Hey UknownHero here and welcome to another chapter of Awaken By Time! Next week is school holidays for me and that means more chapters! For RvB: Reactions at least. I'm gonna start updating that until it's done then I'll go back to updating React Watch Believe Yikes weekly. Anyway, let's do this.
Load Game… Start!
Chapter 8: Beginning to End
"Sora, what's wrong?" Aqua asked the young Keyblade Wielder as he shook his, like he was trying to get something out of his head,
"I-I don't know." Sora answered truthfully, "I thought I heard Kairi a second. Must be my imagination."
"Sora!" Sora winced as he felt a bit of pain at the back of his head, like he was slapped there, "Please!"
"There it is again!" Sora said as he rubbed his forehead, 'Kairi, are you really there? Can you hear me?' He thought. He wanted to check if he was going crazy or if it was really Kairi, or at least her heart, communicating with him,
"Yes, I can hear you." He heard Kairi say, relieving him, "Where am I? I'm this glass platform and I can't get off!"
"Like from the dreams…" Sora muttered to himself. He remembered seeing girls, all of them very beautiful in their own way, and three hearts but that was it. He wondered what it meant but didn't give it much thought, 'Kairi, what do you see? What's on that glass platform'
"I see... you, with a giant key. You're sleeping. Next to you head is me, Riku and Aqua." Kairi described as best as she could. She sounded scared. She just woke up and found herself there. She didn't know where she was, how she ended up on the pillar and she couldn't remember for the life of her what was her home again, 'And I just remembered…' She thought sadly. She felt empty without those memories, like a piece of her was gone. But she did remember someone had taken her world over and Sora's promise. Now that she thought about it, it was almost impossible. He was a dreamer, aiming for the impossible every day. That what made him Sora. And that what made her believe he could do it,
'Um, Kairi, I have to tell you something.' Sora thought before explaining everything that had happened, from Destiny Island to his fight with Leon, though he exaggerated a bit saying that Leon barely got a scratch on him. After that, he could almost see Kairi's face, full of disbelief and confusion, 'Are you alright? How do you feel?'
"I-I-I'm not sure." Kairi told him, "I just… need some time to process this."
'It's okay, take your time.' Sora thought before Aqua snapped her fingers in front of his face,
'Just like Ven.' Aqua thought as she giggled a little, remembering all the times Ven had spaced out on her & Terra. It was rather funny seeing him freak out in the middle of a lesson, shouting out that he was paying attention the whole time. But now it was in the past. And she was sure gonna miss it, "Sora, you sort of spaced out there for a good few minutes. Are you alright?" Aqua asked, with look telling him not to lie to her,
"Well, uh… I can talk to Kairi now." Sora answer, causing Aqua's eyes to widen,
"Really?"
"Yeah, she's okay and I told her everything. She just needs some alone time to process everything." Sora explained, "I'm just happy she's safe."
"Me too." Aqua said before taking a deep breath, "Let's get inside, okay?" Sora nodded, following Aqua back inside the hotel room,
"So… how did the talk go?" Yuffie asked as the two Keyblade Wielders reentered the room,
"Good." Sora replied before he went up to Leon, "Leon, is there anything I should do?" The Gunblade Wielder nodded slightly,
"Sooner or later, the Heartless will find you two. You'd best prepare yourself." He said,
"'Prepare yourself'?" Sora repeated, slightly confused,
"To fight for your life." Leon said. Sora clutched his chest, feeling his heart beat. He was worried. He could defend himself but what about his best friend? Was the Heartless not only after him, but Kairi's? He looked at Aqua, who only nodded at him. He something in her eyes saying that she trusted him and was confident he could protect Kairi. He was ready to face what the worlds have in store for him. He may not be skilled or strong, but he had people counting on him and that was enough, "Are you ready?" Sora took one last look at Aqua, who nodded at him before he gave Leon his answer,
"I'm ready for anything!" Leon had to admit, the kid was determined. He liked that. He could see Sora beating him in the future, but that was probably gonna take years, upon years of training. But it'll be one hell of a battle. But now, to more important matters,
"Yuffie, let's go join Aerith. She should be there by now with the other visitors."
"Visitors?" Aqua asked, "I didn't k-"
"Leon!" Yuffie shouted as she saw a plume of darkness appear in the room before it formed into a Soldier,
"Yuffie! Go!" Leon shouted. Yuffie nodded and ran away into the next, surprising Aerith and flattening Donald,
"Yuffie?" Aerith asked, wondering why she was running, before she saw the Heartless in the other room and quickly followed the ninja. While this was happening, Leon, Sora & Aqua had gotten out their weapons and were ready to kill some Heartless,
"Sora! Aqua! Let's go!" Leon exclaimed before he chased the Soldier out the window and into the Back Alley. The two looked at each other before following Leon's lead and jumping out the window,
"Uh… you alright Donald?" Goofy asked as the door closed, revealing a very flat duck, slowly peeling off the wall. Meanwhile, in the Back Alley, Sora & Aqua landed just as Leon destroyed the Soldier. Suddenly, more Heartless started to appear around them. They put their backs against each others as they got ready for battle,
"Don't bother with the small fry! Find the leader! Let's go!" Leon ordered as he started slaying Heartless like it was nothing,
"'Small fry', huh?" Sora asked as he looked at a Large Body before going into his battle stance,
"We can't waste time here! We need to move!" Aqua said before they dodged a belly flop from the Large Body. Aqua & Sora started running to the nearest exit to the Second District, with the Heartless chasing them. They ran away, knocking back any Heartless that managed to catch up with them. When they arrived at the entrance to the First District, they stood their ground and started killing as many Heartless as they could before they headed towards the Gizmo Shop to take a break. They ended up having to battle even more Heartless, and with the enclosed space it left them at a disadvantage. They managed to destroy all of them but it left them tired. Sora shared the Potion bottle he had with Aqua, leaving them refreshed and ready to move. They left the Gizmo Shop and started fighting their way towards the Third District, the only place they haven't really seen yet. When they made it to the door that lead to it, they stopped to recover some of their energy,
"How are you going Aqua?" Sora asked between breaths,
"Pretty well. A few scratches and a bruise or two." Aqua answered, "You?"
"Same." Sora then took in a deep breath and stretched, "Ready for more?"
"Always." Aqua said with a smile, causing Sora to smile as well. Within his heart, Kairi had the icky feeling again but it didn't really matter. She wanted to help Sora. He was fighting to protect himself and her. She felt useless. She wanted to pull her own weight and help. But until she figures out how, all she could do was watch her friends fight while she sat on the sidelines,
"I'll find a way eventually." She muttered as she saw Sora & Aqua enter the Third District. Above them, Goofy was trying to find the Key they were after. They searched everywhere but so far had no luck. It was either the Key was actively avoiding them, or it was invisible. He didn't know. All he wanted was his friend back, safe & sound,
"Goofy!" Donald exclaimed as he got out his staff. Goofy snapped out of his thoughts as he saw strange, black creatures starting to surround them. They looked scary and mean but it was nothing they couldn't handle. Well, he thought,
"Gawrsh, are these the Heartless guys?" the Knight asked as he got out his shield,
"Let's go get 'em, Goofy!" the Mage shouted as they did their battle cries and charged straight at the enemies, not noticing that a Large Body had pushed itself up to the front and was prepared to use its belly as a very bouncy shield. When they realized their mistake, it was already too late as they buried themselves deep in its belly before getting launched into the air,
"Do you hear that?" Aqua asked as they made it to the center of the District before she and Sora looked up and saw a flying duck and dog about to land on them. They tried to get away, but were too late as they were used as cushioning for their landing. While Sora & Aqua moaned in pain, Donald and Goofy recovered quickly and noticed the Kingdom Key in Sora's hand,
"The Key!" They exclaimed happily,
"My back." Aqua groaned. The two animated animals then noticed Rainfell in Aqua's hand,
"Two keys!?" They shouted as they got off the Keyblade Wielders. Aqua groaned again as she cracked her back before looking at who landed on them so rudely,
"Donald? Goofy?" Aqua asked,
"Aqua!?" The two shouted out loud,
"Heartless!" Sora shouted as he saw pillars rising from the ground, taking away any chance of escape. Suddenly, Soldiers and Shadows started appearing,
"No time for reunion!" Aqua said as everyone got out their weapons and went into their battle stances,
"Let's do this!" They shouted together as one before charging at the Heartless,
"THUNDER!" Donald shouted as he casted lightning bolts to destroy some Heartless before dodging a Cyclone from a Soldier and whacked it in the head a couple of times to kill it. Goofy used his shield to charge through some Shadows before throwing his shield to destroy the Soldiers, the shield bouncing off the walls before it returned to Goofy, "Good throw Goofy!"
"Thanks Donald!" Goofy called back before he got blindsided by a Large Body, causing him to be slammed against a wall. He was okay but he was dazed, making him open for attack. Luckily, Sora had saw this and blocked the Large Body just in time before it could cause Goofy more pain before he went and killed it for him. Once out of his daze, Goofy pulled out a Potion and drank, fully healing him, "Thank you!"
"No problem." Sora replied before they charged to take out more. Aqua was using a mix of magic and melee, destroying Heartless with great efficiency. She saw another batch of Heartless spawn so the first thing she did was get a Soldier, use Blizzard on it and knocking it up into the air,
"Sora! Up!" Aqua called out. Sora looked up and saw the frozen Heartless. Without any hesitation, Goofy set himself up so Sora could use his shield as a launch pad. Sora ran up and jumped off the shield to get to get high into the air and used his Keyblade to send the block of ice at the swarm of Heartless, with Donald taking care of the survivors with Fire. Once Sora had landed, everyone who had one used their Potions to heal themselves up, "It's good to see you two again!" Aqua told the King's Mage & Knight, "How have you guys been."
"Great, thanks for askin'." Goofy said. Donald walked up and to Aqua and pulled her down to his level. He narrowed his eyes before he started stretching and pinching her face,
"What are doing?" Aqua said as she pulled away,
"I was just wondering if she was just a hallucination." Donald replied, "But it's good to see again!"
"You know these guys?" Sora said,
"Yes. We've met a while ago while I was travelling. They're the King's Knight and Mage." Aqua explained, "How long has it been since then?"
"Ten years." Donald answered sadly,
"Yes, about ten y-" Aqua then stopped herself, realizing what Donald had just said, "Wait, what?" At that moment, limbs of a knight fell from the sky, causing everyone get away from the area. A torso and head soon followed, forming a giant, knight-like Heartless,
"I guess this is the leader." Sora muttered as everyone readied themselves, "It's on!"
"Let's do this!" Donald exclaimed as he started charging up his magic,
"Come on!" Goofy told everyone as he readied his shield,
"Prepare for defeat!" Aqua shouted as she got into her battle stance. The Guard Armour looked at the group. But all it could see were hearts ready for the taking. And it wasn't going to stop until they were one of them.
-Sora, Aqua, Donald & Goofy vs Guard Armour-
"Go!" Sora shouted as everyone charged at the Guard Armour, before having to retreat when the large Heartless started attacking. Donald almost got creamed as the Guard Armour's right fist almost crushed him, but Goofy blocked it before it could. Sora & Aqua jumped away just in time to dodge the Armour's stomping feet before they had to run away from the left arm of the thing. They needed a plan fast or else they were done for,
"Got any ideas!?" Aqua shouted as she jumped away,
"One!" Sora shouted back. He quickly got out of the way of an attack by the Armour's right leg and started hacking at it. From what Aqua could see with her Scan ability, it was doing damage and that was enough for her, "I've got this leg!"
"I'm going for the other one!" Goofy called out as he chased his limb,
"I'll take care of the left arm!" Donald shouted as he started using magic on his limb,
"Then I've got the right arm." Aqua muttered as she started having flashbacks. It was a similar strategy to the one she used back when they had to face that large Unversed together with Ven & Terra. It was also the time they broke up as friends but now was not the time for reminiscing. It was time for action, "Let's go."
Sora quickly dodged all the stomps from the right leg before he countered and attacked. He tried to keep moving, trying to keep it away from the others so they could deal with their limbs. But then he remembered about the torso, right before he got slammed into the wall by it. He was about to jump out and start attack the leg, it kicked him right in the gut and deeper into the wall, almost breaking through the other side. He didn't know how he lived through that but he had to get out now or die. He saw another kick coming so he used his Keyblade to block it, used all his strength to push it away and got out, "Sora, are you okay?" Kairi asked,
"I'll live." Sora groaned before trying to refocus on the leg, "I can do this." He muttered before charging at the leg. With some good timing, quick reflexes and luck, he was able to take it down to its final legs (no pun intended). The leg did one final charge at Sora but he got out of the way just in time and finished it off, leaving nothing but plumes of darkness, "Alright, time to help the others." He said as he went to help Donald, who was riding on his like it was a mechanical bull and blasting it with as much magic as he could,
"Getting dizzy!" The duck called out, now just holding on for dear life. Sora threw his Keyblade at it to get its attention before he ran to grab his weapon just in time to block the punch from it. Donald went flying and hit his head on a wall, knocking him out cold,
"Donald! Wake up!" Goofy shouted before getting out of range of a shockwave and throwing Donald a Potion, waking the Mage up. Sora gave a sigh of relief before he jumped out of the way of the right arm of the Guard Armour,
"Sorry!" Aqua quickly apologized before she casted Blizzard on it, making the limb focus in her, before she threw her Keyblade in hopes of stunning it. It bounced off the arm like it was nothing but she knew she did some damage. Not even giving it time to react, she jumped up and grabbed her Keyblade while it was in midair and quickly did an air combo on it, taking a good chunk of its health down. When she landed, she was instantly kicked by the remaining leg and into one of the Guard Armour's hands. Sora & Donald had been trying to take it down so they grabbed on while it lifted Aqua into the air. Aqua groaned and opened her eyes to see that she was in the Armour's grasp. She tried to get out but it was almost useless. It was not letting go of her any time soon. Then she saw the other arm rocketing towards her and quickly braced herself for a whole lot of pain.
That is, until the arm holding her became nothing but darkness.
Sora & Donald managed to destroy it just in time as the arm just barely missed them by mere inches and had got itself stuck in a wall. Aqua & Donald then blasted it with Blizzard and Fire, destroying it. When they landed, Goofy was knocked back but recovered quickly, throwing his shield and destroying the last of the limbs. The Trinity Trio and Aqua then focused on the last part of the Guard Armour, the head and torso. The torso started spinning around and was bouncing off the walls, trying to hit them. They dodged the attack as best as they could but they all ended up being slammed against a wall. They recovered and used up the last of their Potions, with Sora giving his Elixir to Donald since he needed the most healing. They all looked at each other before nodding before they charged at the Guard Armour for one final assault. Goofy threw his shield while Donald started using all the magic in his arsenal while Sora & Aqua continued to charge at giant Heartless. It was distracted by Donald & Goofy, giving the Keyblade Wielders an opening. With everything they had, they started slashing at it until they performed one final strike to finish it off.
The Guard Armour shook before a large heart rose from the torso and into the night sky, slowly becoming nothing but a glint among the stars that were left. Then the Armour collapsed, lifeless, before disappearing in plume of darkness, leaving behind a ring.
"What's this?" Aqua muttered as she picked it up. It had an engraving inside it reading 'Brave Warrior'. She felt the power emitting from it so she decided to give it to Sora when she had the chance. Speaking of which, he was now speaking to Donald & Goofy, so she decided to join in,
"So, you were looking for me?" Sora asked,
"Uh huh." The Knight & Mage answered in unison,
"They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade." Leon added as he and Yuffie walked up to them, "And it looks like they got two-for-one."
"And were you looking for Aqua too?" Sora had asked,
"Actually, we were going to find the King first before we looked for Master Aqua." Goofy admitted,
"Don't call me that." Aqua spoke up, "I lost my title when I time travelled."
"Wait, time travel?" Sora asked with a confused face, "Huh?" Aqua sighed,
"I'm technically in my late twenties." Aqua answered, "Ten years ago, me and my friends were fighting this man that caused us so much grief. The King joined in when one of my friends had been possessed by a being of darkness. We fought and I won, but then the weapon he was wielding, the X-Blade, self-destructed. Next thing I knew, I was on Destiny Island ten years in the future."
"It's 'cause of the X-Blade's fail safe." Goofy spoke up, "It sends the wielder and destroyer to a time of great sufferin'."
"Great suffering…" Aqua repeated as she looked down sadly. This was a bit too much for her. She had skipped a decade and she ended up in a period where there was great suffering. She barely had anything to hold onto. Her friends, her master, her title. She basically had nothing le-"Wait, did you say that the wielder also gets sent through time?" Donald nodded. Her eyes widened. That meant Ventus was somewhere out there. She could find him. He could help her find Terra. They would be together again. But then she remembered one crucial detail.
She couldn't even summon her Keyblade without tiring herself out for days. How is she supposed to save her friends when she was this weak? It seemed hopeless. And hope was all she had left.
"Hey, why don't you two come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel." Goofy asked, sensing Sora & Aqua depressed states. Sora was actually sad for Aqua. She had to fight her best friend while he tried to kill her. He couldn't imagine fighting Riku to the death. He wanted to help her find her friend, but he also wanted to find his as well,
"I wonder if I could find Riku…" Sora muttered,
"And my body…" Kairi added, in the same state as Sora,
"Of course! We'll help you find them!" Donald offered,
"Are you sure?" Goofy whispered,
"Who knows? But we need this kid to come with us to help us find the king." Donald whispered back,
"And Aqua?"
"We'll take her to Master Yen Sid when this is over."
"Sora, Aqua, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends." Leon said,
"Yeah, I guess." Sora replied in a depressed tone,
"Ven… Terra…" Aqua muttered under her breath in the same tone,
"But you can't come along looking like that." Donald said sternly, "Understand? No frowning. No sad faces. Okay?"
" Yeah, ya gotta look funny, like us!" Goofy added in before his face got pushed out of the way,
"This boat runs on happy faces." Donald said,
"Happy?" Sora & Aqua said in unison. They looked at each other, before pulling off the goofiest smiles they could do at them. The two animals just stared at their faces before everyone burst into laughter,
"Those are some funny faces!" Goofy managed to say between laughs. When everyone had settled down, they started their introductions,
"Okay, why not? I'll go with you guys." Sora said,
"Count me in." Aqua joined in as well,
"Donald Duck."
"Name's Goofy."
"I'm Sora." They said as they put their hands over each other's apart from Aqua. Sora saw this and moved his head to say he wanted her to join in. She laughed a little before she put her hand in as well,
"Aqua." She said,
"All for one, and one for all!" Goofy declared.
(Meanwhile, in some dark castle many worlds away from Traverse Town…)
"That little squirt took down that Heartless! Who'd have thought it?" A large man said, his hair glowing a fiery blue,
"The rat had help from a former Keyblade Master." Another man in a foreign, yet royal looking outfit reminded the much large man, "But, such is the power of the Keyblade. The child's strength is not his own."
"Why don't we turn both of them into Heartless? That'll settle things quick enough." A rather large woman with tentacles for legs suggested,
"And the brat's friends are the king's lackeys. Swoggle me eyes, they're all bilge rats by the look of them. But, the lass is trouble. I know from experience." A man with a hook for a hand said,
"I'm surprised you even know that word!" A… thing that looked like a living sack of bugs other various things spoke up, "And you're no prize yourself!" He added, laughing at his insults to the hook-handed man. Then, a woman walked into the meeting. She was holding a staff and had a crow on her shoulder,
"Enough." She ordered, "The Keyblade has chosen him and girl has returned." She spat the word 'girl' bitterly, remembering the time she had defeated her along with that wretched prince, "But no matter. She is weak. Powerless. She is nothing more but an annoyance. What we need to do is focus on the boy. Will it be he who conquers the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow him? Either way, he could be quite useful..." She said as she looked into the crystal ball, seeing the group walking back to the First District.
(Back to Traverse Town!)
"Are you sure Aqua?" Goofy asked,
"I'm sure." Aqua answered, "I need to do this."
"What about Ventus?" Donald asked. Aqua winced a little,
"He can wait a few days. I need to do this first." Donald & Goofy looked at Aqua and knew she had to do this before they could do anything, or else she wouldn't come. Donald sighed and nodded, "Thank you."
"No problem." Donald said as Sora walked up to them, "Now Sora, the Gummi Ship is outside that gate."
"The what?" Sora & Aqua said in confusion,
"That's our ship."
"That's a rather strange name for a ship." Aqua admitted, 'But beggers can't be choosers.' She added mentally,
"But wait 'til you see it!" Goofy spoke up,
"Hold on." Donald said, reminding the dog of their promise to Aqua. The duck conjured up a blue orb with a flame in the middle and placed it in Sora's hands, "Sora, this is for you." Sora raised an eyebrow before the orb floated up and went into his chest. Suddenly, he felt his body heat up before settling back down to its normal temperature. Suddenly, he summoned his Keyblade a shouted out his new spell,
"Fire!" He called out as a fireball was shot out of his Keyblade. The fireball he had just casted was used to light a candle,
"Now you can use magic, too." Donald told the young boy. Sora cheered, but remember Aqua and her very limited arsenal of spells,
"Wait, what about Aqua? Did you teach her anything?"
"Donald already taught me Fire." Aqua said as she used the spell to light another candle,
"Goofy, give him that other thing."
"What?" Goofy asked, forgetting about the other gift,
"You know!" Donald said a bit more forcefully,
"Oh, yeah." Goofy had remembered and got out a green orb with the King's symbol on it and gave it to Sora. Like the orb Donald gave him, it entered his body. He now felt more agile. He felt like he wouldn't trip over his own feet anymore. He tested it out by performing a Dodge Roll,
"This should come in handy." Sora muttered,
"Abilities allow you to do all sorts of things. Guess we should look for 'em along the way, huh?" Goofy said. Sora nodded,
"Okay, is that it? Let's get going!" Sora said, eager to start adventuring,
"Sora, wait." Aqua spoke up, "I want you to train with Leon for a few days. I have to do something."
"What?" Sora said in disbelief, "But what abo-" He saw the look in Aqua's eyes and he knew it was something she had to do. He nodded and went back to the Traverse Town group. He looked back to see Aqua, Donald & Goofy walking towards the World Exit. The time traveler looked behind her and saw the young Keyblade Wielder looking at her go,
"Don't worry." She told him as she walked through the door, "I'll be back in a few days. Just… wait, alright?" Sora nodded, "Thank you."
"Well, either way, I see big adventures coming their way! Looks like it's up to me to keep track of it all in my journal!" Jiminy said to himself as he open up his journal and started chronicling everything that had happened so far.
(Ruins)
"Is this really it?" Donald asked as he, Goofy & Aqua walked around. The sky was stormy and dark, there were ruins of what was once a beautiful building, now lying in ruins and rubble,
"It is." Aqua answered quietly as she approached her destination: the courtyard. Well, what was left of it. It didn't matter to her though. All she wanted was the thing in the middle.
The Master Keeper.
"Master." She muttered as she walked up and picked up the Keyblade. It felt heavy and cold. Not light and warm as she was expecting, but time could do wonders to anything. Even Keyblades. It was rusted, had scratch marks and all types of damage on it, but she could say it once belonged to someone. She told Donald and Goofy to stay back as she walked up the steps and into the building that was once her home. She looked around and saw the sorry state of where her Mark of Mastery Exam was once held. Pillars hah collapsed, there were holes in the ceiling and everything had lost its vibrancy. It was dull and grey now. She looked around and found what she was looking for above the throne.
A Keyhole.
"I may not be a Master anymore, but Eraqus still named me as his successor," She then pointed her Master's Keyblade at the Keyhole, "And that's good enough for me." Then, a beam of light shot out of the Keyblade and hit the Keyhole. As light started to engulf the ruins, she remembered her Master's words, how she would change this world for the better,
"I'll make this right. I promise." She told herself as the light faded, a very white room with a golden door at the end. She left the restored castle and met up with Donald & Goofy, who was staring at the castle in front of them, "Let's go." She said tonelessly as she walked away from what we all know as Castle Oblivion. In her head, she heard the mysterious voice saying something.
Some things cannot change, or else the worlds won't change at all.
Save Game… Quit!
Whew! Done! Gonna play Mass Effect! See ya whenever!
UknownHero signing off, my friends!