I closed my eyes and fell asleep. Before I knew it, I woke up to Sora shaking me shoulders.
"Mikaila! We have to go! No time to explain! Maleficent-"
That was all I needed to hear. My eyes snapped open at the sound of her name. I literally jumped out of bed.
"That... that-" Sora cut me off as if he knew what I was going to say.
"We have to go! Now!" he yelled. I nodded. My headache was gone, finally. Sora and I ran. Fast. I had no idea where we were going, but we had to go, and Sora seemed like he knew where to go. We ended up in front of two huge doors. He pushed one open and I saw a gummi ship. It looked like kind of like Mickey's old one.
"There it is. The Highwind. Now let's GO!" he yelled, pushing me through the door. I looked down and saw nothingness and stars, but I floated for a mere second as Sora pulled me onto a walkway into the ship. It was an amazing feeling. Almost like darkness. Or light. Or inbetween. Twilight.
I shook the thought from my mind. I needed to focus on leaving. Goofy pulled me through the door.
"C'mon Mikaila!" he yelled, "We have no time to lose!" I fell through the door as it shut, and I looked around. There were several chairs in this gummi ship. Donald pointed to one and told me to sit in it. I fumbled over to it and buckled my seatbelt. Sora got in the driver's seat. Since when is he coordinated enough to fly a gummi ship? Just as I thought, Donald made him go in the passenger's seat, and his face turned pink as he saw me holding back the urge to laugh.
"And... BLAST OFF!" Donald yelled as the ship started to take flight.
"So what's our destination?" I asked.
"Hollow Bastion," Goofy answered. I gulped. Well, I had to face my fears sometime. I'd rather do it with someone than alone. Most of all, I wanted to do it with Riku. But, that wasn't an option at the moment. Still, it was better than with no one at all.
After a long nap, the ship landed and we all got out. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked around in amazement. Apparently, they haven't seen this part of the world. The waterfalls did look amazing though. I could have stared at them all day. I started to walk when Sora held his arm in front of me, commanding me to stop.
"Me, Donald, and Goofy are going first. We'll give you a signal if the coast is clear." I rolled my eyes at him. Does he not know what I have been through? I nodded. He smiled and walked up the rocks.
Next thing I know, he's on his hands and knees, a wooden sword in his arms, and no one to comfort him.
Riku woke up to Maleficent at the foot of his bed.
"Get up! Time to prove yourself!" Maleficent shouted. Riku shot up. Maleficent already had a portal open. "C'mon! No time to lose!" Riku drowsily got up and walked towards Maleficent. She gave him a small blast of darkness that took the drowsiness right out of him. Maleficent observed him,
"What?" He asked.
"You'd rather embrace the darkness than let it defeat you. You will be a great master of the dark." Riku rolled his eyes. Maleficent didn't seem to notice. She walked through the portal and he followed.
She led his to the Rising Falls in the entrance to Hollow Bastion. She pointed to a strange beast at the top of one of the highest rocks.
"You see this filthy animal? Go over there and ask how he got here. Nobody knows. If he refuses to say, fight him to the death." Riku shook his head. It just didn't seem right to him. Maleficent raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well, if that's the case, she summoned a crystal ball of some sort. In the picture, Mikaila was lying down on a bed. Her eyes were closed. She looked so innocent. "I'd hate to have a little... accident." The crystal ball went away. Riku regretfully nodded and went up to the beast. "Put your heart into it!" Maleficent yelled with pride. Riku put on his best tough-guy voice, and looked at the animal.
"So, no vessel. No help from the heartless. Tell me, how did you get here?"
The beast grunted. "I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle, my true love, was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again, no matter the cost. I believed I would find her. So here I am. She must be here. I will have her back." Riku didn't know what to say. He had no idea what the situation was. He just assumed Maleficent had her and played it by ear from there. He didn't want to upset this beast, but it was his only hope for Mikaila.
"Take her if you can!" The beast roared and swiped at Riku, who jumped out of the way. The darkness gave him better reflexes. Maleficent didn't say to fight him anyway, but he could tell that's what she intended. He fought, trying not to show any sign of weakness. The beast collapsed.
Then, something he wasn't expecting in the least happened. Sora, Donald and Goofy approached him, terrified at what they saw.
"Stop!" Sora yelled.
"Sora, what are you doing here?" he asked. Sora looked shocked.
"I should be asking you the same question! And killing Beast like that? What's gotten into you? What does she see in you?" Sora yelled at him. Riku growled. So he knew. The fact that he didn't think they belonged together made him angry.
Take his keyblade. Leave him powerless. Maleficent's voice echoed in his head. He nodded.
"Ha! You think you're so tough. I bet the keyblade doesn't even want you anymore."
"What are you talking about?"
"Let the keyblade choose," Riku said, holding his arm out, "it's true master!"
The keyblade popped out of Sora's hand and into Riku's. Donald and Goofy gaped. Riku felt as if he had power. As if he could do anything. The keyblade chose him over Sora. Him.
"But... but that's impossible! How could this happen? I fought my way here with the keyblade!" Sora yelled. Riku laughed.
"Here. Go play hero with this." He tossed a wooden sword to Sora. Sora fell to his knees. "Goodbye, Sora." Riku just walked away. The power made him dark. It made him different. Whether he liked it or not, he wasn't sure, but he continued on.
"Goofy, let's go," Donald urged, "We have to remember our mission."
"I know the king told us to follow the key and all, but... oh." Donald and Goofy walked away from Sora, leaving him all alone.
"Sora, sorry." Then they were gone.