Chapter Six

The Keyhole

There was a loud knocking on Sora's door. He quickly got up to see who it was. Sora opened the door and it was Riku. He was panting for air and sweat was dripping from his brow.

"Riku, what's wrong?" Sora asked as he let him in.

"I can't find Kairi anywhere. She isn't at her home, she isn't at the school. I think she might be at the islet."

"Then we gotta find her!" Donald spoke up.

"Donald? Goofy? What are you guys doing here?"

"We found a shortcut! A-hyuck!" Goofy chuckled.

"Alright then you can help us! Let's go!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed Riku out the door and slammed it behind them. Sora's mother brought her head down in sadness.

"Xehanort… who are you?" she whispered.

The group stopped in the town square and looked around. Sora noticed something rising from the ground. It was a Shadow and more of them kept rising.

"Heartless?" Sora gasped. "What are they doing here?"

"The darkness must still be lingering around from last year…" Riku said as he summoned his Keyblade. Sora then summoned his Keyblade while Donald and Goofy took out a staff and a shield.

Donald's staff was blue and had a mage in a blue robe on the top of it wearing a brown leather hat. Goofy's shield bore the Disney Castle seal, three black round circles. Two small circles on the top and the bigger circle on the bottom. The two of them went after a small group of Shadows while Sora and Riku went after another.

Sora slashed two Shadows out of his way and thrust another one in the head. Riku sent a purple flame flying at one Heartless burning it up and spun around cutting three more into six pieces. Donald hit two Heartless with his staff and sent three ice crystals at them freezing them. Goofy rushed forward and bashed his shield into four Heartless and flung his shield into one last Shadow like a boomerang and it came flying back at him.

Sora stood up straight and turned to Riku, Donald, and Goofy. "You guys, I'll try and find Kairi. If we all leave for the islet, we'll be leaving the other townsfolk in danger."

"You're right," Riku agreed. "Go, find Kairi. Leave the Heartless to us!"

"Be careful, Sora." Donald told Sora.

"You bring Kairi back now, okay?" Goofy spoke up. Sora nodded and left with a grin on his face and ran towards the docks. "Where should we head to first, Riku?"

"The high school, there might be Heartless attacking my classmates and teachers." After that they left without another word and ran in the opposite direction Sora went.

Sora kept running with all of his might. 'Kairi, please don't be gone. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again.' Sora saw a boy with short black hair with a Keyblade fight off Shadows at the dock. He then realized it was Hono. His tan trench coat flapped around as he fought of the Shadows. His Keyblade looked a lot like Sora's; the blade was white and the hand guard, key, and keychain were black. The key part of his Keyblade was in the shape of Sora's pendant and the keychain was shaped like the key part on the Kingdom Key. Sora rushed forward and helped out this new Keybearer.

"Hono," Sora shouted as he destroyed more Heartless before reaching the wood of the docks. "What are you doing here? Why do you have a Keyblade?"

The red-eyed boy slashed another Shadow and replied, "I'm looking for Kairi. She wasn't at school so I'm going to check that islet in the horizon. As for my Twilight Kingdom Keyblade, I'm here to fight the Heartless."

"So… you're not from this world, are you?" Hono shook his head. "Well let's find Kairi together!" Hono nodded and the two of them jumped into a raft. They started to paddle over to the islet in hopes of finding Kairi.

A half an hour passed as the two Keybearers paddled to the islet when they reached the docks. Sora and Hono got out of the raft and walked onto the beach.

"Where do you think Kairi would be?" Hono asked.

"In a cave near that waterfall up near the forest." Sora pointed towards the secret spot. Suddenly Heartless appeared in front of the two Keybearers.

"Heh. Good guess, Sora!" Hono said as he sliced the whole group of Heartless in a matter of seconds. A dark smoke blocked Sora's view as Hono ran away. When the smoke cleared, he saw Hono's foot prints embedded in the sand. Sora followed him towards the secret spot.

Sora hurried down the tunnel and almost hit his head on a root that penetrated from the roof of the cave. The Keyblade Master stopped in his tracks as he saw Kairi lying on the ground unconscious. Hono stood facing near the end of the cave and Sora noticed a magical entity known as a Keyhole. A Keyhole was the gateway to the heart of a world. The hearts of all the worlds all connect together and allow Sora to travel to them. Hono turned around.

"Heh, you don't deserve to be the Keyblade Master; you can't even seal your own world from the darkness." He walked towards Kairi and attempted to pick her up. Sora ran forward and pointed his Keyblade at Hono's head.

"Leave… her alone…" he growled at the scoundrel. "You BASTARD! You're the one who brought her here! I realized that now! What do you want with Kairi?"

"My employer needs her." Hono spun around and slashed at Sora's legs, but he back flipped away from the arc of the blade's range and rushed forward. He sliced at Hono with all his strength and pushed him into a corner and punched him in the face five times causing a black eye and a nose bleed. Hono countered by kneeing Sora in his gut and pushed him down and ran off. Sora struggled to get on his feet again. He turned to Kairi's unconscious body and picked her up. Sora carried her out of the secret spot and brought her to his house.

Sora sat next to Kairi's side waiting for her to wake up. He waited all afternoon for her to come around and now it was midnight. He thought to himself, 'What if I'm not good enough to be the Keyblade Master? Maybe Hono was right…' he sighed deeply and took a great breath in.

In you and I there's a new land

My sanctuary, my sanctuary yeah

Where fears and lies melt away

What's left of me

What's left of me now.

I watch you fast asleep

All I fear means nothing.

In you and I there's a new land

My sanctuary, my sanctuary yeah

Where fears and lies melt away

What's left of me

What's left of me now.

My heart's a battleground.

You showed me, how to see that nothing

Is whole and nothing is broken.

In you and I there's a new land

My sanctuary, my sanctuary yeah

Where fears and lies melt away

What's left of me

What's left of me now.

My fears and lies

Melt away.

He sang to her and began to feel drowsy. His eyelids felt heavy.

"You have a beautiful singing voice, Sora…" Kairi whispered.

"Uh, Kairi, you're awake!"

"Yeah," she winced in pain and grabbed the back of her head. "I can't believe Hono tricked me like that."

"He wanted to kidnap you. He said he was hired by someone."

"I guess I haven't gotten any stronger from being taught by you and Riku."

"Don't say that, you have.

Kairi smiled gently at Sora. "Thank you."

The next morning, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy stood in front of their Gummi Ship and were being seen off by Sora's mother. "Are you sure that you have everything you need to go on your new journey?" she asked.

"Don't worry, Mom! We'll come back every once and a while and check up on the island, okay?" Sora said with confidence.

She gave a sad smile and ran towards her son and embraced him. He did the same thing and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Make me and your father proud, Sora…" she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. The mother and son let each other go and smiled at back each other. Sora gave a nod to ensure he would bring honor to his family. He waved good bye and ran into the Gummi Ship and the others waved and said their farewells and boarded the ship. The Gummi Ship lifted off the ground and hovered for a few seconds before flying off into the atmosphere. Aiko just stood there and continued to smile as tears trickled down her face.