"Kairi." Sora said breathlessly, a tear running down his cheek as he knelt on the floor of the Heartless Castle. He had just witnessed Xehanort take total control of Kairi's body, creating the X-Blade, and escape within a Corridor of Darkness. The others started to climb to their feet, Aqua approaching Sora slowly. She walked around to in front of him before kneeling down and pulling his head onto her shoulder.
"Sora…I am…I am so sorry." She whispered into his ear.
"So, Xehanort has what he's always wanted. The key to everlasting darkness." Riku said in an emotionless tone.
"We're such fools for letting him manipulate us like that." Ven said as Terra sighed and nodded.
"He's been planning this for decades Ven. He had everything planned out, every contingency, every move. He knew what to do and made sure it happened." Terra said as Roxas crossed his arms and sighed in frustration.
"Isn't there anything we can do? Any way to stop him?" Roxas asked Terra shrugged.
"We'd have to know where he is first, and then find a way to get to him. But even then, we'd still have a hard time beating him with the X-Blade in his power." Terra said as Riku looked at him curiously.
"Don't you know where he went? You were privy to most of his plans after all." Riku said as Terra shrugged.
"I have no idea. There were something's Xehanort managed to keep secret even from me. I didn't even know until just before I ran into Aqua and Sora in Castle Oblivion what his real plans were, and by that point he had captured Kairi." Terra explained.
"So what are we supposed to do? We've got to stop him!" Ven said.
"We need to stay calm and focused. I know in my heart, that everything will turn out okay." Mickey said in an effort to cheer everyone up.
"Even if we could manage to defeat Xehanort, how would we get him out of Kairi? She doesn't have a Sentiment to help in the process, and that's part of what restored me." Terra said.
"That's something we'll have to deal with when we get there. But for now, we can't lose hope." Aqua said as she approached with a despondent Sora close behind.
"Hope is the one thing you should never lose sight of. It'll help you out of the worst of situations even if the whole thing looks grim." Mickey said reassuringly.
"Well unless hope can open some kind of Corridor that'll lead us straight to Xehanort, then I don't see how-…" Terra said but was interrupted by a loud rumble. The ground beneath their feet began to shake violently and buckle. Sora was quickly brought out of his grief induced stupor as a result.
"What's going on?" Sora asked as the castle started to literally rip itself apart. They all looked up and saw why as large chunks of the castle started breaking off and flying upwards towards a massive glowing sphere of dark energy. Terra recognized it instantly with his eyes widened in shock.
"IT'S XEHANORT! HE'S PULLING THIS WORLD INTO DARKNESS! THIS IS HOW THE LAND OF DEPARTURE WAS DESTROYED!" Terra exclaimed as Aqua spotted something that made her eyes widen in horror.
"Not just this world, LOOK!" Aqua shouted, pointing towards the now easily visible sky where the stars could be seen flickering like mad.
"He's not just pulling this world into darkness, he pulling them all into darkness! Radiant Garden! Twilight Town! Disney Castle! Even the Destiny Islands! He's plunging the whole universe into Darkness!" Riku exclaimed as Sora suddenly realized something.
"Wait a minute! That's IT! I know how we can save Kairi!" Sora exclaimed.
"How? We don't even know where she IS!" Ven replied as Sora looked straight up at the sphere of darkness and summoned his Keyblade Rider and armor.
"Oh Sora, I hope you aren't thinking what I think you're thinking!" Riku said worriedly.
"You're crazy!" Ven exclaimed.
"You can't make it through there! You could get crushed alive!" Terra added.
"I don't see how else to get to Xehanort! This is our only way to get to him and rescue Kairi! Besides if we don't do something, there won't be any worlds left!" Sora argued as the others looked at each other silently for a moment. Aqua then summoned her armor and Keyblade Rider.
"Sora's right! We've inadvertently made this mess! So it's up to us to fix it! Like he said, this is the only way to reach Xehanort and restore all the worlds at one time! I don't know about you guys but I'm going with Sora, with or without you!" Aqua said as Ven and Terra both looked at each other and sighed.
"Alright, we're in!" Terra said as he and Ven both summoned their Keyblade Riders and armor.
"Hey, what about us?" Riku asked.
"Hop on!" Terra ordered as Riku complied, hopping onto the back of his bike-like Keyblade Rider. Roxas jumped on with Ven, and Mickey climbed onto Sora's.
"Alright it's now or never!" Aqua said before they all shot straight up towards the massive Corridor into Darkness.
"Everyone stay close! It's going to get pretty crowded in there with all these worlds getting ripped apart!" Terra shouted as they got closer to the Corridor.
"Ready or not Xehanort! We're coming to get our friend back!" Riku added, his Keyblade summoned just as they entered into the Corridor. Almost instantly they saw the Twilight Town clock tower in their path.
"WATCH OUT!" Aqua shouted, as they quickly scattered to fly around it and then regrouped. The Corridor was choked with massive obstacles, all of them large chunks of different worlds, all tumbling through a twisting and turning vortex of purple, green, and black energies surging past them and towards some unknown destination.
"Try not to destroy anything! These worlds are eventually going to have to come back together and they can't do that if they're damaged!" Ven said as they narrowly dodged a spire from the palace in Agrabah.
"Steady as you go guys!" Aqua ordered.
"Uh, guys! I think we've got a bigger problem!" Roxas exclaimed as he looked behind them.
"Riku, Mickey, Roxas, someone not flying, look for us!" Aqua replied as they dodged an elephant's skull from Pride Rock.
"We've got Heartless, really big and really mad!" Riku said as Terra growled in frustration. There was a sea of Dark Ball and Invisible Heartless and even a Darkside Heartless or two on their tails.
"DEAL WITH 'EM! You've got magic and Keyblades! Do what you can to keep 'em off our tails! We can't fight Heartless and navigate through this mine field at the same time!" Terra ordered as they flew around a statue of King Triton from Atlantica.
"You got it!" Mickey said as he turned and aimed his Keyblade at the approaching Heartless, firing spheres of light at them while holding onto Sora's leg. Roxas quickly turned to Ven.
"Don't be alarmed but I'm about to put my arm around your neck!" Roxas said as Ven nodded understandingly. Roxas did as he said before turning back around with Oathkeeper summoned and firing off beams of light magic from it at the Heartless. Riku started moving around behind Terra.
"What are you doing back there?" Terra asked as he struggled to stay on course, just narrowly avoiding a large portion of the tree house from Deep Jungle.
"Trying to turn around so I can blast the Heartless!" Riku replied as he finally finished turning around, now sitting back to back with Terra and his Keyblade summoned.
"It just keeps going on forever! This Corridor has to empty out some time!" Sora exclaimed.
"We just have to keep flying until we do! The exit has to be around here somewhere!" Aqua replied as they dodged the spiral hill from Halloween Town.
"We might not make it that far! Those Heartless just aren't backing down!" Roxas shouted, blasting a Darkside between the eyes and releasing its heart.
"We can't give up!" Mickey said as he continued hurling the spheres of light at the approaching Heartless. They then dodged something that Sora watched as they passed it by…it was a piece of the play island from the Destiny Islands.
"SORA! STAY FOCUSED!" Aqua shouted as Sora quickly turned back around just in time to swerve out of the way of the Black Pearl from Port Royal.
"I'm sorry! I just saw my home fly by!" Sora replied.
"You can't get distracted right now! One bad turn and you're dead!" Terra yelled as they dodged a giant chair from Wonderland.
"This is getting intense!" Ven shouted.
"HEADS UP!" Aqua shouted as they all saw a massive, thrashing obstacle in their path. It was Monstro the Whale coming at them fast.
"KEEP AWAY FROM HIS MOUTH!" Riku shouted. They quickly managed to dodge the humongous whale, but most of the heartless behind them, didn't.
"Hey! That actually helped!" Roxas exclaimed with a shrug but he then continued attacking the remaining Heartless.
"Uh, Mickey, you don't want to look right now!" Sora said as he spotted a tower off of Disney Castle fly past.
"Now I don't think I want to look." Terra said as they dodged one of the ruined towers from the Land of Departure.
"Where is that exit already?" Riku asked as he blasted a Dark Ball with Dark Firaga.
"Why do I have the feeling that Xehanort has something to do with THIS too!" Terra asked in frustration as they flew around Memory's Skyscraper from the World that Never Was.
"Wait! I think I see something!" Aqua exclaimed.
"Fly around it!" Riku said as Terra shook his head.
"No wait! I see it! I think it's the exit!" Terra said as the path ahead of them cleared of debris and they accelerated forward towards the exit.
"Here's hoping Xehanort's on the other side!" Ven shouted as they finally passed into the exit only to be spat out into an empty seeming world with a vast ocean and a few towering peaks dotted by a few small islands. The sky was a constant overcast with hardly any sunlight whatsoever. Sora, Riku, Roxas, and King Mickey recognized the world almost instantly.
"It's…it's the End of the World." Sora said as they hovered in midair, the exit behind them having disappeared.
"This is what happens to the worlds that lose their hearts? By the worlds." Aqua said in soft spoken shock.
"The door to Kingdom Hearts is here, and that's got to be where we'll find Xehanort." Riku said as Aqua sighed.
"There's so much Darkness here, I can't even tell if Xehanort's here or not." Aqua said as her helmet disappeared.
"How are we supposed to find Xehanort if we can't even feel past this darkness?" Roxas asked.
"We simply don't look for Xehanort." Sora said as his helmet disappeared and he reached into his pocket.
"Then what are we supposed to look for?" Terra asked.
"We don't look for Xehanort, we look for Kairi. This will show us the way." Sora said as he held up Kairi's lucky charm. All of a sudden, the lucky charm started to glow with a white aura and emit an intermittent tone, the aura fading in and out with the tone.
"Lead the way Sora, we'll follow behind you." Aqua said as Sora took point and led them down to a spot where they could land and dismiss their Keyblade Riders. Soon they were walking across the Heartless world, following Sora with their Keyblades primed. Aqua, Ven, Terra, and Sora each had their armor still active but their helmets were off.
"Stay sharp. The last time we were here, I remember a whole bunch of powerful Heartless liked to lurk around here. We best keep on our guard." Riku said as Sora stopped and looked around curiously.
"Something wrong Sora?" Ven asked.
"The world…it's different than the last time I was here." Sora said as he turned around to face them.
"Not surprising, considering this world was technically destroyed when the worlds were restored the last time. It's only natural that when Xehanort had all the worlds consumed by darkness, that this place would come back but with a different geography." Terra said.
"We can't just stop and chat, guys. We have to keep moving. Kairi, not to mention, the worlds are counting on us. We can't stop and discuss world composition or strategy. It's just a luxury we can't afford right now." Roxas said as Sora turned back around and waved the Lucky charm across in front of him for a second, watching the charm's light and tone. Finally he started walking again, keeping the charm in front of him as they walked.
"Creepy place, that's for sure." Ven said.
"You can say that again." Aqua said with a sigh.
"Do you think Xehanort knows if we're here?" Riku asked.
"It's a possibility." Terra replied.
"I never thought I'd ever say this, but I'm starting to miss the World that Never Was." Roxas said as he looked at the haunting chunks of fallen worlds built into the landscape.
"Sora, any progress yet?" Mickey asked as Sora looked at the lucky charm. The tone had noticeably increased along with the pulsing of the aura around it.
"Yeah, we're getting closer. We've still got a ways to go." Sora said as they pressed on. They rounded a corner, revealing an unstable looking stone bridge that looked like it was partially made from Pride Rock. Behind it was a tall cone shaped mountain.
"Best we steer clear of that mountain. I remember Master Eraqus used to tell us stories of a powerful monster of Darkness that lives on the top of the tallest mountain in the center of the world of darkness, guarding its secrets." Terra said, earning a look from the others.
"What?" He asked confused.
"Think about it Terra. The center of the world of darkness? Guarding its secrets? Where do you think we're probably going to have to go?" Aqua asked as Sora sighed.
"More like where we have to go. The charm is leading us straight to that mountain." Sora said as they looked up at the mountain.
"Sora, didn't you encounter that creature the last time you were here?" Roxas asked as Sora took a deep breath.
"Yeah, but I defeated it." Sora replied.
"Sora, that creature's strength was probably based on how many worlds had been consumed at the time. If it's still there, then it's probably ten times stronger than when you fought it last." Aqua warned as Sora turned towards her with a determined look on his face.
"I'm not afraid. I've grown stronger too in case you've forgotten, Master!" Sora said in frustration.
"Easy there Sora, she wasn't questioning your strength, just giving you fair word of warning. That's all." Terra said as Sora sighed and nodded.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just…really messed up right now." Sora said as Aqua put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay to be angry Sora. We all get angry sometimes. But the trick is knowing when to let go of your anger and not let it consume you. Otherwise you end up like…like this very world. All torn up and misshapen." Aqua said as Sora nodded and turned back around.
"Let's press on." Sora said as they continued walking towards the mountain.
"So let me get this straight. You faced the dark guardian of that mountain and won?" Terra asked.
"Yeah. He wasn't easy but I eventually did defeat him with the help of Donald and Goofy." Sora replied as they passed into a large tunnel that was nothing but pitch black darkness, illuminated only by the pulsing glow of the lucky charm.
"Uh, Roxas? Little light please?" Sora asked before the room was illuminated in a deep red light from above and below.
"Wow that was handy, thanks Roxas." Sora said with a shrug.
"Uh, that wasn't me." Roxas said as Sora paused, turning to look at him curiously.
"If it wasn't you then…" Sora said as he and the others looked up to see a pair of glowing menacing eyes staring down at them.
"Terra?" Aqua said, not averting her eyes yet summoning her helmet simultaneously.
"Yeah?"
"Not a single word about this when it's over." Aqua replied before the towering monster opened its humongous wings, revealing that they were standing on a cliff ledge over its volcano of a throne. The towering black demon let out an enraged roar from its black horned head.
"What is that thing?" Ven asked.
"Chernabog! Believe it or not, it's the highest evolution of Heartless short of the human formed ones!" Aqua shouted as they quickly summoned and remounted their Keyblade Riders. They took to the sky, avoiding Chernabog's massive wings as they continued opening.
"He's gotten bigger since last time!" Sora exclaimed.
"That's because more worlds have fallen since last time!" Aqua replied as they dodged Chernabog's fist.
"Alright, he's just a giant heartless so he's not invulnerable to the Keyblade, let alone seven of them!" Riku shouted.
"Eight if you count Roxas!" Ven corrected.
"Can't we just bypass him and move on?" Roxas asked.
"Roxas, he's standing right on top of our entrance! We have no choice but to defeat him!" Aqua replied as Roxas sighed before mumbling as they all turned towards Chernabog…
"I knew I should have stayed in Sora's heart today."
End Chapter 38
Chernabog is from Disney's Fantasia if you didn't know that already. Naturally I do not own Fantasia.