Okay so I lied about chapter length. This one turned out to be not so short. OwO
"Come on, pick up..." Ms. Aro's foot continued to tap the ground incessantly.
The class gazed frightfully at what was supposed to be the rainwater. It stained the white tiled flooring- it looked as if someone had bled onto the ground a little. That had come from the sky?
Sora took his phone and aimed it at the splatter. "...I think you guys need to come," he said quietly.
He heard the quiet gasps from Riku and Ellia, before the former whispered, "We'll be right there," and ended the call. Sora looked at the blank screen and closed the app, putting the phone away.
Ms. Aro's bark made everyone flinch, "Gosh darn it, Liat Berry, pick up right this instant!"
As if she'd heard, Liat Berry- the principal- answered the call. "What do you need, Candace?"
"Have you seen the rain outside?" Candace Aro looked impatient and nervous. "It looks and even smells like blood!"
Sora realized she was right. The unwelcome tang of iron hung in the air.
"This is not normal! I-"
"I don't need a lecture, Candace," snapped Principal Berry. There was a pause and some rustling on the other end. "...That's strange. But why did you call me?"
"Suspend any outside activities for today. Bring everyone inside and keep them there."
Liat was shocked, "Candace Aro, are you suggesting a shelter in place over rain?"
"This isn't normal rain! This should be code red for blood rain or whatever this is!" The teacher was freaking out.
"Hey, Sora."
Sora practically fell over and he whipped around to face Riku, Ellia, Arashi, and Kairi. "The heck, Riku?" he hissed, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"No. We already have Ms. Aro in the process of having one." He inclined his head in the direction of the aforementioned woman, who was getting frantic and slightly angry.
"-was in one of those legends!" she was exclaiming to the principal, throwing her free hand in the air. "Legend Of The Heartless's Storm? Every student has a copy of the book, and this is one of the tales!"
Sora instinctively snatched his History book and flipped to the Table Of Contents. Indeed, there was an entry titled 'Legend Of The Heartless's Storm'. He flipped to it immediately as Principal Berry and Ms. Aro continued to bicker.
Three pure hearts of light
Will inherit a weapon long lost to the fight
With key in hand, they'll save their land
And they will, at last, understand
When the clouds turn black and spills its blood
And creatures of darkness begin to flood
Never have chances been so few
Tales of war and keys will begin anew
Look for these signs that hinder the opportune
For only then will you know
That day is coming soon.
'Some of that is...weirdly accurate.' Sora bit his lip, but was snapped back to reality as he realized Ms. Aro and Principal Berry's volume had risen.
"Darn it, Liat, I don't care if you don't believe in these legends, just keep everyone inside and away from the rain!"
"A little water never hurt anyone."
"It looks like blood, for star's sake!" Ms. Aro snarled, "If you're not concerned about the legend, then think of it like this: the kids'll go home covered in what looks like blood, and then you'll be receiving a lot of garbage from parents!"
A pause. Then, "Very well." Principal Berry hung up and a minute later her voice resounded from the speaker.
"Attention, all staff and students. We will not be going outside at all today. No matter what, stay inside at all times. Other than this, we will be going about our normal schedule. Please wait for further notice." There was a click, and the announcement was over.
Ms. Aro took a deep breath, eyeing the read splatter tiredly. "...Does someone wanna clean that up or will I do it?" She chuckled hollowly, and her fragile attempt to lighten the mood worked a little bit, with a few nervous laughs scattering about the class.
Sora fingered the page of the History book. He needed to read more later.
The bell rang. It was time for everyone to move to their next period.
"No homework," Ms. Aro said with a weary smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "You all get passing grades on this assignment. Please, stay safe and be careful, alright?"
"Yes, Ms. Aro," they all chorused. The room was soon filled with the squeaking and rustling of people packing and cleaning up.
Sora had Math with Riku next. Kairi was going to her elective Music class with Ellia and Arashi. Glancing around in the hallway, there were no adults in sight. He made eye contact with Riku and grinned, mouthing, 'Race you there, slowpoke!'
He took off towards the designated classroom, silently laughing about how he'd gotten a head start. Riku was a little faster than him, but Sora still found enjoyment in challenging him to races. They kept score of who won and started over when the month ended. Right now it was 3-3, tied.
Sora skidded around the corner and touched the wall beside the door a split second before Riku did. He painted and snickered, "I...win! 4-3!"
In response, Riku shoved his head with a smirk. "Don't get cocky."
They entered the class, and Sora was startled to see that they were one of the only people there. Looking around, he saw only two other people: a girl with long black hair who was texting someone with her feet propped up on her desk, and another girl with an arctic blue ponytail who looked like she was in the grade above. Not even the teacher was in the class.
The black-haired girl looked up at them, sighed dramatically, and took her feet off the desk, standing up. "Where is everyone? Is there something awesome going on and I'm missing it?"
"Quit your whining, Tala," snapped the girl with the icy hair.
'Tala' rolled her eyes, then looked expectantly at Sora and Riku. The latter, realizing she was waiting for them to talk, said, "I don't know where everyone else is." He frowned, "Not even the teacher, huh?"
Tala's phone pinged. She cocked an eyebrow and checked the message. Her eyes widened. "OMG. Kairi just texted me, and apparently everyone is at the front of the school. We gotta go there now!"
"Why?!" Sora squawked at both the mention of his friend and the report of the situation. Riku was also shocked.
Their phones vibrated, and they took them out, seeing a similar message. "She sent us the same thing!" exclaimed Riku.
"Well, what the heck are we waiting for?" Tala started running past them, and they followed behind her. The blue-haired girl was also trailing them.
As they kept up with her, she grinned, "The name's Krisatala, by the way. Everyone just calls me Tala, though."
"Nice to meet you!" Sora chirped.
"You shouldn't be having casual conversations right now, dimwit!" The blue-haired girl snarled.
Krisatala scoffed, "It's Shizukana's job to insult me, not yours. That's Una, by the way." She addressed Sora and Riku.
"Cool." Sora replied quickly, still smiling despite the situation, "C'mon, faster! I don't wanna miss whatever's going on! Nothing exciting ever happens here!"
When they arrived at the front, there was indeed a thick crowd. People were talking loudly, with tones ranging from confused to frightened. Arashi appeared out of thin air, grabbing Sora and Riku's hands, "Hi, Tala! Hi, Una! Shizukana and Ellia are over there."
She pointed in a certain direction and the two girls left. Arashi looked back at the boys whose wrists she had unceremoniously seized. "Come with me, Kairi's waiting."
"Um- thanks?" Riku said as he was dragged along. "What's going on?"
"There's some weird-looking things outside the school. They look like overgrown ants that decided to walk on two legs."
"Eh?" Sora blinked rapidly, confused. "Wait, can we see?"
"Yep! Kairi and I have a good view of 'em."
They followed her to outside the entrance of the Academy. Thankfully, the school's design kept them from being rained on. There was a bit of a roof extending from the doors. Kairi was standing near a couple of bushes. When she saw them, she waved them over.
"It's creepy." Kairi shuddered, "Those things just keep multiplying. What should we do?"
"Let me see." Sora peered behind her, and yelped, "Ew! Those things are disgusting!"
"You were right, Arashi." Riku frowned, revulsion creeping onto his face. "They don't look like any animal I'veseen."
Arashi bit her lip, "That's just it. Check this out."
She pulled out a History book and flipped to a certain page. Sorta saw that it was labeled 'Legend of Heartless'. Right underneath the title was a picture of the very same shadow bugs that were crawling on the school grounds.
"They're called Heartless. These particular ones are Shadows...?" The blonde girl shrugged worriedly, "But they're supposed to be fake. Apparently these things eat hearts. Like, they kill you, and eat whatever quote-un-quote 'light' you have."
"Light?" Kairi questioned.
"Light." Arashi tapped the paper, "As in, goodness. The purer you are, the more these hideous guys are attracted to killing you, I guess."
Sora made a face, looking at the twitching creature fearfully. He could see the principal and some of the teachers trying to calm eve try one down. Eventually the loud shouts and questions faded very slightly. He looked around nervously, and made a mental note on how the rain made the sidewalk ruby red, and enveloped the people with a hideous, fire-like glow.
Sora saw Ms. Aro pick up a rock and throw it at one of the Shadows angrily. It conked one of them right on the head, making it step back, though nothing changed in its empty yellow eyes. He'd never seen her this furious. A few of the other teachers were doing the same. It didn't deter the creatures, however.
Principal Berry called out to the students, "Everyone needs to get back inside! We already called the police, and they are on their way! We don't know if these things are hostile, but we don't want to find out! Everyone, inside, now!"
Reluctantly the crowd shuffled back into the large doors of the Academy building. The Shadows rippled forward, their gaze trained on the people who were now taking shelter. The red rain bounced right off their bodies, leaving them mostly dry. Sora's nose couldn't handle the nauseating smell of iron, so he took the front of his red hoodie and covered his mouth and nose with it.
Principal Berry narrowed her eyes at the approaching creatures. She was standing in front of the students. "Close the doors," she said tersely.
The other teachers, including Ms. Aro, obeyed and shut the see-through doors. As a result, the Shadows began to shuffle closer.
Then, when they were as close as possible to the entrance, they began to bang against it repeatedly. The doorway trembled as the countless Shadows hurled themselves at the locked entry point.
The students began to talk to each other, their voices rising in a clamoring panic. Principal Berry was trying to calm everyone down again.
KR-CRACK!
Neon purple-and-white flashed against the sky, temporarily blinding everyone as they cried out and shielded their eyes.
BANG!
The doors shattered and fell. The Shadows flooded through.
And everyone started to scream.
Sora saw about four-fifths of the students run away either crying or screaming, half of the remaining ones running in different directions in order to find a place to hide, and the rest began to try and fight the Shadows off.
He spotted Shizukana grabbing a random wooden board that had come from the fallen doorframes and proceed to try to bash a Shadow's head in. Surprisingly, it wasn't dead yet, considering she was making dents in the floor with the force of her blows.
Riku had snatched a baseball bat that had been dropped by a fleeing athlete and was using it to send a few of the creatures flying. Kairi hadn't run away either, and was kicking at any of the Shadows that came near her. They staggered away but only continued to come closer.
Only three adults remained: Principal Berry, Ms. Aro, and Mr. Creftar. The rest of them ran after the students in order to ensure their safety. The principal was engaging in weaponless combat, miraculously remaining untouched in the chaos.
Ms. Aro was holding some spare bottles and vials of strange bubbling liquids of varying colors. Whenever she threw one at a monster, the glass shattered and the contents spilled. Sora witnessed her hurl a neon green bottle at two Shadows, and saw the liquid eat through both the monsters and the floor. Acid.
(He made a mental note never to mess with her. Ever.)
And Mr. Creftar...was yelling at the Shadows, saying something about a Kingdom Hearts and light, and wielding a random fire extinguisher. He sprayed and conked them with it.
Sora saw Kairi get surrounded by the unsteady creatures, and he ran over to help her, using his backpack (which was somehow still on his shoulders) to bowl about seven of them over.
"The upsides of a heavy backpack-" he huffed, shooting her a cheeky grin despite the situation, "-is that you can hit a lot of hostile monsters with it at the same time."
She smiled and shook her head fondly, then glared at a nearby Shadow and kicked it as hard as she could, sending it flying. "These things just wont die!"
"Tell me about it!" Shizukana roared from across the hall. She was using all of her strength to destroy the creatures, but even if they were squished, they always reformed themselves and stumbled closer. It was disgusting and made Sora want to throw up.
Perhaps fortunately, he was much too distracted to throw up.
Arashi, Una, Tala, and Ellia were there too. Ellia alternated between hitting Shadows with her skateboard and using it to ram into piles of them. Tala and Una were fighting together. (Una had a pocket knife of some sort...? Whether or not she snuck it in was worrying but not Sora's focus right now.) Arashi was relying on brute strength, knocking Shadows out of her way and backing everyone up.
"Are you alright, kids?" Sora and Kairi jumped, swiveling to face the source of the voice, and relaxed when they saw it was Ms. Aro. Her brows were furrowed and she was biting her lip.
"Yeah, we're fine." They nodded.
Arashi and her friends stopped their fighting and retreated as the Shadows continued to multiply, "C'mon!"
Ms. Aro waved, "You go ahead! We'll be right there with ya!"
"What about you?!" Sora squawked.
"We'll be fine!" she replied, "Run before the Heartless get you!"
"Come on, Sora!" Riku hissed, grabbing his arm. "I don't wanna leave either, but the adults have to know what they're doing. Let's go."
Conceding, Sora cast one last, desperate look behind him. He saw the staggering amount of unsteady creatures as they poured on. Thunder cracked in the distance outside- a blinding neon violet streak against the inky black clouds. The scarlet rain was starting to trickle inside, heavier than actual rain. It dropped onto the tiled floor and made it look as if someone had limped into the building after being caught in a car crash. The adults were fighting the endless horde of Shadows.
He turned away from the hideous sight ran after his friends. For some reason, he then sensed a rush of hope in his heart. He wondered why.
But what he didn't see was the flash of light that took the physical form of a weapon in a woman's hands...
They were running down the halls and Riku suddenly turned a corner, yanked open a door, and pulled them inside, closing it again. Kairi took multiple desks and chairs, piling them against the frame so it was almost entirely blocked.
"There," she panted.
Sora looked around. It was dark. "Arashi and the others split from us..."
"It's okay." Riku flipped the switch so the light blazed on. "They can handle themselves."
"Those things were..." Kairi shuddered. "So gross."
"Tell me about it," Sora agreed, remembering how they writhed and staggered, how terribly lifeless their eyes were...and he remembered how sick he was. He groaned and doubled over.
"Are you okay?" His friends were instantly by his side, supporting him.
"I don't...feel..." Sora instinctively stumbled towards the trash can, and vomited.
Kairi prevented him from falling, and Riku rubbed soothing circles on his friend's back. Sora felt hot and sweaty, and he painted as if he'd run around the world nonstop. All of this felt so...wrong. The aura those Shadows emitted made him want to run away and direct ferocious anger towards them. It was so strange.
"Feel better?" Kairi asked softly.
"Barely," he mumbled. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine," Riku replied, looking around. "Huh. I think we went into the old drama classroom. No one uses this place anymore."
After his wave of nausea passed, Sora took a tissue from Kairi, wipes his mouth, and checked their surroundings. Indeed, the place seemed old and there were some spiderwebs scattered about. Dust hung in the air, making his nose run and turn red.
"Great," he said thickly, speaking around the lump in his throat from his throwing up and sounding nasal due to his runny nose. "I hate dust. It gives me allergies."
Kairi handed him another tissue. He took it gratefully and blew into it before throwing it in the trash.
Riku was running his hand gently along a painted backdrop. It was of a beautiful night sky, with the moon high in the air and the stars twinkling beside it. The silhouette of a city rested beneath it. "This looks like it's been here for years, but perfectly preserved."
"Strange," Kairi commented. "Usually stuff that's been here for years gets eaten through with decay." She shot a disgusted look at a piece of clothing that looked like it had once been a silvery nightgown. It was now in rags, and its state suggested that some moths and other starving bugs had stumbled across it.
Sora shook his head so he wouldn't throw up again, "Did they use some kind of special paint? Arashi said one of her older friends who took the Drama elective told her that the brand they used isn't being made anymore."
"Oh, yeah, that!" Kairi thought about it, "I know she told me something about it...Aha, I remember! The paint is supposed to stay fresh for a long time, and when it dries, it gets really shiny and kind of solid, like marble. That way it doesn't chip or rot easily. But the business stopped making it and moved out of town. No one really knows how it was manufactured, or why they stopped."
"How old is Arashi's friend?" Riku asked, a little bewildered. "Because this looks really old."
"Um, well, I heard she has a job at a local charity where they put up plays in order to raise money for homeless people and orphans and stuff like that. It think she's, like, in her mid to late twenties."
Sora shrugged, not extremely bothered. "The Academy has been here for five decades, going on six."
"Aw, look who did his History homework," Kairi teased.
"That was actually one of the questions Mr. Creftar put on our History homework. You just don't remember because it was one of our very first assignments for that class and I decided to dig a little deeper than most people would."
"Very useful, Detective Sora!"
He rolled his eyes in response. Riku frowned, "Why don't they use this classroom anymore?"
Sora mulled it over, recalling the article he'd read. "Well, they expanded the school soon after the paint stopped getting manufactured. And since they built an even bigger room that included an auditorium with more than enough seats, the Drama people moved most of their stuff over there and this place kinda just became a closet or secret hangout."
"I wonder why they never removed it," Kairi mused. "Or repurposed it."
"Who knows?"
KR-CRACK!
They all jumped at the sound of the lightning. It illuminated the room in a terrifying pale glow, overpowering the light (which was a little faulty anyways) before fading. Sora has been so engaged in the conversation that he'd nearly forgotten what was happening. They noticed that the dusty red curtains were closed. Riku frowned, went over, and opened them.
The window was almost completely coated in scarlet liquid. Sora shuddered as he recognized the abnormal rain, and Kairi flinched. Riku steeled himself, and peered past the clearest spot he could find. "The storm got harder," he said quietly.
"Lemme see." Sora walked up to the glass and looked outside. It was if darkness had turned itself into a worldwide blanket and was laid down. He could only see faint silhouettes of buildings and the barely perceivable droplets of red rain. Occasionally the thunder would strike again, bringing with it loud cracks.
The room was beginning to smell like metal. Sora groaned and covered his nose and mouth with his hoodie again. Kairi, who had appeared next to him, did the same with a scarf she had in her backpack. Riku took his grey sweatshirt and followed suit.
Sora picked up his backpack, which he'd somehow been able to grab amidst the chaos. He rummaged around inside it with one hand (the other he used to make sure his clothes could muffle the smell) and hauled out the heavy History book.
"Gonna read us a bedtime story?" Kairi giggled despite the situation.
"Sure. Once upon a time, the end." Sora rolled his eyes, "I was going to look up some entries that have to do with all this."
They sat down next to him on the floor as he opened up the book. His eyes scanned the Table Of Contents before they looked to the 'Legends And Lore' section. His gaze landed on the Heartless entry Arashi had shown them earlier. It occupied ten pages.
"There has to be something useful in ten pages," he muttered, flipping to the first one. There was the same picture of the Shadow at the top.
"What's this?" Kairi piped up, pointing to something underneath the description of the Shadow. It looked like some sort of chart.
"It's an analysis," Riku murmured.
Sora blinked, and his eyes flickered to the section.
Power: 1/5
Speed: 1/5
Technique: 0/5
Intelligence: 2/5
Overall Skill: Little to None
"...wow. These things are basically trash." Riku coughed, maybe from trying to hide grim laughter. "Trash that eats you."
"Trash that you can't destroy." Kairi pointed out, making a face.
"Trash I wish I could throw out," Sora huffed.
His friends laughed. He scowled, "I was being serious!"
"Sure thing," Riku shrugged. "Well, this entry has ten pages. What else is there?"
Sora looked back at the book, and below the Shadow's analysis, there was another picture. "There's more?!"
"More Heartless?!" Kairi squawked.
"Yeah!" He peered at the illustration. It was another bipedal Shadow-ish creature, but seemed to be dressed in ragged knight-like clothes. "Soldier. That's what it's called."
"Makes sense, 'cause of the helmet." Kairi tapped the aforementioned object.
Sora looked at its analysis.
Power: 2/6
Speed: 2/6
Technique: 3/6
Intelligence: 2/6
Overall Skill: Little
"So, these are like, very slightly stronger versions of the Shadows." Kairi commented.
"Looks like it," Riku agreed, then frowned. "If there's ten pages...are there ten pages' worth of Heartless?"
They exchanged silent, mortified glances.
KR-CRACK!
Startled, they all whipped their heads towards the window. The beating of the red rain had gotten heavier and more severe, and it was causing the glass to shudder ever so slightly.
"Is it just me," Kairi gulped. "Or did it sound closer?"
Flustered, Sora flipped to the next page in order to distract himself and succeeded in doing so. "Three Heartless on one page?!" he squawked.
He also succeeded in distracting his companions. "What?!" they exclaimed, turning towards him. The storm was immediately forgotten.
Sora looked at the next one. "Air Soldier. Apparently it's the cousin of the Soldier."
"We definitely couldn't tell from the name, thanks." Riku grumbled.
Sora paid him no mind, and for a moment his eyes lingered on the picture. True to its relations, it looked like a Soldier, but equipped for aerial combat. He then glanced at the analysis.
Power: 2/6
Speed: 3/6
Technique: 3/6
Intelligence: 3/6
Overall Skill: Little to Moderate
He hummed a little. Riku frowned. "We were having trouble fighting the Shadows. What happens if we run into these guys? Not to mention it looks like they only get tougher."
"I hope most of them are fake," Kairi groaned. "The Shadows were supposed to be fake, but here we are, having a jolly good time in a dusty old classroom, with that outside!" She flourished a hand in the direction of the window, where the jet black clouds continued to bleed.
Sora agreed with her silently, but to lighten the mood, he said, "Maybe you should've taken the Drama elective, Kairi."
She rolled her eyes with an affectionate smirk. "I have enough fun- but also work- where I am now. Plus we have all of this going on."
"I wonder if they'll still make us turn in those final assignments," Riku chuckled hollowly.
They laughed along with him quietly. Sora's curiosity got the best of him, and he muttered, "I wonder what the last Heartless in the entry is."
They turned towards him. Kairi shifted closer, "Well, let's see."
Sora flipped through the pages one at a time. He saw the Heartless get bigger, more terrifying, and a fleeting glance at their evaluation charts made his stomach flip. Little became Moderate, Moderate became Skilled...
He reached the tenth page. There was only one Heartless on it, taking up the entire page.
"Invisible," Sora read aloud, "A Pureblood Heartless, thought to be extremely rare if it ever existed at all. True to its name, it has the ability to turn itself invisible. When it does this, the sword it wields begins to move on its own and can inflict severe damage."
Then he looked at the analysis.
Power: 6/6
Speed: 6/6
Technique: 6/6
Intelligence: 5/6
Overall Skill: TRUE CHALLENGER
"That thing is OP!" Kairi exclaimed, looking horrified.
Riku bit his lip, "Stars, I hope we never get in that thing's way. Or see it at all, for that matter."
For some reason, another chill went down Sora's spine. He felt sick once more, but hoped it didn't show on his face (or that he would throw up again).
"Do you think the teachers are okay?" He asked quietly.
"I hope they are," murmured Kairi.
Sora took out his phone, "You think we should text our parents?"
"Only if they text us first." Riku shrugged, "They might not know about the situation yet. We shouldn't worry about them."
"But if they watch the news, they'll find out."
"Then tell them your phone died. Your mom doesn't even watch the news," he added accusingly.
Sora scowled, seeing his point. "Neither do yours."
"Exactly."
"You guys already know that my parents are usually working," Kairi laughed. "They ask me about what I see on the news."
"Well, then at least they won't find find out by themselves."
"I wonder if other parents will contact ours if they find out." Sora closed the History book and rested his chin on his hands.
"Maybe..." Kairi trailed off and everything was silent.
But it was soon broken when the lights went out, accompanied by a loud cracking sound.
"This world has been connected. Tied to the darkness."
The lights turned on again with a low hum. Sora's eyes were wide from what he'd heard.
"Well, that was weird," Kairi commented, her voice oddly calm.
"Yeah..." Riku frowned. "I wonder what made the lights go out."
'Did they not hear the voice?!' The question was on the very tip of Sora's tongue, but he decided not to ask. He figured he was just going crazy, and there was no point in asking about something they clearly hadn't heard.
Something caught his eye. Startled, he turned to see what it was.
"Uh...guys?"
"Yeah?" They both looked at him.
"Was that mirror there before?" Sora's pointed.
Surprised, they looked over to indeed see a mirror. A cloth covered most of it.
"Maybe it was...?" Kairi tried, shrugging in a tentative manner.
Out of curiosity, Sora went over and felt the fabric. It was light and only slightly dusty, which was a little peculiar considering this place was in the state of a freaking ancient basement. Somehow, it seemed to stand out from everything else. He pulled some of the cloth away.
Adrenaline.
Blazing red.
One becomes two.
Power flows through your body.
You are utilizing your strength to the fullest.
He flinched, recoiling and letting the cloth fall back over. With it, the sudden influx of images and feelings faded. However, he felt refreshed. 'That was...weird.'
"You okay?" Riku asked, and he and Kairi went over to him.
"...yeah. Just got thought I felt something."
"An electric shock?" Kairi teased, then pulled the cloth fully off the mirror.
Endless energy.
Vigor rushes in your blood.
Courage and determination.
Sora shook himself and looked away from the mirror. Every time he so much as gazed at it, everything would come flooding back. Kairi had paused, running a finger along the glass. She blinked, and then shook herself, stepping away. "Huh."
"What's wro-" Riku halted as he too looked at the mirror. He ripped his gaze away. "What the heck?"
"Did you guys feel something?" Sora asked.
"Yeah...like a bunch of energy. Felt really cool, actually." She stole a glance at the mirror, then hurriedly draped the magenta cloth back over it. "But also weird."
"I felt the same." Riku agreed.
"I wonder why it's in here." Sora noted, staring at the now-covered mirror.
Before anyone could say a word, everything went a little darker.
"That's weird," Riku noted nervously, glancing around him. "The lights are still on."
Kairi screamed, "Oh my- the window!"
Sora whipped his head around and saw a horse of Shadows crawling in front of the glass, blocking any of the remaining light that used to filter through. Just as suddenly, the window shattered. Shards rained onto the floor, followed up by a crimson torrent and a multitude of Heartless.
They all started screaming as the Shadows trickled steadily inside. Three of them leapt towards Sora at once, their lifeless eyes on the brink of showing earnest hunger.
The wood beneath gave way to water, and when his feet tapped gently on the ocean ground it erupted into doves, revealing a floor of stained glass.
To you, I grant the light. May you one day use it to win the fight.
Old, forgotten sentences entered his mind and departed again. The voice did not really speak, and yet the words still made themselves known.
Are you prepared for this?
No, I am not.
Do you want to protect yourself and the ones you love?
Yes, I do.
Then you are ready.
The dim light and stained glass disappeared. A weapon flashed to life in Sora's hands, and as if by its own volition, it surged forth and struck all three Shadows. The creatures dissipated into nothingness. They had been killed.
And all the attention, from everything, went to the key beheld in Sora's grip.
You are ready.
Review Responses!
verdance: Oh, I'm so flattered! :D You made a potion? Lol. Let me know how that worked out XD. You sound like QUITE the wild child. Yes, almost drowning is traumatic. I was like three or four when I was nearly swept out to sea. It was flipping terrifying. I heart the Destiny Islands Trio. They're amazing. I don't plan on putting a lot of romance in this story- no more than what we've seen in canon.
Yep, Ms. Aro is basically Mr. Creftar's opposite XD. OMG, I feel so happy while I read this! Be scared. Very scared. Be suspicious of everyone and everything, because you don't know where this is going, and neither do I! :D
Yeah I also usually kept all of my stuff in my backpack. Good thing I got a rolling one! Those things are so useful. And fun. Yeah, red clouds ain't normal. BE WORRIED PEOPLE. Thank you so much! I love doing cliffies! :3
Some of the characters are OCs, too! Angeline, Olive, Crane, Arashi, Shizukana, Ellia, Una, Krisatala...this is what happens when I need filler characters XD. Shizukana is actually my sister's OC from another fandom. Because I'm too lazy to make KH OCs. Her story is actually on my profile! You don't need to look at it, because chances are you don't know the fandom. But most of these other OCs are there too! :D
I hope you liked this chapter too! Sorry it took so long! I really appreciate your reviews!
SKREEEEEEEEEE-
Yeah this took way too long to publish.
Sorry bout that! Took almost a week long trip! I didn't do any editing work during it. Won't go into details, but let's just say I didn't trust myself nearly enough to bring the electronic device that had the chapters with me.
Came back, went to sleep. I planned on doing work the next day, but in the morning I watched an episode from my fav anime that's still streaming, and then later I started watching a new anime show I'd never seen and spent a lot of my time like that. And got lazy. Day after that was the same.
But none of you are here to read about my problems! So I guess I don't have much of an excuse. Sorry...? No really. I am.
(You should check out Serenity, which is a story written by my sister! It's from a different fandom (Beyblade Burst), but I think you'd only need to do a little research in order to understand. That's the goal we have for all of our stories! To have people be able to understand and enjoy fanfiction even if it's from a fandom they don't know!)
Hope y'all enjoyed this! :D
somibel, OUT!