Chapter 13: Bonds

Time of Day: ?
Weather: Foggy
Place: The Velvet Room

"Why hello there, Sora," Igor greets. "Welcome to the Velvet Room."

A blue card appears in a warm light, hovering over Margaret's book. "With your new bond, you have awakened the Star Arcana," she informs me as the card slowly descends onto her book. Margaret opens the book and shows a picture of Donald on one page, and a card on it.

"Now then," Igor speaks. "Your story is drawing toward its climax." Climax? You mean everything won't be over after our fight? "As such, I imagine several surprises are in store."

"A thick fog awaits you at your fated crossroad." Margaret faces me with serious eyes. "Do not let it deceive you into believing that an illusion is reality."

"Defeat isn't the only thing that can bring your story to an end." Igor grins. "You might want to remember that."

Darkness shrouds my eyes as the Velvet Room fades away.

July 27, 2015
Time of Day: Noon
Weather: Cloudy
Place: Destiny Islands- Public Park

"Ooh! Ooh! I have an idea!" Donald yells. "We should have a party to celebrate!"

"Where would we have one, though?" I ask. After finally defeating the culprit behind the murders, we were thinking of ways to celebrate it. "What about Namine's place? Didn't you say that there were saunas there?"

"I'd love to have you guys stay at the inn, but sadly it's tourist season, so a lot of people are staying at the inn." Namine starts to twiddle her thumbs. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize," Yuffie says. "Why not have it at one of our houses?"

"Why not have it at your house, Sora?" Roxas asks.

"Why mine?" Roxas' suggestion just screams ulterior motive.

"That way I can just leave when it's over and won't have to help." Roxas gives a cheeky grin.

"Lazy much?" Riku asks jokingly.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." I laugh.

"Why not?" Kairi asks. "Plus, I don't think I've met the cute little Usagi, as Yuffie puts it."

"She is adorable," Yuffie says in a matter-of-fact way.

Roxas stands up. "So, anyone who wants to have the party at Sora's, raise your hand!" Everyone but me raises their hand.

"Do I not get a say in this?" I ask. "Ugh, fine. But Namine and Yuffie aren't cooking!"

Time of Day: Afternoon
Weather: Cloudy
Place: Dojima Residence

"What happened to Namine?" I ask Yuffie.

"Her family called saying they need a bunch of help back at the inn, so she had to go back home." Yuffie continues to play with Usagi's cheeks and Kairi plays with her ears.

"We should probably have the celebration at another time then," Riku suggests.

"Aww, and I wanted to celebrate…" Donald blows on his noise maker sadly.

"Well, what really matters is that the case is actually closed," I say.

"We've been through a lot, but now we can get back to our normal lives," Kairi says. "I wanna forget about all the dark stuff that's been happening."

"It's probably safe on the other side too, so I'll be heading back into my world," Donald says.

Riku slumps in his chair. "I guess we're all going our separate ways now."

"Geez, way to think negatively," I say to him. "We can all meet up again."

"Sounds good to me." Roxas grins.

"Same here!" Yuffie says.

August 16, 2015
Time of Day: Noon
Weather: Sunny
Place: Moogle Co.- Food Court

"So has there been any news since Pence was caught?" Riku asks.

"No, I haven't heard anything," I tell him.

"It's like everyone forgot about the case, with the way no one mentions it anymore," Kairi says.

"Oh my, I need to get going!" Namine gets up from her seat. "See you guys later!"

"See ya!" Yuffie waves her friend good bye.

"The inn must be really busy that Namine barely gets any time to hang out with us." I sigh. "But it's great that everything is back to normal."

"We never did go anywhere for summer vacation," Kairi said sadly.

"Dude, we went to the beach so many times I lost count," Roxas says.

"Yeah, but that's different. We practically all live by a beach, so it's not like we went anywhere," Yuffie says. "Maybe next year we can go somewhere!"

"I won't be here next year, remember?" Yeah, it kinda sucks that I have to leave. "I'm going to miss you guys so much when I have to leave."

"We'd miss you too Sora," Roxas says.

"Well it's not like we'd be separated forever," Yuffie says. "You could visit us occasionally."

"We could just Skype each other online," Riku suggests.

"That too." I smile. Even if I do leave, I'd know that we'd all stay friends!

August 27, 2015
Time of Day: Noon
Weather: Sunny
Place: Destiny Islands- Amagi Inn

"Hey Namine, how's it going?" I dodge the a woman pushing a cart around.

"I'm busy now Sora, so can you make it quick?" Namine has a clipboard in her hand. She's jotting things down like, Room 5 needs cleaning, Room 9 needs food, and other inn related things.

"We just wanted to know why you're not coming to hang out with us anymore,"

As we enter the main hall of the inn, Namine turns and faces me. "Sora, don't you what's going on here? It's too busy for me to be able to be with everyone."

"Can't you ask your mom to have someone take your place?"

"I can't do that either."

"Why not?"

"Because, I'm the one who's going to inherit this place. I have to take my time to learn how to run this place."

"So you can't even call or text Yuffie? She's worried about you."

"She's worried, but she at least understands why I'm doing this. If the rest of you can't understand that, then just leave me alone."

Namine's words pierce my heart like an icy dagger. Before I can say anything to her, she walks away without remorse.

September 8, 2015
Time of Day: Night
Weather: Cloudy
Place: The Secret Place Restaurant

Oh my god, this food is so good. Riku walks in talking with Seifer. Maybe I should say hello...

"Seriously?" Seifer asks.

"Yeah, there's not even a reason to meet up anymore!" Riku tells him. "And it's a pain having to talk and act nice around them, when I'm just flat out bored."

Seifer laughs. "You guys sound like a married couple that's grown bored of each other."

"Hey, I'm asking for advice on what to do, not snarky comments from the peanut gallery!"

"Calm down you weirdo. Just tell them that you don't wanna hang out you big chickenwuss."

"Will you stop calling me that!" Riku turns his head away from Seifer, and a slightly shocked expression appears on his face. He gets up from his chair and walks up to me. "So let me guess, you heard everything didn't you?" He has a slightly annoyed tone to his voice.

"Yeah, I did."

"Listen, it's not that it's a pain, but-"

"If you go tired of us, you should have just stopped coming."

"What?"

"All I'm saying is that I'd rather have someone tell me that I'm a pain, rather than lying about it. If you don't want to be with us, just leave. I honestly don't even care."

"Oh… Okay then." Riku walks away awkwardly.

Regret starts to fill my heart. Why did I saw that to him? Was it just out of blind anger? Here I am saying that I want everyone to be together, but then I drive one of my friends away!

September 21, 2015
Time of Day: Noon
Weather: Sunny
Place: Destiny Islands- Paopu Pastries

"So she actually did leave the Islands." Roxas takes a bite of a muffin. "Does that mean the rumors were true?"

"Yeah, but not all of them," I tell him.

"What do you mean? Did she talk to you before she left?"

"Yeah. She explained the rumors of her getting back into showbiz were true, but she was launching a solo career, not going back to her band."

"Why'd she tell only you then?" Roxas frowns. "What about us?"

"She said that the less people who knew, the better. I was allowed to tell you guys once she left."

"Makes sense. But it's not like there's many people to tell now. Just me and Yuffie."

"Yeah… Without Riku and Namine, the group just doesn't feel whole anymore... Wait, how come just you and Yuffie? What about Donald?"

"He didn't tell you yet?" Roxas asks. "He's going back into his world."

"So, he's leaving too? Looks like it's just the three of us again..." God… It's like the only thing that kept everyone together were the murders.

I tried not to give it too much thought, mostly because I would always cower in the face of the truth, but I guess that this union only had a foundation of strict business. I would always try to pin it as something that was manifested from friendship, but as soon as things start going back to normal, it's like we're completely disbanded.

I was getting used to their smiles. I loved how accepting they were and that I could be myself without some kind of fear of rejection. Maybe I was just kidding myself to keep myself happy.

We didn't come together because of friendship, or because we liked each other… we were bound by a common goal that resonated through each individual. Once that was accomplished, all's said and done.

This is bullshit! I thought what we had was something special. I thought we could have something more than a simple association.

Makes me wonder what friendship actually is.

October 10, 2015
Time of Day: Evening
Weather: Cloudy
Place: Moogle Co.- Food Court

"How do you guys think Donald is right now?" I ask.

"Hm? Why do you ask?" Roxas sits down, ripping off his white and red employee vest. "It's been a couple weeks since he left, so what's the point of talking about it?"

"I dunno, I just think about how he's doing from time to time. And plus, we never did find out who he really was."

"Donald said he'd handle it," Yuffie says.

"Would you guys ever want to go back there and visit him?" I ask.

"Why would we?" Roxas asks. "We don't really have a reason to."

"True… Hey Yuffie, have you talked to Namine recently?"

"Can you please not ask me that Sora? I don't want to talk about her," Yuffie hisses.

Silence ensues, and it takes a few moments before I clear the lump in my throat and speak again. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Yuffie says. "It's just… it's hard, you know? I don't think I even remember a time when Namine and I weren't always on the same page." She brushes her fingertips against her arms. "It's weird not having her around."

Roxas rolls his eyes. "You know, it's hard to take your side when you still won't even tell us what happened."

"Hold on, wait a minute, who said that was any of your business anyway?" Yuffie spits back.

Okay, Yuffie's easily heated temper is not something you play around with. I don't know what the hell Roxas is trying to accomplish, but he'd better hope Yuffie doesn't whoop him straight into a gurney. "That's not what Roxas meant."

Roxas gives me an odd look.

"Look, Yuffie," I start, "it's just that we're your friends, you know? We want to know what's up with you guys because it's not cool seeing the band so broken up like this."

"Right, 'band'." Yuffie scoffs.

"What the hell is your problem?" Roxas says, the anger etched in his tone. "I don't know what you did to Namine, but there's no reason you can't just confide in us."

"What I did to Namine?" she asks, looking appalled. "I should have fucking knew it. You guys are siding with her, aren't you? And who are you to talk to me in any sort of way you like? It's my business, now stay out it!"

My fists clench involuntarily. She's hiding something. Not sure what could be so bad that she can't just tell us, her supposed best friends. But Yuffie's always been persistently stubborn in these kinds of dilemmas. "Just leave us in the dark, huh?" I ask, standing up. "Friends aren't supposed to keep secrets, Yuffie! I thought-"

"Thought what, Sora? Thought that my life and decisions are supposed to meet your every wish and command just because we're 'friends'? Namine is gone! Deal with it!" Yuffie stands up and heads toward the exit. "I'm going to go clear my head."

"You don't have to be so bitchy about it!" Roxas says.

"Fuck off!" Yuffie flips him off and heads out the door.

Great job, Sora. You pissed off Yuffie. About a week ago, Yuffie and Namine got into a fight. Roxas and I had no idea what went on during the fight, but the two of them haven't been talking to each other. I just thought they'd be over it already considering they've been best friends since they were little.

"What's her problem?" Roxas asks.

"No, it was my fault," I groan. "I shouldn't have asked her."

October 29, 2015
Time of Day: Night
Weather: Rain
Place: Dojima Residence

"Hey big bro, how come no one comes over anymore?" Usagi asks. "Wouldn't it be fun if we all could go trick or treating?"

"Yeah, it would be…" Lately, we haven't met with each other at all. No one comes over to my house, and we don't go out with each other after school. I haven't talked to Roxas for a while. All I know is that he's sick of my sulking about everyone leaving.

I go up to my room, and just lie down on my bed. For days, all I've been doing is staying in my room. Hell, even Zack has commented on it.

"All you're doing is taking up space in my house!" A drunk Zack says. "If I knew you'd become a lazy-ass shut in, I wouldn't have had you live here in the first place!"

So what if I am a shut in? It's just like before I moved here. I'm just-

"Another face in the crowd?"

A breeze sweeps over my skin. The answer is plain in front of my face, yet I constantly refuse to admit it. All this time, I've relied so much on their company that I failed to realize my self worth. Maybe it was all just a dream that's finally met its rest.

To think, I actually thought our friendship had weight to it. Maybe I was the only one who took our bond seriously… assuming there was a bond there to begin with.

Yeah…

"Face it Sora, you're no one and you have no one. The friendships you had were all just illusions."

I don't have anyone… They weren't really my friends… My eyes meet a pair of golden eyes. The eyes belonged to someone with my face… A Heartless?

"Don't fight me, Sora. Just fall into the empty darkness,"

A swirling pool of darkness appears under me. It's slowly swallowing me from the ground up. I'm not even trying to fight it… I have no reason to...

"Any bond you had has surely been broken. Just rest. You must realize that all bonds break at one point." My Heartless places his hand on my face, pushing me down even further.

I'm down to my neck in the pool of darkness. I can't feel my body anymore as my head is slowly consumed, I close my eyes and give in.

.

.

.

S…

So…

Sora!

A light appears in front of me. It's… warm. I clutch it in the heat of the moment. It isn't long before I'm blinded by a severe light.

June 28, 2015
Time of Day: ?
Weather: Foggy
Place: Mirror World

In a flash, I'm met with Kairi's worried gaze. "Sora! Thank god!" She starts sobbing as she pulls me into a hug.

"W… What happened to me?" God, my head hurts like a bitch.

"We were fighting Pence's Heartless," Roxas points at a knight made up of blocks. Namine, Donald, and Riku are fighting him off with their Personas. "And you were hit in the head."

"You were out for like 10 minutes," Yuffie says. "We haven't been able to do much damage, mainly because were were trying to defend you."

"Sorry..."

"No need to apologize," Yuffie says. "That's what friends are for!"

"Friends… Thank you, guys."

"If anything, you need to thank Kairi," Roxas tells me. "She's the one who was by your side healing you."

"Really? Thanks, Kairi."

Kairi starts to tear up. "Idiot! I thought you died!"

"Well I think we all know you would have killed me if I did." I laugh. I try to get up slowly, but my knees buckle under my weight.

"Woah, easy there." Roxas props me up on his shoulders. I slowly attempt to stand up. "What the hell have you been eating man?"

"Oh shut up," I slap his back. "You're not the one who's been unconscious. Now if you'll excuse me…"

I slowly extend my hand and my Arcana appears in a warm blue flame, reignited by the fire in my heart. "PERSONA!" I shatter the card, and Izanagi appears in a blue light. He immediately attacks the Heartless, destroying any incoming blocks.

"We have to destroy the outer shell first!" Namine informs me.

"Okay!" Izanagi slashes with the keyblade until the Heartless' true form is revealed. It's a floating baby with a small body and a large head with bloodshot yellow eyes. Weird.

The Heartless starts to rebuild its defenses when Riku's Persona blocks any incoming blocks from forming the shell. "Not on my watch!"

Suddenly everyone else's Personas appear and block any incoming blocks from defending the Heartless.

"Sora, it's all up to you at this point!" Donald encourages me.

"You can do it!" Namine and Yuffie say.

"Kick this guy's ass!" Riku yells.

"Make sure to make him see stars!" Kairi cheers.

"I'll let you have the final blow!" Roxas grins.

Everyone encourages me with all their heart. What that Heartless said to me in my dream is slowly being replaced with the warmth of our friendship.

"Go! Merlin!" Izanagi disappears and is replaced by an old man with a long silver beard and blue cloaks. He raises his staff and thunder strikes the Heartless.

"Ice Queen!" A blizzard consumes the dragon and a pale woman in an icy blue dress takes his place. She points at the Heartless and it instantly freezes.

"Red Dragon!" The woman burst into flame and a flying red dragon sends fireballs at the Heartless shattering its frozen prison.

"Beast!" A large beast with brown fur and horn replaces the woman. He jumps onto the blocks and lunges at the enemy. The Heartless then starts throwing a tantrum, crying and sending some of our Personas back at us.

"Just how many Personas have you been hiding from us?!" Roxas asks.

"Genie!" A blue man in a turban and vest with large arms and a wisp instead of legs appears. She raises both arms and a sandstorm launches the Heartless into the air.

"Queen of Hearts!" The fairy is replaced by a short woman holding a flamingo. She screams. "Off with its head!" and card soldiers appear. They pile up and throw the Heartless onto the ground.

"Izanagi!" Izanagi appears and summons his keyblade. He points it at the dazed Heartless, and a beam of light pierces it, defeating the enemy.

I fall onto my knee. "God… That was tiring!" I'm certainly not going to have any trouble sleeping tonight. Kairi speeds to my side. "No… It's okay, doing all of that was just really taxing"

Pence starts to squirm, and then he suddenly wakes up.

"Who are you guys?" he asks.

"We're here to catch you," Riku tells him. "You're the one who committed the murders and the police are after your ass."

Pence starts to laugh. "That's right, I did it! I killed them! I killed them all!"

Behind us, Pence's Heartless fades away into wisps of darkness.

"What the heck? His Heartless just vanished!" Yuffie says.

"Finally!" Pence laughs even more. "That bastard is finally gone!"

Time of Day: Early Morning
Weather: Cloudy
Place: Dojima Residence

So is everything really over?

I wonder what's going to happen to Pence?

Would our circle of friends really break apart?

Maybe I should ask Kairi out on a date. I kinda owe her for staying by me the entire time.

Why the hell am I going into deep thought on my roof? It's cliche as hell!

After we left the Mirror World, Riku walked Pence to the Police Station. And by walked, I mean he dragged his unconscious ass there. Yuffie knocked him out because he was creeping on Namine. Again.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing up there?" I look down at the ground and see Zack. He must have come back from the police station.

"I dunno. Just thinking about things, I guess."

"What kind of things?"

"The things that a normal teenager thinks about."

Zack gives a small laugh. "Makes sense. Just make sure not to fall off, your mom would kill me." He enters the house.

I doubt a normal teenager would dream about all of his friends leaving him. I don't ever want that to happen. Ever. Come to think of it… I go back inside and go downstairs to see Zack drinking some coffee.

"You want some?" He asks.

"Sure." Zack hands me a cup. I take a sip. "Ugh, too bitter."

"That's because I like mine black."

"It tastes like dirt." Zack gives me a small laugh. "Hey Zack, did you… Did you ever regret having me live here?"

"Huh? Why would you ask that?"

"I dunno… I was just thinking that you've been busy at work, and now suddenly there's an extra mouth to feed. I just…"

"Don't say anymore." Zack smiles. "I don't regret having you live here. If anything, I'm thankful. You're taking care of your cousin, something I wish I could do. I… I haven't seen her smile this much since her mom died."

"Really?"

"Yeah... So, thank you." Zack pulls me into a hug. "Now, go to bed. You need some sleep. I'm gonna hit the hay, so goodnight."

I smile at him. "Yeah, goodnight."

July 30, 2015
Time of Day: Afternoon
Weather: Sunny
Place: Moogle Co.- Food Court

"I heard he confessed to everything and they're wrapping everything up now," Roxas informs us. "When he was asked the reason, he said he just wanted the attention."

"That's horrible!" Namine says.

"It's not like having a reason would make it any better, but you're right," Yuffie agrees.

"I guess that means we should just leave the rest of this to the police," I suggest. We decided to meet here after resting for a couple days.

"Yeah, that's all we can do at this point." Riku takes a drink of his soda.

"So, I guess peace has been restored," Kairi says.

"Everything in my world should be better now," Donald says. "But doesn't that mean everything is over now? Like us using our Personas and meeting up like this?"

I slam my hand on the table. "No!" Everyone stares at me with confused and worried looks. "Sorry."

Roxas laughs a little. "You really think we'd all just separate like that? It's summer vacation, dude!"

"Yeah, we have to spend it with each other!" Yuffie adds.

"We should think of ways to celebrate!" Kairi suggests.

I smile. Why was I worried to begin with? Deep down, I probably knew we'd stay together. I guess that my past made me think of only the negative side of things. "In that case, how about we celebrate at my place!"

Everyone agrees happily. This is going to be a fun summer vacation!

And I am back from my Hiatus! Sorry for those I kept waiting, I was enjoying my Summer. Near the end of June, I attempted to work on this chapter, but scrapped it because I didn't like it. Around the beginning of August I started to work on the chapter again.

One thing I just want to point out is that when Sora summoned all of those Personas one after the other, each one represented the bond he has with each friend.

Roxas (Magician Arcana)- Merlin
Namine (Priestess Arcana)- Ice Queen
Yuffie (Chariot Arcana)- Red Dragon
Riku (Emperor Arcana)- Beast
Donald (Star Arcana)- Genie
Kairi (Lovers Arcana)- Queen of Hearts

Anyway, I'm going to be working on the next chapter as soon as I'm given my laptop from school. So just sit tight until then. Sora's long awaited summer vacation will begin! (Which is ironic considering mine is gonna end)