Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 63

By the time they got to Pride Rock, Nala and Pumba were backed up against the cliff, Scar's ghost preventing their escape. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie were the first to arrive, making Nala and Pumba look at them in dismay. "Where's Simba?"

"He's right here." Kyrie thought as she and the others moved to the sides, bowing as the young king approached, making Nala sigh in relief when she spotted him. He stared back proudly, no sign of his earlier hesitation left in his expression.

"I'm back, Nala." he assured her. The ghost turned his attention to him and began to approach, making the four look back and forth. Once it got to him, he stared back at it, before snarling. "Get out!"

With that, it vanished, making the group sigh in relief as Simba and Nala rejoiced, butting heads and batting each other playfully with their paws. Kyrie smiled at the sight but gasped when orbs of darkness began to gather in the Pride Lands, making Simba look up before turning to them.

"Are you with me?" the group nodded as they bowed their heads.

"Now and forever, Your Majesty!"

-Savannah-

"Whoa…" Kyrie thought as they ran in, spotting the mass of darkness forming a large rhino-like heartless. It was ten times bigger than the five of them put together, and she felt a bit apprehensive about fighting it. But she shook that thought away quickly, the heartless had to be destroyed, and that was that.

"Let's go!" Sora called as he and Simba ran in, Kyrie at their sides as she summoned her keyblades between her teeth and tail. Donald and Goofy followed, gaining the large heartless' attention as it turned to them, while Sora, Simba, and Kyrie climbed onto its back. They spotted another heartless, which looked like the controller of the larger one, sitting on the center of its back. It resembled a double-headed shaman.

"Time to say your prayers!" Kyrie thought as she ran in, avoiding its lightning attacks and swinging the keyblade between her teeth down, slashing its shoulder as she did so. Sora and Simba followed after her, but as soon as they moved in, the heartless performed a spell, throwing them off the larger heartless' back and onto the ground.

"Wack!" Donald cried as he flew over, the three getting back on their feet as they shook their fur off. Looking back at the larger heartless, Sora growled.

"This isn't gonna be easy." Kyrie nodded in agreement as the heartless began to rampage, its heavy footsteps causing the ground to shake as it stomped around, trying to squish them under its feet as it did so. Kyrie growled as she ran ahead of the heartless, her small legs much faster than its heavier ones. She quickly swerved and ran right at it, before jumping, landing on one of its tusks. She quickly shoved her keyblade into its eye, making it scream in agony. This gave Sora and Simba a chance to get back on its back, Donald following after them as Goofy ran on the ground, trying to keep it distracted.

"Hurry, Sora!" Kyrie thought as it shook its head, trying to throw her off. But she held on to its tusk tightly, fearing that if she let go, she would get seriously hurt. But the large heartless reared its head, throwing her off and to the ground as she landed with a heavy thud.

"Ugh!" she thought as she landed, the breath knocked out of her. Goofy gasped as he ran over, concerned for the young leopard.

"Gawrsh, Kyrie! Are you okay?" he cried as he joined her side. She nodded and quickly got back on her feet, running at the heartless as she and Goofy began to distract it. The turtle gasped as Kyrie shoved him out of the way, the two nearly getting trampled by the large heartless.

"Man, this thing is getting on my nerves!" she thought as she lunged, slamming the keyblade in her mouth against one of its shins. It gave a roar and stumbled, but was quickly back on its feet. After a few minutes, the fight was over as the heartless slumped and disappeared. The group was silent for a few moments before they began to cheer, Sora and Kyrie running circles around each other batting their paws playfully as Simba followed. With that done, they headed to Pride Rock and met up with Timon, Pumba, Nala, and Rafiki. Sora looked at Simba as he went to greet Nala. "Simba seems fine now."

"Ha! The king has returned! The Pride Lands will not forget King Simba's courage. Or the courage of those who fought beside him." He spoke, indicating Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie. Simba nodded before looking at them.

"Do you think your quest will ever be over?" he asked. Kyrie shrugged while Sora sighed.

"I don't know…but I think, as long as the keyblade stays with me…I'll have to keep fighting." He answered. Kyrie nodded as she summoned her own keyblade, placing it next to his.

"Ahh…The struggle never ends. That is the great Circle of Life." Rafiki explained. They looked at him. "Never ever?"

"The secret to victory…is a strong heart." Rafiki explained as he stroked his chin, before placing his hand against his chest. They nodded before he started shouting, making them jump. "Go on, go on, go go then! Go on, get out! Yes, yes! It is time! Your fight continues…" he exclaimed, raising his staff. Sora smiled as he turned to Simba.

"Til' we meet again, Your Majesty." Simba smiled and nodded in understanding. "I hope that's soon." Timon nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you guys should pop in more often! We can teach you all about Hakuna Matata!" he exclaimed. Sora nodded in agreement.

"It will be, so long."

"Yeah…goodbye, everyone." Kyrie thought as they walked away, giving one last look at the group before disappearing in a flash of light. But inside the stone hollow, four drawings were displayed along that of Simba's. A dark lion, a bird, a turtle, and a white leopard.

-Gummi Ship-

"Okay, so we're going to Hollow Bastion next, right? I wanna see how Leon's doing." Sora asked as he looked at Donald. The duck nodded as he set the coordinates for Hollow Bastion, Kyrie sitting down in her usual seat. She sighed and relaxed before a thump startled her, making her look down. The book she had gotten from Merlin was at her feet, but…something seemed…different with it.

"Huh? The cover…it doesn't look as worn and beat up as it used to be. That, and now I can see the title of the book! 'The Beginning of the Worlds'. Hmm…" she quickly settled in her seat, now curious about the fact that the book had somehow changed in appearance. But should she read it?

"Yes, princess. You must read it. This book is, after all, the key to your past." a familiar disembodied voice spoke. It sounded neither male or female, making the girl relax.

"It's…the key to my past? How?"

"You won't know until you find out." Opening to the page she left off at, she began to read.

In the end, both sides perished, leaving the princess heartbroken at the loss of so many lives and a scarred battlefield where only the lifeless keys remained. This place was then called the "Keyblade Graveyard", in reference to the war that tore the world apart. Strangely, the Prince of Darkness grieved as well, and both decided that Kingdom Hearts must never be opened.

But one day, the Prince of Darkness grew tired of his servitude to Kingdom Hearts, and desired to see what the worlds truly looked like, instead of always watching life go one from above. He wanted freedom from his prison, to be able to see the outside worlds far from his home. It is that desire that drove him to betray both Kingdom Hearts and the Princess of Light.

When he had the chance, he discarded his immortality and descended down to the worlds, becoming a mortal in the process. But even in mortal form, the prince of Darkness had complete control of the dark element itself, and used it to his advantage.

Knowing that the heart of all worlds could be in danger because of this, the princess followed after him, but unknowingly became a mortal as well. Once she descended onto the Keyblade Graveyard, she realized her error and tried to go back, only to find out that she could never return because of her reckless behavior.

Her only choice was to spend the rest of her life as a human, in hopes of being able to join with the mighty heart once more in death. But as she aged, she soon realized that it wasn't a simple as that. To rejoin Kingdom Hearts once more, something more had to be done.

But the princess had no inkling for what was needed to be done to rejoin the heart, and lived and died as a human. But from there, she was reincarnated, still possessing her powers from her previous life as she moved on to the next one.

The prince of Darkness' fate was the same, as he died and was reincarnated. This began the cycle of rebirth, as both beings lived and died before being reborn into the next life, still possessing their powers and some memories of their previous lives deep within their hearts and souls.

But in order for them to stop this painful cycle of life, death, and rebirth, they must-

Kyrie frowned when she turned the page, only to find that the rest of the pages had been ripped out. She heard three sighs behind her and jumped, turning to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy staring at the book in her hands.

"Aw…we can't finish the story now!" Sora whined. She stiffened before growling, getting to her feet and whacking the boy with the cried out, rubbing his head as he stared at her.

"What was that for?" he exclaimed. She quickly pulled out her notebook and began to write, before shoving it in his face.

Sora, don't you know that it's rude to read over people's shoulders without permission! You guys scared me half to death!

The guys looked at each other before looking at her.

"Gawrsh, we're sorry. Ya just seemed to interested in the book we couldn't find an opportunity to ask." Goofy explained. She was silent for a few moments before sighing, shaking her head before she smiled at them and wrote.

It's okay, I guess. But next time, you should ask. Okay?

The boys smiled as they nodded eagerly.

"Okay!"

-That Night-

Kyrie shifted restlessly in her sleep, her face contorted in pain as she dreamed.

…

"Where…am I?" I thought as I looked around. I was standing in a familiar place, but I couldn't remember the name to it. After a few moments, I remembered. It was the Betwixt and Between, the pathway that led to the World that Never Was.

"K…Kyrie…" I turned around and gasped, my heart shuddering. Axel was lying a few feet away, his body slowly disappearing as the darkness around him began to eat at him. I ran forward and slid to his side, taking his hand in mine as I looked down at him. He was looking at me with the most peaceful expression that I ever saw, and it made my heart moan.

"Kyrie…d-don't cry…" he whispered as he reached up, brushing his hand against my cheek. Tears were falling from my cheeks now as I stared at him, his face blurred from the tears. "Axel…no! Please, don't go! Please!" I tried to say, but my mouth only moved, no sound came out.

"It's okay…everything's gonna be okay. Got it…memorized?" he whispered as he faded away. I shook my head, why was he lying to me? Here he is, fading away into darkness, while I can only hold his hand. My chest radiated such pain that I actually thought someone was driving a thousand knives into my chest, stabbing me repeatedly.

"No, Axel please…don't leave me! I…I…" I thought as I cried. I wanted to tell him how I feel, but I couldn't. He smiled at me tenderly as he cupped my cheek with his hand.

"Kyrie…I'm sorry…" he whispered before closing his eyes. I watched as his body disappeared, fading from my arms like dust. I stared at the place he had been only moments before, before raising my head towards the sky. With that, I screamed, the lament clear in my voice as I screamed.

"Axel…!"

Yeah, Kyrie gets to read more of the mysterious book in this chappie. But what caused it's appearance to change? And does Kyrie's dream fortell of future events? And what will happen to Axel now?

...What, don't look at me. I'm not gonna tell you!

Anyways, til' the next chapter, see ya! Oh, and happy Valentine's day/Single-Awareness day!