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.46 Strength of Heart
After we had gotten the gates to open, Sora, Beast and I were able to make it inside the castle doors. Inside was the Entrance Hall, and I knew that once we were in the farther we got the higher the danger would be. "Be careful; they're close. I can sense it" Beast warned us. I nodded; I could sense the Heartless as well. Just as the thought was done processing several pools of darkness appeared, and from it rose four Neoshadows and just as many Darkballs, complete with two Wizards. I groaned. "Great. More Heartless," I muttered, summoning Stormfell. Sora moved into a fighting stance while holding his wooden sword, and Beast growled. Both sides stared at each other for a moment, before rushing forward.
I blocked with Barrier as one of the Wizards cast Fire at me, retaliating with Counter Blast. Shards of my barrier burst apart and flew in every direction, several of them cutting the Wizard. It fell back and raised its staff, casting Thunder. Bolts of lightning rained down and I shouted, one hitting and shocking me. Quickly I cast Cure over the wound and glared at the Heartless, which only cast Blizzard at me in reply. "Okay, time for you to die!" I said, bringing up Stormfell and casting Triple Firaga. Three balls of fire flew forward, one of them hitting the Blizzard spell and disintegrated while the other two exploded against the wizard. When the smoke cleared all that was left was a heart rising into the air, and I began to smirk.
That smirked turned into a cry of pain though, as I felt a set of claws rake down my back. On instinct I struck back with Payback Fang, and when I turned mid-strike I saw that a Neoshadow was the culprit. It seemed to look surprised at my speed… right before I cleaved it in two. Looking around I saw that Sora was holding off one of the Darkballs by lodging his sword in its teeth, using that to keep it back. Beast roared and held up a Neoshadow, literally throwing it against the wall. The force of the impact was so great that it fading away on impact, nothing even left on the wall. To get back he was surrounded by the other three Darkballs, trying to swarm him. But he used Furious Bellow and sent them back, giving him the space to grab one Darkball and each hand and crush them together.
The third one tried to attack him during this, but I stopped it with Thundaga Shot. The last two Neoshadows and the Wizard began to back off, but Beast lunged forward and swung down, ripping one Neoshadow apart with his claws. I simply stood back, impressed. In battle Beast truly fought the way he looked- powerful and savagely. My method of fighting was simply making every hit count while at the same time conserving your energy so as to not burn out. But having an ally who simply charged in and used their massive strength to barrel through was very nice as well. The Wizard tried to set him afire with Fira, but he ducked and punching it with a hard uppercut, propelling the Wizard upwards until it crashed against the ceiling. Behind us Sora shouted in triumph as he finally overpowered the Darkball, sending it back before stabbing it with his sword.
The Darkball faded away, and he held up his sword. "I forgot how useful these things really were," Sora said. "Yep. Back on the islands, you, Riku, Tidus and the others were always pushing to see who the best fighter was," I said, recalling. Sora smiled as well at the memory, but then his smile faded. "Do you think we'll ever be able to make it back there? I mean, do you really think that?" he asked, looking up at me seriously. I paused, taking a moment to think about that. Eventually, I said "What I think is going to happen doesn't matter. What's important is what you want to happen, the goal that I strive towards. Because of if you can make your goal, your hope and dream become true, then that's all that matters. Doubt is naturally going to appear; the real test is whether you can take the doubt fate gave you and throw it back in their face."
Sora looked at me in surprise, and after a long moment he smiled. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "Let's go. We don't have much time, if any, to waste," Beast said, looking back at us. We both nodded, but just then Beast perked up, looking back. Sora and I did the same, seeing a young woman with brown hair and a golden-yellow dress. "Belle?" Beast asked, hesitantly stepping towards her. But then the woman changed into a Shadow Heartless, which turned and scampered away. The beast roared in rage, blindly chasing after it. "Hey!" I called, but it was too late. He was gone. Sora looked at me, and I knew what he was thinking- Sora was still without the Keyblade, and we had just pretty mu lost a powerful ally.
"Hey, we're not going to let that stop us, are we?" I asked. He shook his head. "Never," he replied. We both kept going, Sora holding off any Heartless that came close long enough for me to destroy them. We reached the next area, and standing in the center of the room were none other than Donald, Goofy and Riku. "So, you actually got this far. I'm warning you, Sora, Dexal. Quit while you can," he said. As one we both shook our heads. "No. The last place I still have to right to be is beside my friends. I'm not tuning my back on them," I said. "And I'm not leaving without Kairi," Sora said. Riku scoffed, and his body was suffused with darkness as his outfit changed.
The new outfit appeared to be made of black muscle tissue, each vein distant and noticeable. That black faded to red around his wrists and purple gloves that encased his hands. On his chest the veins parted in the shape of the Heartless emblem, red surrounding the edge. He wore of purple crisscross set of belts and an off-white ripped cloth around his waist, which opened in the front. To complete the look were purple boots and the Kingdom Key in hand. "The darkness with destroy you," he warned. "You're wrong, Riku. The darkness may destroy my body, but it can't touch my heart. My heart will stay with my friend. It'll never die!" Sora said. "Really… Well, we'll just see about that!" Riku said.
He fired a Dark Firaga from his palm, and I cried "Sora!" I leaped forward to block the attack, but I wasn't close enough. Sora just stood there, frozen in shock, and I knew why. He may have sent other Heartless to do it, he may have turned his back on him, but Riku himself never attacked Sora. Until now. Just as I began to lose hope and the Dark Firaga spell exploded, the smoke cleared to show that Sora was still there. And in front of him was someone holding up a shield. "Sora ain't going anywhere!" Goofy announced. "You'd betray your king?" Riku asked, shocked. "Not on your life! But I'm not gonna betray Sora either, because he's become one of my best buddies after everything we've been through together!" the Royal Knight replied. Then he looked over, and called "See ya later, Donald! Could you tell the king I'm really sorry?"
But Donald shook his head, saying "Hold on, Goofy! We'll tell him together!" He ran next to us, holding up his staff. "So, had a change of heart, huh?" I asked. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, you know… All for one and one for all," he told me. "I guess you're stuck with us, Sora, Dexal," Goofy said. Sora looked away. "Donald, Goofy, thank you," he said. Riku's expression was angered now. "How will you fight without a weapon?" he demanded. "I know now that I don't need the Keyblade. I've got a better weapon. My heart," Sora told him. "Your heart? What good will that weak little thing do for you?" he asked snidely.
"Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've made. I've become a part of their heart just as they've become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and then...if they don't forget me...then our hearts will be one. I don't need a weapon. My friends are my power!" Sora said. I looked at him, amazed. "Sora…" I said softly. Just then Riku grunted in surprise. The Keyblade had vanished in a shine of light, reappearing as the Fairy Harp back in Sora's. Riku looked at his hand, before giving us a look of pure rage. He summoned his Soul Eater, and attacked.
Hey, sorry about the shortness of the chapter, but I didn't want to end the fight halfway through like I noticed I've done before. The next chapter will contain it in full, so stay tuned!
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?)