Hey there! You know me, the UknownHero here! And welcome to another chapter of Awaken By Time! Wow, I really need to start updating my other fics more frequently but I did make a promise that I would update weekly. Anyway, thanks for all the support so far and I hope you enjoy.
Load Game… Start!
Chapter 5: Shadow of the Storm
Aqua woke up in cold sweat in the middle of the night, "It was just a nightmare, Aqua." She told herself, "It was just a nightmare." She then flopped back on her bed and looked up at the ceiling, wondering about the nightmare she just had. At first, she thought it was a good dream. She didn't time travel how many years into the future and she was searching for Terra. It didn't end well. She saw herself wandering around in the Darkness for so many years. Sure, she got saved by Sora, but it was already too late. Xehanort won. Kingdom Hearts was his. Light was gone, dead. Hope just vanished. And then she just saw everything crumble in front of her. People, worlds, and then eventually the entire universe. All caused that man and his lust for power and knowledge, 'I won't let that happen.' Aqua thought as she summoned Rainfell. Ever since she summoned it, it got easier and easier. Though she would still have to think about it, at least she could do it at a moment's notice. She looked at the clock Sora's mum put in her room and saw that it was 10pm. She decided to turn in early since she was pretty tired, "Even though I've only slept for 2 hours, I don't think I can go back." She muttered to herself, until she got idea, 'Didn't Ven used to drink warm milk to help him sleep?' She got up and went to the door. She slept in her clothes since there weren't any pajamas to spare but she didn't mind much. She went into the hallway and saw Sora's mum cooking downstairs. She was glad she agreed to let her live here. She guessed that dinner was almost done so she decided to tell Sora that. She went to his door and knocked on it, "Sora, dinner's almost ready."
"I-I'm not feeling hungry." Sora responded without opening the door. Aqua narrowed her eyes. This situation was pretty familiar,
"C'mon Sora, it's your favourite." Aqua had no idea what Sora's favourite food was but if her hunch was correct,
"You mean fried salmon with lemon juice?" 'That's Ven's favourite too.' Aqua shook her head and opened the door and saw Sora halfway out of his window with his wooden sword on his belt, "Uh… it's not what it looks like."
"Sora, get down now." Sora nodded and obeyed and sat down on his chair, "Sora, what were you doing?" Aqua asked in her big sister voice,
"Aqua, there's a storm and I'm worried about the raft." Aqua raised an eyebrow,
'The news said that it wouldn't rain at all for a few weeks.' Aqua thought as she looked out of Sora's window. She eyes widened. There was a storm, with a lot of wind and rain. But the giant pitch black cloud over the Play Island told Aqua that this was no normal storm, "Sora, c'mon!" Aqua said as she climbed through the window, "We're going to the Play Island!"
"Okay!" Sora said with a goofy smile as he jumped through the window. He and Aqua looked at each other before nodding and jumping to the ground before they rushed towards the docks,
"Sora, Aqua! Dinner's ready! C'mon down! Sora?" Sora's mother yelled. Sora paused and looked back. He had a gut feeling that he wasn't going to see her for a long time. He looked at Aqua and then the Play Island before continuing to the docks. When they left the shore, the waves were getting a little wild but it was calm enough for Sora to power through. While Sora was rowing, Aqua was looking at the dark cloud,
"This isn't a normal storm." Aqua said, though it was drowned out by the wind. When they docked at the Play Island, Sora saw that there were boats already there,
"What's that?" When he looked closer, he saw names scratched into the sides, "Riku's boat! And Kairi's!"
"Sora, watch out!" Aqua yelled as she tackled the 14 year old down, just saving him from a creature,
"What was that?" Sora asked as more and more came from the ground. Aqua gasped,
"What kind of Unversed are these!?" Aqua yelled out as she summoned her Keyblade as she went into her battle stance,
"Whoa…" Sora muttered as he saw her weapon, "It isn't very long, is it?" Aqua didn't respond as she quickly destroyed 3 "Unversed",
"It may be short but it's the only weapon that'll protect us from these things." Aqua told the stunned boy. Sora shook his head and looked at his wooden sword before seeing another one of those things behind them. He tried to hit it but all it did was phase through it,
"You weren't kidding!" Sora yelled as he back off from the thing, which Aqua quickly eliminated it. Sora looked around and saw that Riku was at the smaller island and staring out to the sea, "Hey, I think that's Riku over there! We have to go get him! Maybe Kairi's with him!"
"What!?" Aqua exclaimed, "Let's move Sora before they get hurt!"
"Got it!" Sora yelled over the storm before looking at his sword, "This thing is useless." Sora muttered as he threw it away and ran up to Aqua, "Let's go." Aqua nodded and they ran to the shed as Aqua was destroying anything in their path. Sora felt like a bit of a burden, 'I wish I had the sword from the dreams.' Sora thought as he saw Aqua killing another group of "Unversed". When there were starting to overwhelm them, he quickly pulled Aqua into the shed to catch their breath, "What were those?"
"Unversed." Aqua answered as she sat down against a wall, "But I've never seen anything like them."
"They're not Unversed." Sora said without thinking,
"What?"
"I said I don't think they're Unversed." Sora repeated, wondering where that came from, "They look more like shadows to me." Aqua raised an eyebrow before thinking,
"Maybe." Aqua muttered, "I can feel negative emotions in them but the darkness is way more powerful in them. Maybe they aren't Unversed after all."
"Hey, I've been wondering."
"Go for it."
"One, what's that?" Sora asked as he pointed at Rainfell. Aqua guessed it wouldn't hurt. And she knew that Sora will eventually gain a Keyblade sooner or later,
"It's called a Keyblade." Aqua started to explain as she held it up, "Though you can probably tell from its name, it's basically a key that doubles as a sword. With the key part, it can unlock anything and everything that has a lock. But, it is also a very effective weapon as well and it can become even more powerful with things called Keychains. It can fend off monsters that no normal weapon can hit as well as strengthen the user by making connections. Though, there are only a few people who can wield them. You see, Keyblades are sentient and choose who wields it. The weapon chooses the master instead of the other way around."
"What do you mean by connections?" Aqua smiled at that,
"To make yourself more powerful, you must become friends with another person. You can have the power of an entire world by becoming friends with many people." Sora thought for a second before smiling,
"Well, people do say I'm a friendly guy. I'll be at your level in no time! If I ever get one." This actually surprised Aqua,
"At my level?"
"Well, you're obviously better at fighting and you have that, so you obviously powerful enough to wield it." Sora got surprised when Aqua sighed sadly,
"Actually, I'm pretty weak. I used to be strong and I'm back at Level 1. And right now, even those things outside can kill me in a few hits if my hunch is correct and that they're only the basic type." Aqua then sighed again, "And, I'm supposed to be dead." Sora's eyes widened at that before putting on a comforting smile,
"Well, maybe you have a bigger destiny than you realize. You just have to find it." Sora said before he stood up, "We better hurry and get to Riku before more of those Shadows come and get him." Aqua gripped her Keyblade and nodded. They went upstairs and they both put one hand on the door, "Alright, you keep those things off our backs while I get Riku & Kairi, then we go find some place we can wait until the whole thing blows over."
"It's better than my one."
"What was it?" Aqua giggled,
"I don't have one." Sora smiled before they both nodded and kicked the door open, "GO!" Aqua yelled as she rejected a Shadow. Sora started sprinting as he dodged all the monsters flinging themselves at him. He was panicking so he was just flopping all over the place and tripping,
"They should've made a better bridge!" Sora exclaimed as he jumped over a Shadow after he tripped. He quickly dodged another one and ducked under another, "And this bridge is a lot longer than I remember."
"Sora, focus!" Aqua yelled out as she cartwheeled out of the way of another Shadow, "C'mon, there's not even that many Unversed!" Sora shook his head and finally made it to the smaller island, 'There's Riku and Kairi should b-wait, WHERE'S KAIRI!?'
"Where's Kairi? I thought she was with you!" Sora said to Riku, who's back was still turned,
"The door has opened…" Riku told him,
"What are you talking about? We've gotta find Kairi!" Sora tried to convince him. Every lesson, book, TV show, basically everything said 'Light: Good. Dark: VERY VERY BAD!'
"Kairi's coming with us!" Riku said as he looked up at the black hole forming above them, "Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!" Sora looked up and saw the black hole, 'Is he insane!?' Sora thought, 'I have to get him to snap out of it.'
"Riku!" Sora yelled out as he saw his best friend getting engulfed in shadows. He turned around and held out his hand, like he did in the dreams. He couldn't let him fall into darkness so he ran and tried to grab his hand, only for his foot to land on a black hole on the ground, 'No!'
"SORA!" Aqua yelled as she saw the young boys sinking into the ground. She also saw Riku giving in, 'I won't let Sora suffer like I did!' Aqua thought as she ran towards them, "NO!" Aqua yelled as she saw Riku sink into the ground while black tentacles wrap around Sora before she was blinded, killing all the surrounding Shadows around them. When she opened her eyes, she stared in awe she saw Sora standing there with a Keyblade, the one from the X-Blade, "Kingdom Key." Aqua said without thinking. Sora opened his eyes as well and saw the weapon in his arm. Not too light, but not too heavy. And it looked like a key…
Keyblade… Keyblade…
"Keyblade." Sora said as he saw Aqua standing there and smiled, "I guess I really am going to be at your level Aqua." Aqua snapped out of it and giggled a bit before destroying a Shadow behind her. Sora looked at his new weapon and said, "Alright. Let's get to the Secret Place. We always hide in there whenever there's a storm. I think a black hole counts as well." Aqua already saw the black hole so she nodded as they made their way there. Sora was a natural swordsman as he was killing Shadows left and right, he was even catching up to Aqua's kill count, though she was keeping a good lead since these guys acted like the Flud of the Unversed. When they made their way there, they saw a door in front of them with two locks on it, "That wasn't there before!" Sora exclaimed,
"Hurry!" Aqua said as they both used their Keyblades to unlock the door and crawled inside before the door closed, keeping them inside and the Shadows out, "That was close." Aqua finally said after a few seconds. She was still trying to catch her breath,
"Let's go find Kairi." Sora said as he walked deeper into the cave while Aqua followed him. When he got to the cave full of drawings, he saw Kairi and she was as pale as a ghost. But from Aqua's view point, she saw a bright pink heart, 'What?'
"Sora… Aqua…" Kairi said weakly. Aqua couldn't believe it as she heard Kairi in her head,
"Kairi!" Sora responded, only for the door to open, letting in a powerful gust of wind. In Aqua's view point, she saw the heart crack down the middle,
"No!" Aqua yelled before Kairi's heart split into two and entered both into Sora and Aqua, with Sora getting a bigger piece, "What?" Aqua said before the two Heart Containers were blown out of the cave, which caused both of them to black out. When Aqua & Sora woke up, they found themselves on the last piece of "Destiny Island, "No…"
"AQUA!" Sora yelled as the giant monster from his dreams appeared above them. They looked at each other before looking at the monster and going into their battle stances, "You haunted my dreams for the last time! Today, you'll die!"
(Boss Fight)
-Sora & Aqua vs Darkside-
Aqua was surprised that Sora was this angry at the Darkside, but she guessed that something gave him the courage to stand up to it. She shook her head and glared at the thing,
"Go for the arms! Take the head when you can!" Sora ordered as he charged at the thing, only to switch directions as the fallen angel-type Shadow punched the ground, causing the Keyblade Wielders to jump over the shock wave. When Sora saw the Shadows spawning, he yelled, "Aqua, run up it's arm while I take care of the Shadows!"
"Got it!" Aqua yelled back as she ran up the arm did an air combo on it before grabbing onto one of its hairs as the thing started to stand back up. The monster saw the girl hanging onto one of its hairs, so it decided to crush her against it's face. He raised his arm, making Sora grab it's arm. When Aqua saw this, she smirked, 'They're so dumb.' Aqua thought as she let go at the last minute so the thing punched itself in the face, flinging Sora he could stab the thing right on the top of its skull. He twisted his Keyblade out and jumped off as the monster held it's head in pain before it scooped out some darkness from the air and created a large orb before making it into smaller orbs and raining them down on its enemies. Sora smirked and knocked them away from him and even sending them back while Aqua dodged before she used as many Blizzard spells as she could to freeze its eyes. The Darkside hunched forward and rubbed its eyes, trying to get the ice out. Sora & Aqua used this opportunity to hack away at the head before it stood back up and kneeled down and sent homing orbs at them. This was Sora's main part of his trouble against this guy as he would always get hit by at least one, like right now,
"ACK! OOF! DAMN IT!"
"Sora!" Aqua yelled as she saw Sora getting destroyed by the orbs. She looked at the source and decided to do something very stupid, "TAKE THIS! STRIKE RAID!" Aqua yelled as she threw her Keyblade at the orb creating the homing missiles. This caused the thing to explode and blow them off the piece of land. Luckily, Sora grabbed a stray plank of wood that was floating around while Aqua was on a rock. Sora quickly got on like it was a skateboard and got control of it,
"It's like a hoverboard!" Sora exclaimed as he did a kickflip before he got serious and used his new board to fly around the thing. Though, the Darkside had it's own tricks as it started to float up, "Oh crap."
"Sora! You attack from above while I got bottom!" Aqua yelled as she felt the magic required for Blizzard regenerate quickly, "When I saw the word, attack!" She saw Sora nod and executed the plan. She quickly used the wind to her advantage and knocked it towards it's head. It got dazed so Aqua quickly froze it's arms behind it's back, "NOW!" Aqua yelled as she knocked another large rock at the back of it's head, causing it to float up towards Sora. Sora dived down and pulled his Keyblade back before attacking it's head with one powerful slash, causing the thing to land back onto the piece of land. Sora gave a small cheer as he jumped off the plank while Aqua made her way to the floating platform. Before they could make sure it was dead, it slammed it's fist down on them while grabbing them at the same time before lifting them up to it's face. They were unconscious. It then threw them up into the air as it gathered as much darkness it could into the palms of it's hands before aiming it at them. It looked like it was going to kill them, until both of their eyes snapped open. They quickly resummoned their Keyblades into their hands and yelled out,
"DUAL BREAK RAID!"
Both of their Keyblades glowed a blinding light as they hurtled towards their targets, twirling, intertwining with each other making a drill.
That went right through the monster's head.
The Darkside disappeared in a burst of darkness in an instant, "YEAH!" Sora cheered from the air,
"Uh… Sora… why aren't we falling!?" Aqua yelled/asked as they were floating towards the black hole. On instinct she grabbed Sora's hand.
And this time, she never let go.
Save Game… Quit!
Whew! Done! Hope it doesn't take a month!
UknownHero signing off, my friends!