DUSTIE: Wow... Haven't posted another chapter for a while! Sweet Jesus... Welp, maybe I'll get some readers!

KINGDOM COME
Chapter Four

Tidus thought that maybe if he didn't think about them, or at least not talk about them, they would just go away. But, the image of falling into the pool of darkness made by the shadow creatures was burned in his brain, and he just couldn't make it leave. It had given all of them a shock. Jo looked on the verge of tears as she crawled into bed that night, trying not to look into the shadows for fear of seeing two yellow eyes. Tidus sat down at the foot of her bed and smiled gently.

"Listen, Jo," he soothed, "nothing bad is going to happen to you."

From the look on his sister's face, it didn't seem that she believed it.

"If it makes you feel any better, you can come sleep in my room, just for tonight."

She nodded timidly and pushed back the covers, grabbing her pillow and following him down the hall and into his room. Tidus had never seen Jo like this before; not since he'd… since his dad… He shook his head, shaking the memories from his mind, and turned out the light, Jo trembling next to him.

Rina sat by her window, staring out over the starry sky and calm ocean. It was getting late, but not even the gentle pounding of the waves could lull her to sleep. She'd thought of hauling all the lamps in her house to her room and lighting them, but immediately ditched that idea. Her parents would notice, and she might possibly blind everyone on the island; whichever came first. Then she thought of staying up all night and only sleeping for about an hour. She'd get in at least one sleep cycle… But, that didn't seem too appealing either. Rina wasn't a person who got bored easily, and she'd probably find a way to keep herself entertained, but when would she have time to dream? After thinking up, then scrapping one idea after the other, she decided the only logical thing to do was to get in her full eight hours.

Rina took one last look out her window; the sky was being covered with dark gray rain clouds and the wind was making the leaves on a few nearby palm trees sway. It was going to storm. Yawning a little, she walked over to her bed and pulled up her blue and pink fuzzy covers, lying back on her fluffy pastel pillows. Seconds after she closed her eyes, she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of happy things. No shadows.

Tidus was woken up by the loud clap of thunder. Squinting, he looked toward the clock, the evil red numbers burning his eyes. It was almost midnight. He blinked once or twice, then rolled over to see if Jo was awake. But she wasn't there. Suddenly scared, he looked around his room, his eyes resting on his window. There she was, staring out the window at the storm that was raging outside.

"Jo?" he mumbled sleepily.

She jumped, startled, then turned to face him. "I didn't think you were awake."

Tidus yawned and sat up. "I wasn't. That stupid thunder woke me up."

"Don't call thunder 'stupid.' It's smarter than you are."

Jo turned back to the window and rested her chin on her folded arms; her figure illuminated every few seconds by a flash of lightning. They sat there in silence for a few seconds before the quiet was broken by a loud crash of thunder, followed by Jo's scream and a string of curse words.

"What!" he exclaimed jumping from his bed and running over to where she stood, face pressed against the rain-streaked window.

"Look!" Jo gasped, stepping aside.

Tidus stared out into the storm before suddenly taking in a sharp breath and stepping back from the window.

"What the…?"

"What is it, Tidus!" Jo shouted.

A huge black, swirling cloud had formed over the Big Island, lightning flashing all around it as it seemed to tear it apart. It wasn't a tornado. Or a hurricane for that matter; they'd seen those, living on the Destiny Islands for all of their lives.

"That thing isn't a normal storm," Tidus pronounced, sitting down at his desk and running his fingers through his hair.

Jo winced. "Then what is it?"

He shook his head and looked up at her. "I don't know. But whatever it is, we have to wake up Rina and get ourselves to the island. Sora, Kairi, and Riku were supposed to set off on their journey tonight. They might be over there."

Sora, Kairi, and Riku had been just like them; craving adventure, wanting to see new worlds. Eventually, though Tidus had been clueless for most of a week, they all got word from Selphie the gossip that they were building a raft and sailing away from the islands. Maybe for a few days. Maybe for forever…

Jo ran to her room and pulled on what she had been wearing the day before, then back to Tidus' room to find him dressed as well. He was writing a note to their mom. But why? They'd be coming back… He signed their names and folded the note, putting it on his dresser.

"You ready?"

Jo nodded confidently. "Yeah."

Trying to make as little noise as possible, they snuck down the stairs and out their door. After running into Rina, who had coincidentally been heading to their house, they got in their canoes and paddled quickly over to the island. The three reached its shores, which had been torn apart by the raging storm, though rest of the island looked no better. Trees had been uprooted from the ground, stairs from their tree house had been blown away, and the ladder to the overhang Jo loved to jump from was gone as well. Slowly, not believing it was real, they climbed onto the dock.

"Let's go find them!" Tidus shouted above the noise.

The three of them took off across the devastated island, looking high and low until they saw two familiar faces. Sora and Riku. Rina, closely followed by Tidus and Jo, climbed over the hut and were about to take off across the slowly breaking bridge to a tiny island, when the same voice from their dreams screamed through their heads.

"THE DOOR IS NOW OPEN…"

After exchanging a look, all of them understanding what needed to be done, they sprinted to the Secret Place, through the opening, ducking their heads, and finally into the empty room. Surely enough, the wooden door that was usually shut was wide open; a huge endless black mass beyond it.

"This is it," Rina said. "That dream. This is what it meant."

"Should we do it?" Jo asked, stepping forward, her mind already made up.

Tidus nodded and marched up next to her. "I say yes."

"Me too."

Rina now stood between them, staring into the blackness.

"We could never come back," Tidus muttered. "But... it's what we've always wanted."

"Then, come on!" Rina urged. "It's an adventure! It's what we've all been waiting for! Just like you said! This is our chance. Our chance to see what's out there! And you know it, Tidus. It's kind of… our destiny."

Tidus smiled. "I guess you're right."

"You know she's right, stupid," Jo laughed, not scared enough to resist teasing her brother.

The three joined hands, shut their eyes, and stepped through the door…