What are we up to now...? Chapter 21? Cool. This chapter will make this story the longest, (in chapters) of any of my other stories. So, I present this to you early, in the spirit of Christmas, Kwanza, Hanakah...is that how you spell it? No seriously...I'm sorry if I just pissed anybody off by miss spelling their Holiday. Let's just say its in the spirit of Winter Break? Hell Yeah!

Kairi walked to the dining room where she had promised to meet Yuna, but on the way there, she couldn't help but go over that document again in her mind.

In opening the door that stores a world's hearts, that wall around that world is broken down. We see this as a shooting star. Through this, I have been able to understand the reason why the material known as Gummi Blocks has the ability to allow travel to other worlds.

The cause of a world's wall collapsing is the appearance of the Heartless, but finding a world's door takes time. And robbing a world of its heart is a similar case.

If the door has been closed by the key known as the Keyblade, you probably cannot reach that world's heart again. Before the one with the Keyblade appears in this world, I must take measures to do something.

Supposing that there is a close relationship between the Princesses and the Keyblade, it seems likely that they will resonate with each other…

I have chosen one special girl. I do not know if she possesses a power like that of the Princesses. But there is a chance, and this is an experiment. She may lead me to the place where the one holding the key is…

I shall send her off to the ocean of other worlds.

- Ansem

Report page 11

'That girl was me….' Kairi thought. 'I was just another one of his experiments. But what if I hadn't been a Princess? What if he had been wrong? I would have just ended up somewhere else, maybe even still drifting in the endless space….'

Kairi continued with her wonderings until she smacked into Yuna again, who apparently was looking for her. As they sat, rubbing their heads, Kairi forced herself to forget the report for now. She had more pressing business to attend to…like, walking straight for instance.

Yuna grinned around her forearm. "Are we going to go through this everyday?" Kairi grinned back. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention. So today, it was my fault." She gave the report one more mental shove, and started her walk with Yuna.

Sora dug his feet into the ground as he slid back. He wasn't dead yet. His right arm was on fire, with pain shooting up at every movement because he had guarded so much against the Angel's attacks. His clothes were caked with dirt, due to how many times he had fallen, and were damp with blood and sweat. Meanwhile, Sephiroth had a bruised rib and a black eye forming….and that was pretty much it. But Sora wasn't dead…yet.

"Heh, heh, ha, ha!" Sephiroth was laughing. "Prepare yourself." Sora inwardly groaned, his heart sinking. The Keyblade was getting heavy, he had not much strength left. Surely not enough for this next wave.

The world was already dimming, and Sephiroth was rising into the air. He blasted forward, slashing with the Mursame. Sora barely avoided decapitation from the first swing, but Sephiroth kept coming. Slash, slash, slash. An onslaught of dark slices. The Mursame was a blur to Sora.

But finally Sephiroth scored a deep gash into Sora's left shoulder. Sora cried out, but was cut short as the flat of Sephiroth's blade connected with his chest. Sora fell to his back, and noticed the world growing even darker.

'So, this is how it all ends….' Sora's body was numb, and his thoughts were forming slowly. He looked over at Donald and Goofy, both unconscious. They had tried to sneak up on Sephiroth at some point…. Auron was kneeling, blood leaking from his side. He was the one who had given Sephiroth the eye trouble. 'Well, at least I put up a good fight. Maybe Sephiroth will think twice about fighting the next Keyblade Master….' At this, Sora's mind flashed a picture of Riku, the would-be master of the Keyblade, and then the Islands, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie. Kairi. Kairi!!

Sora ignited the last bit of strength he had left within. And brought the world back into focus. But even then, he couldn't move. He could just barely keep his eyes open. But then the thought occurred to him. 'Why aren't I dead yet…?' Surely Sephiroth would have killed him in all the time it took for him to reminisce.

Sora fought to raise his head, and a flowing maroon cloak whipped the side of his face. The cloak was wound around a neck. And the neck was connected to a particularly spiky, blonde head. Cloud had arrived, protecting Sora and aiming the bandaged Buster Sword right at Sephiroth's heart.

Cloud looked back at Sora and nodded, but quickly faced Sephiroth again. "Cloud…."

"Sephiroth…"

No more words were exchanged. They choose to communicate with their swords. They rushed at each other and met in the middle of the field, a thunderclap sounded deeper and more violent than any ordinary clang of metal.

They broke apart, leaping away from each other, and rushed again, their swords met, but they carried through, only a brief pass before the next meeting. They attacked in unison and another roar filled the arena. Their battle was starting to make the entire Coliseum vibrate.

They broke the lock again. "Get back Sora! Its not safe here!" As Cloud warned, Sora could sense the tension and energy building within the two combatants. Sephiroth was shooting off small tendrils of blue electricity, while Cloud had veins of yellow lightning flowing through and around, him and his sword.

They charged again, the metal clashing and roaring at each attack and receive. As Sora and Auron watched, a light barrier of ionized air formed a dome, surrounding the rivals, making it dangerous to be near them, and most likely fatal to enter that faint wall. Sora didn't even know how those two survived, but he watched them battle on, dodging, slashing, swiping, blocking.

It was vicious, yet graceful at the same time. It was like watching an Opera. In both cases the members were in peak form, masters of their art. In one, dance and song, and in the other, brutal and effective killing.

Sephiroth rose into the air, and shot down a beam of negative energy through his fist. Cloud dodged and a small wing sprouted from behind his shoulder blade. He too rose, bringing the Buster above his head, and behind his back. But then he smashed down onto Sephiroth's Mursame, electricity sparking and waging their own battle between the two.

They hovered their for a moment, then shoved off, landing softly on the ground below. But to Cloud's (and Sora's) surprise, Sephiroth rehooked the Mursame to his hip. He looked straight athis opponent and smiled. "My time here is done. But we will finish this." Sephiroth stepped back. "No! Wait!" Cloud called.

"Another day Cloud" Cloud ran toward Sephiroth, who vanished instantly, leaving behind one drifting black feather.

Cloud stopped, and slowly returned to Sora. The ionized area was quickly evaporating now that half of its energy source had gone, and Sora's hair started to lay back down again.

As Cloud approached, Sora managed to sit up, by propping up against a wall. Cloud knelt down and handed over a large vial. "Here, drink this. It should help you heal faster from Sephiroth's attack."

Sora nodded, painfully, and drank the green liquid. First, it chilled him to his very bones, but afterwards, warmth spread through his body and he began to feel again. Cloud stood and nodded. "Good. The others will be fine in a few minutes, but I've got to go after Sephiroth." Sora looked up at Cloud. "Don't worry, kid. Something tells me that we'll meet again real soon. After all, since Sephiroth has joined those other Unknowns, then you'll be on the trail as well."

With that, Cloud strode over to Auron and they exchanged a few words. Then Auron got up and left the Coliseum. Cloud followed, his cloak swirling in the wind. He turned and gave a two fingered salute at the door, and then left.

Sora waved, fell over and passed out on the floor.

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