O.O Fuck, 12 reviews! Now I NEED to update! (dances for joy) You have no idea how happy they made me! Heck, the only reason I'm writing this now is because you guys reviewed! If I got less then ten, I wouldn't write at all. I'm starting to get the feeling that this story is a dud. But... as long as there is one person out there who still wants me to update, I will finish it.
So please enjoy the next chapter! And for others, if you haven't read Two Sides of a Coin, please go do so! I could use the feed back. Thanks!
P.S: This chapter is dedicated to Yuna's Aeon. She's (I think female o.o;;) reviewed all my fics and has told me, in each one, to update this. She gave me the idea to get my ass in gear and type. So, um, yeah. Y.A., this is for you!
Destiny Islands
The breeze was warm against his breeze. But why did it feel so cold?
How did he feel it?
He felt nothing. Nothing... nothing...
Twice. Twice he was ripped away, hearts left in pieces with only the tiniest ray of hope to melt the fallen pieces back together. But now those pieces had left them and shattered into memories and hollow emotions, twirling after Sora and into his grave.
...Sora...
...I... I never got the chance... to say good bye... or to... or to say... I'm sorry...
So tight. His chest seared with white hot pain, waves of guilt tumbling down and wrapping around him securely with it's icy coldness. He felt so hollow... so much hurt... he couldn't stand it.
Couldn't it have been me?
Twice his best friend had died. And three times he had betrayed him. Three times he had never said how sorry he felt.
All because of my God damned pride!
Give him a sign. His eyes were clenches shut. Fists shut so tightly that the nail sunk into the tender flesh of his palm, drawing bright red blood that made a quick trail down his hand onto the pale sand below.
Storm clouds rumbled high above him. Riku stood so still. So still. He was beginning to think he was dead. He had died standing. This must be how it felt to die. To feel so guilty, to miss so much, to lose so much... who couldn't die? He couldn't stand it.
Please! Let me follow him!
The red splotches on the sand from the silver-haired teen intermingled with the wet splotches of fresh island rain water. So pure.
Sore was pure, too...
They were crying. Everything was. Those pure, clean rain drops fell like tears. Too pure. But not pure enough. It wasn't enough for Sora. Sora deserved so much more. He deserved a thousand apologies. Some ease from his pain. Something. Everything.
And Riku had abandoned him. And left Sora empty-handed.
Deliver him...
His head loped back on his beck. So empty... his body was empty. He floated somewhere above, mixing in with the pure wind. It singed his skin with it's sweetness, and he knew at once he didn't deserve it. But Sora did. But he was dead, wasn't he? Why couldn't Riku have died instead? The young brunette had done so much, given so much, received so little.
Fate had chewed up everything and spat it in his face.
Deliver him back to us...
No. Fate couldn't have Sora back. Three was something deep inside of Riku's heart... he could feel it.
There was always a part of Sora Riku's heart. Something running deeper then anything else. Closer then family, then lovers, then friends. Sora was a part of Riku... and he knew he was a part of Sora's.
And he could still feel that part. The only bit of warmth that kept him from freezing and falling into an early grave... and sailing off the nearest cliff into the storm-driven madness of the waves.
Sora was still there. Riku could feel it deep in his bones.
There was something wrong with this death. He didn't feel as hollow as he knew he should feel. That part of Sora... was cold. But it was there. It was alive.
And so was Sora.
His silver eye brows furrowed. It shot tiny jolts of pain jolting through his body at even the simplest movement. The rain was cold, so cold. But still pure. Like Sora.
Sora was cold, but there. And cold wasn't real; it was only the absence of heat.
And Riku would give him back that heat.
Even if it killed him.
Sora
"That would be us."
Sora blinked. And then he blinked again. Nope, not getting anything.
But their voices... they painted a perfect picture in his mind. He could feel the coldness of the tone of voice vibrating in the air, turning it to ice. Sora felt like he was trapped in solid ice, breath choked out of him. So cold.. all he got was cold.
Cold. Coldcoldcold.
"Who... who are you?" Sora whispered. His words tumbled out from his mouth and seemed to rebound from his surroundings and back to his own ears, like it was someone else speaking. He wasn't even sure if they heard him. He felt like he was in a separate room and trying to talk through a wall.
"Your saviors."
And then it all cracked.
The ground beneath him trembled and he heard a distant shattering and a gentle breeze that grew harder with every second, with every beat of his heart. He was shocked to know his own heart was still beating.
Something is coming
The feeling gnawed away at him in his stomach. Something huge was coming his way. But he couldn't see it. He could hear it. He could feel it.
Run.
He couldn't run. His feet were trapped in ditches in the crumbling ground. What ground? Three was no ground.
And then came the fall.
He couldn't scream as he fell. He could only watch. He felt like everything was being ripped from his body. His memories, his voice, his sight, his heart... and being torn into mush before being forced in through his ears in a death-defying roar of tuneless sound.
He could see Riku's face floating ahead of him.
Keyblade Master...
And Riku was gone. It started at the tips of his fingers before sending the cracks up, like a statue crumbling. But blood seeped through the cracks, and Sora watched as his best friend diminished in a shower of dark red.
Right before rushing at him.
Everything changed in an instant. Everything was crushed back into a body that seemed two times too small. Sora opened in his mouth in a silent, helpless scream. It rushed through their too. The cold heat lapped at his skin before thrusting itself into every pore and opening in his body, spreading like wild fire and blazing his insides. Frozen fire.
How could it be so cold?
It burned. Everything burned like he was being eaten away by flames. But the flames weren't hot; they were cold.
And they blended in the most horrifying way.
Right before it separated, all of his memories flashed inside of Sora's mind. It took only a second, but it was a lifetime to Sora. He was rushed through his birth, through different worlds, through Destiny Islands, through Hollow Bastion, through everywhere. to places he couldn't even remember. He watched his whole life through stilled eyes.
What the hell?
And then it was gone. His mouth shut with a snap, eyes clenching together tightly. He was being squeezed through all sides, but something inside of him was pushing back. Squeezing his insides on the point of bursting. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, his fingers twitched involuntarily, he almost choked on his own tongue.
"You will do just fine."
And he finally let go what his heart had been telling him to. He let it all go. His memories, his love, his heart, his light, his darkness...
His faith, his trust, his friendship, his loyalty, his wings. His trust. Riku. Kairi. Everyone. His home. It was gone to him now.
It was time for deliverance.
And he screamed.
Nary
It was so wonderfully warm. And so soft... it surrounded her whole body in it's comfortable arms, hugging her tightly. As warm as a sweet mother's embrace for a frightened child.
But Nary wasn't frightened. No, she was nothing but frightened. She was perfectly content, actually. First she had fond that nice, comfy grass to take a nap on. And now she was here.
Hey... where was 'here', anyway?
Her eyes opened slowly. The light that shone in her eyes was bright, but a nice bright. It helped her open up her eyes further and she looked around.
The appeared to be on some kind of building made of a white, fluffy material. She ran her fingers over the ground and giggled as it puffed up at her tough before separating into a dazzling, smoky mist. It encircled her fingers and spread up her warm cheeks and over her nose, making her giggle. It tickled!
The sun was bright above her and it twinkled merrily. Was it celebrating something? Hmm...
"What in Heaven's name..."
Nary blinked and looked up from her sprawled position on the soft cloud floor. There was a tall woman, dawned in a flowing white robe, walking swiftly towards her, blond hair billowing behind her in her haste. Golden eyes were wide in shock as she stared down at the small girl.
Nary, confused, smiled. "Hello, miss!" she chirped happily, mouth spreading into a wide grin that showed tiny teeth with wide gaps.
The woman hunched over, frowning. Her thin lips were drawn down in a deep frown and her eyes shown with sadness. "Nary...?"
The young girl blinked. "How'd you know my name?" she questioned, tilting her head to the side.
But the blonde wasn't paying attention to her. She ran long fingers through her hair distractedly as she knelt down before the young brunette. "You're Sora's sister, aren't you?"
Nary nodded happily. "Yes I am!" she said happily. She pressed her tiny palms on the fluffy ground and pushed herself up; the cloud seemed to be helping her as it rose slightly. "Hey," she murmured, looking around, "have you seen him anywhere?"
No, but I have a feeling I'll be seeing him soon.
Linna smiled sadly down at the little girl. "Nary... do you remember where you last saw Sora?"
Lips puckering up a bit in thought, she said slowly, "He told me to wait for him. He said he had to find a way out."
"A way out of where?" Linna whispered.
Nary shuffled her feet sheepishly. "Well, I sort of followed him on the big ship " she said guiltily.
What ship?
"And then we got to this big place," Nary continued, spreading her arms out wide. "There were lots of rocks and broken things!"
Linna inwardly groaned and winced. She knew she shouldn't have asked a four-year-old; she was making no sense.
"I was following him," the young child went on. "But then I lost him..." at this she frowned, "and I came to a big grassy thing! And then I took a nap! And then..." she laughed, "I woke up here!"
Linna blinked, and then smiled down sadly. But there was no reason to smile.
Tears would be shed tonight.
And she had to tell the others.
The door is opened...
...the back door...
The blond bit her lip before she wrapped her arms gently around the small girl. She felt so warm, but...
She couldn't be warm. Ever again. And... she would never get the chance of another hug from her mother again.
"How about I go and get you something to eat?"
Things had gone too far.
"Okay! But then, can you take me to my brother?"
The door has opened.
"Don't worry, Nary... your brother will be here very soon..."
He was dead. He was really gone.
"Yay!"
And in the realm of trial, there was such a thing as happily ever afters. But not second chances.
The tall women gently interlaced her fingers with the deceased child's, who grinned brightly up at her with the intensity of the sun shining above them.
Please... deliver him... deliver him to the God of Second Chance...
And then they walked away into the sun, where Nary would learn all thee was to know... about the Realm, how to fly, how to be a guardian angel...
...and to the end of her short life.
Realm of Trial
The footsteps were hollow, words in whispers that shattered the silance like the gong of a million brass bells. Tears slid down skin, creating rain that had started to sweep over the worlds of the universe.
"She's here..."
"...but where is he...?"
Thin, angelic fingers interlaced in front of them, grasping at thin white cloth that bathed their bodies in it's warm embrace.
But there was no more warmth. It was ebbing away like the ending of a summer storm. Come in a minute, gone in less.
"If she is here... then he should be here as well..."
"Where else could he be?"
"A place much worse then here."
"You think they've taken him, don't you?"
The air was getting colder. The white glow seemed to flicker. Thick bands of shadow rung around sad eyes, lips in a tight line that slanted downwards. Nails bit into flesh so hard it punctured the thin tissue, drawing out bright red blood.
"No, I don't."
"You know they've taken him."
"Don't we all?"
The door has been opened. It's just begun.
Where is he...?
"The race has begun."
"He won't last long?"
"And why do you say that?"
...Sora...
"No one can last... his light is diminishing... Sora's light is beginning to flicker."
End
None of you are left, are you? I can't blame you. I hate myself for doing this to you guys. It's been over a month... and I'm so sorry. Please forgive me...? I don't want to abandon this story, and I won't! It will go on! I swear!