Chapter 4: Night of Fate
The sky grew dark as thunder roared from above. Rain fell from the dark clouds as one cries by the side of the grave. As a lightning bolt painted the sky, its roar woke Kyle awake.
Looking outside, he saw a strong storm endlessly fall on his quaint island home. "So, the storm began," Kyle muttered. "Just like Sophie predicted." A thought crossed his mind when he decided to go back to sleep. Wait a second, he thought, didn't Sophie tell me to remind Sora and Riku to...
"OH GOSH, THE RAFT!" The boy exclaimed. He jumped out of bed and put on casual clothes that were simply left out. Kyle wore a navy blue tank top underneath a sleeveless jacket, maroon-brown baggy pants, and simple grey running shoes in a few minutes. Grabbing his earcuffs, phone, and the Celestial Record he immediately ran out of his house.
…
Battling against the storm, Sora, with the help of Sophie, put all their strength into tying down the makeshift raft. As they struggled a reassuring voice called out, "So sorry I'm late!" The two turned to the voice as they saw Kyle running at full speed.
"Kyle," Sora and Sophie both showed faces of relief. The blonde rushed to the nearest rope and began tugging, trying to prevent the raft from blowing away. As the three were struggling, Kyle looked up to the stormy sky and what caught his eye filled him with fear. High above the quaint island sat a massive black swirling vortex, seemingly calling down the storm; or probably pulling it in? Kyle couldn't put his around it.
"Hey guys," he shouted because the storm was so loud, "Look!" Sora and Sophie looked to where Kyle was pointing and saw it.
"What is that?" Sora's voice was filled with awe and fear.
"It looks like a… vortex?" Sophie wondered. Still, the sight of it could put any man at unease. As the storm continued its relentless tide, Sora asked, "Hey Kyle? Is that 'thing' calling the storm?"
"I don't think so," he answered, "But with the way the storm is formed around it, it's a possibility."
"But that's impossible," Sophie interjected. "A vortex draws in any form of solid matter into its form. It doesn't create storms."
"Well," Sora's voice strained, "It certainly looks like that."
Kyle looked at the black sky and the vortex hanging menacingly over his home as the conversation ended. What is this? Kyle thought. What's going on? I had never seen this storm before, yet… it feels so familiar. Why?
Suddenly, a gust of wind kicked up, pushing against the struggling kids. Kyle's arm wrap was soon blown off his right arm, dragged away by the storm. After the sudden gust, Sora screamed with concern, " Is everyone alright?" Both Sophie and Kyle nodded. Until...
"KYLE! YOUR ARM WRAP!" Kyle opened his eyes and saw Sophie with a worried expression. He turned to his right arm and saw the all-too-familiar burn that replaced his arm. His friends saw this and instantly became worried. "Kyle, didn't the doctor say to keep that arm wrap on at all times?" Sora soon became exceedingly worried. Sophie also chimed in.
"Yeah! Any mild irritation could easily infect it. Just forget the raft," she pleaded. "This isn't worth your life over"
"I'm fine," Kyle interrupted. "Did you guys forget? This is nothing compared to the pain I'll feel if I let this raft get destroyed by this storm." Looks of concern soon formed on both Sora and Sophie at this revelation. Even so, as rain fell on Kyle's susceptible arm, muscles twitching with every drop, Kyle kept a confident smile on his face. "We all worked so hard on building this raft: Me, Sora, Kairi, Riku," he turned to Sophie, "even you, Sophie. I knew it every time you silently walked onto this island. You always watched as we built up this raft, checking on its progress, because deep down I knew you wanted to come with us. You said it yourself, 'You're like family to me.'
Kyle's burnt arm soon began spilling out a bright light.
"No matter if it's a cave, a forest, the ocean, the sky, heaven or hell. I will not let the hard work of my friends go to waste."
Light lives in all places…
"No matter how small…"
In all things…
"No matter how arduous…"
You can block it…
"I will…"
Even try to trap it…
"I WILL…"
But the Light always…
"FIND A WAY!/ Find a way."
By the sheer force of his resolve, the light spilling out of his arm exploded in a burst of blinding light, forcing the three to cover their eyes. All the while a voice began speaking to Kyle. "That's right," the young male voice began. Kyle slowly opened his eyes to the person who spoke. The one in front of him had indistinguishable features as the man wore a black coat covering his entire face and body. Only for the stranger to remove the hood, revealing his face. White hair, fair blue eyes, minimal facial muscle, and a scar that crossed his war-torn face. To Kyle, he should have been a stranger but he felt a sense of familiarity with the scarred man. No words were exchanged though he knew what the stranger wanted. Kyle instinctively lifted his right arm and the stranger followed suit. Their hands clasped, both grasping the other's wrist. Kyle somehow knew what was happening. Only one thing was clear while in this light: A Gift.
….
As the light receded, all three looked around the island and saw the massive storm suddenly vanish.
"What… was that?" Sora was the first to ask.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Sophie answered, unsure of what happened. "Kyle-
She stopped when she saw Kyle looking at his arm, entranced by its… glow? "Kyle? Kyle? KYLE!"
"Huh," he snapped out of his trance and looked at Sophie. "Sorry, what was that, Sophie?"
"Your arm is glowing…" Sora pointed out before Sophie could talk. Confused, Kyle looked at his right arm and saw the black char of his arm replaced with a bright blue light.
"Okay, creepy glowing arm!" Kyle freaked out. Sophie and Sora could only groan embarrassingly. "Oh hey," Kyle spoke, "the storm stopped." The three looked around and saw that the storm had stopped. Soon, strange black creatures began appearing left and right, wandering. Using the reprieve from the storm, Kyle asked Sophie and Sora if either of them had seen Riku of Kairi. Both reluctantly shook their heads. Sophie explained that during the storm, she saw Riku walk away and simply watched the vortex with calculated intent. As for Kairi's whereabouts, Sora couldn't say. It was almost as if she vanished by the storm's apex.
"Okay," Kyle pondered with the info Sophie and Sora provided. "To summarize, Riku began to act strange when the storm began and Kairi simply up and vanished. Did I miss anything?"
"No, you got all the important stuff down," Sora answered.
"We might as well take advantage of the break in the storm," Sophie suggested. "If we're gonna find Kairi and Riku, now would be the best time."
The boys nodded. "But it appears those strange critters are also taking advantage of the lull." Kyle pointed to the black creatures roaming about.
"It's possible they aren't all that hostile," Sophie pointed out, "unless you get too close to them. Best we try to avoid them at all costs." At this, Sora nodded. "I completely forgot my wooden sword at home."
"Same for me," Kyle replied. "I don't carry any weapons apart from my… uh… 'glow-arm'. Sophie, you should head back home. If the storm starts up again, I don't want-"
"Over my dead body!" Kyle flinched at Sophie's response. She continued, "In case you forgot, Kyle, you're still under my family's protection. So, like it or not, it is still my responsibility to keep an eye on you in case you get into a nasty bind." The boy's eyes were filled with fear as to the reprimanding of his adoptive sister. He could only awkwardly chuckle. "R-right, okay." A single sweatdrop fell from his face.
"I'm seriously questioning your family relationship, Kyle," Sora bluntly stated.
…
After a few minutes of searching, the three soon found Riku at the base of the Papou Tree, still staring at the vortex that haunted the sky.
"RIKU!", the kids yelled out. The gray-haired teen turned to see Sora, Kyle, and Sophie all rushing to him with concern on all their faces. Sora was the first to walk up and ask, "Where's Kairi?! I thought she was with you!"
"The gateway has been opened. The world… has been connected," Riku replied, seemingly entranced by the vortex in the sky. Kyle saw this and began to grow weary of him. Something is off with Riku, he thought. I don't know how, but it feels like… he's someone else.
"What?" Sophie questioned. "What are you saying, Riku? You're not making any sense."
"The door has been opened", Riku turned to his friends. "We can finally go to the outside world!"
"But what about Kairi?!" Kyle exclaimed, worried for his friend's safety.
"She's coming with us!" Riku shouted as he looked up to the vortex. "Once we step through, we may be unable to come back. But there will be no turning back. This is our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the dark! And neither should you guys!"
As he finished, Riku held out his hand to the three. Sophie, Kyle, and Sora were scared about what their friend said. But before any of them could move, a portal of darkness opened from underneath and began to engulf them. Riku stood still without fear or panic in his eyes, while the others were utterly terrified as they tried to wade their way to their friend. But, it was a futile effort. In seconds, all four friends were consumed by the Abyss.
When all seemed lost, a bright, radiant spark shined from within the darkness and soon engulfed Kyle, Sora, and Sophie. The next thing they knew, they were on the beach again.
Sophie was the first to snap out of shock and exclaimed, "WHAT WAS THAT?!"
"I have no idea," Sora replied. "Kyle, any guesses?"
"None," Kyle answered. "I thought we were done for."
Before any more questions were asked, Sophie pointed out something. "Say Sora, Kyle," she began. "What are those in your hands?"
Confused, the two boys looked down and saw strange weapons in their right hands. The shape of the weapons resembled a large key but also a sword. The weapons were known as Keyblades.
Kyle's Keyblade was known as Silver Wing, the Blade that Stands Defiant. It had a simplistic frame, a single pole with curved teeth at its edge resembling a Hawk's wings. But what it lacked in its frame, it made up for in design. Coiling around the pole was a thick gold coil with silver laurel feathers that traveled upward as if the coil acted like a gale. The hilt guard had a unique transparent crystalline white hue that curved around the hilt. Two spherical orbs levitated near the hilt on the top and bottom of the gray hilt. Its keychain resembled a bird in flight.
Sora's Keyblade was known as the Kingdom Key, the Blade of the Pure. Like Kyle's, the blade was also simplistic: a rounded, silver blade with crown-shaped teeth near the tip. The guard was squared-shaped with round edges and had a yellow hue. Its keychain was shaped like a Mouse.
As the two boys pondered over their new weapons, Sora saw something strange hanging off Kyle's left ear. "Uh, Kyle?"
"Yeah?" Kyle turned to his friend.
"You have something on your ear." Sora pointed out.
But before he could look at it, the black creatures that were wandering the island began to surround the trio.
"It looks like they're hungry," Sophie jokingly commented.
"Now's not the time for jokes, sis!" Kyle reprimanded. "Sora, remember training?"
"You know it!" Sora pumped his fist. Raising their new weapons, Sora and Kyle got into a battle stance. Kyle took a single-hand sword stance while Sora took a two-handed one. With their resolve stronger than ever, the two boys braced for the first attack.
The first creature ran headlong into the fight only to be swiftly cut down by Kyle's keyblade. A second one followed up but was put down as swiftly by Sora. With their new weapons in hand, Sora and Kyle swiftly put down the dark critters. However, even with their newfound weapons, more and more of the dark creatures continued to swarm the duo.
"This doesn't look good," Sora exclaimed.
"You're telling me," Kyle replied. No matter how many we put down, he thought, more just keep on reinforcing their losses. C'mon. Think!
"KYLE!" was all he heard as a bolt of pure light struck at a critter that tried to take a swing. Both Sora and Kyle looked behind and saw Sophie holding out her right hand with a radiant glow emerging from her palm, with her own stone glowing as well.
Kyle could only look in awe. "Sophie…"
"I told you," Sophie spoke, "you're my young brother. And a big sister must always look after her younger siblings."
A confident grin was now on Sora's face. "Alright, with the three of us," he began, "these guys don't stand a chance!" As he finished, his stone glowed in a dawn green light. Kyle soon followed suit.
"Ok; Sora, me and you will take on the hordes. Sophie, you provide backup." His stone soon glowed with a radiant blue light similar to his arm. With that, the trio began to make their stand.
Kyle rushed in and struck the first blow on five Shadows successively, showing the creatures his prodigious sword skills. With the final blow, his stone radiated with light as his Keyblade was clocked in an azur fire resulting in a blazing vortex that struck down ten more Shadows.
Sora was next as he jumped into a clump of ten Shadows and began to strike each one down with unmatched speed. His training was shining through, able to keep up with Kyle as more creatures kept spawning. His stone radiated that same light as Sora soon picked up speed and swiftly cut down ten more, moving as fast as the wind.
Lastly was Sophie, whose mysterious power granted both boys wards and strength boosts to continue the fight as time progressed. But her power was for more than support as she could daze and stagger any Shadows that tried to get close.
With all their newfound powers, the hordes of dark critters soon fell apart with some either fleeing or reverting to a last stand. Kyle smiled at the sudden change of the tide.
"That's it, guys," he cheered. "Keep on pushing!" Slowly but surely, the wave of monsters began to break. After several minutes, the onslaught was finally quelled. Kyle, Sora, and Sophie dropped to their knees in exhaustion, confused as to what was going on. Returning to Sora's question before the battle, Kyle took his hand and lifted it to his ear and felt a small lump of smooth rock hanging on his earlobe. He then carefully removed it and took a closer look. The stone was shaped in a partial yin-yang shape and… that was it. The only other significant features were the glow and a mysterious engraved kanji.
"What is it?" Even with his knowledge of ancient artifacts, Kyle was left stumped. He was about to give Sora an answer until his eyes focused on a similar stone hanging right next to the crown-shaped pendant. "Sora…" he began.
"Yeah?"
"You have one as well. On your necklace."
Sora looked down at his necklace and saw the stone like Kyle said. "Where did this come from?" Curiously, Sora began to play around with it. Sophie also saw her stone resting on her bracelet but decided not to indulge her curiosity. "Hey guys, instead of figuring out what these "stones" are and everything else that just happened, shouldn't we focus more on finding Kairi?"
Both Kyle and Sora chuckled and agreed. Sora suggested that they try his and Kairi's Secret Spot, which caught Sophie and Kyle off guard but followed anyway. They rushed to the other end of the island and found the secret spot Sora mentioned. The trio, led by Sora, advanced into the dark cave and found Kairi seemingly frozen in place while staring at an unsuspecting door. The door had nothing of particular significance except for a single large keyhole.
Out of fear and concern for a friend, Sora tried to call out to her. "Kairi!"
Upon hearing her name, Kairi turned to face Sora, Kyle, and Sophie. But what they all saw in her eyes was a blank, trance-like stare.
"Sora…" was all she said before a strong gale of darkness blasted from the keyhole in the door behind Kairi. Sora immediately stretched out his arms to catch her, only for her entire form to dissipate into stardust. The three stared in shock, but neither Kyle nor Sophie was to suffer as much as Sora; the sight of his longtime friend just disappearing right in front of him. Before they could have time to mourn, another powerful gale blasted the teens off their feet and out of the cave.
Sora, Kyle, and Sophie all landed on the sandy beach face-down. The three recovered and could only look in horror as their once peaceful home was slowly being torn apart. Looking back at the sky, the storm worsened with a red eye in the epicenter.
As the Destiny Islands' destruction continued ravaging the land, Sophie felt a sudden presence behind her. She quickly turned around and saw a mysterious lady walking towards them. The woman lifted her crooked staff and slammed it into the sand, spawning a massive pool of darkness. The sound of the slam broke Sora and Kyle out of the storm's trance and they both turned around to see the same lady staring at the dark pool. From the darkness rose a dark monster, whose size dwarfed the entire trio. Sora, Kyle, and Sophie all turned their attention to the giant who, in turn, directed its attention at them. For Sora and Kyle, their eyes widened at the sight of the monster. That thing, they both thought, it's the same monster from our dream!
Both Kyle's and Sora's Keyblades appeared in their hands and Sophie's palms radiated pure light. The Mysterious Lady glared intently at them before disappearing into a dark portal she opened behind her. The three were stumped but put their questions aside and got into battle stances, ready to take on the giant. With a nod, they charged.
Kyle went in first, his blade ignited in azure fire, and landed several strikes at the beast's legs, finishing off with a double whirlwind strike. Sora followed with a forward aerial flip and heavy downward slam on the beast's foot with Sophie launching several bursts of lights. The beast retaliated by slamming its large arms into the ground causing a strong shockwave. The three were all knocked down, but after a second of recovery, they got back up and continued the attack. The beast then slammed one of its hands into the ground summoning a small group of small shadow creatures.
Sophie directed her attack at the small creatures, while Sora and Kyle focused on the giant. The two boys launched swing after swing, their stones radiating light with each blow. The beast tried its hardest to keep up with the two boys, from slamming down its fists and feet to conjuring dark orbs and launching them. When Sophie finished dealing with the other creatures, she soon reinforced the boys with her powers bringing an end to the fight.
Upon the Beast's defeat, the remainder of its essence was absorbed into the vortex and called upon a calamitous whirlwind pulling everything loose into the sky. The three of them quickly grabbed hold of some driftwood as the storm began trying to pull them in.
"Hold on!" Kyle screamed. Suddenly, a strong burst of wind knocked Sora's grip on the driftwood sending him into the vortex.
"SORA!" Sophie tried to reach out to grab him before the winds too knocked her off.
"SOPHIE!" Both Kyle and Sora stared in shock as Sophie was pulled in. Suddenly, a dark lightning bolt struck Kyle's right arm making the blonde scream in agony. His charred skin slowly began to morph into thick, dark veins that began to spread across his right arm and soon the right side of his face cheek, and chest. Sora and Sophie looked on in sheer terror as Kyle's now unconscience body was also pulled airborne. The three were soon pulled into the vortex…
And The World They Once Knew Soon Lay amidst the Dark…
The world… has been connected. Till the end of time and space, Glory to Elysium…
Author's Note: And with that, I finally finished this… excruciating task of a chapter. Starting the next chapter, get ready for Kyle's Keyblade Training Arc.