Very far from there, Hirosh lit a candle. Ansem came in, then.
"Very clever acting, there." Ansem said.
"Huh. The kid really almost ripped me off. Did you see him flying over there? I did not know he could do that."
"These light-hearted seem to bear lots of abilities but they only have their pride and honor. Two meaningless factors, truly."
"So what is next?"
"We haven't ended this part yet. A friend is doing me a favor, currently, I'm waiting for him."
"Could it be..."
"Yes. The Oathkeeper and the Oblivion. Darn, I wasn't expecting those to be so important." Ansem walked to the room's door. "You're not coming back to Sora. I'll take care of him myself."
Hirosh looked at Ansem with his eyes full of anger.
"You think I am going to sit here while you 'defend' me? I am fighting him back. I will do this how many times it takes."
"Hirosh, please. I've got another job for you. Come here."
Ansem took Hirosh to the bottom of the castle. After a lot of lift-switching and moving, they reached an old-fashioned door in the floor of the basement.
"So?" Hirosh said.
"This is the door to the in-between. The King is looking for it, I presume. Guard it with your life."
"But this is not my job."
"We're on an emergency situation, haven't you noticed yet, Hirosh? Nobody is really doing their jobs, I wasn't supposed to be telling you to do this."
"I will guard this place, but I demand my part."
"You will have your part, like we planned previously."
"So you may rest in peace, this place is guarded. May I know how we are going to open this door?"
"We need all keys from this dimension. You see? Two keyholes..." Ansem pointed at the pair of keyholes. "I still don't know what's beyond this door so we may need other keys."
"Hm. Well, go. I am guarding this place."
"Yes, I know. I trust you, Hirosh. I really do. Since the old times, eh." Ansem said, walking away to the lift.
Meanwhile, Maran was still fighting the Mickey-ish cloaked guy, in the rain. Rina had already tried to knock out the opponent with some barrels but it hurt Maran instead. But he was standing the fight pretty well for a two-keybladed starter.
"The keys... give me... the keys..." the cloaked figure was repeating. "They don't belong to you!" he slashes Maran's arm, he falls on the floor.
"I'll ask you one more time. Give me the Keys!"
Maran looked at him, with sorrow. Then, surprising his opponent, he quickly gets up and stabs the cloaked guy in the heart, with the Oathkeeper Keyblade. They looked at each other for some seconds.
"You... can't... eliminate me..." he gets the key and moves it away. "Not... with this."
"I don't understand!" Maran says, frustrated.
At this point, Rina was watching everything from the front door.
"Do you fight darkness with light?"
"...Yes."
"So that shows you know something, but not everything. I am not darkness. Neither light."
"..."
"And it appears that you're the same as me. We have the freedom of choosing sides. You don't need to bear light all the time."
"Why would I want that?"
The cloaked man approaches Maran.
"Because then you'd get everything you ever wanted. Omnipresence, omnipower, all these which start with 'omni'."
"You're... crazy..."
"Yes, maybe I am. But don't forget... we are the same."
He begins to walk away.
"You're crazy! There's no way we're the same!"
"And there are other two in the other side who opposes to us, so we better unite and meet them. Then get their keys."
"There are other keys?"
"Yes. Three more. One with my equivalent, other with your equivalent... and another one... in the in-between dimension..."
"In-between dimension?"
"I must go. Think about this." he disappeared, surrounded by shadows.
Maran looked at the spot the cloaked guy was for some minutes. Rina came closer to him.
"Is everything all right? We gotta take care of your arm." Rina said, kindly.
He wasn't speaking. Rina took care of his arm and gave him a cup of tea.
"Now tell me who was that guy?"
"..."
"Maran?"
"I... must go..." Maran said, rushing to the doorway.
"Where are you going? It's almost five in the morning, you gotta sleep..."
"Sorry Rina but I must go." Maran said, coldly. He wanted to know more about that enemy. Or what if he wasn't the enemy? What if he was really the same as him?
Rina ran to meet Maran on the street.
"Please, tell me, Maran! I'm worried..."
Maran, then, told her everything he and the cloaked guy talked. All that about they being the same and about their other two equivalents, and the in-between one.
Rina stared at Maran a bit and then placed her finger on her mouth.
"Hmmmm... But do you really believe you two are the same?"
"Not the same. But he has a Key, too."
...
"Uh... Maran, do you remember that story you told me about? The one about when you was found?"
"Yes."
Maran was found when he was still a baby by an old lady. He calls this lady his 'grandma' but he knows she's not his relative. She still lives with him but she's kind of old to take care of him.
Anyway, he was found in the city's train station, in a basket with a letter. In this letter was written these exact words: "This is one of the darkness pair members. Find the other. Find the light pair. Reach the in-between."
What shocked Maran most was that the cloaked guy talked about light, darkness, pair, in-between, just like in his letter.
"So you've noticed..."
"Yes. I'm going to find this guy. I need to find him."
"Wait, you don't know where he went to, how are you gonna look for him?"
Maran was getting away.
"I don't know. I just... need to look for him."
Rina began following Maran but then he ran so fast that she couldn't stick with him anymore. She fell to her knees and began to cry.
Meanwhile, Sora was still as numb as someone who sleeps awake. Cid, sometimes, had to slap his back for him to 'wake up'.
Sora was kind of floating on his mind. Sometimes he saw some flashes, he found himself back on Destiny Island, fooling around with Kairi and Riku. Then he'd go back and find himself seeing Mickey and the others fighting and he being the only one watching.
"Hey, kid. HEY!" Cid yelled one more time.
"Whoa! Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine..."
"What's up with ya? You've been smoking somthin?"
"What? No, no, of course not! I'm just... tired..."
"You wanna take a break? You lucky cuz I'm tired too."
"Really? Well, so let's take a break."
"By the way, pothead..."
"Hey!"
"Don't get out of here. You know, during the night. If ya see something odd, wake me up, right?"
"Uh-uh."
Cid took a tent and a fire.
"You pothead may sleep in the tent. I'll sleep outside."
Sora wasn't even listening. He was already asleep.
"Well, screw it." Cid lied down and closed his eyes.
...
...
"SORA!" a voice echoed on Sora's head. It was Kairi's!
Sora woke up quickly and looked around. The place was filled with shadows. He handed his keyblade and tried to move the creatures away but that was nothing. A huge darkside was coming on his way.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" Sora got scared, then handed his keyblade.
Sora aimed for its arms, which were charging a big black ball, like before.
While he was fighting, a weird music began to play, coming from the forest. A cat appeared. It was the Cheshire Cat.
"Oh, oh, oh. Not a good time to appear, I see." he sat on one of the tree's twigs and waited, while his body and eyes disappeared.
"Wh...mmm..." Cid was mumbling something, then finally woke up. "Holy crap what the hell is going on in here?" he yelled.
Sora was too busy to answer. The Cheshire Cat appeared on Cid's shoulder, scaring him.
"Who're you?"
"Who am I. The question. The lack of response, the answer."
"Wh-what??"
Sora was getting tired and the darkside seemed to be almost finishing its dark ball.
"Help the kid. He'll fall."
"F-fall? He's gonna lose, ya say?"
"Yes."
Cid rushed to the darkside and tried punching it, in vain.
"Crap! I can't hit this thing!" he complained. "Come on, stupid cat, tell me how to defeat it!"
"You do not need to defeat it to save your friend."
...
"What?"
Sora fell on the floor. His breathing was awesomely fast. He didn't have enough strenght to get up, anymore.
Meanwhile, at Hollow Bastion...
"Ansem... Ansem!" Hirosh was calling.
"Yes, Hirosh? You really shouldn't have left the gate."
"It's... something... there...! It opened very fast and something threw me against the wall. I've been crawling till here."
"It... opened up?? Hah! It must mean that... there's a guardian there. We must fight it."
"Wh-what? A guardian? Why the hell would that gate have a guardian?"
"It's the gate to the in-between dimension, Hirosh. This guardian was conjured by whom divided the dimensions. But don't worry, fighting it won't be difficult. Let's summon our companions..." Ansem said, leaving the room.
"Wait, Ansem!"
"What, Hirosh?"
"I... I was thrown against the wall by that thing. It's amazingly strong, I tell you."
"You don't need to worry, Hirosh, sonny. Everything, I say, everything will go on as we previsouly planned. You just have to... calm down, Hirosh, I've never seen you this nervous."
"It's just that... I am realist, Ansem..."
"Yes, yes, and I am aware of the situation. See the difference? Now let me go call our brothers."
"Ansem, please..." Hirosh tried to call him but that was in vain, Ansem was already in the lift stop.
A roar.
Hirosh looked trought the window and saw... it was the guardian who had injured him.
"What the... how did this thing come up here?" he asked himself.
Then he left the room and quickly took a lift that would take him to the vessel stop.
The guardian was huge, it resembled a dragon but had some human parts, that fit a golden armor. It also had a silver sword in hands, a very long and thick one.
It had no eyes, it seemed, only half of its head could be entirely seen and even so, if it had eyes they could be spotted after a few seconds of staring. A no-eyed giant dragon warrior.
Maran was at the train station, very far from where that guardian was roaring. He's been there for two hours, wandering around the station. This drew the attention of the manager, who approached him.
"You looking for someone, kid?" he asked, surprising Maran.
"Um... no, I'm just... uh... waiting for someone." he lied.
"Well, the station will close within one hour, and the last train is almost leaving. Unless you made this place a meeting point only, you should try coming back tomorrow."
"May I ask you a question?"
"Bring it on, kid."
"Have you seen a... short guy with a black cloak around here... latey?"
"Hmmm... oh, yeah, how could I forget of that! He caused a big commotion, he took the previous train."
"Where to?"
"Astral Canyon, deep north."
"Oww... how much time till the next train which goes there?"
"Hah, twenty-three hours and some minutes."
"What??"
"Because of the troubled roads, we send only one trian per day to Astral Canyon. It's been a thieves' hideout these days, it's almost impossible to reach it without a, how can I say, strong and resistant vehicle like a train."
"Damn..." Maran sat on the bench, frustated. "Isn't there anything I can do to go to this place... today?"
"I don't think so, kid. Sorry."
The manager left Maran alone in his frustation and went to help an old lady that was trying to stuff all her cats into a big bag.
"Man... what do I do now?"
Meanwhile, there was Donald, Goofy and Leon, still lost. They stopped for a break one hour ago but Donald was already demanding another one.
"We've... we've... we've been wal... walking for... ages..." Donald was slurring. "Can't... we... stop... ag... again?"
"Listen, if we don't find Sora and Mickey, these heartlesses will end up finding us and who knows what's gonna happen." Leon said.
"We can take care of these bummers!" Donald said, bravely. "I helped Sora a lot when the worlds got infected by heartlesses."
"Uh, only you?" Goofy said.
"Ok, ok, me and the goof-snors there, too."
A scream, coming from very near. Running, came Cid.
"Cid!" Leon yelled, surprised of finding his friend.
"There's no time, Leon, the lil' mate's in trouble! Come on!
Leon, Donald and Goofy followed Cid to the spot where Sora was. He was floating in the air, it seemed that the Darkside was holding him.
"SORA!" they yelled.
"Ok, we're gonna save him." Donald said, handing his staff. "Fiiiiree!" he threw a fire ball at the darkside and it seemed injured but not enough.
"The word is physical attack!" Cid said, then Leon and Goofy engaged the Darkside with their weapons.
"You, duck, your concern is healing!" Cid ordened.
"Wh-what the hell..." Donald said. "Ok, then, but I'll be the best healer you guys ever had!"
Goofy and Leon took care of the hands and Cid kept fighting the feet. The Darkside seemed to be in pain, each time more injuried.
Sora, then, screamed. He seemed in pain, too.
"Do you think that..." Leon said.
"...He's feeling the pain, too? That doesn't make sense." Cid said, then.
...
"Light..." Leon said. "We must fight the Darkside with light. It won't hurt Sora."
"DUCK! HEALING! ON THE DARKSIDE! NOW!" Cid ordened.
"Healing? The Darkside? You nuts?" Donald protested.
"Do as I say! It'll work! Don't forget to... uh... have good thoughts on your mind, heart, whatever."
Donald did so. He conjured a healing wind of Curaga. Then he repeated the spell, to make sure. After receiving the second healing, the Darkside began to become clearer and clearer, until it got completely white. After that, it exploded. Millions of small white sparks fell from the sky.
Sora slowly got to the ground and fell to his knees. Someone else was also coming down. It was something huge, that resembled a dragon but had some human parts, which fit a golden armor. It also had a silver sword in hands, a very long and thick one.
It had no eyes, it seemed, only half of its head could be entirely seen and even so, if it had eyes they could be spotted after a few seconds of staring. A no-eyed giant dragon warrior. The guardian.
"Whoa!! What's that?" Cid yelled, after seeing the huge dragon-warrior on the sky. "What the hell is that? Hey, hey, kid! Watch out!"
Sora was pretty near the guardian, and it tried to reach Sora with its sword.
"Donald, come on, do something, you're the only one here with long range." Goofy said.
"Oh, I know, I was just... figuring out what to do. What the hell." Donald used the Aeroga spell, the protective and offensive magic, on Sora.
The spinning wind of Aeroga began to surround Sora, protecting him from further attacks, and hurting the enemy when attacks are tried to be made.
Sora, then, opened his eyes, slowly.
"SORA!" Leon yelled. "Sora, wake up!"
Sora opened his eyes completely and looked around. He was still floating and haven't seen the guardian, which was behind him at the time, preparing to hit him in the back.
"Behind you!" Cid warned.
Sora quickly avoided the attack and floated away from the guardian. It was Peter Pan's magic, Sora thought, that was making him fly, just like before, when he was almost losing a fight against Hirosh.
The guardian roared so loud that it could be heard from miles from there. Sora then began to look for his weapon. It was on the ground.
"Leon, please... get the keyblade for me!" Sora asked, but that wasn't necessary. The keyblade quickly warped to his hands.
"You're her bearer, Sora. It wouldn't let you alone." Leon explained. "Now rip this guy off, and we complete the job when it reaches the ground."
Sora began to try thinking about some abilities he had learned. Riku once taught him a quick way to hurt an enemy and don't let him know where you are. It's the stab-n-run ability of Riku.
Speaking of Riku... where was him?
"Hazy... hazy place..." he said...
...
"Where am I?"
"You don't know?" a voice asked.
"Wh-what? No, I don't. Who are you?"
"You're... here..." everything was clear again and Riku could see where he was.
It was Destiny Islands, but a bit different. It was all cracked down and there was no ocean, but a big abyss.
Riku, then, saw the person who spoke to him earlier.
"Very clever acting, there." Ansem said.
"Huh. The kid really almost ripped me off. Did you see him flying over there? I did not know he could do that."
"These light-hearted seem to bear lots of abilities but they only have their pride and honor. Two meaningless factors, truly."
"So what is next?"
"We haven't ended this part yet. A friend is doing me a favor, currently, I'm waiting for him."
"Could it be..."
"Yes. The Oathkeeper and the Oblivion. Darn, I wasn't expecting those to be so important." Ansem walked to the room's door. "You're not coming back to Sora. I'll take care of him myself."
Hirosh looked at Ansem with his eyes full of anger.
"You think I am going to sit here while you 'defend' me? I am fighting him back. I will do this how many times it takes."
"Hirosh, please. I've got another job for you. Come here."
Ansem took Hirosh to the bottom of the castle. After a lot of lift-switching and moving, they reached an old-fashioned door in the floor of the basement.
"So?" Hirosh said.
"This is the door to the in-between. The King is looking for it, I presume. Guard it with your life."
"But this is not my job."
"We're on an emergency situation, haven't you noticed yet, Hirosh? Nobody is really doing their jobs, I wasn't supposed to be telling you to do this."
"I will guard this place, but I demand my part."
"You will have your part, like we planned previously."
"So you may rest in peace, this place is guarded. May I know how we are going to open this door?"
"We need all keys from this dimension. You see? Two keyholes..." Ansem pointed at the pair of keyholes. "I still don't know what's beyond this door so we may need other keys."
"Hm. Well, go. I am guarding this place."
"Yes, I know. I trust you, Hirosh. I really do. Since the old times, eh." Ansem said, walking away to the lift.
Meanwhile, Maran was still fighting the Mickey-ish cloaked guy, in the rain. Rina had already tried to knock out the opponent with some barrels but it hurt Maran instead. But he was standing the fight pretty well for a two-keybladed starter.
"The keys... give me... the keys..." the cloaked figure was repeating. "They don't belong to you!" he slashes Maran's arm, he falls on the floor.
"I'll ask you one more time. Give me the Keys!"
Maran looked at him, with sorrow. Then, surprising his opponent, he quickly gets up and stabs the cloaked guy in the heart, with the Oathkeeper Keyblade. They looked at each other for some seconds.
"You... can't... eliminate me..." he gets the key and moves it away. "Not... with this."
"I don't understand!" Maran says, frustrated.
At this point, Rina was watching everything from the front door.
"Do you fight darkness with light?"
"...Yes."
"So that shows you know something, but not everything. I am not darkness. Neither light."
"..."
"And it appears that you're the same as me. We have the freedom of choosing sides. You don't need to bear light all the time."
"Why would I want that?"
The cloaked man approaches Maran.
"Because then you'd get everything you ever wanted. Omnipresence, omnipower, all these which start with 'omni'."
"You're... crazy..."
"Yes, maybe I am. But don't forget... we are the same."
He begins to walk away.
"You're crazy! There's no way we're the same!"
"And there are other two in the other side who opposes to us, so we better unite and meet them. Then get their keys."
"There are other keys?"
"Yes. Three more. One with my equivalent, other with your equivalent... and another one... in the in-between dimension..."
"In-between dimension?"
"I must go. Think about this." he disappeared, surrounded by shadows.
Maran looked at the spot the cloaked guy was for some minutes. Rina came closer to him.
"Is everything all right? We gotta take care of your arm." Rina said, kindly.
He wasn't speaking. Rina took care of his arm and gave him a cup of tea.
"Now tell me who was that guy?"
"..."
"Maran?"
"I... must go..." Maran said, rushing to the doorway.
"Where are you going? It's almost five in the morning, you gotta sleep..."
"Sorry Rina but I must go." Maran said, coldly. He wanted to know more about that enemy. Or what if he wasn't the enemy? What if he was really the same as him?
Rina ran to meet Maran on the street.
"Please, tell me, Maran! I'm worried..."
Maran, then, told her everything he and the cloaked guy talked. All that about they being the same and about their other two equivalents, and the in-between one.
Rina stared at Maran a bit and then placed her finger on her mouth.
"Hmmmm... But do you really believe you two are the same?"
"Not the same. But he has a Key, too."
...
"Uh... Maran, do you remember that story you told me about? The one about when you was found?"
"Yes."
Maran was found when he was still a baby by an old lady. He calls this lady his 'grandma' but he knows she's not his relative. She still lives with him but she's kind of old to take care of him.
Anyway, he was found in the city's train station, in a basket with a letter. In this letter was written these exact words: "This is one of the darkness pair members. Find the other. Find the light pair. Reach the in-between."
What shocked Maran most was that the cloaked guy talked about light, darkness, pair, in-between, just like in his letter.
"So you've noticed..."
"Yes. I'm going to find this guy. I need to find him."
"Wait, you don't know where he went to, how are you gonna look for him?"
Maran was getting away.
"I don't know. I just... need to look for him."
Rina began following Maran but then he ran so fast that she couldn't stick with him anymore. She fell to her knees and began to cry.
Meanwhile, Sora was still as numb as someone who sleeps awake. Cid, sometimes, had to slap his back for him to 'wake up'.
Sora was kind of floating on his mind. Sometimes he saw some flashes, he found himself back on Destiny Island, fooling around with Kairi and Riku. Then he'd go back and find himself seeing Mickey and the others fighting and he being the only one watching.
"Hey, kid. HEY!" Cid yelled one more time.
"Whoa! Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine..."
"What's up with ya? You've been smoking somthin?"
"What? No, no, of course not! I'm just... tired..."
"You wanna take a break? You lucky cuz I'm tired too."
"Really? Well, so let's take a break."
"By the way, pothead..."
"Hey!"
"Don't get out of here. You know, during the night. If ya see something odd, wake me up, right?"
"Uh-uh."
Cid took a tent and a fire.
"You pothead may sleep in the tent. I'll sleep outside."
Sora wasn't even listening. He was already asleep.
"Well, screw it." Cid lied down and closed his eyes.
...
...
"SORA!" a voice echoed on Sora's head. It was Kairi's!
Sora woke up quickly and looked around. The place was filled with shadows. He handed his keyblade and tried to move the creatures away but that was nothing. A huge darkside was coming on his way.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" Sora got scared, then handed his keyblade.
Sora aimed for its arms, which were charging a big black ball, like before.
While he was fighting, a weird music began to play, coming from the forest. A cat appeared. It was the Cheshire Cat.
"Oh, oh, oh. Not a good time to appear, I see." he sat on one of the tree's twigs and waited, while his body and eyes disappeared.
"Wh...mmm..." Cid was mumbling something, then finally woke up. "Holy crap what the hell is going on in here?" he yelled.
Sora was too busy to answer. The Cheshire Cat appeared on Cid's shoulder, scaring him.
"Who're you?"
"Who am I. The question. The lack of response, the answer."
"Wh-what??"
Sora was getting tired and the darkside seemed to be almost finishing its dark ball.
"Help the kid. He'll fall."
"F-fall? He's gonna lose, ya say?"
"Yes."
Cid rushed to the darkside and tried punching it, in vain.
"Crap! I can't hit this thing!" he complained. "Come on, stupid cat, tell me how to defeat it!"
"You do not need to defeat it to save your friend."
...
"What?"
Sora fell on the floor. His breathing was awesomely fast. He didn't have enough strenght to get up, anymore.
Meanwhile, at Hollow Bastion...
"Ansem... Ansem!" Hirosh was calling.
"Yes, Hirosh? You really shouldn't have left the gate."
"It's... something... there...! It opened very fast and something threw me against the wall. I've been crawling till here."
"It... opened up?? Hah! It must mean that... there's a guardian there. We must fight it."
"Wh-what? A guardian? Why the hell would that gate have a guardian?"
"It's the gate to the in-between dimension, Hirosh. This guardian was conjured by whom divided the dimensions. But don't worry, fighting it won't be difficult. Let's summon our companions..." Ansem said, leaving the room.
"Wait, Ansem!"
"What, Hirosh?"
"I... I was thrown against the wall by that thing. It's amazingly strong, I tell you."
"You don't need to worry, Hirosh, sonny. Everything, I say, everything will go on as we previsouly planned. You just have to... calm down, Hirosh, I've never seen you this nervous."
"It's just that... I am realist, Ansem..."
"Yes, yes, and I am aware of the situation. See the difference? Now let me go call our brothers."
"Ansem, please..." Hirosh tried to call him but that was in vain, Ansem was already in the lift stop.
A roar.
Hirosh looked trought the window and saw... it was the guardian who had injured him.
"What the... how did this thing come up here?" he asked himself.
Then he left the room and quickly took a lift that would take him to the vessel stop.
The guardian was huge, it resembled a dragon but had some human parts, that fit a golden armor. It also had a silver sword in hands, a very long and thick one.
It had no eyes, it seemed, only half of its head could be entirely seen and even so, if it had eyes they could be spotted after a few seconds of staring. A no-eyed giant dragon warrior.
Maran was at the train station, very far from where that guardian was roaring. He's been there for two hours, wandering around the station. This drew the attention of the manager, who approached him.
"You looking for someone, kid?" he asked, surprising Maran.
"Um... no, I'm just... uh... waiting for someone." he lied.
"Well, the station will close within one hour, and the last train is almost leaving. Unless you made this place a meeting point only, you should try coming back tomorrow."
"May I ask you a question?"
"Bring it on, kid."
"Have you seen a... short guy with a black cloak around here... latey?"
"Hmmm... oh, yeah, how could I forget of that! He caused a big commotion, he took the previous train."
"Where to?"
"Astral Canyon, deep north."
"Oww... how much time till the next train which goes there?"
"Hah, twenty-three hours and some minutes."
"What??"
"Because of the troubled roads, we send only one trian per day to Astral Canyon. It's been a thieves' hideout these days, it's almost impossible to reach it without a, how can I say, strong and resistant vehicle like a train."
"Damn..." Maran sat on the bench, frustated. "Isn't there anything I can do to go to this place... today?"
"I don't think so, kid. Sorry."
The manager left Maran alone in his frustation and went to help an old lady that was trying to stuff all her cats into a big bag.
"Man... what do I do now?"
Meanwhile, there was Donald, Goofy and Leon, still lost. They stopped for a break one hour ago but Donald was already demanding another one.
"We've... we've... we've been wal... walking for... ages..." Donald was slurring. "Can't... we... stop... ag... again?"
"Listen, if we don't find Sora and Mickey, these heartlesses will end up finding us and who knows what's gonna happen." Leon said.
"We can take care of these bummers!" Donald said, bravely. "I helped Sora a lot when the worlds got infected by heartlesses."
"Uh, only you?" Goofy said.
"Ok, ok, me and the goof-snors there, too."
A scream, coming from very near. Running, came Cid.
"Cid!" Leon yelled, surprised of finding his friend.
"There's no time, Leon, the lil' mate's in trouble! Come on!
Leon, Donald and Goofy followed Cid to the spot where Sora was. He was floating in the air, it seemed that the Darkside was holding him.
"SORA!" they yelled.
"Ok, we're gonna save him." Donald said, handing his staff. "Fiiiiree!" he threw a fire ball at the darkside and it seemed injured but not enough.
"The word is physical attack!" Cid said, then Leon and Goofy engaged the Darkside with their weapons.
"You, duck, your concern is healing!" Cid ordened.
"Wh-what the hell..." Donald said. "Ok, then, but I'll be the best healer you guys ever had!"
Goofy and Leon took care of the hands and Cid kept fighting the feet. The Darkside seemed to be in pain, each time more injuried.
Sora, then, screamed. He seemed in pain, too.
"Do you think that..." Leon said.
"...He's feeling the pain, too? That doesn't make sense." Cid said, then.
...
"Light..." Leon said. "We must fight the Darkside with light. It won't hurt Sora."
"DUCK! HEALING! ON THE DARKSIDE! NOW!" Cid ordened.
"Healing? The Darkside? You nuts?" Donald protested.
"Do as I say! It'll work! Don't forget to... uh... have good thoughts on your mind, heart, whatever."
Donald did so. He conjured a healing wind of Curaga. Then he repeated the spell, to make sure. After receiving the second healing, the Darkside began to become clearer and clearer, until it got completely white. After that, it exploded. Millions of small white sparks fell from the sky.
Sora slowly got to the ground and fell to his knees. Someone else was also coming down. It was something huge, that resembled a dragon but had some human parts, which fit a golden armor. It also had a silver sword in hands, a very long and thick one.
It had no eyes, it seemed, only half of its head could be entirely seen and even so, if it had eyes they could be spotted after a few seconds of staring. A no-eyed giant dragon warrior. The guardian.
"Whoa!! What's that?" Cid yelled, after seeing the huge dragon-warrior on the sky. "What the hell is that? Hey, hey, kid! Watch out!"
Sora was pretty near the guardian, and it tried to reach Sora with its sword.
"Donald, come on, do something, you're the only one here with long range." Goofy said.
"Oh, I know, I was just... figuring out what to do. What the hell." Donald used the Aeroga spell, the protective and offensive magic, on Sora.
The spinning wind of Aeroga began to surround Sora, protecting him from further attacks, and hurting the enemy when attacks are tried to be made.
Sora, then, opened his eyes, slowly.
"SORA!" Leon yelled. "Sora, wake up!"
Sora opened his eyes completely and looked around. He was still floating and haven't seen the guardian, which was behind him at the time, preparing to hit him in the back.
"Behind you!" Cid warned.
Sora quickly avoided the attack and floated away from the guardian. It was Peter Pan's magic, Sora thought, that was making him fly, just like before, when he was almost losing a fight against Hirosh.
The guardian roared so loud that it could be heard from miles from there. Sora then began to look for his weapon. It was on the ground.
"Leon, please... get the keyblade for me!" Sora asked, but that wasn't necessary. The keyblade quickly warped to his hands.
"You're her bearer, Sora. It wouldn't let you alone." Leon explained. "Now rip this guy off, and we complete the job when it reaches the ground."
Sora began to try thinking about some abilities he had learned. Riku once taught him a quick way to hurt an enemy and don't let him know where you are. It's the stab-n-run ability of Riku.
Speaking of Riku... where was him?
"Hazy... hazy place..." he said...
...
"Where am I?"
"You don't know?" a voice asked.
"Wh-what? No, I don't. Who are you?"
"You're... here..." everything was clear again and Riku could see where he was.
It was Destiny Islands, but a bit different. It was all cracked down and there was no ocean, but a big abyss.
Riku, then, saw the person who spoke to him earlier.