A/N: So, I'd intended to put this chapter out by friday but because of some... complications *COUGH*BREXIT*COUGH*, I felt kind of low on energy for a bit. Well, I'm back now and ain't no political discord's gonna stop me. So let's delve back into the wonderful world of Disney where no one has to worry about possible recessions!
Chapter 88
The Wrath
In holding Luna's hand, Sora found the warmth and support he needed. Though she was still sleeping, he still felt as if she were with him, giving him strength and courage. He would need it after Merlin explained to him what he needed to do.
"Her heart is in a state of disrepair, I'm afraid," Merlin had told him and Rhea once they had arrived at Merlin's. The Gullwings, Alice, Namine and Rapunzel were also all there. "If we don't act quickly, her heart will be lost forever."
"Then what do we do? I'll do anything to help," Sora said.
"The problem is I'm not sure there IS anything you can do, m'boy. Her heart is covered in what I call Wrath, that being extreme cases of darkness that reside within a person's heart that threatens to devour any light it comes across. Think of it as this—there's only so much the heart can take and when it's exposed to such extreme conditions, be it light or darkness, the heart cracks under pressure, like if you apply too much force to an egg. My point is that Luna may not be the same again," Merlin explained.
"I don't want to hear what will happen if the darkness takes her. I want to know how I can save her," Sora said.
"I'm afraid you don't understand. That darkness will devour any light in its path. That includes yours. I can send you into Luna's heart but with the level of Wrath I and Alice are sensing, you will almost surely be devoured by it," Merlin said.
"I don't care. If there's a chance, I have to take it. What else am I going to do? Sit down and watch her die?"
Slap!
Sora looked on in surprise as Rikku whipped out a tiny hand and smacked him across the face. He put his hand on the area of contact and looked up at Rikku. He could see the others behind him, just as surprised.
"Don't be such a big meanie. We're all trying to help. It's not like we want Luna to die, you know," Rikku squeaked at him. "And don't say you don't care. You should care what happens to you. A lot of people are counting on you, you know. They all want to see you again, including Luna and you're just going to show apathy at a time like this?"
"While I do think you could have said that without slapping him…" Alice started with a smile. "…you are right. Sora, you need to be there with a smile on your face when Luna wakes up. It simply wouldn't do anyone any good if you were to sacrifice yourself just to save her. It's not selfish to want both. More importantly, it's not impossible to gain both either."
"But it's as Merlin says. We don't have enough time to think of something else," Rhea said. "Which is why I'll go with him. Two lights are better than one. Two should be enough for Luna to notice us."
"It'll be three. Luna will be fighting too," Sora corrected before addressing Rikku. "Thank you. You're right, I shouldn't have said that. I do want to come back, and I will. Speaking of caring, you three really do care about my wellbeing, don't you?"
Rikku scoffed. "Wha- no! You just made a promise to us, is all. We can't have you cheating your way out on a death clause or anything."
"Right, your bodies. Well, I'll just pretend then that you did actually care instead, even though you totally do," Sora said. Rikku turned away from him but he had a feeling that it was only to hide the blush on her face.
"Merlin, do you want to tell them about that thing?" Namine reminded the old wizard in between the silence.
"Ah, yes. I dear say something strange happened a while back. I was a reading a book on the sofa when a large earthquake struck. I've never experienced something like this in all my years, and trust me when I say that I've been to many places so you know it comes from experience," Merlin said.
"And Kairi came in contact with Leon a while ago. They felt one too. Not only them, but Terra and Ven contacted Yen Sid a while back and said they experienced it too. It can't just be that three worlds experienced the same thing," Namine told him. "That's also not the full story. The Heartless have suddenly begun fighting with each other. Leon and the others are making sure everyone returns to their homes safely."
"We also felt that earthquake back in the Keyblade Graveyard. I don't know what it is yet but I think Kohle would know," Rhea said. "As for the Heartless fighting one another…"
"That's Xanatos' doing. The chemicals we thought they were using to turn everyone into Chimera didn't actually do that, it seems. Whatever it was caused the Heartless to turn against one another," Sora answered. "I don't think the Heartless will attack anyone but themselves, at least not directly. Then again, it's probably too soon to say that."
"Right, let's focus on saving Luna first," Rapunzel said. "I wish I could go with you Sora. I want to help too!"
"It's alright, Rapunzel. Your moral support is more than enough," Sora assured her. He remembered using that line with Kairi sometimes. It didn't help things for her then so he was sure Rapunzel's feelings wouldn't be entirely quashed now. That was probably for the best anyway. Kairi had accomplished great things in such a short time with her fervor and he was sure Rapunzel could do similar things given the opportunity. "You think I see Luna for a bit? I'll let you know when I'm ready."
"Go ahead. I'd say take all the time you need, but both of us know we don't have time on our side right now," Merlin said.
"Five minutes then," Sora said. The rest of the story pretty much went without saying. He had spent those brief five minutes holding Luna's hands and talking to her. He wasn't even sure if she was listening. Things were probably too chaotic right now for her to be doing such a thing. Or maybe she was. Maybe, at least Sora hoped, she was searching for that one voice she knew all too well to tell her that everything was going to be alright. That's what he liked to think anyway.
"See you on the other side," Sora finished with these words before letting go off her hand. He stood up and left the room, returning back to the living room where he found Rhea chatting with the group as comfortably as if they were all long-time friends.
Namine, being in the corner of the room by herself, was the first to spot Sora and announced his presence. Merlin clasped his hands together.
"Right then, let's get too. We'll all go to Luna's room then," he said. They all nodded and transferred over to the room Sora had been in. He realized as he went back in that it was the same room he had once found himself lying in while poisoned months ago. Merlin had them all gathered around him before speaking again. "Now there's only one small matter to clear up. Once in your heart, you'll more than likely be overwhelmed by that darkness. I very much doubt you'll be able to stay there for long."
"I have my Keyblade armor, so I'll be safe for a while, but you…" Rhea trailed off for a moment. She soon reached for the pauldron on her right shoulder and unstrapped it before holding it out. "Please take it."
"Huh? Why?" Sora asked.
"It'll keep you safe. It might not be fully compatible with you, but I'm sure it senses my feelings enough to keep you safe," Rhea answered.
"But what about you, Rhea? Won't you be affected by the darkness?" Rapunzel asked.
"I already live in it," Rhea said to her.
"No need to be so cool," Sora said, causing her to chuckle. He accepted her gift and attached it to his own shoulder. He was about to press his hand against it when he stopped and looked up at Rhea. "Hey, you sure about this?"
Rhea leaned in and tapped the pauldron for him. His vision was blinded for just a moment and when the light was gone, he could see the world in a tinted orange.
"Oh, now this is cool. Ha, ha, come with me if you want to live," Sora joked while looking around.
"Serious time, Sora," Rhea told him.
"Oh, sorry," Sora said. "Still, it's strange to think it fits me so well."
"That's because the armor can change to accommodate its wearer. This is my first time seeing it though and yes, it's pretty impressive," Rhea said.
"Alright then. Let's get to work. Ready when you are, Merlin," Sora declared. Merlin gave a nod and began waving his wand about. Sora suddenly began to feel a queasy sensation in his stomach, though he wasn't sure if it was because he was nervous or because of Merlin's magic. Either way, the transition into a completely new location he had never been to before was as seamless as it was confusing.
He was standing in front of the gates of what looked like a school. Looking up, Sora's eyes widened in horror. The clouds in the night sky were moving faster than he had ever seen before. It was unnatural and terrifying. Was this really Luna's heart?
"Where are we?" Rhea asked.
"Um, Luna's school, I think? The gate's over here." Sora ran his nails over the gate so she could hear the sound of grated metal.
"Then she's here?" Rhea asked.
"Could be. Let's start looking around," Sora said. It didn't need to be said aloud that they needed to be careful so he left it at that and summoned the Kingdom Key, pointing it the gate's lock.
"How's the view?" Rhea suddenly asked.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Your view. It should be back to normal by now," Rhea pointed out.
"Oh, yeah! Didn't even realize," Sora chuckled. The orange tint of his vision had slowly faded over time to the point where he hadn't even realized it. There was still the conscious awareness of the fact he was wearing a helmet on his head to get used to but at least his vision was clear again.
The gate unlocked and Sora pushed it open. Taking Rhea's hand, he began guiding her into the empty school grounds. As they walked farther into the school, an uneasy silence and eeriness waited for them. They eventually found their way inside the school, where only the sound of their footsteps travelled down the halls. Down the hall were a number of doors that led into classrooms. Sora eased of the glass pane of the first one he had peered into and pressed down on the door's handle, exposing him to a full view of the room.
What should have been the room at night however, was instead a classroom with the sun pouring in through the windows and its inhabitants either sitting down at their tables or talking with their friends. If he had to guess, then he'd say that he was experiencing one of Luna's memories. He conveyed that much to Rhea.
"I do hear the hustle and bustle of classroom life. Oh, to be young again," Rhea said in a fanciful tone.
"What was your school like?" Sora asked.
"I was put in a special school because of my disability. You learn something called Braille there. It's what helps me to read," Rhea explained. "It was a private school though with really good education and assistance. You?"
"Eh, what can I say? School is school. Homeroom, break and lunch times were the best times and by the last lesson I was just counting the minutes until it ended," Sora told her. He quickly located the one person he was looking for among the herd. Luna sat by her desk next to the only open window in the classroom, glancing outside every now and then with a bored expression on her face.
"There she is. Luna!" Sora put his hand up and waved, trying to call her over, but it seemed that she hadn't yet noticed him.
"Sora, stop. I don't think that's the actual Luna," Rhea told him. "When we're here, no one can see us. It's just a memory after all, and you can't interfere with memories."
Sora looked away from Rhea and back at the class. When he did, he could see only shadows in the shape of humans. They were chatting, like they had been before, but their voices were drowned out and inaudible. The only person who wasn't a shadow was Luna. Now that Sora thought about it, Luna did seem different. Her face was slightly more childlike and rounder and her hair wasn't done up as it usually was.
"Luna was all alone at school. She couldn't fit in with the others no matter how much she tried," Sora paused and watched two silhouettes in the shape of girls glancing at Luna every few seconds and giggling amongst themselves before walking up to her. They stopped in front of Luna's desk and one of the girls leaned forward and pressed her hands down on its surface.
"What do you want, Tabitha?" Luna asked, keeping her eyes on the green hills and mountains in the distance.
"Oh, do I not exist then?" the girl who wasn't Tabitha asked.
"I… no. Of course you do," Luna murmured. She jumped when Tabitha lifted her hands and slammed it back on the table.
"You have a lot of nerve, Loony—stealing the lunch money in my desk. What, too poor to afford your own lunch?"
"I didn't steal your money," Luna said.
"So you're saying Momo's lying then?"
"Yes. Momo lies about a lot of things," Luna replied.
"Don't you try to turn her against me, I know what I saw you little snot," Momo snapped.
"The only thing you're good at seeing is your own delusions of grandeur," Luna remarked with a small smile hidden behind her hand.
"What's that even supposed to mean?" Momo questioned, but Tabitha cut her off.
"If you were at least honest about it, maybe I'd actually respect you more. But since we're playing games, I guess you won't mind if we borrow this." Tabitha swiped the sketchbook in front of Luna before she could react and opened it up. "What the heck is this?"
"Ooh, ooh, let me see, Tab!" Momo tiptoed on her feet and leaned in to get a better look. Her face slowly transitioned into one of disgust. "What the hell are you on, Loony? And here I thought my old man hit the hard stuff."
"That's not for you. Give it back!" Luna reached out for the book but Tabitha held it just out of her reach, not something worth of accomplishment given Luna's shorter arm span.
"What are you? Five? Oh, this is hilarious. We have to show this to Wedge," Tabitha said.
"Oh, look at the little fairy with wings. Oh, is that supposed to be you, Loony? Can't be a good fairy then," Momo commented with a sneer.
"I said give it back! Please!" Luna yelled. She rose from her chair and desperately made for the silhouetted Tabitha who handed the book to Momo.
"Personally I think you need to be more grounded in the reality. Would Loony like a prescription?" Momo chanted before throwing the sketchbook out the window.
"No… my mom gave that to me. Why? What did I ever do to you?" Tears streamed from Luna's face. Sora heard the faint muffling of Luna's classmates in the room deaden at this point. When he looked at them, they all seemed to be focused on the crying Luna. Tabitha chose this time to show off in a way that made Sora's blood boil entirely. Moreover, he could feel a lump forming in his throat that was hard to swallow down and his teeth had begun grinding against one another.
Standing on Luna's table, Tabitha adopted the pose of a queen. "Oh dear. Everyone, it would seem that our dear little pampered princess dreams on a daily basis of stars, fairies and other magical creatures."
The classroom erupted into booming laughter like thunder. Momo, eager to capitalize off of the attention her friend had garnered, could only add to the humiliation.
"Now, now, everyone, it's okay. We should all be supporting and encouraging of our friend as she journeys into the land of sugar plum fairies."
That was enough for Luna. With tears in her eyes, she walked towards the classroom door where Sora and Rhea were standing. She could have very easily run out, but he imagined somewhere that Luna didn't want to give them that satisfaction. As she came up to him, he reached out for her. She walked through him instead.
Sora suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. He doubled over and gritted his teeth in annoyance.
"Sora, you can't exert yourself that much," Rhea told him.
"What do you mean?"
"The darkness here is probably attracted to intense spikes of emotion like what you just displayed. Don't give it the chance to consume you. I know that probably wasn't very easy for you to see. It certainly wasn't easy on my ears." Rhea waited until he stood up before continuing. "You know, maybe we should avoid these memories. It feels intrusive."
"Yeah… they'll probably just end up making me angrier anyway," Sora said. He stepped out of the room with Rhea and closed the door behind him. He was about to take his hand off the handle when Rhea placed a hand on his and stopped him.
"Wait," Rhea said. The two of them remained in silence with Rhea eyeing their hands a bit too intensely for Sora's liking and Sora completely clueless as to what was happening. "We need to move. Something's chasing us."
"Excuse me?"
Rhea's hands left Sora's, freeing his own from being sandwiched in between hers and the handle. "The darkness. Let's keep moving!"
Sora wasn't about to object to that. He took hold of Rhea's hand again and set off down the hallway. It didn't take long to witness visually what Rhea had heard from far away. A swarm of dark liquid burst through the hallway door they had come from like a flood. As it reached the other doors in the hallway, it smashed through them with tremendous force, swallowing each room whole.
Sora and Rhea kept running as fast as they could. They barged through the door ahead, arriving in a square room that connected the hallway they had come from to another as well as having a few classrooms in between and stairs to his left that went up to the second floor of the school. Hearing a lack of forthcoming darkness like the sound of rushing water behind him, Sora let out a sigh of relief and let go of Rhea's hand. He approached one of the doors and tried to open them, only to find that the door wouldn't budge.
"Why won't this door open? Is it locked?" Sora asked, stepping back after his efforts proved fruitless. He was doubtful of that however. Even handles on locked doors moved if even the slightest when looked. This one felt like it was frozen stiff in place however.
"That or… I may be wrong here, but since this is a memory, maybe Luna's never interacted with this room before. It's not a part of her memory so we can't go in. It's kind of like the concept of Schrödinger's Cat, when I think about it. The place doesn't exist in her memories because its state wasn't observed by her," Rhea said.
"Okay, Rhea, that's just silly. Who is Schrödinger and why is their cat so important?" Sora asked. Before Rhea could explain, her eyes flickered to the stairs behind them. Hastily, she grabbed Sora and pulled him with her towards the wall just the swarm of darkness came rushing down the stairs.
"Come on, we've got to go!" Sora told her. He spotted a weak point within all the darkness that they could break through and get to the other side. He approached the wave cautiously at first, keeping his eye on the room. Objects slowly melted around the room as they walked—the notice board with all its leaflets and messages, the trophy cabinet, even the classroom doors themselves. Everything this darkness touched melted away before his eyes and yet, even knowing this, he knew even more that he had to be calm, as Rhea had said. That was a hard thing to do, of course, but somehow he was managing just fine. He had this idea in his head that it had something to do with Rhea as well.
The wave had made an arch as it bounced of the stairs into the room, meaning that Sora and Rhea could slip underneath that arch to access the other corridor. As soon as that was accomplished, the two of them broke off into a run again, Sora using his shoulder as a battering ram to push through the doors.
He was… falling? It took him a moment for his brain to comprehend what was happening. He had, after all, just been running through a school, so for him to find himself falling out of said school that was apparently more than two thousand feet in the air was a strange experience.
"AAAAHHH! WHAT'S HAPPENING?" He heard Rhea scream through the wind from above him. He looked towards her to see that she was absolutely terrified, not that he would have blamed her but it was still surprising to see her like this given her usual calm demeanour.
"Uh, I don't know how to put this in a way that makes sense but we just dropped out of school… quite literally," Sora yelled back to her.
"I don't know if a joke at this time is really appropriate!" Rhea screamed.
"Well, at least I can entertain you while we plunge to our deaths," Sora replied. "Like for example, when Luna was being framed in her home world by KRONOS, I decided to take the fall for her."
"Okay, you and I both know that joke just fell flat," Rhea said.
"Well lookey here, I'm being out punned," Sora said. It seemed weird that in a time of such crisis, they could still crack a joke or two but in his defense, they had been falling for quite a while now. He didn't think it was possible, but he had somehow gotten used to it after a while.
Sora was about to use the Kingdom Key to slow them down when he saw the dark wave burst out of the school above. As the swarm came rushing down towards them, Sora fired a couple of shots past Rhea. Explosions lit up the sky, as the Firaga shots smacked against the swarm, but other than slowing it down slightly, it seemed to have little effect.
Rhea summoned her Keyblade and cast Thundaga. A light seemed to come down from the clouds and struck the horde. This seemed to cause the swarm to split apart, but only for a few seconds before reforming and continuing its pursuit. That didn't seem to stop Rhea either however, who continuously cast lightning magic at her foe. Sora quickly joined in with his Homing Firagas. Red and purple mixed and rippled across the sky, splitting the swarm several times. In the end however, the magic never quite seemed to get rid of swarm completely. It always regrouped and came back after each hit, like disturbed liquid finding its way back to form in the container which it was held.
Writing their attacks off as a futile endeavour, Sora turned around and spotted a door floating in the air directly below him. As he neared it, he recognized the red light at the top of the door. It was similar to the ones found in the Monster's Inc. factory. He forced himself upwards by casting Aeroga and caught Rhea before heading towards the door.
"What are we doing?" Rhea asked.
"Just trust me," Sora said. It wasn't much of an answer but he needed to concentrate on not missing the door. He closed his right eye and focused on the door before launching the plasma hand from his Keyblade. The hand latched onto the doorknob, allowing to Sora to pull it clean off. His Keyblade disappeared from his hand, and he twisted his body slightly so that his back was the first thing to meet contact with door as he and Rhea crashed through it.
"Oh, my back… I'm gonna need a chiropractor when this is over," Sora groaned as Rhea rolled off him.
"Oh, we're on the ground. We're not… dead?" Rhea asked.
"Feels pretty narrow in here though. Is this a closet?" Sora sat and looked around to see pieces of clothing up on their hangers. Behind them were a collection of shoe boxes all stacked up neatly.
Rhea pressed her index finger to her lips though Sora could only just barely make this out in the dark. She lowered her finger slightly then pointed over to the door. Sora nodded and gave the closet door a slight push, exposing them to the view outside. Even from the limited view he had, he could tell that it was a young girl's bedroom. Considering whose heart he was in, he had a pretty good idea of who it belonged to without even having to look at the person in the bed.
The four-year-old Luna sat up, staring at her closet in fear. Had she just imagined it or had she heard something coming from her closet? She was sure it wasn't the wind, she had her window closed. Even more worrying, her closet door had just opened slightly for no reason.
"Mom?" Luna called out loud. She dragged the covers over her closer to her chin, not wanting to move from the bed just in case something happened.
"What is it, Luna?" Her mother came through the door, a look of concern on her face. "Is something wrong?"
"I think there's a- a monster in my closet," Luna said, pointing at the closet door.
"Again? Luna, there's nothing there, I promise. Get some sleep, you have school tomorrow," Kaylah said. When her daughter shook her head however, Kaylah smiled and walked over to her. Sitting down on the edge of Luna's bed, she reached out and stroked Luna's hair affectionately. "Okay, should I tell you a story?"
"Yes, please," Luna answered with a smile. These were always her favorite moments with her mother. Her stories were always wonderful to hear.
"Okay, let's see... A long time ago, there was a village that was ruled by children, for children. The children would stay up until late at night and play to their hearts' content until they were ready to sleep. Then, they would wake up at any time they wanted to in the morning, maybe even afternoon if they pleased. For them it was a utopia, free of all the rules and restrictions that bound the world outside of theirs. However, it was not to last forever. One night, while the children were dancing around their annual Halloween bonfire, a monster approached their little village, its movements encouraged by the red flame it had seen from its mountain home. Upon seeing the monster for the first time, the children of the village all scattered, leaving the monster confused. It could not understand why anyone had run from it. The following night it returned, wanting to learn more about these children and their ways. They were like aliens to him, so it was only natural curiosity that led him to try and learn more about them. The children spotted him again and ran yet again, but he still couldn't figure out why they were running."
"It's because he looked different, right?" Luna asked.
"Exactly. In their minds, maybe even in the stories told to them when they were young, they had been brought up to believe that monsters like him were always bad news. I suppose in a way, the children weren't completely free from the world outside. There was one child however, who didn't carry her prejudices with her. She was the youngest of the children. The monster refused to come back to the village after the second time. His feelings had been hurt. She waited day by day, hoping to meet him and show him that not everyone was afraid of him. The other children of course, thought she was crazy. 'You want to be gobbled up by that monster?', 'We're all going to die!', 'I want my mommy!' and so on and so forth, they cried. So the little girl decided on something all by herself. She would go to him. Slipping out at early dawn, the girl set off through the woods and up into the mountains. To any other person, it would seem foolish for such a young girl to leave the comforts of her home for the unknown. For her, foolish wasn't something she would use to describe herself, but neither was brave, daring or heroic. She simply wished to help someone, and that was that. She was on a narrow path heading toward the cave in the mountains when she slipped. She was about to fall off when something grabbed hold of her hand. When she looked up, she saw the monster, except that he was no monster in her eyes. In that moment, their hearts touched. There was little that needed to be said between them. Starting from that moment, they had become friends. So Luna, you need to understand that even if there is a monster inside your closet, he's just as much afraid of you as you are of it, probably even more so. And speaking of which…"
Kaylah stood up and walked over to the closet. Luna brought her covers up again slightly. Her mother opened the door and peered in before backing out and showing her the closet.
"See? Hopefully that clears everything up for you. You've nothing to fear," Kay announced proudly. "If the darkness ever tries to scare you, you plant both feet down firmly and show it who's boss."
"Mom?"
"Yes, hon?"
"You always use a little girl in your stories. Are they the same person?" Luna asked.
Kay's eyes looked up at the ceiling for a moment as if she was mulling over something. "Who can say? I imagine in my mind, at least, that this girl can travel to other stories and has an active role to play in each story. What do you think?"
"I think I want to be like her!" Luna exclaimed with a beam. "Does she have a name?"
Her mother ponderously let her eyes wander. "A name… hmm, let's see. How about… Moira?"
"That's a great name. If I ever had a little sister, would you call her that?" Luna asked.
Kay laughed. "Not likely. Moira was actually supposed to be your name but your father didn't really like it. 'Too old-fashioned', he said. In the end, we decided with Luna, which I'm pretty happy about honestly."
"Ah, dad's an old fart anyway," Luna commented.
"Hey, thirty-three's not all that old. Or are you calling your mother an old fart too? Huh? Huh?" Kay pounced on Luna's bed like a child and began tickling her daughter.
"No, mom, stop! I- I ha- that!" Luna squirmed out. Her mother soon ceased her aimless targeting of Luna's sides and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Night, sweetie. Love you," Kay said.
Sora watched as Kay left the room and turned back to see that Luna was lying back on her pillow. He had heard about Luna's relationship with her parents many times from Luna, but seeing it was entirely different. Like Rhea had said, he felt nosy for happening upon such a private moment between mother and daughter, but he couldn't help but feel warm inside all the same.
"Moira is a nice name," he heard Rhea whisper behind him. She looked straight at him. "Funny coincidence, huh?"
"I suppose, but maybe it's a pretty common name around Alexander. I know two people back on the islands by the name of Lara, not the least of which is my mom," Sora said. "What I'm more concerned about is why Luna noticed us in the first place. That was us opening the door, right? I thought we couldn't interact with memories?" Sora asked.
"I can't say for sure. Maybe the closer we get to her actual self, the more she becomes aware of us. It's just a theory anyway. Best not to dwell on it too much. Let's keep going," Rhea replied. Sora slowly pushed open the door halfway and crept his way around slowly while guiding Rhea.
Opening the door, Sora found himself stepping into yet another area that familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time. Behind him was Luna's house, undisturbed and peaceful. In front of him, however, was Radiant Garden. He recognized where they were immediately, being just outside where Merlin's house used to be. It was an unsettling environment, empty, dark and quiet where it truly felt to Sora as if anything could jump out at any time to attack them. Perhaps most disturbing, however, was that the rest of the architecture did not entirely look like the town he knew, but some pseudo amalgamation of architecture from other worlds mixed in between the parts he knew to be of Radiant Garden.
"We're in some weird mix of Alexander and Radiant Garden now. Boy am I gonna give Luna a piece of my mind when we find her," Sora said.
"Then we'll have to move even faster. Luna might not be able to take much more now," Rhea said.
Sora guided Rhea up the familiar streets of the Residential District and beyond. He noticed several changes as he walked, including the Turm des Himmels leaning on its hinges. These all seemed to be places from Luna's past that she held dear to her heart, Sora realized as he counted the number of familiar buildings—Kit's Bakery, Pride Rock off in the distance, Roger and Anita's house—Sora turned here into the next street. He could feel the darkness around him almost intensifying, as if telling him not to go on any farther. He pushed on, even more confident now that he was going the right way.
The two soon arrived at the lake where he and Luna had frequented many times in Radiant Garden—their 'secret place'. Admittedly, it was his gut feelings that had led him here, not his brain. He was right to have trusted it. Luna lay on the ground just by the water in a state of unconsciousness.
Sora let Rhea's hand fall and ran over to Luna's side. "Luna! Luna! I'm here. It's me, Sora. Come on, wake up. Please wake up!"
"Look what we have here for the birthday girl!"
Luna's face grew brighter as she sat in the room with her parents and Astra. On the table, a pink icing cake with a lacy white ribbon over the words 'Happy Birthday 16' lay half eaten. Luna had made it through yet another year of her life, and probably one of the most important ones as well. She was in high school now.
Streams from party poppers were strewn across the floor and a celebratory banner hung high above them. Luna set down the party blower that was in her mouth and looked at the small case in her mother's hands. It was the type of velvet casing one would hold jewellery in. Accepting her mother's gift, she opened the case to see a pendant with a silver crown attached to the chain. It was quite simple and yet there was something about it, something familiar…
"Luna, are you okay?" Astra asked worriedly. There was a tear rolling down Luna's cheek. It wasn't happiness—that much Luna was sure about. For some reason, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she had seen this pendant before. Was she sad that she couldn't remember where she had seen it? Maybe it had just been at a jewellery shop? No… something like this probably wouldn't have left such an impression on her…
"Luna, if something's wrong, don't leave us in the dark," Kaylah fretted. "Is there something wrong with it?"
"No. It's beautiful," Luna said. She walked over and pressed herself into her mother. Perhaps by hugging her mother as if her own life depended on it, she felt she could throw off these unnecessary feelings that were beginning to settle in the pit of her stomach. Right now, she didn't want to think. It hurt too much to think. But why? Why did it hurt too much?
Kay grinned and stroked the back of her daughter's head. "He-he, now I know there's a problem. You haven't hugged me like this since you were thirteen."
"I'm fine, really. I've just realized how much I've taken the three of you and Aunt Kit for granted. I love all of you, I really do," Luna said while backing away. "I'm just afraid that one day I might wake up and not have any of this. Is that normal?"
"Hmm, you really are your mother's child, aren't you?" Her father, Ronan, said while scratching the back of his neck. "Kay's always managed to surprise me with the occasional philosophical question every once in a while that just grinds the gears in my brain to a halt."
"It's not my fault that you only use about eighty percent of that noggin of yours for catching fish," Kay wittily retorted.
Luna. Luna.
Luna spun around in a panic and looked about frantically as if searching for something. She supposed she was, but she wasn't quite sure what she was searching for. It felt like there was a gentle breeze that had swept through the room, calling out for her. Something definitely wasn't right here.
Astra, as always, was the first to point this out. "Are you sure there isn't something else on your mind, Sea Salt? You look a bit spooked. Come on, it's your sixteenth birthday. Lighten up a bit."
"My sixteenth… right," Luna replied, or had it been a confirmation to herself? It was most definitely her sixteenth…
Sixteen?
No, she had already had a sixteenth birthday, hadn't she? There was something… in her memory, like a faint image or an idea that she had done something like this before. It wasn't quite déjà vu either. That was the experience of feeling like you had already done or seen something before. What happened here however was quite different. It was akin to doing something but realizing that there was another memory of the same event having taken place in her head, in a different room with different people surrounding her.
Luna, wake up! Please, wake up!
She looked down at the crown pendant in her hand again. "This is right, isn't it? It looks right but it feels… no! Today is my birthday and I'm spending it with my family and Astra. I have to be!"
Sora was so focused on trying to wake Luna up that he failed to notice the figure in black creeping up to him. The thing with darkness however, was that it could come from anywhere at any time, without warning. To that end, not even Rhea was able to pick up on the figure for its feet made no noise.
Feeling a cold metal pressing against the back of his neck, Sora froze in place, his hand left hovering over Luna's face.
"You two have been messing with my host's head. This isn't your home. Leave," the calm voice of Abraxas greeted him. Sora's eyes widened and he summoned the Kingdom Key, deflecting Abraxas' own Keyblade and getting out of the way quickly.
"Abraxas? No… you're different. You're the darkness that's taken over Luna's heart," Rhea surmised.
"It is? You mean the thing that's been chasing us? But then, why does it look like Abraxas?" Sora asked.
"My guess is that the Heartless in Luna's heart managed to latch on to a certain memory, one just as dark in its nature and intentions as it. For Luna, the memory she fears the most is probably of Abraxas," Rhea said. She summoned her Keyblade and pointed it at the fake. "And if I really am right about that then you're the one who doesn't belong, here or in that body. I may not have known Abraxas. My only memories of him were when he was still Kyle, and in my mind, he still is. Get out of his body right now," Rhea said with a piercing glare that broke through her glazed over eyes.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Abraxas replied.
"I'm sorry, maybe I can make this clearer for you," Sora said, walking up to him. "You don't have a choice in the matter. Leave. Luna. Alone."
It was as if Abraxas had not heard him. He instead lifted his arms to his face and twisted them, seeming to marvel at the way they moved. He soon paused and looked up at Sora.
"These joints… so flexible… so… responsive. As a Heartless, I do not have these things. Muscle memory, your species call it? Compared to you, we act purely on instinct. If a heart is nearby, we cannot help ourselves but to devour it whole. It is in our very nature, as I understand it. But now, thanks to this man here, I have a mind of my own. I grew inside this girl's heart, developing and responding to changes within Luna's own mind and physiology via the process of adaptation. The Heartless around us were no different, connected by invisible string. We would, in time, evolve and who knows? We may not have even needed other people's hearts by the time we were able to fully comprehend our own existences. But that won't happen now. I've felt it. The cries of my own species as they slaughtered each other, spurred on by insanity. All that development, all that evolution, wiped out in only a few hours. Even I feel it. A regression into madness. I am… afraid."
"Afraid?" Rhea asked.
"Of myself… of you and your ilk… Ever since my conception, I've only ever known my current vessel's body to be my home. I believe by your species' rules, when an individual or group finds themselves being endangered, it is only natural that they will do anything to protect the remainder of their own or at least act to mitigate the damage. Surely then, you must understand why I have no choice. I may very well by now be the last of my kind. I need Luna to survive. Surely you can respect that."
"I might have, if you hadn't tried to kill us several times now," Sora said. "You've rested here this entire time poisoning Luna from the inside. You've manipulated her several times now which shows me that if you cared for her at all, you wouldn't have done what you did. Also, you ask me to understand and respect your right to survival when you can't even respect Luna's? You're a real hypocrite, you know that?"
"No different from you then, 'protector of the realm of light'," Abraxas challenged.
Sora smiled. His endorphins were beginning to kick in, making him feel more daring and reckless. "You have a point there, but then again, I've made my bed. I'll gladly lie in it. I'll be whatever I need to be to protect Luna, to protect my friends. Call me whatever you want, but by the end, your words will mean nothing to me if I've accomplished what I set out to do. You want Luna as your vessel? You're going to have to fight for it and I'm afraid that's a fight you won't win."
The Heartless gave a creepy chuckle which turned into a full on laugh. Sora looked over at the lake to see strands of darkness moving forward across the water's surface. The darkness soon wrapped around Abraxas' body until his form became indecipherable. When the giant orb of darkness finally disappeared, Sora found himself looking at the very thing from Luna's nightmares that she had confided to him. Digging its feet into the dirt, the rhinoceros began its charge forward.
