A/N: Goodness gracious, this chapter was a job and a half to write. Since it's the dawn of the final battle, the weight of pulling off a great chapter to match the incredible situation fell heavy on my shoulders. I still have a long way to go when it comes to working out those anxieties, I suppose. :( Regardless, I hope you enjoy following our heroes as they take their first steps into this journey's epic conclusion!
The salt of the sea spray danced on her skin as the warm sand caressed her cheek. These were the days she lived for, the days she'd sacrifice body and soul to keep. Soon she'd hear the clicks and clanks of Sora and Riku's toy swords in the distance. Soon she'd hear Selphie scold Tidus for one reason or another. Soon Kairi would come prod her awake, though she'd instantly dismiss her with the wave of her hand. Just five more minutes. Five more minutes was all she asked for.
Just five more minutes in this perfect illusion she was too afraid to wake from; though she knew deep down that all dreams must come to an end.
"Akira, wake up," Donald spoke calmly, though a tinge of nervousness plagued his voice.
Her eyes fluttered open as she pulled herself into a sitting position, dusting the remaining sand from her face. It all felt so real; the roll of the tide on the shore, the massive palm trees swaying in the wind, even the nicks on the makeshift wooden dock were exactly where she remembered them. Whoever made this had quite the eye for detail… or perhaps he simply recreated whatever memory the boy possessed; the friend he had so maliciously taken from them.
"Is this… this can't be our island," Sora said anxiously, scanning their surroundings.
"It's not. It can't be," Akira answered as she pulled herself to her feet, "We saw the Destiny Islands earlier, or whatever was left of them."
"You don't think Ansem made all this just to mess with us, do ya?" Goofy asked.
Donald crossed his arms. "I wouldn't put it past him."
They took a few cautious steps toward the beach, watching for any dangers that may lurk out of sight. An unsettling quiet blanketed the island. Sora remembered the silence on the Destiny Islands to be peaceful, calming and comforting; this one simply left a knot in the pit of his stomach. Though, he'd trade the horrific sound that followed for this strange quiet any day…
"This world has been connected. Tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed," spoke the low, husky, malevolent voice. Sora felt the hairs on the nape of his neck stand on end. Those were the exact words the strange visitor exchanged with him in the secret place. Then, could that visitor that came through the door so long ago… could it have been Ansem himself?
"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little."
"Who's saying that? Who's there?" Donald shouted into the open.
The ground rumbled beneath their feet with enough vigour to match an earthquake. The islet, along with all bridges and walkways leading to it, vanished from sight as the clear, blue ocean began to take on a sinister purple hue. The waters churned and frothed as the liquid oozed onto the island, cracking the very earth beneath the sand. The rumbling grew fiercer, knocking Donald off his feet and into Goofy's arms. With a final, ear-splitting crack, the island ripped apart.
Akira stumbled as the tremors began to subside. Sora grabbed her arm, keeping her on her feet, though he could not tear his eyes away from the wicked sight that now lay before them. Portions of the island were literally ripped from the land, leaving deep, purple craters. Trees, earth, and sand protruded from the ground in all directions, their underside matching the sickening colour of the ocean. It looked as if all they had come to love of their home was nothing more than a page in a pop-up book, torn and frayed like old paper.
"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing."
Sora almost let out a cry of frustration, but a gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him. Akira softly shook her head as his eyes met hers. This was just what Ansem wanted, for them to falter and stumble; they couldn't fall for any of his tricks, not this late in the game. He nodded in understanding before focusing his attention on the ominous figure that made his appearance on the edge of the now broken shore.
Clothed in his unsettling dark outfit from Hollow Bastion, Riku gazed at the endless abyss with a smirk on his lips. The group cautiously approached him, keeping a safe distance between them. Akira clenched her teeth as they closed the distance; to not only show them the ruins of their home but to also speak through Riku's body? Ansem truly was a despicable coward…
"Take a look at this tiny place," Riku spoke, but the voice escaping his lips was not his own, "To the heart seeking freedom, this island is a prison surrounded by water. And so this boy sought out to escape from his prison." He raised his arms, the wind gusting through his hair as he gazed at the sky. "He sought a way to cross over into other worlds, and he opened his heart to darkness."
As Riku turned to face them, they barely had the chance to see his devilish smirk before his appearance melted away in a sea of dark smoke, replaced by Ansem's threatening true form. He grinned gleefully at the group before him, for they had stepped right into his domain. The last obstacle he must overcome before all the powers of the universe would be his to control…
"Riku!" Sora called, but to no avail.
Ansem chuckled. "Don't bother. Your voice can no longer reach him where he is. His heart belongs again to darkness. All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different."
"He's… he's lying," Akira hissed through her teeth. It couldn't be true. She wouldn't believe it. Everything they had done, every step they had taken to get to this moment… it couldn't have been for nothing. Everything begins and ends in darkness? What a farce.
Ansem crossed his arms, continuing his tirade. "Darkness sprouts within it, it grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came." His voice amplified as he spoke, each word dripping with malice. "For you see… darkness is the heart's true essence."
"That's not true!"
Sora's voice rang loud and clear. He spoke with the firm resolve that had kept his spirits high since the moment this adventure began. And as his friends stood by his side, silently echoing his sentiments, he knew his words were strong and true. "The heart may be weak. And sometimes, it may even give in. But I've learned that deep down there's a light that never goes out!"
Through piercing yellow eyes, Ansem stared them down as his lips formed a smirk. "So, you have come this far and still you understand nothing." He softly levitated off the ground, his coat flapping in the soft breeze as a pool of darkness spilled behind him. A brawny Heartless emerged from it, its teeth bared. It hungrily watched its prey through beady yellow eyes, thick constraints covering its torso that bore a hollowed-out heart shape. Ansem welcomed his guardian to the fray, ready to take on his enemies in battle. "Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!"
Sora, Akira, Donald, and Goofy pulled their weapons out, readying themselves for battle. Everything was riding on this; only one obstacle remained between them and their goal. They would not allow the dark future he spoke of to come to pass. Even Akira's staff joined the fray, speaking to her with conviction as its metallic surface burned in her palm.
This is it. This is what it has come to. Now is not the time to falter. The darkness holds no power over you, as long as the light within your heart keeps burning. Your fates are in your hands. Go forth and cut yourselves a path to a brilliant new dawn!
Akira nodded and joined her comrades in the fight.
The guardian spared no moment of reprieve. It released slashes of gusting darkness from its fist, targeting the heroes from afar. They dodged without a second to spare, but the guardian gave them no moment to catch their breath and prepare themselves anew. It continued its relentless assault as Ansem inched closer, keeping his arms crossed as he smirked confidently.
"Come and fight us yourself, you coward!" Donald cried as he released a Firaga spell, aiming it for Ansem. The guardian extended its long arm and swatted the fire spell away from its master, releasing a low and guttural growl from its throat as it eyed the duck with disdain.
"Don't provoke him, Donald!" Sora scolded. He hated to admit that Donald's antagonizing did buy him a few precious seconds to launch his Keyblade at Ansem like a boomerang, getting the chance to attack his enemy while the guardian was occupied. However, he feared the guardian's ire just a smidgen more.
And just as Sora had predicted, the guardian wailed ferociously when it realized he had used its momentary lapse in judgement to attack its master. It placed itself before Ansem, spreading its arms out to protect him from any enemy that dared approach him. Goofy had unfortunately timed his attack too late, sending his shield flying towards Ansem just as the guardian fortified him. The shield bounced off the Heartless with a clang, falling to the sandy ground. The guardian was near invincible; not even Donald's magic could cut through its impenetrable exterior. However, what the guardian made up for in defense, it lacked in reach.
Akira took her turn, brandishing her staff as she bolted towards Ansem from behind. His front was secure, but his back was wide open; if she could just be quick enough, she'd get in a few hits before the guardian noticed. Yet, she didn't account for Ansem himself catching her out of the corner of his eye, smirking at the naive fool that had hoped to best the likes of him. "Submit!" he cried.
As she raised her blade into the air, Akira suddenly found herself unable to move. In the blink of an eye, the guardian whirled behind Ansem and grabbed at her wrist and ankle, immobilizing her. She frantically attempted to pull herself away but to no avail; the guardian held her dominant hand in a vise-like grip, making any use of her weapon impossible.
"Ugh, let go!" she struggled, pulling her wrist and leg every which way in a desperate attempt to free herself. The guardian bared its teeth at her, watching her through beady yellow eyes as its master readied an attack of his own. Without so much as uttering a word, Ansem summoned a cage of lightning, surrounding himself with it as he gently floated towards her. There was no escape; he smirked with contempt as he drew ever closer, his guardian keeping her immobilized in her spot.
Yet she couldn't be bothered to care for her imminent doom. Something ever so strange caught her eye. Something she had only ever seen once before. Behind the hunger and voracity in the guardian's eyes, she caught a glimpse of something more.
The Heartless' eyes had always been vacant and soulless beyond their primal fury. Yet, when Sora's Heartless showed itself to her in Hollow Bastion, she had seen a serene gentleness that only Sora himself could replicate. And as she gazed into the guardian's eyes while it held her captive, she couldn't help but see what raged beyond. She saw sadness, fear and, dare she even say, loneliness…
"What's wrong?" she asked intuitively. The rage she perceived wasn't instinctual, but rather sorrowful. The horrors this Heartless had seen were too numerous and too great to disregard. The more lucid corners of her mind toyed with the idea of this guardian to be some grotesque form of Riku, but she dismissed the thought. It was certainly reminiscent of her old friend, but something wasn't quite right. However, there was one thing she was certain about: when she made her inquiry, the guardian's grip softened ever so slightly, and she couldn't simply ignore that.
"Take this!"
Sora's voice echoed through the air as he brought his Keyblade down on Ansem's back, effortlessly passing it through the openings of the electric cage. Ansem stumbled through the air, his spell fizzling as he regained his balance. The guardian released Akira, snarling in Sora's direction. It balled its hand into a fist, slamming it into the sand as Sora narrowly dodged its punch by the skin of his teeth.
Donald and Goofy baited the guardian away as Sora focused on Ansem, giving Akira a moment of respite to regain her balance. She shook the leftover prickling sensation from her wrist, readying her staff once more for battle.
What happened, Akira?
If only she knew herself. "I-I don't know," she stuttered, gritting her teeth as she closed the distance between herself and Ansem.
Keep yourself focused. You do not want to be caught off guard at a time like this.
"Tell me something I don't know," she hissed.
Goofy raised his shield, protecting Donald and himself from the guardian's repeated blows as they bought Sora and Akira time to attack its master. Sora somersaulted into a slashing attack with his Keyblade while Akira followed up with a crashing thunder spell. Confused, the guardian whirled around Ansem once more, preparing to attack the teens as it left its master wide open for Donald and Goofy to continue their assault. They pincered him from both sides, denying him any chance of a possibly deadly counterattack.
Ansem's smirk had long since faded. Alone, each foolish fighter was a breeze; but their strength came in numbers, and he came prepared for such a situation. However, tainting their hearts in despair first would surely give him the upper hand…
He levitated high beyond their reach, dismissing his guardian in the process. Crossing his arms once more, he gently floated towards the mainland. Yet, as Ansem approached the secret place, a deafening crack was heard, and the ground began to rumble beneath their feet. The gargantuan trees that sprouted from the island ripped in half, revealing a massive purple crater as remnants of wood and leaves tumbled to the ground. Ansem slowly came to stop within the newly opened crater, smirking confidently at the group as he silently beckoned them to follow him.
They had no choice but to do as he wished. Nodding confidently to each other, they dashed across the demolished beach towards their target with Sora leading the way. Yet, as soon as he hopped over the ledge and into the ominous crater, his comrades found themselves colliding face first into an invisible barrier. Sora quickly whirled around to face them as Donald's agonizing quack rang through the air. All three of them had fallen off their feet, rubbing the painful parts of their faces as they shook off their sudden dizziness.
"N-not again…" Akira groaned, recalling the similar pain she felt when she crashed into the barrier in Hollow Bastion's great hall.
Goofy scrambled to his feet, shaking off the prickling sensation in his nose. "Oh no, we can't get through!"
"I'm starting to get really tired of this!" Donald yelled furiously as Akira helped him to his feet.
"Guys!" Sora raced towards the invisible barrier, pressing his hands against it as he anxiously watched his friends. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"We're okay!" Akira called, "Just a little shaken."
"Aw, phooey! What does he think he'll gain by separating us like this?" Donald cried, angrily smacking his staff on the barrier's surface.
His answer came quickly, for the earth beneath Sora's feet rumbled once more. A swirling pool of darkness flooded the ground before him, gurgling and bubbling as a horrific beast began to emerge from its depths. Cloaked in ebony, the monster rose from the earth, curling its fingers as tendrils of darkness snaked around its face, leaving only enough room for its yellow eyes to pierce through Sora's soul. He gasped in horror at the sight of a hollow heart shape on the beast's chest, taken aback. The Heartless' size and hungry eyes were certainly intimidating, but the sickening feeling of déjà vu did more to feed his fear than anything else.
This was the Heartless that destroyed his home, the one he had vanquished with the power of his Keyblade. He furrowed his brows in anger, clutching his weapon tightly in his hands. He had defeated it once before, and he'll be damned if he didn't do it again.
Akira pursed her lips at the sight, balling her hands into fists. This was a cruel trick for Ansem to play, but they would not be bested so easily. "Be careful, Sora!" she called.
"You take care of that Heartless and leave this barrier to us!" Goofy exclaimed.
Sora nodded in understanding. Not a trace of hesitation was in their eyes as they watched him from beyond the barrier. With a final grateful smile, he turned his attention to the massive Heartless, ready for battle.
Just as it had done during their first encounter, the Heartless raised its burly fist and smashed it into the ground, sending a shockwave across the earth. Sora anticipated this trick and leaped over the pulse. He stumbled slightly on his landing but regained his balance fairly quickly. The Heartless' immense frame made its movements slow and sluggish, giving Sora plenty of opportunities to unleash quick blows with his Keyblade. However, its lack of movement was greatly overshadowed by its immense strength and resilience; it was a battle of endurance at this point, and Sora was quickly getting winded from all the movement. The Heartless prepared its next attack, reaching its colossal arm into the ground below. It pulled a massive orb of dark energy from the earth, sharing its weight in both its hands as it slowly raised it into the air. Sora sensed the danger and quickly slashed at the Heartless' leg as fast as he could, hoping to lay waste to it before it could attack. With a massive intake of breath, he focused all his remaining strength and brought down his Keyblade onto the beast.
The Heartless shuddered. The orb shattered in its hands, sending hundreds of dark energy shards raining from the sky. Sora sidestepped as he dashed towards his friends, narrowly dodging the shards as they threatened to crash into him. They fell to the ground, disintegrating into the earth as the Heartless dropped its arms in defeat.
Sora skidded to a halt in front of the barrier, bashing his fist against it as his friends rhythmically slammed their weapons on it from the other side. "No luck?" he asked breathlessly, still winded from his fight.
"Not even a scratch," Goofy said dejectedly as they dropped their arms to their sides.
"You beat the Heartless, right?" Donald asked, tapping his foot on the ground. "Then why didn't this disappear?"
A cold chill suddenly filled the air. They exchanged nervous glances as they felt the air around them begin to pick up. What remained of the trees swayed wildly with the increasing wind, their leaves filling the air with an almost deafening rustle.
Goofy audibly gulped at the encroaching storm. "I don't think we're in the clear just yet, fellas…"
Akira felt a small tug at her ankle. Looking down, she gasped at the sight, her eyes widening in fear. Without even having realized it, she, Donald, and Goofy were suddenly ankle-deep in an ever-growing pool of darkness. It yanked at them like quicksand, leaving no room for them to struggle against its pull as they sank further with each passing second. "This is bad. This is really, really bad, guys!" she panicked.
Donald quacked in distress. Goofy grabbed at vegetation sprouting from the sandy ground in a last-ditch effort to pull himself to safety only to have it snap in his fingers. Akira flailed her arms, digging her nails through the sand to no avail. The darkness pulled at them with a strength beyond their own and, no matter how much they struggled, it was only a matter of time before they'd be completely swallowed.
Sora banged his fists against the impenetrable barrier, shouting his frustrations. "Guys, just hold on! Guys? Guys!?" He watched in sheer horror as they desperately struggled to free themselves, unable to do anything to help behind his prison. Soon, their fearful shrieks became muffled and silent as they completely disappeared into the darkness below.
"Donald! Goofy! Akira!" he cried urgently, smacking the barrier one final time before giving up. He gritted his teeth in anger as his brows furrowed. If Ansem believed that separating him from his allies would demoralize him, then he had another thing coming. He swore he'd defeat this villain once and for all and restore all the worlds taken by the darkness. If he had to add freeing his friends from Ansem's clutches to that list, then so be it. Kairi's charm felt heavy in his pocket, a constant reminder of his everlasting oath.
The Heartless groaned behind him. He whirled around, watching in surprise as it struggled to keep itself standing. He had beaten it, didn't he? Usually Heartless vanished in smoke when they met their end, releasing their captive hearts. Why was this one still standing? Did he misjudge its defeat? No, it simply couldn't be…
"Oh no… no, no, no!" Sora cried as the Heartless stumbled over its feet and lost its balance. There was nowhere he could run and shield himself from the oncoming hit. He scrambled to every corner of the crater as the Heartless began to fall, desperately pressing his hands against the barrier in the hopes of finding some way out. He felt his heart beat fast as he hopelessly fell to his knees, his eyes catching the terrifying sight of the Heartless' massive shadow quickly covering the ground below him.
The Heartless crashed into him as it collided with the ground before everything went dark.