The End of the Journey and Axel's Tale
Chapter 1 The Start of the End
There was nothing to surround the party now. There was no ground, no ceiling, and no wall. All that was visible were the others, the endless space of black mist and the gigantic doors of Kingdom Hearts which seemed to tower and dominate the entire view. A low whistling seemed to escape it, breaking the silence along with the breathing.
Axel had never been in the infinite Abyss, and had shown until recently no desires whatsoever to do so. Ever since the Organization had fallen and the Darkness was vulnerable he had seized his chance by following Sora to the source of all the worlds, to the essence of the heart. There was a good chance he would never get out of the Abyss in the state and body he was in now but the loss of his heart had never stopped him obtaining what he wanted.
Right now he wore an expression of passionate rage and discreet apprehension at what was in front of him. He felt intolerably nervous and lonely although most of his so-called friends were next to him. He didn't dare look at them and tried to get a glimpse of their faces without moving. He could scarcely see past Goofy, who was wearing a brave and decided expression and was standing to Axels' right. Feeling slightly more confident Axel focused on seeing Cloud's face only to be disappointed by the usual calm and expressionless face.
A part from the whistling coming from Kingdom Hearts the Abyss was completely silent. It was a tense and building silence which indicated only too clearly that it would be broken very soon. It was…
"Contemplate the infinite Abyss" said a deep and powerful voice which seemed too echo around the emptiness. All of them wheeled around to face none other than Ansem himself. His white hair seemed to illuminate the misty space around them. His yellow eyes were passionate and hungry." Although Kingdom Hearts is made of light, the possibility of finding some elsewhere is remote. Here the Darkness is stronger than ever and anywhere"
"You're still wrong!" retorted Sora's voice from behind Goofy." Even in the darkest places there is a light in our hearts that will never go out!"
"For ten years, now, you've been traveling through worlds, fighting the Darkness and you still don't accept what's true. The one who can't understand, is incapable to know. Do you remember those words?"
Sora didn't answer and victorious Ansem snapped his fingers. Suddenly, unwarned a white, glinting ground appeared and Axel could feel himself standing on solid floor, not floating foolishly in the air. The surface seemed to be as endless as the Abyss itself and Axel didn't bother looking for the edges. He kept looking at what Ansem would do next. There was another click with the fingers and a true sea of Shadows appeared in front of the party. They seemed to cover all of the newly born ground instantly. Some appeared out of the sky and floated a few feet above the others while two immense Darksides appeared on either side of the door. The Heartless had been summoned.
"Surrender your hearts to the Darkness. You're impossibly outnumbered" growled Ansem, now menacing but not abandoning his deep and confident voice.
The only reply was the cling of metal as each member of the party instantly grabbed their weapon. This time Axel did look at the rest of his group.
His gaze rested on Riku first. His face was almost as expressionless as Cloud's except it had a shadow of hunger on it, as if he was secretly longing to slash at the millions of Heartless. His scimitar reflected the anger inside the man was prepared to launch itself at any foe coming his way.
Moving further down the party, Axel saw Donald, the small but angry and excited duck. His expression was similar to Goofy's, confident and angry. He had a look of pompousness around him as though this battle was something he would have to go through to feel more important than he already was. His short and comical staff produced a faint electric light, ready to send a blast of magic.
In the middle of the group was Sora, his Keyblade in his hands, ready to strike. He was not looking at anything else than at Ansem but his face wasn't trembling or even scared, he looked confident. It was almost incredible to believe for Axel who had always known Sora to overestimate his enemies, only to defeat them later. This time however Sora seemed to be underestimating Ansem and, very suddenly, a wave of courage swept through Axel's entire body.
Next to story Sora stood King Mickey, his hood removed and his own Keyblade in a prepared and defensive position. He too seemed to be looking at nothing but Ansem, and he too wore the unbelievable expression of confidence. Another wave of hope shot through Axel's veins.
To the king's right stood Goofy, his expression hadn't changed. His shield baring the royal chest gleamed defensively at the Heartless.
At the end of the line Cloud was still standing straight, looking calmly at the Heartless, his expression unreadable. He noticed Axel looking at him and nodded in a conclusive way. Just by bowing his head he became smaller than his black sword.
The group and the sea of Heartless stood still and silent, observing each other attentively. Then the first shadow jumped high in the air followed by a thousand others and pelted straight for various members of the group. Within seconds a wall of shadows had formed itself in front of their leader. Axel could notice Sora and Mickey trying to cut their way through and reach the real enemy. He however was having far bigger problems with burning down several shadows at once. He'd realized his disks would be almost useless before he'd start the battle.
It seemed to last for ever. Hundreds of Heartless were forming a circle around him, often one came out to face Axel but he was immediately reduced to ashes. The man kept turning around in circle blasting apart the shadows in various ways. He had no idea what could be happening with his friends. He once caught a glimpse of Cloud blasting several Heartless at a time and took a peek towards Sora who was performing an acrobatic stunt in the air.
After what seemed ages the circle of Heartless grew bigger and enclosed Axel along with Cloud and Riku. Back to back all three took the chance to scrutinize the others. They saw that Donald and Goofy were also back to back fighting off a larger and tighter group of Heartless but most important of all, they could see Mickey and Sora floating some feet above the ground dueling violently with Ansem. The moment's rest they took was too long and they realized it too late. Three Heartless had lunged themselves at Cloud and pelted him to the ground. By the time Riku and Axel had fought those off a whole wave of them had attacked. They climbed, bit and sunk sharp, invisible nails into the Riku and Axel's skin. Both crumpled next to Cloud and lay immobile for a moment. They were incapable to move a single muscle.
"Get up…" urged Axel but he didn't manage. His head was pointing straight upwards and after minutes of struggling he managed to let out a gasp a Darkside came into view above him. It was over, he could see it coming. The Darkside were the most dangerous Heartless in existence. Every move it made gave Axel a nauseated feeling, knowing he was done for. Just before the Heartless could give him the final blow, however, a red blur flew in front of it and with a slashing noise it disappeared again.
Silence followed, except for the violent fighting between Mickey, Sora and Ansem. Then, very slowly, the Darkside crashed to the ground and dissolved into thin air. Auron appeared in its remnants.
Auron's proud and fierce stature gave Axel hope and strength. He managed to stand up just in time to see Auron take a wild slash around him, dissolving more Heartless. As he kept diving up and down Axel could focus on the other duelers, Mickey and Sora against Ansem.
The duel was fierce and tense but neither of them seemed to be showing any signs of weakness. Ansem kept being pushed back by Mickey and Sora's fast attacks but he recovered fast every time and seemed as though nothing had happened. To be entirely honest the battle seemed repetitive.
Suddenly Mickey was sent crashing into the floor. This action gave Axel a burst of adrenaline and strength and as though he had been running for four days he grabbed one of his disks and sent them flying straight at Ansem. It hung in his chest and once again silence fell as everyone looked at his disbelieving, almost defeated eyes. Suddenly Mickey jumped back into the air along with Riku and in one swift movement all three Keyblade wielders had stuck their weapon in Ansem immobile chest. A slow rumbling started and grew rapidly louder until reaching a climax. Ansem exploded in thousands of small, fluorescent parts.
As if it were a chain reaction the Heartless dissolved all at once leaving the six members of the group alone in front of the towering doors leading to Kingdom Hearts. The whistling was the only noise in the Abyss. It echoed softly through the mist.
All were waiting for a signal to confirm what they had just done. It lasted several seconds before Sora finally let out a very deep sigh and flung himself on the ground, his eyes unfocused and relieved.
"Riku" he said not bothering to look up.
"Yes" answered Riku in a voice that betrayed his relieved feelings." Yes, I think it's over"
"It's not" said Auron's soft and growling voice." The Keyblades have to destroy the door that leads to Kingdom Hearts. Only that way can we all go home relieved..."
"Go home?" asked Goofy disbelievingly. Axel exchanged a dark look with Cloud.
"Yes" said Auron coldly." If the door of Light stays, so will the Darkness and none of us will ever have a hope to go home. We'll just keep fighting Ansem and the Heartless over and over again until we all die. If we destroy the only access to Kingdom Hearts we will all be separated but we will be home and we will leave in peace"
"So once we destroy the door…" started Sora but he was silenced by the looks on Donald and Goofy's faces.
"Once we destroy the door we'll have more or less an hour to go home and make our goodbyes…" said Auron slowly. Axel tried to look at Riku but this one was carefully avoiding eye contact. It wasn't going to be easy.