The Celcius was floating in the middle of space, with no sign of anything in site. Sora frowned.
"These have to be the coordinates…" He said, looking down at the screen. This is where the Destiny Islands should have been, but they weren't there. He frowned. He knew these were the right coordinates; he had them so well memorized since the incident with Kingdom Hearts, he knew he could never forget them. He'd been so looking forward to going back, to seeing Kairi again, he'd made sure he knew them off by heart. He frowned again. Kairi looked out the windows, straining her eyes.
"…What happened?" She asked. Everyone else was all looking at Sora expectantly. He blinked, then sighed. A new idea was forming in his head, and, sadly, it made a lot of sense.
"I know what happened. The Islands were disconnected from the Terminus." He said slowly.
"The Terma-what?…?" Gippal asked, furrowing his eyebrows and nearly crossing his eyes in confusion. Rikku giggled at him. Sora sighed.
"There's a place called the World Terminus. The planets were connected through it. The Islands were once part of the Terminus, but I fought Ansem there. I beat him once, and to regain enough power to fight me again, he removed the Islands from the Terminus to access Kingdom Hearts and rejuvenate himself. That backfired when he found out that the Kingdom Hearts was full of light, but he still permanently disconnected the Islands from the Terminus, so that means the Islands must have been disconnected from the rest of the worlds shortly afterwards…" As he spoke, Kairi watched him with interest. She could see, even if he acted like the same Sora she always knew, that his experiences had scarred him, but at the same time he was wiser, more mature than he let on. He crossed his arms. Kairi blinked at him, her eyes going wide.
"Of course! Sora, that's brilliant!" She cried. Everyone stared at her in surprise. She cleared her throat, blushing a little, and started to explain herself. "Everyone said that once Ansem was defeated and Sora found Kingdom Hearts, the worlds would become disconnected again, like they were before the Heartless came. But they're not, because they're still connected through the World Terminus, except for the Islands. If everyone thought that the planets would be disconnected, they all must have assumed that when Ansem was defeated, the entire End of the World would go with him. The fact that everything's still connected means that the End of the World still exists, and the entrance to Kingdom Hearts is still there." She said breathlessly, grinning. Sora nodded, grinning back at her.
"And since the last place we saw Riku was in Kingdom Hearts, we should be able to find him there, right?" He asked, looking for everyone else's approval. Paine shrugged.
"It seems like as good an idea as any." She said. Rikku nodded in agreement.
"Let's do it!" She shouted. Baralai crossed his arms.
"It seems like a good plan, but I can imagine we'll have to be careful. From what you've told us, it seems to me that this End of the World is the final stronghold of darkness, and if we're ever going to encounter Heartless, that's where they'll be." He said. Sora nodded.
"That's true, but the Heartless shouldn't be a big problem." Sora said, waving his Keyblade through the air. In one smooth movement, he had a new keychain on it and it became a most impressive weapon. "That's what I've got the Oathkeeper for." He glanced at Kairi. She looked back at him, a small smile passing across her lips. Gippal looked both impressed and confused.
"That's cool, but why is it called the Oathkeeper?" He asked. Sora's eyes flashed back to Kairi, whose smile widened. He grinned.
"Because this is Kairi's keychain, and when she gave it to me, she made me promise I'd come back for her." He said simply. Rikku giggled.
"AWW SORA! That's so romantic!" She said, going starry eyed. Paine rolled her eyes at her, while Sora and Kairi both blushed bright red. Paine sighed.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road. Where's this End of the World?"
"It's not far from here." Sora answered, walking over to Buddy and pointing this out to him on the screen while Buddy hit seemingly endless buttons. Then, suddenly, the Celcius lurched forward and they were off once again.
……………………
Part of the way through the trip, Shinra spun his chair around to face the rest of them and cleared his throat proudly.
"Here are the missing weapons." He stated. He handed Tidus his Brotherhood, and then beckoned Emma over. He offered her the Mana Sword, though it looked slightly different from before. Shinra made a face.
"My apologies. Buddy got it from the goddess and stored it on the Celcius, but when I came to collect it for you, it was like this. I tried to fix it, but every time I touched it, it burned me." He said. Emma picked it up cautiously, afraid that it might burn her as well. It didn't. Before, it had a long, straight blade. Now, the blade was rippled and covered with so many engravings that it was hard to make out what shape it had taken. The engravings looped through the steel, creating breathtaking patterns and signs. She smiled at the young Al Bhed.
"It's no problem. I think it's absolutely beautiful." She answered. Next, Shinra stood up in his seat.
"And now for Kairi's weapon. Since she lost her last one, I took the liberty of making her a new one." With that, he held out a clump of cloth, dark red and patterned in gold and navy blue. It was held him place with strips of silvery metal. They all stared at him, having no idea what it was. Shinra grinned proudly. "I present to you the most versatile weapon ever." He said. They all continued to simply stare at him in confusion. His grin widened. "Allow me to demonstrate." He said, holding it out. With a clean flick of his wrist, the clump snapped open. It was a fan. Confusion was still written all over their faces. He twisted his wrist, showing them the back of the fan. Where the 'fingers' of the fan were usually, there were sets of thin blades, hidden just beneath the top of the cloth. "They're throwing knives." He told them. "They're spring loaded, so if you hit this button here…" He touched a shape carved out of the handle, "they'll shoot out. There're three sets loaded in it, and I have extras if you need them." He snapped it shut again. Kairi grinned at him.
"That's very impressive. Thanks." She stated with a smile, reaching for her weapon. Shinra pulled it out of her reach.
"There's more." He answered. Kairi raised her eyebrows. Shinra tossed it into air and caught it by the cloth side. He ran his thumb along the edge of the silver strip, catching a switch. A long metal pole with a sharpened end sprung out of the fan's handle, with a copper wire coiled around it. Everyone watched curiously, no one knowing exactly what it was. He tilted it down until it was a few inches from the floor. Without any warning, electricity jumped from the tip into the floor with a startling crackle.
"It's called a coil blade." He told them. Rikku jumped to her feet.
"I want one of those!" She announced. Shinra retracted the electric staff and crossed his arms.
"Like I'd let you get your hands on one of these. Who knows what kind of damage you'd do to yourself?" He answered sharply. Rikku sat back down, pouting, while Shinra handed the fan to Kairi. She grinned.
"Thanks a lot Shinra, this thing's awesome!"
……………………
The End of the World was a breathtakingly terrible place. The seven of them were standing in a huge cavern, the walls covered in ledges and paths that zigged and zagged through it. All the ground was covered in snow-like shimmer. They stood in a circle around a big hole in the ledge they were currently standing on. Just below in the hole was a circle of light, wisps of shimmering white rising from its surface.
"What is it?" Emma asked finally. Sora shrugged.
"I don't really know, but I do know that it takes you to the World Terminus, so, here goes…" With that, he jumped from the ledge into the whiteness below. He disappeared instantly into it, the white surface rippling like water. Kairi made a face and jumped in after him, her stomach dropping unpleasantly as she hit the light. Her skin tingled as she was temporarily surrounded by light. Then, all at once, she came stumbling out onto a platform. Sora was there waiting for her. She looked around. They were on one of many platforms, seemingly disconnected, forming a circle. Behind her was what looked like a star, small and sparkling white. She jumped back when Rikku jumped out of it with a flash, followed closely by Emma. The edges of the platform were jagged, and the roof above them looked like the same platform, only upside down, suspended slightly so they could see the seemingly endless black around them, as well as the other platforms. Gippal joined them next, followed by Baralai and Paine. Rikku looked around in awe.
"What is this place?" She asked, her voice hushed.
"This is the World Terminus." Sora answered. In the center of the platform was a pillar of coloured light. Sora beckoned for them to follow and walked with not hesitation into the pillar. They all followed him, though more reluctant than he had been. They found themselves in the third district of Traverse Town. Kairi grinned.
"Hey! I know where we are!" She stated. "I wonder if Squall and Yuffie and everyone made it back here safely?" She asked, skipping forward. Sora caught her arm and pulled her back.
"Be careful." He warned. Paine glanced around uneasily.
"I get the feeling that this isn't as it seems." She answered. Emma took one cautious step forward, her eyes shooting from place to place as she expected to find something jumping out at her from any direction. She paused when she saw three spots of black moving around on the ground. They grew into puddles, moving faster. A pair of eyes appeared on one of them and glared up at her. She jumped in surprise and stabbed at it with her sword. All she did was jam her weapon into the ground. She was taken aback, and the creatures took the opportunity. All three jumped out of the ground and leapt at her. Instantly, Sora's Keyblade slashed through all three of them in one swipe. Within the next moment, five Heartless Soldiers appeared. This time when Emma attacked, she hit it. Kairi decided that now was as good a time as any to test out her new weapon. She lashed out at the nearest one with her coil blade, the tip cutting into it and the electricity shooting through it. It leapt back, disoriented and nearly paralyzed for a moment. It parried her next attack and watched her warily. She attacked it again, and this time, its attempt at a block only pinned its arms to its body as the electricity course through it, the shock too much for it. It dropped to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of shadows. The others had dealt with the rest of the Heartless Soldiers. She smiled.
"I like it." She stated. With that, they followed Sora out of the Third District and back into the World Terminus. Each platform's pillar was a doorway to a piece of each world, and every time, there were Heartless waiting to hinder them on their way. Through the Rabbits House, the courtyard outside the Olympic Stadium, the streets of Agrabah, the watery caverns of Atlantis, Oogey's Manor, Hook's ship and the Hundred Acre Wood. Finally, they made it to the last platform on the World Terminus. This time in the center was a gaping hole. Sora walked up to the edge and looked down. Rikku followed him.
"We don't have to go down there, do we?" She asked. Sora nodded.
"We do." He answered indifferently. She frowned.
"Oh pooey." She whined. Gippal walked up to her and slung his arm around her shoulders.
"Aww, is poor Rikku scared?" He asked. She shrugged his arm off her and glared at him.
"Of course not!" She cried, taking a step back. She was on the edge of the hole. She smirked at him and took one last step, dropping it. Sora gasped.
"Wait! Rikku don't!" He shouted after her. He sighed, rolling his eyes and jumped in after her. On the other side, he was caught by the shimmer of fairy dust, thanks to Tinkerbell. Rikku, however, was not. She let out a yelp, free falling with no bottom in sight. Sora shot down after her, summoning Tinkerbell.
"Help her!" He ordered. Tink nodded and shot down after Rikku. A moment later, he heard a sneeze, followed by giggling. Rikku flew up towards him.
"This is fun!" She said, doing a somersault. Sora shrugged.
"It's a good thing I had Tinkerbell, or we would have been in big trouble." He answered, beckoning for her to follow him back up. They popped out of the hole and landed gracefully on the platform. Rikku jumped up, expecting to be caught by the fairy dust again, but instead landed not-so gracefully on her knees on the ground.
"Hey! That's not cool!" She decided. Sora shrugged.
"The dust only works in certain places. Here is not one of them." He answered. "Now, before anyone else does that…" He summoned Tinkerbell again, and she sprinkled the dust of everyone, followed by a chorus of sneezes.
"What is this stuff?" Baralai asked. Sora grinned.
"Fairy dust. Now we can jump." He told them.
"And we couldn't before…?" Paine asked slowly. Sora made a face.
"Trust me, you'll see." With that, he jumped.
……………………
They made it to the Final Rest without much more difficulty, meeting with only few other Heartless. They all stood in silence before the door.
"…Is this it?" Emma asked, breaking the silence. Sora shook his head.
"It's on the other side of this door." He answered simply. Not saying any more, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, unsure of what they would find. They found themselves standing on a dirt road, surrounded on all sides by fields of green grass dotted with trees. A cloudless blue sky was high over their head, a brilliantly bright sun shining.
"Where are we?" Paine asked. She wasn't sure what she had expected to find, but this certainly wasn't it. Sora sighed.
"This is the Years Road. I should have known. The door to Kingdom Hearts here was locked. We can't get to Riku from here. Sorry guys." He said sadly. Kairi watched him.
"It's not your fault Sora. It's okay. We just have to find another way. There will always be a door to the light, remember?"