Chapter Text
"So how does it feel, girl? To have all that you cherish, loved, brought to an eternal ruin? To see all of your oh so precious friends fall before my might? As the weight of your failures crashes down all around you, showing you for what you truly are-an ordinary, unremarkable girl in over her head." the voice of a man spoke out, echoing across the barren and scarred wasteland that was once Scala Ad Caelum. Her friends lay defeated, their lights snuffed out by the darkness. The once beautiful and serene landscape was shattered, torn apart by various attacks, with slabs of pure concrete ripped apart like ribbons.
Tendrils of shadow wrapped around the man's form , clinging to him like a second skin as he cackled. A triumphant, sinister gleam entering the maniac, molten-gold eyes while focusing on a single girl. Crouched down, bruises littering her skin, having ripped into her clothes-she was missing a sleeve as well as a pants leg now- leaving her body broken, lacking the energy to even stand anymore. Even so, she refused to relent as one might expect-the hardest lights to snuff out are always those last few precious sparks, aren't they?
This girl was no exception.
He watched her stand, again and again, taking hit after hit. She no longer had the strength left to try and dodge nor did she have it in her to match blow for blow any longer. She was alone.
"Still stubborn I see. Fine then, allow me to personally return you to the darkness-the origin of all hearts!"He gathered the tendrils of darkness in the palm of his hand like a miniature dark sun, nearly missing the low, rasp of words that escaped her bleeding lips. The ball of shadows grew by the second as he held it over his head, preparing for the final blow in what he deemed a futile struggle.
"What was that, girl? Have you finally come to your senses and admit defeat?"
She drew in a slow, deep breath, gathering her strength and straightening her shoulder and back to stand proudly against him. It sickened him, just how defiant she was. She was nothing , yet interfered the most.
"You're wrong."
Two words. Two, infuriating words. Repeated to him over and over again by her.
"You still do not understand? Look around you and tell me again, who is in the wrong?" He said, gesturing with his other arm towards her fallen friends-the many assembled 'Keyblade' wielders she had gathered.
"Darkness helps the light to shine brighter, but it does not overcome it. Even when everything seems too far away or too hard, the light can still reach us, it's still guiding us in the forms of our friends. The people we've met, the memories we share, the same can be said of you I'm sure. Somewhere deep inside, your friends are still with you."
The mental image of him with Eraqus, playing on a game board. The other boy smiled encouragingly at him as he picked up a black piece, inspecting it curiously. Fury took over suddenly, directed towards this insignificant girl who dared stand in his way.
"Enough of this, Sora . A girl who still knows nothing of her world or any other, who still understands nothing! You are no Keyblade Master, rather a blind fool who refuses to see that which is right in front of her-no light can exist without darkness and you are no different!" He flicked his wrist, launching the massive ball of shadow towards her, grinning like a lunatic.
"Yours is an existence that should have been snuffed out long ago! Goodbye Sora, enjoy your eternal slumber!"
Only the blow never connected, seeing the girl fall to her knees, powerless to stop it. Just as it was about to connect however, something stopped it. A bright glimmer of light coming between her and the oncoming wave of darkness.
"What-What is that!?" He roared, outraged to have been foiled yet again in her demise.
Sora's eyelids falling shut, no longer having the energy to even stay conscious letting everything be washed away in the bright light that came spilling out of her pocket, right where she tucked the card Luxord had given to her. Her last thought being to her friends, wishing she could apologize for failing them so badly despite all they'd gone through together.
" I say it again girl, you were born for these kinds of games ."
A pair of arms caught her before she could hit the ground.
~/~
Slowly, a pair of sapphire-blue eyes drifted open again expecting to be surrounded by shadow on all sides, surprised to feel a hard surface underneath her instead. The pain she had in her limbs was gone now, as was the blurriness in her vision from fatigue. Slowly she turned her head, catching sight of a familiar looking platform spread out underneath her.
"What…? Where...am I?" She murmurs, confusion coloring her words as she pushed herself to move.
"Right now, we are deep inside of your heart Sora."
Said girl tenses, recognizing the voice as one she heard not too long ago. And while it might not be the worst voice to hear, it was certainly far from being the best. Whirling around, summoning her keyblade and seeing a familiar head of short platinum-blonde hair and clearly blue eyes instead of gold.
"You...b-but you were…!" She started to say, only to be cut off when her head began to swim. Struggling to stay upright, feeling as though her exhaustion from fighting Xehanort was suddenly coming back full force. "What's-"
"Sora." She felt a sudden weight on her shoulder, steadying her as the world began to spin around them. His leather-clad fingers digging into the skin, regarding her with that same level of intrigue and intensity as during their final-or so she thought-confrontation. Back when Riku, Kairi and everyone else was still with her.
Now she was alone. Again, so she thought.
"Luxord." The feeling of relief that came with saying his name was strange, after all the last time they met they were enemies, and for all purposes, he was aiming to kill her, wasn't he? Isn't that ultimately what Xehanort wanted in the end? To snuff out the light and have everything 'return to darkness'.
"W-...what am I...doing here? What are you doing here? Where-...where's Riku and Kairi? The King? Donald and Goofy and-"
He held up his other hand, a solemn look passing over his features that made her heart sink down into her stomach. She knew deep down, knew they were gone. All of them, including the rest of the seven struck down in their final confrontation with the dark master, Xehanort when he obtained the X-blade.
"The wildcard you gave me…" Sora muttered, her memories slowly coming back to her of her final moments. Remembering Xehanort's oncoming attack. "...it saved me!?"
"Yes. Though truth be told, I had prayed it would not be needed." Luxord admits, the oddly knowing glint entering his eyes, the same one that was present in all their encounters. "As I mentioned before Sora, it appears you were born for games such as these."
"Games?" Sora repeated, outraged, smacking the organization member's hand away with a look of fury etched onto her soft features. "You seriously think this is a game! All my friends, my home-everything is gone now!"
"All because of Xehanort! Because I...I wasn't strong enough." The admission hurt, tasting bitter in her mouth. Xehanort had been right in calling her just a useless, ordinary girl.
"Sora," Luxord began, eerily calm despite the rather hopeless situation Sora now found herself in. "What if I told you that not all was lost?"
"What?" The brunette's head snapped up at those words.
"Time is a fickle thing Sora, but it is not without its share of mercy mind you. Granted, it tends to favor a more 'give and take' ideal on things. I suppose a good method of comparison would be...with Castle Oblivion?"
"Time? Castle...Oblivion? What are you talking about?"
Luxord's eyes softened some, reaching a hand into the inner pockets of his organization-style black cloak and pulling out a familiar looking charm; multi-colored shells making up a five-point star that bore a simple little smiley-face in the center.
"Kairi's charm! I thought I lost it that time Xehanort struck me…" The memory was a fresh one, recalling how she heard the familiar jingle of the chain when the said charm went flying while dodging a wave of magic thrown by the elder keyblade master. Remembering how she was just reaching for said charm when he threw another, realizing far too late to be able to dodge-
"That was when Riku-"
"Sora!" She barely caught a blur of silver hair, hearing a loud and heavy THWUNK! Her expression immediately morphs into one of absolute horror when she saw bright, unmistakable crimson seeping through the front of her best friend's shirt. Where there had once been two lights left standing against Xehanort, there was now only one.
"I know. I saw everything." Luxord went on to say. Taking one of her hands and slowly lowering the charm into it. "Sora, I believe your loss has been great, which is why...I wish to give you the second chance that you rightfully deserve."
"Second Chance? Like...a do-over?" It sounded far too good to be true, and coming from him of all people, Sora couldn't help her skepticism. He nodded, and Sora found it hard to resist the sudden swell of hope simmering in her chest. Flashes of her most recent battle grounding her.
"But...why me? You said you saw, right? So you saw me fail1 I couldn't-" She stopped, the words getting lodged in her throat, remembering Kairi, Goofy and Donald, Mickey and...even Riku. "I couldn't save anybody…"
"You're wrong."
.
.
.
.
"I've been having...these weird thoughts lately."
That was her voice, only not quite. She wasn't saying it...Or thinking it really…
"Like...this feels so familiar...like a dream I once had. A really long time ago..."
Sora opened her eyes to find herself floating in some kind of deep, watery abyss. She could still breath somehow...but it felt so cold. Cold and lonely. Her limbs felt heavier than usual, unable to move and sinking deeper and deeper into the dark depths.
She felt the darkness closing in on her, about to swallow her into its embrace, letting her eyelids slip shut. Unable to find even a glimmer of light anymore. The comforting call of sleep luring her away-
She opened her eyes. And to her surprise, instead of pitch blackness she found herself standing on a familiar looking beach. The island she played on with her friends. Her home, the Destiny Islands.
Looking out ahead of her she saw a familiar head of red hair. Her friend Kairi stood out in the waves, the crystal clear water going up to her shins. Her short auburn tresses dancing in the oncoming breeze whilst facing away from Sora's direction, like she had yet to notice the brunette behind her at all.
Sora was about to call out to her longtime friend, the sun glaring out at her from behind her friend forcing her to raise a hand to shield her eyes from the bright rays. Realizing Kairi hadn't noticed her still, Sora decided to take this chance to try and sneak up on her. She took her first step to run out into the water, but immediately stopped...
….the tide was going out. Very fast. Too fast to be natural, she realized, almost like-
Sure enough when she looked back up a huge tidal wave was forming and heading straight for her and Kairi. It was at that moment that Kairi finally turned to give her sideways glance, turning fully and offering a small quirk of the lips offering one of one of her hands for Sora to take hold of.
Sora made a mad dash for her friend, choosing not to dwell on how eerily calm the redhead seemed with the impending danger. Her movement felt more sluggish than usual though and the tidal wave came crashing down on them. The force sent Sora tumbling about aimlessly, unable to get a decent footing anywhere.
When she finally stopped spinning she saw that they were both submerged, with Kairi floating just out of arm's reach before her. She held out her hand towards Sora once more, but when Sora tried to take hold of it, the water began pushing her away. She tried desperately to swim against the oncoming current, but it was no use. It pushed her further and further away from Kairi, eventually sending her up.
She broke the water's surface with a loud gasp, surprised to see the sun was just beginning to set for the day now.
She looked around seeing no sign of Kairi or anyone else at first, relief soon flooded her face when her eyes found another's, her other friend Riku. He was standing on the edge of the beach calling out to her, waving for her to come towards him whilst smiling. His silver hair glinting in the light of the fading sun overhead.
She couldn't quite make out what he was saying, waving back and wading through the water to get to him. Riku met her halfway with a laugh. Bent over in exhaustion, Sora was at least glad that he was smiling again. Only the peace between them was short-lived, hearing Riku let out a gasp while looking up towards the sky.
Sora turned, following where his eyes were and felt her own gaze widen in disbelief. At first it looked like some kind of meteor shower was happening, blue streaks of light going across the sky. Only one of them looked exactly like...her?
Confused, Sora took a step closer when she suddenly lost her balance. Looking down she saw two unfamiliar faces in place of her reflection in the water's surface; One with hair a few shades lighter than her own, albeit more spiked and shorter with matching blue eyes. A jacket that was white on one side, black on the other, the collar being red and pleated. The other person has a darker look about them with a strange black face mask, a skin-tight black and red ensemble covering their body.
Their appearance triggered something, causing her to clutch her head in a brief moment of pain. Losing her balance and starting to fall backwards. She saw Riku give a start from the corner of her eye, attempting to catch her.
Her hand slipping right out of his grasp, suddenly falling from what seemed like several stories high. When she looked back up Riku appeared to be standing on air, reaching down for her and yelling something out that she couldn't hear. Then his image was gone, becoming distorted by what appeared to be ripples on the water's surface.
She felt whatever fight she had left drain out of her, becoming submerged once again in total darkness. It still didn't hurt. It was the same cold, dark and lonely nothingness as before.
Only this time she felt herself slowing in her descent. Something bright caused her to re-open her, feeling her body being slowly let down in an upright position. Her eyes raking over the stained glass platform she is heading towards just before she lands on it, seeing what appeared to be a fair-skinned boy with short red hair and pointy elf-like ears surrounded by a bunch of young looking children; each dressed like some sort of animal to boot.
Sora could faintly make out her own reflection in the stained glass, feeling just a little worse for wear all of a sudden. An uncomfortable shiver going down her spine whilst taking another look around, doing a slow 360 and finding nothing of use.
Where was she? How did she get to such a place? Was it some kind of dream?
"There is still so much to do...yet so little time."
Sora turned, whipping around this way and that, unable to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. It sounded familiar and seemed to be coming from every which way. She took a step forward, closer in what she hoped was the directions he voice was coming from.
"It's alright, don't be afraid. There's still time. The door is still shut."
Sora didn't know what "door" they were referring to, but it still felt like something she should know.
"I want to help you this time around, will you let me?"
Sora hesitates with her answer, unable to put a face to the mysterious voice she is currently hearing. They sound sincere enough however, what is it that they want to help her with exactly? She nods slowly and the voice lets out what sounds eerily like a hum of satisfaction.
"Power sleeps within you, more so than you can imagine."
They went on to say, three matching pedestals rising from the platform beneath her feet.
"But in order to draw it out you must first be able to give it form."
She stepped closer to one of the platforms, curiosity overtaking her. Shrouded in a pillar of light were three different looking weapons. She reached towards the one closest on the pedestal in front of her.
On it was a familiar looking sword; The pommel is simple and golden in color, with a criss-cross pattern of blue as the hand guard. A triple-circle pattern etched into the middle of the hilt. It's gleaming, sharp edge looked like it could cut through anything with ease.
"The path of a warrior, eh? With it comes invincible courage. It is a sword of terrible destruction.
The last tidbit of information gave her pause, looking up in what she assumed to be the direction of the mysterious voice.
"Is this the form which you seek?"
Courage sounded like a nice thing to have, if she were being honest. Then again, she could do without the terrible destruction part. Reluctantly she placed the sword back onto it's pedestal.
Wordlessly she stepped closer to another of the newly risen pedestals, this one holding what looked like a shield. Pentagonal in shape with its bottom three corners rounded, sporting a black and red color motif, that same triple circle design etched in the middle. She held it by the edges looking it over carefully, uncertainty swelling in her gut.
"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all."
That sounded nice, being able to repel any attack. Only somewhere deep inside she knew it would never be so easy. 'Repel isn't the same as completely stopping, is it?' She thought and just like with the sword, she found herself slowly placing the weapon back on its pedestal.
She turned walking over to the very last one, seeing that it was a rod of some kind. Both ends are a tan color with the actual handle part being green. The same triple-layered circle up top, only this one blue.
"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of both wonder and ruin."
She frowned. 'Again with the ruin stuff' she thought, unsure of whether or not he was just messing with her or not.
Slowly she lowered the staff back onto it's pedestal, unable to come to a proper decision between the three.
"What's wrong? Can you not decide?"
"None of these feel like me." She confessed so quietly she thought they might not have heard. Then the sound of low laughter rang out, causing her to look up once more.
"I see...perhaps you are right. Given your unique circumstances, a fourth option may be needed here…"
She looked around, half expecting a fourth pedestal to pop on up, just like the other three. Only instead she felt the glass platform beneath start to shatter.
"Look within. Hurry!"
Before she knew it Sora was again free-falling into nothingness, flailing for something to grab onto. As she fell, she saw another stained glass platform appear underneath her. Opposed to the green of the last one this one was blue with a black-haired male in the center, wearing simple blue slacks and a white button-down shirt. All around him were trinkets of the sea, including the silhouette of what Sora thought might have been a girl.
She landed gently on her feet, looking around in bewilderment.
"You still haven't found it? Look deep in your heart."
She blinked, about to ask what the voice meant when an odd sound drew her attention forward. She let out a gasp seeing an odd, growing black puddle on the ground. One turned into three and so on, paling as the shadows clamored together taking shape. It had tiny, sharp claws with a body of pure black and brightly glowing yellow eyes. It was inhuman.
"Don't fear the darkness. You possess the strongest weapon of all-"
The shadow leapt at her, all but throwing herself out of harm's way at the last second.
"-inside of you. There's a light that will never go out, remember?"
The shadows were multiplying, covering almost all of the platform she was on. Being forced closer and closer to the edge.
The shadows melded together, the tiny claws and little antenna disappearing, being replaced by much larger hands. The tips pointed like claws, with dark tendrils of hair taking the place of the antenna. The same glowing yellow eyes, only now on a much larger being looking back at her. She felt her heart drop down into her stomach at the change.
How was she supposed to fight something so big? She had no weapon! And she was all alone.
"Look out!" The mysterious voice called.
Sora barely was able to catch the movement of the huge, black thing swinging it's fist down and shattering the stained glass platform completely in one strike. Sending her spiraling further down. She landed on the next platform with a hard thud!
This one being primarily pink in color, with wisps of gold running along the edges. While pushing herself up, Sora noted that the golden pattern appeared to be hair, coming from atop the silhouette of what she assumed was a girl near the top section of the portrait. In the center a brown-haired male with matching brown eyes. On his left was a horse, on his right a...gecko?
"Are you alright? The darkness is stronger this time around."
Sora didn't bother with a response, figuring if she had nothing nice to say she's better off not saying anything at all.
"Why don't we try this...Tell me a little about yourself."
Sora was about to ask why, feeling a spike of irritation get the best of her. She had yet to be convinced this mystery person was friendly. As though sensing her frustration the voice let out a heavy sigh.
"Please?"
"Why should I trust you?" Sora asked. When silence followed her question she thought maybe the mystery voice had finally left.
"As I said before, I want to help you."
They sounded sincere enough, and for just a moment Sora felt a sliver of memory pass by her eyes. Coming and going in the blink of an eye, slipping out from her fingers before she could think to stop it. Flashes of blonde hair and blue eyes.
She pressed a hand against her forehead, her eyelids falling shut feeling a sudden, sharp pain.
When she opened them she was somewhere new, somewhere familiar.
With slow, uncertain steps she made her way to one of the three people standing a few feet away. Her first thought being that she looked an awful lot like Kairi, only her hair was black instead of red, with her bangs parted to the other side. They had the same blue eyes though, and it made Sora feel just a little more at ease.
"Tell me, what is it that's most important to you?" The Kairi look-alike inquired.
Sora thought about her answer, at first leaning towards friendship as that seemed to sum up her current feelings pretty well. Only the more she thought about it the more she realized... friendship wasn't what her heart wanted. At least, not the most.
"I want to be able to protect the people I care about." Sora answered, "to make sure everyone's happy."
The look-alike stared at her, then little by little she smiled. "I see."
Turning around Sora walked on over to the next person, figuring their conversation to be over.
Look-wise it was the same person whose reflection she saw in the water earlier while talking with Riku, the one not wearing a mask. Only his wardrobe was different somehow, wearing a dark black cloak.
"What is it you're so afraid of?" He asked, his bluntness taking her by surprise.
Did she really seem so afraid?
"I guess...I just wonder if I'm really strong enough sometimes?" She said, a rawness to her words like she had already failed somehow at preventing some kind of tragedy, even though she couldn't recall anything of the sort happening.
"If all you do is hesitate, then you never will be." His words cut deep, making her flinch.
Nervously, she decided to move onto the next and final person.
"Sora," the person began turning around to face her. Sora felt like she was staring at a darker version of herself. Her blue eyes were replaced by shining golden ones and her almond-colored hair was pitch-black instead. "Do you know who it is that's most important to you? Do you remember?"
Sora blinked, dumbfounded by such a loaded question.
"W-what? What are you-"
"Think Sora. Look deep inside your heart, look for that bright glimmer that's been there all along." The other her looking back, imploring Sora to find it. "That light-that's what you need to protect now. Never lose sight of it."
The other her reached for Sora's hand, slipping something into her open palm and holding it tightly. "Darkness and light are two sides of the same coin, you can use my darkness if it helps. Just don't fall into the abyss."
She looked towards her hand, seeing what appeared to be some kind of key-chain just as the light engulfed her. She felt the light travel down to her hand, taking a solid shape. A voice whispering into her ear.
"And you can borrow my light if it helps too."
Sora looked down, seeing a giant key-like weapon now being clutched in her hand. " A key...blade?" She muttered, confused.
"Yes, that's it! You've gained the power to fight now." The same voice from earlier, before she was attacked spoke up.
"But, um...this isn't mine." Sora said, not quite certain how she could tell. Something about it just felt...off. Like it belonged to another.
"They said you can borrow it then, i suppose?"
"Well, yeah but I don't-"
"Let your heart be your guiding key, Sora."
Sora's mouth opened then immediately shut, staring up at the disembodied voice in awe. "How do you...know my name?" Was the first thing that spilled from her lips, wanting to ask so much more. Sadly she was not given the chance when the shadows returned, pools of black, inky darkness spreading around her.
On pure instinct she turned, attempting to flee as a familiar large shape began rising out of the massive pool of shadows. Towering over there just as she reached the edge, barely catching herself before she could fall again. Fear clawing at her chest as she was confronted by that same dark entity, unable to think clearly.
'I'm going to die!' She thought, terrified. Even the mysterious voice from earlier seemed to have left her. She was on her own.
"I…"
"Giving up already? I thought you were stronger than that, Sora."
Her eyes widened at the familiar boyish voice that rang through her head. Accompanied by the familiar visage of silver hair and shining bluish-green eyes. A burst of confidence thrumming through her veins as she launched herself forward, her fear forgotten.
"That's the way Sora, don't forget. You are the one...who will open the door."