, my idol, must have frazzled my brain.
"Oh…come on inside," Sora said. "Mom'll fix you up."
"Okay," I smiled.
**David**
"Are you Tidus?"
"Yeah, that's me," said the boy. He stared at me. "You wouldn't happen to be David, would you?"
"Um…yeah, that's my name," I said. "Who…"
"You're sister was here a second ago," he said. "I sent her…um…I sent her…now where did I send her? Sorry, I forget. Probably to see Riku. He's in the Secret Place right now. Dunno why. It's over there."
"Okay…um…thanks," I said.
Note to self: Never trust a pure blond.
The cave entrance to the Secret Place wasn't so secret. The short tunnel was filled with candy wrappers and bits of paper and chalk. Drawings and scribbles and "Gira loves Mikeys" were all over the wall. Kids had been coming in here for ages. It was obvious that the place was a hangout for several different groups of people, all of whom apparently had one thing in common: A false sense of secrecy.
At the end of the tunnel was a cavern covered in more chalk and rock drawings. A boy stood in the center of the room, studying a large wooden door that definitely seemed out of place. He had silver hair and cat-like aqua eyes and stood with his weight shifted ever to one foot. This must be Riku.
"Hey, who're you?"
"David," I said. "Tidus said that he may have sent my sister to see you…but she isn't here…is she?"
"No," Riku sighed. "That goofball really send you in here?"
"Yes…"
"Sorry. Hey, you were the one who came in on the twister, aren't you?"
"Yeah, me and my sister," I said. "I don't know where she ended up."
"Knowing Tidus, anywhere," Riku said. "You can come to my house. It's getting dark. You can find your sister tomorrow. Everyone around here would have done the same anyway to your sis, so don't worry."
"Okay, thanks, Riku."
"Don't mention it."
**Angel**
Sora's mom cleaned me up and let me take a bath before giving me a pillow and blanket. After changing into some new clothes (a hooded jacket and a pair of baggy, zip-off jeans, both decked out with pockets). His mom began making dinner for us. She gave me some things to go inside my pack, including a first aid kit and some food for later. I was rearranging the packed pack when I heard a strange voice.
"Your journey has only just begun…"
"Huh?" I looked around. The owner of the voice was no where to be seen.
A loud clap of thunder shook the house to its base. Lightning flashed and I heard a splash of violent water. I stuffed the remaining things into my pack, glad I'd fixed it.
"Sora, Angel, dinner's ready!"
"Sora went out!" I shouted. "I'll go look for him."
"Thank you, Angel."
"Welcome!"
I hoped that I would one day be able to bring her son back to her. It may have dawned on you that I am not having the usual reaction to finding myself in a new place, without my twin, a little smaller than I was, and a lot more cartoonish. Let me just mention that I am a self-proclaimed weirdo and there's nuttin' you can do about it. For whatever it's worth, I can tell you my friends say that my personality changes nearly every five minutes. Anyways…
"Sora! Sora, wait for me!" I shouted.
"Angel?"
"Yeah," I said. "Where are we going?"
"I'm building a raft with my friends," Sora said. "I've got to get it ashore."
"What about them, won't they be out too?"
"That's why I'm looking for them."
"Okay, let's go, then."
Sora nodded and led the way toward a bridge over the usually bright blue water. It was now pitch black, as was the sky. A ball of crackling violet energy was all that lit our path.
On the bridge, a boy with silver hair stood in the center of a pool of the same violet lightning, unscathed.
"Riku! Where's Kairi? I thought she was with you!"
"The door has opened…"
"What?"
"The door has opened, Sora! Now we can go to other worlds, just as we planned! Huh? Who's she?" Riku stared at me, unblinking.
"That doesn't matter right now, boyo!" I shouted at him. "Where's that other girl?"
"Kairi's coming with us! Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"
"You should be!" I shouted. "You should be afraid! It will swallow you whole, don't you understand?!"
"Riku!"
The black energy engulfed him. Sora reached out to him, but it was too late. A shadow appeared between us, but a mysterious voice spoke.
"Keyblade…"
"Keybow…"
"Keyblade…"
"Keybow…"
A bright light shined like a candle in a cavern, surrounding my fist. A small bow appeared there, and a quiver of arrows attached to my pack, now brand new again. I withdrew an arrow and shot the first shadow I saw.
"Come on, Sora, let's find your friend!"
"Right behind you!"
**David**
"Riku! Riku, where'd you go!?"
I ran outside, only to see an enormous black space, lit only by violet lightning. Shadow creatures chased me and bit and scratched at my exposed flesh.
"Keystaff!" shouted the mysterious voice I knew too well now. "Keystaff!"
In my hands appeared a staff, a key-shaped blade on either end. I nearly collapsed under its weight, but I swung it at the shadow creatures anyway. I ran over a green orb and discovered that some of my new scratches had healed over, at least a little bit. I saw no one else around.
"Riku! Angel! Wakka! Tidus! Anyone!"
More shadow creatures appeared and soon the darkness swallowed me whole.
**Angel**
"Where'd that silver door come from?" I said, pointing to it. I knew the answer, but I didn't voice it. I was meddling in this world far too much already to state it.
"I don't know," Sora shook his head, striking down another Shadow. My quiver was full of arrows again, so I guessed they returned or replenished or something. "Kairi might be in there."
"Then let's go."
I followed the short tunnel of the Secret Place to find the red-haired girl I knew none too well. She was still a mystery to me, even after defeating Kingdom Hearts. Kairi, the seventh princess of purest heart, awaiting the arrival of her true love, Sora. But she was weak…very weak.
"Sora…"
A black wind, blacker even than the sky outside, swept her toward him. He tried to catch her, to hold her, but the moment he touched her skin, she disappeared. As suddenly as she was gone, Sora and I found ourselves on a patch of sand. The ground had ripped itself right out of the Earth.
"Angel!"
"My brother! Sora, I heard my brother's voice!"
Sora glanced at the tiny floating earth we were on.
"Is that him?!" he pointed upward, toward the violet orb of energy pulsing just above our heads.
"DAVID!"
My brother! The orb devoured him! The darkness of the planet's core swallowed my brother whole! I didn't have long to worry about him. The black orb dropped another form, this one an enormous black creature of some sort. I knew him from the game only as the mysterious Darkside.
"You're not taking my brother!"
I shot every arrow in my quiver faster than the new ones could reappear. Sora struck it again and again, and with each blow, I could feel Darkside growing weaker. I could feel his strength leaving him.
Darkside exploded as soon as the last of his strength was gone, blacking out the rest of the Destiny Islands.
DUN DU DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN! Yeah. Well….review? Pwease? PWEASE????