Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
Chapter 9: Realm of Sleep part III
As the hooded figure appeared behind Sora, said teen just continued looking up at Neku without any indication that she noticed them. The orange-haired boy's expression instantly morphed into one of utter panic, all as the black-coated individual spun a high kick toward Sora's head. He instinctively reached a hand out in an involuntary attempt to do something, despite being too far away. "Sora!" Neku managed out, leaping down from the rooftop in his urge to stop this.
But as the mysterious figure reached the peak of their kick, it went fully over the girl's head. Sora having ducked beneath it, before instantly making her own sweeping strike against this new foe. Whom attempted to jump over the attack, yet was unable to do so in time. Due to the momentum of their own kick, the moment their other leg was swept to the side, they swiftly fell forward. This instantly reversed to a backward velocity however, as Sora struck their stomach with a powerful palm. A sharp gasp of pain left the hidden lips of this hooded individual, all the air escaping their lungs in a split second.
The force of her attack then blasted the figure through a series of neon lights, before slamming hard through a building on the second level. At the same time, Neku landed behind Sora to possibly fight alongside her. Yet seeing the wall itself cave inward, he couldn't help but blink many times in surprise. All the while, the brown-haired girl kept her own gaze focused on her opponent. In her peripheral however, she did see a slight ethereal version of the destroyed areas left in the wake of her strike. These gradually gained a more solid appearance, before actually forming into the lights and wall that had been damaged.
It looked as though nothing had even happened in the first place. For which Sora arched a brow slightly as a result; "Interesting." Sora whispered to herself, quickly realizing what this meant.
'I was a little worried that I overdid it just now, but it looks like it might be fine. Since this is a realm of dreams...unless something was broken prior to the dream starting...I probably can't actually break anything in these worlds.' she mused with a soft sigh of relief, knowing that she didn't have to worry about damage costs or such.
She was swiftly pulled from these thoughts as the hooded individual stepped forward, brushing off some rubble that rapidly disappeared from their coat. "Most impressive." they spoke up in a young man's voice, yet it was one that Sora had heard before.
"I suppose I should have figured that such a light welcome wouldn't work on you." he continued, jumping onto the ledge of the stone railing on the second level.
The girl's eyes widened rapidly as she listened to this, her body tensing as she then began to glare in the hooded man's direction. "I know you." she stated while tightly clenching both hands into fists, readying to fight.
"You were the one I met in Halloween Town." the girl continued in a huff, as though pretending as if her guard was dropped.
"You said that really weird and cryptic message." she added, now thinking back to what he had said to her all that time ago.
"Oh? You remembered me? I'm glad." the man claimed with an interested tone, all while tilting his head ever so slightly to the side in a thoughtful manner.
"Though...have you managed to figure out the meaning behind my words?" he furthered, the tone he used making his raised brow practically audible.
After this inquiry, Sora's eyes narrowed heavily and her jaw clenched in frustration. Despite not giving an answer, it didn't seem like she needed to. "Ah~, your expression says it all...how unfortunate." the cloaked figure said in a disappointed tone, yet it sounded mocking in a way the girl was strangely familiar with.
"What do you actually want from me? I don't know you, or anything about you." Sora questioned and stated, her irritation leaking into her voice.
A soft laughter echoed out from the young man, one of his gloved hands waving as though dismissing what she said. "That might be true for right now, but we shall become very familiar with one another during this Mark of Mastery of yours." he started in a knowing and confident manner, which just felt unsettling for both teens listening.
Sora took in a deep breath, trying to shake this feeling. All the while, her eyes narrowed a bit further and an ever so faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Is that so? And why do you care so much about this test of mine?" she asked, knowing she needed to gain as much information from him as she could.
"Let's just say...I have a vested interest in seeing you become a Keyblade Master." came his almost immediate response, as if already knowing she would try and get him to let something slip.
The brown-haired teen continued to glare at the man, her carefully contemplating what she should do or say next. But more importantly, she was trying to remain calm. There were so many thoughts and emotions flowing through her, it became more and more difficult to understand it all. Who was this man? Had he been manipulating her from the start? And if so, how much had he been altering? Without him simply telling her, there would probably be no way of knowing.
Yet Sora gradually offered another small smirk to cover these nerve-wracking musings, to which she arched a curious brow. "Is that so? In that case, are you gonna tell what you meant all that time ago? Or will I just have to keep guessing?" she asked in a neutral tone, her voice starting to falter from all the ideas racing in her mind.
"Perhaps in time." the man started with a slow shrug of his shoulders, the hood shifting slightly as though he was looking around.
"For now however, I merely wish to make sure that you know of my presence. As well as the fact that I'll be keeping an eye on your progress." the hooded figure claimed, his tone reflecting a rather unsettling amount of foreknowledge.
"We wouldn't want you to trip when finally reaching the finish line, now would we?" he finished as his words and voice practically reeked of open manipulation.
"How nice of you." Sora huffed out as if she was verbally rolling her eyes, now knowing that she wasn't going to get anything else out of him.
"Would you do me the courtesy of knowing your name? Or at least seeing your face?" she added while narrowing her gaze, being ready to make an attack.
The hooded man went silent for a few seconds, seeming to be merely staring at the girl. He likely saw her tensing to rush him, but he eventually offered a slow nod in response. "I suppose it's only right I offer you that much." he said while reaching both hands up pulling the hood back to reveal his face.
The young man had mildly tanned skin with pointed ears, golden eyes, and silver hair. These long locks were slightly spiked and draped down past his shoulders, though he had four bangs that framed his handsome features. "Is this what you were expecting?" he questioned in an amused tone and arched brow.
"Yes...and no." Sora answered, her gaze remaining focused on him as she no longer appeared ready to attack.
"But I guess I was picturing someone a little...older." she added with a shrug, making a small verbal jab at him.
The tanned man merely smirked faintly, his own eyes scanning the teen. While it appeared as though he was paying no mind to Neku behind the girl, he did seem to make sure he wasn't making any moves either. "Regardless..." the silver-haired man began while holding a hand out, as if to summon a weapon.
This gesture brought both teens on edge, ready to make their own move. But the cloaked man merely gazed on without any worry; "...I think this is enough for now." he finished as a weapon indeed flashed into his open hand.
As Sora looked at it however, her eyes widened heavily when realizing that it was a Keyblade. The tip of the weapon looked like a stopwatch, while the teeth were diamond-shaped spikes connected by a blue and black web-like structure. The Keyblade's neon blue shaft and blade looked almost ethereal in its design, giving a semi-translucent appearance. In addition, there was a demonic head and attached wings on both the head, and shaft of the weapon. Lastly was the hourglass key-chain, which dangled on the bottom of the Keyblade.
With a long and studying gaze at this weapon, a realization hit Sora like a slap to the face. Her eyes widened once more, but this time, she let out an audible gasp from actual horror. She finally understood the war she was facing, and the sort of power she and her friends were up against. Seeing her reaction, the young man's smirk widened into a confident smile. It was exactly as he was hoping.
Upon which, he held the Keyblade out in front of him and offered the girl a nod of farewell. "Until next we meet." he claimed before turning the weapon to the side slightly and simply vanishing, as if he had never been there to begin with.
Sora kept looking at this spot for a few moments however, not wanting to trust that he was truly gone. But after almost a full minute, she finally let out a slow breath that she had not even noticing she was holding in. With so much to contemplate and comprehend, the girl's unfocused stare drifted downward. Her eyes weren't able to focus on anything, as her mind was entirely elsewhere right now. She almost couldn't believe what she just saw, nor what it meant for the future.
'That Keyblade, there is no doubt of what it does and what that guy is using it to do. But if that's the case...' she mused inwardly, not realizing she was clenching both hands into fists until they began shaking.
Yet she was suddenly snapped free of these thoughts when Neku spoke up in a somewhat sheepish and timid tone. "Um...Sora..." he started, his head tilted down in shame.
Said brown-haired teen turned around to face him, her expression and hands slowly losing their tension. It was clear that the boy wasn't sure of what he could or should say, but he still wanted to apologize all the same. He took in a deep breath and cleared his throat, gathering all the courage he could before continuing on. "I'm sorry. For tricking you...and just in general."
The regret in his tone was obvious. He almost seemed surprised by this genuine feeling, as he likely wasn't used to it. Sora could tell he was typically an honest person by nature, so anything similar to deception likely felt wrong to him. She then just gave a small smile and waved one of her hands with dismissiveness. "You didn't really trick me to be fair." she corrected, tilting her head up slowly.
"Sure, not providing information can feel like lying. But he also told you not to say anything, right?" the girl continued with a knowing and understanding expression as she looked back to him.
Neku blinked in surprise for a moment, now realizing she had known all along. He then couldn't help but wonder how and why he was always so shocked by Sora. Was it her kindness? Her power? Her empathy? Her insight? She constantly felt one step ahead of him, yet it never felt as though she was belittling his own experience and knowledge. The girl wanted to learn from him, no matter how small of a way it might be. She simply treated people equally. But for as simple as it sounded, it was truly something great.
"Yeah..." he uttered out, unable to thinking of anything further to say.
"And since he probably promised that he would help you find your game partner, why wouldn't you go ahead and bring me to him?" Sora said while shrugging, her tone showing that she entirely understood and even agreed with his reasoning.
"There was no reason to suspect he was lying, or that he would try to hurt me." she added, keeping a gentle smile on her features.
"So you don't need to apologize. You were just trying to do what you thought was right after all." the girl claimed in an almost proud manner, something that confused Neku.
"But I..." he started, yet swiftly paused as Sora shook her head.
"You tried to warn me just before he showed up, right? It's probably why he attacked so suddenly. He wanted to get the jump on me, but it didn't quite work, huh?" the brown-haired girl said, now sounding rather confident and gleeful.
Neku opened his mouth to try and say something further, but seeing her smiling expression led him to simply sigh. "You really are an odd person." he uttered out under his breath.
"Yep~! In all the best ways though, right?" she questioned with a wide grin, earning a simple shrug as the orange-haired boy walked by.
"Shall we continue our search then?" he asked back, seeming to be ignoring Sora's inquiry.
Said girl smiled a bit wider toward him for a moment, though her expression faded while looking up toward where the man had once been. 'I think this Mark of Mastery might be getting a little more complicated than Master Yen Sid and King Mickey were expecting.'
Hope you enjoyed and will let me know your thoughts.
Until next time.