Chapter 30

One year later…..

Sora stopped having dreams for one year. The phenomenon ended. And no doubt that Roxas lost the ability and so did Namine and Soren. And who knew if others had the same thing. Sora now lived in Traverse Town, along with Goofy and his family. Goofy adopted Sora as his foster son while Sylvia was his mother and Max, his brother. So many things were happening over the course of the year.

For starters, during that time, Oblivion was locked by a force field. One made of darkness. Accessibility to the school was impossible. Then, Mickey and Bugs formed a massive resistance. It was now bigger and stronger. They were simply known as Mouskateers. How original, thought Sora at first since that was the name of the first resistance. Sora felt that the world around him was changing. Almost as if some big bang happened and things spiraled out of control.

During that year, Sora was learning how to fight. Goofy was teaching him. Not with guns, but with a shield. It had Mickey's ears, the official insignia of the Mouskateers, which was growing in size. The darkness everyone spoke of was also getting stronger. One would see it at the force field around Oblivion. After the death of Scar, or rather his ghost, that was when the force field appeared. And Sora was worried for his family. Roxas, and perhaps Ventus were there, as well as their friends. Sora could see how bad things were getting from where he was.

Thankfully, the Heartless have not been unleashed. Yet. Xehanort on the other hand kept stalling his cohorts, all in his desperate search for Prince Soren. He sent countless shadows to find him, only to have them all destroyed by Mouskateer agents. What made things hard on Sora was the fact that he no longer dreamed. He didn't know if those dreams might come back or not. And he was hoping to have one of Roxas, to see how he was doing.

Vanitas on the other hand was learning magic and lightsaber fighting from Donald, while Kairi was learning how to be a gunsmith by Lola Bunny, who happened to live in Traverse Town. Sora was mortified at first to learn that Kairi was going to be a gunner, but she learned how to shoot very quickly.

Why Sora was worried for Kairi, he kind of didn't want to know. He knew his relationship with her in the dreams, but he dared never to bring it up. He was however surprised to see how close Vanitas and Kairi were getting. Of course, Vanitas's heart belonged to Xion, but Sora was worried. He was worried for both Vanitas and Kairi. But it also stung him, even made him somewhat envious.

An year has passed, yet Sora felt that things were changing way to fast and very rushed. He knew that sooner or later, he needed to save Roxas from Oblivion and perhaps everyone else. Another thing; Sora was not a chosen hero. Soren was. Everywhere Sora went, it was Prince Soren this and Prince Soren that. It bothered Sora deep down, but at the same time, it gave him a sense of tranquility.

He wasn't so sure anymore. And then, something happened. Oblivion was then raised up into the air. It was all over the news. Oblivion High School flew up into the air, and stood frozen in place, with the dark force field making it seem larger. And then, it moved. It moved away to a different location. One far from where civilization was. It went far beyond the borders of their world. And that in itself was an act to attack.

Prince Soren and his Mouskateers were now planning on how to strike the castle, with so many innocent lives inside. Roxas, Old Rafiki, Namine, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Chicken Little among other faces of good and innocent folk, locked away in that enchanted castle.

Sora felt that this was so unreal. Almost like part of a nightmare. And then, for the first time in a year, he dreamt.

A scattered dream is like a far off memory. A far off memory that's like a scattered dream. I want to line the pieces up. Yours and mine.

Sora woke up, crying. He got up angrily from bed, and hit the wall. He grabbed his pillow and started to scream.

He had enough. He had enough of this magic. Enough of this madness. All he wanted right now was a normal life. He looked up at the wall and saw a picture of himself with Roxas, Vanitas, Ven and himself. Next to it was a recent one of Goofy and Donald with him.

Sora knew now what he had to do.

"You want to go where?" asked Goofy.

"To save my brothers. I know they are still in Oblivion. And I'm going to face Xehanort." said Sora.

"But you don't have strength yet. You're still a boy. You're hardly Maxxie's age." said Goofy.

"Max said I'm ready. So did PJ and Roxanne. And Sylvia. They know I can handle things." said Sora.

"Yes, but you are still a boy." said Goofy.

"Goofy…. I started dreaming again. I was a fearless hero in my dreams. I didn't dream anything else. I'm fighting the darkness and I think I know how to stop it." said Sora.

"Sora… If you go, I'm going with you." said Goofy.

Sora hugged Goofy. "Dad, thank you." said Sora.

In a few minutes, Kairi and Sora were now walking in town, by the plaza.

"You are seriously going to fight?" she asked.

"I am. I'm not thinking twice. I have family there and I'm not going to let anyone suffer. I know I can do this. Somewhere inside myself, I could feel it." said Sora.

Kairi looked at Sora sadly. "Vanitas is worried too. Xion is back there. She's all he ever talks about. He loves her so much." said Kairi.

"So he still loves her? Okay." said Sora, not seeing how this was relevant.

"Do you have someone you love at Oblivion? Someone special?" she asked.

"I do. My brothers. And you. You need to stay here." said Sora.

"What made you think I was coming with you?" asked Kairi.

"I didn't. But stay here where it's safe." said Sora.

"No. I'm coming with you. Either you like it or not." said Kairi.

"But…" Sora was protesting.

"I'm going to. You are not going to say no." said Riku, coming up towards them. During the year, Riku appeared in town, for he escaped the school and he was training under Terra. He found him in the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs and he taught him how to fight with a sword.

Vanitas walked up to them as well along with Donald and Goofy.

"You are not alone in this." said Vanitas.

"If we are going to face old man Xehanort and the evils, we'll do it together." said Donald with a wink.

"Besides, it's going to take us months to get to Oblivion. We might get stronger on the way, ahyuck." said Goofy.

"Wait a sec… months? You said months?!" cried Sora.

"Yeah. Months. I don't know how long exactly, but even by car, it will take us a while." said Goofy.

"Too bad we don't have an airship. That would make things quicker." said Vanitas.

"Goofy, what about your family?" asked Kairi.

"Sylvia is coming too. Along with Max." said Goofy.

"What?!" cried Sora.

"Come now Sora. You think your Mom and brother were going to leave you to fight on your own?" asked Goofy.

Vanitas chuckled. "Sora Goof." he whispered.

"Shut up. You're just jealous because Donald adopted you." said Sora.

"I'm happy being Donald's kid." said Vanitas.

"I only have Lola as a roommate. I should tell her where I'm going." said Kairi as she left.

"Well it's all decided. We are one big group." said Goofy.

"It's going to be a road trip to fight evil." said Donald.

"You make it sound bad, "Dad." said Vanitas.

"Call me Donald kid! You make me sound like an old man." said Donald.

"But you are an old man." said Vanitas.

"You are getting on my nerves." said Donald.

Sora laughed. A genuine laugh. He didn't laugh in a very long time.

Kairi went inside the apartment while Lola was sitting on a stool with her arms crossed.

"You guys are not ready for this." she said.

"I want to go and help Sora. He needs me." said Kairi.

"Are you doing this for him, or yourself?" asked Lola.

"What do you mean?" asked Kairi.

"You and I both know. Are you sure you will be strong enough when you face "him?" said Lola.

Kairi nodded. "I will face him. I know he's out there somewhere. And when I face him, I'll cut his horrible mask off." said Kairi.

"Be careful Kairi. The darkness of that man could get to your heart. And you and I know what happens to those who fall in too deep." said Lola.

"I'll be fine. As long as I'm with the others." said Kairi.

"If something were to happen to you… you know what to do." said Lola.

"Yes. May my heart be my guiding key." she said.

Lola turned to nod at Kairi with a determined look. "Be careful."

Kairi returned to the group. Sylvia, Max and surprisingly Roxanne was there. She ran up to Kairi to give her a high five.

"Looks like we are stuck together." she said with a smile.

Kairi smiled back and Sora spoke up.

"Thank you all so much for coming with me. I know I'm asking a lot, but we've been waiting for too long. I don't have anything against Prince Soren. But we can't just simply wait for something to happen. We have lives to save at that school. We need to get there and save everyone!" said Sora.

For Roxas, Denzel, Marlene, Ven, and Namine. And everyone else we know.

Everyone cheered and Riku placed an arm on Sora. "Look who's finally grown up." he said.

"Kind of." said Sora.

"So what are we waiting for?" asked Kairi.

With that, Goofy started the car. It was a massive monster truck that everyone could fit in.

"Darling, are you sure this is safe?" asked Sylvia.

"Probably." said Goofy.

"Good thing I have magic." said Sylvia.

"Magic?" asked Riku.

"Yeah. I'm a white mage. I use cure spells and healing." said Sylvia.

"Then if you're a white mage, then Donald and Vanitas are black mages then?" asked Riku.

"Kind of." said Vanitas.

"I do magic. He does the fighting." said Donald.

Everyone got on and Sora got to ride in the back with Vanitas and Riku and Max.

"Got your shield ready?" asked Max.

"I got it." replied Sora.

"Good." said Max simply. He wasn't the talkative type like his father, but Max cared for Sora like he was his own brother and sat close to him.

Goofy started the truck and it rolled away into the road. As they did, Lola watched from afar.

"Bugs. They left. I couldn't convince them to leave. What now?" asked Lola through a comlink.

"Don't worry. Mickey will watch over them. He'll worry about them while we focus on taking care of Prince Soren." said Bugs.

"Is he safe where he is?" asked Lola.

"For now, yes. Who knows, they might meet him along the way." said Bugs.

"I hope all goes well for them." said Lola.

"I think they will make it. I have a good feeling about this." said Bugs.

"Don't get our hopes high Bugs. I'm not sure if we can actually win or lose…" said Lola.

"Think of this like basketball." said Bugs.

Lola rolled her eyes, but chuckled. "Yeah. Basketball." she said.

To Be Continued