Kingdom Evil Remake 2.
Chapter Two: Where am I?
Previously in the last chapter.
Unfortunately, all good things, such as the romantic moment between Sora and Kairi, had to come to an end.
Since Sora used the Power of Waking one last time to bring Kairi back, he had activated the high price that will make him vanish from the world he originated from, which was Destiny Islands. That was exactly what happened to him after spending a few more moments with Kairi, shocking everyone on the island, except her who knew about Sora's tragic fate.
Even though many of his friends would become upset when they learned he was gone, particularly Donald, Goofy, Roxas, Xion and Ventus as they had the closes connection to him, Sora had no regrets for what he had done. Though, he did wish he could see Kairi's smile one last time. Seeing it makes him smile as well. But there was one question Sora wanted to know.
Where exactly was Sora being transported to?
(In the Present; With Sora)
The moment Sora vanished from Destiny Islands after spending his last moments with Kairi, his vision was clouded with darkness. He couldn't see a single thing, couldn't move his body and couldn't breathe. He was just frozen from wherever he was and sinking into darkness, away from the light...away from the land of living.
It was exactly like that time when Sora had first fallen into darkness after freeing Kairi's heart – the heart went inside him during the Heartless attack on Destiny Islands and stayed in there the whole time throughout his first journey until reaching Hollow Bastion – but the situation is much worse now because he didn't have anyone to guide him back into the light this time. No help, no return to the light and the land of living.
While he doesn't want to admit this fact since it does affect his pride, Sora was completely alone with no companion or friend to help him when he is currently sinking into darkness. He would need to figure out how to escape the darkness by himself.
But Sora had defied odds before, even ones that proved to be very impossible like trying to bring back the Guardians of Light after being killed in the Keyblade Graveyard and facing against the massive Demon Tide with the help of deceased Keyblade wielders from before. He was confident he could defy the odds once again and escape the darkness. But…how he was supposed to do that if Sora couldn't move his body as he continues to sink into darkness?
That question made Sora stumped, despite not being able to move his body. He didn't consider he would need to move his body to escape the darkness, but in his defense…he was trying to register the fact he suddenly vanished from Destiny Islands. He knew he would vanish after using the Power of Waking one last time, but he didn't think it would actually happen; Sora thought Chirithy was merely exaggerating about the vanishing from world part.
The thought of the plushy cat doll made Sora thought about the words he said when he, Sora, wanted to use the Power of Waking to bring Kairi back.
"The Power of Waking is meant to be used to wake and restore sleeping hearts, not to restore them after they've completely faded away from existence. You've done that six times before and as a result, you've managed to greatly alter the course of history itself. You have broken a nature taboo…a forbidden act. Break a taboo of nature and you'll end up paying an extraordinary high price."
Sora heard about paying an extraordinary price before and thinking about it caused him to replay the younger version of Xehanort's words in his mind.
"What do you think the Power of Waking is? It's for traversing hearts to reach worlds, not for traversing worlds to reach hearts. There's a high price to pay for wielding such power foolishly."
Sora had thought the younger version of Xehanort was only saying those words to play mind games with him like all the other Organization's members did during his third journey but…maybe there had been some truth into the words. Truth, along with the slightest bit of concern. The concern part was impossible since both Xehanort versions, the young one and the old one, don't seem the type to care or be concerned about someone, especially one who had thwarted so many of their plans.
But the concern or care for someone didn't matter in the end because both Xehanort versions are cold-hearted people who wouldn't hesitate to do anything in order to achieve their plans, even if they had to discard fellow Organization members or innocent people like worthless trash. The thought of it made Sora extremely glad he defeated both Xehanort versions before they could cause any more harm to other worlds.
Still, though, Sora wondered why the younger version of Xehanort said those words about the Power of Waking to him after bringing back almost the entire Guardians of Light. Was it just to play minds games like he had thought or was it something else? Sora didn't know but didn't care as he had a mission to accomplish, so in his mind, he considers the words merely as mind games.
But were the words the younger version of Xehanort said really mind games to begin with? There had been some truth in them, along with the slightest bit of concern. The words Sora thought now made him think about the next final conversation he had with younger version of Xehanort.
"I told you, there's a high price to pay for all of this. I'll go back to my time and live out my life. But Sora, you're done now…your journey ends here. Goodbye, Sora. Your time…in this world is-"
Those were the younger version of Xehanort's last words before he abruptly vanished, couldn't even finish what he was about to say. Once again, Sora had thought it was mind games, but it's actually something else, something much worse.
A last goodbye to the world.
That was what Xehanort had tried to tell Sora after being defeated for good, but he abruptly vanished, leaving the spiky brunette to think the words were just mind games. It wasn't until Sora went to see Chirithy in the Final World to use the Power of Waking one last time that he finally understood about the high price he had to pay. He can still remember the words the plushy cat doll said when he asked what the price was.
"You'll lose your powers. You won't be able to use the Power of Waking. Not only that, but you yourself…will vanish from this world…and without your powers, you can't return to the world you came from."
The idea of not returning to the world you originated from was horrifying since you would be leaving your home, close friends, family and loved ones behind, never seeing them again. If Sora does use the Power of Waking again, then not only he would vanish from the world he originated from, but he would also be leaving his friends behind, especially the person he deeply cares about.
But Sora didn't care.
The chosen hero of the Keyblade didn't care if he was leaving his home, his close friends and his only mother behind; his father had died from cancer when he was seven, leaving him and his mother greatly heartbroken and sad. All Sora wanted was to bring Kairi back when Xehanort mercilessly killed her in cold blood in order to forge the X-blade and he was going to accomplish his mission, despite Chirithy's warning of never returning to the world he originated from.
The warning is the same as King Mickey's warning but worse since the high price will cost Sora to lose his Keyblade powers and won't be able to use the Power of Waking. Although not being able to use the Power of Waking would be a good thing because he doesn't need to use it no more. He only needed to use the power on Ventus, whose heart has been sleeping for thirteen years. It went inside Sora to heal.
Of course, the most obvious choice was to take Riku's advice and head back to Master Yen Sid to possibly find a clue on Kairi's whereabouts, but Sora didn't want to do that since it could take weeks or years to find her, something he's refusing to accept.
Don't get him wrong, Sora does respect Master Yen Sid, who is the most powerful sorcerer in the universe, but there are sometimes he doesn't like the orders he has to do, which is either searching for the Power of Waking instead of joining Riku and King Mickey to save Aqua, traveling to different worlds to build up his power level since it had been diminished during his Mark of Mastery exam, trying to see if the Organization XIII has truly gotten all their members, which Larxene had blurted out, or looking for the new Seven Princesses of Heart.
The Seven Princesses of Heart are a group of young women with pure light in their hearts, making it impossible for darkness to corrupt them. The original Princesses of Heart were Kairi, Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Alice and Jasmine, all of them being kidnapped by Maleficent, an evil fairy from Aurora's world but discovered the existence of other worlds, thanks to Xehanort. She wanted to conquer all worlds with the power of darkness, and she almost succeeded with her sinister plan, only to be thwarted, later killed, by Sora and his friends.
But unfortunately, Maleficent somehow managed to come back alive a year later during Sora's second journey. No one knew how she had done the impossible of coming back alive but do know one thing: They will never get the answer, even if they defeat Maleficent again.
After the worlds were restored to peace two times, the original Princesses of Heart passed their powers onto new princesses, except Kairi, who remained both as a Princess of Heart and a Guardian of Light. Sora had met the three new Princesses of Heart during his third journey and those people were Elsa, Anna and Rapunzel. Elsa and Anna were from a world called Arendelle, while Rapunzel was from a world called Kingdom of Corona.
While Anna was a regular person with a noble status but having a very strong sibling bond with her older sister and an energetic personality, Elsa and Rapunzel both had incredible powers no one has ever seen.
Elsa had the power to manipulate ice and snow at free will but couldn't control it in fear of hurting someone. It also didn't help being quarantine in the castle without human contact for years made the ice powers become more unstable to the point a devastating winter bloomed all over Arendelle, which had once been summer. That all changed when Elsa finally managed to control her powers after thawing out Anna when she got turned into solid ice with the act of true love and vanished the devastating winter, making Arendelle become summer once again.
Rapunzel, on the other hand, had the power of magical healing that came from her inhumanly long, bright gold hair. It can heal the sick and wounded, as well as restore life to people who had died or fallen unconscious. It can even make people stay young for eternity without ever growing old, which is something Rapunzel's fake mother who is evil took advantaged of when she kidnapped the said girl as a baby and locked her away in a tower for years with no human contact.
However, the power of magical healing completely vanished when Eugene Flynn, the very first human Rapunzel had met in the outside world and started to have feelings for, cut the hair off after receiving a sharp stab on the side, making the once inhumanly long, bright gold color become short and brown. Not only that, but it made Rapunzel's fake mother become old before she died after falling out of the tower. Then Eugene slowly died from blood loss, only to be brought back to life by the last remnant of the magical healing Rapunzel had and the two lived happily ever after.
As much as Sora wanted to think about the three new Princesses of Heart's happy lives, he still needed to figure out how he was going to escape the darkness. So, after pushing what he recently thought aside, he began doing serious thinking he hadn't done before to come up with a plan.
The obvious thing Sora needed to do was move his body and get a grasp of his surroundings, despite the fact he's completely surrounded in darkness. He wasn't sure how long he tried to move his body since time was meaningless in the darkness – he learned this fact from Aqua during the trip to Castle Oblivion and it unnerved him to discover a few days meant years in the outside world – but no matter how much effort he did, Sora just couldn't move his body. Hell, he couldn't even summon his Keyblade or cast magic. He was just…frozen.
'I guess this is really it for me,' Sora thought sadly, giving up on trying to move his body when he realized it was pointless. 'I always expected I would go down in an epic final fight…but I guess fate had other plans for me. Sinking into darkness isn't what I had imagined after my final moment with Kairi.' Sora closed his eyes to prevent the tears that appeared from falling after thinking about Kairi. He knew without a doubt she was taking the hardest of his sudden disappearance just like him after the Keyblade War ended. 'But either way, I'm just glad I succeeded in my mission of bringing Kairi back after Xehanort struck her down. I only hope everyone back home can move on peacefully from my disappearance.'
Just when Sora was about to accept his fate in the darkness, he suddenly thought about a phrase, a phrase he had recently learned during his third journey…and a phrase that's been extremely helpful to him when he went to save Aqua in the Realm of Darkness, including Riku and King Mickey.
"May your heart be your guiding key."
That phrase had been created right before the massive Keyblade War began, back when many people were chosen to wield a Keyblade, due to their strong hearts. It has been passed down through generations and the intent of it was to help new Keyblade wielders if they are greatly confused on where to go or to encourage people in dark times. The phrase is quite famous, but since the worlds had been in peace after the first Keyblade War ended, no Keyblade wielder has ever used the intent of it until recently.
Sora had been using the 'may your heart be your guiding key' phrase throughout his third journey since he didn't know where to go, something Donald complained about before scolding him. Luckily, after Goofy mentioned the phrase and understand the meaning of it, it became easy for Sora and his friends to visit new worlds they had never been to before, as well as revisit old worlds they know for the last two years.
'Man, how could I forget about that phrase?!' Sora thought, shooting his eyes wide open the second he thought about the phrase. 'It's been so helpful to me during my third journey! Not only it showed me where I'm supposed to go next when I got so confused, but it led me towards the Relam of Darkness where Aqua was! I can use it to escape the darkness!'
Sora felt extremely happy he finally figured out a way to escape the darkness, but his happiness vanished when he realized an important fact: He needed to use his Keyblade to let his heart be his guiding key. Without his Keyblade, he cannot use the phrase to escape the darkness. Sora let out a sigh that was mixed with disappointment and sadness. He figured out a way to escape the darkness, but he discovered a flaw at the same time. It wasn't like he could just use his own heart to be his guiding key without the Keyblade.
The mention of using his heart without the Keyblade made Sora pause. Maybe he can still use the 'may your heart be your guiding key' phrase to escape the darkness. After all, he had made many speeches about the heart, so what could be wrong by using the heart itself without the Keyblade? Despite things might go wrong if he does this, Sora decided to give his theory a try.
"May my heart be my guiding key," Sora whispered, concentrating every fiber of his willpower to reach deep inside his heart and guide him a way out of the darkness.
For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, which made Sora extremely depressed. It looks like he really needed his Keyblade to use the phrase; so much for escaping the darkness. But suddenly, a faint glimmer of light shined through said darkness and upon him, making the spiky brunette stare at it with hope in his eyes. Did his words work? Was the light going to free him from the darkness? He very much hopes so; Sora didn't want to spend a moment longer in there than necessary.
The glimmer of light grew until it became almost blinding bright, which didn't make Sora close his eyes but increase the hope he had in them. His words worked; he was about to leave the darkness! Soon, the now bright light grew much brighter than before and it didn't long for the said light to engulf Sora's body, taking him away from the darkness and into the land of living.
If Sora expected to arrive back on Destiny Islands where he assumed the Guardians of Light were still at and wondering what the hell happened to him after the bright light engulfed his body, then he was in for a rude wakeup call. He was not being transported to his home, but to a different place, a place that is very much different than the worlds he had been to, a place where there is so much evil it made the evil people Sora faced paled to comparison…and a place where he'll lose his innocence.
Sora wasn't sure what was taking the bright light so long to transport him into the land of living, but as soon as it died down and he felt his feet touch solid ground, he got a look at his surroundings. What he saw made him frown in confusion.
From what Sora could see, which is hard since it's currently night time and raining heavily, soaking him from top to bottom, he was standing on a lonely road in a very large field with numerous light poles on the right side, extending onwards and downwards. There wasn't a single person around, no cars driving by or any buildings, except a small gas station a bit distance away. Everything was just completely silent.
Despite appearing in the middle of nowhere odd, it didn't stop Sora from voicing out the words that came to his mind.
"Where am I?"
And done! That's the ending of the second chapter in Kingdom Evil Remake 2! Sora has officially arrived in the Resident Evil world! I hope he's ready to encounter the monsters he will be facing soon with his companion because they will be determined to eat them.
Sorry if I hadn't posted a chapter for so long; I've been busy trying to get my other chapters longer so that I can get started working on them after I post a chapter like this one and so far, things are going well. I might have another chapter posted for one of my stories if I put some focus onto it, but I'm not sure since I want to take a small break from writing. Doing this chapter took a bit out of me, despite getting a head start on it after I posted the first chapter.
But anyways, here is a new chapter for this story and I hope it makes up for the long waiting.
Write a review if you like this story and enjoy the chapter.
Next Chapter: Meeting Claire Redfield.