Author's Note: Not much to say at the moment. So, enjoy the latest chapter!
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts. All rights belong to Sega, Square Enix and Disney. I only own the OCs.
Chapter 3: Dreams and Revelations.
Seeing how Sora had no place to go or even cash on him, Sonic and Tails kindly offered to let him stay with them for a while so that they can help their new friend to find his friends, unaware that this was going to be much more challenging than they thought due to the Keybearer being from another world. None the less, the teenage wielder got along fairly quickly with the teenage hedgehog and nine year old two-tailed fox.
After leaving the Restaurant, Sonic, Tails and Sora boarded the train since the two Mobians took it earlier to save the Tornado 1 as it needed time to rest since Eggman's latest defeat, and headed off towards the Mystic Ruins. Along the way, the duo gave the spiky-haired human boy a bit of a tour around Station Square to help him get a better idea.
"So, this is where you guys live?" Sora asked as he followed the two off the ground and passing by the cliff-way path leading towards the forest.
"Well, technically, it's where we mostly spend our time. We have a house back on South Island near my parents' place." Sonic shrugged a bit sheepishly, before brighting up. "But ever since me, Tails and some of our friends first came here to Station Square, we grew to love it so much that we made it a place to stay most of the time."
"Whoa! You have two homes?" The fifteen year old boy gaped, surprised.
"Yep! Pretty cool, huh?" The fifteen year old blue hedgehog smirked proudly.
"We've been here for almost two years now, even though Sonic likes to travel a lot." Tails added.
"You travel?" Sora blinked at Sonic who grinned.
The hero of Mobius rubbed his nose proudly. "That's right. I'm an adventurer and I love exploring Mobius, especially when there are still places all over the planet that I have yet to see. I've been traveling since I was eleven, so coming up to five years now."
"Really?" The Keyblade Wielder blinked, before admitted a little. "I had to wait 'til I was fourteen before I went on my first adventure, though not what my best friends and I had in mind."
"Huh. Guess you like to travel a lot too. Come to think of it, I was fourteen when I first came to Station Square. My Dad lead me to this place since he and my Mom and, well, my late Uncle came here a lot when they were kids." Sonic remarked, though he tried to hold back the linger of sadness of bringing up his uncle into the subject, but he wanted to be honest.
"Sora, what do you mean by not the adventure you and your friends had in mind, if you don't mind me asking?" The two-tailed cub asked curiously.
Sora flinched a little, then panicked as he tried to figure out how to explain this without breaking the rules, before deciding to do with at least part of the truth and explained. "Well, see, I don't know if 'South Island' is actually an island itself, but I grew up on an island, with my best friend Riku, who's a year older than me. We used to play together a lot by having races since we started walking and talking. Then one day, when I was five years old, as far as I can remember, a girl the same age as me washed up on the beach."
"Really? What happened?" Sonic asked as he and his adoptive brother found themselves curious, the blue hedgehog now walking backwards, intrigued with the story.
"Not sure, at least not mostly." The spiky-haired teen shrugged. "She was adopted by our town's mayor, and the only thing she could remember was her name. Other than that, she couldn't remember a single thing, even years later."
"...So she has amnesia, then." Sonic half-whispered, feeling a sense of deja vu. Two, in fact. One with Shadow, and the other with Light Gaia/Chip, which thinking about the latter made him once again sad, knowing that he would never see his dear friend ever again. He quickly held it back and continued listening, because he and Tails felt sorry for Sora's friend who even today still couldn't remember much of her past.
Though considering the girl was five years old at the time, it wouldn't be much to remember as her memories of her time afterwards made it up for it to fill the five year absence in her mind.
"So, what was her name?" Tails tilted his head slightly.
Trying not to feel sad despite that he had risked his life to bring her back and his time in trying to save her and be with her, Sora said almost in a whisper. "...Kairi."
"Kairi? That's a beautiful name." Sonic stated.
"Yeah. Anyway, after Kairi was adopted, me and Riku introduced ourselves to her and became our best friend ever since. We played together growing up, and, well, while she was happy to be with us, all of us were curious about what her hometown was like. So we decided that once we were old enough, we'd build a raft and explore the world to find it, and see other places too." Sora explained, smiling a little over the memories.
Which one in particular floated in his mind, which made him recall it for the entire day before Destiny Islands had fallen into darkness. The day when he was separated from his friends, Riku becoming a victim of using darkness, the Keyblade that was supposed to go to him ended up with Sora instead, Kairi's heart being separated from her body and ended up in his heart, unknowingly along side Ven's heart as well, when he ended up being sucked into that vortex and woke up in Traverse Town.
"I just can't wait, once we set sail. It'll be great."
"So, what happened next?" Sonic asked.
"Well, a storm blew in. We ended up separated, I found myself in another town without Riku and Kairi and, well, my adventure to find them began. I met my other friends who were looking for their friend, and the three of us journeyed together searching, making new friends along the day, fighting bad guys that caused trouble, somehow ended up being put into sleep for a year, beating up an organization and monsters, and, well...I ended up separating from them somehow. Because the next thing I knew, I woke up on a hill top just outside of the city. I'm not sure how I got here." The Keyblade Wielder spoke, careful with his words.
'I'm not even sure how I managed to survive or ended up in this world. Chirithy said that if I saved Kairi by using the Power of Waking, I would disappear. So, why am I in Mobius?' He thought to himself, still uncertain.
"That's weird..." The blue hedgehog folded his arms in deep thought. For some reason, he felt that Sora wasn't saying the whole truth, but even so he was completely honest about mysteriously ending up just outside of Station Square.
"Hmm...Could it be possible that your memories were effected somehow?" Tails questioned thoughtfully, cupping his chin with his hand.
"Maybe...I mean, I can't even remember how I ended up asleep. Not the first time my memories were messed up. Thankfully Riku told me how that happened, and it's to do with those organization guys that, well, wanted to use me for some reason." Sora scratched the back of his head.
"Well, I'm sure you and Kairi will get your memories back. We know two guys who had major problems with their memories too, and lucky for them they managed to get them back." Sonic reassured smirking, before lamenting a bit. "Well, maybe three, if you count our other bro, Sun."
"Sun?" Sora blinked, confused over the unusual name besides this Dr. Eggman he briefly heard about.
"Sun the Hedgehog, that's who I'm talkin' about. All of those are pretty long stories. Trust me, Sora. We've been on all kinds of crazy adventures over the years." Sonic chuckled, just as he and his two friends finally arrived at their destination and smiled. "Well, we're here."
When Sora looked up to see what his new friend was talking about, there stood in the middle of the outside of the woods was a nice looking two story house, and further back was a large garage that looked fit to fit several airplanes and ships. He was amazed by the look of it even though it looked a bit small due to his height, but he didn'd mind. So the teenager followed the blue hedgehog and two-tailed fox inside and looked around over his surroundings. It was simple but cosy, and nearby as Sonic and Tails gave him a bit of a tour, were photos of the duo along with their friends they made throughout the years on a table, hung up on walls and even on a couple of book shelves, but the spiky-haired teen didn't pay much attention to those at the moment.
But he did get a quick glimpse of photos that showed Sonic and Tails with, unbeknownst to the Keyblade Wielder, Amy Rose and other people. One in particular caught his eye, one that was from almost two years ago: The three of them with Knuckles the Echidna who didn't look that happy in the photo, but at least he tried, Cream the Rabbit and her best friend Cheese the Chao, Chris Thorndyke, Sonic's best human friend whom Sora was surprised that the boy looked a bit like the fifteen year old boy himself and wondered if his appearance was one of the reasons why the blue hedgehog offered to help.
There were also an elderly man in a lab coat but looked friendly, Chuck Thorndyke, Chris' grandfather, the kindly maid Ella who was holding Cream and Cheese, and Mr. Tanaka, the kindly aisan gentleman butler who looked firm but none the less smiling a little. In the photo Sonic was giving out his trademark wink, grin and thumbs up.
"So, what d'ya think of our place?" Sonic spoke up, causing Sora to snap out of it a little.
"I love your house. It's great!" The Keyblade Wielder replied.
"So, what are you looking at, Sora?" Tails asked, curiously.
"Oh, sorry. I was just looking at this photo here with you guys and people that I can tell are your friends. I couldn't help but notice that kid in there looks kinda like me." Sora sheepishly said, gazing at the photo again, which made the two Mobians look up and smile warmly.
"Ah. That's our buddy Chris, and yeah, I did notice earlier that you look kinda like him." The blue hedgehog folded his arms, smiling at the photo that he and his friends took once. "He and his family used to live here in Station Square by the time the rest of us first came. On the night when I first arrived and saved a little girl from a bunch of creeps working for an evil organization looking for my other friends you see in the picture, I ended up having a race with his uncle who's a policeman and a racer obsessed with speed, and I accidentally ended up falling into the adult pool of the Thorndyke Manor."
"Manor?" Sora blinked. "Wait, you mean Chris and his family lived in a mansion?"
"Chris' parents are wealthy and famous, but they didn't spend a lot of time at home. He would spend most of the time at school with his friends Francies and Danny, and at home he would be with his grandfather Chuck, who's the kind man in the lab coat, and the really nice house people who became our friends too; Ella and Mr. Tanaka." Tails explained.
"So what did Chris' parents do?"
"Mr. Nelson Thorndyke runs a electronic industrial company, and Mrs. Lindsey Thorndyke is a famous movie actress that she travels all around the world for films that are pretty expensive." The two-tailed fox said.
"They were nice people too, and they did try their best to spend time with him." Sonic added, chuckling. "But the only one I accidentally woke up that night was Chris, since his window was the closest to the pool and, well...since I'm the only hedgehog in the world that can't swim, I almost drowned. That's when he came to save me which I didn't even expect, but I am ever grateful to him, especially when he kindly offered to let me stay for a while."
Flash-Back: During the events of "Sonic DX Adventures"...
Sonic coughed to get water out of his lungs and air back in, on his hands and knees, while the boy gently rubbed his back as he sat next to him.
"That was close." Said the boy in concern, as he waited for Sonic to get the hold of breathing again. "Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah." The blue hedgehog replied with his eyes closed, breathing in and out once the coughing fit stopped. He was utterly relieved to still be alive, before the teenager opened his eyes and gazed at his savior, smiling a little. "Thanks a lot."
The boy looked at him in surprise. "You're a blue Mobian hedgehog. I didn't know there were any."
"There's a few others in my family. We don't just come in brown colour, you know." Sonic replied, his smile never faltering.
"Wow, that's awesome." The boy stated in awe, before introducing himself. "My name's Christopher. A lot of people call me Chris. What's your name?"
"My name is Sonic the Hedgehog." The fourteen year old answered.
End of Flash-Back:
"Since then, we've been pretty good buddies, and I even directed Tails and our other friends to the mansion when things were getting a little crazy, besides dealing with Dr. Eggman, as usual." Sonic concluded, sighing a little sadly. "Man, I sure miss him. I really should go visit the kid in Westopolis when I get the chance."
"I miss Chris, too and Chuck and everybody else." Tails lamented, having fond memories of the elder Thorndyke.
"Sounds to me like you guys have made a lotta friends." Sora remarked, hands behind his head casually.
"Pretty much, though some of us didn't meet in a friendly way at first, no thanks to Egghead." The blue hedgehog responded.
The moment Sonic repeated the existence of Eggman, it triggered Sora's memory of what he learned earlier and gaped in surprise. "Wait a sec! Dr. Eggman? You mean the guy the little Bee I met earlier mentioned?"
"You mean you met Charmy?" Sonic and Tails asked at the same time, surprised.
"Yeah, I met him along with two other guys Vector and Espio. Do you guys know them?"
"Sure do. They're friends of ours and probably the only detectives we know in the entire planet. Not the only detectives but I sure haven't met others yet." The cobalt speedster confirmed.
Sora blinked once more, before pulling out the card that Vector gave him and muttered. "Hm, that explains everything. Charmy did mention about this Eggman guy, but I don't have a clue of who he is."
"Eggman's an evil genius and scientist who uses robots to do all of his dirty work. He wants to rule Mobius and build his Eggman Empire, and while he's pretty much a sore loser since me, Tails and our other friends beat 'im all the time, he can be pretty dangerous too. Especially since that creep has a horrible habit of putting in Mobini animals inside robots and use them as batteries, energy sources and would sometimes try and use ancient monsters to obey him, which usually backfires on him." Sonic explained firmly.
"What!?" The Keyblade Wielder exclaimed in horror. "He uses...live animals to make his robots move? No way!"
"I know, right?" The blue hedgehog nodded, then smirked. "Thankfully, we always stop him and save the critters. As a matter of fact, we don't have to worry about him right now, since me, Tails, our friends and even the GUN organization caught him, so now he and his five dumbots are making themselves right at home at the highest secured jail."
"So, you guys been fighting him?" Sora asked, stunned by this.
"For almost five years now." Sonic shrugged.
The Keyblade Wielder couldn't believe it, feeling a bit of dread as he felt deja vu form. "That long? Man, that guy doesn't sound like the type to quit."
"Tell me about it. He's pretty stubborn and doesn't know when to give up." The hero of Mobius shrugged.
'That Eggman guy sounds like Maleficent, only without using magic. But...he uses robots for evil, and live animals to power them up...It's almost like how Xemnas and the Organization were using hearts collected to form their version of Kingdom Hearts. I just hope the Heartless weren't much of a problem here.' The Keyblade wielder thought to himself worriedly, despite the fact that Sonic and his friends have just put the evil scientist into jail earlier.
"Anyway, starting tomorrow, we'll start searching for clues on finding your friends and help ya get your memories back." The blue hedgehog said. "In the meantime, we should relax a little before getting some sleep."
"Right." Sora nodded, even though he wasn't sure how this would play out.
After all, how can he return home and how can Sonic and Tails help him if he wasn't allowed to tell them the truth?
Meanwhile, back in Sora's reality...
In the Mysterious Tower which was the home of the great powerful wizard Master Yen Sid, who was also a retired Keyblade Master and former mentor of King Mickey Mouse, the aforementioned duo who had gained a slightly awkward but close kinship of a somewhat father and son relationship and full respect, were speaking once more over the regards of Sora's disappearance and the recent findings that Kairi discovered during her three month of sleep.
"I should've stopped him. If I had, we woulda found another way to save Kairi, if it were possible." Mickey sighed, still ridden with guilt for not having convinced Sora from overusing the Power of Waking the wrong way.
"You did what you could, Mickey. Do not take the blame for what has happened. As such, from what you and the others have described, should Sora and Kairi not had shared a very close bond that prevented them from fading away, Master Xehanort surely would have won, in spite of breaking the ancient taboo of course of time travel." Yen Sid attempted to assure him. "As such, there was no other choice, and while there are other methods in restoring Kairi, Sora's love for her had him follow his heart to bring her back at the cost of his existence. His heart has proven time and time again to have a strong sense of justice with little to no regard of his own well being."
The elderly human man then added. "He is much like you and Ventus in every sort of way. Aqua as well."
"I know...It still doesn't make it any easier." The King shook his head while lowering his gaze. "But if he had been taken to another reality, where could it be? I thought the Power of Waking being used the wrong way would cause him to just...well...go beyond the grave."
"In normal circumstances, it would. However, even with Kairi's heart preventing him from fading away, he would have faded the moment he restored the rest of you rather than return to before your ultimate defeat."
"Wait, what?" Now Mickey was stunned to hear this new piece of information.
Yen Sid nodded. "When one misuses the Power of Waking more than once, they would have faded away almost immediately. Unfortunately, I have seen it quite a few times during my youth, which is why it is proven dangerous, and I had not even predicted Sora would go as far as do what he did. However, as Sora survived long enough because of his connection with everyone including yourself, Donald and Goofy, his heart has proven to be just as strong which allowed him to survive and bring back Kairi, using the last of his powers to finish his goals and if we are correct, he could have been drifted to another reality in order to survive and recuperate until we learn of how to return him home."
"So Sora's heart has proven to be so strong because of his connection with us, especially with Kairi. Even when Master Xehanort almost made him his vessel, he was still protected because of us...!" Mickey realized, before asking. "But this other world, a reality that's similar to ours. Do you even know a little bit about it?"
"It depends on which one you are referring to, Mickey. You yourself have gotten into one long ago, via space and time travel in your days as my apprentice." The Powerful Sorcerer reminded.
The young Keyblade Master blushed heavily over the embarrassing memory as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, uh...T-That's true. The one time I accidentally went a whole new world where people like you and people like me but with five fingers all lived together. I saved that world once and helped a nice fella to, well...find a clue in how to cure his granddaughter who was really sick, but he's the only one who knows who I really am since we promised nobody else should know where I really came from and I guess the folks there kinda think that I'm gone forever or I don't exist at all."
Mickey then gazed out of the window at the starry sky that never ended in this world and yet never stopped being so beautiful. "You know, there was somethin' about that world I just couldn't place. A world where Light and Darkness work differently, but only happens once every millions of years. The fella I became friends with told me once about an ancient legend of how their world began, and it was so different that the world didn't have a heart but it was still alive."
Then realization formed into his mind as he let out a soft gasp before turning back to his mentor. "Could it be that...that the world I went to is the same one that's similar to ours, that Sora could be there!?"
"I cannot confirm whether the world you have been to could be the one and the same," Yen Sid began, even though it was at least perhaps another lead and hopefully one step closer in rescuing Sora. "However, if that is the case, then perhaps that world is the very key in locating Sora's whereabouts. But still, getting there and back will not be an easy feat, even with your powers. Tell me again, what was the clue you had in order to return home?"
"I know one thing that I promised to never tell anybody except you." Mickey narrowed his eyes, hope and determination forming into his heart. "Seven rainbow coloured gems that also hold Light and Darkness, and even hold the power to briefly control space and time: The Chaos Emeralds."
"If that is so, then our next step is finding a key in order to return to this world you once ventured into. It will be the first place we will investigate and see if Sora is there alive and well, and whether or not he is, find the Chaos Emeralds in order to return home." Yen Sid nodded. "Mickey, inform Riku and the others of this. This includes Kairi."
"Sir...Are you sure it's alright for Kairi to get involved? She's already gone through a whole lot." Mickey asked, now hesitant.
"I understand your concern, but her heart has been in deep sorrow and guilt, and unless she learns to forgive her misguided sins because of Xehanort's actions, her heart will eventually form darkness that will dangerously cloud her light." Yen Sid closed his eyes in grave concerns. "She will need guidance even if Sora is found."
"But if Sora is found, everybody will be happy. Especially Kairi."
"Even so, guilt is not an easy thing to erase completely. You yourself know this, and do Riku, Aqua, Terra, and Ventus. All five of you still have lingering guilt, do you not?"
A moment of silence.
"Yeah...Even though almost everybody's okay now, I still feel awful for what happened and I wish I coulda saved them, so that way nobody else would have to suffer. Aqua still blames herself because of what happened even though she only tried to save Terra, and Ven feels bad for asking Sora to protect his heart. Even Donald and Goofy still feel bad for not going with 'im to find Kairi's heart." The King sighed, knowing full well that his former teacher was right.
He then admitted. "Why, I heard last week that Ven overheard Terra talkin' to himself and that he was hallucinatin' that Xehanort was still alive."
"As I feared. When one lingers too much in guilt, their heart begins to create visions and the darkness forms manifestations of those who no longer remain, yet the memories will continue to corrupt them. You all must learn to forgive your misguided sins, and remember of what you have accomplished. Saving Sora will be the first step of your recovery." Yen Sid warned.
"Right. We'll save Sora, and this time, nobody's gonna be sacrificed!" Mickey declared with determination. "And don't worry, we'll keep an eye on Kairi too and make sure that her heart doesn't fall into darkness."
Knowing what to do, Mickey would set forth to inform Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, Aqua, Ven, Terra, Axel, Roxas, Xion, Namine and Isa, and even Ansem the Wise and all of his still living Apprentices of the dangers of guilt that was continuing to corrupt their hearts and hoping to reach the world where Sora was, one that the King himself went to long ago.
The one that had the legendary Chaos Emeralds.
Kairi's Dream...the Dream-Link between to realities...
Having returned to the Land of Departure for comfort to try and get her mind off of her guilt, Kairi was certain she had fallen asleep in her room. Because when she opened her eyes, she found that she wasn't where she thought she was. Instead, the Princess of Heart was in a place that was all dark and cold which made her feel somewhat weak and frightened.
"Where...Where am I?" Kairi whispered to herself, looking around the surroundings. Everything looked a bit like the Realm of Darkness, but something was very different and she wasn't sure how or why.
Just then, she felt a warmth that seemed familiar and glanced down, surprised that her necklace was glowing slightly which made her wonder what was going on, before a memory came to her, one that seemed so warm, so familiar and so...so caring.
"I just cast a magic spell on you. One day, when you're in trouble, the light within you will lead you to the light of another. Someone to keep you safe."
"Master...Aqua?" The Princess of Heart's eyes widened in shock and realization. Was that...the memory of when she was a young child, the day when her mentor had saved her life with the help of King Mickey from the Unversed?
"Um...Hello? Is someone out there?" An unfamiliar voice echoed in front of her, surprising Kairi who looked up with a soft gasp and saw a glimmer of light up ahead, forming and growing.
"Huh? Who is there?" Kairi called back.
"Can you hear me?" The voice responded.
"Yes! Yes, I can hear you!" The teenage girl answered. "Please, I won't hurt you. I'm a friend."
As though satisfied and relieved to her words, the light formed brighter which forced Kairi to shield her eyes and look away until it dimmed. Once it did, she looked up to see a surprisingly strange but cute little creature that looked like a small dog with fairy wings, and a round fluffy small tail, auburn red and white. Unbeknownst to her, it was Sonic's very dear friend Chip, truthfully known as Light Gaia, who is still asleep within Mobius.
"Hello, there." Kairi greeted gently, not sure what to make of this cute creature. But at the same time, she could sense an overwhelming but warm strong light, as though he was an abomination of light itself.
"Hi there! I've never seen you before, even in my sleep or when I was awake." Chip greeted.
"Huh? Sleep? You mean, this is all a dream?" The fifteen year old girl asked, which made sense considering how she still had no idea where she was or what she was doing here.
"Whoa! You mean you're dreaming too? This is so weird. I would've thought that if anybody would be sharing my dream, it would've been Sonic." The Light Gaia remarked, just as confused.
"Sonic?"
"You know, Sonic the Hedgehog? The hero of Mobius? Ring any bells?"
Not sure what to make of the question, Kairi shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry. I don't know anyone of that name, or even of Mobius. Is it...your home world?"
"Wait, you mean you don't live in Mobius? I've never met or heard of anybody that come from another planet. But you seem to be a very nice girl, because I can sense that your heart's really strong, just like Sonic's. You must be very special, for a human being!" Chip remarked, just as surprised.
"I guess you could say that, and the way how you're describing this Sonic person, he must be very special just like you too." Kairi giggled, placing her hands behind her back.
"He sure is. Sonic's my first and very best friend. Anyway, I'm Light Gaia, but he and my other friends call me Chip. What's your name?" Chip introduced himself.
"My name's Kairi. Pleased to meet you, Chip." The Princess of Heart responded, while surprised that this little one's nick-name is like the real name of Chip the Chipmunk, one of Mickey's royal engineers.
"Kairi...that's a beautiful name. Nice to meet you too!" The Pixie-Dog nodded, before he pulled out a bar of chocolate out of habit and offered it to her. "Want some chocolate?"
Surprised by this generousity, Kairi smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Chip. You're sweet."
"You know, it's kinda dark here, almost like...like this place is representing depression somehow. Think I'd better fix it up." Light Gaia remarked after handing the chocolate to the young girl.
Before Kairi could ask what he meant, Chip then flew up and held out his arms which light then spread and to her astonishment, the entire scenery changed in bright in colours and light and life. Rather than the cold darkness she found herself in, they were now in a very beautiful environment of a greek-like city near the ocean, white buildings and pathways, green grass and bushes, seagulls flying and squawking, the entrance/exit having a path of a green field with small cliffs near the ocean and the sun was bright and up.
"Wow...It's so lovely...Where are we?" Kairi breathed in awe.
"This is Apotos, well, the dream version of it from my latest memory. It's one of the places in Mobius me, Sonic and our other friend Sun the Hedgehog began our journey together. Maybe about five months ago now." Chip explained as he hovered into the city's entrance, with his new friend quickly following by walking.
"I've never seen anything like it. I'd love to come here to explore this place. Even in a dream it feels so...so real." She said, feeling herself at ease and smiling for the first time in three months. Kairi was then surprised when Chip then headed over to a small ice cream vendor and then came back with two delicious looking ice cream cones that had two or three scoops of vanilla ice cream, waffle cookies, chocolate sprinkles and chocolate toppings, cherries all around it.
"Here you go! One Chocolate Chip Sundae Supreme." The Light Gaia offered one of them to the surprised teenage girl.
"Thank you." Kairi replied, gently taking it and giggled. "You really love sweets, don't you?"
"Sure do." Chip nodded. "This is kinda the main reason that gave Sonic the idea in giving me my nickname, and I love it. You should try it!"
Nodding as the ice cream did look great even though this was just a dream, the Princess of Heart examined it a bit more before taking a small, polite bite and instantly her heart leaped as the taste melted in her mouth.
"Mmmm! This is really delicious! I've never tasted anything like it." Kairi proclaimed in amazement and delight.
The two shared a laugh before they wandered around a little as Chip was showing Kairi more of Apotos which really is a beautiful place, making the latter wish that she would come and visit for real. Eventually or it seemed like eventually yet it also felt really quick, the two took a seat on the stone wall railing to admire the breathtaking view of the ocean and the sun above, the reflection of the light sparkling on the water's surface and the clouds were all white and fluffy.
"It's really nice to keep dreaming of the places I visited for the first time in my life." Chip remarked longingly, sighing a little with a bit of sadness after a moment.
The auburn haired girl didn't miss the sadness in the little pixie-dog's voice as she asked gently. "You really miss Sonic, don't you? Did something happen?"
"Not really. It's just, well, it's a very long story but what I can say is that I'm in a deep sleep, so I cannot awaken for the next ten millenia. But I just hope that Sonic's okay. He's been through so much and he loves the planet and the people within it, especially his very close friends. He should be with them by now and I hope he's recovered from his own sadness." The Light Gaia admitted. "Sonic has a powerful sense of justice and a really pure heart. A real guardian of the planet in my absence. His love for everything and everyone is so strong that he never gives up, he always has a way to make people happy, like how he smiles and he doesn't ask for anything in return. Those are the few of the many things that makes him so special."
The more Kairi heard about Sonic, the more her thoughts to turned to Sora and the similarities the two boys share, as well as her own guilt over the spiky-haired teen's ultimate sacrifice to bring her back.
"Sonic sounds so much like him." Kairi half-whispered, lowering her gaze in sadness, making her new acquaintance gaze up at her in confusion.
"Him?" Chip tilted his head slightly.
"A friend of mine, who also cared so much about me and many others that he wouldn't think about his own safety, and would always try to make everybody feel happy and safe. His name is Sora...he-"
Before Kairi could continue, suddenly the whole area brightened and she looked around as did Light Gaia, who turned to her and said. "It's time to wake up. But I promise we will meet again soon. Wake up, Kairi...Wake up."
"Chip? Wait, Chip!" Kairi cried out as she stood up, while her new friend drifted away as the light brightened so much that her vision turned white...
"...ri...ari...Kairi...Kairi...Wake up."
Groaning at first, Kairi blinked her eyes open from the grogginess of her sleep, before seeing a familiar woman with blue hair gently hovering over her, shaking her awake. Startled at first, the Princess of Heart sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes.
"Good morning, Kairi. Did you sleep well?" Aqua asked motherly.
"Good morning, Master." The teenage girl replied, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle her yawn before asking. "Did I oversleep?"
The Keyblade Master shook her head. "No, but you were deeply asleep I was beginning to grow worried. You looked like you were having an usual dream."
While still half-asleep, Kairi began to recall the said dream and nodded. "I did have a strange dream. It was odd, but..." Despite that her heart was telling her that the dream was very important somehow, she shook her head and said. "It's okay. It was just a dream. I'll be there for breakfast shortly."
"Well, alright. But you want to talk about it, let us, okay?" Aqua replied, and when her pupil nodded and promised that she would, the blue-haired young woman stood up and left her student's room to allow her to get changed and be ready for today's training.
'That dream...what was that about? Light Gaia...Sora...and...Sonic the Hedgehog, who's just like Sora. Could he be real?' Kairi thought to herself, deep in thought. If Sonic was real, would he be another clue to Sora's whereabouts?
Or was it just a fragment of her imagination forming from her memories of Sora? And...her eyes blinked as she realized that she could actually taste the ice cream she had within the dream.
Even the after-taste was really sweet. She also remembered what Chip said.
Was it some sort of connection?
Back in Sonic's Reality...Sonic's Dream-Link between realities...
Sonic had been running around as usual, enjoying the peaceful moment of living his life freely, feeling the winds blowing against his face and embracing them. Earlier he passed by all of his beloved friends and family wherever he went, greeting them happily and even had brief sightings of friends he wouldn't see again but would never forget, such as Shahra by somehow passing her in the Arabian Nights, Chip who glowed slightly but was his old self that the blue hedgehog met, having ice cream which was the Chocolate Chip Supreme, and of course Yacker and all of the Wisps which flew around him.
"Hi!" Sonic greeted before his alien friends flew away to fly around and were still following him high above him and he laughed excitedly. It wasn't until he spotted a familiar sight with a brief silhouette of a figure he could only see in his memories, imagination or in this case, his dreams.
The sight of his Uncle, Sir Charles.
"Uncle Chuck!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed, speeding up to greet his uncle who waved back at him.
"Sonic!" The older hedgehog waved back, waiting underneath the tree where they would both usually hang out. The moment his young nephew approached, the teenager skid to a stop and the two immediately shared an embrace when Sonic practically threw his arms around the elder Mobian in excitement.
"So good to see ya, man!" Sonic cheered, even though he was once again aware that this was a dream, this moment always made him feel so happy.
"I've missed you too, Sonny Boy." Sir Charles responded as he held his nephew close, gently stroking the boy's head and quills while Sonic carefully had his face on his uncle's shoulder, softly purring which while it was a bit embarrassing to do so, at the moment he didn't care.
Just being in the presence of his uncle was enough to make him happy. Even though Sonic didn't want to let go and just wanted to remain in Uncle Chuck's arms, the next thing he knew, they were seated side by side against the tree behind them as he recounted his latest adventures like he always did.
"...And then Tails had the Tornado 1 shoot out this bubble-gum stuff which made Eggman and his Egg Mobile stuck, before Shadow and the GUN caught him, so now he's having a nice little vacation in jail." Sonic concluded with a smirk, reclining against the tree with his arms tucked behind his head and one leg over the other.
"It seems you have done it again, Sonny. I'm so proud of you." Uncle Chuck remarked, smiling warmly.
"Thanks, Unc'. Though, while Egghead's handled now, I'll be heading off to another adventure tomorrow." The fifteen year old said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, me and Tails met a new guy today who's about my age. His name's Sora, and he's got separated from his friends for some reason, 'cause he said that he woke up just outside of Station Square earlier today." Sonic explained. "I think he's got some case of amnesia, like his friend Kairi he told us about."
That made the older hedgehog think deeply over what the teenage hero had told him. "Hmm...It sounds to me like this young man and young lady have been through a lot."
Sonic nodded in agreement, before he lowered his head in concern and guilt. "It makes me kinda worried though. Sora said that he traveled a lot to find his friends, I can't help but wonder...did he and his pals notice how Mobius was split up? Or that they saw Dark Gaia rise up briefly five months ago? What if they were fighting against the monsters that appeared at night? If he figures out how I...how I ended up failing to stop Eggman from splitting the world apart, I'm not sure what I'll do."
Five months and while he had recovered from his guilt three months ago, the only ones that still had full knowledge of Eggman's actions were Sonic himself, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Sun, Professor Pickle, Star, Rouge, Shadow, the Chaotix, and Espio's mentor Koga, and also Sonic's parents Jules and Bernadette. Even now, he still feared in other people's reactions despite being reassured that it would be alright and everyone was safe. Sometimes he still has that lingering worry. If Sora and his friends were to find out about his actions...
"To be honest, Uncle Chuck, I...I'm still really scared. What if Sora gets angry and calls the Police or GUN or something? I don't wanna end up in jail when my friends and I worked hard in fixing up Mobius?" Sonic confessed.
"It will be fine, my boy. Remember, you're not alone, and what has happened wasn't your fault. For now, I think you know what you must do and what you feel is right." Uncle Chuck told him wisely and comfortingly.
It didn't take Sonic long to figure out what he had to do and nodded, sitting up and nodded. "Yeah. I made a promise to help Sora, and you know me, I always keep to my promises." He then smirked a little. "Plus, at least we don't have to worry about Egg-Stain."
"I'm certain your new friend Sora will understand. He sounds like a very nice young man." The older hedgehog reassured.
"Yeah, in a funny way, he's kinda like me. There's something about him that I can tell that he's a hero in his own rights. I could see it in his eyes." The cobalt teenager added, then added with a thoughtful frown. "Though I couldn't help but notice how he looked so...so sad. Sure, being separated from friends would make anybody sad, I know from that experience. But somehow, there's something about how he mysteriously ended up in Station Square doesn't add up. Almost as though...something really awful happened. Maybe I should ask him so that I'd have a better idea."
Sir Charles smiled warmly at his nephew and wrapping his arm around the teenager's shoulders, gently pulling him closer, saying. "I'm sure you will find the answers soon enough, Sonic. If anyone can help others in need, it's you."
Sonic just smiled back and rested his head onto his uncle's shoulder for the warmth and comfort he craved for ten years. "Thanks, Unc.' I wish I could introduce ya' to my friends. They'd love to meet you."
Before Uncle Chuck could reply to that, however, all of the sudden Sonic's body glowed in familiar green light that felt warm which only made things more confusing and as the hero of Mobius glanced at himself, something glowed brightly on his left wrist and when he looked at it, his eyes widened when he saw a familiar silver bracelet with a green gem glow in light.
"Chip's necklace? How did that get here?" Sonic asked, bewildered.
Just then, not only Uncle Chuck, who was also confused over the situation, vanished with a shocked and dismayed gasp much to Sonic's distraught as the teenager cried out for his uncle to come back, the light from Sonic's bracelet glowed brighter and the blue hedgehog had to shield his eyes...
Gasping softly while being jolted awake, Sonic sat up quickly in his bed and panted having just being brought out from the strange but creepy dream that left him feeling terrified. Slightly disoriented, the blue hedgehog glanced around to get his bearings before reality sank in and he breathed in deeply to get a hold of himself, rubbing his eyes tiredly as it was still dim and slightly dark.
"Boy, that was some weird dream. What was that all about?" Sonic asked himself, yawning. When he looked at his clock while wondering what time it was, he noticed that his bedside drawer had green light glowing from within it which almost immediately made him become fully awake. "Huh?"
Alarmed and confused, the teenage hero turned and got out of bed before opening it and found that his bracelet, Chip's necklace that his dear friend left behind, was glowing. Just like in his dream. Shocked, Sonic carefully took it out and held it in both hands as the light then dimmed before fading away as though it didn't happen at all.
"What's going on? Why did Chip's necklace glow like that?" He wondered aloud.
As Sonic was trying to figure out the meaning of this and secretly hoped that this wouldn't mean that Dark Gaia would return or anything possibly related to it that nobody was aware of, little did he know that he wasn't the only one having a strange dream.
Sora's Dream-Link between realities...
He was reliving the nightmare. Sora was certain of it, and he didn't like it one bit. The fourth time in a row, the Keyblade Wielder felt his heart ache in agonized pain of seeing all of his friends being taken away from him. Standing in the place within the Keyblade Graveyard of the giant Heartless vortex that formed, one by one, he could only watch helpessly as Ven and Aqua were taken away after Terra-Xehanort killed the blonde-spiky haired boy, then Donald sacrificed himself to destroy the corrupted Terra before he, the grieving Mickey and Goofy, and then Aqua, Axel and...oh, Kingdom Hearts, Kairi, were all swallowed up by the vortex.
Then Riku...attempting to do the defeat the horde, made the same fate...
"No...No, please...Not...not again...!" Sora shook his head, before gasping in horror as the heartless horde flew straight towards him and all he could do was let out a terrified scream...
But then suddenly he found himself in a dark place, where he found himself still alive, but floating in the darkness, muttering in confusion. "Huh? Is this...the Realm of Darkness?"
Then he saw a lifeless Kairi float in front of him, her head down and not moving.
"Kairi...?" The fifteen year old boy muttered, his heart jumping into his throat which was also choked up with tears...only to gasp in agonized dismay when she suddenly disappeared, being slashed by the menacing figure of Master Xehanort who grinned evilly at him, prompting Sora to scream in distraught. "NO! NOOOO! KAIRI!"
Seeing her die right before his eyes again, feeling as though he had ultimately failed, just as he failed to save her the first time, losing her again and again, Sora choked up a sob, tears falling freely before he glared furiously at the man who had caused so much suffering, all because he wanted to reshape the world to his liking, willing to sacrifice all life and restart the world anew. Unable to hold back his anger, Sora then summoned his Keyblade and charged to attack.
"XEHANORT!" Sora shouted in absolute rage that was worse than the first time, and slashed at the evil Keyblade Master, but missed as his enemy, the Realm of Light's pure evil enemy, just disappeared on him. Gasping in shock, before he could comprehend on what just happened, suddenly he felt a terrible presence of pure darkness, worse than even the Realm of Darkness in a different way, form behind him.
Feeling a chill run down his spine, the spiky-haired teen whirled around and saw a terrifying giant figure of what could only be described as an enormous monster that was about the size of a world or even half of it at least, snake like at the lower part of the body, four arms with huge hands and long fingers, an oddly shaped head with three large eyes, the middle being the biggest, horns on both sides of the head, and huge teeth. It was pure black, but Sora could almost see it quickly.
"W-what!? What is that thing?" The fifteen year old exclaimed, absolutely terrified, before it then faded away and darkness flew all around him, forcing Sora to try and shield himself with the Kingdom Key before it stopped and when he looked up again, he saw nothing. "Huh? What was that about?"
"OOOOOH...WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? ANOTHER SOUL WITH GUILT AND FAILURE, BORN TO BE TAKEN BY GUILT, ANGER, HATE AND SORROW? AND A HUMAN AT THAT." A deep, menacing and monster like voice taunted.
Feeling complete fear enter his heart much worse than even the time when he died and ended up in the Final World, fear unlike he ever felt before and he wasn't sure why, Sora slowly turned around back to where he saw Kairi and Xehanort, and gasped in shock to see an at least 85 foot tall hairy monster that looked like a mutated hedgehog, unaware that this was Sonic's worst fear thought to be long gone, but apparently now found a new victim to haunt and hunt; the giant Werehog, who grinned evilly with a look of hunger as it gazed at the human boy with it's blood red eyes.
"W-who are you!?" Sora exclaimed, leaning back in fear, holding a tight grip on his Keyblade. Never in his life he felt so scared. Heck, men in the Caribbean and even Donald and Goofy were scared of the Kracken that ate every living being that sailed across the ocean yet the teenage wielder hadn't been scared of it at all, even when he saw it for the first time during the Pirate War.
The Werehog chuckled darkly, increasing it's new prey's fears. "YOUR SOUL IS MUCH LIKE MY OLD PREY, YET HE AND HIS 'BROTHER' ARE TOO STRONG FOR ME TO OVERCOME. BUT YOU, HUMAN...YOU WILL DO..."
Before Sora could respond to what it was talking about, he cried out in fear and grunted in pain as the giant monster clasped him tightly in it's right clawed hand which forced him to dismiss his Keyblade and he tried to wriggle and squirm out of it's grip that pinned his arms to his sides, but it was too strong while the Werehog grew him close to it's face.
"Ugh...Let...Let me go!" The spiky-haired teen winced.
"MMMMMMMMM...SUCH FEAR, SUCH GUILT, SUCH HATE, SUCH SORROW..." The Werehog moaned in delight, licking it's lips which it's mouth began to water. "I CAN JUST TELL THAT YOU ARE AS SWEET AND JUICY, I CAN TASTE YOU ALREADY, BOY."
Realizing now that the Werehog planned on eating him alive, Sora tried harder to escape even though it was useless and the giant monster laughed, declaring. "SAY YOUR PRAYERS, CHILD OF ANOTHER WORLD."
"H-How did you know...that I'm from another world!?" Sora exclaimed, but he didn't get an answer. Because the Werehog just grinned before opening it's mouth wide and drew the horrified Keyblade Wielder right into it, and all he could do was scream in terror as he could see the throat. "NO! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Then as he was placed right inside...his world turned dark...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sora's scream echoed through out the house and even through parts of the Mystic Ruins which frightened the early flickies who chirped in fear and flew away from their nests.
Sonic, who was still musing over his own mysterious dream, gasped and jumped in fright, while Tails yelped while being jolted awake from sleep due to the teenage boy's terrified scream.
"Sora!?" Sonic cried out in grave worry, before he raced out of his room to check up on the spiky-haired teen in high speed as a sense of dread filled his senses.
Making it to the guest room where he and his little brother left their new friend to sleep in, he saw Sora having jolted upright, looking all pale and sweaty with a terrified look on his eyes, his blue eyes wide as the Keyblade Wielder panted with the effects of his nightmare still lingering.
"Hey, Sora! Are you alright?" The blue hedgehog asked as he hurried to his friend's side. When the spiky-haired human didn't respond, the cobalt speedster tried again. "Sora, calm down. It's me. It's Sonic. It's gonna be alright."
Still panting from the nightmare that turned from bad to worse to just plain horrifying, Sora was so shaken that he felt really cold before he began to regain his senses and slowly turned to his left to see a gravely worried Sonic the Hedgehog who looked like he hadn't been up for long either.
"S-Sonic?" Sora muttered, the images of his friends being taken away from him, Kairi's death before he revived her, Master Xehanort's evil grin, then the strange snake-like monster, and...and that mutated hedgehog or whatever it was...that had captured him and was about to eat him still strongly lingering in his mind.
"It's okay. You just had a nightmare. Calm down. Take deep breathes, alright?" Sonic soothed, gently rubbing his new human friend's back and he could tell that Sora was extremely shaken. Whatever he dreamt about, it must've been terrifying. More so than his own nightmares he had for two months after the Dark Gaia crisis. In fact, the hero of Mobius could tell that his friend looked like how the blue hedgehog looked, given what Tails told him whenever had had bad dreams.
Especially with the Werehog.
Feeling somewhat safe and some comfort from Sonic, Sora shakily did as he was instructed, which his breathing was still shaky at first, but slowly and surely he began to calm down until most of the adrenaline of fear faded away. It was still there, but not as much as when he woke up.
"There ya' go. That's it." Sonic gently praised, smiling softly just as Tails entered the room, looking like he was still half-asleep but then when the two-tailed fox saw what was going on, the nine year old cub was quickly brought out of it and hurried over.
"Is Sora okay?" Tails asked, worriedly.
"I think so. He should be fine now." The older Mobian replied, knowing that Sora's screaming had woken up his little brother.
"T-Thanks, Sonic." Sora smiled softly in gratitude and apologetically said to the two close friends. "Sorry that I woke you guys."
"It's okay. I was already awake from a crazy dream myself when I heard ya' scream." Sonic reassured dismissively.
"Don't worry about it, Sora. Bad dreams do always scare everybody, but they're just bad dreams." Tails added kindly.
The Keyblade Wielder sighed, before rubbing his face with one hand. "Ugh, man, that was the worst nightmare I've ever had. Half of it started off terribly, especially from the bad memories that I already have, but the rest of it...I have no idea where they came from."
"They?" Sonic tilted his head slightly, while unable to stop thinking about his own unusual dream that regarded with Sora, and the mysterious guy and the fact that Chip's necklace had glowed, both in his dream and in real life before it stopped.
But what Sora said next sent both Sonic and Tails into complete shock. "At first I saw...I saw something awful happen to Kairi, by the guy my friends and I had to fight and stop. Then there was...this giant monster I've never seen before. It was so big, that it looked like a huge snake with four arms and three great big eyes, before it disappeared into the darkness. Then I saw this...this monster-hedgehog like giant thing with strong arms, sharp teeth and...and red eyes-"
"What!?" Sonic exclaimed, horrified as he and Tails both instantly knew what Sora was talking about, with the younger Mobian gasping in alarm. 'Sora dreamt about...Dark Gaia and...and the Werehog!? How can that be? I thought they were gone for good!'
"And then the next thing that happened, even before it grabbed me, it talked about something about my guilt, my anger, my hate, and my sorrow...all of that made it think I tasted pretty good and then it...it was about to eat me when I woke up screaming." Sora continued, thinking at first that his new friends were frightened over the nightmare and, frankly, he couldn't blame them.
"But...how can that be? It can't be possible." Tails whispered, unable to believe what was happening.
"I don't get it. If you had those dreams and...and I had a really weird one myself that one minute I was talking to my uncle, the next my bracelet glowed in both the dream and just before you screamed awake..." Sonic trailed off, gazing at his bracelet once more which he realized that he still held in his left hand which caught his best friend's attention, and Sora blinked cluelessly despite the surprise of what he just heard.
"Huh? Your bracelet...glowed?" The Keyblade Wielder repeated in confusion.
Sonic and Tails shared a glance, now both certain and believing that Sora must've seen what has happened five months ago and that the blue hedgehog realized that he inadvertently revealed part of what he knew, the teenage hedgehog knew almost instantly that there was a deep connection over this. As much as he didn't want his new friend to know the truth, something strange was happening and as much as he hoped it wasn't a strange return of both Light Gaia and Dark Gaia, and...to his horror, the possible and soon to be return of the Werehog, he knew that something was up.
That meant something or someone was going to potentially rise Dark Gaia once more and somehow the Werehog's evil ghost must've survived, or maybe something that was connected to what happened several times before.
'Maybe the hallucinations were parts of both Chip and the Werehog haunting me, only I managed to save myself from becoming possessed.' Sonic thought to himself, because he knew one thing now since he and Sun had freed themselves from the burden and horrors of Dark Gaia and were still protected by Light Gaia.
The Werehog-Beast was now targeting Sora.
A/N: Well, it seems Sonic's Bracelet is giving him warning signs while Sora is now suffering the darkness of Dark Gaia and the Werehog despite the two monsters being completely defeated. Could those be related to Kairi's dreams of Chip/Light Gaia that could provide a clue in reaching Sonic's dimension? And how was it that King Mickey once reached Sonic's world many years ago and gained the knowledge of the Chaos Emeralds?
It seems things are about to become intense in some ways. What will both sides learn from this? Let's find out in the future chapters!
See you later!