AN: Well finals are done, papers are in, grades are unknown and all the requirements for the beginning of my last real summer have been fulfilled. I'm on my way home; hopefully to work and earn some spare money for the coming year but if it's impossible then hopefully to see old friends one last time since this will possibly be my last extended stay in California as well as theirs for many of them. Anyway, I didn't get any reviews of feedback on the last chapter, part of which I attribute to fanfictionDOTnet's review system going down within hours of me submitting the last chapter but I'll ask anyway; if you have suggestions or something you particularly would like to see or a flashback you'd like included then let me know. I can't promise anything but I'll try my best to include something if you ask for it. The only times I'll say no is if it would severely damage the storyline or I just can't think of how to work it in right that moment in which case I'll try my best to do it within the next few chapters. Seriously though, just ask. Whatever you want to see or whatever memory I may have referenced but not done a flashback to, I'm not picky. A very specific request is a great request in my book after all. We have approximately two more chapters until the end to this first arc after all so if you have a request, better say it soon otherwise it'll have to wait for the second arc. There are gonna be quite a few flashbacks in the final chapter after all since it will be a wrap up more than an actual installment. It's mostly there to tie up the loose ends of this arc and begin laying the foundation for the second arc. Anyway, without further ado, I'll end this rambling sentiment and get into the new chapter. Hope you enjoy it and I hope you'll tell me whether or not you did and why!

Chapter 11:

Salvation

The insolence this boy had. The sheer audacity he possessed…She, Maleficent, had seen, fought and killed many warriors throughout her lifetime but never had she seen such blatant dismissal as this Keyblade Master had shown to her just now. To speak with such outright disrespect to her would cause many people to shake all the way to their very bones. Yet he, he had not only dismissed her so casually but dared to attach her before their battle had even begun…

He would pay the price for his foolishness. That much was certain. Whatever plans she had for killing him swiftly to end the headache that was Sora in her life were now pointless. She wanted to stretch out this death, to make him suffer and break him down into nothing. She would see him kneel before her and beg for death and she would be a merciful queen and oblige his final wish before watching him breathe his very last breath in this life.

Rising to her feet from where he had thrown her on the beach, she stared at the boy standing next to his silver haired friend. There was certainly something different about him although time in the Realm of Darkness would change anyone. Though, what was that keyblade in him hand? It didn't look like any of the incarnations he had used in previous battles against her minions after all. It almost looked like he had taken two Keyblades and welded the metal form of them together at the hilt.

Then there was his personality. When last she saw him, he had been following her plans to the letter and falling into depression and guilt. Since the power of the keyblade depended upon strength of heart, whether rooted in light or darkness, breaking his will had been vital to ending any chance of Sora stopping her. With his spirit broken, his powers began to decline and he began to fail more and more, continuing the cycle of falling into depression and more of his powers fading. It had been a genius plan and had been working so well all this time. Now it felt like all her efforts had been for naught. He certainly did not look happy but nor was he broken and depressed. He was standing tall and confident on the beachfront, a bitter smile present on his lips. If his guilt and self-hate were gone then his powers could have returned in full and he could become a threat to her if they were to battle one on one.

Finally there was that power he had used to throw her. She was an expert of reading lips. He had whispered no spell. Merely stated a command and it was as if the heart of the world had heard and responded to him. It was not unheard of. There had been instances of people being able to use magic without a spell specific to the intent but those were rare incidents and often very weak because they could not channel the magical power through a command and as such it often only held one-fourth of the power than an actual spell with an incantation being utilized. However, his power had been above average in power even compared to one using a direct incantation.

What had happened to this boy when he was in the Realm of Darkness?

"You're going to die today Maleficent."

His voice snapped her out of her thoughts. It was certainly no arrogant boast and there was no uncertainty in his voice. Instead it was as if he was merely stating a fact and it was the lunacy of such a statement that caused Maleficent's cold and harsh laugh to erupt from her lips:

"Oh Sora, you truly have been under too much stress lately if you actually believe that. Look around you. This world is all but gone, your friends are dead or dying either at my hands or at the hands of my servants and yet you say that I will die today? How do you suppose that is going to happen? The only thing I will die of today is laughter at this rate."

Again there was no emotion on his face. No scowl, no smile. Nothing in-between. It was as if there was no emotion left in him anymore. Still though, he finally spoke after a moment or two "With my blade on your throat as I silence that foul mouth for the last time."

The audacity it took to dare and say that to her face as if he stood a chance against her, the mistress of all evil. He would pay and pay dearly for his vision. So great was her shock at his stupidity that she almost missed his next words.

"I told you, Maleficent, you're dying today and do not bother to beg for mercy before your death comes to greet you. I have no mercy for tyrants and murderers. Now, let us begin."

The bodies surrounded them on all sides, the memories of the horrors that had occurred in this place. His friends, comrades, allies, people who had refused to run and escape when they had the chance to buy Sora enough time to get back. Even some civilians were there on the beach. People who would never had stood a chance against the power of heartless or nobodies or the lowest degrees, let alone high level enemies or the leader's of Maleficent's armies. They had no reason to be involved in this war. They could not save themselves let alone others and yet they had died for him.

He could feel them all. Their hearts were once again a part of Kingdom Hearts. He had felt their fear as they were cut down and also felt their courage as they faced death without remorse. They had known they had died for a purpose and they had trusted that their deaths would not be wasted.

Unconscious King Mickey, blood pooling near his head.

Dead Beast, who had died in the service of Maleficent, unable to break free of the darkness in his heart.

Dead Stitch whose stomach had been sliced open as he gunned down his enemies.

Injured Dumbo who was laying on the ground, alive but barely moving.

Dead Tifa who had risked everything time and again to try to help Cloud

Dead civilians, one of whom he recognized as a boy who had bullied him when he was younger. Now he had given his life to help. Still hanging in his hand was a wooden staff that was stained red by the blood from his other hand which had been cut from his body and was now simply a stump from the wrist down.

So many more that just those. They were everywhere. If he didn't defeat Maleficent those still breathing would all be dead as well and if he didn't defeat her fast enough they might die from their wounds anyway. Well, no time like the present to end this war.

"Let's go."

The two behemoths of power, the leaders of the light and the dark charged one another.

One bearing the keyblade, the symbol so many had come to believe in. Even as he charged, he drove into final form without any aid, the extra power flowing from his body as the full power of the keyblade surged through his blood .

The other wielded her staff and a conjured sword in her other hand. Magic already being chanted in her words as dark curses took life from the recesses of her mind and formed in reality

This was where his journey had begun. Battling her desires to unite the princesses of Heart and unlock the doorway to darkness. It only seemed right that this would be where his journey could finally end. By putting an end to her dark desires for domination.

The X-Blade clanged against her staff, sending a gust of energy surging out from the metals. Sora was holding nothing back. He had come out aiming to hill and was fighting his best from the beginning. Every strike was precise and on target and yet Maleficent's experience and magical prowess was still allowing her to keep up. He knew if he allowed the power of the X-Blade to guide him he could destroy her easily but what that woman in the Realm of Darkness said had stuck with him. Could a weapon that could do such good really be so dangerous to use? He had thought she was exaggerating but the second he picked up the X-Blade for himself he knew she likely was not. It almost seemed to be able to think for itself, even talk to him, like Roxas once had. Before they had merged to form the X-Blade at least.

It was less of a fight as more of a sheer struggle of power between them. There was rarely a break between clashes. With each second that passed, spells were being shot or blades were clanging onto one another. Now that he had shown Maleficent some of his newly increased power by throwing her upon his arrival, she had been very careful, not to let herself be hit by a spell of his once again.

Throwing himself onto the ground as his distraction caused him to miss hearing a cast dark fire spell. Even as he flattened himself on the sand, it signed his back and she quickly pressed her advantage by sending a flurry of spells towards him so he couldn't dodge. Trapped and unable to dodge them all, he merely shielded his face with the x-blade before dropping the willpower he was using to restrain its full powers under his complete control and shouted desperately "Reflect!"

It certainly was not uncommon to see a glimmering shield surround his body when using the Reflect spell. What WAS uncommon was for the shield to be nearly physical and for the spells not to merely be stopped but instead hurtled backwards at Maleficent with double the strength and knocking the wind out of her body as she was hurtled back into the dark colored water and landed facedown in it.

Before he even realized it, it was as if his legs moved on their own and charged at her, the X-Blade raised above his head to strike the killing blow. Even as his mind tried to regain full control, she stopped the attack by managing to raise her staff and block the blow but it was the darkness in her eyes that caught his attention so easily. The cool and detached confidence was gone. Hatred was etched in every line of her face.

"I will not allow you to undo everything I have worked so hard to build Sora. You are a skilled warrior now and have earned the right to be called a Keyblade Master but your time ends now as I put out that light in your eyes. Allow me to show you the true nature of the worlds Sora.

Even as she spoke, the ice cold snakelike voice seemed to be choking him off from air as the Destiny Islands seemed to be melting away around them. After a few moments, all that was left was a world that seemed filled by the darkest of darkness. The Dark Realm he had experienced seemed like a vacation compared to how cold and hate-filled this place was. There was no water, no plant-life, nothing, just ground that was black as well.

"Welcome to the Abyssal Plains Sora. It is here the darkness within each heart can be found. All your desires, your fears, your hatred powers this place. It is this place that keeps the Dark Realm alive. It is here I learned to harness darkness Sora and this place brings out the true nature of all who enter it. I can feel the anger within you Sora. Even as you breathe and try to calm yourself, your anger fuels this place and it is from this place that I draw my life force. Here is where my soul rests when my mortal body fades away. Even if you kill me, someone will fear my name and bring me back and I will be even stronger than ever because I will have been in the presence of the most potent darkness for all that time. You see, my dear boy, you can never win. You will never be a match for me. With the power from the darkness of all hearts filling me, even yours, and the power I received from exposure to Kingdom Hearts there is nothing that can match me. Even as your friends lie dying in your home world, the fear they feel fuels me as we speak."

A snap of her fingers caused a burst of dark magic to collide with Sora's ribs, shattering at least two and causing his legs to buckle from under him. It was pain unlike anything else that he had ever experienced. Already his vision swam and her heartless smile was all he could see.

A second snap caused a second burst of pure magical energy to collide with him under the chin, knocking him back further and there he stayed, face-down on the hard earth beneath him as his final form clothes faded back into his usual clothing due to lack of energy to maintain the transformation, unable to even summon the strength to move a muscle let alone his entire body or lift the blade clutched loosely in his hand. She was just too powerful here. She was in her element and here she was practically a god.

How could he have been so foolish as to let her have enough time to do something like this. He had been in control of the battle and he had let his guard down just enough to give her an opening. Riku would not have been so foolish, he knew that much. Neither would King Mickey. Both of them would have done what needed to be done the second the opportunity presented itself. If he failed here then all the sacrifices made so he would have enough time to go into the Dark Realm and forge the X-Blade would be worthless, meaningless. He would have wasted all of their lives for nothing.

They had counted on him.

Everyone had been counting on him.

The civilians who had laid down their lives without even fully understanding what they were laying down their lives for had been counting on him.

All the worlds were counting on him to stop this madness.

His family was counting on him.

His little sister was counting on him, he had promised to finish this and be her big brother again.

Riku, Kairi, Goofy, Donald, King Mickey, they all were likely hurt and needed help, he had to finish this!

Rising painfully to his feet, he ignored the searing pain racing through every bone in his body, whispering softly under his breath over and over and getting louder each and every time he said the words:

"I made a promise. I made a promise. I made a promise. I made a promise. I MADE A PROMISE TO PROTECT THEM NO MATTER WHAT THE COST! I WON'T LET THEM DOWN! I WON'T LET ANY OF THEM DOWN MALEFICENT!"

If Maleficent was shocked that he still had the strength to rise, she managed to hide it well and merely shot a ball of magic at him as he charged her, which he merely batted away with the X-Blade. It landed some way off, causing the ground it hit to explode yet even the shockwave of the explosion did not stop his desperate charge and as the rod and Keyblade crossed, their battle began once again.

The only difference this time was that although they appeared equal with how back and forth it was going, both knew Maleficent had the edge. Sora was staying up with her but he had less endurance and couldn't keep it up for too long. He figured he had maybe five or ten minutes before the last of his strength gave out. Still, he just had to finish this battle once and for all before that time.

It was several minutes later that he heard the soft voice in his mind.

"You cannot do this alone. Use my strength. We will finish her together and I will help you to do what needs to be done. Only through me can you have the power. The power of this weapon is not created, it is earned. Work with me and I will give you the strength to save your home."

"I…but Aqua said…"

"Aqua is but a fool who saw her friends unable to handle the power. You are the last of the Keyblade Masters. You must make your own decisions, not listen to the fools of the past. You have been offered a power greater than any other. Are you such a fool not to take it? Do you not care what will happen to your friends if you do not use my power?"

"My…My Friends"

"I have forseen what will happen if you should fail to finish her. They will all die. The girl, Kairi, she will be found and each of her refugees will be killed, slowly in front of her. It will drive her mad. She will be kept alive as she is a Princess of Heart but she will be a slave. Used for the pleasuring of her servants and to open the door to darkness."

"You're…You're Lying…that can't be the truth"

"What reason do I have to lie young Keyblade Master. Did you not show the Mark of Mastery? Are you not a master, capable of wielding the Keyblade? Yen Sin and your King are not here to instruct you and lead you like a dog on a leash, so what will you do now that you must do things alone? I offer you only the chance to save everything you have fought so hard to protect. You have skills, I respect your sacrifice but your skills alone will never be enough to beat her. She is a murderer and evil to the core. It is your duty as a Keyblade Master to kill her and end the threat she poses, is it not?

"I…I guess….yes"

"Good my young friend…now drop your restraints and we shall do this together"

Even as the voice faded from his mind, Sora felt like he could see a Cheshire Cat grin looking down on him in victory. Before he could question it though, power filled his entire body. The same power he felt upon first forging the blade only this time it was like it had suffocated him, filling his very body to the brim and spilling over. It was…intoxicating.

He wasn't even aware that blinding light was now shining around his body. All he knew was Maleficent was there and he needed to end the fight now. He had the power. Nothing would ever be able to defeat him like this. He felt like he hadn't fought at all today. Energy surged through the limbs and muscles that were somehow refreshed and loose. Every movement he made was light and simple as opposed to five minutes prior where it felt like anvils were attached to his back.

Before Maleficent was able to fully grasp the sudden change in her young opponent, he was a blur and flying towards her faster than her eyes could follow. It was less than a second later that she felt his Keyblade bury itself in her skin, drawing blood and leaving a gaping would in her body that sent her to her knees. However, just as quickly as she was injured, a healing spell hit her body and repaired the damage. Looking up, she saw Sora in front of her. Her own opponent had healed her? Even Sora couldn't be such a fool as to spare her, could he? Before she could grasp the thought and process it thought, he had struck down her left arm, leaving another gaping wound and then healed it again before striking another spot and again healing it. Over and over again he tortured her, unwilling to end her life so easily and yet wanting to make her suffer.

"How long do you intend to do this boy? For someone fighting for the light, you're straying dangerously close to the darkness. What would your dear princess say if she could see what you're becoming?"

Her words did nothing as a massive fire spell made contact and lit her on fire before it was extinguished a matter of seconds later. She was beaten, that much was clear to her. Still, to know she had actually corrupted the Keybearer, made him act like this…if nothing else it was a small consolation prize. He couldn't kill her. She would return eventually and begin again the process of plunging the worlds back into darkness. Only a fool would not leave themselves multiple doors open after all. Eventually she would have her revenge on Sora and when she did, she would humiliate him.

"I'm not sure what you did in the Realm of Darkness Sora, but you certainly aren't yourself. Not truly a light fighter and nor are you a servant of the darkness. You just seem to be purely instinctual. Kill me if you wish but I will live on and come back more powerful than ever and no matter how long it takes, I will see you kneel before me. It is a promise my dear Sora. Now go on. Let it all go and give into your rage and anger."

She could see the mental war waging in his eyes as the blood pooled at her feet. Whatever this power was that was fueling him, it was dark as well as light and like anything dark, it fueled this place which fueled her. He might have become powerful but he was still a fool and a boy who would fail in the long run against the darkness.

"Once I kill you, this ends and the war is over. You will be over. You're going to be nothing more than bad memories while the world's rebuild and soon King Mickey will be sitting on his throne once again."

"But why should Mickey be sitting on the throne of Disney Castle. We are the ones who have saved the worlds. We are stronger than him. We should be on that throne, shouldn't we Sora?"

Ignoring the voice and attempting to shake off the fact that to some degree, the voice's words made sense, Sora finally put his blade to Maleficent's throat but paused when she chuckled before breaking out into her trademark high pitched laughter.

"It has been years since I first met you face to face boy and yet you're still a poor pathetic fool. You may have won the battle but I will rise again. Furthermore, it does not begin or end with me in this war. There are greater sources of darkness than me in the worlds. This war has certainly not ended and I can only hope I will be the one lucky enough to kill you and pry that Keyblade from your cold, lifeless hands. Now then, if you intend to kill me, if you actually think you can, do it."

Her taunt rang in his ears. She didn't think he could kill her. That he was not powerful enough to take her life like she had taken so many other lives. It was time this evil witch finally felt some fear. Too long had she been a bad thought at the back of everyone's minds. It was his duty to kill her, even if he was capable of being taken alive. She was too dangerous to leave alive…right?

"DO IT! NOW!"

With one swift motion, Maleficent's head fell away from her body, hitting the floor with a loud thud. Without wasting a moment, he set fire to her body before taking the head. He also took her rod, deciding he wanting a personal trophy for this victory. Finally though, he turned away and, without Maleficent alive, the Abyssal Plains fell apart back into Destiny Islands which was already starting to repair itself slowly but surely, the holes filling in and plantlife returning.

With his blade, Maleficent was dead and the nightmare was over at last. Now it was simply time to rebuild.

AN: Like I said, the next chapter is a wrap-up and setting the stage for the next arc. I do hope you enjoyed this first arc. The second one IS going to be published as a separate story simply so I can keep things organized better so to those who wanted it as a continuation I do hope you'll understand I tried to honor everyone's wishes but this is how I want to do it. Therefore, I would encourage you to consider author alerts or an alert to this story. I'll add a chapter to this once the second arc is published so either will work. Anyway, next chapter should come soon and we'll come to a close. Also, to answer a question I got about why I reasoned Sora would struggle against the X-Blade, he shares a heart with Ventus, who has considerable darkness with Vanitas and also has been exposed to the X-Blade, thus existing addiction to its power. That's my reasoning; accept it or hate is as you choose.

Next Time: Rebuilding