Hello my friends! I'm the UknownHero and welcome to another chapter of Awaken by Time! I should be studying for my final exams but I can always save it for the weekend. I'm having a bit of trouble in Math but it shouldn't be much of a problem. Anyway, enough of my personal life, let's start this thing!
Load Game... Start!
Chapter 3: Awaken
Sora was enjoying another sunset with his friends. The day went like any other day. Sora having that dream again, getting woke up by Kairi, collect some more supplies for the raft, try and beat Riku (after 23 attempts), beat Tidus, Wakka and Selphie and meet a man in a brown cloak (in cave no less) who starts spouting out nonsense about worlds or something like that. To be honest, Sora barely listened. He was too afraid to pay attention. At least, that was his excuse for his History teacher. Anyway, as Riku started talking about why they were in Destiny Island and why they should go and explore the worlds, Sora started looking up at the sky. He's been really interested in the stars for such a long time; he couldn't even remember why he was. He just loved it for some reason.
Sora then noticed something in the sky, "Hey! It's a shooting star!" Sora spoke out as he pointed at it. Kairi & Riku looked where Sora was pointing, "Come on, let's make a wish!"
"Sora, you know wishing on a star doesn't work." Riku said with a small smile, "It's like saying Santa is real." He said with a chuckle. Sora just scratched the back of his head. Sora secretly still believed in Santa Clause, but he wanted to look cool in front of Kairi. Though, he wished on that star that he would hit puberty soon. He still sounded like he was 12 years old. Sora just shook his head before resting back on the Paopu Tree. Suddenly, he had a gut feeling as he looked at the shooting star. Actually, the feeling wasn't his gut. It was his heart. And his heart was telling him to dive into the sea.
NOW!
Sora quickly jumped off the tree, took off his jacket and his big, yellow shoes and jumped into the ocean without a second thought. He didn't listen to his friends calling out his name, or that it was starting to get late and some real stars were poking out. He was only listening to his heart, guiding him to who knows where or why. He quickly took a deep breath and dived into the murky depths. He saw a light amongst the darkness before it started fading. Now he knew that it wasn't any normal shooting star. From what he can see, it was a person. He quickly started swimming deeper in order to save the person from drowning. He quickly grabbed her. He knew it was a girl because he was holding onto private parts. He would blush madly that night, but now was not the time.
Sora knew his breath wouldn't hold any longer so he started swimming to the surface. When his lungs were about to burst, he broke the surface. He quickly breathed in the fresh air. He quickly studied the girl's face. She looked about sixteen, seventeen at most. She also had blur hair. Sora swore he saw her before but he couldn't put his finger on it. When he snapped out of his trance and realised she wasn't conscious or breathing at all, he started making his way to land.
Kairi was in shock as she saw Sora drag a young woman in weird clothing from the sea, 'Is she from another world like me?' Kairi thought as she ran with Riku to Sora. She saw Sora hunched over the woman in only his red jumpsuit, his gloves and his crown necklace which miraculously didn't get lost. She always wondered why he wore gloves, but this really wasn't the time, 'Maybe I should ask him after.' "Sora, what's going o-" She didn't finish her sentence as Sora kissed the woman,
"WHOA! Sora?!" Riku yelled,
"I'm giving her CPR!" Sora frantically yelled back as he started doing the compressions. Kairi had a weird feeling in her gut. She never actually felt anything remotely like this. She didn't know what it was but she didn't like it. She also felt like she saw her before, unconsciously rubbing her thumb on her necklace. Riku was just staring at Sora. In just moments, he matured several years. He was acting like an adult, not even blushing or even bothered that he's touching a girl's assets or that he just gave away his first kiss. He couldn't help but feel a bit jealous but at the same time proud of the younger boy. After a few more cycles of kissing (making Kairi feel that bad feeling grow stronger) and compressions (in which Riku couldn't help but look away, blushing a bit), the woman started coughing up water and into Sora's face. Sora was frozen for a few seconds before breaking his serious face,
"OH GROSS!" He yelled as he ran and started washing his face in the ocean water before getting hit in the back of the head. He groaned and turned around to see that Kairi had one of his shoes in her hands, his clothes beside her and Riku just shaking his head,
"Sora! You had us worried! You could've told us before you dived into the sea." Kairi scolded, causing Sora to blush a bit before saying,
"Hey, don't blame me. Didn't really have time. Saving a life, ya know?" Sora said, trying to catch his breath. After a few seconds, Sora put on his clothes and went to the woman to see if she was okay, with Kairi following him, "Hey, are you okay?" He said gently as he lifted her head up a bit.
Aqua slowly opened her eyes. She felt pretty groggy, like she's been asleep for a long time. Too long. Her vision was extremely blurry, she could barely even make out if it was a person or an Unversed. All she knew that she was on the beach because of the sand going down her clothes and the water in her shoes. When her vision started to clear, she had enough visual information to know that it was sunset. When she saw a skin-coloured blob invaded her vision, she wanted to summon her Keyblade but found herself too tired to even lift her arm. Then it cleared to the point where she saw only a pair of eyes. A pair of blue eyes she knew too well.
"Ven!" She exclaimed as she somehow found the strength to hug her best friend, "V-Ven, I-I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Aqua sobbed as she buried her face in his shoulder as she cried all her pent-up tears, "Ven, p-"
"Um, sorry lady. But I'm not 'Ven'." A significantly higher pitched voice said. It was definitely boy though. Aqua pulled back and clearly saw a boy with Ven's blue eyes and Vanitas' hair but chocolate brown. She resisted the urge to punch him when she reminded herself that Vanitas had the same goal as herself, "Are you okay?"
"U-Uh." Aqua stammered. She couldn't find her voice. She recognised him. It was Sora, that goofy smile can't be replicated, and way older than she last saw him. He looked like he just came out of the ocean. And now that Aqua thought about, she felt like it as well. She was frozen for a few seconds before she felt the fatigue starting to settle in, 'I really need some re-' Aqua then slipped into unconsciousness,
"Hello? Hey! Don't die! For the love of God, don't die!" Sora yelled out as he prepared himself to perform more CPR, only to be stopped by his auburn friend,
"Sora! Don't worry. She must be really tired. Let her rest." Kairi said gently. Though, in truth, she didn't want to see Sora kissing her again. She still had no idea what that feeling was, it just made her feel icky,
"Okay." Sora said, "I'll let her sleep in my house." Kairi really wanted to argue but bit her lip. Riku agreed, knowing how generous Sora's mum was and how he had some relatives staying over at his place so there wasn't much space. Kairi just nodded when Sora asked her to talk to her father about Aqua (Sora pointed out that he & Riku met her once and he remembered her name, but Riku has a really bad memory). After they helped Sora put Aqua in his boat and went back to the main island, they separated. Sora then put Aqua into a piggyback position and start making his way back to his house.
(A few hours later...)
Aqua woke up with a gasp and a massive headache. Her head was spinning and her heart was racing. After a few minutes of letting her heart rest and letting the pain fade away, Aqua took in her surroundings. It was just a plain old room, with a side table with a lamp on it, a desk and a few other things, but she couldn't make it out because it was too dark to see. She could make out, though, that the walls were recently painted brown and that she was on a queen-size bed. She figured out she was in a guest room of some sort. She sighed as she fell back and hit the pillow. After spending multiple nights either on her Keyblade Glider or on the ground, she finally got a proper bed she desperately missed. She turned on the lamp and pulled out her journal she brought from the Land of Departure. Thanks to some magic, it wasn't damaged or even wet. The entire book was okay. She went to get her Wayfinder when she realised it was gone. She panicked and started looking around the room, seeing if she dropped it. But she gave up, realising that she must've lost it when she was dragged from the ocean. She cried a few tears, remembering when she gave Ventus & Terra their own, the day before the beginning of everything had almost shattered their friendship and their hearts,
"No matter where we are, we'll always be connected." She said, and now it felt like that connection was shattered. It was the last thing she had to connect her with her friends apart from her memories, 'Stop crying. You'll find them someday. You can't spend the rest of your life looking for it.' She thought to herself. She eventually stopped crying and took deep breath. Right now, she needed to test herself. First: Magic. She tried conjuring up Blizzaraga, but ended up with a basic Blizzard, and a pathetic one at that, 'Great, my magic reserves are again low. I can't use Cure now unless I rebuild it up again.' She thought as she dispelled the snowflake.
Next off: Keyblade. She held out her hand and started concentrating. Back then, Aqua didn't even have to think, she would just summon it. But now, she was putting all her effort into it, thinking about what's important to her. Master Erauqs taught her that in her younger years as a Keyblade Wielder, Focus on what is important to you and why you need the Keyblade. If you try hard enough, it will come to you. Her Master's voice echoed in her head. She was thinking about using her Keyblade Glider to get out of this world and find her friends. But it wasn't working. But she stayed calm and tried again.
And again...
And again...
And again...
And again...
And again...
Until she started to rage.
"Come on!" She said through gritted teeth as she glared at empty air in her hands. She was sweating, for God sakes! It didn't take this long for it to come into her hands. She wanted to yell out so badly but she didn't want to wake anyone up. She knew she could do it. She felt it in her palms and it was trying to come, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough.
The same thing that made her lose her friends.
She wanted the Keyblade to come just she could at least see them at least once. She wanted to see them. She wanted to see Ventus, "I don't care if I die! I WON'T STOP UNTIL I FIND HIM!" She yelled as a sudden flash of light appeared in her hands. She started panting after, too tired from all the effort she put into that. After a few minutes, just in case she woke anyone up, she silently cheered. She felt it in her hands. Her Keyblade! The thing that had escaped her for all this time! It was back and... It was short.
Really short.
Embarrassingly short.
It was more of an oversized key more than a real Keyblade.
It was Rainfell, her first Keyblade.
"You've got to be kidding me." Aqua muttered as she stared at her original Keyblade. She already missed Stormfall. She gasped when she remembered something she read in the library back home once, 'In ancient times, a Keyblade Master is determined when their Keyblade becomes an upgraded version of itself. After the worlds separated, the Mark of Mastery Exam was created to make more Masters due to the shortage of them and the fact that many Keyblade Wielders have died before it could even evolve into its advanced version. Does that mean I-' Aqua froze as she realised why she was so weak. Why she even struggled to summon a basic Keyblade.
'I'm not a Keyblade Master anymore.'
(Kairi's house)
While Sora was sleeping, Riku was preparing and making maps and Aqua smashed her skull against her first Keyblade, Kairi was staying up late and was looking at her necklace. After seeing Aqua, she couldn't help but look at her necklace for some reason. She didn't remember where she got it; maybe it was from back in her world. She didn't know. It also reminded her of something she grabbed from the Play Island.
It was a blue good luck charm.
She never got the name but she knew the legend on how sailors would use it to keep them safe. But it was normally made from shells. This one, however, was made from glass and metal. She had a feeling it was Aqua's so she decided to return it tomorrow. Though, the more she looked at it, the more it felt like she's seen it before. She looked at her necklace again and stared at it. Suddenly, something flashed in her mind. It wasn't clear but it was there. She quickly put the good luck charm and her necklace on her bedside when another thing flashed. It laster longer and it was clearer. It was Aqua and a giant mouse about her height. She realised it was her younger years. She then yelled out in pain as all these memories started rushing into her mind, 'UGH! WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!?' She yelled in her thoughts as it all came back to her.
Her Grandmother.
Radiant Garden.
Radiant Garden getting controlled by those Shadows.
'I remember.' Was Kairi's last thought as she slipped into unconsciousness.
Save Game... Quit!
Hah! Didn't see that one coming, did you? Eh, actually, I won't be surprised if you did. Anyway, please review!
UknownHero signing off, my friends!