Keys of Destiny
Chapter 2: Familiar face
"Sora, wake up. Sora!"
Someone was shaking Sora's shoulder. The voice wasn't Riku's. On his second thought, how could it be Riku? It certainly sounded familiar, whoever it was calling him. Sora opened his eyes and gingerly sat himself upright. He sheepishly looked around for the origin of the voice. A teenage boy around the same age as him squatted next to him. He had blonde spiky hair and sky blue eyes that were identical to Sora's.
Sora blinked. And blinked. And blinked again.
"Stop batting your eyelashes at me, Sora. You're not seeing things," grumbled Roxas, who sound slightly annoyed.
"I am! No, wait. Hold on a minute! Roxas? Roxas?!" Sora thought his eyes must be as big as saucers at that moment. His eyes were definitely deceiving him. "Aren't you suppose to be within me?"
Roxas stood up and folded his arms. He looked the same as the last time Sora saw him, right before the last battle with Xemnas. "Don't ask me. I don't know exactly why I'm separated from you. I found myself here after you blanked out. It's got to have something to do with the screeches we heard."
His words reminded Sora of those Nobody. He sprung up and scanned around for enemies. His trusty keyblade materialised instantly. Destiny Island was deserted. There wasn't anybody except them. He realised it was already nighttime. The sun must have set not long ago. Then it came to him. "Did you defeat them?" he asked Roxas. The keyblade disappeared because its master no longer require it.
"Who do you think I am?" Roxas grinned. He straightened his face. "Those were not Nobody, Sora. They were Neo Nobody."
"Neo Nobody? How did you know?" Sora raised an eyebrow.
Roxas lifted his nose. "Did you forget? I'm a Nobody too."
In fact, Roxas was indeed Sora's Nobody. When Sora used the keyblade on himself to free Kairi's heart, Sora turned into a Heartless for a very short time. All beings were made up of soul, heart and body. When the heart left and a Heartless is born, the soul and body would reborn into this world as a different being. Roxas existence remained unknown to Sora for some time. Organisation XIII discovered Roxas and made him the thirteenth member. It took philosopher Ansem and Riku a great deal of effort to return Roxas to Sora. It was necessary to do so because that was the only way they could defeat Xemnas and the organisation.
"You mean you can talk to them?" Sora asked in bewilderment. He shook off some sand caught in his spiky brown hair.
Roxas threw up his hands. "Of course. Anyway, there are more important things for us to do right now. We need to find Riku and Kairi," he said. "The king won't pick us up in another three days. I guess we just have to wait."
Sora clenched his fists. "I can't wait three days. Who knows what would happen to Riku and Kairi? I need to tell the king what happened and find help." Anger boiled inside him. He couldn't forgive himself for allowing his friends to be kidnapped when he was with them. There was no way he would just wait and do nothing.
"But there's no gummi ship in this world, is there? How do we go to Disney Castle?" Roxas pointed out.
Sora paused and thought for a moment. "There may be a way," he said slowly. "I haven't tried it before, but it may just work. Follow me!" Sora indicated to Roxas to follow his lead.
A full moon hung high in the starless sky. Destiny Island was a quiet place at nighttime. Seagulls that circled the sky during the day had returned to their nests. Children from the main continent who regularly came to play on the island had long returned home. With Sora in the lead, Roxas followed closely behind. Their swift walking pace soon broke into a run. They left the beach and came on a long wooden boardwalk. Soon they came to a ladder that led downwards. Lacking the patience to climb down, Sora jumped. Roxas followed suit. At last they reached a thick bush next to a small spring. Roxas recognised this place from seeing it through Sora's eyes. Barging into the thick bush, Sora found the hidden path that led to his secret place. The tunnel-like path was quite narrow so both of them had to bent down as low as they could to make their way through. An adult probably wouldn't be able to enter.
They were in a dark cave filled with big tree roots. Roxas spotted some mushrooms and vines, plants that grew well in the dark. Though he had been here when he was within Sora, he didn't know its significance. Roxas wanted to ask about the cave, but decided it wasn't the time.
Sora, who seemed to have guessed his thoughts, smiled. "This is a secret place that only me and Kairi knows. Not even Riku had been here before. I guess it's not really a secret anymore, since I just told you." He pointed at a wooden door that Roxas hadn't noticed before. The door's colour almost blended it with the cave. There was no keyhole or knob on it.
Sora walked closer to the door until he was directly in front of it. "Before I left Destiny Island last time, a hooded person appeared out of nowhere and spoke to me. Come to think about it, his outfit looked a little like what the members of Organisation XIII wore."
"Xemnas?" asked a frowning Roxas.
Sora shook his head. "I didn't get to see his face. What I suspect is he might have come through this door right here. I don't know how it was possible now, since a door like this should only be able to be open by those with the keyblade. May be he didn't come through using this door. What I'm thinking is, it may lead us to another world."
Roxas thought along the same line as Sora. "Well, what are we waiting for?"
Sora nodded. The kingdom keyblade materialised in his hand. He lifted and pointed it to the door whilst Roxas watched. A golden knob appeared on the door. Taking deep breath, Sora turned the knob and opened it with caution.
Dark buildings and tall skyscrapers came into view. Cool neo lights shone on his face. Sora knew this place. He opened wide the door for him and Roxas.
"The World That Never Was, the home of all Nobody," Roxas said firmly. He was a little surprise this world wasn't destroyed in the last battle. The Organisation's white castle was no longer there though the town still stands. The tallest skyscraper in the night city stood as grandly as he remembered. This was where he met face to face with Sora for the first time. This was also the place where he fought Riku the first time. It was ironic when he thinks about it. Riku and him were enemies last time, but now he was trying to save him. "If we are here, that means we can go to Twilight Town."
Sora agreed, feeling slightly envious and a little defeated that his Nobody thought of it before he did. He closed the wooden door behind him. The knob vanished once it was shut.
They began to make their way to where the warp-hole to virtual Twilight Town located. Without warning, several Nobody emerged from thin air. Sora did a quick count. There were seven of them. They were ordinary Nobody, not the Neo Nobody they just fought. Regardless, Sora materialised his keyblade and readied himself for the upcoming battle.
Lifting an arm, Roxas stopped Sora from going further. He stood between Sora and the Nobody with his back facing Sora. "Wait, Sora," Roxas requested. Unsure of what was going on, Sora did as he was told.
"In the name of Roxas, I order you to stop there, now." Roxas said to the Nobody in a commanding tone, his face stern. To Sora's surprise, the Nobody stopped coming closer.
"Tell me, are there any Neo Nobody in this world?" Roxas spoke to the Nobody in the middle, who seemed to be the leader. The Nobody replied in a low and squeaky language Sora didn't understand.
"I see…" Roxas cupped his chin with a hand, appeared to be thinking. "What is the situation between Nobody and Neo Nobody?" Nearby, Sora watched in amazement. He knew perfectly well Roxas was part of him, yet Roxas could do things he couldn't. He started to find it hard to believe they were the same person. It made him think back to one of "the Other" Ansem reports he read, the real Ansem reports. Philosopher Ansem described Nobody as another being, separate from its parent being.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Sora managed to catch the last part of Roxas' orders for the seven Nobody. "I hereby declare war between Nobody and Neo Nobody. All Neo Nobody in this world are to be eliminated. If any of you find Riku and Kairi, report to me at once. Any suspicious movement of the Neo Nobody must be reported immediately as well. Understand?" When Roxas finished, the Nobody bowed and flied away.
"What did they say?" Sora asked.
Roxas turned to face Sora. "Riku and Kairi don't seem to be here, but our friends the Neo Nobody are. Those seven Nobody said they didn't know where the Neo Nobody came from. One day they weren't here, and the next day they were. They also told me that ear-piercing screech is called Soul Shatter. What that does is rip apart people's soul. I guess because we have been separated before, I parted you more easily than others. It should take more screeches to cut a soul that has never fallen apart."
"Wait a minute, why are the Nobody listening to you when you are branded as a traitor to the organisation?" Sora asked. He was a little proud of himself to have thought of that.
Roxas closed his eyes and opened them again. "You're right. To tell you the truth, I'm not so sure either. I think it's partly because they are leader-less right now. Some of them worked under me before so I have their trust. They know they need to be united, otherwise the Neo Nobody will take over."
"I get it!" Sora exclaimed all of a sudden. "When I finished off the Nobody back on Destiny Island before I black out, I separated its body and soul. You took that body, didn't you? Otherwise you don't be able to take a form."
"Actually, that might've been it," Roxas agreed, looking surprised. "I didn't know you were capable for solving something so complicated," he smirked.
"What did you say?" Sora raised his fist threateningly, pretending to be angry. They both laughed.
Sora folded his arms when his stomach stopped hurting from laughing. "That makes sense. But why do they want to part people's soul?"
"I don't know, Sora. Your guess is as good as mine," Roxas replied.
They continued their way to the warp hole. They found it in the familiar alleyway, just the way they left it. Sora and Roxas were relieved to see it still there. Sora thought of something that made him wanted to kick himself. He should've remembered to ask Pence to turn off Ansem's computer so neither the Nobody or Neo Nobody could get to Twilight Town through the other warp-hole that connected the virtual Twilight Town and the real Twilight Town. He was worried about his friends Hayner, Pence and Olette.
Sora and Roxas stepped into the warp-hole and entered the virtual Twilight Town. They reappeared in the secret underground computer room beneath the haunted mansion, as they expected. The computers were a mess. Roxas remembered taking out his anger on them before he found Sora in the egg-shaped pod. All that happened quite recently, yet Roxas felt like years have passed. He quickened his pace when he heard Sora calling him to hurry. Sora managed to set the machine on timer. So even without Pence's help, the machine would take them where they want it. Sora and Roxas stood side by side below the warping device. Together, they were brought to the real Twilight Town.
Author's rambling: This chapter mainly focus on interaction between Sora and Roxas. There will be more interaction with other characters in the next chapter.