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Chapter 6 (part 2):

Sora's POV

Before any of us could react, a clawed hand, covered in shadows lunged out from the water and grabbed Roxas by the neck. The creature jumped from the water and slammed him down to the ground. I distantly heard Ven cry out, but I didn't react. I felt frozen, staring at the scene blankly. The monster was pure black, nothing but darkness, and its eyes were glowing an eerie yellow, similar to the monster we had seen the day before, only way smaller (a Neoshadow). The word 'Heartless' came to mind and the dream I had when I had passed out came back to me. That voice had mentioned the Heartless, beings that were created by the darkness in people's hearts...

The Heartless let out an eerie moan, and reached its free hand down towards Roxas' chest, and I felt a shiver run down my spine; it's hand disappeared through Roxas' chest, and Roxas let out a scream that made me quiver. I had never heard Roxas sound so scared before. I snapped out of my daze and rushed forward, tried to grab the monster away from my brother, but my hands went right through him.

"Firaga!" I covered my face when a large ball of fire swept by me and hit the Heartless squarely, and it disappeared in a wisp of shadows. "Sora, get Roxas and get to the boat!" I looked over and saw Zack; he looked different, his eyes narrowed and his face serious. Everything about him had changed. He was holding an oversized sword, without any trouble at all, and his clothes had even changed. He was wearing a sleeveless, black sweater type vest, with a long neck, along with baggy black pants, and boots (His SOLDIER uniform…I suck at descriptions! I'm sure you can find it easy enough if you haven't seen it!). Even his hair had changed, and his face had a small scar by his chin that wasn't there before. "Sora, now!"

"R-Right!" I rushed over to Roxas, and grabbed him by the arm. He seemed dazed and confused, and he held his chest as if trying to reassure himself that his heart was still beating. I all but dragged him across the beach, heading back towards the boat as fast as I could run, Ven following close behind.

Terror gripped me when I saw even more Heartless rising from the sand. They were everywhere! I stopped, and looked around me desperately, looking for a route me and my brothers could take to get to safety, but there wasn't any. The Heartless just kept appearing! We backed away slowly, getting further and further from the boat; they were herding us into a corner! And there was nothing I could do to stop them. I felt Ven grip my arm tightly, and I tightened my grip on Roxas. Zack was fighting them as best he could, but they just kept coming! There was no way he was going to get rid of them on his own…

There was a burst of light, and before I saw what was happening, Riku was there. He was holding a weapon that was kind of like a sword, but kind of not…I mean…I couldn't tell what it was meant to be, but it was destroying the Heartless with ease. And just like Zack, he looked different. His clothes, his hair, his expression…it was him, without a doubt, and yet, it wasn't. I just…everything seemed so wrong, like a bad dream. I didn't understand any of it, and I wanted to cry from the fear. I pulled Ven and Roxas closer to me, wanting nothing more than to be back home, safe and sound in our beds. To wake up and find out this was just a nightmare…

Terra seemed to come from nowhere, and he grabbed my shoulder gently. "The first opening you see, all of you get to the boat. We'll try to clear the way for you." He lifted a large key-like weapon, and behind him, I noticed Axel holding chakrams, slashing at Heartless, and burning them with fire that seemed to appear out of nowhere. All of this was just…I nodded numbly. It was the only thing I could do. Terra looked at the three of us, his eyes lingering on Ven just a little longer, before he moved to clear out the Heartless.

"S-Sora," Roxas mumbled quietly. I looked over to him, and his eyes seemed haunted, and his hand still clutched his chest. "The Heartless…they won't—"

Ven suddenly tightened his grip on me, and the sky became dark. I looked up warily, and of course, as if things couldn't get any worse, there stood the same monster from yesterday. It was the same one that had appeared during the baseball game, and just like yesterday, it looked at us with the eerie yellow eyes.

Despite its size, it moved fast; I covered my brothers, but was knocked away hard. It grabbed Ven and Roxas in its hand, pulling them up and away from me. The two struggled to get free, but it was no use. That thing couldn't be over powered…and all the others were too busy fighting the Heartless that kept appearing to save them!

"S-Sora! Help, please!" Ven had tears streaming down his face. The fear I saw on his face, the hopelessness I felt...they both screamed as the monster tightened its grip on them, nearly crushing them.

"N-No…" I whispered, staring up at them uselessly. "I can't…I can't lose them too. Don't take them from me too…" I gritted my teeth, and my eyes began to burn. There had to be some way I could help them. Something, anything I could do! Their screams made me shake. The look on Ven's face, the haunting look in Roxas' eyes…

It happened in a flash; it was like my life was flashing before my eyes. It was me, yet it wasn't me. It was like a life I had lived before that I didn't remember ever living. I saw Riku, and Kairi. I saw some friends that I had never met before, and yet they were so close to me. I saw Roxas and Ven, but not as brothers. They were connected to me…like we were a part of one another. I saw Cloud, detached from everyone, and seemingly miserable. Everyone in my life now had been in my life before, a life I had long forgotten. I had fought the Heartless before, and I had one with everyone's help. There were other enemies too, and I had helped save all the worlds. I felt a sense of despair. This life before, I thought I had won. I thought that I, along with everyone else, had seen the last of the Heartless. But they were here in front of me, tearing my life to shreds once again. I looked up at the Darkside in front of me, and lifted my hand out in front of me.

In a flash of light, the Keyblade appeared in my hand. My clothes were what I remembered them to be from my past memories, and I felt empowered. There was a light inside of me that had never really died out, and now it was stronger than it had ever been. The will to save and protect my brothers…I gripped the Keyblade tightly.

"Lookin' for me?" I yelled up to the Darkside, and just like that, it released its grip on my brothers. They cried out as they fell, and I started, but two winged figures snatched them up out of thin air and lowered them to the ground carefully. I noticed it was the two from earlier, Genesis and Angeal. Zack ran up behind me, panting lightly.

"About time you showed up," he grumbled. Angeal snorted quietly, and lifted a sword from the magnetic sheath on his back. It matched Zack's sword completely.

"Hm. Could've been here sooner, but a certain puppy took my boat. It turns out that there are Heartless even in the skies."

"Especially," Genesis started, glaring around at the Heartless, "When there is Heartless swarming the entire place. Sephiroth and the others are taking care of things back on the main land, but he wanted us to come out here to see if you were all okay. Which, apparently, you're not."

Ven and Roxas stumbled over to me, breathing hard and seemingly shocked by everything that had happened. They both looked at me, and I hugged them to me quickly. I was terrified for them, and I was so happy they were alright…

The Darkside let out a groan and reached out towards me. I pushed my brothers behind me and held up the Keyblade. It released a bright flash, and the Darkside flinched away from me. I pointed the Keyblade at the Darkside, and with another flash, a bright light flew at the Heartless, and cut clean through it. Just like with the other Heartless, it disappeared into wisps of shadows. My Keyblade disappeared, and I looked around; the smaller Heartless were disappearing as well.

Zack looked around warily, and his sword disappeared in a flash of light, and just like that, he was back into the swim trunks I had last seen him in before the Heartless appeared. "Wow," he mumbled, looking at me, with a weaker form of his usual grin. "That was pretty cool. You took that thing out without even trying!" Angeal and Genesis let out a exasperated sigh.

"Puppy," he started, but shook his head. His sword disappeared as Zack's did, and just like that, he was back in the clothes we had seen him in when he had brought the keys for the boat. Even with these memories of this other life fresh in my mind, I couldn't figure out what was happening. I had done the same thing just now, hadn't I? Yet I didn't understand it at all.

"What's going on?" Ven suddenly blurted out. He seemed stunned and upset, and I couldn't blame him after everything that had just happened. Zack rubbed his head, seemed unsure, and looked at Angeal.

"It can't hurt to explain it. After this, I think they have a right to know," the older man advised, and Zack nodded. "But for now, let's get them back to HQ and then we'll discuss this. Best if everyone's there."

"Zack!" I heard Cloud yell, and his eyes looked angry and frustrated. Zack flinched.

"Oh, now the puppy's in for it," I heard Genesis mumble under his breath, and I felt myself nod in agreement. Cloud was scary when he was angry…

"I want answers, and I want them now! What was all that, and what's going on!" Cloud grabbed Zack by the arm roughly, but Zack didn't seem fazed. Instead he just huffed and gave Cloud a swift kiss on the cheek. Cloud's grip relaxed slightly and he looked away.

"Like Angeal said…we'll explain it once we get back to the main land, I promise. Alright?" Cloud released Zack's arm completely, and without another word, moved to the boat. Zack sighed heavily.

"Think he's mad at me…?"

"Ya think?" Genesis nudged Zack lightly, but rubbed his shoulder soothingly. "Don't worry darling. Once everything is out in the open, and he starts getting the gist of what's going on, I'm sure he'll forgive you. After all, Sephiroth seems pretty sure that he's one of us. And he hasn't been wrong yet." The red-head looked at me with a strange look in his eyes, but he shifted to look at Roxas, and his eyes softened slightly. "Are you okay?"

I looked at Roxas, and he started at the ground, his hand still gripping his chest tightly. He didn't seem to really be hearing any of what was going on around him, and I felt my stomach drop with worry. Axel walked over and gripped Roxas' shoulder.

"I think he'll be alright. Maybe I can explain, once your group explains to us what you know, huh?" Axel smirked. I nodded slightly, but it didn't lessen my worry any.

After a little more chatter, we all started heading towards the boat, but I lagged behind slightly. I felt so far away from everything right now, and my head felt heavy. All that had just happened was just too much all at once, I felt dizzy…

Riku grabbed me gently, held me up and pulled me against him. I buried my face in his chest, and it all felt right to me. I had known Riku all of my life, or my past life at least, and I loved him. And right now, I needed him more than I ever had.

Knowing that the fight against the Heartless wasn't over…that it was just starting over again…I knew it'd be alright. Because this time, Riku and I were together. He wouldn't leave me for the darkness this time. And that just made everything better.

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