Re: Inverted Sky - Kingdom Hearts I
Chapter 4: Broken Destiny
Spinning, rolling, and being pulled violently by the current, Sora desperately held her breath. The ocean water was far colder than it should have been, but after what she saw, there was little doubt that more unnatural events would be happening.
Her dream seem to be becoming a reality. A normally exciting notion, was terrifyingly chilling.
The girl pushed her way toward what she could only assume was the surface before finally breaking through. Even with the torrent of waves crashing down around her, Sora managed to take in a deep breath, before she was forcefully plunged under once again. Her focus swiftly shifted from survival, to finding her friends in the water. Yet the murky depths offered no signs as the current jostled her from side to side. This motion came to a sudden halt however, when she impacted against something.
It was sand. Her hands dug into the soft ground and pulled free of the water. Sora scrambled onto the shore until the water was no longer able to reach her, to which she finally stood to her feet with a few deep breaths. Had she been pushed to another world? If only she had been so lucky.
Through the stinging of salt water in her eyes, Sora looked around quickly. It was an island with a sundered mountain in the middle, as well as trees and planets that looked to have been blast apart. The girl's gaze began to widen though, when she saw familiar structures scattered across the beach. Staring in horror, Sora realized that she was standing in the ruins of her island. She felt her heart sink like a stone, yet she finally tore away from the scene and gazed out toward the ocean.
The waves roiled and crashed violently against the shore, as well as each other. But as she focused all her perception on finding anything or anyone, nothing was visible amidst the strange darkness of the sky. An even greater sense of panic filled the girl as she cupped either hand to the sides of her mouth. "Kairi! Riku!"
Her voice was utterly lost amongst the storm, yet she kept yelling for her friends, hoping for some kind of response. When none came, the brow-haired teen moved toward the water once more. 'I have to get to them.' she declared inwardly, determined to help the pair.
Before she reached the edge, Sora noticed that there were other foot prints in the sand a little further away. Two, to be exact. Both lead further into the island, giving some hope that the other teens might have already made it to land. It felt like only a few second passed after they were tossed into the ocean, perhaps it had been longer than that.
But Sora just pushed these thoughts from her mind and rushed forward, following the foot prints carefully. Both started in similar directions, as if they had been walking together. Suddenly though, they split off from one another. One headed for the group's usual spot at sunset, the other lead into the cave containing the mysterious door. Sora's throat clenched and her stomach twisted.
She wanted to check on whomever went to the tree, as it was closest. But if something happened in that cave, she needed to find out what. With only a brief glance over her shoulder, Sora ran toward the cave. She could make out a lone figure standing near of the tree, but she couldn't quite tell who it was before the cave walls blocked her vision.
Rushing through the tunnel, the teen could feel her heart beat pounding in her ears. So much was happening all at once, and she didn't have the chance to focus or process any of it. Yet her nerves ever so briefly calmed when, at the end of the cave, Kairi was seen. She stood stood directly in front of the seemingly closed door, her back turned toward the other girl. Whom slowly approached with relief, an ever so faint smile tugging at her lips. But this expression stopped along with her steps when noticing the almost slack way Kairi's body appeared to be holding itself. "Kairi?" Sora half whispered, almost being afraid to speak any louder.
Like a puppet being held up by a few weak strings, the auburn-haired girl turned to face her friend. Vacant blue eyes stared back at her, while Kairi herself looked both tired and weak. "Sora..." she uttered out, almost as though she could muster anything further.
The brief sense of relief was ripped away when hearing this, yet Sora took a step forward to reach for her. In an instant however, the door swung open and allowed a flood of dark energy to come flowing out. The resulting gale of wind immediately pushed against the girls with great strength. While Sora was able to remain standing with her shielding arms up, Kairi was lifted entirely off her feet. Flying straight at her friend, Kairi limply allowed herself to be carried forward.
Bringing her arms out, it appeared as though Sora was about to catch Kairi, yet the auburn-haired teen's form just passed through her and vanished. There was no impact, or even a sign that she missed. The girl was just gone.
"Kairi!" Sora yelled once more, just before she was overtaken by the winds and blown out of the cave.
She tumbled backward across the beach outside, before coming to a stop on her stomach when the wind was no longer strong enough to hold her. Sora's body ached from the impacts, already feeling bruises forming as she gazed at the cave opening. What was before her instead, was a massive chasm where the mountain had once been.
Sora stared in shock as she took in the rest of the sight around her. The ocean was no longer there, the sky was even darker now, and much of the island had disintegrated away. As she looked to all of this, her breathing simply stopped from witnessing this destruction. Both her legs wobbled, threatening to give out from under her, when a familiar voice spoke up from behind.
"This is it Sora..." Riku said, his gaze locked onto the void-like sky.
"We can finally leave and go to other worlds." he continued as Sora turned to face him.
The boy was entirely calm, as though he wasn't even seeing their home destroyed in front of their eyes.
"Riku!" she started, unable to contain the panic in her tone.
"We gotta go! We gotta find Kairi...she just-" she continued, but interrupted herself when seeing that Riku still wasn't looking at her.
"She's coming with us." he answered simply, barely even seeming to recognize his friend's peril.
"Once we step through though, we might not be able to come back." he continued, with only a fraction of remorse.
"But this may be our only chance, so we can't let fear stop us!" he declared loudly and firmly, finally shifting his gaze to look at Sora.
"I'm not afraid of the darkness, what about you?" Riku questioned in an almost soothing tone, a hand reaching out toward his friend.
Whom looked at him in disbelief, trying to figure out why he was behaving this way. But as she stared, she saw a pool of dark energy forming around Riku, starting from the base of his feet. "Riku!" she called out while attempting to take his open hand.
However, she herself was starting to be consumed by the same darkness as she struggled to grasp her friend's hand. Yet in all her strain, she stumbled forward and missed Riku completely. Or at least, that's what she thought, as the boy simply disappeared within the shadows. The moment she pulled herself up enough to look around, Sora saw that both Riku and the darkness was gone.
The girl stared for a few long moments, feeling as if she just wanted to wake up from whatever nightmare this was. But as her eyes drifted downward, she shook her head in confusion and even a bit of anger. The many conflicting emotions bubbling up before exploding out of her with a loud yell of; "What is going on?!"
This exclamation did not go unnoticed however, as rising from beyond the cracked edges of the crumbling world, came the massive creature from her dream. It was even greater in size than she remembered, which surprisingly did little to divert the girl's current emotions. When faced with certain doom, it almost didn't even phase her to see the being again. In fact, all these emotions seemed to be directed toward the monster lifting itself onto what remained of the island.
'You did this.' came Sora's brief thought, both eyes narrowing on the beast gazing back at her.
The terror of the situation sharpening into simple rage, as the girl's mind desperately tried to place some kind of blame for what was happening. But as she watched the creature lift a fist up, this fury turned to a sudden calmness. A flash of a particular weapon came to mind, one that she wielded in her dream. With this recollection, came the name of the blade. It was a soft whisper in the depths of her mind, making it difficult to hear at first.
This was followed by an instinct welling up to the surface, a drive to unleash whatever power lay within her. As the monster's fist came swing down at her, Sora merely gazed down at her own hand for a moment. 'Keyblade...' her mind echoed subconsciously, this name repeating dozens of times.
In the split second it took for the creature's attack to land, a flash of black flames erupted from the brown-haired girl's hand and stopped it. Once the dark embers cleared, they revealed the golden blade of the weapon Sora used in her vision. It filled the teen with a strange warmth that spread to every fiber of her being. She felt strong, not just physically, but also mentally. She felt as though, so long as she used this blade, she could save her home. No, she would save it.
A quick leap into the air and Sora landed onto the beast's hand, upon which she rushed up along its arm. The Keyblade in her hand being carried in a reverse grip as she ran, a slightly different style to how she normally fought. While the creature seemed sluggish to notice her, its swatting hand from the opposite side came swiftly. But the girl merely narrowed her gaze once more and flipped between the fingers with a grace she herself hadn't felt before now. Her movements were confident and precise, despite being instinctual and barely even thought of beforehand.
The creature quickly lifted its hand and reached out to grab Sora, yet she dropped down her her knees and bent backward. The momentum she held allowed her to slide across the arm a few meters, all while watching the hand swing mere centimeters above her face. Once the hand passed over, Sora was able to jump back to her feet before her inertia was lost. Within a split second, she leapt up to meet the creature face-to-face. Their eyes briefly locked onto one another, a sense of knowing and understanding they had fought before filled the air, just as the girl swung down with all her might.
Sora's battle cry as she attacked was almost overshadowed by the sound of the weapons impact. It was sharp, despite the bluntness of the blade, yet it echoed out like a percussion wave. As the dark being recoiled, it fell backward and fully off the edge of the island. The power behind the strike appearing to have been even more than what Sora had hoped for.
A feeling of accomplishment and relief filled the girl, as it appeared as though she actually defeated this foe. In this same moment however, there was also a draining sensation. All the warmth that spread through her body suddenly vanished and left coldness in its wake. Though she didn't fully understand why, the teen knew that something or someone had helped her in this moment, but they were now gone.
Was it a glimpse of what she could become? She didn't know.
What she did know though, was that she wasn't falling back to the ground. Her gaze looking from the ground, before to the black sky. In the center of which, appeared to be what Sora could only describe was a black hole. And she was beginning to rocket toward it. She didn't feel panicked though, like she thought she would. If anything, the brown-haired teen felt like this would be her best chance at finding Kairi and Riku. If they weren't here for the island's destruction, then they must be elsewhere.
"Wait for me...I'm coming for you." she whispered, allowing herself to be consumed by the darkness.
A slightly shorter chapter from normal, but I hope entertaining nonetheless. This is a little more of a realistic take on the events and their implications, but I did want to show what it would likely feel like to Sora to experience such a thing. Also, I'm sure everyone can already guess, but yes...Ventus helped Sora to beat the Heartless. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed, and until the next one.