Chapter X1: End of the World

I slowly walked through the empty streets of Hollow Bastion. My footsteps rang through the silent Bourough, echoing unto infinity. I could almost feel the desolation... the despair of all those that remained.

It had been a few weeks since we had last gathered in Ansem's computer room, and after recieving a summons, I was going back. I had been training in the Black Knight's armor, but it didn't feel heavy any longer...

"They're at the castle..." I muttered to myself. "I guess... that's where we'll decide what to do from here."

I slowly walked forward. The castle loomed. I walked across the slightly battered postern, still damaged from my battle alongside Riku with Larxene. My footsteps rang through the empty halls, but I was soon greeted by the sound of a quiet murmuring. My friends... what few of them were left... had gathered in Ansem's study.

"So... what's left?" I asked everyone. "Charon's... dead. I made sure of that."

"I took out Xehanort," Riku said. "Thanks to Roy, even though he split into his Heartless and Nobody again... it's done."

"The Black Knight... and Senka... are done," Jason said. "Oryx is party of you again, and Senka went and killed herself. So..."

"All that's left..." Sora said.

"Is... Amy," I finished. "So... what to do about her? Unless we take the incentive, something even worse could happen."

"Well, we're out of ideas besides a full-out assault. Only problem is, she's in... the End of the World," Jason said.

"Great..." I sighed.

"I have a little bit of good news, though. You know that disk I found in the ground in the Heatless factory?" Jason asked.

"Yeah... the one Roy and I found lying around," Riku said.

"Well... I decrypted it. I haven't executed its commands, though," he said. "I want everyone to see what's down there with me."

"All right... let's see," I said. He sat down in the chair, then put the disk in. Once the passoword screen came up, he punched a few keys, and it came up with six more passowords. He punched a few more keys, and...

"System Start!" Serenity shouted.

"Calm down," Jason muttered. The disk was spat back out at us.

"Some good that did..." Sora muttered. I walked off into the Heartless factory to see where I'd tossed the disk, but something was different now.

"Guys... come quick!" I shouted. Everyone ran in. "See... that part of the floor's glowing."

I moved to stand on it.

"Wait! There's no telling what'll happen!" Kairi shouted.

"Don't worry. I can handle myself," I said, smiling. I stepped onto the glowing part of the floor, and the area immediatley in front of me shone a blue color. It seperated into two, leaving a dark stairway in front of me.

Everyone gasped.

"Well... let's go," I said after a deep breath. We all stepped down the stairway, though everyone else was a bit behind me. The way down was dark, but lit slightly by strange, pulsing blue and red lights. We turned around to see entrance closing.

"No turning back now," Riku said. We kept going down until we reached a grey door with black and red inserts, slightly rimmed by steel. It opened immediatly once I approached it, revealing a white hallway with numerous doors.

I heard some faint, indistinguishable whispering...

"Does... anyone else hear that?" I asked.

"What?" Jason asked.

"...nothing," I muttered. We began walking forward to the end of the hallway, where we found a door with black chains and the Nobody symbol on it.

The whispering had gotten louder, but I still couldn't understand it.

"Wonder what's behind this door...?" Sora asked.

"That is not for you to know," an alarmingly familiar voice called out. We turned around to see a dark corridor opening up. I shoved my way to the front, where HE was waiting for me.

"Jake," I sighed. "I knew this would happen."

He was now wearing an orange coat, as opposed to his earlier blue coat. His eyes, too... they were different, colder. Much like my own...

"You should know. It's your fault... Ike," he mocked me.

"What's behind that door?" I asked again.

"The Room of Sleep... where the voice you're hearing is coming from," he said.

"Voice?" Sora asked.

"Only those that can sense and manipulate aura can hear it, much less open the doors down here. Maybe you should have been a little more inquistive about that, Riku," Jake said smugly. "Unfortunately... you'll never know what's in there. I won't let you."

"Is that why you're here?" I asked. "To stop us from knowing all that you know?"

"Even I don't know what's in that room, nor does Amy. However, she said nobody could know what was in there," he chuckled. "She thinks it's a danger, and refuses to allow anyone to see what's in it. Since you can both sense and manipulate aura, you could go in it... Roy. Regardless, you've got bigger problems to worry about."

"Like what?" Riku asked.

"Kingdom Hearts."

At that, Jake turned tail and fled. I chased after him, along with Sora, Riku, and Jason. We chased him up through the castle and across town, then deep into the crystal fissure, and finally to the Dark Depths. There he stopped fleeing.

"Are you done? You know you can't take us four-on-one," Jason pointed out, summoning his Keyblade. Sora and Riku did the same, and I unsheathed my new, white Judgment Blade.

He flash stepped behind us. We charged at him, but he flash stepped again. Then he made hand seals, tearing open a pocket in space-time. He pulled a broadsword out of it.

"It doesn't matter. All your battles will soon be for naught!" Jake shouted at us, charging forward. He swept at all of our feet, causing all of us to trip.

He's gotten better...

We got back on our feet, then charged forward. Using a little aura, I was able to get behind him; everyone soon crossed blades around Jake's neck.

He closed his eyes.

"Impressive. I expected nothing less from the three legendary heroes, not to mention the hitokiri," Jake muttered. "But there's something you should know."

We shifted our swords uneasily.

"Kingdom Hearts has been destroyed. What do you think will happen next...?" he asked, smirking.

Destroyed...?! Amy... she DIDN'T...!!!

"Let's welcome oblivion."

Jake opened and simultaneousley disappeared into a dark corridor as our blades closed in on him, rending our efforts useless.

"Kingdom Hearts... destroyed?! What's going on?" Sora asked.

"I have a good idea, but first, I need you guys to do something," I said.

"What?" they all asked.

"Hold onto your drawers and don't piss in 'em!" I shouted, gathering aura. "Without Kingdom Hearts, things are about to get a lot more desperate!"

I could feel the aura of everything beginning to tear apart and fade. Using my aura, I teleported us back to the Heartless factory.

"Hurry! Punch in the code!" I shouted at Jason. He quickly did so, and the staircase to the 'Room of Sleep' opened. I dashed down, along with Sora, Riku, and Jason, to find Kairi and Serentiy still waiting.

"What's going on?" Kairi asked.

"Well... its almost over," I muttered, feeling the aura of the place fading fast. I erected an aural barrier just before everything began to disintegrate. The door to the Room of Sleep opened, but I couldn't see what was within it...

It had faded away into blank whiteness.

"What's going on?" Sora asked as I began to strain from the difficulty of keeping the aural barrier up.

"I'm not sure... but it can't be good," I muttered.

It's gone... without Kingdom Hearts, what's gonna happen to us?

The area stopped fading. All that was left was a couple of crumbled obelisks and a worn stone path behind me. It was washed slightly by a little water, but something else had my attention.

Jake.

He was just in front of me, his back turned.

His orange coat stood out like a sore thumb against the white and purple sky of the End of the World.

He began running.

"JAKE!!!" I shouted as loudly as possible, then began chasing him across the empty void.

He only chuckled as I kept dashing as fast as I possibly could.