A/N: I've added three really big surprises in this chapter which are going to eventually require a lot of explaination (doesn't everything). Please don't ask me about them - I will explain them myself in my own time.Read and review please.
A large beam of ghastly green light shot up into the sky and started to spread across it like a plague. Sora gazed down the beam, following it all the way to it's source – a tall, reasonably skinny man with short blonde hair and blue eyes who was standing on the top of a dark, spiralling tower which was glowing a faint shadowy grey.
"Shuyin?" Sora asked.
LWN who had now moved right next to Sora looked down at Sora with a questioning look in his eyes.
"I fought him in the realm of the light," said Sora. "He's the reason I'm down here!"
"Is he a wielder?" LWN asked Sora.
"No," said Sora. "Not unless wielding the power to control darkness counts."
"Control darkness?"
"He was controlling the heartless."
"Why?"
"I don't know," said Sora. "My keyblade snapped when we were fighting."
"Maybe it's time you ask him some questions," said LWN.
"But. . ." Sora started to protest but LWN had already turned away and started instead to command his army. Since Sora was still in his drive form and felt like he could stay in it all day he decided he would stay in it. He glided over to the dark tower and just as he started to wonder how he was going to get up to the top his feet carryed him up the wall. An instant later Sora was standing an inch away from Shuyin which was close enough to see that he was not as. . . alive as he had been. He was glowing the same ghastly green as the sky.
"Why are you doing this?" Sora demanded.
"Ah Sora we meet again," said Shuyin.
"Why are you doing this?" Sora repeated.
"Oh," said Shuyin. "That's right I told the other you."
Roxas, Sora thought. "Told him what?"
"I'm searching for Lenne," said Shuyin. "I will do what I have to to find her."
"Then I'll have to fight you again," said Sora.
"I'd be delighted," said Shuyin. "Right after this!" a portal of darkness opened up behind him and he faded through it. Sora started to follow him but his path was blocked by 4 dusks and a human shaped nobody.
"Recognise me Sora?" the human shaped nobody asked.
Sora stared at him. It looked at first like an older version of himself but when he looked closer he saw that the hair was distinctly different. "Roxas?" Sora said. "Roxas, is that you?"
"Oh it's me alright!" said Roxas. "All of this is your fault Sora. You let her die."
"Let who die?" Sora asked fearfully.
"YOU LET HER DIE!" Roxas shouted again with even more anger then before. "I refuse to be a shadow of you any more. Maybe if I defeat you now then everything will change."
"What are you talking about?" Sora asked growing more and more fearful by the minute.
"I have your heart so that makes you the nobody."
"You have my heart?"
"We will join together once more," said Roxas, speaking as if Sora hadn't. "But this time you will be the forgotten one."
"You're crazy!" Sora yelled although he felt deeply depressed knowing that Roxas was telling the truth even though he seemed crazy.
"Enough talk!" Roxas said. Then talking to the dusks he yelled, "Attack!"
Meanwhile. . .
"Charge!" LWN yelled. LWNs army ran towards the dark tower which was steadily growing darker. That darkness was slowly climbing the tower and LWN knew that it had to be stopped. From what he could see Sora was busy enough as it was. LWN leapt up to slash at it and the rest of his army followed his lead. Before the darkness had climbed halfway up it had been reduced to a quarter of it's size. It was too high for LWN to jump to now and it was the same for most of his army but he had an idea.
"Alexa!" he called. The six year old girl was at his side in seconds. "Now I wouldn't ask anyone else to do this – you're the only one I think has the skills to do it – but do you think if I gave you a lift that you might be able to take care of that," he said, pointing at the darkness which was hardly climbing at all.
"Yeah," she said. "Of course."
"Good girl," LWN said. "Now climb onto my back and I'll get you as high as I can. When I tell you to jump off and attack that thing."
"I thought for a minute you were going to make me do something hard," said Alexa.
LWN laughed as Alexa climbed onto his back. Elchanan stood by the base of the tower and LWN ran towards him as fast as he could. Elchanan held his hands out and as soon as LWNs feet were in them Elchanan pushed up with all his strength.
LWN and Alexa were flying up into the air.
"Climb onto my shoulders," LWN said while they were still moving up. Alexa did it fast and balanced herself quickly. That's one brave girl, LWN thought to himself. "Now!" he yelled up to Alexa as soon as he noticed that he had stopped moving. She nodded although LWN couldn't tell and then she leapt into the air. Her hand glowed bright white as she passed the darkness on the tower. Then she pushed herself closer to the tower wall and shoved herself down on the darkness, grabbing it with her hand which was glowing bright white. Both Alexa and the darkness came down to the ground. Alexa landed gracefully while the darkness crashed soundlessly into the ground.
LWNs army cheered but the cheering was abruptly interupted when the darkness began to reshape itself. A moment later it was shaped like a giant heartless with shaggy hair and a large, heart shaped hole where it's heart should have been.
"Lets get it!" shouted one of the followers of light.
"Yeah!" shouted one of the followers of darkness.
Both groups started collectively attacking the darkside heartless. Which groaned in pain before crashing down to the ground again. LWN ran over to it and stabbed his pitch-fork shaped weapon into it. The darkness faded away and a small reddish-pink ball of light floated up from the remains of the darkside and into the sky. It glowed and disappeared.
On top of the tower . . .
Sora moved faster then he'd moved before, quickly dispatching the dusks.
"You don't have to do this!" Sora shouted to Roxas.
"It's the only way," he said.
Roxas pulled out a weapon Sora remembered all to well.
"What are you doing with that thing?" he yelled at Roxas.
Roxas was holding the soul blade which Riku had once used and it made Sora remember all he had been through to save Riku and Kairi. It made him wish to be with them even more then before.
"I can't defeat you without a weapon," said Roxas.
Sora gave up. Roxas was beyond help. It seemed that he was from a different time and that worried him. It also meant that if this Roxas was the real one from a different time then the copy was still around some where. Roxas jumped into the air and swung the soul blade at Sora who barely had time to dodge the attack. As he rolled he saw another thing which worried him even more. His darkside heartless was down there and everyone was attacking it. They might die, he thought. Unfortunately Roxas took the distraction as a chance to strike another blow at Sora who still wasn't ready to fight and so was forced to dodge again.
"Roxas stop!" he pleaded.
"I can't," he said.
Sora closed his eyes and muttered quietly to himself. "Sorry Roxas." Then he held the two keyblades so that they barred across each other like an X to deflect Roxas's next attack. Roxas was pushed to the side and then Sora let loose with his own attack, moving so fast that the mere speed of his movement would be enough to kill any simple heartless. Then he swung both of the keyblades around so fast that there appeared to be two circles around him. Roxas attacked again but was pushed back twice as hard as before. Sora swung once with the two keyblades but he was moving so fast that he got in about 20 hits before he was able to stop.
Roxas dropped to the ground and Sora ran over to him. He seemed to be alright now but Sora wasn't sure so he decided to keep his distance.
"Sorry Sora," he said. "He showed me the future and your responsible for her death and everything else. I have to change it. . . have. . . to. . ." then Roxas fell limp and Sora knew he was dead. A small light glowed out from his chest and he shivered in shock. His heart was back but he wished it wasn't. Over-whelming sorrow fulled his heart at the thought of Roxas's death.
"How could this happen?" Sora said to himself with tears in his eyes.
"Maybe now you know my pain," said a voice from behind Sora.
"Shuyin!" Sora yelled as he turned around and flew angrily at Shuyin. He went right through the other side.
"You cannot hurt me Sora, I'm what happens after death." When Sora tried again to attack Shuyin and flew out the other side Shuyin spoke again. "I assure you I am not responsible for him being here," Shuyin said pointing at Roxas. "In fact I can't even be held responsible for me being here."
"What are you talking about!" Sora demanded.
"Well, I remember I fought your friend over there but he beat me and I faded away. The last thing I thought was that I'd failed Lenne and I'd do anything to save her. Then I appeared here. After a while I found out I can control the dusks as well as the heartless and so I did."
"But what is that stuff in the sky?" Sora asked.
"Don't worry, both me and that stuff will be gone soon."
"Is it helping you search?" Sora asked.
"Yeah," said Shuyin.
"Well. . . why don't we make a deal," Sora said. "You help us and we'll help you find Lenne."
Suddenly dusks appeared all over the top of the tower. Shuyin stared desperately at them as if something was wrong.
"I didn't summon them," he said to Sora.
"What?"
Shuyin closed his eyes and concentrated. Several heartless appeared and started to fight the dusks but then they turned on Shuyin.
"I can't control them any more!"
Dam, Sora thought as he started to attack both the dusks and the heartless. Sora was winning by a long way but then a surge of pain shot through his body.
"Argh!" Sora groaned as he fell to his knees. He flashed between his normal self and his drive form. The flashing grew faster and faster until finally it settled on his normal form. "I've failed," Sora said miserably. Heartless swarmed around him like vultures hovering above their prey. Just as Sora thought he was done for the heartless faded away as if they had been killed. "What..? Sora said confused.
When the heartless's darkness faded away Sora could see Shuyins shadow. Sora stared curiously at Shuyin, wondering at his sudden decision to help out.
"I would do anything to save her Sora, even if it means my death."
Sora smiled and let himself collapse into unconsciousness
A/N: Hope you've enjoyed this chapter - it may be my last for a while.
