Chapter Three
"Kairi? What are you doing?" Sora shouted as he ran across the pale path that made its way through Hollow Bastion.
Kairi turned around, her smile still plastered brightly on her face. "Just, come on, Sora! Don't be a lazy bum as usual!"
Sora just grunted and ran faster, trying to keep his breathing in rhythm with his steps.
He soon found himself with two corridors, each looking exactly alike. He grinned and looked around, but Kairi was no where to be found.
Starting to worry, Sora called, "Kairi! Kairi!? Where are you?" Two identical faces came hovering out of the darkness, both were Kairi's.
"I'm right here, Sora!" They taunted. Sora gasped and began to back up, his eyes widening as the heads bobbed closer. Suddenly, they multiplied, until there were 10, 20, 30? He couldn't tell.
"We're right here!" They said again. Only this time, their eyes turned dark crimson, followed by their skin turning a coal black. The odd cross like sign that was for Nobodies soon grew on their foreheads, a creamy grey color against the night.
Sora gasped. The heads seemed to enjoy the sound and zipped closer, their teeth elongating, and their faces morphing to where it looked like nothing he'd ever seen before…
Sora gasped as he jolted out of his dream. His body was covered in cold sweat, making him look as if he'd just taken a dip in the ocean.
He sat up, rubbing his temples with his index and forefingers. "Jeez, that was weird…" He whispered. He looked up, expecting to see Kairi to the south of his bed, asleep as usual.
She wasn't there.
Sora's eyebrows rose, while his heart seemed to freeze. In a swift motion, he'd lept out of bed, and ran through the door. The door slammed shut behind him, followed by him gasping at the sight before him.
It was a mass whirlwind of shadows, staying on one thing, before moving to the next. The island was shrouded in complete darkness, making it look like an eternal night. The island that had the leaning Paupu fruit tree hung lifeless and wilted, contributing its own share of shadows to the nightmarish scenery. The crystal-clear waterfall that used to shine brightly in the mornings had vanished, the pool that it would empty into dry and desolate. The most horrific thing of all, was that overhead, a dark orb hovered. Rings of wispy winds whipped around it, while darkness flowed off of it like light from a light bulb. In the very center, was a deep red color, almost the color of the eyes that was in Sora's dream.
Sora just gawked at everything. No! This can't be happening again! His worried mind gasped.
He turned on his heels and ran across the dark beach. In his mind, he was 14 once more, running towards Riku, while the one haunting voice played in his head, saying, "This world has been connected…"
Sora summoned the keyblade in a flash of light that seemed to pierce the darkness for a moment, before being clouded over once more.
He stopped and looked around, one question still in his mind. Where's Kairi?
A long scream answered his question.
He turned towards the location of it; the makeshift island. He grit his teeth, before sprinting towards it.
Sure enough, Kairi's auburn hair and pink outfit could be distinguished through the gloom. She was staring down at the ground, her eyes wide and glassy.
"Kairi!" Sora called. She didn't hear him; instead she jumped back, dodging a dark, black creature by inches.
"Crap! Neon shadows… I hate these things!" Sora mumbled, watching furiously as its blue markings glowed.
Sora's pulse quickened as he sprinted faster to the shed, before bursting through the other door that lead to the island.
The neon shadow's long antennas were folded at certain points, before coming to a point at its ankles. Its legs were covered in a dizzying array of neon blue markings, earning it the haunting name of 'neon shadows.'
It felt like minutes as Sora ran across the bridge, before he finally made it. With one flick of his wrist, the keyblade sliced to the left, flourishing through the creatures shoulder before it vaporized before him.
He looked up to see Kairi standing there, her face pale and showing signs of worry.
Sora straightened up. "Kairi, what's wrong? There's only one…" His words were cut short when a large-bodied being tackled him from behind.
He twisted his body around, shuddering as he felt the creatures snake like fingers clutch his shoulders.
Sora pulled the keyblade above his head and, praying that he wouldn't miss and hit himself, brought the keyblade down in a straight path.
The heartless vanished instantly, leaving only a trail of dark specks in its midst.
"Kairi…" Sora began stepping towards her. Her face remained pale and unresponsive. "What's wrong…"
He was interrupted by the one sound he didn't want to hear. It was the sound of many dark portals opening up, revealing tons of the creatures that he had to kill a long time ago.
Kairi's hand soon raised, her palm facing upwards. A small memory flitted past Sora's mind, before Kairi said, "It's happening again…"
Suddenly, the ground shook with the roughest tremor Sora could have ever felt. His eyes stared down at the vibrating earth. The sand shifted, the tree leaves fluttered in a breeze that was directed south of the island.
"Kairi, we need to get Riku. Something bad is about to happen…" Before he could finish, the island seemed to freeze. The shaking stopped, the breeze stilled, and even the heartless were still as statues.
I-It stopped? Sora thought about to take a step towards Kairi to grab her hand.
And then, it happened.
As if a giant creature bashed its hideous skull against the earth underneath the two, the island suddenly tore open, revealing a dark, splintered core that looked like it never ended. More wind rushed up from it, smacking Sora in the face with plenty of force to knock him down.
The wind soon changed course and pressure. Instead of the strong breeze that was billowing earlier, it was now a strong sucking pressure, which tugged on Sora and Kairi's clothes.
The dark orb seemed to grow louder, the wisps of silver lashing faster around its spherical shape.
And through all of this madness, Sora's mind was in its own horrific whirlwind of memories and thoughts. No… No, this just can't be happening again!
The memories soon couldn't be stopped before they crowded into Sora's mind. Him floating up into the dark orb that now hung overhead like some demented moon. Him leaning over a broken shard of the island, watching in horror as his island, his beloved home, vanish before his very eyes. Memories of the towering heartless that had tangled hair, a heart insignia sliced through his stomach, small flightless wings, and burning amber eyes stand over him.
The one, and only, thing that pierced his thoughts, was one high-pitched scream that could most likely shatter glass.
Sora's head whipped around to see Kairi's thin form being yanked by the wind current into the sky. Her eyes were humongous, while her mouth was wide open, apparently shouting for him to help her.
"Kai-" Before he could finish, Sora was swept up into the void. He twisted his body around, pulling some of his back muscles in the process, to where he could look down over the island.
It was just like the last time; only the main part of the island was still intact, while the smaller one was completely destroyed. The heartless had vanished all together, leaving nothing behind.
H-How? How can this happen again, HOW!? Sora's mind once again cried.
A slight tugging on his leg brought him to turn his head around. Kairi was there, making her was to Sora's torso, where she wrapped her arms around his waist for something to grab onto besides drift wood.
"Sora…" She said silently, "What's happening?"
The paupu tree was soon dislodged from the island's sandy earth, dragging roots and other debris with it.
Sora stared at it for a while before saying, "I-I don't know, Kairi."
They were silent for a minute, unsure what to do. They couldn't fight their way out of this, and they certainly couldn't make a run for it.
The silence soon ended as Kairi snapped her head up and shouted above the noise, "Where's Riku!?"
Sora shook his head to register her words. As the mayhem had engulfed them, he had completely forgotten about Riku. Where was he? How could he have slept through all of this!?
Sure enough, the silver-haired boy burst through the door that leads to their bedroom. His keyblade was clutched securely in his hand, the keychain attached swinging wildly. His emerald green eyes flickered around the island's landscape, taking in its bedraggled form.
His free hand clenched into a fist, obviously furious that this event was happening once again. He soon turned his back to the two teenagers that were floating up to the dark, abysmal orb that was now only a half a mile away from them.
"R-Riku!" Sora and Kairi shouted in unison. They waved their hands, screamed as loud as they could, trying to get their friend's attention.
A ferocious tug yanked on their bodies. The darkness seemed to be extending long, delicate fingers towards them, goading them to come closer into the void. Sora gritted his teeth and tried to fight back, even though he knew that all chances were futile.
Riku then turned, his mouth fell open at the sight of them floating up like endangered angels into the one thing that turned Riku into a dark being; the ultimate foe.
"Riku!" Kairi screamed. Without any warning, she dispatched herself from Sora's side, moving her arms in a swimming motion in an attempt to get to their friend.
"Kairi! No, stop!" Sora shouted. But, it was too late. The current gave another tug, sending Kairi zipping backwards into the void.
The orb seemed to grow darker with the success of getting something in it. Sora's eyes grew wide. "No… Not her…"
The words were soon whipped from his mouth, as the tugging resumed again He banged his teeth together and fought harder, trying, hoping that he'd get some distance between him and the pulsing object.
The air soon gave a whistling sound, like the sound of someone throwing a frisbee, or shooting a bullet. Instead, it was the sound of fast moving drift wood, as it propelled its way to Sora, before smashing into his cheek, throwing him back the remaining distance to the darkness.
It felt slightly different than the last time he'd touched it. He had the urge to cry out, breath in quickly, and to just relax and go through with it, all at the same time.
Everything seemed to flash a brilliant white, and for a moment, he thought he heard someone say, "No, Sora, fight it! Fight the darkness!"
Sora smiled slowly, his consciousness slowly fading away, like the feeling in his legs. Sora's eyes closed involuntarily, placing him into utmost darkness. And that's when his world seemed to come crashing down around him.