Hmm…So I guess I owe a bit of an explanation…
Well…I got busy with life really, and when that happened the story was put on the back burner. I graduated college, started working, and have been so tired after work that the last thing I want to do is sit and type a story. Still I feel an obligation to myself and to you guys to see this story few. So while updates will be far more sporadic, this story will get finished, and after that we shall see how I feel before the sequel, but I do plan to get to that too eventually.
That being said, we now need to sit back and enjoy chapter 10 and find out the history of Animus.
Enjoy!
Note: Square-Enix and Disney own these characters cept Ankoku and Yamato. The poem is anonymous…I don't know who owns it.
Chapter 10: Separation
"Animus…" Sora began, hesitating because he was still unsure if he wanted to tell Yamato the tale of his past.
Sora glanced over towards Roxas who gave a little nod, urging Sora towards the truth. Sora looked back to Yamato, who gazed back with stone silence. Sora sighed.
Back in Destiny City:
"Kairi…it's time…" Naminé whispered gently into Kairi's ear.
Kairi's eyes fluttered open and she glanced over at the alarm clock to her left.
"Yeah…you're right…" She said, yawning.
She got out of bed and went into the bathroom. She brushed her hair, and then quickly changed into a long sleeved blue shirt, that went with her mini-skirt. She threw on some tennis shoes as well.
"You need to stop taking these afternoon naps." Naminé said, slightly scolding her friend.
"Yeah." Kairi said half heartedly.
"We have to go run some errands for your mom really fast before we head out to the island…" Naminé informed still groggy princess.
"What do we have to do?" Kairi asked as she whisked away to her mirror where she threw her hair up into a ponytail.
"We have to pick up some things for dinner tomorrow night…the dry cleaning…and…well…here's the list…" Naminé said pointing to a piece of paper on Kairi's nightstand.
Kairi glanced at the note and sighed.
"This could take an hour or two…" Kairi stated.
"Yeah…tonight's her night out, and she was cleaning all day, and I kinda said that we could do all this…I just didn't know it was so much…" Naminé admitted.
"It's no big deal…we can do this stuff and then head over to the beach." Kairi said as she turned and walked out of her room.
Kairi walked down the stairs to the first floor of her house. She walked past the kitchen, and out the front door. It was a cool, summer night in Destiny City, and the temperature showed it. Kairi walked along the dirt path, while checking out the beautiful sunset that overlooked the island. She sighed as she remembered all the carefree days that she had spent on that island, and how now the island only seemed to serve as a constant reminder that he was gone.
"How long has it been now, Naminé?" Kairi asked.
"10…maybe 11 months…" She responded.
"Almost a year..." Kairi thought to herself as she reminisced on all that had happened over the past 12 months.
Rebuilding had all but finished in most of the worlds, and the new World Council was working round the clock to make sure that every thing was running smoothly. The new council had done much to improve world relations and world defense, also allowing easier passage for governmental business. It was a new era for diplomacy, although it kept many of their friends from making visits due to all the extra obligations that they now had to perform, most notably their friends at Disney Castle. In fact, with the exception of the birth of Donald and Daisy's child…Kairi hadn't seen the Disney Castle gang at all. Riku had been periodically running some missions for the King, but other than that…nothing. The same went for the Radiant Garden gang. They were all incredibly busy restoring their town in the wake of Ankoku and Maleficent's attack. The Twilight Town gang hadn't been seen since December; and they have had little contact with each other, except for a few letters from Olette. But as of lately, they hadn't received one since March, and it was now May.
Her friends in Destiny City were pursuing their various life choices. The Destiny City Sharks finished 2nd in their division and Wakka was an all-star as well as the rookie of the year. He was in his second year, and training camps had just started so he was constantly busy. Selphie had meanwhile begun taking course at college, working towards a degree in public relations. While she was initially going to start taking classes in the fall, she wanted to take a couple summer classes to get ahead. Tidus had moved to Radiant Garden to be with his new Blitzball team as well. There was tremendous hype for Tidus, as many were pegging him to be the player to turn Radiant Garden's fortunes around. He had signed a multi-million dollar deal, and had become a media darling with his new girlfriend, the current pop sensation Yuna. While Tidus and Selphie were no longer dating, Selphie still had some jealously over the new pairing. Still she had started to like a new guy by the name of Irvin, so it wasn't that bad.
Riku also had changed a lot in the past year as well. He was still the same psychically, but he was more moody and depressed, especially since Valentine's Day. At some point in March, Riku had decided to drop out of school. Since dropping out of school, he had gotten a job at a local dojo, teaching self-defense. Periodically he would run missions, but for the most part he would spend his time alone on the island, or at work. While Kairi knew that he was unhappy without Sora here, she could sense that there was something more that had happened to him, but was unsure as to what that was.
Naminé had been an anchor for Kairi throughout the past year, as their shared pain helped to get them through tough time after tough time. She was always looking out for her and there to encourage her. While they had one or two arguments, they were still the best of friends, and if anything, this had made them closer.
On a more personal level however, this past year had been very difficult for Kairi. Trying to make her life normal again, was far more difficult than anything that they had done before. The absence of Sora was like a void in her heart, and it hurt everyday. Most everyone was very sympathetic to Kairi, but there were still some people that took pleasure in her pain, such as Mako and his gang. This situation had forced her to become a stronger person.
"Kairi?"
The sound of Naminé's voice brought Kairi back to the present time. She glanced over at Naminé, who was looking at Kairi with a concerned look.
"What's up?" Kairi asked trying to play it off.
"Umm…you just passed the store…" Naminé pointed back towards the store.
"Oh…" Kairi said as she sheepishly walked back towards the store, as Naminé wondered what she was thinking about.
In the Realm of Darkness:
"Back in an earlier time, before the void was opened for a second time…my friend Riku and I had been taking some private lessons from a man named Master Yen Sid. He is the mentor of King Mickey, whom we've mentioned before." Sora said, looking up to see Yamato nodding in remembrance. Sora continued.
"Anyways…Master Yen Sid had a book, which told of various legendary lost worlds that either existed or were supposed to have existed at one point or another. I enjoyed reading that book, as it told of such wondrous places that I would have loved to see…Sora started.
"One section that was interesting was the tale of a lost world named Animus." Sora said.
"Lost…world?" Yamato said with quiet shock.
Sora glanced up at Yamato as if to ask him if he should continue. Yamato returned a look that told Sora that he had better finish it...He looked again at Yamato, who gazed back intently. Sora then took a breath and began his tale.
"From what the book tells us; Animus had thrived as a civilization for hundreds of years under the basic traditions and values that you told us about." Sora said, looking periodically at Yamato, who stared back intently.
"It was a place that thrived unlike any world, and became the pinnacle of what the ideal world should be. The world was geographically isolated from the rest of the worlds, and thus became something of a rouge world. They didn't associate with any of the other worlds and vice-versa." Sora said, taking in a deep breath.
"Everything had been going smoothly…until…one day the king disappeared in the dead of night…" Sora said slowly.
The hard look that Yamato was giving him turned into a look of shock. Sora saw this, but pressed on.
"The book doesn't tell us what happened to him, but there were several theorists who came up with different ideas…one centering on the void that had sprung up around this time." Sora said pausing to glance at Yamato's shocked face before continuing.
"The man believed that the king was taken by the dark force that was growing in the region, while others thought that he abandoned his post in fear and left the rest of the royal family in charge because he sensed problems that were on the horizon…an unforgivable sin in the eyes of the citizens of Animus." Sora stated.
"I didn't know what the book was talking about with the void, until King Mickey explained it a few months later after it had been opened by Ankoku." Roxas stated.
"Neither did I" Sora added.
Yamato looked at Sora in disbelief. Sora slowly continued.
"Regardless of what happened…the fact was that the King was gone. The citizens of Animus at this point were able to pull together and rally around the remaining family and keep their world alive and thriving." Sora said which seemed to raise Yamato's spirits a little.
"However…problems began to arise for Animus in the absence of the king. There was a drought that ended up doing significant damage to the economy of Animus. Violence became a reoccurring thing in Animus, and the royal family was strained to maintain order. There was a huge power vacuum as well…and numerous political factions vied for power in the absence of the King. The royal family tried desperately to help guide the world through the tough times…but it was no use…" Sora said looking up at Yamato, whose lower lip was now quivering but his eyes remained locked on Sora.
"The violence continued to grow as the factions bickered back and forth. Finally it all came to a head one fateful night. There was a small skirmish that broke out between rival political factions. This incident combined with the drought and growing unrest led to a large scale violent civil war." Sora said.
Yamato remained silent. Roxas was watching him, and made a motion towards him, but Yamato saw him out of the corner of his eye and motioned for him to stay away. Sora continued to tell the story.
"The violence grew out of control. Riots began to spring up across the city…and the royal family was trying desperately to hold onto their power. Eventually the violence turned towards the royal family…" Sora said looking up at Yamato.
"No…Miyu…" Yamato said, his eyes wide like saucers.
Sora looked away, guilty about finishing the story. Roxas looked at him.
"Finish it Sora…he needs to know…" Roxas stated urging his friend.
Sora looked at Roxas and let a deep sigh.
"The royal family…was…captured…and then…" Sora said stopping.
"What happened…?" Yamato asked, tears forming in his eyes.
"They were publicly executed." Sora finally let out.
It felt like a shotgun to Yamato's chest. Roxas's heart went out to Yamato, but he didn't dare go near him after his last attempt. Sora watched Yamato's reaction, and wanted to help him, but was afraid…afraid for how Yamato would react to him after his lie.
"W…what of Animus?" Yamato choked out.
Sora looked at the pain in his eyes, and looked away. Upon seeing this Yamato became incensed. He stormed up to Sora and slapped him hard across the face. Sora took the blow, but still didn't look Yamato in the eyes.
"TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!!" Yamato roared as he grabbed Sora by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground.
Sora struggled to fight out of the grip, but Yamato had it locked in, his face a mask of rage and frustration.
"Yamato!! Calm down!" Roxas called out.
Yamato turned and saw the shocked look on Roxas's face. His rage slowly subsided and he roughly set Sora on the ground, who began rubbing his neck. Yamato backed up a bit, but didn't take his gaze off of Sora.
"What happened to Animus?" Yamato asked again, with less rage but still with force.
Sora finally looked up at Yamato, and rubbed his neck. He seemed to have a little anger in his eyes from the assault by Yamato. Still he decided to tell Yamato this time, rather than deal with him.
"After the fall of the royal family…the violence only increased…tearing the world apart. Almost two weeks later a massive fire broke out and destroyed most of the world. With all of the fighting and fires breaking out, many citizens opted to leave the world, searching for new places to live. However…they found the world borders closed." Sora said.
"Why?" Yamato asked.
"The Keyblade…" Sora responded.
Yamato looked with stunned silence at Sora, then turned and looked at his golden Keyblade with puzzlement.
"Since Animus was cut off from the other worlds and wrapped up in their own problems, they hadn't noticed the backlash from the void's creation and destruction… and the growing fear over the Keyblade wielder." Sora explained.
Yamato looked down at the blade again, as Sora continued to talk.
"You see…while the Keyblade Master did save the universe from destruction…his action of sealing the void actually destroyed several worlds in the process." Sora said looking up at Yamato.
"And when I said gone I mean gone…there were no remnants of these worlds…they vanished. Numerous members of the World Council were stunned by this shocking display of power by the Keyblade. Never had the Keyblade shown any kind of maliciousness to it, and they were fearful should the blade fall into the wrong hands. Now the ideal course of action would appear to be to keep tabs on whatever the world is that the Keyblade master came from. But the problem there is that they didn't have one specific location that produced the Keyblade master. So…in an effort to limit the amount of damage that the Keyblade could do in the wrong hands, they decided to close off their worlds." Sora stated.
"He was telling the truth about that…" Roxas suddenly stated. "We had to do a lot of work to restore the name of the Keyblade Master…" He finished.
"Animus…would fall from the inside… and their population would either flee to a new barren wasteland world that numerous citizens of Animus had settled or they would die in the violence. Before long Animus lay in ruins; from the ashes of one world, the citizens would regroup and create a new world…Disney…which is still around today…but it was a long and grueling process." Sora finished.
Yamato looked from Sora to Roxas. He looked down at his blade, before gazing back up at Sora with stone cold eyes.
"How long have you kept this from me?" Yamato
"I didn't figure the connection between you and the Animus King until you told us last night." Sora said.
"Then why lie? Why not tell me the truth?!" Yamato said, his temper starting to flare.
"I…I didn't want you to be hurt…" Sora said almost pleading.
"Well you did…and in a much worse way…" Yamato said as he recalled his Keyblade.
Yamato looked to the ground and pondered all the feelings and visions that he had seen of the duration of his time in the Realm of Darkness. So many times he heard his wife and family calling out to him, pleading for him to come save them, but he brushed them off as tricks of the darkness…only now to discover that he was listening to the death and torture of the ones he loved…including his wife. Yamato looked up to Sora, who wore a concerned look on his face. Yamato's began to show a dull rage.
"You told me…that Animus fell later…but it fell because of me…I failed as its King…and more importantly…as a husband…" Yamato lamented. "You lied to me Sora…after all that I had done for you…you betrayed me…" He said glaring at Sora. "How can I trust you anymore?" He asked Sora and turned and slowly began to walk away.
:"Where are you going?" Sora asked.
"This is the end of my journey…goodbye Sora…." Yamato said as he walked off.
Sora began to race after him, but Yamato called forth his Keyblade and took a fighting stance. Sora stopped and looked at his once cheerful friend with shock.
"If you follow me…I will not hesitate to use this on you…" Yamato stated before recalling the blade and continuing to walk away.
"Yamato! Don't Go!" Sora said, pleading with his friend to stay, but it was no use. Yamato continued to walk off until Sora couldn't see him anymore.
"DAMNIT!!" Sora screamed as he fell to his knees and slammed his fists to the ground.
Roxas merely sat and watched him, lamenting over the whole situation. Sora felt Roxas watching him and turned over towards him. All the rage and anger that Sora was feeling boiled over and he lashed out at Roxas.
"What the hell are you staring at?! You wanna leave too?" Sora snapped.
"Sora…you don't need to take this out on me…" Roxas said quietly.
"Oh shut up! All you've been doing since we've been here is bitching and moaning about how much this place sucks and how you want to see Naminé…well guess what!? I miss Kairi just as much as you miss Naminé! I wish for once you could have actually been useful during this trip!!" Sora screamed, his face turning beat red and his eyes flashing a bit.
Roxas began to get a little heated as well.
"I don't know why you have to act like that…I'm not the one that told Yamato a lie about his wife and home!" Roxas fired back.
"I did it to try and protect him!" Sora screamed.
"Oh yeah great job there…" Roxas said sarcastically. "He was so thankful that he almost tried to kill you and then left us." Roxas said his temper full blown.
"Whatever…it's not like we needed him anyway!" Sora snapped.
"Would you listen to yourself? What the hell is wrong with you?" Roxas said.
"What?" Sora asked Roxas.
"You're being an ass!"" Roxas said bluntly.
"Oh yeah? Well if I'm such an ass…then maybe you should get the hell out of here!" Sora yelled drawing his Keyblade.
"You know that's not going to hurt me!" Roxas stated.
"Go on and join your buddy! Seeing as it sucks to be near me!" Sora said waving his blade around.
"You know what? You need to cool down…realize that you screwed up…and once you do that…maybe then we can get back to this quest!" Roxas said as he turned and walked away.
"Go ahead and leave! I don't need you!" Sora said as he watched his friend walk away, his eyes dancing wildly.
"Screw you Roxas!" Sora screamed as Roxas faded off into the distance.
Sora watched his friend float off, and scoffed as he faded from view.
"I don't need them…I'll find that access point myself." Sora sneered, as an almost dark feeling seemed to wash over his body as he walked away in the opposite direction.
Back in Destiny City:
"Man…that took longer than expected…" Naminé sighed as they left the final store, as the shopkeeper locked the door behind them, and flipped the open sign to close.
"You're not kidding…" Kairi said as she gazed at the sun.
The sun was just beginning to set over the island, and Kairi figured that they had about an hour of sunlight.
"We need to get these groceries back home, then hurry back out." She said quickly.
"Well…let's go!" Naminé said as she tore off down the dirt path.
Back in the Dark Realm:
Sora continued to search high and low for the access point with an unusual determination considering the circumstances that had happened in the last hour. He cut through any forestry that got in his way, and spared not a thought for his missing companions. He was solely focused on getting to the access point and finding a way to get back home. He cut through some undergrowth and a green light shone through the opening. Sora peered through and saw the access point. He stepped into the small clearing and approached the access point with tremendous resolve. He stepped up and reached out to touch it. He turned back around, and for a second seemed to spare a thought for his comrades. He shook it off and quickly walked into it, going to the next world.
Back in Destiny City:
Kairi and Naminé made their way to the bridge, and began walking over it to get to the island. After the funeral…they would try to get out to the island one day a week. They had also used this as a safe-haven during some of the more difficult times in the last year. Kairi crossed the bridge, and stepped onto the sandy beach. She walked over to the large, marble statue of Sora wielding his Keyblade, and gazed at it. She didn't say anything for a while, merely staring at the vision of Sora, and longed for him to be right there beside her. Naminé on the other hand, was using all this time to talk to Roxas. The stars had emerged in the night sky, and Naminé finished her one-sided conversation. She looked over at Kairi, as if she was urging Kairi to say something. Kairi saw this and finally she spoke.
"Hey Sora...I really miss you." She said.
"Nothing much has been happening this past week, but I wrote a poem for you." Kairi said as she brought a small piece of paper out of her pocket.
She unfolded the piece of paper and read it aloud.
When you're not here to share my days and nights
My life is so incomplete
For you are my heart, my soul
The 'oneness' I had known to seek
Without you I merely exist from day to day
With you I know that I will find
All that I have been searching for
My completeness, my eternal peace of mind
You are the keeper of my dreams
The man who holds my heart in his hands
The one I want to spend my life with
The one with whom I will always stand
Stand beside through thick and thin
Through all that life will throw our way
Knowing that this special love we share
Will guide us, each and every day
This journey was started long ago
Before this time and place
The journey of completeness
As two hearts and souls embrace
Forever is what I want with you
For the search is at an end
Our hearts have found each other
As lovers, as soul-mates, as friends.
She folded the paper, and tucked it back into her pocket. She looked back up at the statue of Sora, and a tear formed in her eye. She wiped the tear away and turned around to head back to her house.
Kairi took a few steps back, when suddenly she heard Naminé cry out.
"Look Kairi! A shooting star!"
Kairi turned around to see her nobody pointing up into the sky. Sure enough, she was able to catch a glimpse of the star, as it shot across the night sky and then vanished without a trace. Kairi shut her eyes.
"I wish that Sora and Roxas would come back." She said.
She opened them but saw nothing around her. She scolded herself for thinking that could have possibly worked.
"Come Kairi let's go home…" Naminé said softly.
Kairi nodded and then turned and walked back towards her house.
Back in the Dark Realm:
Ankoku sat and stared out at the shimmering door that appeared over the ocean water with concern. He sat in the dark side of Destiny Island, waiting for Sora to arrive, and preparing his next assault when the door suddenly appeared in a blinding flash.
"A door…to the world of light?" Ankoku wondered to himself; eying the door with curiosity.
"That…could hold…possibilities…" Ankoku said softly as an evil grin formed on his face.
End of Chapter 10
Hmmm…Interesting stuff seems to be on the horizon…
Hopefully that will satisfy you all enough until chapter 11. If you want something to do in between then and now…go see Kung Fu Panda.
Later!