Hey everyone,

So with this chapter I HOPE to finish up a good portion of Hollow Bastion. However, this includes:

Sora fighting Riku-Ansem

Sora becoming a Heartless

Kairi bringing Sora back

The whole group leaving

And that's probably where I'll leave it. The whole scene between Sora and Kairi in Traverse Town deserves to be a chapter of its own, so I'll probably go with that. Though I'll also probably add the last bit of Hollow Bastion to that chapter.

Okay, let's do this,

Venquine1990

Chapter 63

Harrowing Battles – Part 02

1st of February 1996

Destiny's Haven

Remus' POV

"You know what? I'm going to follow in our movie-duo's footsteps. Be right back, you all."

Lily's words confuse all of us. Yet a few minutes later, she comes back out of the special room with a lot of plates floating besides her.

In the time it took the lovely woman to get there and back, Sora and Donald returned from Traverse Town and the group moved on through the newly revealed corridor.

They traversed another platform up in the Lift Stop, one that looks to be at the very top of the room and that is without the usual barriers.

Through the door on the other side, they reach a small side hall with huge doors that open at the lightest touch.

Once through (while Lily comes back in) they reach the huge room where the Princesses are all stuck and where the Keyhole is visible in the back, past the staircase that splits itself in two halfway through.

Lily quickly moves the plates and platters over to us all and says: "I feel we can't really enjoy this movie without some snacks and drinks.

Enjoy everyone."

We all thank her and happily take a few snacks, a few small bits of bread or toast, a couple of fruits and a drink from the floating plates and platters.

Lily then returns to her cauldron, but conjures herself a small platform to sit her own snacks and drinks on.

And while she focuses on her new draught, I know she's also listening to the movie as it plays.

Sora flies across the length of the hall and runs up the left staircase, his friends only a step behind him.

Yet Beast stays in the front portion of room and I can only imagine that he is trying to free Belle, even if we can't hear or see him.

And as Sora reaches the platform upon which Kairi is laid down, something shocking happens. Donald reaches the platform only one step behind Sora, yet Goofy seems to be blocked by an invisible wall.

This is something Donald notices as he jumps and turns around in shock.

Yet Sora, like the camera, only has eyes for Kairi and is oblivious to the sudden strange plight of his friend.

"Kairi!"

He shouts and runs over to her.

She shakes her limp form and almost begs:

"Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!"

And while I had expected it, the sound of Riku-Ansem's possessed voice still makes me grimace.

"It's no use."

Sora turns his head in the direction of the voice and the camera moves.

It situates itself in the left corner, right in front of the balcony balustrade of the platform.

The movie shows Sora, with one leg up and the other knee-down, looking at the Keyhole.

And on top of that, on one of the pipes bend like a square atop the Keyhole, Riku-Ansem sits, Keyblade in hand.

"That can't have been comfortable."

The twins mumble, though their grins prove they don't really care.

"That girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up."

"That girl saw through your tricks and schemes and bested you before you even realized it."

Lily snarls half-heartedly. Sora and the others smile at the woman and I join them.

I just know that, while she has hardly gotten to know Kairi, Lily has already taken the girl into her heart.

And then I remember that Lily always hated it when someone called another person that girl/boy.

Sora gently lies Kairi back on the floor before he turns back to Riku-Ansem and states: "What? You … You're not Riku."

"You know me so well."

Riku lovingly tells his mate.

Yet this time, Sora seems to have taken on Riku's role as he asks:

"How close were you? To being lost to the Realm of Darkness?"

Riku grimaces and answers that he doesn't know; that he doesn't remember this.

Sora reacts and pulls Riku as close against him as he can while Riku continues to lie in his lap.

"Maybe … that's for the best. You – you're not going to like what he's about to try."

We all feel for the couple and worry over Sora's words as we watch the movie.

"The Keyhole cannot be completed so long as the last princess of heart still sleeps."

As Riku-Ansem says this, he jumps off of the pipe, only to softly float down to the floor below.

"The princess…? Kairi's a princess?"

The camera is positioned slightly above Sora and Kairi. And as Sora looks down at his sleeping friend, the camera gets a full-view of his wild brown hair as well as Kairi's upper body.

Yet as Sora asks his question, it turns alongside him and lowers itself a little.

"Yes, and without her power, the Keyhole will remain incomplete.

It is time she awakened."

"Hey wait, where did Donald come from?"

Angelina asks as the camera had shifted to show the movie from behind Riku-Ansem's lower body. He had been on his last bit down to the ground and thus, we had gotten a clear view of Sora, Kairi – and Donald standing on Kairi's other side.

"He moved to my side while Ansem was talking about the incomplete state of the Keyhole and Kairi's role in it all."

"Whoever you are, let Riku go!

Give him back his heart!"

Sora's erratic movements really emphasize both the boy's determination and his desperate need for Riku-Ansem to listen.

Yet Riku-Ansem proves that he recognizes this and that he feels like he's the one calling the shots as he strongly retorts:

"But first, you must give the princess back her heart."

And as he aims the Keyblade at Sora, the camera moves over to the boy, who gasps in pain and clutches his chest with his hand.

At the same time, while the boy falls down on his knees, a burst of bright red light emits itself from his chest for a brief moment.

"Sora!"

Donald calls out in horrified concern and the boy grunts:

"What's -"

"Don't you see yet?"

Riku-Ansem snarls and he continues talking as he walks down the staircase leading up to the Keyhole:

"The princess's heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!"

"Oh, so he does know her name, huh?"

Lily growls irritated and Riku hisses:

"He is using my body."

Lily grimaces and apologies as we watch.

"Kairi … Kairi's inside me?"

And just the absurdity of that statement breaks the tension from the previous exchange.

Most of us either chortle or suppress a chuckle, while the twins and Jordan burst out laughing.

"I know all there is to know."

"That's not what you said six months ago."

Riku's grin is mirrored by the amused tone of his voice.

I really don't like the idea that Riku actually faced this Ansem guy, yet I think:

"He's still here. That means he didn't just face Ansem; he beat him."

And that fills me with a sense of pride and satisfaction as I continue watching.

"Tell me. Who are you?"

Sora grunts, proving he's still in a bit of pain.

"It is I, Ansem, the seeker of Darkness."

"That line is almost as ridiculous as Sora's."

One of the twins snickers. Yet Sora rolls his eyes and says:

"Maybe, but remember that title. It's important for later on."

I make a silent mental note of this and promise myself I will write it down later.

Riku-Ansem walks over to Sora and it's beyond obvious that he has something nefarious in mind.

And Donald seems to realize the same as he lets out an angry squawk and tries to attack the possessed boy.

But a single swipe of the Keyblade, probably because he was too angry to focus, sends the duck flying onto the staircase on the other side.

And like with Goofy, a bright burst of white light that appears for only a moment proves that he has passed an invisible barrier.

He, Goofy and Beast won't be able to get onto the platform and help their friend anymore.

And the fact that the camera shows Riku-Ansem stopping in front of Sora, who is still down on his knees and gasping, one hand on the floor, the other holding his chest, worries me immensely.

The camera then focuses on Riku-Ansem yet also shows most of Sora, bar his lower legs.

"So, I shall release you now, Princess.

Complete the Keyhole with your power.

Open the door, lead me into everlasting Darkness!"

"YOU LEAVE SORA ALONE!"

"SORA, YOU GOTTA GET UP!"

"SORA, YOU CAN'T GIVE UP!"

"Did you all forget that we're right here?"

Almost all of us have jumped out of our seats.

Lily, James, Sirius, Jessica, the twins, the Chasers, Jordan and even Riku and I are crowded around the tv-screen and shouting – until Sora's voice is heard coming from behind us.

We all turn around and most of us turn red when we see Sora, Axel, Lea, Aqua, Terra, Ventus and Xion grinning at us in amusement.

Then Riku sighs and mutters that Sora was right, that it was good that he didn't remember this and that he's glad he got to get Ansem back for this later on.

All of us nod in agreement to this, James, Sirius and Jessica most vehemently as they must hate Ansem with a sense of passion that I don't think I'll ever be able to reach or understand.

"No one harms a Potter or a Black without paying the price for it by the rest of the family."

I remind myself of the slogan Charlus Potter often stated throughout the war as we retake our seats.

For some reason, the movie decides to show Riku-Ansem raising his Keyblade up for an attack in slow-motion.

The camera, for a moment, focuses on a slowly-breathing Sora, before it returns to – still in slomo – showing Riku slashing down his weapon.

Yet then the movie resumes regular speed and Kairi's voice is heard coming from the tv-screen itself as it shouts:

"Sora!"

Instantly Sora looks up and just a second later – just in time – he raises both hands and summons the Keyblade, blocking Riku-Ansem's attack on his person.

I know that Sora is fine and that this is a few years in the past, but I can't help myself.

Alongside the same group that crowded around the screen earlier, I cheer for Sora's wonderful response and for Kairi calling out to her friend from within.

"Forget it!

There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!"

And as Sora says this, he pushes with enough might against Riku's Keyblade to push the boy back and break the clash between them.

The two stand ready and for a moment it looks unclear who will strike first.

But while Riku-Ansem speaks a word of challenge, Sora answers by summoning wind to surround him in a defensive move and with that, Riku-Ansem's first attack obviously does less damage than it could have.

And a moment later it becomes obvious that, when it comes to offense, this battle is going to be pretty one-sided.

Riku-Ansem mostly laughs or tries to challenge Sora through words.

But every time he tries to strike at the brunette, Sora either blocks the attack or dodges out of the way just in time.

And a few times he even flies circles around the possessed body – literally.

And the fact that some of Riku-Ansem's attacks, when they hit the ground, create a small shockwave and lightshow makes me very relieved about this.

And while it slightly pains me to see these two boys fight each other like this, I also notice something else.

Several times Riku-Ansem leaves himself wide open for an attack, either because he just finished one of his own strikes or because an attack of his was blocked by Sora's Keyblade.

And Sora constantly takes full advantage of this, even though he sometimes seems to underestimate the possessed boy or believes he sees an opportunity where there isn't one.

Thankfully this doesn't happen even half as often as with Riku-Ansem, who seems really driven by his own ego and his belief in his own power and abilities.

"He's too cocky."

Xion is the one to voice what I already noticed and thought myself. I nod at her and James says:

"The Longbottom pride, that has been allowed to grow over at least 5 centuries and hundreds of generations, combined with his own arrogance is going to be his downfall.

His power is immense, I'll give him that, and his abilities and attacks worry me, both as a mother and as a member of the Order of the Phoenix – but that pride of his is going to be his own undoing.

He underestimates my son and overestimates what he can do with Riku's body way too much."

For some reason I feel like looking at Jessica.

And the look on her face says it all.

She herself has experience with people like that.

I worry over this as I resume watching the movie.

It shocks me to realize that the fight has kept going while we talked and suddenly – Sora deals an unexpected and powerful blow by using an attack I have never seen before.

"Let's go!"

He shouts, as suddenly, the whole screen gains a dark-red hue and his Keyblade becomes alight with a bright golden aura.

And while it actually looks as if the boy is untouchable or invincible, he moves and strikes at Riku-Ansem at incredibly rapid pace.

And this is suddenly followed up by Sora changing the erratic way he strikes and slashes the Keyblade.

The strikes become more focused and even start to look as if Sora is slashing a cross across Riku-Ansem's form over and over.

Three times Sora makes this x-shaped strike across Riku-Ansem's form and it's only after the third x-strike is dealt that I notice his Keyblade is alight again.

And Sora unleashes this light of power in a burst of lasers that strike at Riku-Ansem directly, the possessed young man having been driven into a corner by all of Sora's previous attacks.

And this flurry of strikes alongside the accompanying blast is enough as Riku-Ansem collapses, obviously defeated.

"What was that?" Jordan asks amazed.

"Ars Arcanum and Ragnarok. They're powerful Keyblade attacks." The boys from Hogwarts are in awe of Sora's answer as they watch.

Riku-Ansem drops the Keyblade on the ground and the same portal as before takes him away.

"Riku!"

Sora shouts, yet he runs over just as Riku-Ansem vanishes.

"I had hoped that fighting and beating Ansem would expel him from your body." Sora explains to his boyfriend, who smiles at him before we move on.

"Sora! Sora, look!"

"The … The Keyhole!"

It appears that the barriers keeping Donald and Goofy out of the fight disappeared after Riku-Ansem was defeated.

Both of them are standing right in front of the Keyhole and shouting at their friend.

"Where is Beast?" Alicia suddenly asks.

Yet Sora shrugs and mutters that he doesn't know.

"I'm guessing he was breaking the princesses out of their prisons and taking them somewhere safe or something." Katie guesses.

This sounds reasonable.

Sora joins his friends at the stone altar in front of the Keyhole and aims his Keyblade at it.

But unlike in Traverse Town nothing happens.

"It won't work! The Keyhole's not finished yet."

As if he knows that the camera is positioned right next to him, but at Sora's height, Goofy is crouched down a bit as he states this.

"What can we do?" Sora asks as he dismisses the Keyblade again.

"Maybe we've gotta go wake Kairi up."

Goofy suggests.

Yet for some reason this idea makes me grimace, even as Sora mumbles:

"I think you're right.

If we can free her heart …

But … but how?"

As Sora says this, the camera pans out and shows Kairi, still lying fast asleep. Though at the same time, the camera has the young sleeping redhead at the front right of the screen and the trio of friends at the far back of the screen.

And as Sora asks "how" the camera focuses on him fully.

Then my bad feeling gets explained as the camera suddenly focuses itself on Riku-Ansem's Keyblade, which lies in-between Sora, the altar and Kairi.

At first the movie just shows the three friends standing at the altar, but then the camera slowly moves down until the Keyblade's black sword and red guard are clearly visible as Sora says:

"A Keyblade that unlocks people's hearts … I wonder."

And as he says this, the camera focuses back on him and even zooms in a little.

"Sora?"

Goofy asks as Sora walks over to the weapon.

"Please tell me you're not about to do what I think." James almost begs his oldest child.

But Sora grimaces and states: "At least this gave birth to another kid for you to raise."

James puts his face in his hands and Sirius wraps him in a reassuring embrace as we watch the movie, all of us grimacing.

None of us like that this is how Roxas came to be. None of us want to watch this happen. But we all know we have to.

Sora takes hold of the Keyblade and it's at that moment that his friends realize what he's about to do.

"Sora, hold on!"

Goofy shouts, followed by Donald who screams:

"No, wait!"

Sora holds the Keyblade up with the tip aimed for the sky. He stares at it for a moment and then turns to his friend shocked, as if he temporarily forgot that they were there.

He sends them a reassuring and friendly smile and then grabs the blade with both hands and stabs himself in the heart.

I wince and close my eyes, as if wishing or hoping that, if I don't see it, it doesn't happen.

But I know this isn't true, so I squint and grimace as I continue watching.

A bright pure light bursts from Sora's chest as the pointy tip of the Keyblade makes contact with his form.

Strangely enough as Sora lets go off the Keyblade and drops his arms, the blade leaves his form and seems to be engulfed in the same light.

It dissipates and six balls of pure white and golden light appear in its place, two of them larger than the others and the one in the center the smallest of them all.

The lights all fly up and fly over to where the princesses are, shockingly enough, still trapped within their crystal prisons.

And each orb of light enters each of the princesses from their chest. Yet only one is shown. A young woman with brown hair that is slightly done up in a bun, the rest of the length of her hair cascading down her right shoulder.

Then the camera focuses back on Sora, who has his arms spread wide while another burst of light, this one much larger and brighter, bursts from his chest.

And from this an orb, just like the other six, floats out and up. It then floats back down into Kairi, who finally opens her eyes.

Too late.

A golden aura surrounds Sora, who seems to have a strangely peaceful smile on his face as he closes his eyes.

Yet the camera doesn't focus on him as he's visible only on the right of the screen. It focuses on the Keyhole, which also lights up, the red, green and blue getting replaced with its bright color before they return, but then without the bolts of lightning.

And as Sora falls back, as his body gets further surrounded by the bright golden aura and sparkles of bright yellow and white light, Donald runs over to him and shouts his name:

"Sora … Sora!"

This, again, is shown in slow-motion.

The camera then shows Sora slowly falling in the left back corner of the screen and shows Kairi slowly getting up in the right front of the screen.

The movie returns to regular speed as the girl hurriedly gets up and tries to run over, also shouting: "Sora!"

But she arrives at her falling friend only a second too late.

Just as she wants to wrap her arms around his falling form, it dissipates and dozens of smaller bits of light fly up into the ceiling, the darkness up there causing them to disappear from sight.

The camera turns around Donald as he stomps his foot and shouts:

"Sora! Come back, Sora!"

But the demand is obviously in vain and the camera turns dark.

Then, as if to add insult to injury, it shows Sora actually falling in circles, yet the rest of the screen is entirely dark.

"What's … what's happening to me?

Falling … falling … into darkness."

"Okay, change of seats, NOW!"

James' shout shouldn't have startled me and yet it does. I even jump a little, but then I catch myself and realize why my best friend demanded this.

I really don't blame him and a few minutes later we've all changed our seating. And now the whole Potter-Black family is seated around Sora.

And this time the brunette doesn't feel like making a funny joke, which is probably because he can clearly see how strongly his parents are trying to suppress their tears.

Not Jessica, though, she is weeping and crying her eyes out. It's obvious that, while the girl knows that this is a movie and that this happened years ago, it still hits her way too hard for her to think rationally.

She needs her older brother.

She needs to hold him.

She needs him to reassure her.

And Sora complies wholeheartedly. As they change seating, Sora quickly and instantly pulls his crying younger sister into his lap.

He makes sure that she can get a good strong hold of him and that most of his body envelops her own, as if to silently tell her I'm right here.

He even sends a short, questioning glance at Lea. Yet for some reason the redhead shakes his head. Then Sora pulls his hand away from Jessica's red tail and I realize what happened between the two.

Sora silently asked Lea if he should caress Jessica's tale to help her calm down like Lea did for the better part of the movie.

Lea, by shaking his head, told him not to and to just let Jessica cry her fears away on her own terms and by her own accord.

Yet, as if the Kitsune within knows that the two were holding a silent conversation about one of its key aspects, it decides to remind us that it's here, that it's part of Jessica.

The girl's crying suddenly undergoes a tone shift and a moment later, a new tail grows out of her backside.

And the coloring somewhat worries me. It's a pure black color with bright sparkles – like stars – scattered across the length of the tail.

Instantly Riku, Lea, Terra, Aqua and Ventus are on their feet, surrounding the family and casting the Curaga spell.

And while Jessica keeps crying, her tone of voice changes again, proving that she is still weeping over what we just saw.

For a few minutes we all hold quiet. We let the young family reassure themselves. We let Sora reassure them that he's still there with them. We let Jessica recover from her ordeal.

And we use the sight of this family of four – which I suddenly realize really should be five – to reassure ourselves.

And as I have my realization, I turn to Roxas. Only to see that, while he hadn't gone to sit with his family, Lily had gone to sit with him.

Roxas seems a little stunned at this, yet Lily gently tells him that she's his aunt through his mother. Roxas smiles at her and returns the embrace.

"Will you be gone for long?"

Jessica asks after about three minutes.

Sora shakes his head and says: "Not even long enough for Roxas to absorb any of my memories. Kairi brought me back before any of us got out of there. I'll be back before you know it."

His sister gives him a weak smile and turns to the screen.

The movie shows Goofy, Donald and Kairi all standing together, their faces to the ceiling and their arms raised, the palms of their hands aimed upwards.

It almost looks as if the three of them are hoping – if not praying – that Sora will reform and that one of them will be able to catch him or something.

The sight is enough to almost bring me to tears once again.

Kairi is the first to lower her arms as she asks:

"Sora, are you really -"

But before she can say it, she changes her mind and snaps:

"No. He can't be!

I won't let him go!"

Jessica's smile widens a little at this.

The movie shows the three friends as they all look around, as if hoping to find something that can help them bring back their friend.

Instead, something else happens.

"So, you have awakened at last, Princess."

A portal not unlike the one Axel and Lea have used, but then more purple than black-colored, appears.

The camera shows only a hint of this as it's shown in the left side of the screen, while the trio is standing a little further back.

And from it, someone with a deep baritone voice appears.

The man has a tan skin, yellow eyes and long white hair that is smoothed back into three spikes at the top and sides of his head.

The man wears a black, high-collard, leather coat that has a red interior and yellow lining. The coat is grey from the waist down and has several buttons lining the hips, a belt around his waist and a second one that extends from the waist.

The second belt goes up to the collar to connect to several smaller straps that are buttoned to either side of the front of the collar while the remaining ones are buttoned to the shoulders to form spaulders.

A black leather pauldron is attached to each spaulder by three buttons and two straps that button the rim of the coat and two more that cross over his upper back.

On his upper chest a brooch that represents the Heartless emblem holds the outer coat together.

Underneath the coat, the man wears a white, tight-length vest that is high-collared and exposes most of his chest.

Three buttons and two thin belts near his waist close the vest up while the three remaining buttons below this are undone.

The man wears wide-brimmed, white gloves with three buttons lining the forearms and a grey band on either wrist.

And finally he wears black pants and knee-high boots with silver trimming and high concave indentations in the top.

Just for the record, most of this description comes from the Kingdom Hearts Fandom Wiki. I have no idea what spaulders, a pauldron or high concave indentations are.

"The Keyhole is now complete.

You have served your purpose.

But now it's over."

"What the heck?"

"Where did he come from?"

"What happened to Riku?"

"Is that Ansem?"

These four questions perfectly describe my own shocked confusion. Riku himself sighs and says:

"Somehow, and I will never understand this, but somehow his defeat at Sora's hand allowed Ansem to throw my body into the Realm of Darkness and form his own.

Like I said, I don't get it either."

"How long were you trapped there?" Jessica asks her brother-by-bond worriedly.

Riku grimaces and looks at her as he says: "Longer than Sora, but not by much. Only a few days, at best."

To me, that's still a few days too many. Yet then I realize that this is one of those experiences that formed Riku into the young man he is today.

And while I grasp onto that fact with all my heart, mind and even with Moony agreeing with me, I turn back to the screen.

The movie shows the back of Ansem's coat, with the trio slightly off to the right in the back. And as he approaches them, more and more of his grey coat covers the screen.

"Don't make another move!"

Donald yells at him as he and Goofy call upon their staff and shield.

"Do you think we can stop him all by ourselves?"

Goofy tries to softly ask his friend from behind his free hand.

"I don't know."

Yet as Donald says this, he fists his own free hand and holds his staff up high and strong.

"It wasn't just them."

Riku smirks, a confident grin on his face.

And the movie proves this as suddenly Ansem stops. His body even looks as if he got frozen or petrified or something.

The man looks startled for a moment before he groans: "Impossible …"

And while he, like Donald, fists his hands, something unbelievable happens.

A vision of Riku, engulfed in a bright white aura and somewhat crouched down, appears before the Seeker of Darkness, his back to the man and his arms stretched wide. As if he's trying with his whole body to block the man's path.

"I knew I was about to be lost to the Realm of Darkness.

I didn't know what had happened to Sora.

I had no idea about what he had done.

But I was determined not to let him hurt Kairi."

We all grin in utter pride at the young man.

The movie turns to Kairi, who shouts her friend's name: "Riku!"

Then it turns back to Riku, most of Ansem still shown paralyzed behind him as he yells at her:

"You've got to run!

The Heartless are coming!"

The camera pans out to show the whole platform and a circle of six Shadows appear to surround the two groups.

Donald, Kairi and Goofy look around in concerned shock, while Riku and Ansem both look at the trio, Riku in desperation and Ansem in anger.

The movie focuses on Kairi, with one Shadow in the background on the left. The girl seems to need a minute to regain her composure and her strength as she nods at her friend.

Then, while I am slightly amused by Donald yelling out in fright, the three of them run down the same staircase Riku-Ansem shot Donald onto before the fight.

For some reason, that I don't care about as I'm too relieved to care, the Heartless don't follow them.

The camera turns dark for a moment and when the screen returns, the three friends have managed to run down the last of the staircases.

This is shown from the very front edge of the platform, which is missing a balustrade.

"What about the Keyhole?" Goofy asks as they run down.

Yet as Donald answers: "Let's just get out of here!"

The camera slowly moves down until it shows a single Shadow that is looking at the retreating trio from the edge of the platform.

It jumps down and follows after them, yet at a distance.

"What is with that Shadow?" Fred asks and yet his brother answers him with a question of his own:

"Wait – is that – Sora?" The brunette nods and says:

"Yeah, and I remember all of this. Just watch, things are about to get funny." I really wonder if I should worry about the young lad as I watch the movie.

While we were talking, the trio has managed to reach the Entrance Hall of the Castle. Donald and Goofy are standing on the ground floor, yet Kairi is at the top of the right staircase and is looking back at the doorway to the Lift Stop.

"Kairi, hurry!"

Goofy calls out to her.

Kairi, the camera fully focused on her, turns around and tells him: "I can't leave them behind!"

The camera returns to the earlier viewing as Donald tells her: "We can't stay here!"

And while Kairi runs down the staircase, Goofy encourages her and says: "A Heartless is after us!"

"What's wrong with them? They fought Heartless that were the size of a mountain. Why are they scared of a single Shadow?"

Angelina asks with an annoyed tone of voice. But Aqua shakes her head and says:

"They weren't scared of the Shadow. They were scared for Kairi. If she strayed too far from them, they wouldn't be able to protect her."

Angelina rubs the back of her neck and mutters that she should have thought of that. Yet Sora grins and mutters: "Any second now."

The movie focuses on Heartless-Sora as he stands in front of the doorway of the Lift Stop.

"I'll take care of him!" Yet for some reason, while he has his staff in hand, Donald is standing in the wrong direction.

He's facing the doorway that leads outside.

And as Shadow-Sora runs down, the camera turns dark.

When the movie resumes, the trio has switched places. Donald is standing in front of the Heartless with Goofy to his left and Kairi to his right.

Goofy has his back to the left staircase and Kairi has her back to the front doors of the room.

Donald actually hits Shadow-Sora on his head with his staff not once, but twice and snaps:

"Confounded Heartless! Get lost, will ya?"

But the Heartless just turns to face Kairi.

"He really didn't realize that that was you?"

Jessica asks her brother astounded. And Sora laughs as he tells her:

"I told you it was about to get funny."

I shake my head, even though there is indeed a grin now on my face.

"Donald really should have realized that this was no ordinary Shadow. He had gotten strong enough to face off against Defenders, so any normal Shadow would have been defeated by only half a blow of his staff."

Terra voices my thoughts and this makes the twins snicker. Jessica turns to them and asks:

"You're going to tease him with this if you ever meet him again, aren't you?"

And the twins chorus You bet, at which we all laugh.

The camera shows Kairi and the Shadow standing face to face, with half of Donald's face shown on the far left of the screen.

"Sora? Is that you?"

"A girl who has been asleep for almost this whole movie and who knows little more than nothing about all of this realizes who the Heartless is before an experienced traveler does.

We are so going to rib that duck to shreds when we meet him." The twins happily promise each other – and us – before they burst out laughing again at the prospect.

At the same time

"Brrrrrrrrr."

"What's wrong, Donald?"

I shudder and my king asks me.

I shake my head and say: "I don't know, your majesty. I just – get the feeling that someone's talking about me behind my back."

At this Goofy states: "Garwsh, that must be Sora and his family. Remember, they are watching movies based on our adventures."

Yet at this I rub the back of my feathered head and think: "They've been doing that for days. Why am I only getting this uneasy feeling now?"

But I know I won't get my answers anytime soon.

Back to Destiny's Haven

The movie repeats itself from when Riku, Ansem and the trio were standing on the platform. This time it pans out to show the whole area from the perspective of the front entrance. And again Shadows appear, four this time.

"Uh-oh!" Goofy responds as he looks around.

The two of them each dash for one of the Heartless while Kairi turns her back on Sora and says: "This time, I'll protect you." And she takes the same stance as Riku when he tried to keep Ansem away from her.

The camera pans out again and shows that another two Shadows have appeared. Six of them slowly approach the two, halt for a moment and then jump the duo.

"Sora!"

Kairi shouts as she turns around and embraces him, as if she wants to protect him and be his human-shield against the attack.

"Now that was incredibly brave." Lily states. But then something happens that, while she herself didn't expect it – I did.

Roxas yelps as he is suddenly pushed out of his aunt's embrace. And the next second, Lily has her arms full of a crying young girl, who is whimpering and weeping.

"What the?" Roxas asks as he gets off of the floor. I move over to him and whisper that, fourteen years ago, Lily's clone did the same thing for Harry when Voldemort tried to kill him.

Roxas winces and nods before he moves back to sit with Axel and Xion. And while Lily gently reassures her niece, the movie continues.

The camera shows Donald and Goofy working together to take out a Heartless, each of them standing on one side of the screen.

Then they turn around to see the group of Shadows surrounding Kairi and a globe of dark energy coming from their center.

"Kairi!"

Goofy shouts, yet then a bright burst of light erupts from the ground and all of the Shadows get shot away from the young girl and the Shadow.

Yet when the camera focuses on the two, the Shadow is gone – and Sora has taken its place, holding Kairi the same way she held him only moments earlier.

"Kairi,

Thank you."

The camera turns from Sora's right side and Kairi's left to vice versa as Sora thanks his friend. Kairi opens her eyes, as she had closed them after embracing and trying to shield her friend from the attacking Shadows.

"Sora…"

"Sora! "Sora!"

Donald and Goofy both exclaim, both of them sounding beyond excited, whereas Kairi had called her friend's name in utter disbelief.

"SORAAAH!"

Jessica wanted to shout alongside the others in the movie, but her shout turns into a scream of unbearable pain halfway through.

The girl caves through her knees and falls down as her final tail bursts into existence from her backside.

And while the whole group casts the Curaga spell again – all of them having taken something called an ether after they did so the last time – it seems to help little this time around.

"Does the Curaga spell lose effectiveness when overused?"

I ask Terra, who shakes his head in confusion and says that he's never seen or heard of such an occurrence happening.

"It's not the – the spell. When – when my – when my tail came to – to be – for – for a – a moment I – I felt as – as if I – had ceased to exist.

It – it felt so –."

But the girl seems incapable to describe it as she just shudders and folds further in on herself, taking a fetus position as the shudders wreck her body.

Instantly her whole family is upon her and a few second later, they've regained their former position. Yet this time Lily is in the center of the group and Riku and Lea have both joined the group as well.

I really don't blame either of them as I study Jessica's newest tail.

And the coloring, unlike the last one, brings a smile to my face. It's a warm brown color, its fur looks quite messy and the lion's tip at the end is sea-blue colored.

Jessica's final tail resembles and represents her brother.

Yet their reunion is short-lived as even more Shadows appear to surround the group. Sora, Donald and Goofy all take protective stances around Kairi, each of them with their weapons in hand and ready for battle.

But then the Beast appears from the top of the fountain and roars ferociously.

"Where in the name of magic has he been all this time?"

I can't help but ask. Yet then Jessica states:

"I'm glad he was missing. If he hadn't been, he might have attacked Sora while he was following after Kairi and the others."

We all stare at the young girl and Jordan gasps that she's right. And while Jessica is now happily cuddled up within her aunt's embrace, we return to the movie.

The Beast jumps down from the fountain and slashes at one of the Shadows, that dodges his strike by jumping out of sight.

Yet the Beast doesn't care that his attack missed as he yells: "Go! Now!"

Sora yells at him: "Come with us!"

But the Beast retorts:

"I told you before,

I'm not leaving without Belle.

Now, go!

The Heartless are coming!"

"All right. let's get out of here." Sora says as the camera shows him standing in front of Kairi and his friends.

And the four of them make a run for it, out of the castle, right as the screen fades to black once again.

"So, what? Did he really travel all the way down there just to go back up and get Belle?" Alicia asks, yet Sora states that it's a bit more complicated than that.

James shrugs and mutters: "I'm just glad that you guys got out of there safe and sound."

We all nod in agreement.

Yeah, I can imagine.

And I'm going to be honest. Even though I've watched that scene of Sora sacrificing himself to give Kairi her heart back a thousand times, writing it from Remus' perspective made me feel as if I was watching the scene for the first time ever.

It actually made me a bit teary-eyed.

One more chapter, fellas,

Venquine1990