Sora heard something faintly behind him, and if he hadn't spent the past
six years in Twilight City, he would have never turned around. As it was,
his senses were screaming and he ducked and swung at the last possible
instant.
Riku's fist barely missed the top of Sora's head, and then the youth doubled over in pain as Sora's fist connected with his softening stomach. Riku groaned and stumbled back, resenting that he'd allowed himself to fall behind in training the past year. He straightened and put his fists up and dove after Sora, who was already in his fighting stance.
---
"You must come back with me." A man in a hooded black raincoat turned to look at the one who was speaking to him. The voice angered the man, and two KeyBlades slid into his hands. The one who spoke, who wore a blindfold stood calmly. "Why do you fear me Sora?" he asked.
"I'm not Sora! Stop calling me that!" the first figure snapped. The second sighed inwardly.
"Then why else do you wield the Oathkeeper KeyBlade?" he asked, indicating one of the KeyBlades 'Sora' held. 'Sora' growled. "Or is that why you must see him? So he can keep his promise to his Kairi? But you know, you would not even be able to wield it if you weren't him. The promise was made to Sora, and Sora alone. It would not respond to another. The Oathkeeper should be....just a paper star in the hand of anyone but him."
"Lair! It's because I'm a KeyBlade Master! KeyBlade Masters should be able to wield any KeyBlade!" 'Sora' shouted. The blindfolded figure did not respond. In anger, 'Sora' dove forward and struck out...
---
"Sora! Riku!" The boys, now young men, or were they full grown?, did not turn at the sound of Lord Braska's voice. Lord Braska was attempting to run to them on the beach, but his Summoner robes and shoes made it difficult to move in the sand.
"You won't take her from me." Riku growled, taking a swing at Sora. Sora grabbed the fist and shoved his old friend back in a surprise move. Riku stumbled and was quickly brought to his knees.
"I wasn't trying to Riku." He hissed angrily. Sora felt strange, and he hated this feeling. Anger welled up behind his eyes and there was a pounding sensation. The pounding was the rushing of blood and the beating of his heart. This feeling accompanied him almost every day in Twilight Town, but instead of tiring him as it usually did, it made him excited and fueled his anger even more, shoving away sleep.
Sora brought back his fist and struck Riku in the face twice before Riku managed and hit Sora in the neck. Gasping for breath, Sora released Riku and retreated several steps, watching the silver haired boy warily. Riku wiped away spit and blood from his mouth, and watched the silhouette of his long-time rival as the fire died.
The fire was even lower now, casting long shadows and reducing it's aura of heat. Sora felt his senses heighten as the familiar darkness surrounded him, while Riku began to feel weak as his eyes were unaccustomed to such dark. The light haired boy quickly shoved away every experience he had ever gained while in the world of the Heartless to rashly and would soon be helpless when the flames became nothing more than glowing embers. He shuddered unwillingly as a gust of air yielded no heat from the flames. The next extinguished the fire.
Now the two were grappling in the sand, pulling hair like children, biting like dogs and striking at each other like madmen. Kairi was watching, with tears flowing freely down her face. Braska stopped near her, panting for breath.
"Stop them!" Kairi begged. "Please, Lord Braska, stop them!" Kairi cried helplessly, tugging on the Summoner's arm. He nodded, took a deep breath and started after them again.
Now Riku had the advantage, and was twisting Sora's arm behind his back. Sora cried out in pain after Riku gave a painful twist out of spite. Once again, Sora's senses screamed and he kicked Riku below the belt and rolled away as Braska used a Binding Spell. Sora deflected it with Reflect, saving Riku and himself from capture.
"No, I have too much to say before anyone interferes." Sora growled, then pounced on Riku as he stared at his friend in surprise. Riku, now flat on his back tried not to whimper as his face was being pummeled by his once gentle friend, Sora.
---
The blindfolded man dodged the attack, barely. His right sleeve now had a long rip in it where 'Sora' had passed him.
"Stop this." He said, half begging, half commanding.
"Never" the attacker growled. "Never, until you show me where Sora is and let me alone!"
"We would do it immediately, if you would accept the truth." said a new voice. Both figured turned to face the newcomer, who had been watching the whole time. Clad in red, he stood out against the surface of the dying world. Twilight City was reduced to a mere street and a single building that was collapsing into an endless void. The red figure turned to the blindfolded man. "Riku, they're fighting in a dangerous manner. We will have to forward out plans if Spira is to be revived. And this can only be done if our Sora will cooperate." He turned his head to the other man.
"But Sir, what of the leaders of the Machina Faction, The Kilika Youth League and New Yevon?" the blindfolded Riku asked. The man in red turned his attention back to Riku.
"Our current mission must be completed at once Riku. We cannot worry about the Yevonites and the Al Bhed just yet."
"But Sir Auron---" Riku protested. The man in red turned away from Riku and looked into the abyss.
"The longer we wait, the more we expose other planets to this. We need to get you four together so we can secure Spira, then find other worlds to fill in the gaps that can never be revived."
"This is all too much for me." Sora said, taking a step away from the two. 'Sir Auron' ignored him, but Riku turned to Sora.
"You can't leave the same way you came. Now that you suspect who you truly are and what the powers you possess can or cannot do, your teleportation powers won't work unless you train to merge with someone who already has the knowledge. As it is, we don't have the time to teach you, and the three of us are incompatible matches, so there is no use trying that just yet." Riku took a breath. "And the world is crumbling around our noses, so if you wouldn't mind, I would like to leave."
Sora nodded, forgetting that Riku was wearing a blindfold and held his breath for an unknown reason. Suddenly, he realized that Auron was humming a tune. After a moment, he realized that Riku was humming it as well. Without even realizing it, Sora closed his eyes and hummed along, wondering how he knew how the song went.
---
"This is for everything you've done Riku!" Sora yelled at the top of his lungs as he struck at Riku. Riku tried to fight back, but a year of wooing Kairi towards marriage did not help him with his fighting.
"What've I done?" he managed to gasp, when Sora leaned back to take a breath. This apparently fueled Sora's anger and he struck harder then before but not as much. Each punch punctuated his words.
"What. Have. You. Done?" he bellowed. Riku's body shook with each blow. "You sold me Riku! We were best friends and you sold me to the Heartless! You turned your back on me in Traverse Town for Malecifent, almost killed me in Hollow Bastion when you gave yourself up to Ansem and to top it off, you tried to kill Kairi and sell me to the Heartless!" The blows stopped and all that could be heard over the crashing of the waves was Riku's gasping.
"Tried to sell you over to the Heartless? Looks like I succeded. Nothing here is darker than you Sora." Riku retorted, then instantly regretted it. Sora's eyes widened and he jumped off of Riku like he was a live wire. Slowly, he looked around as he realized that everyone that hadn't gone to bed was now watching them. Sora looked up at Wakka, his best friend and mentor and was ashamed when he saw Wakka's face.
Forcing himself to his knees, Sora walked away, shoving himself through the crowd. He saw Yuna and Selphie's innocent faces with the same expression of shock. He moved away from them and walked. Just....walked. It was hard and easier at the same time. Easier, because he didn't have to face anyone, but harder because his heavy heart and wounds weighed him down.
"Sora? Sora, come on..." Rikku's voice softly intruded into his mind, and Sora found himself being led away from the calming would of the ocean.
"But..." he muttered, turning his head towards the sea.
"We'll swim tomorrow, I promise. You need to sleep right now Sora. Sora?" Everything was black.
---
"Well?" Sora asked, looking around the white room. They were in a plain looking white room with a long table in the center surrounded by chairs. Two of the chairs were occupied: one by what was clearly a woman and the other who was either concentrating on the table's surface, or didn't find anyone interesting enough to look at. Sora figured he was just asleep. As soon as Sora had this thought, the figure raised his head slightly to look at him. Sora took a step away when he realized the man possessed glowing eyes. Seeming to be satisfied, the figure looked back down at the table.
Auron broke Sora's 'concentration' as he brushed past and took the head of the table. He didn't sit, but he stood and bent low enough so that his gloved fingertips touched the table. Sora and Riku took this as a signal to sit.
"Most of us know why we are here. Things are being....compromised...in an unexpected way." He paused, but the room remained as silent as a church on a Friday night. He continued, "Never was it expected that, while Riku and Sora split in half, one half good, the other dark, that the darkness and lightness in them be changed. This would explain Our Sora's confusion of his Identity and the KeyBlade Master Sora's recent outburst. The Riku's, on the other hand, have seemed to make an almost equal balance of good an evil between themselves.
"I believe this had much to do with their environments and experiences. Generally, we GateMasters were in a suspended animation, only brought to consciousness when there is a strong shift in energy. GateKeeper Sora should still be asleep and holding all of Sora's Darkness while GateKeeper Riku should be holding all of Riku's Light."
"What do you hold?" Sora interrupted. Auron turned his head to him, annoyed.
"The Lightness and Darkness of Sir Auron were forced to merge into one being to keep the whole living. The separation of Spira nearly killed him." Riku said, answering Sora. Sora turned to look at the other two.
"Who are they?" he asked. The female looked at him, then quickly became uninterested and looked into space again.
"Continuing," Auron said, impatiently, "We need to get your four in contact so that Sora can be wholly Light and Riku can be wholly Darkness. It is the only way to revive Spira. Once this is done, the war against the Heartless will become significantly more in our favor."
"And which side are we on?" Sora asked.
The room was silent.
---
Sora woke up in his old bed briefly. He groaned and tried to roll over, to leave his room so he wouldn't be reminded of his childhood, but someone pushed him back down. Someone with strong, yet soft hands and unnaturally dark skin. Sora's eyes trailed up the arm to it's owner's face.
"Rikku..." he muttered. His eyes were drooping. Rikku smiled and brushed his hair away from his face. "Stay?" he mumbled, unable to move his treacherous body anywheres. Rikku smiled down at him.
"Why would I leave?" she asked. Sora wanted to ask what she meant, but she moved in front of his view. A moment later, Rikku was holding Sora's head in her arms, resting the hairy thing against her chest. She tried not to giggle as his breath tickled her skin, but Sora was quickly falling asleep at the beat of her heart.
'This Heart,' he thought, drifting off to sleep. 'I will protect at all costs.'
Riku's fist barely missed the top of Sora's head, and then the youth doubled over in pain as Sora's fist connected with his softening stomach. Riku groaned and stumbled back, resenting that he'd allowed himself to fall behind in training the past year. He straightened and put his fists up and dove after Sora, who was already in his fighting stance.
---
"You must come back with me." A man in a hooded black raincoat turned to look at the one who was speaking to him. The voice angered the man, and two KeyBlades slid into his hands. The one who spoke, who wore a blindfold stood calmly. "Why do you fear me Sora?" he asked.
"I'm not Sora! Stop calling me that!" the first figure snapped. The second sighed inwardly.
"Then why else do you wield the Oathkeeper KeyBlade?" he asked, indicating one of the KeyBlades 'Sora' held. 'Sora' growled. "Or is that why you must see him? So he can keep his promise to his Kairi? But you know, you would not even be able to wield it if you weren't him. The promise was made to Sora, and Sora alone. It would not respond to another. The Oathkeeper should be....just a paper star in the hand of anyone but him."
"Lair! It's because I'm a KeyBlade Master! KeyBlade Masters should be able to wield any KeyBlade!" 'Sora' shouted. The blindfolded figure did not respond. In anger, 'Sora' dove forward and struck out...
---
"Sora! Riku!" The boys, now young men, or were they full grown?, did not turn at the sound of Lord Braska's voice. Lord Braska was attempting to run to them on the beach, but his Summoner robes and shoes made it difficult to move in the sand.
"You won't take her from me." Riku growled, taking a swing at Sora. Sora grabbed the fist and shoved his old friend back in a surprise move. Riku stumbled and was quickly brought to his knees.
"I wasn't trying to Riku." He hissed angrily. Sora felt strange, and he hated this feeling. Anger welled up behind his eyes and there was a pounding sensation. The pounding was the rushing of blood and the beating of his heart. This feeling accompanied him almost every day in Twilight Town, but instead of tiring him as it usually did, it made him excited and fueled his anger even more, shoving away sleep.
Sora brought back his fist and struck Riku in the face twice before Riku managed and hit Sora in the neck. Gasping for breath, Sora released Riku and retreated several steps, watching the silver haired boy warily. Riku wiped away spit and blood from his mouth, and watched the silhouette of his long-time rival as the fire died.
The fire was even lower now, casting long shadows and reducing it's aura of heat. Sora felt his senses heighten as the familiar darkness surrounded him, while Riku began to feel weak as his eyes were unaccustomed to such dark. The light haired boy quickly shoved away every experience he had ever gained while in the world of the Heartless to rashly and would soon be helpless when the flames became nothing more than glowing embers. He shuddered unwillingly as a gust of air yielded no heat from the flames. The next extinguished the fire.
Now the two were grappling in the sand, pulling hair like children, biting like dogs and striking at each other like madmen. Kairi was watching, with tears flowing freely down her face. Braska stopped near her, panting for breath.
"Stop them!" Kairi begged. "Please, Lord Braska, stop them!" Kairi cried helplessly, tugging on the Summoner's arm. He nodded, took a deep breath and started after them again.
Now Riku had the advantage, and was twisting Sora's arm behind his back. Sora cried out in pain after Riku gave a painful twist out of spite. Once again, Sora's senses screamed and he kicked Riku below the belt and rolled away as Braska used a Binding Spell. Sora deflected it with Reflect, saving Riku and himself from capture.
"No, I have too much to say before anyone interferes." Sora growled, then pounced on Riku as he stared at his friend in surprise. Riku, now flat on his back tried not to whimper as his face was being pummeled by his once gentle friend, Sora.
---
The blindfolded man dodged the attack, barely. His right sleeve now had a long rip in it where 'Sora' had passed him.
"Stop this." He said, half begging, half commanding.
"Never" the attacker growled. "Never, until you show me where Sora is and let me alone!"
"We would do it immediately, if you would accept the truth." said a new voice. Both figured turned to face the newcomer, who had been watching the whole time. Clad in red, he stood out against the surface of the dying world. Twilight City was reduced to a mere street and a single building that was collapsing into an endless void. The red figure turned to the blindfolded man. "Riku, they're fighting in a dangerous manner. We will have to forward out plans if Spira is to be revived. And this can only be done if our Sora will cooperate." He turned his head to the other man.
"But Sir, what of the leaders of the Machina Faction, The Kilika Youth League and New Yevon?" the blindfolded Riku asked. The man in red turned his attention back to Riku.
"Our current mission must be completed at once Riku. We cannot worry about the Yevonites and the Al Bhed just yet."
"But Sir Auron---" Riku protested. The man in red turned away from Riku and looked into the abyss.
"The longer we wait, the more we expose other planets to this. We need to get you four together so we can secure Spira, then find other worlds to fill in the gaps that can never be revived."
"This is all too much for me." Sora said, taking a step away from the two. 'Sir Auron' ignored him, but Riku turned to Sora.
"You can't leave the same way you came. Now that you suspect who you truly are and what the powers you possess can or cannot do, your teleportation powers won't work unless you train to merge with someone who already has the knowledge. As it is, we don't have the time to teach you, and the three of us are incompatible matches, so there is no use trying that just yet." Riku took a breath. "And the world is crumbling around our noses, so if you wouldn't mind, I would like to leave."
Sora nodded, forgetting that Riku was wearing a blindfold and held his breath for an unknown reason. Suddenly, he realized that Auron was humming a tune. After a moment, he realized that Riku was humming it as well. Without even realizing it, Sora closed his eyes and hummed along, wondering how he knew how the song went.
---
"This is for everything you've done Riku!" Sora yelled at the top of his lungs as he struck at Riku. Riku tried to fight back, but a year of wooing Kairi towards marriage did not help him with his fighting.
"What've I done?" he managed to gasp, when Sora leaned back to take a breath. This apparently fueled Sora's anger and he struck harder then before but not as much. Each punch punctuated his words.
"What. Have. You. Done?" he bellowed. Riku's body shook with each blow. "You sold me Riku! We were best friends and you sold me to the Heartless! You turned your back on me in Traverse Town for Malecifent, almost killed me in Hollow Bastion when you gave yourself up to Ansem and to top it off, you tried to kill Kairi and sell me to the Heartless!" The blows stopped and all that could be heard over the crashing of the waves was Riku's gasping.
"Tried to sell you over to the Heartless? Looks like I succeded. Nothing here is darker than you Sora." Riku retorted, then instantly regretted it. Sora's eyes widened and he jumped off of Riku like he was a live wire. Slowly, he looked around as he realized that everyone that hadn't gone to bed was now watching them. Sora looked up at Wakka, his best friend and mentor and was ashamed when he saw Wakka's face.
Forcing himself to his knees, Sora walked away, shoving himself through the crowd. He saw Yuna and Selphie's innocent faces with the same expression of shock. He moved away from them and walked. Just....walked. It was hard and easier at the same time. Easier, because he didn't have to face anyone, but harder because his heavy heart and wounds weighed him down.
"Sora? Sora, come on..." Rikku's voice softly intruded into his mind, and Sora found himself being led away from the calming would of the ocean.
"But..." he muttered, turning his head towards the sea.
"We'll swim tomorrow, I promise. You need to sleep right now Sora. Sora?" Everything was black.
---
"Well?" Sora asked, looking around the white room. They were in a plain looking white room with a long table in the center surrounded by chairs. Two of the chairs were occupied: one by what was clearly a woman and the other who was either concentrating on the table's surface, or didn't find anyone interesting enough to look at. Sora figured he was just asleep. As soon as Sora had this thought, the figure raised his head slightly to look at him. Sora took a step away when he realized the man possessed glowing eyes. Seeming to be satisfied, the figure looked back down at the table.
Auron broke Sora's 'concentration' as he brushed past and took the head of the table. He didn't sit, but he stood and bent low enough so that his gloved fingertips touched the table. Sora and Riku took this as a signal to sit.
"Most of us know why we are here. Things are being....compromised...in an unexpected way." He paused, but the room remained as silent as a church on a Friday night. He continued, "Never was it expected that, while Riku and Sora split in half, one half good, the other dark, that the darkness and lightness in them be changed. This would explain Our Sora's confusion of his Identity and the KeyBlade Master Sora's recent outburst. The Riku's, on the other hand, have seemed to make an almost equal balance of good an evil between themselves.
"I believe this had much to do with their environments and experiences. Generally, we GateMasters were in a suspended animation, only brought to consciousness when there is a strong shift in energy. GateKeeper Sora should still be asleep and holding all of Sora's Darkness while GateKeeper Riku should be holding all of Riku's Light."
"What do you hold?" Sora interrupted. Auron turned his head to him, annoyed.
"The Lightness and Darkness of Sir Auron were forced to merge into one being to keep the whole living. The separation of Spira nearly killed him." Riku said, answering Sora. Sora turned to look at the other two.
"Who are they?" he asked. The female looked at him, then quickly became uninterested and looked into space again.
"Continuing," Auron said, impatiently, "We need to get your four in contact so that Sora can be wholly Light and Riku can be wholly Darkness. It is the only way to revive Spira. Once this is done, the war against the Heartless will become significantly more in our favor."
"And which side are we on?" Sora asked.
The room was silent.
---
Sora woke up in his old bed briefly. He groaned and tried to roll over, to leave his room so he wouldn't be reminded of his childhood, but someone pushed him back down. Someone with strong, yet soft hands and unnaturally dark skin. Sora's eyes trailed up the arm to it's owner's face.
"Rikku..." he muttered. His eyes were drooping. Rikku smiled and brushed his hair away from his face. "Stay?" he mumbled, unable to move his treacherous body anywheres. Rikku smiled down at him.
"Why would I leave?" she asked. Sora wanted to ask what she meant, but she moved in front of his view. A moment later, Rikku was holding Sora's head in her arms, resting the hairy thing against her chest. She tried not to giggle as his breath tickled her skin, but Sora was quickly falling asleep at the beat of her heart.
'This Heart,' he thought, drifting off to sleep. 'I will protect at all costs.'