Echo in the Void
"The sand underfoot is no longer warm.
The friendly faces-- no longer smiling…
The fire is no longer burning.
The summer has begun--
But the vacation is over."
Departure - ii
Crack!
There was a flash of lightning followed by a clap of thunder. Destiny Islands was covered in darkness and Riku found himself running. Fast.
His keyblade, held low and away from his body, could be heard sliding effortlessly through the pure, white sands. Around his shoulders, bound by a silver chain, was a violet cloak that rippled like the ocean behind him as he ran.
It began to rain as the temperature dropped at least twenty degrees. He ignored it. The unbridled fury of his unchained heart was hot enough to keep him warm. Riku did not know why he was so furious, but he kept running. Behind him, Destiny Islands tore itself away and faded, without so much as a whimper, into the endless void that threatened to swallow his home whole. Again, he ignored it.
The ground before him tore away, but he would not stop. Leaping, Riku jumped from what used to be ground onto whatever chunks of land that had yet to be consumed.
Soon he reached the ocean and the tall figure that stood before him. He could not make out the face, but just looking at him fanned the flames of his rage. This was his enemy. And even though the face was indistinguishable his clothing stood out like the sun against the infinite darkness of night.
A white robe, covered in black thorns.
Riku lifted the blade and leapt once more, prepared to hack away at this monster. This murderer. However, the man proved too strong and before even seeing him attack, Riku was knocked back and to the ground.
Riku sat there with a fire burning in his eyes. The man opened his mouth to speak but all he could hear at this point was the roar of the void as it consumed everything. The oceans faded away and soon Riku and the enemy found themselves surrounded by nothingness.
The man lifted his hand and pointed at Riku's keyblade. What could he want with The Way to Dawn?
Riku grasped his hand around the hilt of the blade and lifted it, the last traces of sand falling from the weapon and disappearing into nothingness. Once in view he looked at it. Silver hilt. Golden blade. This was the King's keyblade. Where was his keyblade? The Way to Dawn…
"Why do I have this?"
His voice echoed in the void around him, this frustrated him and as no response came to him he felt himself standing at once. He did not know what was holding him up at this point. He did not care.
"Why do I have this?" He shouted and brandished the King's keyblade at the robed man who still stood like a silent white tower covered in black thorns.
Enraged, the young man raised the King's keyblade to attack, yet the robed man did not so much as flinch.
"ANSWER ME!" The thin strands of control he once had snapped and he found himself swinging the keyblade with all his might.
The King's keyblade would have pierced through the man, but something stopped him at that moment. A hand… on his wrist?
Riku turned to face the one who stopped him. His eyes widened in shock when he saw exactly who it was.
"Riku, stop that. Are you ok?"
"N--," Disbelief overcame every other emotion Riku was harboring at this point, "Namine?"
She simply smiled in response to her name and gently released his wrist. Riku suddenly remembered the man and craned his head to see him. Nothing, he was gone.
"Your friends need you now." She smiled sadly at him, Riku turned back to face her.
A look came over her that resembled a small light of hope in a sea of despair. "There is still time where you are, hurry and save what light is left."
"Wha--" There was a flash of bright light that quickly consumed everything. The darkness, Namine and himself. Suddenly, he felt his senses returning to him--
"Namine!" Riku shouted, sitting up straight.
He felt the Island's darkness wash over him as he pressed a hand against his cold flesh. The memory of what had happened came back to him, he had nodded off against the rock while deep in thought. But the dream… what was that about?
He gradually began to relax when a pained scream, belonging to a familiar voice jolted him and his nerves. Without hesitation he leapt to his feet, The Way to Dawn appearing in his hands.
"Kairi!" He shouted, unsure of what was going on, but sure as hell not about to sit back and let something happen to her.
"Your friends need you right now. There is still time where you are, hurry and save what light is left." Namine's words echoed through his mind and he nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"Thank you… Namine." Riku said, and rushed off towards the beach.
"Kai--!" Sora attempted to get out but the wind was forced from his lungs when a powerful arm slammed into his chest and knocked him straight to the cool sand.
Stars began to swim in his vision. Fighting to breathe, Sora attempted to grab a hold of something to help him get to his feet. Of course, all that surrounded him was sand. Pressing his elbows into the sand, Sora propped his body up long enough to see Kairi flanked by a group of Nobodies that had appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly angered, he would no longer need something to prop him up. All he would need was a light push and--
A foot pressed against his chest and slammed him against the sand once more. Sora winced, feeling a heavy boot holding him down to the floor, making it hard to breathe or fight.
"Sora!"
He could hear Kairi cry, but could do nothing about it. Looking up, Sora saw the robe of the man pressing him into the ground. A strange, familiar robe… White, covered in black thorns. Sora saw the face of a man slowly swim into his mind as he gently drifted off into unconsciousness.
"Xemnas…"
"Sora!" Kairi shouted in dismay, watching in horror as that tall person in the strange robes pressed his foot into Sora's chest, possibly killing him.
The Island that, only moments before, was a cheerful place of celebration quickly dissolved into chaos as the Nobodies stormed the beach out of seemingly nowhere and began to attack people at random.
Riku was no where in sight, and Sora was in danger. No one else was around, so this, she thought, left her. Surrounded by a group of sword-carrying Nobodies, Kairi was not about to let them cut her to ribbons.
Looking frantically for any sort of weapon, she found what appeared to be a Tidus' stick-sword layinghalf-buried in the sand.
"It's better than nothing…" Disappointed, but ready to fight the lot of them Kairi grabbed the makeshift weapon and pulled, throwing stray sand into the way of the Nobodies that surrounded her. Unfortunately, this only seemed to anger them.
She exhaled and pulled the wooden sword back in a fighting stance similar to Sora's. "Here goes nothing. Come and get me!"
Shink.
"Hm?" Kairi glanced at her weapon as a faint light surrounded it, her heart leapt seeing this. She knew what was coming.
The light faded. And before her eyes the wooden handle transformed into steel, surrounded by what looked to be red, metal wings that formed a hilt around her hands. The weapon became flat, sharp and red with a blade, also in the shape of a red wing, jutting sharply out the very top of the previously dull tip. This was no longer a feeble stick. It had become a keyblade.
Without wasting a moment's time, Kairi swung the blade as hard as she could, cutting deeply into the Nobodies that stood in front of her. They disappeared at once, allowing her passageway towards the man who was holding down Sora.
Gritting her teeth, Kairi ran faster than she ever ran before, apparently catching the man off-guard. His head turned at the sound of footsteps, mildly taken aback to see Kairi with a keyblade charging at him. With no time to block this attack, Kairi hit him full on in the face with the blade.
She twirled the blade, pleasantly surprised at her sudden spike in ability, characteristic of the small smile that spread across her face. This smile dropped into non-existence when the man dropped his hood, revealing the angry face of the attacker. A long cut, curtsey of Kairi, now ran along the length of this man's face.
And it wasn't just any man's face.
"Roxas…?"
Roxas said no words as he approached the shocked Kairi. There was only a slight moment of hesitation from him, after this he then promptly slammed his fist into her abdomen. She screamed and doubled over in pain. Her hand released her keyblade and it faded away at once. Satisfied, he then placed a gloved hand on her forehead and forced her into the ground, just feet away from Sora.
He snapped his fingers and the group of Nobodies he had summoned faded away instantly. Leaving him, Sora and Kairi alone. Once he was sure of this, Roxas opened his left palm, the Oblivion Keyblade appearing in his grasp. Upon seeing this blade he lost control and threw his head back to laugh, reveling in the moment.
Just then, something seemed to explode from the forest entrance. Roxas stopped laughing at once and lowered Oblivion into attack formation. It was Riku, leaping into join the party. His smile became a look of complete disgust…
"I'm here!" Riku called, jumping out from the entrance to the woods, The Way to Dawn in hand. Upon seeing the sight, he froze in place.
Sora was sprawled on the ground, feet from him and barely conscious was Kairi. He then saw the flash of a robe that was strikingly familiar.
White robe with black thorns…
Riku's eyes darted upward, expecting to see Xemnas there, as improbable as it was. Instead, he was greeted with an even more improbable sight. Roxas.
"What?" He saw Roxas move into a fighting position, and he didn't know how or… why but he knew one thing:
That son of a bitch hurt Sora and Kairi.
"Bastard." Riku broke into a full on sprint, ready to rip Roxas to shreds.
Roxas himself seemed just as eager, he sprung over the fallen Sora and Kairi and ran towards Riku, Oblivion more than ready to attack.
They ran at each other, and the resulting collision seemed powerful enough to tear the world apart…
Departure - ii
Continued…
Author's Notes: Didn't see that one coming, did you? Two and Three were originally going to be back-to-back, but I couldn't resist putting this one first. Have fun trying to figure out what's going on by the time it's answered in Three.
Hope you enjoyed the reading, check back soon for Three and, as always, thanks to those that reviewed my earlier chapters and be sure to continue posting feedback of what you think and what I might improve!