A/N: So we finally reach the world changing chapter of this story and, you know, it's sad to know that I'm almost finished with this story. I honestly can't say how many chapters I have left. I know I said this would end within 10 chapters around chapter 80 but if I don't want to rush this then there are probably five or six more chapters left. Either way, it's been a long ride but after this, I'll be taking a bit of a break and start working again on Through Smoke and Flames. Anyway, let's get the beginning of the end started.
Chapter 86
Where Good Men Come to Die
Night time approached Alexander and Luna had awoken roughly an hour after she had fallen unconscious. Sora, who had been watching over her and Cecil along with Cecil, Rosa and the Gullwings, was quick to summarize everything that had happened since he had last seen her in detention. Celes, staying at Kit's, raiding the Turm des Himmels as well as finding out the conspirators behind her being set up… it helped that he was able to relay the information to Luna as well as Rosa who had just as much idea about what was going on as her, while at the same time allowing himself to take in the day's events.
"So that's all I have. KRONOS is planning something big but I just don't know what. Argh! It's so frustrating. I can literally see everything when I close my eyes but I just can't piece it together," Sora complained.
"I really did all that?" Luna asked, touching her chest. She looked over to Rosa. "Your Highness, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to harm your husband. Maybe it really would be better if I was locked up."
"What are you saying? Like hell it would," Sora shouted angrily. Suddenly aware that everyone's eyes were on him, he shrank back in his seat. "Sorry. But it wasn't your fault, Luna. You couldn't help it."
"Exactly, I couldn't help it and because I couldn't, I nearly killed someone. I can't control whatever this thing is inside me. I'm a ticking time bomb. If I can't trust my own body, how can I trust being near anyone else?" Luna asked.
"So you'd rather your Aunt Kit never see you again? Or Astra or Stephanie?" Sora asked back.
"If it meant hurting them…" Luna trailed off and looked downward.
"You'd be hurting them by not seeing them. As much as we don't want to admit it, there will always come a time when we may unintentionally hurt someone. Sometimes, it's just unavoidable. But that's life, and a good friend understands that," Rosa said.
"She's right. Don't beat on yourself too hard, Luna. I'm glad to see you again," Celes agreed, walking over to give her a hug.
Rosa turned to Sora in the meanwhile. "Are you going to do what Zorn and Thorn said? The basement in the Turm des Himmels, was it?"
"Yeah. They said I had to bring Luna with me but… I can't do that. I have no idea what they have up their sleeves," Sora said.
"Which is why I should go with you," Luna suddenly announced from her bed. She assured Celes that she was okay before adopting a sitting position, planting her feet on the ground. "I'm not going to abandon you now."
"I really don't think it's a good idea, Luna. It's not that I don't think you couldn't handle yourself, but you've been through a lot. You must be exhausted."
"And you aren't? Sora, we're in this together, or not at all," Luna insisted.
Sora sighed and closed his eyes. "Stubborn as a mule, don't you think?"
"Oh dear. Don't go all Riku on me now," Luna commented with a grin.
Sora opened his eyes and smiled. "Was it that obvious?"
When Rosa giggled in between them, Sora and Luna looked at her questioningly. "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm just reminded a bit of Cecil and myself."
"That's a compliment, I take it?" Sora asked.
"You should. Don't worry, Your Highness. I understood what you meant," Luna said with a wink.
"Oh, just call me Rosa. We're all friends here." Rosa shook off the formalities and stood up. "That said, if you are going then I insist you at least stay for dinner. You must all be hungry by now."
"Oh, that's fine, Your High- I mean, Rosa. We wouldn't want to intrude or anything." As Sora finished talking however, a noisy gurgling sound filled the room. He laughed it off awkwardly. "I guess I am a bit hungrier than I thought."
After a filling dinner consisting of smoked salmon, boiled potatoes and steamed vegetables, Rosa saw Sora, Luna and Celes off by the gate. Before leaving, Celes had made sure to find the guard that had helped them get in earlier. Sure enough, he was found to be still knocked out just outside the throne room by the Gullwings' sleep spell, the picture of him with his wife and daughter lying next to him.
"You're going to want to keep out of sight as you make your way through the city," Rosa told them outside of the gate. The other guard who had been standing outside was also knocked out cold. According to Yuna, they would awake within the next hour.
"We haven't entirely cleared Luna's name, after all," Celes said.
Rosa nodded. "The matter should be cleared up by tomorrow, but just in case you are unable to come back for whatever reason, I was glad I could meet you all. Your journey certainly hasn't been easy, but walk before you run and you'll surely see a path ahead you otherwise wouldn't. That said, I am sure we will meet again, and until then, farewell."
"I'm looking forward to it," Sora said.
"Thanks again for the food! It was delish!" Luna exclaimed while waving.
"I'll come back after I've seen that they make it safely. Is that alright?" Celes asked.
"Of course. I'm looking forward to some company," Rosa replied, seeming quite elated by this. "Safe travels, everyone."
Getting back to the sewers proved surprisingly easy. They were able to avoid going downtown side once they reached the city and they only came across two policemen on their way, both of whom Celes were able to distract, allowing Sora and Luna to sneak past by.
The trio soon entered the sewers and made it all the way back to the back where the ladder was. Climbing up, they were soon in the white hallways of multiple empty cells. It was pretty easy to tell that something had changed. What could be considered ostentatious was swirling portal at the end of the room, blocking the door that led into the laboratory where Abraxas had once worked. The portal seemed to be coming out of a strange box shaped machine that was hiding behind the vortex's transparency.
"Well that's not inconspicuous at all," Sora said.
"So this is going to take us… where exactly?" Luna asked. "I don't like this at all."
"Yeah, I can tell we're still playing to their tune. But we don't have a choice, right? If one of our friends really is in danger, what else can we do but… jump in?" Sora asked.
"That doesn't exactly strike me as a safe plan but I suppose we don't have any other option," Celes said. "It's just a shame I can't come with you."
"Don't worry, we can handle anything they throw at us," Luna promised. She walked up to Celes and gave her a hug. "So what's going to happen with your singing career now? You're free now…"
"I'll probably continue with opera, actually. I think there's more I can convey to my fans through it. Opera's all about emotion and… well, I've never really been that good at talking about myself so I figure why not sing about myself instead," Celes said.
"That's wonderful. I think more people definitely need to be open about expressing themselves in creative ways. Don't let anything hold you back from conveying how you feel to everyone," Luna told her.
"Yeah, we'll definitely have to come see your performance sometime," Sora said. Celes nodded and extended her arms to a confused Sora. When he finally realized what she wanted from him, he blushed. "Uh, no, that- that's quite alright."
"Oh, don't be like that," Celes said. She walked up to Sora and pulled him in. Not wanting to appear as an idiot, Sora eventually responded by placing a hand on her back. Celes was the first to let go and stepped away from him and Luna. "Good luck."
"You too," Luna and Sora said in unison before hurrying through the strange portal. When they arrived on the other side, they found themselves in a completely different world, and one Sora knew all too well.
"Where are we? This certainly isn't Alexander," Luna said as she scanned the vast wasteland in wonder.
"You're right. I know this place," Sora told her. He took a few steps and surveyed the lay of the land. The sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soil of the earth had long since been heavily weathered by gale force winds, torrential rain and most importantly, magic. The environment consisted of no vegetation and only canyons, waterless ravines, scarred buttes and other such geological formations. To his right, he saw unnatural tornados moving about and crackling with electricity. If there was ever an apocolypse, Sora imagined this is what it would look like. He turned back to Luna with a grave look on his face. "We need to leave. Now."
"Sora, what's wrong?" Luna asked. As Sora walked up to her, he stopped upon seeing the vortex disappear into thin air. The machine that was projecting the vortex on this side suddenly burst into flames.
Sora bit his lower lip and looked up at Luna. "I guess we're not going back that way."
"Sora, what is this place?" Luna persisted.
"The Keyblade Graveyard," Sora answered.
"Huh? You mean the one mentioned in Jiminy's Journal?" Luna asked.
Sora nodded. "This is the place where me and the others fought Xehanort. I can't believe we're here. Why? Why would KRONOS know about this place? How would they even find it?"
"Well, since we're already here and we can't turn back. Why don't we just… you know, keep going," Luna suggested. "Maybe we'll find a way out some other way."
"That's a bit too optimistic even for me but sure. Why not?" Sora replied. He summoned the Kingdom Key and led the way down the cliff side they were on.
As they emerged out of the fissure, they were greeted by the sight of flat barren land. Ugly scars littered its surface in every direction and the wind howled violently as if thousands of souls were screaming out in agony. They were standing on history. Once a great many years ago, hundreds if not thousands of people had fought on the same spot they were standing, giving up their humanity just to open a gateway to the unseen realm.
They wanted to turn back. They wished they still could, but the presence of another kept them there on that haunted ground.
There were two figures just up ahead, both human in shape. Sora took hold of Luna's hand and squeezed it tightly as a warning to keep her guard up. She nodded and they proceeded onward slowly. The length of the battleground as well as the time it took to get to the two figures seemed to increase, though Sora was sure it was his mind playing games on him. Even so, why did he have this unsettling feeling rising in the pit of his stomach?
This feeling was proved justified when he finally arrived just a few metres away from the two figures. Their backs were turned but Sora instantly knew who they both were. The shorter of the two was female with medium-length blonde hair and was wearing a blue dress and white stockings from what he could make out from the back. The other person however, was much more surprising. He couldn't mistake the man's ponytail, his bulky frame or his suit. He wanted to be wrong. He really wanted to be wrong on this but…
"No, it can't be… why… how…"
David Xanatos turned to look at him and returned his confusion with a sly smile. Sora dropped to the floor and buried his head into his hands.
"This can't be real. This just can't…" Sora put his hand flat on the ground and slowly looked with a pained expression. "Please tell me there's some other reason you're here."
"With Alice right next to me? Come now, Sora, you're better than that. This isn't a dream. You're not going to wake up because you are awake. This is reality as you see it with your very eyes," Xanatos said. His grip tightened around Alice's arm causing the girl to wince.
"Sora, help me!" she cried out to them. She tried to wrestle out of Xanatos' grasp but he pulled her in close to him and pulled something out from the side of his belt. It was a dagger, glistening and sharp and already being held to Alice's neck. He waved up and down lazily, as if to make clear the point that he was the one in control.
"Xanatos, why?" Luna gritted her teeth, struggling to hold back tears. "I trusted you. We trusted you. And to think, we told you everything about us. Our problems, our feelings, everything… and you were toying with us the entire time, using what we told you to your advantage. And what about everything you've told us? Was it all a lie? What about Colette? Was your relationship with her a lie too?"
"I can't say that everything was a lie. It's true that, at least initially, dating Colette at first was merely a ploy to gather information about you, but it did become something more… I suppose that can't happen anymore," he admitted in a regretful tone.
"Don't you dare… don't you dare act like you care because… because I… you wouldn't be holding Alice now like you are if you did," Luna yelled. "Let go off her, please."
Xanatos seemed to consider this for a moment. Sora doubted it would be that easy though.
"Okay, here you go."
"Huh?" Sora looked up in time to see Alice being shoved forward by Xanatos. Alice was also surprised by this sudden turn of events and stood their frozen in time, unsure if this was a trick. It was only Luna who seemed more concerned with Alice's wellbeing and rushed into hug her.
"Are you alright? You look pale. What did he do to you?" Luna asked after separating, looking up and down Alice's body for any sign that she may have been hurt.
"They did feed me but I didn't see the light of day until just today. It could have been worse. I knew you would come," Alice said with tears in her eyes.
Sora looked away from the touching reunion and stood up slowly. He raised the Kingdom Key Keyblade in his hand and ran straight towards Xanatos, yelling out an angry battle cry. He jumped and put all the power he had into striking the man he thought a friend down. He remembered how Riku had been sceptical of Xanatos when he had first met him. While Sora had been the same at first, he had slowly warmed up to him the past few months when he had found someone who could listen to his worries, but that person had been listening for the wrong reasons and Sora felt used. He should have trusted Riku's judgement and been more wary.
Sora was sent flying as Xanatos raised his arm and deflected the attack. Sora landed on the ground and slid across the dusty earth with a groan. Where Xanatos' arm had once been was now a piece of armor covering it.
"That armor… you were the one I fought in Atlantis!" Sora grunted out. Alice ran over to help him up, who he thanked promptly before looking back at Xanatos. She latched onto his arm and Luna soon joined them. "One of the latest and greatest power suits currently in development at Xanatos Enterprises. Unlike any other armor before it, this is completely decked from head to toe in orichalcum, making it quite resistant to materials similar to it. Pretty neat, huh?"
Sora scowled before asking something else. "Tell me something. You're the head of KRONOS, right? Then Kefka…"
"Was just a diversion. I imagine he's catching up with Riku and Kairi right about now who are blissfully unaware that they're after the wrong person," Xanatos answered. "It's amazing how a single word is able to strike so much fear in the human heart. On its own, a name means nothing, but you and your associates were the ones who gave it purpose. With purpose, you began to fear it, and because you feared it, you made the mistakes that lead you to the finality of today."
"But why? You've told me before about how much you've wanted to help the world," Sora said. "When you told me those words, they seemed real to me like they came from the heart. That's why I'm having a hard time believing any of this."
Xanatos looked up into the dusky sky. Rain was starting to fall. "Do you want to know the truth about this World? I'll tell you though I'm afraid it might break your poor little hearts. There never was a balance between light and dark and there never will be. What you think should happen and will eventually happen simply isn't going to. Before the Keyblade War, there was an illusion of peace. Then war broke out and they saw how fragile and chaotic our hearts truly were. Each participant in that war strove to change the world to how they thought it should be and thus succumbed to selfish desires in order to meet those ends. No matter how much they tried to avert the inevitable collision, their hearts steered them straight back on its path. There was truly no saving them, those pitiful souls. I can only surmise that Kingdom Hearts attempted to give this world a fresh start, one more akin to its image. And thus the second illusion of peace began—the one we live in now.
"When I lost my wife and son to the Heartless I saw the world for what it truly was—a parasite slowly feeding on its plentiful hosts until there's nothing of us left. In time, we will consume each other once again. The fires of greed and hatred will stir and all that will be left us are bloodied corpses. So yes, I am going to help the world, Sora. I am going to sever the chains that our ancestors have bound us by and I am going to free us all from their will and from the will of Kingdom Hearts. And you're going to help me."
"And what exactly would I be helping you with, if I cared at all for what you were saying?" Sora growled.
"KRONOS' true objective, of course. That is to say, the eradication of all Keyblade wielders!" Xanatos declared with arms extended. "Those came before us certainly weren't going to let their hopes and dreams die out. They would pass the Keyblade on down the line and spread their concepts and ideologies through them. Abraxas is the perfect example of this. He told me how he and Xehanort used to talk before he realized something was not right about him. Xehanort believed that his own actions and curiosities were being governed by an unseen will, one that he could not explain. Abraxas, having a piece of Xehanort inside him, was bound to those same rules and tried to free himself from those chains by studying you."
"Studying me?" Sora asked.
"He saw how free you were to follow your own heart whereas he felt as if he was never in control. I sympathized with him for obvious reasons. There's another reason why your Keyblades have no place in the new world. When people find power they will cling to it by any means necessary. The Keyblade can only serve to create more imbalances in the world. In other words, as long as the Keyblade exists there will never be true peace."
"You don't know that for sure," Luna said suddenly, causing the both of them to turn to her. "You're right when you say that there may never be an eternal calm of any sort but when I save people and see the smiles on their faces, that's no illusion of peace. They are genuine smiles and even if they don't last forever, the memory and the feelings associated with it can last an eternity."
"If you think I'm wrong then feel free to give up your Keyblades right now then. If people need Keyblades in order to smile then there's a serious problem, so prove me wrong then. Drop your Keyblades now and swear that you'll never use them."
When neither of them did as he asked, Xanatos smiled. "You see? You can't give it up. You're too afraid to let go. It's an addiction now. You're both fighters and you can't stop because it's the only thing that seems normal to you now. Without it, you're nothing and you know it!"
"That's not true!" Alice defended, letting go of Sora's arm.
"And they can't speak for themselves? Why else did you come back to this life, when you had the chance to throw it away?" He looked at Sora and chuckled. "It wasn't just out of some sanctimonious act of saving your friends. You missed it, the thrill of danger and the adrenaline that comes with it. You've been moulded, shaped into a warrior and you can't look away, no matter what excuse you may try to throw at me. The Keyblade is a warrior's weapon, and don't tell me you're a saint. None of us are."
"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to get into your head," Alice said. She put her hands around Sora's face and turned his head to meet her. "When I look into your eyes I don't see someone who is driven by fighting. They're peaceful and soothing. Those aren't just the eyes of a warrior. They're the eyes of a knight, and you've proven so many times that you are one to so many people, including me."
"Sora, you may choose to lie to me but you cannot lie to your own heart. The Keyblade is a shadow of the past that binds the new world to the old. Unless we are free of that past, we will never be able to move forward and a true light will never exist. Anyway, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut our conversation short. It's starting," Xanatos said, pointing past them. Sora, Luna and Alice reluctantly turned their heads followed by the rest of their bodies. A dense fog was moving slowly towards them, and soon enough it overtook them. The entire area was blanketed in the familiar fog, but what was more surprising was the door that had appeared right behind Xanatos.
He had seen this door before many times. It had always been in his dreams and he had always come so close to opening it when he had heard a girl's voice that sounded like Yeul warning him not to open it. There were many doors in the world but only one as unique in design as this, or at least that was what he assumed. He was sure that it couldn't be a coincidence.
"What's going on? Xanatos, what is that?" Sora asked. He felt chills running down his spine and could only just barely see what was in front of him but he had the strangest feeling that Xanatos was excited by the development.
"Freedom for those who have none and death for those who have chained them down for so long. It was only when I discovered the door to this world in that factory that I came across this door. Of course the conditions needed to be right. This background radiation that has been infecting the worlds has made all sorts of strange things happen where it has appeared. Each time I came here when there was fog, this door was here along with it. Now, I'm sure you're just as curious as I to know what is beyond this door."
"You don't know?" Sora asked.
"I have my theories, and you're going to help me open it and see whether I'm right," Xanatos said.
"What? What makes you think I'll consider doing that for even one second?" Sora asked.
"Let's just say you won't really have much of a choice. Well, you will but that's if you're incredibly heartless. I'd like you to look next to you at your poor friend. I don't think she's feeling quite well at the moment," Xanatos addressed.
When Sora turned to Luna, he realized it—why Xanatos had so easily let go of his hostage. If he had held onto her and forced Sora to comply, then his demand would have seemed reasonable, only he didn't need Alice. He had no idea how but he must have somehow expected this to happen. Luna was kneeling next to him, clutching her head and squeezing her eyes shut.
"Luna? Luna, are you alright? Alice, what's happening?" Sora asked, kneeling next to the both of them.
"I- I don't know, all of a sudden she was clutching her head and crying. Luna, what's going on?"
"My head… it hurts. Voices… in my head… make them stop… make them stop!" Luna cried out. She opened her eyes slowly and looked in front of her in horror. She could seem them in the white smoke. They were ghosts or human figures without faces or any discernible features. They were all blank but the voices no doubt came from them and there were too many to distinguish one voice from another. They were filling her head like rushing water trying to break through a dam and because of this, she felt as if her were about to split open any second.
"Xanatos, what did you to her?" Sora yelled.
"Am I now supposed to be the human outlet through which you place all your misfortunes on? Well, in this case, I suppose I can take some credit. You remember that bomb in the Turm des Himmels? It contains similar chemicals to the fog around us now. We've been trying to weaponize it for a while, as you know when Ratigan kidnapped that toy maker. We've had several tests performed and with the help of one Dr. Drakken, the results have finally proven conclusive… on the Heartless. We never planned to use this toxin on humans. I'm not that cruel. No. I've finally succeeded where you Keyblade wielders haven't, yet more proof of your futile existences. I've wiped out the Heartless."
"What? That can't be-"
"But it can, and it is. Unfortunately for you, it also just so happens that Luna is part human part Heartless. I guess that Heartless really wants out," Xanatos said. "Let me make this easy for you. Let Luna die here and now, the door remains closed and the world is safe… or, open the door, save your friend and potentially destroy billions of other lives in the process. Oh, and you might want to make your choice quickly. One person can only handle so many voices in their head before they start to get loopy… or worse. So the crux of the matter, Keyblade Master—whose hero are you going to be? The hero of the few or the hero of many?"
"That's not… that's not a choice. Damn you, Xanatos! That isn't a choice!" Sora cried.
"Then you know you can't abandon her. You can't fail her like you failed Yeul," Xanatos said.
When Xanatos had brought Yeul into the conversation, Sora had felt as if his heart had momentarily paused before starting again. Xanatos was right. He had won. He knew everything about Sora—his fears, his weaknesses… What was worse, Sora had given him that information himself. Xanatos had majored in psychology, studying emotions and the telltale signs associated with them. He could probably even mask his own emotions, an important part in his deception. No matter how much he tried to imagine one, there was no conceivable scenario in which Sora could come out on top of this. Someone would have to suffer: Luna, or everyone else.
"Please, help me! I can't take it anymore! I can't taaaa-" Luna's screaming intensified tenfold and if there was any doubt in his mind before, it was now gone and replaced by the burning desire to help her.
Riku… Kairi… whatever happens next, I'm sorry.
He quickly aimed the Keyblade up towards the door. He was playing right into Xanatos' hands and there was little he could do about it. He hadn't gone through so much trouble of saving her in Alexander just to let her die in the end. He cared too much about her to let that happen. No, who was he kidding? Even if he didn't know her as well as he did now, he would still save her or anyone else for that matter. That was just who he was.
"SORA, DON'T DO IT!"
Somewhere up above him, he heard a masculine voice but it was too late. The beam of light had shot out of his Keyblade and hit the lock on the door. At first nothing happened. There was a part of Sora that hoped that what he had done had been ineffective, that he was not some chosen one destined to bring the world to ruin… and then the door opened.
A light burst forth so bright that it blinded everyone there and when it was gone, they saw that fog and the door had completely disappeared and only beautiful speckles of light suspended in the air like snowflakes remained instead.
A few feet away from Sora, Kohle looked around as if he was expecting something while Rhea had a frown on her face.
"Did we not make it in time?" she asked, unable to see anything that was going on around her.
"I'm not sure. I couldn't stop him in time but…" Kohle trailed off and watched as Sora ran over to an unconscious Luna and cradled her in his arms.
"Luna? Luna! Come on, open your eyes! Don't tell me I was too late. You can't be gone… you can't be because… I haven't told you yet how I feel. Don't do this to me, please!"
"Sora, she's still alive. I know that much. I can sense her light, but what little of it is left is being slowly eroded by the darkness inside her. I think she's just unconscious- AH!" Alice was thrown onto her back as the ground shook violently beneath them.
Sora looked around him to see multiple pillars of light shooting up from the ground into the sky. Sora could only hold onto Luna for dear life with one arm and Alice with his other hand as the earth jolted left and right. This proved fruitless when one of the pillars suddenly erupted from the right underneath them. The force was so powerful that the three of them were launched into the air, Sora unable to hold onto either of them. He felt as the back of his head was slammed onto one of the rock formations in the area and quickly blacked out.
"Sora! Sora!" He heard his name repeatedly being called. It was a sweet sounding tone that awfully reminded him of Alice.
Alice!
That's when everything started to come back to him. He vision became more focused until he could clearly see Alice's back and golden blonde hair facing him, her arms outstretched.
"I beg of you, Miss Alice. Don't make me say it again. Get out of the way!" Kohle said, his Keyblade pointed forward but not at Alice. Rather it was pointing underneath her arm at the person she was protecting, him, he soon realized.
"I won't let you harm him. He did nothing wrong!" Alice insisted.
"Nothing wrong? He's brought the end of the world upon us! I should have been there in time to stop him but now it's too late. It's happening again. Every single person is going to suffer now because of what he's done."
Kohle pushed Alice out of the way as gently as he could manage and grabbed Sora by his shirt collar, lifting him up against the rock. Sora just bowed his head in defeat however. He found it hard to care anymore. He thought he could do this again and now he just felt like giving up again. If he ruined someone's life before, now was a completely different story.
Alice however was not yet ready to give up. She took Sora's Keyblade that had been lying on the ground into her hands and pointed it at Kohle.
"Let go of him or I'll- I'll-"
Kohle looked at her quickly and then back at Sora. The scowl on his face lessened and his hands loosened his grip. Sora dropped to the floor but did little to get back up. Everything had all come down on him so quickly at once that he simply felt nothing but emptiness inside. Because of his own sorrow, he could hear nothing that Alice and Kohle were currently saying to each other. There was some kind of disconnect between his mind and body.
He brought his knees closer and cuddled them, rocking forward and backwards slowly. After abandoning his use of the Keyblade for only a week, he had decided to take up the mantle again only to make even more of mess than he had ever done before. Why could he not do a single thing right? Why did it seem like fate was blocking him at every turn?
Worst of all, he had allowed Yeul's prophecy to come true. He had done what Xehanort had been unable to do. Whatever came next was because of him. All the pain and anger, he could no longer shy away from because he was guilty of causing it. If Yeul's vision really had been unavoidable then he wondered about Namine's. Was the only thing waiting for him at the end of the tunnel his inevitable death?
"Don't tell me you're giving up already! Come on Sora, I thought you were better than that," he heard Riku's voice pop up in his mind. He had certainly tried to be better but it hadn't worked out in the end. In his pursuit of the strength needed to protect the people he cared about, he had managed to lose it all in an hour.
"Don't worry. You're all still you," replied Riku's voice.
Still me…? Then why do I feel so… empty?
The ground shook once again, throwing Alice and Kohle off their balance, but Sora remained motionless and silent. Even if all the pieces that were him were there, he had no way of fishing them out of the vast ocean to the surface. How could he continue to act like everything was going to be alright? It was just impossible. He wasn't that confident in himself.
"I don't know about that, but what I do know is that in the end we do what we have to with no regrets and for you Sora, I believe that's helping your friends. I know it's hard, painful even to get back up after all you've seen and felt and I'm not telling you to just forget it, it's unfortunate but life isn't without its hardships and sometimes in order to gain something you'll have to lose something first. That pain stays with us, but you know what? We use it to make us stronger. Even if the world hates you, even if it's you alone, even if you've lost someone you've loved, we do what we have to do and we don't let that pain keep us down."
"Colette…" Sora whispered after hearing her voice. She was right. He had completely forgotten what she had told him, the words that had convinced him to keep on going. When he thought of Colette and Stephanie… and Riku, Kairi, Neuge, Jayne and everyone else, he realized that they would suffer much worse if he gave up now.
Sora placed his hand against the rock and slowly lifted himself up. He felt his senses returning to him, as if a battery was quickly recharging within him. In the time that he had been lost in his own world, Kohle had moved away and was currently battling against someone clad in armor along with Rhea. Sora recognized the armor clad man instantly as the one he had fought in Atlantis. It could only have been Xanatos then.
"Alice, are you alright?" Sora asked, helping the girl on the ground in front of him.
"I am. Thank you, Sora," Alice said before holding up the Keyblade to him. "To be honest, I think you're more suited to this than I am."
"You know, I think I just had a revelation. We've finally found you. Somewhere in all the confusion, that one positive thing was lost… but we found you in the end. It made me realize how easily we overlook the little things in life. Even if we're about to face the darkest moment of our lives, there's always those tiny glimmers of light in between that we need to cherish. If I have to walk the road to hell alone just to keep them smiling, then so be it. A life not lived for others isn't a life worth living for me. I've accepted that."
"You really are a white knight in every sense of the word," Alice said with a heart-warming smile. If he wanted to live up to that, then he needed to start right here and now by getting Luna's body to safety.
Sora quickly managed to search and locate Luna before turning to Alice. "Alice, I need you do something for me and I need you to do it quick. Go get Luna over there and hide. I'm going to try and figure out a way to get you both out of here."
Alice nodded and without a word set off for Luna. Sora looked at the Keyblade in his hand and held onto it firmly. He breathed in and out slowly, making sure that he was the one in control of his breathing and not the other way around. He began hopping up and down, alternating from one foot to another to motivate himself. He soon took off and jogged over to where Xanatos, Rhea and Kohle were fighting. If he was going to make things better then he would start at the root problem: he would make David Xanatos pay for what he had done.
Sora quickly warped forward and blocked an attack from Kohle that was aiming for Xanatos. He pushed forward and sent Kohle stumbling backwards. "Let me handle him. This is between him and me."
"You stay out of this! I won't have you make this problem any worse than it already is. Don't worry though. I'll deal with you later!" Kohle replied angrily. Sora noticed Rhea's concerned frown as she looked at Kohle, but the leader of Moira's Crescent barely seemed to register her worry.
Xanatos took off his helmet and smiled. "Ah, and so all the players have assembled at last!"
"Not all of them."
Xanatos frowned and turned around only to be sent to the ground by a fast punch to the face. Sora couldn't help but sport a massive grin on his face at the sight of Neuge and Mickey.
A/N: So there you have it. What are the ramifications of what happened in this chapter, you ask? You'll find out soon enough. For now, we have some battles to look forward to next chapter: Sora, Neuge, Mickey, Xanatos, Kohle and Rhea on one side and Kairi and Kefka in another. Please look forward to it and be sure to leave a like and review in the meanwhile.
