Hello, my friends! Welcome to another chapter of Awaken by Time! Sorry for not updating in a long time but you should be used to it by now. I have some other fic I promised to update daily and it takes all my free time to get it done and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, thanks for the support so far and I hope you enjoy. Let's get started. By the way, I still stink at fight scenes but I'll get better. Eventually.
Load Game... Start!
Chapter 7: Answers
There were questions running through Aqua's mind as she looked at the battle in front of her. How did this person know about the Keyblade? Why did he want to take their Keyblades away? But more importantly, why did Sora want to want to do this alone? From what she's seen, the man Sora is fighting had years and years of experience. Sora was an amateur at best. He only beat her because she was rusty from being how-many-years out of practice. Maybe because as time went on, her abilities started to fade but right now she needed to be ready in case Sora needed help.
For all she knew, this man will take Sora's Keyblade, conscious or not.
-Sora vs Leon-
Things weren't as easy as Sora expected.
From how things were going on, this guy made Riku look like 2 year old with a stick.
But he needed to do this. He needs to be strong for the one resting in his heart.
'Kairi…' Sora thought before jumping back from a clash and charging at him. He took a swing but the man in leather quickly blocked it without even looking and countered with a slash. Sora got knocked back and landed on his back a few feet away, 'What's up with this guy? I can't even hit him!' Sora thought before jumping out of the way of a fire ball, 'I need to take this guy down fast.' Sora thought as he tried catching his breath,
"What? Giving up already?" The man taunted. Sora took in a deep breath and went back into his battle stance. He wasn't going to fall for his taunt. Instead, he tried to analyse the man. So far, all he's shown was that he can do a lot of damage in one slice and that his sword can shoot fire balls. Or very slow, burning bullets. Either way, he had to take this guy down fast. Leon ran up to Sora and started slashing at the young Keyblade Wielder. Sora was barely keeping up with his attacks as he blocked every single one. Leon did admit he was impressed but he knew Sora has very low stamina compared to more skilled opponents. He decided to see if this kid could see an opening in his defenses. He slacked off a little in his attacks and made a decent opening for a counterattack. He was impressed to see that Sora found this quickly and did what he expected. What he didn't expect was that his combo was actually pretty damaging. He was stronger than a normal civilian that's for sure.
Sora mentally cheered as he was able to get his first few hits on the man and from the looks of it, it actually hurt him a little. It gave him encouragement to keep pressure on him and take him down. Sora charged at Leon while he was stunned and started attacking him with everything he had. Leon recovered and blocked a few swings before countering. Sora jumped out of the way and countered himself, hitting the man at the hip. And that didn't stop Sora. He started slashing at Leon with no remorse as he pushed him towards the middle of the district, getting faster and faster with each hit, before finally finishing him off with a blow to the gut and a slash to the face.
'I-I won.' Sora thought as he tried to recover his stamina. The man he just defeated was now kneeling before him, like a knight kneeling before his king. It was kinda nice knowing he could beat someone way older than him. Now to finish him off, "Now… you're… gonna…" Sora realized now how exhausted he really was, and how light-headed he felt, "…You're gonna…" Sora finally gave into his fatigue and collapsed on the ground,
"Sora!" Aqua called out as she ran towards the unconscious boy. She kneeled before him and checked his injuries. Nothing too serious, a few scratches here and there and some burns. Nothing magic, medicine and some rest can't fix,
"Friend of yours?" A girl behind them asked. Aqua jumped a little before looking behind her. She had short, black hair and wears a metal headband with two green tassels, a yellow scarf, tan short-shorts with another loose, blue belt around her waist, white socks that reach about mid-thigh, orange shoes, and mesh sleeves on her arms that disappear into orange, fingerless gloves with black bands constricting the ends. Aqua nodded before she continued to look for more injuries. The girl looked at the boy and saw her friend looking pretty beaten. She just came after hearing about the commotion in the First District so when she saw the scene, she put two and two together and figured out what happened, 'This is perfect.' Yuffie thought evilly, thinking about all the stuff she could make Leon do with this information, "Aw, you're slipping, Leon." Leon cracked his neck and stood up,
"I went easy on him. Looks like things are worse than we thought." Leon said before looking at the boy with the Keyblade, "A lot worse."
"Why did you attack us?" Aqua asked as she stood up and summoned Rainfell, surprising Yuffie, "Who do you work for? Why do you want the Keyblade?" She said as she pressed her Keyblade against Leon's neck. Yuffie was about to throw a shuriken at her but Leon signaled to stop,
"If want answers, you're gonna have to come with us." Leon answered as he pushed the sword away and walked towards the Second District, "Bring the kid with you. Oh, and don't summon your Keyblade outside of the First District. You don't want the Heartless to get to you." He said before he left,
"Does he always act like that?" Aqua asked the ninja,
"Well, most of the time." Yuffie answered before she thinking again, "Okay, all of the time." Aqua sighed as she un-summoned Rainfell picked up Sora, "Oh, don't be so sad. Things could be way worse. C'mon, I'll help you get uh…"
"Sora."
"Sora to the Hotel safely." Aqua nodded as she followed the cheerful girl out of the First District. Right now, a Hotel sounded like heaven.
(Meanwhile…)
Donald & Goofy were walking in the Alleyway, still searching for any sign of their King. Or at least this Leon person. And the Key. Maybe even Aqua or Ventus. Now that they thought about, they really need to have a checklist of everybody they have to find, and Donald was not trusting Goofy at writing it down. Maybe Chip or Dale, "Gawrsh, there's nobody here." The Knight said as he looked around the dark Alleyway, "Sure is spooky!"
"Aw, phooey!" Donald said as he puffed out his chest, "I'm not scared!" Suddenly, someone tapped the 'Brave Duck' on his shoulder, causing him to freak out and grab Goofy like he was his only hope. The two turned around and saw a young woman with brown, long hair behind them,
"Excuse me. Did the King send you?" The Mage & Knight's eyes widened.
A lead!
(Back to Sora & Aqua)
"Come on, you lazy bum. Wake up." The voice was familiar to Sora. He groaned as he started to wake up, wondering what happened after the battle. He remembered kicking the guy's butt before everything just went back. Everything was blurry but he was able to barely focus on the person in front of him, "You okay?"
"I guess…" Sora answered before realizing who was in front of him,
"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade." Kairi explained. Sora was about to say that he was thankful that Kairi was okay, until he remembered.
"WE HAVE KAIRI'S HEART WITHIN US!"
"We have Kairi's heart within us…" Sora repeated as he clutched his chest before looking at 'Kairi', "You're not real."
"What are you talking about? I am real!" 'Kairi' said, looking rather confused, before she switched to a more matured voice, "I'm the great ninja Yuffie." Suddenly, in a flash of light she was gone, replaced by a 16 year old woman. She turned her head towards the man leaning against the wall, "I think you might've over done it, Squall."
"That's Leon." The man reminded the ninja. After that, Aqua woke up from the nap she took. No weird dreams, just some well needed rest, "Okay, now we can get this conversation started."
"What conversation?" Aqua asked,
"About… everything I guess. The situation, your weapons, stuff like that." Yuffie answered before looking at the Kingdom Key & Rainfell leaning against the wall, "The Keyblade... Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures. It turns out that's how they were tracking you."
"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them." Leon continued, "But it won't work for long. Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one." He then looked at Aqua, "Well, chosen two." He then picked up Sora's Keyblade, only for it to reappear in Sora's hands, "Well, I suppose beggers can't be choosers." Aqua summoned her own Keyblade back into her hands,
"What are you talking about? The Keyblade chose him for a reason. I don't know if it was because of his heart or something else but I know he's worthy to wield a Keyblade, no matter what you say." Aqua argued, ticked off that Leon thought that Sora wasn't a worthy wielder when he clearly was,
"Hm. And I'm assuming you're more experienced than the kid." Leon said,
"Five years of experience and earned the title of Keyblade Master." This surprised the two who didn't know. They knew a little about what a Keyblade could do but they didn't know there was something called a Keyblade Master. She must be really strong, "Well, I used to be one anyway."
"Huh?" Yuffie asked,
"She lost it." Sora answered for Aqua, "She's about my level now." Sora then frown, "Wait a minute. I don't understand what's going on. Who is 'them'? What about my heart? Why are they tracking me?" Leon sighed as he looked at Sora,
"Let's start from the beginning."
"Okay, you know there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town, right?" Aerith asked Donald & Goofy in the Red Room, right next to the room that had about 4 (counting Ven) out of 5 things they needed to find,
"Yeah." Donald answered as he nodded,
"But they're supposed to be a secret." Goofy pointed out,
"They've been secret because they've never been connected." Aerith added before continuing in a more somber tone, "Until now. When the Heartless came, everything changed."
"The Heartless?" Aqua asked,
"The ones that attacked you guys, remember?" Yuffie reminded them. They both nodded. How could they not forget about the Shadows that almost ripped their hearts out of their chests and killed the guy whose heart became one of them,
"Those without hearts." Leon spoke up, "The darkness in people's hearts-that's what attracts them. And there is darkness within every heart."
"Some more than others." Aqua muttered, thinking about Terra and sighing, 'We'll save you from the darkness. Just wait for us.'
"Hey, have you heard of someone named Ansem?" Yuffie asked Sora & Aqua,
"Ansem?" Goofy repeated the name slowly, trying to see if it rang a bell,
"He was studying the Heartless. He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report." Aerith continued,
"Gawrsh, uh, can we see it?" The woman shook her head,
"Its pages are scattered everywhere."
"Scattered?" The magical duck repeated, surprised,
"Too many worlds." She answered simply,
"Oh, then maybe the King went to find 'em." The knight guessed,
"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly."
"We gotta find him quick!"
"Wait!" Donald called out. He noticed that the focus of the scene was a bit too high so he grabbed the screen of my computer and focused it on him, "First, we need to find that 'key'!"
"That's right. The Keyblade." Aerith said as she nodded,
"So… this is the key…" Sora muttered as he held up the weapon before looking at Aqua's. They were so drastically different. He guessed that there were different Keyblades for different Wielders to match who they were. He imagined if he used Aqua's Keyblade and vice versa. It didn't look right and he was sure it would feel awkward to use in a fight,
"Exactly!" Yuffie said, snapping Sora out of his thoughts,
"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade. That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what." Leon told the two, "And with two here right now, I'm surprised they haven't found you two yet." Aqua was shocked. She guessed that they acted like the Unversed but these things would actively come after them and would keep trying to kill them. And that would mean that anyone around them would be in danger,
"Don't worry." Yuffie said after seeing Aqua's expression of sadness, "If there's enough light, or people, in the area, the Heartless won't come. They hate light. The attack on the First District was a fluke." Aqua sighed in relief. Now, if she only had some Light-based attacks…
"I didn't exactly ask for this." Sora spoke up, "I know it chose me for a reason but… why, out of all people, me?"
"Maybe you have something special inside you don't see, or you have a great destiny you have to fulfill. Either way, the Keyblade chooses its Master. And it chose you." Yuffie answered,
"So tough luck." Leon summed it up nicely,
"Sora, don't worry about it. I'll help you master the Keyblade." Aqua told Sora. It made him feel a little bit better, knowing that he'll get better and better until he can take on anything,
"How did all this happen?" Sora muttered, "I remember being in my room…" Sora then realized something very important, "Wait! What happened to my island? Riku? Kairi…" Sora & Aqua unconsciously rubbed their chest, where their friend lied within,
"You know what? I really don't know." Leon answered truthfully. Aqua didn't want to tell Sora. He's already dealing with Keyblades and Kairi being in his heart and no way was she adding to that pile. After letting the facts settle in, Sora noticed the chest on the table with the glowing keyhole,
"What's that?" Sora asked as he stood up and looked at the chest,
"Sora, use your Keyblade to unlock it." Aqua said as she got up as well, "It isn't shaped like a key for style." Sora nodded. He remembered having to pry open the chests he found back at island with his wooden sword and getting a Potion or-
He had Potions in his pocket and he didn't use them while fighting Riku, which really could've helped.
Sora groaned as he wanted to hit himself for his forgetfulness before hopping up on the table and tapping the chest. Suddenly, it popped open and sent a glowing orb out of it. Sora quickly caught in midair as it faded, "What's this?" He muttered to himself as he looked at the golden bottle. He's never seen anything like it,
"That's an Elixir." Yuffie answered, "You better keep that. It can fully recover you in battle and are a lot more helpful than Potions. But they're more expensive and rarer so save it for when you're really close to, you know, dying."
"I'll keep that in mind." Sora said as he put in a pocket before looking at Aqua, "Aqua, can you come outside for a minute?" Aqua raised an eyebrow before nodding. They went out to the balcony and started talking about their next move and what they want with the Munny they have on them, with a combined total of 1000 munny between them. Sora then decided that he needed confirmation and if what she said was true, "Is Kairi… really in my heart?"
"A part of her is in mine too." Aqua answered as she sighed, "Why do you ask? Are you worried?"
"Well, I don't know I guess. I just, I just needed to know that she's there." Sora then clutched his chest, "And… I'm sorta glad."
"Hm?" Sora smiled at her,
"It's good to know… that she's safe within me and… that I only need to find Riku so we can be together again." He said as he looked up at the stars, "I don't know how long but I know we'll find Riku & revive Kairi someday. I promise you, we'll find a way for us to be together again. I know it." Aqua smiled at Sora, believing that they could and they would, no matter what the cost,
"Thank you, Sora…"
"You too, Kai." Sora said out of reflex before he realized what he just heard, 'Wait, what?'
Save Game… Quit!
Whew! Done! Thank you everyone who's read!
UknownHero signing off, my friends!