Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.38 The Heart of the World
(Point of View Change: Dexal)
As I rushed forward I looked up at Oogie, now having fused together with his mansion to grow in size and power. But his power couldn't even come close to the darkness now running through me. I smiled and raised up both Stormfell and Void Gear, jumping into the air. The darkness helped propel me farther, and I came level with his face. Although the face didn't move deep within I could hear Oogie laughed, the sound echoing as if he were inside and not looking at me. "With all the power that I have now, no one can stop me!" he bragged. I smiled. "Oh no?" I said, and I pointed both at him and fired both Triple Firaga and Triple Blizzaga. Chunks of ice and balls of fire flew forth and battered against his face, and I could hear him cry out in pain.
Below me Sora and the others split into two groups to destroy the dark globs, Donald and Goofy working on the lower half while Sora and Jack looked for any on the upper half. There were a total of seven in all, and I dropped down into a platform that wrapped around Oogie. I saw one of the globs half a dozen paces ahead, and I ran up to it. The dark mass glowed before shooting a Fire spell at me, but I easily dodged it and stabbed my Void Gear into the blob. It shook before I channeled a Thundara spell through the blade, and it exploded with a burst of shadows. That left just six, and down below Donald froze one with Blizzara before Goofy used Rocket and shattered it. Okay, make that five.
Oogie grunted and both of the lanterns he was holding swung around, until one hit Donald and knocked him clean off. "Donald!" Goofy called, and Sora and Jack looked down to see him falling. For the briefest second I felt as if I should help, but then the darkness with me surged and I turned away, dismissing it. "I'll get him!" Jack said, and he dived into the air over the edge. With his weight he was able to catch up to Donald, and he caught him just as they hit the ground. Jack bent his knees to absorb the impact, and since he had no flesh he didn't feel any pain. He let Donald down and he nodded his thanks, and they both ran up the steps so that they could make it back up.
Meanwhile Oogie swung the larger lantern around to try and knock me off, but I smiled and pointed Stormfell at it. "Have a taste of my Tornado!" I said, and a sphere of wind gathered at the tip before firing forward. It grew into a miniature tornado that drew the lantern in and spun it around, until finally it snapped off of the rope. Oogie made a sound of surprise and made the other one fired a volley of Fire spells, all which were aimed at me. I used Barrier and sent them at back, but then Sora swung from around and cut through another dark glob. Oogie grunted and willed the spells to refocus on Sora. He froze as all of those fireballs flew at him, but then he cast Aero and created a wind shield around himself.
While that blocked most of the Fire spells though, two of them got through and hit him in the chest and stomach with the force of bricks. He grunted and fell over, beating at the flames. I was again tempted to help, but pushed it aside and slashed both of my Keyblades in an X, destroying a fourth dark glob. At that Oogie shuddered, and he wailed before swinging and hitting me with the smaller lantern before I could dodge. I was sent over and fell through the air, but I cast Zero Gravity and slowed down my fall. When I landed it was lightly on my feet, and I looked up at the manor. I was prepared to run right back up and finish it, but then suddenly… I sensed something.
My eyes widened and I looked at the pillar of rock that that manor was built upon. "Impossible…" I muttered, before suddenly smiling hugely. My heart began pounding, and I realized exactly what was beneath the rock. And that all I needed to get to it was bring the mansion down. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jack, get off the mansion! I'm bringing it down!" I called. They looked down to see me far below on the ground, but they knew that with the way the darkness was running through me it would be wise to take my word for it. I smiled and stabbed Stormfell into the ground, before taking Void Gear and lunged forward, sinking the blade into the rock. "And where are you all going?" Oogie called after Sora and the others, casting more Fire spells at them.
While they were beating them back I used the darkness to increase my speed and I ran around to the other side, stabbing Stormfell into rock on the opposite end. I smiled now that my Keyblades were in place, and I cast Aeroga to rise into the air until I was in front of Oogie. "Oh, what are you going to do now?" he asked, pretending to be scared. I smiled, and said "Just this." I conjured an orb of white flames in one hand and dark flames in the other, and I brought them together with a clap. Down below my Keyblades glowed, before suddenly releasing twin explosions with catastrophic force. Sora, Donald and Goofy all cried out and covered their ears, while Jack frowned. The ground shook as several more explosions occurred in a chain, and the ground rumbled from them.
There was a loud groaning and I heard Oogie call "Huh?!" before the manor and the rock it was on began to crumble. The explosion had blown apart the rock of the foundation enough that its own weight was beginning to bring it down. "What?! No. No, no, no, noooo!" he called, but it was no good. Oogie had chosen to submit to the darkness when he had used it to fuse with his manor. And now that manor was crumbling down, the dark globs giving Oogie power going with it. Clouds of dust rose high into the air as the ground kept shaking, until after a good number of minutes it finally quieted. Sora and the others uncovered their ears, and Sora said "That was way overkill, Dexal. Why did you have to bring the whole thing down?"
I smiled at from where I still hovered in the air, and I said "Look below and you shall see." I resummoned my Keyblades and pointed down at the ground, and the others looked over the edge. And gasped. Far below on the ground where the rock had been was a massive Keyhole. The Keyhole. My smile grew ever wider. "The Keyhole has now appeared. And within it, the heart of this world. Can you imagine that power contained in such a thing?" I thought aloud, my voice growing louder as I spoke. I readjusted my grip on my blades, before calling "I shall have it!" and dropping through the air. Sora and the others yelled in shock, but I ignored them. Darkness pumped through my veins like blood, and as I fell towards the Keyhole I could feel the power of the world's heart come closer with every second. Until finally I fell through the Keyhole and was enveloped in a flash of light disappearing from view.
Far above Sora and the others looked down. "We have to get Dexal out of there! We can't seal the Keyhole while he's stuck inside!" Donald said. "Gawrsh, do you really think we can get him out in the state he's in?" Goofy asked. Sora looked at the Keyhole sadly. What was happening to Dexal? Why did he even have this darkness in him? It felt like seeing how Riku changed all over again, only this time it was even more so. While he and Riku had both changed as they had grown up, Dexal had stayed the same in body and spirit, steadfast and constant. Seeing him like this brought despair to Sora's heart. But from despair he drew strength, and he brought his head back. It didn't matter how the darkness had gotten hold of Dexal. He would find a way to fix this, just like he would save Riku and Kairi. "Who cares? We have to get him out, so let's go!" he called, and leaped over the edge as well.
"Wait up!" Goofy said, and he jumped as well. Donald sighed before looking at Jack and saying "You stay here. With the keyhole open the Heartless might come, and we need someone who can hold them back." Jack nodded. "You can count on me. Good luck," he said. Donald nodded as well, before jumping. The three of them fell through the air until they reached the Keyhole as well, and vanished in a flash of light.
As he slowly regained consciousness Sora stirred, moaning and waving his arms. "Come on, Sora. You have to get up," he heard a voice say. "Ohhh… Five more minutes, Mom," he said groggily. "I am not your mother! Now wake up before I hit with a Thunder spell like I did Goofy!" the voice yelled again. At that his eyes snapped open, realizing that he wasn't in his bed back home. Instead they were lying on the ground in what looked like a small cave made of black stone, and ahead there seemed to some sort of passageway. He stood, saying "Is this it? Are we inside the Keyhole?" "Looks like it. But I wonder where Dexal is?" Goofy said, looking around.
Now also reminded of Dexal, Sora focused and summoned his Crabclaw. "We have to find out, and before he does whatever he's planning to the heart of this world. Let's go!" he said, and ran into the tunnel. Donald and Goofy quickly followed, and they saw that although the cave at first seemed barren of anything but rock, there were in fact fake spiders hanging from the ceiling, cobwebs in recesses and tiny little pumpkins along the sides. Sora grunted; these made sense considering that this was Halloween Town's heart that they were nearing.
As the thought crossed his mind he suddenly began to sense a huge amount of power, one of unbelievable proportions. He slowed, struggling to take in all that he was sensing. Donald and Goofy did the same, before they hurried and saw a light begin to appear at the end of the tunnel. The closer they drew the more powerful the force they were feeling became, until they finally made it through and froze in shock. The ceiling was roughly dome-shaped and there was a small expanse of barren land in front of them, before that land reached a sudden drop, the bottom to far below to see. Hovering over that pit was a heart just like the ones that appeared when they defeated Heartless; only this one was unbelievably huge. And the power they felt was radiating in waves from that heart.
"Whoa…" Sora said, and Donald and Goofy made their own sounds of awe. So this was what a world's heart felt like. The strength and light of it… No wonder the Heartless were always searching for ones such as this. "Indeed," they heard a voice say, and they jumped before seeing that near the edge of the cliff was me, staring up at the heart. "Such a power is unheard in the hearts of any human, for no human could hope to be as large as an entire world. And this power shall be mine," I said. Sora stepped forward. "Dexal, stop. Why do you even want the heart anyway? What good will it do you?" he asked. I paused, looking at him. For a moment I wondered that myself; why was I going after the heart?
Then I smiled, and the worry was expelled from my mind. "Simple: I am filled with the power of darkness, as I have been for years. And the darkness always seeks out the light," I said. With that I turned my back on them, when suddenly the ground shook. The ground beneath me turned to darkness, and I leaped back out of range. From that dark puddle a shape slowly rose, resolving itself into… a Darkside. Sora gasped. "That's' the same type of Heartless that destroyed the island!" he said. I nodded, and summoned both of my Keyblades. "Most likely sensing the heart of this world now that the Keyhole has been exposed," I said, before glaring at the monster. "However, know this: That heart is mine!" And I ran at the Darkside.
Well, one way or another Oogie has been defeated, and I've left you all with another pre-battle cliffhanger! But can Sora and the others defeat this Darkside, and bring Dexal back to his senses? The next chapter will reveal jut that!
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)