Kingdom of Chaos

Chapter 2: Rude Awakening

Author: Sketchy Sunshine of OSTOCOM

Rating: PG-13, just to be on the safe side

See chapter one for Author's Notes, disclaimer and other goodness. Otherwise, here's chapter two! XD

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Sora wasn't supposed to be dreaming.

He opened his eyes to a landscape of lapping waves and swaying palms. He was back on Destiny Islands…he was home.

As his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, he saw Kairi running up to him, smiling. "You made it!" she said, clasping his hand excitedly.

Sora struggled for a response. "K…Kairi?" His spirits lifted at remembering her name. "You're okay? I mean…everything okay?"

"Of course! You're home now!" She jumped up and embraced him in a hug. Sora's heart skipped a beat, but after recovering from the shock, he quickly hugged her back.

"What took you so long?" A new voice spoke up. Sora looked over Kairi's shoulder, and saw Riku, also smiling. "You kept us waiting forever!"

"But…how did you get back here?" Sora asked. "You and the king were trapped on the other side of the door to darkness."

"They found a way out," Kairi answered. "Everyone's home now."

Sora gazed around at the friends, at the crystal-blue waves and fresh breezes in awe. Everything was just as he had left it. Everyone was home. It was… It's too good to be true.

"But how did I get back here?" Sora insisted. "I just don't remember anything after Donald and Goofy and I closed the door, and we were walking down that road…"

"You're not supposed to remember," a new voice answered him. Sora looked up, and saw a blonde-haired girl he didn't recognize standing to his left. Riku and Kairi were suddenly farther away from him, their smiles gone. Sora's heart sank…none of this could be real. "That was your choice," the girl continued.

"What did I choose?" Sora asked desperately. The noise of the sea suddenly died away, and the breeze became still.

"You chose to forget, which suits us just fine," said a completely new voice. Sora turned, and saw an older woman with long blonde hair, dressed in a black hooded robe. "Next time you won't be so fortunate." Something in her tone set Sora on edge, and he stepped backwards.

"What's happening to me?" He put his hand to his forehead…it felt as if some invisible force were suffocating him, dulling his nerves.

"There are four Kingdoms." His answer came in the form of another man dressed in black robes, with long, dirty-blond hair hanging down the sides of his face. "One is yours, one is ours. You know the other two."

Light and darkness… The thought came to him even as the scenery began to change. The waves receded into a dark liquid mass, the sand hardened to stone, and the sky pulsed with threatening clouds. There is light within darkness…

Somewhere within, Sora stirred.

"You are not complete," another new voice said. It was yet another man in black robes, with wild reddish-brown hair. He looked at Sora with contempt. "And you must never become so."

"We won't let you," the blonde-haired woman continued. Sora looked for his friends, but Kairi, Riku and the little blonde-haired girl were gone. The three black-robed figures were closing the circle, and Sora felt a twinge of panic. He mentally reached out for the Keyblade, but nothing came to him.

"What do you want from me!" Sora found himself shouting over a sudden roar in his ears.

"We want your power."

"We want your Kingdom."

"We want your existence!"

The voices hissed at him, muddling together until he couldn't tell them apart. A shadow was moving across his vision, darkening the faces that glared at him. Some unseen pressure squeezed at him, and the roar in his ears became unbearable.

"Well you can't have them!" he yelled.

Suddenly, the figures and the islands themselves dissolved into nothing. All noise disappeared except for the sound of his own rapid breathing. He tried to open his eyes, but they felt as heavy as lead, and wouldn't respond. In fact, his entire body felt paralyzed.

Where am I!

He felt submerged –no, cocooned- in a thick, warm smoke. However, he didn't seem to have trouble breathing. Sora summoned up all of the energy he could muster, and moved his hand upwards.

Something responded; what he couldn't tell. The warmth pulled tighter at him, as if refusing to let him escape. Fighting the force with sleep-dulled senses, he pushed again.

This time there was definitely a reaction. All of the pressure suddenly gave way, as if a series of walls around him were collapsing. A frigid air rushed in from above. Sora's legs gave out from under him, and he fell, landing hard on a cold marble floor.

Sora was too shocked to move for a moment, but finally managed to sit up. "Kairi?..." he said slowly. Somehow he knew that she wasn't there, but a small part of him hoped that she was…wished that he really was back home with her and Riku.

He blinked his eyes open, and found himself in a place completely unfamiliar. The room itself was vast, with a high ceiling. Before him stood an enormous glass flower, slightly opened. From what he could tell, the room contained at least a dozen of these structures. Everything surrounding him was a cold, frosted glass. He shivered.

"What's all the racket!" A tiny voice spoke up close to him, causing him to jump. Sora relaxed as he realized it was just Jiminy Cricket. Jiminy hopped out of Sora's pocket, looking just as confused as him…and a little squashed.

"Are you alright, Jiminy?" Sora asked, breathing easier at the sight of a familiar face.

The tiny cricket conscience straightened both himself and his coat. "I guess so. What just happened, Sora?"

Sora shook his head. "I don't know. But where are…" As he started to stand, something else caught his eye, and his mouth fell open in shock. "Donald! Goofy!"

Sora's two companions were both inside identical flower structures. The huge glass petals were closed over them, and they appeared to be sleeping. Forgetting his own drowsiness, Sora got to his feet and began to pound on the flower nearest to them. "Hey, what are these things!"

The moment Sora's hands touched the frosted petals, a sharp hissing noise responded, and the flower structure cracked open.

"Wa-WAAAAK!" Donald tumbled out none-too-gracefully, and landed on the floor in a flurry of feathers. Without hesitating, Sora ran over and opened Goofy's as well. The knight stumbled out, stretching and yawning loudly.

Goofy blinked sleepily at the shorter Keyblade master. "Hey there, Sora. Mornin' already?"

"Yeah, what's the big idea!" Donald sputtered, obviously annoyed with his rude awakening.

"You guys are okay?" Sora asked, as if not believing it himself. They certainly sound okay…

"Yeah, it's just…" Donald got his first good look at their surroundings. "Where are we?"

"I was hoping you would know," Sora sighed.

"Dunno, I just…" Goofy's comment was interrupted by another yawn. "…Feel like I've been asleep for days."

"Yeah, same here," Sora remarked suspiciously. "I can't remember how we got here, though. The last thing I remember was being on the road, at night…we had stopped at some crossroads. Then I was having some kind of dream, and we woke up here." He looked warily at the glass flower structures. "…I think maybe I was asleep inside one of those, too."

"Well, someone must've brought us here and put us in those things for a reason!" Donald insisted, suddenly unnerved by the entire situation.

"…Or maybe it was voluntary," Sora said slowly. "I mean, if those things were dangerous, wouldn't we have put up a fight?"

Donald didn't answer, but tapped his foot with characteristic impatience. "Perhaps those things made us forget," Goofy suggested. "Otherwise we'd remember how we got here."

"Maybe…" Sora didn't like the sound of that idea. Who would do such a thing to them, and why? It certainly didn't sound like a trick a Heartless would pull on them. If it was someone else, they would want to be there when they awoke. But a quick scan of the room told Sora that he and his companions were alone.

"Hey guys, look at this!" Jiminy's exclamation cut their nervous silence short. He had found a folded note at the base of the flower structure Sora was in, and was attempting to drag it over to them.

"What's that, Jiminy?" Donald asked. Sora walked over, picked up the note, and unfolded it. Inside was written, in short, timid handwriting:

'I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you when you woke up. Something's happened, and this is best for both of us.'

Beneath the words was a detailed sketch of a large clock tower. Two ornate bells graced either side of the tower. Sora stared at the words and picture, trying to decipher some meaning from them.

"Gawrsh, it must be from the person who put us here," Goofy said, reading the note over Sora's shoulder.

Sora felt an image come to mind…a little blonde-haired girl; the same one from his dream. "Is she the one who wrote this?..." he found himself saying aloud.

"She who?" Donald questioned.

"Look, there's something else on the back," Jiminy said, pointing to the underside of the paper. Sora flipped it over, and stared down at two small words:

FIND TOSHI.

"What's a Toshi?" Goofy said after a pause.

"Maybe it's this tower on the other side," Donald suggested.

"I'm not so sure…" Sora stood up, suddenly full of resolve. "But I think we should go to this place."

Donald was not so convinced. "What makes you say that?"

"I don't think whoever put us here was trying to hurt us. I think they may have been a friend. And if that's true, then this note must be here to help us, too." Sora realized he felt more certain of this than anything since he had woken up. "Who knows? Maybe it's a clue to where Riku and the king are."

"Well then, we better get goin'!" Goofy exclaimed optimistically.

"You have to admit, this is the best lead we've gotten since Pluto disappeared," Jiminy added as he hopped back into Sora's pocket.

"Aw, alright," Donald consented to his two friends. "Let's just get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

"Couldn't agree more," Sora said. He gave the clock tower one last look before folding the note and putting it in his other pocket. "Let's go find our friends."

He was answered all around with hearty agreements. Sora, Donald and Goofy together exited the glass flower enclosure, and followed a seemingly endless staircase downwards until they could go no further. The stairs led to a hall, and from there to a large door, which opened up into the outdoors.

Sora looked back up at the building as they stepped outside, and was shocked to realize they had been inside an enormous, twisted castle. Donald and Goofy also turned and looked in surprise. "Gawrsh, that castle looks like a maze! Good thing we didn't get lost coming out, huh?" Goofy said in awe.

All Sora could do was nod. He felt that he knew this castle better than he could remember. However, the only feelings associated with it were unclear and unsettling. Just being outside its walls seemed to put him at ease.

"Come on! The sooner we find this Toshi, the sooner we'll find Riku and the king," he said.

The three friends turned and began down the new road that stretched before them. None of them noticed the castle behind slowly flicker, and then disappear.

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The end of chapter two! Next chapter will probably be along soon, as I'm on spring break. XD

Reviews, please? I want to know what people think!