Chapter Five
A Day of Merriment
Sora laid on his bed while the morning sun crept through his window. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. Sora smiled as he thought about his past ventures and a letter from Kairi. 'Do all worlds share the same sky?' he pondered. He took a piece of paper off of his nightstand and read it.
Thinking of you, wherever you are.
We pray for our sorrows to end,
And hope that our hearts will blend.
Now I will step forward and realize this wish.
And who knows: Starting a new journey may not be so hard
Or maybe it has already begun.
There are many worlds, but they share the same sky—
One sky, one destiny.
Kairi
Sora brought himself up and put the piece of parchment onto his nightstand. He picked up his school uniform off the floor and changed into them. After getting near completely dressed, he heard someone knocking on his bedroom door. It opened and Sora's mother walked in with smile on her face.
"Morning Mom," Sora greeted. "What's up?"
"You have some guests who want to see you." She replied with a concerned tone. "They look kind of strange. They seemed a little too happy."
Sora thought she was acting sort of strange. He finished getting ready and started walking down the stairs. He came down casually and acted like he had no idea what was going on. He looked down the hall and noticed two familiar faces, Donald Duck and Goofy.
Donald was wearing a blue shirt with yellow stripes on the collar and sleeve cuffs and a blue hat, a red bowtie, and a blue hat with a piece of black cloth hanging off the back. Goofy was wearing a bright green hat, an orange shirt with a yellow vest, blue pants, and floppy brown shoes. The two of them had their backs turned away from Sora. The boy's mother was behind him and peeked above him.
"Shh! I'll take care of them." He told his mother. Sora tiptoed over to his two friends and crouched down as he was near them. He pushed his feet off the ground and pounced at Donald and Goofy and they fell onto the floor.
"Hey! Whaz the big idea!" Donald demanded with a speech impediment.
"Donald, Goofy!" Sora yelled with cheer. Donald looked up and saw his spiky-haired friend.
"Sora!" Both Donald and Goofy exclaimed. They all started laughing and helped each other off the floor.
"Gawrsh, Sora," Goofy continued with the conversation. "What's with the duds?" Sora looked down and realized they've never seen him in a uniform before.
"Well… It's my school uniform." He replied. "Anyways, why are you guys here so early? You should've been here sometime tomorrow."
"We found a warp hole while flying to the islands!" Donald explained. "It could've made up late, I know, but we wanted to see you." Donald started to frown.
"Aw come on, you know I missed you guys just as much as you missed me." Sora's mother came walking towards them with a gentle smile.
"Would you two like breakfast?" she asked Sora's friends.
"Yes, ma'am!" Goofy replied.
"Thank you. We'd love to." Donald seconded.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy were talking to each other about what's been going on in their worlds. Sora told his friends about school while they told him about the heightening defenses of Disney Castle.
"So, the Heartless are appearing more and more everyday?" Sora questioned.
"Yeah, but with more guards joining the force everyday, we've been handling the Heartless with ease." Goofy replied.
"But what if the Heartless keep coming back after each wave?" Donald put up a good point. "What if this is the end of our kingdom?"
"Oh come on, Donald! You can't give up hope just like that. You've got me, Riku, and Kairi here to help you. And King Mickey is able to help too."
"Sora, just what are the Heartless?" his mother asked.
"Oh yeah, well they're creatures that come from the darkness in peoples hearts. They gather more hearts so that they can become more powerful. After awhile, they go after the heart of the world and brings it into darkness, making it disappear. Just like how the islands disappeared last year."
"But how will you three be able to help Donald and Goofy?"
"I didn't want to show you just yet, but now that you asked, well…" Sora brought his arm out in front of him and bright light flashed and a Keyblade appeared in his hand. It had a silver blade with a gold hand guard. The key part had a rounded crown design and the keychain was in the shape of King Mickey's seal. His mother's jaw dropped in awe. "This is the reason why it took me to come home so long, Mom. Do you want me to tell you what happened during it?"
It took her a half a minute to snap out of her small trance. "An explanation would be nice, Sora." She had a slightly stern look on her face.
"Well what better place than to start at the beginning." He smiled. "Well after the islands disappeared I was woken up by the King's dog, Pluto. He just licked the whole side of my face and put his whole weight onto my stomach to get me up. I find out that I had woken up in another world, Traverse Town. I went into the nearest shop to find out if anyone saw Riku or Kairi. That's where I met Cid. He's what you'd call a techie. He's a great mechanic and a computer whiz. He's kinda loud and obnoxious sometimes, but he's really a great guy. Then I met his friends; Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith. Leon's the kind of person who keeps to himself, but is always ready to lend a hand. Yuffie is happy-go-lucky and she will always bring a smile to your face. Aerith is kind and gentle. She kind of reminded me a lot of you, Mom." She smiled at her son when he said that.
"Oh, Sora," Goofy interrupted. "Jiminy said you could have the journal if you'd like. He even added the things that disappeared while we were asleep." Jiminy Cricket was the chronicler of Sora's adventure in other worlds. He kept everything they discovered: photos, people, and documents. Goofy passed the journal over to Sora's mother and she started flipping through the pages.
"Thanks Goofy! Anyways, I shortly met up with Donald and Goofy. They were looking for me the whole time. I decided to go with them and travel to different worlds."
"A few days later, we landed at a place called Olympus Coliseum. It was where different heroes could battle monsters and each other or train. That's where we met Cloud. He kept to himself like Leon, but he was more like a lone wolf. Then there was a rival to Cloud named Sephiroth. He's one of those guys with an angel face, but is way evil. A day later, we went back to Traverse Town and found Riku. He didn't know where Kairi was and looking for her too. Donald said he couldn't come along with us and before I could say a farewell to him he was gone."
"We were later swallowed by a giant whale named Monstro and found Riku inside the whale as well. He wanted to restore Kairi's heart by taking the heart of a puppet named Pinocchio. We saved Pinocchio and were spit out of the bowels of the whale and continued on our way. Later, we ended up on the pirate ship of a captain named Hook. Riku was on board with Kairi and was controlling the Heartless. Kairi just seemed to be sitting there lifeless. We eventually caught up to Riku, but he disappeared before we could stop him. Hook revealed to us Riku took Kairi to a world called Hollow Bastion. We knew where we had to go to find Kairi and convince Riku to stop what he was doing."
"We reached Hollow Bastion and headed up towards where Riku and a witch named Maleficent were in hiding. It was a huge castle that was twisted around each tower and a waterfall that rose from the bottom and we reached the gates of the castle. Riku was waiting for us and said that he was the Keyblade's chosen one. The Keyblade left my possession and went into Riku's grasp. Donald and Goofy had orders to follow the Keyblade and whoever had it and followed Riku into the castle. I followed after them when I realized something. With each world I visited, I made new friends and with each new experience, each new friend became a part of my heart and life. With all of these friends and experiences, they all formed together and made my heart stronger than ever before. So you see my friends are my power. When Riku found out about this, the Keyblade left him and came back to me. Donald, Goofy, and I fought Riku and won. Riku left and went higher into the castle. We later, found Maleficent and fought her. She's an old hag who just never knows when to quit. She fled into another part of the castle and we had to fight her again, but this time Riku helped her with a Keyblade of his own. By thrusting his Keyblade into her heart, he gave her powers she could never possess without his help. She turned into a giant, fire-breathing dragon. We fought bravely and slain her. We went into the final room of the castle and found Kairi. I tried to wake her up, but she wouldn't open her eyes. Riku revealed she was one of seven princesses with the purest hearts known as the Princesses of Heart. Riku seemed different though, his body was being possessed by Hollow Bastion's former king, Ansem. He sent Donald and Goofy out of the area we were about to fight in and my heart started to ache and Ansem told me Kairi's heart rested inside of me. He was about to take my heart, which would release Kairi's and reveal the way to the final seal and bring all worlds into darkness. All of a sudden, I heard Kairi's voice call out to me. I realized that if I didn't fight, all would be lost. Riku and I fought our hardest, but I prevailed. Riku fell to the ground and faded away leaving only his Keyblade behind. I realized that to awaken Kairi, I had to take drastic measures. I grasped the Dark Keyblade and held it by the blade. I gave a farewell grin to Donald and Goofy and thrust the key into my heart. I could feel the darkness eating away at my heart. The Keyblade released six hearts that belonged to the other princesses and from within my body Kairi's heart floated into her body and I disappeared."
"You mean… you died?" Sora's mother asked. She started to frown and her eyes started to twinkle.
"Not exactly, I was turned into a Heartless, but somehow I held onto my memories and my sanity and followed Kairi, Donald, and Goofy to the entrance of the castle. Donald and Goofy thought I was just like any other Heartless, and Donald started hitting me on top of the head with his staff. I turned and looked at Kairi and she realized that it was me. The Heartless surrounded us all and Kairi embraced me to protect me from them and then a bright light shone destroying all of the Heartless. I reappeared in my own body embracing Kairi and we made our escape to Traverse Town. There Kairi told me something that I will never forget. 'No matter where you are, I'll always be with you." She gave me her lucky charm and told me that Ansem was headed towards the heart of all worlds, the door to darkness, Kingdom Hearts."
"Donald, Goofy, and I traveled to a world full of darkness and we traveled up to an area that looked exactly like the islands. We heard a voice and it said, 'I've come to see the door to this world. Tied to the darkness. Soon to be completely eclipsed. "There is so very much to learn, you understand so little. A meaningless effort… One who knows nothing can understand nothing.' We saw Riku near the shore of the beach and transformed into Ansem. He was loud and was practically the embodiment of evil itself."
Sora's mother found a picture of Ansem and felt some sort of strange sensation from looking at him. He looked like someone she knew.
"The three of us fought Ansem and were suddenly in a place where darkness surrounded us. At one side of this realm was a huge white door with stained glass windows, Kingdom Hearts. We fought Ansem and prevailed, but he sought out to use Kingdom Hearts' darkness to give his supreme strength, but I learned that even the darkest heart can a just a slight glimmer of light. A bright light shone from within Kingdom Hearts and Ansem vanished into thin air. The three of us tried to close the door, but it wouldn't budge. The Riku appeared on the other side and pulled the door to help us out. Then, Donald and Goofy's king, Mickey Mouse, appeared and helped seal Kingdom Hearts away for good. I then noticed Kairi standing alone and I went to her. The islands were coming back and I couldn't make it in time. I promised Kairi that I would come back to her when I found Riku and the worlds began to separate."
"A little after, Donald, Goofy, and I were walking down this dirt road and found Pluto and noticed he had a letter from the king in his mouth. He started to run off and we chased him until sundown. We lost him and we didn't know where we were. I walked off and heard a voice from behind me that said, 'Ahead lies something you need… But to claim it you must give up something dear." It came from a man in a black coat and he disappeared. I walked upon a strange looking castle and then I don't remember a thing after that."
"You stayed behind without even notifying me?" Sora's mother shouted. "Why didn't you tell Kairi to tell me you weren't going to come home until you found Riku?"
"I don't know, I just thought that…" he noticed his mother look at something in the journal. "What's up?"
"This man, Xehanort, he seems familiar, like an old friend."
"But you've always lived on the islands, right?" Donald asked.
"Yes, but it's strange. I don't remember ever meeting him before."
"Oh yeah, that brings me to our second adventure." Sora announced. "We woke up in a place called Twilight Town. We were asleep for a whole year. We headed to the train station where we were ambushed by these strange white creatures. We were still a little drowsy from our sleep. Just before the creatures could finish us off, we were saved by King Mickey. He gave us a pouch with five-thousand munny and a blue crystal inside of it. We took a train that brought us to a tower where a powerful sorcerer lived. At the entrance we saw a guy named Pete. He's a fat tub of lard that's too stupid to tie his own shoes. It seemed King Mickey banished him in another dimension, and Maleficent freed him. He was creating an army of Heartless so she could conquer all worlds. When we told him she was defeated by us, he summoned some Heartless to fight us."
"After we proceeded up to the top of the tower and met Yen Sid, the sorcerer who lived in the tower. He told us about the white creatures that attacked us in front of the train station. They were called Nobodies. A Nobody is created when a person with a strong heart turns into a Heartless. When the Heartless appears, somewhere else, a Nobody comes into existence as well. They have no hearts; they act like they attack out of confusion. He then told us of a more powerful group of Nobodies known as Organization XIII. They sought to be complete by finding Kingdom Hearts. They act like they have emotions, but without a heart, they cannot feel anything; only remember what it was like and how to injure one. Yen Sid was assisted by three good fairies named Flora, Fauna, and Meriwether. They gave me the clothes that you usually see me wearing these days."
"We traveled to many worlds, fighting against the Heartless, the Nobodies, and Organization XIII. One day, on a return trip to Hollow Bastion, a huge army of Heartless was attacking the newly built town. It was up to me, Donald, Goofy, the King, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud, and the newcomer, Tifa. Tifa is kinda tomboyish, but seems to have deep feelings for Cloud. I think Sephiroth might have helped a little, but only to find Cloud. We met up with a member of the Organization that we saw messing around in a different world. His name was Demyx: He was a total coward the first time we fought, but he seemed different the second. In the end, Demyx was defeated and a boulder was about to hit King Mickey, but Goofy pushed him out of the way and took it himself."
"Oh my gosh! It's a miracle how you survived!"
"Gawrsh, ma'am, I'm used to getting hit in the head. I mean the three of us get hit in the same areas every day while fighting Heartless and Nobodies."
"Exactly, anyways, we helped Leon and the others fight the Heartless and Nobodies until we reached an area where there were no enemies. We felt bad we had to leave Goofy behind and that he was probably dead, but then we heard his voice call out to us. He looked as if he wasn't even hit on the head at all. Donald had a fit and told him to never scare us like that ever again."
"Sora," Donald interrupted. "You forgot about the portrait!" He was talking about a portrait that Ansem the Wise had on the wall in his study.
"Yes, I saw a picture of the portrait in your journal." Sora's mother added. "Who is he?"
"Thanks Donald," Sora remembered. "If I didn't tell you about that part, the next part wouldn't make sense. Okay, we were in Ansem's study where we found the portrait. Mickey told us that he was an imposter, didn't remember who it was. He told us of a talk he had with the leader of Organization XIII. 'Kinda felt like talking to the same fella.' King Mickey told us.
"Well, back to the present time in the story, we ran to a mountainous area that was filled with Heartless. They were all standing still, as if waiting for someone or something. Goofy noticed a member of the Organization standing on a cliff. He lowered his hood and revealed a man with a light tan, long silver hair with four bangs and spikes that went down, and amber eyes. The King remembered that the man, who we thought was Ansem, was actually his apprentice, Xehanort. The leader of Organization XIII was Xehanort's Nobody. King Mickey ran ahead to find him, but the Heartless blocked our path as we were about to follow him. Donald and Goofy worked on defeating group of one thousand Heartless while I fought another group of a thousand. We fought long and hard, but we defeated them all. We headed to where we saw the King follow Xehanort…"
"Sora you forgot about our second visit to Twilight Town!" Goofy reminded.
"Sorry! Okay, we went back to Twilight Town and heard that a group of friends were being attacked, so we decided to check it out. When we arrived on the scene, the group was surrounded by Nobodies. We fought them off and succeeded and heard clapping. A member of Organization XIII appeared and asked if we had seen a man named Axel. Turns out he wasn't on the Organization's good side and he was a member. The man searching for Axel was Saïx. Saïx is a person who speaks quietly, but get him angry and it will be the last thing you'll ever do. Donald, Goofy, and I thought of following him through a portal of darkness, but he overheard us and asked me if I wanted to end up like Riku. That started to worry me. Then a friend of ours named Pence found us and asked if we knew a girl named Kairi. It seems she ended up in Twilight Town, by a member of Organization XIII with spiky red hair. Pence and his friends, Hayner and Olette, felt like they didn't try hard enough to protect Kairi. I told them not to feel bad, but I knew that it was just useless to try and cheer them up. Oh and we got a trophy from the group of friends for helping them. Goofy accidentally dropped the trophy in front of the train station and four crystals fell off of it. Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Goofy each picked up a crystal that fell off the trophy. I took out the crystal that I got from the King. I couldn't help, but feel this strange sense of memories I never experienced. We knew it was time to go, so we said our farewells were on our way again."
"We found the King fighting off Nobodies behind Xehanort and came up to help him. Mickey called out to him and replied by asking how long it was since he's been called by his true name. He disappeared in a vortex of darkness and Mickey followed him, but the portal vanished before we could follow. We heard a voice behind us telling us we fell into a trap. It was the member of the Organization XIII with spiky red hair. He told us that every Heartless slain with the Keyblade released a captured heart. Those hearts are what the Organization was after. He told us his name was Axel and told us about their leader, Xemnas, who you know as Xehanort. Xemnas was very quiet, but full of pride at the same time. We then heard Saïx's voice call Axel's name and he appeared. Axel quickly fled. Saïx told us that the Organization was using the hearts released by the Keyblade were to make Kingdom Hearts complete. By doing so, they could become complete beings once again. Maleficent appeared and told him that Kingdom Hearts was destined to be in her possession. She blocked a bunch of Nobodies that Saïx summoned so we could figure out how to defeat them for good, but she disappeared and Saïx called off the Nobodies and quickly called upon Heartless for me to destroy. 'Maybe everything we've done… Maybe it was all for nothing. What am I supposed to do if I can't use the Keyblade?' That's what was running through my head. How could I save the worlds when I was bringing them closer to oblivion? Then darkness swallowed us and we were in an area that was all black. Donald saw someone holding a white box. The person quickly disappeared before we could ask who it was. The box contained a photograph and a sea-salt ice cream bar. The photograph was of Hayner, Pence, and Olette standing in front of a huge iron gate with a boy around my age, Roxas. I didn't know who he was, but it just seemed to be his name. I revealed the way out of that dimension and we were wondering who'd have left them there. I had this feeling it was Riku. Goofy seemed to think so too while Donald said nothing."
"We also met up with other members of Organization XIII messing around in other worlds. One member, Xigbar, turned an earth dragon into a Heartless. I thought he was Riku, but when he pulled his hood down, it was someone else. He was loud and tried to act way younger than what he looked like. The second one, Xaldin, wanted to turn a friend of ours into a Heartless and a Nobody so I would destroy the Heartless and give them another ally. He's one of those kinda people who use a person's anger against them. We fought him together and got help from King Mickey and defeated him. The last one was Luxord. He wanted to test a theory on the greed and avarice in a person's heart makes them worthy of being a member of the Organization. He acts like a proper gentleman, but is a real risk-taker."
"We later headed back to Twilight Town and we headed towards the only place with a huge iron gate, the mansion we woke up in. In front of it we saw Hayner and the others lying on the ground hurt. They were attacked by Nobodies while they were trying to help save Kairi. More Nobodies appeared, but the King appeared just in time. We all worked together and won. I kept on pestering King Mickey about where Riku was and if he was alright. He told me he promised him he wouldn't tell me. Olette told us that she had a munny pouch that looked like ours and that the blue crystal I had was something that could only be a part of the trophy that we had left behind. So she told us that there had to be an alternate Twilight Town and a way to it in the mansion. We found a computer in the basement and it required a password. We thought for a little bit and thought that the password was 'sea-salt ice cream.' The photo and the ice cream seemed useless, but was what revealed the way to finding Riku and Kairi and defeating Organization XIII."
"We walked through the light that brought us to a room that looked just like the computer room we were in before except the computer in there was smashed. I could feel Roxas' presence in this room. We proceeded into a room that had a portal in it. We walked into it and were ambushed by Nobodies again. Then hundreds more kept appearing, but Axel's voice sounded through the area. He appeared out of nowhere and helped us fight off the Nobodies. He used a last ditch effort by using all of his strength and putting it into one attack. With the last of his strength, he apologized for kidnapping Kairi and told us that he did it so he could see Roxas. He opened a portal into the Realm of Darkness and faded away."
"We appeared in the Organization's world, a dark cityscape that had neon lights everywhere. We reached an area with a huge skyscraper with a big screen on it. Donald and Goofy were stopped in their tracks by two Nobodies and a member of the Organization appeared. He summoned a Keyblade and charged at me. We appeared in a strange place where we fought and he wielded two Keyblades then. He knocked my Keyblade out of my hands and blocked me from it. I used my powers as the Keyblade Master and made it reappear into my hands. I struck the powerful Nobody with a deft blow and he faltered a little causing his hood to fall down revealing Roxas. He said to me, 'You make a good other.' And I said the same to him as I returned to the city. We continued on to what seemed to be where the remaining members of the Organization were, but it was a dead end. But suddenly, a bright flash of light shined at the bottom of their hideout. I used the Keyblade and a path appeared before us."
"King Mickey quickly left ahead of us to find the real Ansem, who wanted to destroy Organization XIII. We came to one room where we were greeted by Saïx. He said Kairi didn't need me anymore and she was catching up with a friend from the darkness. I knew he was talking about Riku. He summoned a bunch of Heartless for me to destroy, but a voice broke through the sounds of the Heartless. It was Kairi! Then all of a sudden, a shower of crystal-like bullets destroyed the Heartless and Xigbar appeared. He called me Roxas for some reason and came down to fight us. We won and I asked why he called me Roxas, but he replied by saying 'Wouldn't you like t'know.' as he faded away. We proceeded higher and in the hideout and found Kairi with Xehanort's Heartless, but looks can be deceiving. After me, Kairi, and Xehanort held our hands out and I saw who Xehanort really was: Riku. After all this time, I was finally reunited with my friends. Riku said that he had to use the darkness to defeat Roxas for a man named DiZ so he could wake me up. He still owes me an explanation so; I'll have him tell me and you what happened while I was asleep. Anyways, we went up into what seemed like a graveyard of the Organization's deceased members. Three the headstones were lit blue, but one of them had a portal we could go into. We went into it and we saw the Organization's Kingdom Hearts, a heart-shaped moon. A green beam was hitting it. Riku said that it was Ansem and King Mickey, but shortly after we were ambushed by Luxord who turned the others into cards and I had to fight him. I defeated him and before he faded away he called me Roxas. The others reappeared and we continued into a new portal. In there we found Saïx waiting for us and wouldn't you know it, he called me Roxas now. We fought Saïx and won. I was really annoyed by being called Roxas. Riku told me that Roxas was my Nobody. We continued forward to find Ansem and the King. This device that Ansem had was about to explode when Xemnas appeared. He and Ansem the Wise were arguing over whether or not Xemnas' ways to being complete were ethical or not. The explosion took place and he was nowhere to be found. To my surprise, Riku turned back to his old self and we continued up. Maleficent and Pete appeared to hold the Heartless off while we went and finished off Xemnas. We continued on and fought Xemnas and defeated him. The castle seemed to be crumbling away and we had to escape quickly. Suddenly a dark portal appeared. The King, Goofy, and Donald all headed into it with Pluto entering shortly after. I got a chance to meet Roxas and Kairi's Nobody, Naminé. They became a part of us completely and Kairi walked through the portal, but it shut behind her leaving me and Riku to fight Xemnas all over again. He tried to use past events as ways to make us fight each other, but we fought him. We finally fought him one last time. Xemnas put me into some kind of grasp and Riku had to save me. Then, Xemnas summoned a huge field of lasers which Riku and I needed to block. After that we were tired and Xemnas hit Riku away and had his blade up against my neck. Riku quickly recovered and shoved me out of the way while I got his Keyblade that he had. I slashed Xemnas multiple times and Riku and I sent a beam of light from my Keyblade through Xemnas' chest, finishing him for good. We later appeared on a dark moonlit beach that reminded us of home. Riku found a bottle washed up by his feet, and gave it to me. It was from Kairi and then a light shined in our faces. It was the door to light. We walked through and we were finally back home."
"You two are the best of friends." Sora's mother said. "You two would do anything for each other, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah, we would. Even after the darkness possessing Riku, I knew that the Riku I know was still in there."
This is the longest chapter yet! Oh and if you'd like check out my profile for chances to show me your drawing skills. I'd greatly appreciate it and give you credit by putting the best ones into my story. Create new Heartless and Nobodies. Draw the original characters that appear in the story and show me what a Chimera-breed Heartless should look like. Thanks for reading. Please read and review.