Chapter 9: Valor

{Disney Castle: September 18th 2013, 8:00am}

Kairi took in a deep breath as she rang out a cold cloth and began to dab at Sora's throat at his pulse point before doing the same to his face as he continued to sleep. Riku, Roxas, and Namine were present as well, taking to helping when it was needed while Kairi stayed with the boy. Riku was a bit worried, but didn't find himself as concerned as he normally would have been while Roxas and Namine were highly worried only for the fact that his fever hadn't broken since yesterday. Kairi placed the cloth on Sora's forehead, and looked to the others.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Namine as Kairi felt his pulse.

"It's probably just over-exertion...but I'm beginning to wonder if maybe something's bothering him..." Riku frowned.

"The pressure sickness?" he inquired.

"Maybe..." the blondes looked up.

"Wait...the what?" asked Roxas.

"Magical pressure sickness. Sora's had problems with the pressure in the air and the energy within the world. This might be the cause of it, but I'm not thinking it's that..." Riku frowned for a moment.

"It could be delirium left over from the Dream Drop," he suggested.

"Wouldn't we have seen it before now?" Riku looked down as he tried to think of something.

"It could just be a flu or something," Namine said.

"I think you're right...but still..." there was a knock at the door.

Riku walked over and the others heard him talk in a hushed tone to the person before letting them in. The person standing in the doorway was a young woman in her mid-late twenties with long, waist-length raven black hair, fair, smooth skin and warm chocolate eyes. She was dressed in a pair of jean shorts, sandals, and a blue t-shirt. Around her neck were two necklaces – the first a silver book-shaped locket that rested just under her collarbones, and the second a long leather cord with two charms on it. One was a silver castle with a mouse cut-out on the door and the second was a tower of gold with moons and stars on it. She carried a red bag in her hands and had a backpack on her shoulders. The woman moved forward and removed the backpack from her shoulders and then placed the bag in her hands on the ground before moving closer to the bed.

"Is he still running a fever?" she asked as Kairi moved.

"It hasn't broken since yesterday, and I've been with him all night." The woman nodded.

"Thank you, Kairi," she stated.

"Who are you?" chocolate eyes turned to the two blondes.

"I'm sorry, my name is Himitsu Seiren, I'm Sora's mom," she introduced herself and they momentarily gaped.

"You're his...mother? I thought you were his sister or something..." the woman giggled politely.

"Oh, heavens no. I'm his mother, alright – I had him when I was very young," Himitsu stated.

"Really? And you're a nurse?" she looked to the two blondes.

"Yes, I am. I think I'll be working on my doctorate soon, though...now, can you tell me about his symptoms? Has he gotten sick to his stomach? Chills? Delirium? Anything like that?" Kairi nodded.

"He hasn't been sick, but he doesn't want to eat, chills, and he was really delirious yesterday evening and earlier this morning," she stated. Himitsu frowned.

"Oh my, I told you to rest more, Sora, now look at you..." she shook her head as she opened up her bag and took out a few items to lay on the bedside table before feeling his forehead.

"He's been sleeping pretty well lately..." Kairi mumbled.

"Sora's one of those oddballs, though; he won't sleep even when he lays down. Now, please leave the room for a bit, Riku? I'm going to need you to stay with me. He might struggle with some of the medicine – it hurts quite a bit bringing down a fever this bad," Himitsu said as Kairi, Roxas, and Namine nodded as they left.

"What do you need me to do?" Riku stepped forward.

"Hand me those kits you see in there – the black boxed ones – we'll need to get to work in order to burn this out..."

"Right.."

{Library: 9:20am}

Roxas frowned as he read through a few books that were on spell-craft in the library with Namine and Kairi. Jiminy was settled not far from them, reading over a few details as they waited for someone to tell them that they could come back into the room where Himitsu was working on relieving Sora's fever. He frowned again as he continued reading – Sora's mother was a nurse, how come they were never told? What about their home world? What else were they not being told? Roxas gritted his teeth before slamming the book shut as he dropped it on the floor with an aggravated groan. Both the girls and Jiminy looked up to him in questioning as he narrowed his eyes and shifted down in his chair a bit more as if he was feeling uncomfortable because of something.

"Roxas? Is everything okay?" asked Namine.

"No! Kairi, you and Riku refuse to tell us anything about your pasts! And Jiminy knows, but I'm pretty damn sure that he won't say a word, either!" He folded his arms across his chest and looked down.

"Now, I'm sure Sora will tell you whenever he feels you need to know," said Jiminy.

"Nope, he's not going to say a word. And I don't get why! There's no reason for it!" the cricket looked down.

"Well, I suppose I could give you my journals and then you and Namine could look it over. But only the one that recounts his first adventure, the rest you'll have to talk to Master Sora about personally," he said. Roxas shot up.

"Really?! I'd like to know about that, honestly...and I guess if I know the rest, I can ask him about it." Roxas looked him in the eye and Jiminy smiled as he held up his journal.

"It'll grow once you take it – no worries about it being too small," Jiminy stated.

Roxas took the black leather journal with a golden crown on the cover – Sora's crown pendant, he noted – and sent Jiminy a thankful look as he felt it expand in his grasp before it became full-sized, and he slowly opened it. Namine and Kairi came around the table and looked at the opening entry. It was accompanied by a hand drawn image of Sora when he was thirteen years old and what he had looked like at that time.

"Well, just make sure you return it once you're done, I've got a few things to do," Jiminy said as he left.

"Thanks, Jiminy!" the trio turned their attention back to the journal.

June 17th 2011, Traverse Town.

Today we met a young boy named Sora Seiren. This boy was chosen by the Keyblade and ended up helping Donald and Goofy fight off a large number of Heartless. We've come to learn that Sora's home world – the Destiny Islands – were destroyed and that he received the Keyblade there when he tried and failed to take the hand of his friend by the name Riku Hirigaya. I've found myself quite happy with the boy's personality. He's very kind and innocent, but shy and quiet. I feel as if Sora has been through a lot already, and he still has much more to go through, he is chosen by the Keyblade and he must fulfill his role as the Keyblade Bearer.

However, we have to remember, Sora is only thirteen years old, and he still needs people to look out for him. Donald and Goofy seem to forget – Donald more so – that he is just a boy. Sora will be the one who makes the way for us to fight the darkness and bring light and peace back to the worlds. There is a chance that Sora may never see his friends, his family, or his home world again, but despite that, he seems to be prepared for the costs it may bring to bear the Keyblade.

There is one more detail we must remember: Sora will need us as much as we need him. Not long after we arrived on the Gummi Ship, he fell fast asleep, and I have chosen to write this so that I may chronicle the story of the young Keyblade Wielder named Sora Seiren.

The last part of the entry was of Sora sound asleep, curled up in his seat with a blanket. It was an oddly cute drawing, and the trio couldn't help but smile. It was evident that the image was from a similar time in their lives, before Sora had changed – his appearance less toned and war-torn. He looked so much more innocent and fragile compared to the Sora they knew now. Roxas frowned as he flipped to the next page and the trio began to read, it was Wonderland, their first world, and many other worlds that followed it, the ups and downs that Jiminy wrote about from his perspective. Sora changed slowly in each entry, he grew stronger, bolder, and twice as lethal with his abilities up until his very personality changed completely. Kairi put her hand to her mouth as they continued to read through the adventure and struggles that Sora had gone through.

"Oh, my God...he...just changed like that? He became that much stronger and harder because he had to?" asked Namine.

"Sora is a warrior, it's part of who he is. Personally, I think he's stronger than we're almost willing to admit." Roxas looked down.

"He's really amazing...but...we're not done, there's more to this..."

The continued to read for hours, well into the late afternoon, knowing that they could trust Himitsu and Riku to care for Sora.

{Upstairs: 3:01pm}

Himitsu held Sora's arms in place as she injected a bit of medicine into a vein via a syringe before Sora slowly stopped struggling while Riku kept his grip on the boy's shoulders. Himitsu took in a deep breath and looked to Sora as his form relaxed, and she felt his forehead with a sigh of relief. Both she and Riku had been struggling for hours on end to break whatever type of illness had seeped into his system, and now they had finally started to make some stride into getting him better. However, Himitsu knew that this wasn't what it appeared to be, and that some things were coming to a close.

"Finally, it's starting to let up..." Sora flinched as she removed the syringe, and Riku let go of Sora.

"Why was he struggling so much?" Himitsu sighed.

"With this type of sickness, you'll tend to be very sensitive to touch – it probably hurt a bit for us to grab him like that," she said as Riku looked to the boy, who was still breathing a bit heavily.

"Is he sick from something?" Riku's worry was evident in his voice; however, Himitsu merely shook her head and smiled.

"His father had a similar problem. No worries, it's not life threatening...it's just from the pressure sickness, so you can relax, Riku. Your duties as a Dream Eater aren't going to be deterred. Sora will be fine after some rest – the fever was bad just because he's not sleeping enough and he's overdoing it," she smiled as she finished talking.

"Good...he had us worried for a bit..."Himitsu looked down.

"Is Sora recovering correctly?" she inquired.

"He had a relapse recently, but he was okay after a bit." she nodded.

"I see...I'm sorry that I didn't stay longer," she told him. Riku placed a hand upon her shoulder.

"It's okay, you're here now, that's what counts." Himitsu smiled as there was a knock on the door and she got up and started putting her things away.

"Come on in," Riku said as the door opened and Kairi, Roxas, and Namine came in and shut the door.

"How's he feeling?" asked Kairi. Himitsu stood straight as the others looked to Sora.

"He's okay, his fever is still pretty high, but he'll be fine in a day or so..." the others nodded.

"Good, I think we're due for Drive Form training," said Roxas. Himitsu looked to him.

"What's your name, young man?" he swallowed a bit, looking a bit nervous.

"Roxas Lyster," he answered.

"So, you're the one who went to the King." Himitsu pulled the boy into a hug, and she received a surprised gasp.

"Oh...um...no problem..." he said as she stepped back.

"And then that means this lovely fair-haired maiden must be Namine..." the girl flushed.

"Yes, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said.

"Nice to meet you both. Now, tell me, are you really Kairi's sister?" the blonde girl nodded.

"Yes, I am. We were split up when our parents divorced when we were two and three, after that, I went to Twilight Town, and my mom passed away when I was five, and I met Roxas in the orphanage. We grew up together, and later...we met Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy...I guess the rest is history," she stated.

"Well, it's nice to see that the Keyblade was able to bring all of you back together. Now, tell me, are you fine with me stick around until I see that he's back on his feet? Or will I be a burden?" the four Keyblade Wielders shook their heads.

"No! We'd love to have you around for a few days!" All Himitsu could do was smile.

"Thank you; now, we need to eat something and let Sora rest up. I was told by Riku about the soot sprites here in the fireplaces, I'm sure they'll watch him, and if anything happens, they'll let us know," she said as she started towards the door.

{Three Days Later: 9:45am}

Himitsu sighed as Roxas, Namine, and Kairi walked with her to the training room. Sora's fever had broken and he had recovered quickly, which meant he was now picking up where he left off with the promise of not over doing it too much. However, Himitsu had the sneaking suspicion that she was going to be seeing something interesting today. As they entered the training hall, though, there was a sudden wave of heat and Riku shouted as Sora tumbled away from him and held up a Keyblade that looked to be made of fire-colored feathers and flames. Roxas quickly explained that the name of the Keyblade was Phoenix, but that they had never felt this type of heat from it before. Riku dodged out of the way of a flame attack and Sora paused, taking in a deep breath as they took note that Sora seemed to be doing quite well.

"What in the name of...what was that?!" asked Roxas as he drew attention to them. Sora turned, dropping Phoenix to his side as he smiled.

"Morning!" the four of them looked the two Keyblade Masters over.

"That's all you have to say? Sora! Your fever just broke! You're just now recovering; you shouldn't be doing this now of all times!" Himitsu said as she came forward. Sora looked down and then put his hand behind his head, musing his hair a bit as he smiled in a sheepish manner.

"I'm sorry, I have to keep them up to speed – if Xehanort or Organization Thirteen attack, we need to be ready." She sighed as she watched him before smiling slightly while he dropped his hand back to his side.

"You're just like your father, I swear..." she said.

"I guess so...but I won't do too much..." she sighed again.

"Fine, show me how you teach your students," Himitsu said with a smile.

"Got'cha..."

Sora moved over, and Kairi, Roxas, and Namine stood to the side in front of him and Riku as he smiled and kept Phoenix in his grasps as he looked to them, and instantly activated one of the Drive Forms. Mere seconds later, fire flared around him, and in place of his normal attire was clothing of fire red with reversed fleur-de-lis outlined in white with black accents at the shoulder, bottoms and inner half of his pants while the straps had turned black as well. His shoes had changed, as had his gloves, and his right eye had become flame red in color. The group of five stared onward in surprise as Sora looked it over a bit, and then smiled as the others continued to watch him.

"This is Valor Form, a fire-based Drive Form. It's mostly strength and speed, and I can only use fire magic; however, the same rules apply as with the others – the element is stronger than it normally would be in this form," Sora stated.

"Amazing, it's really something else..." Himitsu looked her son over in questioning.

"Sora? What is this?" she asked.

"Sorry, I didn't mention this because no one besides a few of the others knew about them. These are called Drive Forms, they're abilities given to me via Drive Potions – which are rather rare – and all are based upon an element of some kind. I have five of them, but two of them I haven't had enough practice with to use like this..." she frowned.

"What are they called?" Himitsu inquired.

"Well, there's Limit Form, Wisdom Form, Valor Form, and my other two, Master Form, and one I don't touch..." she looked him over again.

"They're definitely remarkable...so...show me what this one can do," she told him. He smiled.

"Okay, Riku? Care to help me show them this?" Riku nodded.

"No problem," he said as he summoned Way to the Dawn.

"You're going to need something stronger than that..." Sora smirked slightly.

"Why would you say that?" inquired Riku.

"Because..." Sora summoned two Keyblades to his sides.

One was the Keyblade he had previously used known as Phoenix, but the other was strange looking. It was fairly big, silver with tints of fire-color across it, the guard was a curved, flame-like pattern with a crooked grip, an hour-glass shape connector, the base was sword shaped, but the rest of it was curved to favor fire straight down to the teeth, which looked almost like active flames, right down to the Keychain that had a flaming heart at the end. Sora spun the two Keyblades out, and a set of red cinders appeared as he took a single step.

"Now, how about you summon something a little stronger," Sora stated. Riku nodded.

"Okay..."

Riku summoned a Keyblade that almost looked like a sword with iron work over it. The guard was curved black iron and the grip was black leather, the connector simple and bell-shaped, while the rest of the base was a silver-bladed sword, the iron continued to curl downwards in rune-like forms until it reached the teeth, which formed into a heart that bore a curl inwards with a wing-like rise from the top until it reached outwards. Riku swung it and the Keychain clinked as he did – it was a black iron shaped heart with silver at the center.

"Now, come on," Sora said as he went into his dual stance.

"You got it..."

The two Keyblade Masters struck quick, and while Riku held up well with the extra strength of his newest Keyblade, it seemed to be quite taxing against the fire-based Keyblades that were being swung at him. The two Keyblades cast off waves of red cinders and sparks that made the others step back as Sora moved swiftly and accurately in the direction of Riku, who barely had time to strike back, despite using a stronger Keyblade. Sora slid backwards with a single strike from Riku and landed in a crouch as he took the Keyblade that seemed to be covered in flames and held it up before smirking as he blew across the teeth of it and fire sprang forth, to which he slid the two Keyblades across one another, and seconds later, they were alive with flames. Riku jumped back as the two fire-lit Keyblades came swinging after him, and he blocked with wind and blizzard attacks while Sora continued to come after him, until at long last, the fires burned out and they returned to appearing to be made of flames instead.

Sora crossed the two Keyblades and blocked a strike from Riku before moving the two Keyblades together at once and slung them forward before jumping into the air as Riku struck forward, and he landed behind him back to back before turning on his heels to strike. Seconds later, the Keyblades rang out to one another, and Sora smirked.

"Got'cha..." Riku had no time to react as fire re-erupted around the boy and he jumped away and took a firm step forward, bracing his Keyblades in a dual stance as he took in a steady breath.

"You're on fire!" Riku said in shock as Sora laughed and held his Keyblades at his sides.

"Valor form is a fire-driven form – I'm fireproof, you're not..." Sora took a breath out and the flames dissipated before he braced his Keyblades again.

"That's pretty impressive," Riku told him as he rotated the Keyblade and the others continued to watch.

"I guess...either way, this is the Drive Form we'll be working with for a few days – after that, I'm going to bring out Master Form, and you'll see what it can do." Himitsu smiled as she looked at him.

"I'm most certainly impressed by how you've grown with your abilities, Sora, Riku – and you as well, Kairi. I'm sure the two of you will become great wielders as well, Roxas, Namine," she said.

"Thanks, so...um...you aren't going to set yourself on fire with us, are you?" Sora laughed.

"No, of course not. I was just testing out a few things with this Drive Form. I got it right after the Dream Drop and I've practiced with it for a bit, but I've not been able to put it or the other one to use. Still, now is as good a time as any, I suppose," he said.

"Right...so, that fire-looking Keyblade, what's it called?" Sora looked to it.

"Oh, this is Fire Heart, it's the Keyblade that was formed from it. So when I took the Drive Form potion, I got the Keyblade as well," he answered. Riku smiled.

"It's pretty neat..." he moved the Keyblade in his grip a bit, testing the weight.

"I guess that's your Mastery Mark Keyblade?" Sora inquired.

"Yea, Iron Heart..." Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"So it was Fire Heart versus Iron Heart...that's...strange..." Sora looked to the blonde.

"Well, there's a reason it's called that – it's because Valor Form has another title," he stated.

"And what's that?" Sora smiled a bit.

"The Fire of the Heart, the Flames of Courage," it was a rather simple answer, but it made some of them excited to start working with the Drive Form, and for Himitsu, it made warmth spread in her chest as she thought of the strides Sora had made, and how much happier and alive he seemed compared to the last time she'd seen him.

"He's okay, just like he said – everything is okay."

{….}

When daybreak seems so far away, reach for my hand...

{…...}

Author's Note: We get to see Himitsu for a bit, and we finally get to see Valor Form in action, as well as Riku's Mastery Keyblade, Iron Heart. In the next chapter, we get to see a bit of Roxas and Namine working with Valor Form, and a small conversation with Riku and Kairi, as well as two new Keyblades.

Tell me what you thought!

Preview:

"What is this?!"

"Did Sora do that?"

"Just be careful, and stay strong."

Chapter 10: Fanning Flames