Kingdom Hearts: Voices of the Heart
Chapter-3
. . Ok people, Chapter 3 sits before you, it is being checked over for errors and grammar mistakes and possibly spiced up a little so please just read and review! My god...
Upon entering the world of Hollow Bastion, Sora couldn't help but feel the dark and malevolent aura that thickly surrounded the place. It was so intense that it threatened to choke him, but he knew he had to keep going. This all had to end, now. Sensing that there would be danger the moment he stepped out of the Gummi ship. Sora summoned his keyblade, but before opening the hatch, he went over to the controls and set them to auto-pilot, it's destination, Traverse town. Then with 10 seconds to lift off, Sora opened the hatch and jumped out. Once he landed safely in the water that surrounded the Hollow Bastion castle, he pulled the exterior hatch lever and watched as it warped off into the sky, resembling a distant star. He was now alone, stranded on the desolate world Hollow Bastion, with nothing but his heart to guide him.
-Back on Traverse Town/Hundred Acre Wood-
It was well into morning before Goofy, Donald, and the rest of their newly made friends in Hundred-Acre Wood, began to stir. Goofy, who was the first to wake, yawned lazily and slowly sat up while rubbing his eyes. Squinting from the light, he looked around to see who all still slumbered. However, when he looked to his left he noticed that Sora was gone. Panicking he jumped up and started to shake Donald awake.
"Donald! Donald! Wake up! Sora's gone!" swatting at goofy and rolling over, Donald mumbled a groggy response to Goofy.
"Y-yeah that's nice, Goofy...goodnight..." he began to snore.
"Donald! Get UP!" Goofy shouted, continuing to shake the small duck. He's really gone!" Goofy only got more mangled mumbling until Donald paused and jolted his eyes open. They shone bright red.
"WHAAAAAAAAT!" Donald shouted, hopping up from where he was lying and looking over to his right, hoping it was just a joke.
"Wh-where'd he go?" he asked in a panic.
"I dunno, I just woke up and saw he was gone!" Gawrsh! Where could he have run off ta?" Donald paused for a moment thinking, and then, almost as if he'd been hit with a bolt of lightening, he stood up.
"I think I might know where he went to, lets go!" with that Donald began to bolt for the portal that led to Traverse town, Goofy trailing behind.
-Back on Hollow Bastion-
Sora trudged slowly through the dark water that seemed to be pouring endlessly from the waterfalls that surrounded the castle. Finally after what seemed like hours, he reached what appeared to be a floating platform and upon looking up he noticed there were many of them and they all looked as though they lead to the entrance of the Castle. So without any further thought he jumped up onto the platform when it reached his level. As he floated upward he quickly scanned the area and decided which platforms would lead him to the castle fastest. Memorizing his path, he began to hop form one floating ledge to the next, each one feeling like liquid beneath his feet. A few times he lost his balance and almost fell but he was determined to succeed. Finally he reached the last ledge and then glided onto the raised land that connected to the bridge to the castle.
'This is way to easy.' He thought. "There has to be more to this than a simple game of leap frog...' But, no matter how many times he looked back and forth he found nothing threatening about the place. Sora took a step closer towards the bridge then paused. Seeing how nothing happened, he took another, then another until he was walking normally. He had now stepped onto the bridge. Continuing to take things step by step he soon became inpatient and kicked his pace up to a run. When he was halfway down the bridge, his worst fears came true. A large puff of black smoke appeared in front of him to the far left and he paused, fixing his line of sight on what was taking shape before his eyes. Once formed, the figure was a round bulb shaped heartless that had teeth resembling claws. It floated towards him, and he summoned the Keyblade. Once within reach, Sora lashed out at it and with one long slash the creature erupted into smoke and disappeared.
"What the?" he wondered..."Is that it?" he stood dumbfounded for a moment then he began to proceed towards the end of the bridge. He was there, finally at the entrance to Hollow bastion, he was going to find Kairi and save Riku, or at least try. Stepping off of the bridge, the same black cloud of smoke appeared again before him, almost as though his footstep triggered it. However, this time it was different. There were many different aura's, he lost count at 11 and they all blocked his entryway to the castle. He had been spotted, and playtime was over. Summoning his keyblade, and his courage, he rushed at them all, giving all of his strength into each swing.
-Inside Hollow Bastion's Castle, The chapel-
While Sora battled the countless heartless that were preventing him from entering the castle, and while Donald and Goofy were trying to figure out where their friend had gone; Maleficent, Hades, Jafar, Hook, Ursula, and Oogie Boogie all stood around a small cylindrical table that held a scrying mirror showing Sora battling the heartless. Finally Hades decided to break the silence.
"Well, well, well, looks like the little brat decided to show up after all, and alone at that. If that's not stupid I don't know what is."
"Well there's always your choice of hairstyle." Hook responded, snickering.
"Hey! What the heck do you expect? I'm the frickin god of the underworld? You want me to have a head full of roses?" Hades shouted back, getting angry.
"Quiet down you two, please..." Maleficent ordered in a cool tone.
"You will ruin the moment. We all should be joyous on this occasion. Our most sought target has willingly placed himself at our grasp. Now, how shall we handle this? He won't give in that easily. But that keyblade shouldn't be too difficult to obtain."
"I'll go." A cold yet familiar voice volunteered from the shadows.
"Ah, yes our young protégé. Do you wish to bring him to us?" with that the cold voice stepped out from the shadows and revealed himself to be Riku. His eyes had turned from their calm bluish-greenish color to a stone cold black, his hair no longer had its godly silver shine either; it had faded to a grayish black. His island clothes had been replaced with a tight black suit decorated with oddly colored stripes and he wore shoes that had spikes on the end.
"Yes, I would be honored." He replied while bowing. Maleficent seemed to ponder his offer for a moment, then, as a malevolent grin creeped across her face, she gingerly placed her hand on his head.
"Then go, and bring him to us. Do not injure him too severely for then he will be of no use to us for interrogation. I simply ask that you weaken him to the point that escape is nearly impossible. I trust you'll know when to stop?" she asked.
"Yes, I will obey your orders, lady Maleficent."
"Good, now go." With that, Riku disappeared in a puff of blackish-blue smoke and Maleficent turned around to face the others.
"Prepare yourselves, he will not be easy to break." She ordered, and with that she stalked out of the room towards her chambers.
-Back in Traverse Town-
It only took a few moments for Donald and Goofy to reach Traverse town's main square. However upon opening the doors, they looked around and neither of them could see the Gummi ship.
"Just as I thought...he went without us." Donald mumbled
"Whaddya mean, Donald?" Goofy asked innocently.
"Sora... He left without us. How did I know he would do this? Why didn't I watch him more closely last night when he first started acting weird." Donald sighed.
"Well, where do ya think he went to?" Goofy questioned.
"Hollow Bastion, where else, that's where we all were supposed to head to. He can't do this alone, but how are we supposed to get there, he took the ship!" Just then almost as if Donald's words had summoned it, the Gummi ship appeared in the sky and in an instant landed not 10 feet from him with a hard slam, knocking him off of his feet.
"Hey look, Donald!" Goofy shouted, "It's the ship!" Donald, struggling to get to his feet, was speechless.
"Maybe Sora's on it!" he added, bolting to the ships hatch. Donald, who was beginning to snap out of his stupor eventually followed. Upon reaching the ship, Donald began to notice that there had been damage done to the exterior. Damage ranging on severe. Goofy, however, had already pulled the hatch door lever and stepped in, he began to call for Sora.
"Sora! Oh, Sora! Are ya in here?" Goofy looked all over, even under the control panel station, but nothing suggested his presence. He walked back to the door.
"He's not in here, Donald." Donald, who was now on the other side of the ship still checking out the damage, took a moment before responding.
"I kind of had that feeling already, Goofy. He must've placed the ship on Auto-Pilot so it would make its way back here safely. Not safe enough though, the Gummi has taken a lot of damage from enemy ships, its going to take a few days for us to repair. Maybe even a week tops, and I don't know if he can survive that long on his own..." Donald trailed off. A look of grave concern on his face.
"Well, what're we waiting for? Lets get started now! The sooner we start, the sooner we get done and the sooner we get done, the sooner we can get ta Sora!" Goofy shouted enthusiastically. Donald, turning his gaze to goofy, paused for a moment more then spoke.
"Ok, lets go!" and with that, they both ran back to the wooden doors that led to Traverse towns main square.
-Hollow Bastion, Entryway-
Back on Hollow Bastion, Sora was still fighting the countless heartless that kept appearing. He was trying to conserve magic power but it was getting difficult, nearly every chain attack that he unleashed just drained him further. He also had sustained some slight damage from a dragon heartless. It had left long, thin claw marks in his back and with each swing, they burned from being ripped open further. Slashing through the last bulb shaped heartless, Sora finally realized how close he was to the doors. It was now or never, he was going to have to run for it. Looking behind him once more he saw the same familiar puffs of smoke appearing and before they took full shape, Sora bolted for the doors, reaching them in only mere seconds, he pushed the heavy doors open with all of his weight and slid in through the tiny crack made by his efforts. Once inside, he dropped his keyblade on the marble floor and slinked down against the door, out of breath.
"Maybe I can rest here a little while..." Sora thought out loud. Laying his head back against the door, he closed his eyes and took deep breaths. He felt every muscle and joint relaxing their achy tiredness. The castle was so quiet, he felt he could almost sleep, at least until the silence was broken by a familiar yet cold and menacing voice.
"Awww, is the little keybearer tired?" the voice teased. Sora, snapping his eyes open, leapt up to his feet, keyblade in hand, and looked around for the source of the voice, but he found no body. The great hall was huge and grand in its beauty, but it also held a stillness and it felt like he was being watched by a million eyes.
"Who's there! Show yourself!" he shouted angrily.
"I thought you'd never ask..." the voice responded and in the middle of the room, a large collection of black and bluish smoke appeared and when it dissipated, there stood Riku. Sora gasped, nearly dropping his keyblade, he could barely recognize his old friend, evil and darkness had warped his once kind features, he held a gaze that could still a snake and Sora couldn't help but feel pure hatred and blood lust radiating off from his body.
"R-Riku? Is that you?" he asked, staring blankly at the being before him.
"In the flesh, who else would it be, Sora?" Riku responded, spitting his name out like it was a dreaded disease.
"Why are you doing this, Riku? Why are you on their side?" Sora asked, stepping closer.
"There really is no direct reason, Sora." He began. "Would the fact that I like to see you suffer be enough of an answer for you?" he asked in a playful tone that sent shivers up Sora's spine.
"Why? What did I do to make you feel that way?" Sora asked, his words were soaked with hurt and he didn't bother hiding it.
"Are you going to tell me our friendship on Destiny Island was all fake? That you hated me then too, but just put on a constant smile about it?" Sora, taking a step closer, could see a small twinge of emotion spark on Riku's face. But it disappeared just as quickly as it came.
"I do not have time for small talk with you, Sora. I have orders, and I plan on following them." With that Riku's whole body became engulfed in a dark purple-ish light and when the light faded, he summoned a long blade into his hand. Sora, taken back a few steps by his strong aura, held the keyblade tight at his side.
"I don't want to fight you, Riku." He pleaded.
"Ok, just stand there then." Riku shouted back, lunging at him. Sora saw the attack coming and raised his keyblade up to block Riku's sword that fell right below his neck. Riku's strength was incredible, Sora didn't know how much longer he would be able to hold him off. Then in one quick movement, he was able to throw Riku off to the side. Riku landed on his feet and without taking a break, lunged at Sora again, but this time it split into a series of sword slashes. Sora, attempting to block them all, did not notice that Riku was slowly backing him into a corner.
"You've gotten a little better." Riku shouted over the clangs of their weapons meeting.
"But you're still not good enough!" And with that Riku paused in his attack and drawing up his energy he slashed at Sora with all his might, knocking the keyblade out of Sora's hands and off into one of the shadowy corners of the hall. Sora, dumbfounded by what had just happened, had no chance of blocking Riku's sword, which came slashing across his chest from his upper left shoulder down to his right side. The attack sent Sora stumbling backward and onto the ground.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" I warned that you were no match for me, Sora." Riku teased. Sora, who was now soaked in his own blood and in severe pain, found the strength to lift himself up on his palms and finally stand, but unsteadily. He stared at Riku in defiance, and taking notice, Riku's laughter ceased.
"Oh, does he want more?" Riku asked mockingly and then in a flash of purple-ish light, he flew into Sora, grabbing him by the neck and slamming him into the marble wall on the other side of the room. Sora gasped from the impact and struggled to collect his blurring vision. Riku, not wasting a moment, drew his sword from his back and without any hesitation, he slammed it into Sora's side. Sora's eyes widened in pain and he gritted his teeth, refusing to scream. He would not allow himself to, for if he did, Riku really would win. Riku, noting this began to twist the blade that was now completely through Sora, protruding from his back. Sora hissed in pain, but still refused to scream. Riku tightened his grip on Sora's neck.
"Give in to me, Sora. It's over and you know it." Riku stated flatly. Leaning in closer to the point where he and Sora's faces were touching, he allowed his grasp on Sora's neck to slightly loosen. "You know you can't resist...no matter how much you may want to. Just stop trying... " He whispered seductively while licking Sora's ear. Sora, cringing, stared back at Riku with pure disgust.
"N-never..." he managed to choke out through Riku's grasp on his throat. Riku grew angry with this and in a quick moment he withdrew his sword from Sora's bleeding torso and began to assault Sora with a chain of punches to the chest. Each impact felt like a boulder crushing his ribcage, but Sora refused to scream, all he allowed to escape was his air as each punch drew it from his lungs. He heard 2 of his ribs break then 4 then 5 each one causing him more and more pain, until finally Riku stopped.
"Had enough yet?" Riku asked. Sora, now on the verge of passing out, refused to answer, he simply looked into Riku's cold eyes with the same look as before. But this time something was different with Riku. A line of tears had stained each cheek. Even though the look that Riku held for Sora gave off the feeling of hatred, the tears gave off a feeling of sadness and remorse for what he was doing to his long time friend. Trying his best to speak, Sora raised one hand up and rested it on Riku's hand that was still choking him.
"Riku, you...don't have...to do this..." he managed to whisper. But with that Riku pulled him forward from the wall and to 1 inch from his face. Sora's eyes widened in fear and surprise.
"Yes, I do..."Riku whispered in an unreadable tone and then he slammed Sora with all his strength back into the wall, making the whole entire hall shake. Sora, who had now lost consciousness, had a line of blood that trickled down from his hair and over his temple. Riku, leaning forward, licked the trail of blood from his face and then let Sora's limp body fall to the floor with a thud. Holding his sword down at his side, he barely noticed Maleficent standing beside him.
"I thought I told you not to injure him too severely." She said emotionlessly.
"I followed your orders, Lady Maleficent, I assure you. He may not look like it, but Sora can sustain a fair amount of damage." Riku responded.
"Fine, then. Bring him into my quarters and place him in restraints. You have done well." With that she disappeared. Riku, now holding a solemn yet stern gaze, collected his fallen friend by the collar and then disappeared with his limp form into his usual puff of smoke. Sora had been captured.
Oo Chapter 3, checked for grammar and slightly revised. NOW I AM EXPECTING REVIEWS ON FUTURE CHAPTERS PEOPLE! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
VashTSGirl45