Part Nine: The Fall of Kingdom Hearts
Lycole, Caliga, Terra, Kevaul, Leon, and Yuffie burst through the portal in time to hear Riku shout.
"Sora you're the Key Bearer you can't go!" Riku bellowed at his friend.
Sora turned his gaze on Riku. "But you see, I'm not the Key Bearer, you are. You showed me that at Hollow Bastion."
"But the Keyblade went back to you!" Riku protested.
Sora shook his head. "No it didn't, my heart forged a third Keyblade. Your Keyblade has now been returned to you." Riku looked down at the Kingdom Key. "That blade came to me by accident. You see there is nothing in my heart that makes up a Keyblade Wielder, I was simply in the right place to receive yours."
"Sora!" Kairi cried, "what are you going to do?"
"I am going to make that choice that was foretold to me in a dream. And yes this choice will cost something very dear to me." He looked at Kairi his eyes shining, "my chances of returning to Destiny Isles again." Kairi gasped and put her hands over her mouth, tears filling her eyes. "I am going to destroy the barrier between Kingdom Hearts and the rest of the worlds." He turned back to the great towering doors. "For Kingdom Hearts is not light or darkness, but both. A true light, life itself. The world has forgotten that."
"But what will that do?" Mickey asked. The others jumped, they hadn't noticed the king, Donald and Goofy standing to the side.
"Light and darkness will become one, in harmony with each other. The worlds will be bound together as one, as they were in the beginning. There will be no boundaries between worlds or people."
"What you speak of sounds like paradise" Lycole said softly.
"That's just it" Sora said turning again. "That is the paradise that Ansem is seeking. Though all he is doing is destroying it."
Sora turned to face the doors again, one last time. "Seven hearts are behind this door, Lycole, Terra, Caliga, Kevaul, Leon, Yuffie, Mickey. You can feel them can't you?" Those he had spoken to nodded.
"I will go in and lock the Keyhole that spawns the Heartless. Then I will unseal the door to the light. I hope with all my heart that in doing that will awaken the true light. For that is our only hope. Riku you and the king must seal the doors behind me."
"No!" Riku shouted. "Sora I can't do that"
"You must" Mickey said quietly. "If you want his sacrifice to make a difference. Remember I told you there is a third Keyblade. Mine came from the World of light, yours from the World of Darkness. His came from the World Bewtween. Change Riku, change is the third key." He looked at Riku darkly for a moment then looked back at the doors to Kingdom Hearts.
"Alright" he whispered. The others bowed their heads.
Sora took a deep breath and reached out. His palm glowed for a moment then a third Keyblade appeared there. The key chain that hung from the hilt was the one of the hawk that he had gotten so long ago. The Keyblade was doubled edged and looked almost exactly like the Ultima Weapon.
Sora felt some comfort with it in his hand. Sora closed his eyes and pushed at the doors with all his heart. They creaked open slowly, Kingdom Hearts looked just as it had before, teeming with heartless.
Sora stepped carefully through the door. The Keyhole appeared in front of him, resigned he raised the Keyblade.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that boy!" snarled a voice behind him. Something hit Sora so hard that it made him fly several feet. Ansem stood there his one eye glinting with insanity, his teeth bared in an evil grin.
Sora barely saw Ansem, he raised the Keyblade again. A beam of dark light, intertwined with white, shot out of the blade. It struck the Keyhole and locked it.
Ansem snarled in rage, he half ran half fell to Sora and lifted him off the ground. "You little fool!" Ansem spat. "Let's see if your precious light can survive this!" And he threw Sora into a pool of molten darkness.
With shaking hands Ansem reached up and unwound the cloth around his face. It fell away to reveal that he was horribly disfigured. "Your light did this to me," he hissed, "you did this to me" Ansem began to cackle. But then he let out a strangled cry as something pierced through his back. With a somewhat surprised manner he watched as the blade of Oathkeeper sprouted out of his chest.
Kairi tore the Keyblade free as Ansem turned. "Your Highness? But why?" he gasped.
Kairi looked at him with cold eyes. "Because you are not the person you used to be. I will not allow you to destroy all that gives life and happiness."
"But how? Only shadows can pass through the door" Ansem looked at her as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"I am nothing but a shadow without Sora" She drew in a sharp breath and tears streamed down her face. She looked up to the far reached of Kingdom Hearts and whispered. "Together, we'll do it together." A small spark of light floated out of her chest and spiraled away into the darkness of Kingdom Hearts. She turned then and left Ansem to die in the midst of his insanity.
Suddenly a great beam of light rose out of the pool of darkness where Ansem had thrown Sora. His body rose out of it, beams of light were streaming away from his heart.
"He could never have been more wrong about his heart" Mickey breathed.
"The true light was within his heart all along." Lycole murmured.
Sora turned his head to gaze at Riku and Mickey, he gave the smallest little nod. Arms shaking Riku raised the Keyblade, Mickey did the same. "I'm sorry, sorry for everything." Riku whispered. A beam of darkness shot out of his Keyblade, a beam of light from Mickey's. They connected in mid-air and twined to together in a great beam, and struck the opening to Kingdom Hearts. The door began to dissolve. The last they saw of Sora's face, he was smiling.
Curtains of red, green, and blue light, erupted in the sky. Lycole, Terra, Kevaul, Caliga, Mickey, Leon, and Yuffie all gasped as they felt their hearts reborn within them. The appearances of Terra, Caliga, and Lycole changed as their bodies returned to them as well.
The storm had ceased all together, and everything was calm and quiet. No one said anything for a moment.
Then the ghost of Sora's voice floated through all their minds. "All I ask is that you not forget."
"Never" they all breathed.
Cloud and Aerith were talking quietly as a few moments before, the bodies of the strangers had disappeared. They didn't know what to make of it. Suddenly they heard groans from the other side of the room as Leon and Yuffie stirred.
"Are you guys alright?" Aerith said helping Yuffie to sit up.
"Do me a favor," Yuffie said quietly. "Look outside and tell me what you see."
Aerith did so. "Oh" she breathed, "it's like there are curtains of light hanging in the sky."
Yuffie and Leon glanced at each other then both bowed their heads.
Kairi and Riku stood on the dock of the Destiny Isles. It was daylight now, Donald, Goofy, and the Mickey had left a few hours before. In a new ship they had christened 'Kearal'. which meant true light. Caliga, Lycole, Terra, and Kevaul had gone with them to see if Donald could locate Twilight Town.
A small wind brushed blew passed them, caressing their faces. They were both thinking about Sora. Kairi gazed up at the sky and without really thinking she started to sing. The wind harmonized with her voice, carrying it up and throughout the newly united world.
At every place within the world silence fell. Birds ceased in their song, wolves cut off their howls. In every place, everyone heard the song. It sounded like nonsense words to most, but those who did understand it bowed their heads. The song echoed through the deepest forests, and rang through the depths of the oceans.
The Queen of Hearts looked up from her throne, she didn't understand the words. But for a moment, her stone cold heart warmed. Alice looked up at the sky with tears in her eyes.
The song echoed in the depths of the Cavern of Hearts deep in the jungle, Tarzan heard it, as did Jane. They both looked down sadly.
Hercules looked up from cleaning his sword, and Phil paused in his rant about being soft.
"Gotta hand it to the kid" Phil said quietly, "he's a true hero now, if not before."
Aladdin and Jasmine felt the song ring across the desert. Their hands clasped tightly as the remembered, and Genie sniffed loudly.
Ariel looked up from her grotto, she swam to the trident shaped crystal embedded in the wall. Carefully she ran her fingers along it, the sparkling crystal seemed to have dimmed slightly.
Peter Pan and Tinkerbell halted in their flight across Neverland. The moon glinted on the water below. They remembered, and wouldn't forget.
Jack looked up from his plans for Heartless Halloween, and stood up. He gazed down at the plans and let them fall from his fingers. The Heartless didn't deserve to be the theme of Halloween.
Everyone from Hollow Bastion felt the song, they all stopped what they were doing and listened.
It reached Twilight Town, and Caliga, Terra, Lycole, and Kevaul heard it. They simultaneously raised four glass marbles, fire glittered in their depths.
The song reached the Disney Castle last. The king and queen reunited, looked up from the balcony of their castle. Minnie felt the great sadness of the song, but she didn't understand the words. Mickey did though, he watched the sky sadly. As did Donald and Goofy in the gardens below.
Finally Kairi stopped singing. The wind settled down around her and Riku, sighing.
Riku looked at her and smiled. "I'm sure he would've been grateful for that Kairi."
Kairi blushed, and looked down. "yes I hope he would've liked it" Tears filled her eyes and ran in thick streams down her cheeks.
Lycole was sitting on the ledge of one of the highest buildings in Twilight Town. He still had the dark coat that had marked him as a member of the Thirteenth Order. His hair had changed back from white blond to its natural gold blonde. He sighed as he watched his old home, everything had come back, his memories and feelings. It was wonderful this new world, and he loved it. He remembered suddenly something Lutian had said. 'I am a shadow of the being Sora will become' Lycole grinned, the being Sora would become indeed.