Chapter 2: Twisted Destati
Note: This is a pretty surreal chapter. It's tricky to understand at the moment. If you can, you have my praise~! Delving further into the story will bring about a better understanding of Chapter 2.
Disclaimer: I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo. They belong to their rightful owners. Few characters are original.
There's still a spoilers warning!
Thunder crashed, but the lightning seemed to follow...
The town on the horizon blinked out of existence with the late lightning. Time was in turmoil.
The wind and waves became violent as the many clouds rolled into sight. It was a surge of chaos that could not have been predicted... It was a spark of mayhem that arrived with an unassuming anomaly under this sky... It was the world's reaction to something not should not have ever existed upon this plane.
All was somnolent in his mind. He felt like his hands were frozen solid, his arms and legs locked in place. He was suspended in the surreal nothingness that was so abrupt to come to him. It had reached him almost instantly after he had left Destiny Island. A dark presence filled his very soul. This sensation would have been very familiar to Sora if it had not been as though his soul was in peril. Despite all the frantic, yet serene, scenery and sensations, Sora felt his heart confront his soul. He knew the feeling. He was diving: diving into the heart.
This Dive to the Heart had been so sudden. There had been absolutely no warning of the encroaching dive. The last thing the boy had heard was a distressed call for his name. He gathered it was Kairi. He lacked the memory of what had even happened to him on the boat. Perhaps he had fallen into the sea, although he had not felt the shock of the cold water surround him. He was fully capable of breathing, though it still felt as if he was sinking ever deeper into darkness... He felt himself regain control of his body as it seemed to invert itself into an upright position. His feet touched down on a radiant, stained glass surface. The enormous pillar he stood upon, which appeared to rise from an infinite black oblivion. The framed, elaborate image he was standing upon was elegant, patterned with dark and light blue spheres on the outer rim. White and sea green designs mingled in the second layer before spiraling into the center as light and dark blue circles once again. Over these gaudy designs were two original Kingdom Keys: the simplest of Sora's Keyblades. These Keyblades crossed over one another in an X shape. Mysteriously, there appeared to be a very small and eerie blacked out cross object at the point of the Keyblades' intersection. An ethereal choir of spiritual voices sang their song.
Sora knew where he was. He did not question the ominous, yet beautiful world he had entered. With a dazed expression, he simply scanned around at his surroundings in order to digest the fullness that was another Dive to his Heart. And much like his visits prior, he heard a whispering voice which instructed him to move forward to the center of the pillar. The seemingly bewildered boy obliged and stood upon the shaded cross obliviously. Again, the voice came. Sora raised his head to the black sky.
"Sora... You have faced the darkness within your heart unfazed... You have faced the darkness within the hearts of many..." The whispers came to a slow halt as the angelic choir ceded to nothingness. "You need not confront unrest and affliction of the heart to this moment. Now comes the time you must look to a new sky..." Seconds following the reverberating whispers, the blackened cross beneath Sora's feet illuminated brightly, practically shifting into the opposite of what it had been moments ago. Its shine crept upon the features of the stained glass pillar until engulfing them in its blinding light. So soon came the complete enlightening of the glass tower. "It is time you let your soul soar further." The voice concluded. The illumination that concealed the glass flashed brightly, causing Sora to have shielded his face with his arms along with shutting his eyes tightly. Even still, he felt the soreness of his pupils shrinking quickly and the radiant heat emitted from this empyrean flare. It cleared within seconds, yet seemed to last for minutes. Within its mystifying wake was a massive field of lush green grass and open skies, rolling hills in the distance. Occasionally, a patch of flowers of one type and color appeared. Each patch was no bigger than the circular pillar Sora stood upon. Indeed, he now stood upon a circular patch of flowers. They were roses of pure white. The vast field was not as easily taken in by the boy as was the Dive to the Heart. It was almost the opposite in every way.
It was his Soar to the Soul.
The gentle breeze was much like that of the one which would have guided Sora and his friends back to the mainland if it had not been interrupted by such a spontaneous storm. Amidst the quiet rustling of the wind between the grass came a low humming sound. Sora turned his head in both directions before facing the other way in attempt to locate the source of this noise. As he faced the other direction, the noise passed by his face. It was a visible blackish, purplish gust that, quite literally, left shadows in its path. The grass beneath this wind shifted to a pitch black color. The dark gust painted this path of blackness for Sora, halting in wait for him at the next circular patch of flowers. Without necessarily giving this thought, the curious boy dashed forward on the straight path of black grass left behind. As he reached the next patch, the taunting gust continued on, painting the next path for him. Sora now tread upon black daisies, which had originally been red before the presence of the black wind. He ran to the third circular patch of black tulips. Now, the gust sank into the ground before fleeing. It spoke a terrifying whisper to Sora...
"Remember..." This was all Sora heard before he came face to face with three very old foes. Each of them were pureblood Heartless shadows: small, almost bug-like creatures with sleek black bodies and gleaming yellow orbs for eyes. Now with a glare, Sora bent his knees and hunched his back slightly; his preferred battle stance. His body face the side slightly while his grip tightened around a sparkling presence. This presence manifested into the very same Kingdom Key seen earlier. And indeed, Sora possessed the adequate recollection of abilities he had manipulated in previous battles, although a suspicious weakness overtook him. He felt significantly less powerful here than he would have with Goofy and Donald. For now, he was on his own. This, however, did not stop him from slashing forth with his Keyblade, assaulting one of the Heartless while the others seemed to warp into the ground, their circular shadows quite visible. They were invulnerable at the moment. The same cannot be said for the shadow that suffered a vertical slash and two horizontal slices, ultimately resulting in its dissipation as a being. At this time, the other two Heartless sprang from the dark flowers, each behind Sora. Sensing this, Sora spun with one arm outstretched. This arm just so happened to be wielding the Keyblade at the time, and one of the poor shadows happened to have leaped at the boy just in time to be swiped away—not defeated—to the ridge of the black floral circle. Sora caught a quick glimpse of the bashed Heartless instantaneously sinking into ground once again while the other took its chance to charge the boy. The swipe was easily evaded with fine tuned reflexes. Sora hopped back about a foot before thrusting his weapon forward with one arm. His foe vanished in a dark mist. Just behind this mist was another shadow already in the process of charging him. He assumed it to be the last. Sora crouched one knee forward and raised his blade horizontally to parry the inevitable attack. It succeeded. While the shadow was still stunned, Sora swung his front leg around, along with his entire body, in a loop and slashed at the weakened Heartless with formidable strength. Taking a quick breath, he glanced upward at the dark gust. He had not noticed its sudden return. As soon as it appeared, it had fled onward to the next patch of flowers, leaving another path of black grass... Sora pursued, Keyblade in hand.
"Never forget..." Again, the terrible whisper came over the darkened daisies. And again, the determined boy was met face to faces with three old foes, albeit more recent. These were known as Dusks; the most common type of Nobody the Sora has encountered. Each of them possessed small, sinuous and humanoid-like bodies with a flat head bearing the insignia of the Nobodies. Their arms ended in small lance-shaped blades, and they appeared to be rather flexible in their swaying motions. Instantly, these odd creatures began heading for Sora. Just as well, he knew exactly how to manage these seemingly untamed menaces. He leaped to one side while keeping a careful eye on the nearest Dusk. Their heads turned ninety degrees at a speed which would possibly break a person's neck. Sora's movements were swift and skilled. Within a couple seconds, he was behind all three of the Nobodies. They appeared to panic at Sora's reversal, and too soon were they surprised with a spiraling slash from behind. This twirl-styled blow impacted all three of the Dusks. They were blown forward, the first to be hit also the first to be destroyed. Two Dusks remained and recovered almost before Sora could, and he was the attacker. The central Dusk rushed at the boy, thrusting both its arms at him. Again, Sora's reflexes proved to be superior. He hopped over the arms, which were quickly retracted upon missing. The Dusk watched as Sora descended with a vertical strike, his Keyblade spitting the Dusk into a monochrome mist that faded into nothingness. Content with this blow, he had almost forgotten about the last Dusk. It had the upper hand, or blade, as it swiped at Sora without the unfortunate outcome of missing. Sora grunted at the slight pain. He had felt where the slice had been, which was on his left arm, but there was no proof of injury. After all, none of this was truly physical, despite the realistic labor and fatigue that was promising to settle in. He struck the Nobody in its blank face with his elbow, the thing almost evading the move with an odd flex backward. As it stumbled slightly, Sora saw the opportunity to deliver the finishing blow, which was a follow-up of his elbow strike. He followed through with a fully extended Keyblade slash, ending the Dusk's existence here. And again, the black wind rose only to flee, coloring the grass black once more. Likewise, Sora gave chase without hesitating. He arrived on a patch of black anemones.
"...Be prepared..." The sinister whisper made clear. It was a change of pace. Now the boy was being told to prepare rather than remember. It was a legitimate warning. This time, the foes were quite foreign to Sora. They rose from the flowery ground in small pillars of blackness, lines of green evident in the rise. From these portals came three winged creatures no larger than the Heartless he had faced. Their bodies were pitch black with glowing streaks of emerald green running down their serrated arms and legs. They flied on tiny demon-like wings, possessed two small horns above green glowing eyes, and had three claws in place of fingers on each hand-like appendage. "Behold this Nightmare... This presence that should not be... yet is." Sora was left with this message from the dark gale. The three mysterious "imps" approached mercilessly intent on attacking Sora. He kept his Keyblade up, ready to parry any attack at any moment. The imps simply hovered near one another upon coming within two feet of Sora's blade. After a few seconds of the mere flapping of wings as any action whatsoever, Sora let down his weapon. He was thoroughly confused... The voice came once again. "Bringer of light... You have touched many hearts, yet this Nightmare your blade cannot touch by any means. The Keyblade is not of their phase."
Not of their phase... These words bothered the boy to no end. He had no idea what it meant, but had a hunch it did not bode well for him. He took it as a challenge, obviously. Sora lashed out with his Keyblade, slicing upward through the idling imp. The blade appeared to cut through the creature as though it was nothing. That was almost too literal. It practically was nothing. It had dealt no damage to the tiny demon. The three of them simply hovered together mockingly to Sora. He backed away, mouth slightly agape. If this pattern repeated itself, there was absolutely no way out.
"The Darkness of a sky so near... You have faced your imminent demons, for which your body, your soul, and your heart are for naught. Your light cannot reach them. They, however, can and will reach you..." The final whisper came to the boy like a menacing thunder.
And the sudden synchronized strike of the new Darkness was, oddly, the lightning that followed this thunder. All became dull. The world around Sora shifted into blackness once more...
Sooner than he would have guessed, Sora found himself standing in the center of another massive pillar sprouting from darkness. This stained glass setting was different from the first. It had not the crossing Keyblades nor the blue coloration. It was green, white, and black rather. The outermost design of this pillar was a large six-pronged greenish gear. In the center hole of this gear shape was a black cross very similar to the kind Sora encountered upon the first pillar, albeit quite larger. He was already standing upon it...
"The foe you faced will be seen again... When the time comes, you must remember not to fight and prepare to flee, for only this Darkness may creep unto that Darkness. Your light can only shine in its fullest under one sky..." The voice paused. Sora found himself staring at the palms of his hands. His Keyblade was absent from his grip, but this was not his prime concern. The unpleasant sensation of his bones throbbing came to him without alert. Was it the battling? It couldn't have been. He clamped his hands around his head, the pulsing pain evident in his skull, in his mind. "Time is in turmoil, and the Crossblade is calling to you to partake in the tumult afar, yet near." As the serene whispers came, Sora fell slowly to his knees in an unseen agony. Constantly tormented by the feeling of breaking bones and a melting mind, he shut his eyes tightly and prayed for an end to the torture that, instinctively, he blamed upon the Crossblade...
The last thought to race through his scrambled mind was the image of a figure concealed in the black cloak. In one hand, this figure wielded a backwards weapon of some sort. All he saw was the quick sight of a cross shape before completely blacking out...
It was of no avail departing from the beach, for he was still upon it.
And his heart belonged to a new host that was, strangely, still his own body.