Thanks for the support DarkShadoweyPhoenix5, Espa120, and ThyReader. I hope others continue to enjoy this as well and tell me what you think.
A few new things will be referenced in this chapter, so I hope you like it.
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The first of the monsters rushed forward, its tusked mouth roaring as it swung its dark blade. Sora swung his Keyblade up to meet the strike, his mind flashing to his practice fights with Riku and the other kids on the island, as well as memories of Kairi.
Riku was gone, but he could still save her!
Sora lashed out with a kick at his opponent's knee, causing it to crack as it fell to the ground, allowing him to deliver swift strikes upon his fallen foe, who began to glow once again. Thinking quickly, the teen held his weapon in front of his face as the monster exploded, protecting him from the glass-like shrapnel. He grinned as he turned back to the pair of humans and their horde of monsters that followed them. Maybe he had a chance.
He then realized that there were a dozen more of these things and the two humans had unknown powers. The older girl could use magic, while the boy his age had a cold glare and a glowing sword. It didn't look great from where he stood, so he did the one thing that could get him out of this alive.
"Hey, what's that over there?"
The group of enemies followed the pointed finger for longer than they'd care to admit, and it was all that Sora needed to take off running down the beach. The Keyblade helped him feel refreshed, especially after defeating those smaller monsters, but he was not taking chances with that large of a group.
"After him, you idiots!" Mal shouted as she sent several balls of green flame after Sora, glassing portions of the beach as her followers rushed forward with only her orders on their minds. "Nico, we cannot let anyone know we fell for that."
"Agreed!" The demigod said from beside the sorceress in training, one hand closed around his sword, while the other reached for the pouch at his side. He'd rather not use them now, especially with how hard it was to find dragon teeth, but they might be perfect for dealing with a Keyblade.
Sora dashed down the beach before turning to run down the path back to the village before a hand reached out of the nearby bushes and grabbed his arm. Sora let out a slight yelp as he was pulled into cover before the same hand covered his mouth. He calmed himself as the group of monsters and the humans rushed past looking for him. After a few moments, he let out a sigh of relief before turning to face his savior, and then he pulled Kairi into a hug.
"You're really here, I was worried you got taken by all the monsters on the island!" Sora said into her shoulder as they continued to embrace before finally parting.
"Sora, I was worried about you as well," Kairi said with a smile, before noticing his weapon. "Wait, is that a-"
Suddenly, Kairi cried out in shock as she was pulled back into the forest by an unseen force.
"SORAAaa…" Kairi's cries eventually faded out, even with Sora giving chase.
"Kairi!" The Keyblade wielder cried out as he ran through the bushes, hoping to find her, only to run across an intricately carved door at the base of the mountain.
The Keyblade glowed as he approached it, and while Sora wasn't sure where it lead, the sounds of something tearing through the brush behind him meant he needed to act quickly. He pointed the end of the giant key towards the door handles before a beam of light shot forward, soon followed by a soft click. The teenage boy wasted no time in pushing his way inside and closing the door behind him, before rushing down the tunnel.
"Kairi!" Sora shouted as he ran down the tunnel, his voice echoing with no response before he made it to a large room. It was the one he and Kairi used to play in together, and she's here. Then Kairi turned to face him, her movements sluggish and floaty, as if she wasn't in control of herself.
"Sora," she weakly said as she reached out to him. Then the old door behind her flew open and whisps of darkness sprung forth, flinging the weakened girl. Sora threw open his arms to catch her before she could be hurt, only for her to seemingly vanish as he tried to do so. He was stunned, so much so that he did nothing as the force of dark energy struck him as well, launching him back up the long tunnel and through the door with a crash.
Sora groaned from the sand he landed in, slowly regaining his senses before noticing he was right at the edge of a cliff. "Woah!"
He scrambled back and looked around, seeing the dark orb from before had grown in size and that his island home was slowly being torn apart and sucked inside. How could he fix something like this?
"And we've finally found you," Mal said as she raised her staff towards Sora. Nico and their monsters were close behind. "You're coming with us before we all get dragged into the Darkness."
Suddenly the ground began to shake as a massive, dark hand smashed through the ground, followed by another as a massive monster broke free of the earth. Its face was covered in shadowy tentacles while a massive, upside-down heart-shaped hole was in its abdomen. Once it was finally free, it smashed a hand on the group of pig warriors, shattering them before raising another hand above the three remaining people. Sora rolled out of the way of the attack, while Nico grabbed Mal and through them both into the shadow it cast, vanishing as the fist landed.
It then turned to face Sora, its eyes focused on the Keyblade in his hand. With a wave of its hand, more of the much smaller creatures began to appear from the ground and circled him.
"You guys don't play fair, but I won't let you win!" Sora shouted as he rushed forward, his blade slicing into the group of monsters like a hot knife through butter.
The first of the little beasts were knocked away with the first strike before the second cut it in half as it vanished into a shower of orbs. Another jumped up to strike him, but Sora swung his blade to catch the strike and launched it back before cutting it down as well. He cut through several more before dodging to the side as the big one's massive fist hit the ground, allowing the teenage warrior to strike its wrist several times. It roared in pain at this before pulling away, dark energy going into both of its hands before it slammed down, shattering much of the island and scattering the debris in the air. Sora clung to a broken tree while this happened, before finally pulling himself on top and rushing forward.
He was at face level with the monster, he could defeat it and possibly fix what was going on. He then jumped into the air with a yell, Keyblade raised for a downward strike at its face, only for a massive, dark hand to smack him out of the air and into the field of debris. The air left Sora's lungs as he hit something wooden, the now damaged raft he had spent so much time on, as the force sent both parties flying away from the rapidly disintegrating island, and past an invisible barrier. He groaned as he sat up, his World rapidly disappearing in the distance before the light that emanated from it vanished as well, almost like it was extinguished. He looked around at the stars, seeing several more vanish gradually.
Were these…other Worlds…
As Sora floated through the void on his damaged raft, images flashed before his eyes of various locations.
A land of imagination and dreams being explored by a young, blonde girl.
An island of magic, fun, and what may have been fairy dust with a pirate ship floating in the water nearby.
A jungle filled with exotic animals that stretched for miles.
A small kingdom close to mountains that seemed lonely.
An underwater kingdom filled with fish people.
A land of mushrooms and floating blocks.
A small town surrounded by green hills.
A massive, rotting corpse that was covered in towns.
A flat world that was shaped like a lily pad.
And a massive city built on plates, from what he saw.
Then a few of the images began to change before his eyes.
The forests in the land of imagination grew dark and faint growls steadily replaced the sounds of joy.
The island from before suddenly darkened as metal towers dug into the earth and spewed green smoke.
And the underwater kingdom suddenly darkened as a thick, inky fog obscured his view before the ocean began to steam and bubble.
Sora's eyes shot open as the visions faded, leaving him alone on the raft once more.
"Help!" A garbled voice cried out across the void. "Is anyone there?"
"Who's there?" Sora shouted back as his head shot back and forth, looking for anyone. Maybe it was a survivor of the attack, someone he knew.
"Please, help!" The voice of a young girl cried out, one he didn't recognize. Though he eventually spotted something floating in the distance.
"Don't worry! I'll be right there!" Sora shouted as he looked around the raft, trying to find something, anything that could help him move forward, before remembering his Keyblade. "This probably isn't what you should be used for, but…"
Sora, despite knowing that this shouldn't work at all, began to row with the Keyblade, somehow dragging himself through the void to the floating object. He recognized it as a door, with a person floating on the top waving at him. He was about to call out to her again when the raft began to rumble. Sora acted quickly and used some rope to tie himself to the mast as something hit the bottom of his raft, causing him to fly up. He would have been lost in the void if it wasn't for his restraint.
Sora placed his key on his back before grabbing the rope, using both hands to pull himself back down as he grabbed the mast. Though the side of his boat was hit again, and something hit his rope, causing it to start snapping as a result, before being hit once again. The rope fully snapped this time, leaving Sora open for whatever came next, but he was so close to the stranded girl. It didn't seem to want her, only him, which meant he only needed to do one thing.
"Grab onto the raft!" Sora shouted as he rushed to the edge, turning around as he leaped and hit the edge with his Keyblade. He wasn't sure if that did anything else, but it did cause the raft to go to the stranded girl, whose blue hand grabbed the edge as the force struck Sora again, surrounding him this time. As it forced him down with incredible speed, the force slowly became visible, allowing Sora to see this foe for the first time. They were seemingly empty cloaks that were surrounded by shadow, no other features were easy to see as parts seemed to break away and vanish. Though that was the least of his worries as he struck an invisible barrier and was forced into a large city, before striking the side of a building.
Sora's dazed form slid to the ground as he began to lose consciousness. The last thing he sees before the darkness claims him is a girl a little older than him wearing a weird costume landing beside him and grabbing his shoulder.
"Hey, are you alright?" Yuffie asked as she reached for a healing potion.
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Castle of Dreams
"Oh Anastasia, I'm so happy for you!" Cinderella said as she pulled her stepsister into a hug, her eyes falling on the ring displayed prominently on her finger. "I knew you would meet your true love one day, and you looked so happy with him."
"Thank you, Cinderella," Anastasia blushed at her stepsister's praise, but hugged her nonetheless, happy to share a wonderful moment for once. Things had been difficult after those monsters attacked years ago and claimed the lives of her mother and sister, but Cinderella helped her get through it and was good to her despite having every reason to hate her. "He's a baker, but he does amazingly for himself and treats me better than I ever thought someone would. I guess I know what it's like between you and Prince Charming, even if only a little."
"There's no better feeling than being in love," Cinderella agreed before she noticed an odd scent lingering from her stepsister. "Has he been making chocolate cake recently?"
"Yes, in fact, Prince Charming put in a large order recently, so I helped him bake them," Anastasia said with a smile. "I'm surprised you could smell it though, \that was several hours ago."
"Well, I have been having an absurd craving for it recently," Cinderella answered honestly as her hand dropped to her stomach. The sound of barking distracted both girls as an older dog rushed around the corner with a familiar, clothed mouse riding its back. "Anastasia, I'll catch up with you in a bit, I just need to speak with someone for a quick moment."
Anastasia gave her sister a curtsy before walking away, allowing Cinderella to welcome two of her animal friends. "Jaq, what has you riding Bruno in such a rush?"
"Cinderella! Something bad is coming, it reminds me of those monsters our friends fought!" Jaq the mouse said as he hopped off Bruno's head and onto the Princess' palm. "You need to get somewhere safe!"
No sooner had he said this than the sound of crashing and cries could be heard echoing through the halls. Cinderella grabbed the hem of her dress and lifted it as she rushed to the edge of the nearby stairs, looking down at the battle that was taking place in the castle foyer. A heavily armored figure smacked aside several guards with his mace as lightning leaped from his outstretched hand. Those hit with the magic could only scream as they collapsed to the ground before they died, their bodies seemingly drained of all life. Cinderella was about to run when she saw her Prince rushing forward with a drawn blade to meet this foe.
"Evacuate the castle and protect Cinderella!" Charming ordered his remaining men as he went into battle, his sword catching the mace as their fight began. The Prince's sword clashed several times with his opponent as he used his past lessons in fighting to keep himself alive. Sadly, his weapon was not meant for anything more than ceremony, and it shattered under a particularly strong attack that sprawled the Prince to the ground. The monstrous, armored warrior lifted his weapon to finish off the Prince, before spinning around to block a blast of magic.
"Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, that's not a very nice thing to do, young man!" the Fairy Godmother declared as she raised her wand. "I do not know how you reached this World, but you will not harm my charge while I still breathe!"
"That's the idea, Fairy!" The warrior declared smugly. "You may go ahead, Doctor!"
"Happy to oblige with the help of friends from the other side!" Dr. Facilier declared, appearing behind her as he summoned forth some magic, surrounding the Fairy Godmother in a purple cloud of Voodoo magic. She tried to counter the spell, but a burst of dominating lightning from the armored warrior held her in place as the spell finished. A burst of Light filled the room as the cloud dissipated, letting a puppet in a blue dress holding a toy wand fall to the floor with a soft thud. "So, does this mean I will move into one of the seats on your council?"
"That shall remain to be seen, Doctor," the warrior declared before returning to face the Prince, only for Cinderella to have thrown herself between the pair. "And the Princess of Hearts reveals herself. You will surrender to us, now!"
Even as lightning crackled along one gauntlet, Cinderella didn't back down. There wasn't much she could do, but she wouldn't let them hurt her Prince!
"You know you can't win, Princess," the warrior said as he lowered his mace and Dr. Facilier stood behind him, hands on his cane. "You have two choices here. You can either resist, and we'll hurt you before we inevitably take you captive, probably killing your husband as well. Or, you can surrender now, end further bloodshed, and you'll both be imprisoned until our task is done. So, what shall be your choice?"
Cinderella briefly began to glow as she tapped into her magic before it vanished, and she held her arms out in front of her. As she did so, she quietly thought to herself, 'Find them, Jaq. Please find our friends…'
The mouse and the dog he was riding were surrounded by a bright light before vanishing from the world, though they knew their mission.
"Cinderella, please don't," Prince Charming begged, trying to get her to run as he stood back up, only for something heavy to hit the back of his head.
"Sorry, boy, but we can't have you interfering," a big, fat cat person said as he pulled out some bags. "It will be quick, Princess, you need not worry."
Cinderella didn't resist as the bag was thrown over her head, and something inside caused her to lose consciousness before her Prince had the same happen to him. In a matter of moments, she was locked away in stasis alongside two more Princesses, while her husband was locked in the dungeon alongside a few more prisoners.
Three down, four to go…
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A bit short compared to the first chapter, but this one was just more set up for you all to enjoy. Please, let me know what you think and share your thoughts.