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Chapter 6: A Fateful Night (Part 1)

The bed’s coils screamed in agony from Riku’s constant tossing and turning. Every time he tried to shake the pounding in his head, it would strike back with a vengeance; it squeezed his skull like the claw in a crane machine – struggling to pull it straight out of his scalp. When Riku arrived home earlier, he took aspirin and spent the evening in bed. Not even the divine smell of a home cooked meal from his parents could lure him out from beneath the covers.

But his headache was only a foreshadowing to what he experienced next. Something whispered in his ear. Shocked beyond all belief, he sat straight up, gasping with shaken breath. Threads of cold sweat poured down his silver hair. For a moment he thought it was the angry howls of the wind. He had left his windows wide open; it was easy assumption to make.

But then he heard the whispers again. It was almost like he could feel someone’s hot breath filling his ear canal with ominous words. Riku spun around and sat on the side of his bed; he massaged the right side of his head.

This can’t be real, he kept telling himself. I can’t be losing my mind. Must be the heat. Was working hard today in the sun.

The voice continued murmuring an incoherent mess. Soon, syllabus found their way to each other like a magnet.

Every word became clear:

The door has opened.

Riku listened with a skeptical ear as the words continued their endless assault. But the absurd part was what he heard sounded fascinating. There was something trusting in the voice. Almost soothing, too.

He stood up from his bed and walked towards the window; it was like the voice was dragging him along with a long, skinny invisible hand. Upon looking out the window, he noticed the beautiful night sky had been buried under foreboding dark clouds. Bushes were rustling nonstop from the relentless wind, and they shook faster as the speed increased.

Peculiar. There was nothing on the news indicating an impending storm. This seemed like one huge coincidence: the voices in his head, the sudden storm. Perhaps he should visit the island. Riku rationalized that maybe everything would cease if he stepped foot on it. Something was telling him to go there. He squeezed the window sill to release the heaviness in his stomach. It’s now or never, he thought.

Riku tied his sheets together, threw them out the window, and climbed down from his second-floor bedroom, being careful to land gently on the ground. He glanced around to make sure no saw him. Not a soul. Exhaling, he ran towards the dock, making sure to stay concealed in the shadows.

Unfortunately, Kairi – who was looking out her window – noticed him when he stepped into a lit area for just a few moments.

---

After a long day experiencing an overwhelming variety of thoughts and feelings, Sora went upstairs to unwind in his room. To let his thoughts waltz around while he picked out which ones were worth contemplating over.

Sora was laying on his bed, with his head resting on his hands. He glanced around the familiar, comforting vicinity. Soon he would be leaving it all behind. Clothes were scattered on the light blue carpet. Behind the headboard of his bed was a bookshelf overstuffed with many of his favorite books (mostly adventure books). In front of the bed were wooden crates filled with miscellaneous items that will never see the light of day because of his selective indolence.

To the right of his bookshelf was a woodgrain desk where Sora would partake in his “favorite” pastime: homework; but that, along with this room, would soon become a passing, reminiscent memory. Leaving home was a challenge; in a way, home is bonded to us like DNA. It’s a part of our lives. How could you imagine yourself being separated from it?

Sora wasn’t too worried about being homesick, however. Like Kairi said: “they could always come if they wanted to.” Why worry? Sora was more focused on the journey ahead. His heart pounded with excitement, as if it was going to pack its luggage and leap out of his chest at any moment. He could see the three of them laying on the raft, letting the gentle current lull them into a peaceful rest. It was going to be wonderful.

But a troubling thought tried to upstage his pleasant fantasy, shouting a horrible off-key note through its puffy, acne infested lips. Riku’s joke still bothered him. Was is it really a joke, or was it an unsettling implication that he was planning to share the fruit with Kairi soon? Sora’s feelings for her started to swell like a balloon, ready to burst into something stronger at any moment.

His eyes looked up towards the ceiling. Hanging from it – supported by a strong rope – was a wooden model ship he received for Christmas years ago. In the ship were two passengers he made from leftover potato sacks. He used a marker to give them distinct features: one was a boy, one was a girl. Fixed on their faces were perpetual smiles. Seems like they were on a fantastic adventure. Sora could only hope for their voyage to be similar.

He could hear Kairi say: “I just can’t wait. Once we set sail, it’ll be great.”

A low rumbling sound murmured in Sora’s ear, disrupting his idyllic daydream. His blue eyes focused on his window. Outside he could see furious purple lightning bolts discharge from the pitch-black sky.

“A storm?” Sora made a horrible realization. He abruptly sat up. “Oh, no, the raft!”

He couldn’t afford any delays in the trip. They were not going to spend another few grueling days rebuilding the raft (he would never hear the end of it from Riku). Without wasting anytime, he climbed through the window, grabbed a nearby branch, and used it to maneuver onto a tree. As he slid down it, he could hear his mother calling him for dinner.

Coming up with an excuse wasn’t important now. He would mull over something reasonable later. After landing on the grass, he hurried for the dock, forcing his way through the sudden torturous howls of the wind.

---

Rowing to the island felt like being in the midst of a warzone. Thunder roared from the sky; the current pushed against the boat with unrelenting force; and the wind continued screaming in his face. But he was determined to beat this storm. He overexerted every muscle in his arms to row against the curtain, ignoring the numbing pain in the process.

Just get to the island! Just get to the island played on repeat in his head. Focus on that one sentence. Ignore the calamity trying to feed you to the ravenous ocean. Every wasted second meant saying good-bye to another piece of the raft.

His perseverance was soon rewarded. The dock was in walking distance. He leaped onto the shore, grabbed the rope from his boat, and again fought through the storm to reach the dock. After tying the rope around the piling, he climbed onto the dock, stood up, and took a moment to catch his breath.

Something felt unusual about the weather. Storms were common because of the hot weather, and would be a hindrance when trying to row home. But they were never this unrelenting. It was as if Mother Nature had a personal vendetta against his island, and was content with watching it drown by her own livid tears.

A strange swishing sound replaced the harsh moans of the wind. Sora’s followed the strange, uncomfortable noise into the sky. His eyes met with something most unsettling – something that had never invaded the peaceful night sky before. It was a giant dark sphere. From Sora’s perspective, it appeared to be as big as the moon. A mixture of light and dark purple energy moved around inside the sphere like waves of the ocean. In the middle of the sphere was a pink circle, gazing through the constant motion of purples.

Sora felt his jaw drop in astonishment. A sudden chilling breeze brushed over his face. The sensation was almost ice cold, and it felt like it was coming from the sphere itself. His instincts knew there was something dangerous about this looming uncanny ball of energy. Sora prepared to sprint across the island when he saw movement in the water, on the opposite side of the dock. He looked to see two other boats, which have been secured to the pilings.

“Riku’s boat,” he asked. “And Kairi’s!”

They must have come to prevent the raft from floating adrift, too. He heard the pitch of the swishing noise increase, as if someone had turned a dial. Sora glanced back up to see that the sphere grew bigger (at least that’s what he believed; maybe the nervous commotion rolling around in his head was playing tricks on him). Staying here too long was not ideal; that abomination could do something horrific to the island at any moment.

And then….he felt a similar chill crawl up his back.

There was a moment where he didn’t want to turn around. It was like a creature of unknown origin had its dead eyes locked on Sora’s neck; its gaping maw sauntered closer and closer to his fair colored skin. Goosebumps exploded all over his skin like fireworks. Part of him was afraid to turn around; the other had a morbid curiosity. For some reason, the latter claimed the victory.

He turned around to see four dark spots embed in the dock’s floor. A sudden case of Deja vu pinched the back of his head. Sweat started to stream down his forehead. The commotion from the storm had ceased as fear enveloped around him. This was impossible; his eyes had to be playing a twisted, cruel joke.

Cold, lifeless yellow eyes emerged from within inside the vacant spots. Those eyes were attached to familiar creatures with long, twisted antennae; they crawled out from beneath the gapping dark holes and stood on all fours.

It was them – the creatures from his dream.

Every signal traveling through Sora’s nervous system was temporarily deactivated. He couldn’t move his legs; they felt like two hallow tubes lacking the essentials needed to run. His thoughts erupted into a wildfire of questions, which engulfed his rational senses into orange hot flames.

Inch by inch they crept on their prey. Sora snapped out of his petrified state – real or not, he was destined to quell their hunger if he didn’t move. One of the creatures pounced right for him. Sora leaped off the dock and landed on the sand, almost stumbling over from the rough landing. After finding his footing, he ran. And ran; not once letting the irrational idea to turn around tap him on the shoulder. Besides, he could hear their claws digging into the sand as they ran with desirous excitement, with plans to pin him down and have a pleasurable, leisurely feast.

Sora noticed the shack entering his line of sight. Salvation! He hurried into it, slammed the door shut, and leaned against it, catching his breath. What was he going to do now? Sometimes the safest places can betray our trust, morphing into an inescapable trap. Sora knew the longer he waited, the more creatures would congregate at the door.

Already he could hear furious, hungry scratches shedding away the shack’s wooden skin. A sudden jolt knocked him forward, but he kept his back pressed against the door for dear life. Any moment they would break it open. Everything seemed hopeless.

Then Riku and Kairi popped into his mind. Were they okay? Did the creatures—no, he refused to believe that they’ve been harmed. What if they needed his help? He would never turn his back on them. While still terrified, he dug deep into the pockets of his soul to find a smidgen of courage. Regardless of what transpired tonight, he would at least be content in knowing they were unscathed.

Sora looked down at his feet to see his wooden sword. His luck seemed to be peeking out from a foxhole; he doubted it could harm the creatures, but it might keep them off his back for a little while. Taking a deep breath, he dove for the sword, rolled over, stood back up, and ran up the stairs. He heard the door swing open.

After exiting to the upper level, two more creatures appeared in front of him. He swung his blade at them; much to Sora’s horror, the attack went right through them like a mirage. Before the creatures could retaliate, he rolled to his right. In a last-ditch effort, he threw his sword straight at them; as expected, it went right through them. Sora gritted his teeth; this was hopeless, he thought. The creature approached him, preparing to make their move. Sora braced himself for the inevitable.

Then, the creatures did something unexpected: they turned towards their left, gazing at something with that appeared to be quizzical expressions (at least that’s what Sora gathered from their body language; it’s not easy to read their faces when they lacked features such as a nose and mouth). Sora followed their gaze to the lone island across the bridge. A long figure stood towards the edge, watching the uneventful storm greet him with s low rumble.

Sora notice the figure’s familiar silver hair wave in the wind, enjoying the cool breeze flow through its strains.

“Riku!!!” Sora cried, feeling momentarily relieved to see his friend unharmed.

Forgetting about the creatures, Sora ran over the bridge, calling his name. No response. The relief was ripped straight from his chest. Why was he a motionless statue? Did he fail to notice the strange dark creatures running rampant throughout the island? Or did the creatures already leave their mark on him, and this lifeless, former shell of his best friend was all that remained?

Upon reaching the island, Sora slid to a stop right nearby him. “Riku!? Dude, are you okay!?”

“Never been better,” Riku said; there was an eerie, yet calming tone in his voice.

Sora’s shoulders were stiff with anxiety. Riku seemed to be accepting of this monstrous storm; it felt like he was waiting for the clouds to carry him away, as it wrapped around his body like a warm, secure quilt. The utter aberration of this evening continued to accelerate, and it had no desire to hit the breaks anytime soon.

Sora wanted to ask Riku about his unusual behavior, but he knew there was another matter that required immediate attention.

“Hey, where’s Kairi?” Sora asked. “I thought she was with you!”

“The door has opened…” Riku muttered.

Sora was startled by Riku’s unusual reply.

“W-What?” Sora asked.

Riku turned to face him. “The door has opened, Sora. Do you know what this means?”

“Uh, we’re going to Destiny Land,” Sora asked with sarcasm, “the happiest place on earth?”

Riku frowned. “Cut it out! This is serious! We can now go to the outside world!”

“What are you talking about!?” Sora asked, growing flustered. “We’ve gotta find Kairi!”

“Kairi’s coming with us!” Riku snapped.

Sora was frozen in complete shock. Riku had never lashed out at anyone before; when angered, his face did most of the shouting. Sora could only stand there in bewildered silence as Riku continued – his eyes were glued to the giant sphere.

“Once we step through, we might not be able to come back,” he said with sincerity in his voice. “Our family and friends may become nothing more than a decent memory.”

“What’s come over you?” Sora asked. “That’ll happen! We can’t do anything without the raf—”

“Forget the raft!” Riku said. “We have to act NOW! Are you willing to throw away our only chance to see other worlds? After all that daydreaming?”

“No, but—”

Riku closed his eyes. He appeared to be in a state of calm.

“Then let’s go.” He opened his eyes. “There’s no turning back. We can’t let fear stop us. I’m not afraid of the darkness!”

Riku held out an inviting hand towards his best friend. Sora was not sure what his idea of traveling to another world entailed. Did they have to let the sphere take them? Sora glanced back at it; such an inviting image. Everything seemed wrong. Every confusing sentence Riku uttered piled on top of each other like building blocks.

Sora trusted him with his life, but was skeptical: was his plan safe? Was it even possible? For all he knew that sphere could lead to an empty vacuum, where all they could hear was their last breath before asphyxiating. He wanted to understand why Riku was acting so strange.

“Riku,” Sora said.

A puddle of darkness manifested from below Riku’s feet. Dark tendrils wrapped around his legs, and continued towards his waist. Neither his expression or pose changed; he welcomed the comforting sensation. They made him feel safe. But Sora had a different opinion. It was horrifying to watch. That cold feeling seeped into his skin once again.

He could sense something sinister was awaiting Riku’s arrival, and would snatch him into a realm of nightmares that had no beginning or end, day or night, or any perception of time – just endless suffering.

Sora hurried over to rescue Riku, but the puddle latched onto his feet. The cold tendrils started wrapping themselves around him. But he didn’t care. He reached for Riku, putting every ounce of strength into his arm. For a moment he felt the tips of Riku’s fingers, but the tendrils restrained his movement. Riku’s smile never faded from his lips. Waves of darkness filled Sora’s vision; he found it difficult to breathe; his body was paralyzed from the overwhelming strength of the tendrils.

His vision was almost engulfed by darkness. All he could see now were tiny cracks of Riku’s skin.

Then, blackness.

But Sora never stopped fighting. There was little movement left in his arm. He tried reaching for anything at this point: Riku, a tree, the covers of his blanket, it didn’t matter. Sora wanted this nightmare to end. His hand continued to flail around in the darkness – until it grabbed something. Something warm. Strangely comforting. It pulsated in his hand like a gentle heartbeat. He felt the comforting warmth swim through his body.

A brilliant light burst through the darkness, forcing Sora to shut his eyes as it grew stronger. It was blinding, even with the aid of his eyelids. Soon the light dimmed. Sora felt movement return to his body. Upon opening his eyes, he stumbled forward and caught himself. Looking back up, he noticed Riku had vanished. His eyes scanned the entire area for any traces of him. Gone.

He wanted to believe that Riku was safe somewhere – that his preconceptions about this darkness was erroneous. Sora needed to compose himself. Worrying was like being stuck in a pit of anxiety; all you could do was stand there and do nothing. He had to figure out how to find Riku, as well as Kairi; she still had to be on the island somewhere.

Composing his thoughts, Sora suddenly realized that he was holding something heavy in his hand.

He glanced down as his right hand, almost jumping in surprise by what was holding. It was a sword. And it was in the shape of a key. That was the best way Sora could describe it. The sword’s design was akin to a skeleton key. Its long silver blade glistened in the murky night. On the edge of the blade were teeth that formed the shape of a crown. Surrounding its hilt was a golden guard shaped like a square. Running down the back of the guard was a silver keychain Resting at the edge was a silver insignia that looked like a mushroom.

Sora glanced at this strange weapon with wonder and confusion. Just when he thought this night couldn’t get any stranger.

“Wh-What is this thing?”

A voice whispered from the shadows.

Keyblade…..keyblade…..

Guess that answered one question.

Before Sora could ponder any further, he felt a familiar chill brush its cold nails through his hair. He spun around to see four of the creatures standing before him; they were ready to pounce, ready to feast. Sora gritted his teeth; their presence was becoming a nuisance. Sure, they were still an enigma that made his nerves swell like a sore throat, but Sora was far more concerned about Kairi’s safety (as well as Riku’s whereabouts).

Sora’s only chance for survival was the even more mysterious Keyblade resting in his hand. He swung it at the creatures, hoping to gain some distance between them. For the first time all night, a beam of leverage smashed through the dark clouds and shined right on his face. The creatures backed away from the Keyblade in utmost terror. It looked like they were shirking into defenseless, whimpering puppies.

Sora felt a confident smile melt his fears away into a puddle. “Ah, so you guys don’t like this thing, do ya? That’s too bad; at this moment, I like it very much!”

Sora ran at one of the creatures and brought the Keyblade right down on it, evaporating it into black dust. He spun around to his right and delivered a horizontal slash to another one; it too met the same quick, painless fate. A creature in front of him leaped into the air, bringing its claws down. Sora swung his blade upward like a golf club, deflecting the attack.

He could sense another creature trying to attack from behind. Sora put the blade right behind his back and blocked the incoming strike. Then, he delivered a powerful kick to the one in front of him, knocking it over. After spinning around to face the one that attacked from behind, he thrust his blade right at the creature. It hopped back a short distance to avoid becoming a potential Shish Kebab.

However, Sora wasn’t going to let it escape. He brought the blade over his shoulder, leaped forward, and turned the creature into the same dark dusk as its brethren. Sora glanced over his shoulder to see the creature he spared leaping for him; he rolled forward to avoid its claws. Upon getting into a kneeled position, he rotated his torso, brought the blade up, and blocked a sideways strike.

Sora hurried to his feet and delivered the final blow before the creature could retaliate. A huge sigh of relief exuberantly exited his mouth as he took a moment to recover. He glanced at the blade – a million of questions were dangling above his head, irritating his scalp like dull razors, but nothing mattered right now. This Keyblade was keeping him alive; asking questions about its origin was inconsequential. It would help in expediting his search for Kairi.

Movement appeared in the corner of his vision. He turned to face the bridge, and gasped upon witnessing more ravenous creatures trotting across the it. A few tried to pounce on him, but he leaped into the air. Actually, no. He was rocketing into the sky. Sora was shocked by this sudden boost. He felt like someone had stuffed his body with feathers. Was the Keyblade influencing his movements?

Using the incredible distance to his advantage, he brought the blade down and swung it right into the ground, releasing a small, glowing shockwave that knocked a few of the creatures back. He landed on his feet, not taking any damage from the huge fall. Another creature swiped at him, but he leaped back, landing right on the edge of the island.

Sora regained his balance before he could fall of the edge. The same creature scurried over and tried attacking again; Sora leaped to his left to dodge it. He retaliated, slashing the creature in two. Sora’s grin started to grow wider; in this moment, he felt powerful. His senses felt heightened; his reaction time was quicker; and his strikes felt stronger. It was like he gained superpowers.

Even in this perilous circumstance, an excited burst of adrenaline traveled through his veins like a bobsled. He wanted to pummel every last creature with his new-found strength. One thing was for sure: he was already in love with the Keyblade.

As more creatures charged for him, Sora back flipped off the island and landed in the water. He hurried onto the shore, where he was greeted by more creatures. Gripping the hilt, he ran at the horde. He delivered a diagonal slash to the first one. As the next one flew at him, he rotated his torso to avoid it, and performed a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree swing to destroy another creature in front of him. Sora side-stepped left to dodge another incoming creature; he countered with a powerful slash to obliterate it.

More creatures soon appeared. Sora felt like he was stuck behind an impassive door; he wasn’t making any progress in locating Kairi, and the creatures’ numbers refused to diminish. Sora had to withdraw from the battle. It was only chance to make his search for Kairi effective in the slightest. Sora swung his blade to force the creatures away from him. He hurried over to the Secret Place; maybe she took refuge in there.

Upon reaching the entrance, he was startled by what stood in front of him: it was the same door he encountered from his dream. Sora shook his head, unable to believe the inconceivable truth his eyes were presenting to him. Did someone find a back entrance into his sleep and decide to take the intimidating imagery he saw on a pernicious joyride? Why couldn’t they have pulled out some hip robots with attitude? The one’s that transform into steam trains?

He pulled open the doors, noticing that the cave’s walls have extended well over his head. Another anomaly, but he had stopped caring awhile ago; any sense of logic had been scribbled over by long, jagged lines of improbability. All you could do was accept the madness and move forward. If it there was any consolation, at least he didn’t have to make the painstaking process of crawling through the entrance again.

Sora ran through the catacombs of the cave. Every wild sound had dispersed into an uncomfortable, cold silence. His heartbeat pounded in his head like a furious drum, mixed from the exercise and trepidation; he felt like the walls around him were spinning as a result. Upon reaching the main area, he stopped upon seeing a familiar person. The spinning walls reformed into solid stone. He felt a boulder of stress roll off his stomach, allowing it to expand in relief.

“Kairi!” he cried out.

There she stood, staring at the mysterious brown door. She turned to face him – her movement was sluggish. Sora felt that same boulder began to roll back onto his ribcage. As her face came into view, Sora froze in absolute horror. Throughout the night he had been forced to accept every strange encounter: the storm, Riku’s disappearance, and the dark creatures. But he wanted to refuse what he was seeing now.

Kairi had become an emotionless shell; her depressing, ghostly white skin brightened the room with a dull, pale light. Any sign of her usual enthusiastic expression proved impossible to find; it was replaced by a fragile look of anguish. Sora had never seen her so expressionless before, and the longer he stared, the more he started feeling like how she looked. Did those creatures get to her first?

“Sora,” she replied with a weak tone in her voice.

She held out a feeble hand to him. Sora wasn’t sure what happened, but he had to pull himself together. His priority was to get them both to safety; then he would figure out why she had become so etiolated.

That never happened.

Instead, the door behind her burst open, unleashing a ferocious burst of wind; it was imbued with dark particles. Sora braced himself from the impact. The unrelenting wind pushed Kairi forward. Sora tried to catch her in his arms, but was shocked to see her vanish before his eyes. He didn’t have time to react further, as the wind pushed him right out of the cave. His body flew into the air, and he was trapped in a fog of darkness.

Sora spun around like a top, unable to gain control of his movements. He was at the mercy of the storm for what felt like an eternity. Soon, he emerged from the fog and crashed into the sand. He grunted and got to his knees. His eyes were greeted by a most unexpected sight: everything around him was covered by the dark, purple sky. Sticks, rocks, wood, and other miscellaneous objects flew by him in rapid succession.

To his left were a few trees; some had the misfortune of being decapitated by the storm. On his right he noticed a plank of wood. What he saw in front of him was most alarming: the edge of the land; there was nothing underneath it but a purple fog. It became appeared as he looked over – he was floating on a piece of the island.

Where was the rest of it? No, don’t even attempt an answer. You won’t like what you hear, he thought. He didn’t want to believe something horrible happened to it; he didn’t want to believe that Riku and Kairi disappeared; and he most certainly didn’t want to believe this was real.

But it was real. The rough wind slapped him in his face, the sand scratched at his eyes, and the feeling of loneliness served as a brutal, bleak reminder.

He couldn’t wake up from this nightmare, and was forced to live with it forever.

Sora looked up to see the giant sphere from earlier; it was looming over him, and was even closer than before. Another chill – this one stronger and far more menacing – started creeping up on him. He stood up, turned around, and came face to face with one last familiar figure from his nightmares: the giant creature with tentacles for hair.

The creature stared down Sora with the same lifeless yellow eyes that protruded from the smaller ones; it too was craving every cell swimming through his body.

But he wasn’t afraid anymore. What point was there? He had lost everything. His friends had vanished, along with their aspirations to visit other worlds. Would he ever see them again? Was his island even still intact? Nothing mattered now. All he could feel now was an intense anger escape through his body, which flew into the wind and spun around the island with the stones, sticks, and debris.

These creatures had to be responsible for everything. He could almost see a pretentious flicker of content in their eyes, as if they were proud of their abhorrent accomplishments. Sora held out his hand; a beautiful light appeared between his fingers, which unveiled the majestic Keyblade – the only personal belonging he now possessed. He felt a comforting warmth spread from his palm to his fingers. In a strange way, he felt as though – through that warmth – it was telling him to fight.

And that’s what he was going to do. Should he let himself wither away in pity along with the rest of the island? No! He refused to let the notion that he lost everything drag at his feet. More importantly, he refused to let this creature have the satisfaction of winning; in believing it took everything away from him. Well, it didn’t. His spirit stood firm in the stand, shouting with pride through the monstrous wind.

Sora’s eyes flashed with determination as he stared right into the dead expression of his adversary. The monster sensed his unwavering confidence; it was nauseating. Raising a giant first into the air, the creature slammed it straight down at Sora. He leaped to avoid the attack and landed on one of the trees. The creature got onto its knees, bent its back, and released purple spheres of energy from its heart shaped stomach.

As the spheres grew closer, Sora pushed off the tree, just avoiding them. He flew straight for the creature, and brought the blade over his head. Before he could land a hit, the creature put its arm out to block, letting the wrist take the damage instead. It roared from the sharp pain, but was quick to recover. The creature pushed its wrist upward, which knocked Sora in the air. It threw a punch using its other fist.

Sora threw the Keyblade at the fist, which stopped it from progressing any further. The creature howled again from the stinging pain. Unfortunately, reclaiming the Keyblade would be difficult, as it was right below the creature. But, then, a strange sensation tickled his fingers; it was like he felt an invisible string wrapped around them. Focusing on that string, he imagined himself pulling it right towards him. To his surprise, the Keyblade dematerialized into a glittering light – and it reappeared right in his hand.

If his grin could widen any further, it would’ve pushed his cheeks outward.

He looked up to see an incoming sphere. Sora held his blade in a vertical position, just adjacent to his face, and caught the incoming attack. It refused to disperse. Instead, it pushed against his blade with incredible force. Sora used every ounce of strength in his limbs to keep the sphere from getting any closer. The creature fired another sphere straight at him.

At the last moment, Sora pushed the sphere right back, which collided with the incoming one. A giant purple explosion covered the sky. Not wasting a minute, he went on the offense. The creature slammed the palm of its hand straight into the ground. A pool of darkness emerged from below, and the creature stuck its hand inside. Sora leaped onto its arm, then ran straight up to strike its face.

Sora saw its free hand swing right at him. He stopped just as it smacked the arm. Sora hopped over the hand and continued running. A low, disturbing, rumbling noise filled his ears. He looked over his shoulder see the hand sliding after him. Sora dashed for the shoulder and hopped on to it, just avoiding the hand. It then brought its hand straight down on the shoulder. Sora leaped back onto the arm before the hand hit the shoulder.

Unbeknownst to him, little creatures spawned from within the pool of darkness; they started ascending the bigger creature’s arm. For something so huge, Sora thought, it was efficient at keeping up with him. He threw the Keyblade right at the creature’s face, but it brought its hand up from its shoulder, formed a fist and blocked the attack. Before Sora could summon the Keyblade again, he felt one of the smaller creatures latched onto his back.

He contorted his body in every which direction in hopes of knocking it away. No avail. Another creature swooped in and slashed at the back of Sora’s leg. He hissed from sharp pain. The creature on his back crawled around to his torso and rammed its head into his. Sora felt himself lose balance. Struggle as he could, he found himself tumbling down the giant creature’s arm, and landed in the sand.

He scrambled to his feet, summoned the Keyblade, and watched as the little creatures slid down their older kin’s arm.

“No fair!’ Sora shouted.

With a few, quick slashes, Sora disposed to the smaller creatures. Turning his attention back to the main target, he saw it throwing another fist at him. Sora rolled to his right to avoid it. When he came to a stop, he saw it bring its opposite hand straight down like a karate chop. Sora spread his legs wide to let the strike miss. He then counted with a fierce stab. The creature reeled back from the pain.

Somehow, despite its minimal expressions, Sora could tell he had enraged it for the last time. The cold temperature dropped even further like a nigh unstoppable bomb. Every hair on Sora’s skin was standing so tall he thought they would fly away into the night’s sky. The creature held out its hand. Purple electricity crackled in its palms with a vicious snarl. A miniature version of the giant sphere in the sky manifested in its hand. Dark energy swirled around it, growing faster with each rotation.

Cold sweat poured down Sora’s face. What was it planning to do? Was it going to shove the sphere straight into the island, disengaging it into nothing? He had to stop it before he plummeted into an endless purple void. The creature stood up tall, preventing Sora from even reaching it. Time was running out. He felt the island’s vibrations grow stronger. Remembering the tree from earlier, he leaped onto it again. This time he landed on top. He had to pray he could reach the creature from this distance.

The sphere started turning into a bright orange color, festering with dark energy. Sora was about to take a huge risk with this next attack. Who knows what chain reaction it would cause? But he had to take the risk, by putting his faith in his judgement. Sora squeezed the hilt for comfort. Everything came down to this moment.

Visions of Riku and Kairi flashed through his mind. If he were to perish because of his actions, he wanted the final images to be of them. They meant the world to him. Riku was like his older brother. He’ll miss their inseparable time together.

And Kairi – he’ll never confess his feelings to her. Sora hoped that she could be happy. Taking a deep breath, Sora leaped into the air and threw his Keyblade right into the sphere, which erupted into a massive explosion, knocking him onto the ground. The loudness punched a fist right into Sora’s ear canal, filling it with excessive ringing. His vision went blurry, showing nothing but a smorgasbord of loud colors.

Sora’s body trembled. The explosion was damaging. Everything ached. But he could sense that the creature was still alive. Despite the excessive ringing, he heard a roar of pain chime in at odd intervals. The fight wasn’t finished. Sitting up, he shook his head, regaining focus in his vision. To his relief, he saw the explosion had paralyzed the creature into a withering mess. It was clutching its head in agony.

Sora searched deep inside himself for a spare cup of strength to finish the job. And found it. Standing up, he ran right for the creature, leaped into the air, and struck straight across its head. Its uncontrollable screams of pain made Sora’s ears ring even louder. A bright light burst from the creature’s forehead; its body contorted from the unbearable pain. Soon, its entire body vanished right before his eyes.

He formed a weak smile. Regardless of what happens now, he was glad to have taken a stand against those creatures. To make them pay for harming everyone he loved. No one was above consequence; he was going to make that as clear as the water that once graced his island

The world around him was growing quiet. Exhaustion was squeezing his out his consciousness like a fist. He felt himself falling onto the ground. Strangely content. Despite the ambiguity of his fate, he wanted to sleep. Maybe in hopes that he would wake up from this nightmare. Or maybe just to dream of spending a few minutes with Riku and Kairi, as they sat on the warm sand, gazing out at the beautiful pink horizon, and listen to the comforting waves croon in their ears.

His mind drifted into a deep slumber.

Description

Chapter 6: A Fateful Night (Part 1)

The bed’s coils screamed in agony from Riku’s constant tossing and turning. Every time he tried to shake the pounding in his head, it would strike back with a vengeance; it squeezed his skull like the claw in a crane machine – struggling to pull it straight out of his scalp. When Riku arrived home earlier, he took aspirin and spent the evening in bed. Not even the divine smell of a home cooked meal from his parents could lure him out from beneath the covers.

But his headache was only a foreshadowing to what he experienced next. Something whispered in his ear. Shocked beyond all belief, he sat straight up, gasping with shaken breath. Threads of cold sweat poured down his silver hair. For a moment he thought it was the angry howls of the wind. He had left his windows wide open; it was easy assumption to make.

But then he heard the whispers again. It was almost like he could feel someone’s hot breath filling his ear canal with ominous words. Riku spun around and sat on the side of his bed; he massaged the right side of his head.

This can’t be real, he kept telling himself. I can’t be losing my mind. Must be the heat. Was working hard today in the sun.

The voice continued murmuring an incoherent mess. Soon, syllabus found their way to each other like a magnet.

Every word became clear:

The door has opened.

Riku listened with a skeptical ear as the words continued their endless assault. But the absurd part was what he heard sounded fascinating. There was something trusting in the voice. Almost soothing, too.

He stood up from his bed and walked towards the window; it was like the voice was dragging him along with a long, skinny invisible hand. Upon looking out the window, he noticed the beautiful night sky had been buried under foreboding dark clouds. Bushes were rustling nonstop from the relentless wind, and they shook faster as the speed increased.

Peculiar. There was nothing on the news indicating an impending storm. This seemed like one huge coincidence: the voices in his head, the sudden storm. Perhaps he should visit the island. Riku rationalized that maybe everything would cease if he stepped foot on it. Something was telling him to go there. He squeezed the window sill to release the heaviness in his stomach. It’s now or never, he thought.

Riku tied his sheets together, threw them out the window, and climbed down from his second-floor bedroom, being careful to land gently on the ground. He glanced around to make sure no saw him. Not a soul. Exhaling, he ran towards the dock, making sure to stay concealed in the shadows.

Unfortunately, Kairi – who was looking out her window – noticed him when he stepped into a lit area for just a few moments.

---

After a long day experiencing an overwhelming variety of thoughts and feelings, Sora went upstairs to unwind in his room. To let his thoughts waltz around while he picked out which ones were worth contemplating over.

Sora was laying on his bed, with his head resting on his hands. He glanced around the familiar, comforting vicinity. Soon he would be leaving it all behind. Clothes were scattered on the light blue carpet. Behind the headboard of his bed was a bookshelf overstuffed with many of his favorite books (mostly adventure books). In front of the bed were wooden crates filled with miscellaneous items that will never see the light of day because of his selective indolence.

To the right of his bookshelf was a woodgrain desk where Sora would partake in his “favorite” pastime: homework; but that, along with this room, would soon become a passing, reminiscent memory. Leaving home was a challenge; in a way, home is bonded to us like DNA. It’s a part of our lives. How could you imagine yourself being separated from it?

Sora wasn’t too worried about being homesick, however. Like Kairi said: “they could always come if they wanted to.” Why worry? Sora was more focused on the journey ahead. His heart pounded with excitement, as if it was going to pack its luggage and leap out of his chest at any moment. He could see the three of them laying on the raft, letting the gentle current lull them into a peaceful rest. It was going to be wonderful.

But a troubling thought tried to upstage his pleasant fantasy, shouting a horrible off-key note through its puffy, acne infested lips. Riku’s joke still bothered him. Was is it really a joke, or was it an unsettling implication that he was planning to share the fruit with Kairi soon? Sora’s feelings for her started to swell like a balloon, ready to burst into something stronger at any moment.

His eyes looked up towards the ceiling. Hanging from it – supported by a strong rope – was a wooden model ship he received for Christmas years ago. In the ship were two passengers he made from leftover potato sacks. He used a marker to give them distinct features: one was a boy, one was a girl. Fixed on their faces were perpetual smiles. Seems like they were on a fantastic adventure. Sora could only hope for their voyage to be similar.

He could hear Kairi say: “I just can’t wait. Once we set sail, it’ll be great.”

A low rumbling sound murmured in Sora’s ear, disrupting his idyllic daydream. His blue eyes focused on his window. Outside he could see furious purple lightning bolts discharge from the pitch-black sky.

“A storm?” Sora made a horrible realization. He abruptly sat up. “Oh, no, the raft!”

He couldn’t afford any delays in the trip. They were not going to spend another few grueling days rebuilding the raft (he would never hear the end of it from Riku). Without wasting anytime, he climbed through the window, grabbed a nearby branch, and used it to maneuver onto a tree. As he slid down it, he could hear his mother calling him for dinner.

Coming up with an excuse wasn’t important now. He would mull over something reasonable later. After landing on the grass, he hurried for the dock, forcing his way through the sudden torturous howls of the wind.

---

Rowing to the island felt like being in the midst of a warzone. Thunder roared from the sky; the current pushed against the boat with unrelenting force; and the wind continued screaming in his face. But he was determined to beat this storm. He overexerted every muscle in his arms to row against the curtain, ignoring the numbing pain in the process.

Just get to the island! Just get to the island played on repeat in his head. Focus on that one sentence. Ignore the calamity trying to feed you to the ravenous ocean. Every wasted second meant saying good-bye to another piece of the raft.

His perseverance was soon rewarded. The dock was in walking distance. He leaped onto the shore, grabbed the rope from his boat, and again fought through the storm to reach the dock. After tying the rope around the piling, he climbed onto the dock, stood up, and took a moment to catch his breath.

Something felt unusual about the weather. Storms were common because of the hot weather, and would be a hindrance when trying to row home. But they were never this unrelenting. It was as if Mother Nature had a personal vendetta against his island, and was content with watching it drown by her own livid tears.

A strange swishing sound replaced the harsh moans of the wind. Sora’s followed the strange, uncomfortable noise into the sky. His eyes met with something most unsettling – something that had never invaded the peaceful night sky before. It was a giant dark sphere. From Sora’s perspective, it appeared to be as big as the moon. A mixture of light and dark purple energy moved around inside the sphere like waves of the ocean. In the middle of the sphere was a pink circle, gazing through the constant motion of purples.

Sora felt his jaw drop in astonishment. A sudden chilling breeze brushed over his face. The sensation was almost ice cold, and it felt like it was coming from the sphere itself. His instincts knew there was something dangerous about this looming uncanny ball of energy. Sora prepared to sprint across the island when he saw movement in the water, on the opposite side of the dock. He looked to see two other boats, which have been secured to the pilings.

“Riku’s boat,” he asked. “And Kairi’s!”

They must have come to prevent the raft from floating adrift, too. He heard the pitch of the swishing noise increase, as if someone had turned a dial. Sora glanced back up to see that the sphere grew bigger (at least that’s what he believed; maybe the nervous commotion rolling around in his head was playing tricks on him). Staying here too long was not ideal; that abomination could do something horrific to the island at any moment.

And then….he felt a similar chill crawl up his back.

There was a moment where he didn’t want to turn around. It was like a creature of unknown origin had its dead eyes locked on Sora’s neck; its gaping maw sauntered closer and closer to his fair colored skin. Goosebumps exploded all over his skin like fireworks. Part of him was afraid to turn around; the other had a morbid curiosity. For some reason, the latter claimed the victory.

He turned around to see four dark spots embed in the dock’s floor. A sudden case of Deja vu pinched the back of his head. Sweat started to stream down his forehead. The commotion from the storm had ceased as fear enveloped around him. This was impossible; his eyes had to be playing a twisted, cruel joke.

Cold, lifeless yellow eyes emerged from within inside the vacant spots. Those eyes were attached to familiar creatures with long, twisted antennae; they crawled out from beneath the gapping dark holes and stood on all fours.

It was them – the creatures from his dream.

Every signal traveling through Sora’s nervous system was temporarily deactivated. He couldn’t move his legs; they felt like two hallow tubes lacking the essentials needed to run. His thoughts erupted into a wildfire of questions, which engulfed his rational senses into orange hot flames.

Inch by inch they crept on their prey. Sora snapped out of his petrified state – real or not, he was destined to quell their hunger if he didn’t move. One of the creatures pounced right for him. Sora leaped off the dock and landed on the sand, almost stumbling over from the rough landing. After finding his footing, he ran. And ran; not once letting the irrational idea to turn around tap him on the shoulder. Besides, he could hear their claws digging into the sand as they ran with desirous excitement, with plans to pin him down and have a pleasurable, leisurely feast.

Sora noticed the shack entering his line of sight. Salvation! He hurried into it, slammed the door shut, and leaned against it, catching his breath. What was he going to do now? Sometimes the safest places can betray our trust, morphing into an inescapable trap. Sora knew the longer he waited, the more creatures would congregate at the door.

Already he could hear furious, hungry scratches shedding away the shack’s wooden skin. A sudden jolt knocked him forward, but he kept his back pressed against the door for dear life. Any moment they would break it open. Everything seemed hopeless.

Then Riku and Kairi popped into his mind. Were they okay? Did the creatures—no, he refused to believe that they’ve been harmed. What if they needed his help? He would never turn his back on them. While still terrified, he dug deep into the pockets of his soul to find a smidgen of courage. Regardless of what transpired tonight, he would at least be content in knowing they were unscathed.

Sora looked down at his feet to see his wooden sword. His luck seemed to be peeking out from a foxhole; he doubted it could harm the creatures, but it might keep them off his back for a little while. Taking a deep breath, he dove for the sword, rolled over, stood back up, and ran up the stairs. He heard the door swing open.

After exiting to the upper level, two more creatures appeared in front of him. He swung his blade at them; much to Sora’s horror, the attack went right through them like a mirage. Before the creatures could retaliate, he rolled to his right. In a last-ditch effort, he threw his sword straight at them; as expected, it went right through them. Sora gritted his teeth; this was hopeless, he thought. The creature approached him, preparing to make their move. Sora braced himself for the inevitable.

Then, the creatures did something unexpected: they turned towards their left, gazing at something with that appeared to be quizzical expressions (at least that’s what Sora gathered from their body language; it’s not easy to read their faces when they lacked features such as a nose and mouth). Sora followed their gaze to the lone island across the bridge. A long figure stood towards the edge, watching the uneventful storm greet him with s low rumble.

Sora notice the figure’s familiar silver hair wave in the wind, enjoying the cool breeze flow through its strains.

“Riku!!!” Sora cried, feeling momentarily relieved to see his friend unharmed.

Forgetting about the creatures, Sora ran over the bridge, calling his name. No response. The relief was ripped straight from his chest. Why was he a motionless statue? Did he fail to notice the strange dark creatures running rampant throughout the island? Or did the creatures already leave their mark on him, and this lifeless, former shell of his best friend was all that remained?

Upon reaching the island, Sora slid to a stop right nearby him. “Riku!? Dude, are you okay!?”

“Never been better,” Riku said; there was an eerie, yet calming tone in his voice.

Sora’s shoulders were stiff with anxiety. Riku seemed to be accepting of this monstrous storm; it felt like he was waiting for the clouds to carry him away, as it wrapped around his body like a warm, secure quilt. The utter aberration of this evening continued to accelerate, and it had no desire to hit the breaks anytime soon.

Sora wanted to ask Riku about his unusual behavior, but he knew there was another matter that required immediate attention.

“Hey, where’s Kairi?” Sora asked. “I thought she was with you!”

“The door has opened…” Riku muttered.

Sora was startled by Riku’s unusual reply.

“W-What?” Sora asked.

Riku turned to face him. “The door has opened, Sora. Do you know what this means?”

“Uh, we’re going to Destiny Land,” Sora asked with sarcasm, “the happiest place on earth?”

Riku frowned. “Cut it out! This is serious! We can now go to the outside world!”

“What are you talking about!?” Sora asked, growing flustered. “We’ve gotta find Kairi!”

“Kairi’s coming with us!” Riku snapped.

Sora was frozen in complete shock. Riku had never lashed out at anyone before; when angered, his face did most of the shouting. Sora could only stand there in bewildered silence as Riku continued – his eyes were glued to the giant sphere.

“Once we step through, we might not be able to come back,” he said with sincerity in his voice. “Our family and friends may become nothing more than a decent memory.”

“What’s come over you?” Sora asked. “That’ll happen! We can’t do anything without the raf—”

“Forget the raft!” Riku said. “We have to act NOW! Are you willing to throw away our only chance to see other worlds? After all that daydreaming?”

“No, but—”

Riku closed his eyes. He appeared to be in a state of calm.

“Then let’s go.” He opened his eyes. “There’s no turning back. We can’t let fear stop us. I’m not afraid of the darkness!”

Riku held out an inviting hand towards his best friend. Sora was not sure what his idea of traveling to another world entailed. Did they have to let the sphere take them? Sora glanced back at it; such an inviting image. Everything seemed wrong. Every confusing sentence Riku uttered piled on top of each other like building blocks.

Sora trusted him with his life, but was skeptical: was his plan safe? Was it even possible? For all he knew that sphere could lead to an empty vacuum, where all they could hear was their last breath before asphyxiating. He wanted to understand why Riku was acting so strange.

“Riku,” Sora said.

A puddle of darkness manifested from below Riku’s feet. Dark tendrils wrapped around his legs, and continued towards his waist. Neither his expression or pose changed; he welcomed the comforting sensation. They made him feel safe. But Sora had a different opinion. It was horrifying to watch. That cold feeling seeped into his skin once again.

He could sense something sinister was awaiting Riku’s arrival, and would snatch him into a realm of nightmares that had no beginning or end, day or night, or any perception of time – just endless suffering.

Sora hurried over to rescue Riku, but the puddle latched onto his feet. The cold tendrils started wrapping themselves around him. But he didn’t care. He reached for Riku, putting every ounce of strength into his arm. For a moment he felt the tips of Riku’s fingers, but the tendrils restrained his movement. Riku’s smile never faded from his lips. Waves of darkness filled Sora’s vision; he found it difficult to breathe; his body was paralyzed from the overwhelming strength of the tendrils.

His vision was almost engulfed by darkness. All he could see now were tiny cracks of Riku’s skin.

Then, blackness.

But Sora never stopped fighting. There was little movement left in his arm. He tried reaching for anything at this point: Riku, a tree, the covers of his blanket, it didn’t matter. Sora wanted this nightmare to end. His hand continued to flail around in the darkness – until it grabbed something. Something warm. Strangely comforting. It pulsated in his hand like a gentle heartbeat. He felt the comforting warmth swim through his body.

A brilliant light burst through the darkness, forcing Sora to shut his eyes as it grew stronger. It was blinding, even with the aid of his eyelids. Soon the light dimmed. Sora felt movement return to his body. Upon opening his eyes, he stumbled forward and caught himself. Looking back up, he noticed Riku had vanished. His eyes scanned the entire area for any traces of him. Gone.

He wanted to believe that Riku was safe somewhere – that his preconceptions about this darkness was erroneous. Sora needed to compose himself. Worrying was like being stuck in a pit of anxiety; all you could do was stand there and do nothing. He had to figure out how to find Riku, as well as Kairi; she still had to be on the island somewhere.

Composing his thoughts, Sora suddenly realized that he was holding something heavy in his hand.

He glanced down as his right hand, almost jumping in surprise by what was holding. It was a sword. And it was in the shape of a key. That was the best way Sora could describe it. The sword’s design was akin to a skeleton key. Its long silver blade glistened in the murky night. On the edge of the blade were teeth that formed the shape of a crown. Surrounding its hilt was a golden guard shaped like a square. Running down the back of the guard was a silver keychain Resting at the edge was a silver insignia that looked like a mushroom.

Sora glanced at this strange weapon with wonder and confusion. Just when he thought this night couldn’t get any stranger.

“Wh-What is this thing?”

A voice whispered from the shadows.

Keyblade…..keyblade…..

Guess that answered one question.

Before Sora could ponder any further, he felt a familiar chill brush its cold nails through his hair. He spun around to see four of the creatures standing before him; they were ready to pounce, ready to feast. Sora gritted his teeth; their presence was becoming a nuisance. Sure, they were still an enigma that made his nerves swell like a sore throat, but Sora was far more concerned about Kairi’s safety (as well as Riku’s whereabouts).

Sora’s only chance for survival was the even more mysterious Keyblade resting in his hand. He swung it at the creatures, hoping to gain some distance between them. For the first time all night, a beam of leverage smashed through the dark clouds and shined right on his face. The creatures backed away from the Keyblade in utmost terror. It looked like they were shirking into defenseless, whimpering puppies.

Sora felt a confident smile melt his fears away into a puddle. “Ah, so you guys don’t like this thing, do ya? That’s too bad; at this moment, I like it very much!”

Sora ran at one of the creatures and brought the Keyblade right down on it, evaporating it into black dust. He spun around to his right and delivered a horizontal slash to another one; it too met the same quick, painless fate. A creature in front of him leaped into the air, bringing its claws down. Sora swung his blade upward like a golf club, deflecting the attack.

He could sense another creature trying to attack from behind. Sora put the blade right behind his back and blocked the incoming strike. Then, he delivered a powerful kick to the one in front of him, knocking it over. After spinning around to face the one that attacked from behind, he thrust his blade right at the creature. It hopped back a short distance to avoid becoming a potential Shish Kebab.

However, Sora wasn’t going to let it escape. He brought the blade over his shoulder, leaped forward, and turned the creature into the same dark dusk as its brethren. Sora glanced over his shoulder to see the creature he spared leaping for him; he rolled forward to avoid its claws. Upon getting into a kneeled position, he rotated his torso, brought the blade up, and blocked a sideways strike.

Sora hurried to his feet and delivered the final blow before the creature could retaliate. A huge sigh of relief exuberantly exited his mouth as he took a moment to recover. He glanced at the blade – a million of questions were dangling above his head, irritating his scalp like dull razors, but nothing mattered right now. This Keyblade was keeping him alive; asking questions about its origin was inconsequential. It would help in expediting his search for Kairi.

Movement appeared in the corner of his vision. He turned to face the bridge, and gasped upon witnessing more ravenous creatures trotting across the it. A few tried to pounce on him, but he leaped into the air. Actually, no. He was rocketing into the sky. Sora was shocked by this sudden boost. He felt like someone had stuffed his body with feathers. Was the Keyblade influencing his movements?

Using the incredible distance to his advantage, he brought the blade down and swung it right into the ground, releasing a small, glowing shockwave that knocked a few of the creatures back. He landed on his feet, not taking any damage from the huge fall. Another creature swiped at him, but he leaped back, landing right on the edge of the island.

Sora regained his balance before he could fall of the edge. The same creature scurried over and tried attacking again; Sora leaped to his left to dodge it. He retaliated, slashing the creature in two. Sora’s grin started to grow wider; in this moment, he felt powerful. His senses felt heightened; his reaction time was quicker; and his strikes felt stronger. It was like he gained superpowers.

Even in this perilous circumstance, an excited burst of adrenaline traveled through his veins like a bobsled. He wanted to pummel every last creature with his new-found strength. One thing was for sure: he was already in love with the Keyblade.

As more creatures charged for him, Sora back flipped off the island and landed in the water. He hurried onto the shore, where he was greeted by more creatures. Gripping the hilt, he ran at the horde. He delivered a diagonal slash to the first one. As the next one flew at him, he rotated his torso to avoid it, and performed a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree swing to destroy another creature in front of him. Sora side-stepped left to dodge another incoming creature; he countered with a powerful slash to obliterate it.

More creatures soon appeared. Sora felt like he was stuck behind an impassive door; he wasn’t making any progress in locating Kairi, and the creatures’ numbers refused to diminish. Sora had to withdraw from the battle. It was only chance to make his search for Kairi effective in the slightest. Sora swung his blade to force the creatures away from him. He hurried over to the Secret Place; maybe she took refuge in there.

Upon reaching the entrance, he was startled by what stood in front of him: it was the same door he encountered from his dream. Sora shook his head, unable to believe the inconceivable truth his eyes were presenting to him. Did someone find a back entrance into his sleep and decide to take the intimidating imagery he saw on a pernicious joyride? Why couldn’t they have pulled out some hip robots with attitude? The one’s that transform into steam trains?

He pulled open the doors, noticing that the cave’s walls have extended well over his head. Another anomaly, but he had stopped caring awhile ago; any sense of logic had been scribbled over by long, jagged lines of improbability. All you could do was accept the madness and move forward. If it there was any consolation, at least he didn’t have to make the painstaking process of crawling through the entrance again.

Sora ran through the catacombs of the cave. Every wild sound had dispersed into an uncomfortable, cold silence. His heartbeat pounded in his head like a furious drum, mixed from the exercise and trepidation; he felt like the walls around him were spinning as a result. Upon reaching the main area, he stopped upon seeing a familiar person. The spinning walls reformed into solid stone. He felt a boulder of stress roll off his stomach, allowing it to expand in relief.

“Kairi!” he cried out.

There she stood, staring at the mysterious brown door. She turned to face him – her movement was sluggish. Sora felt that same boulder began to roll back onto his ribcage. As her face came into view, Sora froze in absolute horror. Throughout the night he had been forced to accept every strange encounter: the storm, Riku’s disappearance, and the dark creatures. But he wanted to refuse what he was seeing now.

Kairi had become an emotionless shell; her depressing, ghostly white skin brightened the room with a dull, pale light. Any sign of her usual enthusiastic expression proved impossible to find; it was replaced by a fragile look of anguish. Sora had never seen her so expressionless before, and the longer he stared, the more he started feeling like how she looked. Did those creatures get to her first?

“Sora,” she replied with a weak tone in her voice.

She held out a feeble hand to him. Sora wasn’t sure what happened, but he had to pull himself together. His priority was to get them both to safety; then he would figure out why she had become so etiolated.

That never happened.

Instead, the door behind her burst open, unleashing a ferocious burst of wind; it was imbued with dark particles. Sora braced himself from the impact. The unrelenting wind pushed Kairi forward. Sora tried to catch her in his arms, but was shocked to see her vanish before his eyes. He didn’t have time to react further, as the wind pushed him right out of the cave. His body flew into the air, and he was trapped in a fog of darkness.

Sora spun around like a top, unable to gain control of his movements. He was at the mercy of the storm for what felt like an eternity. Soon, he emerged from the fog and crashed into the sand. He grunted and got to his knees. His eyes were greeted by a most unexpected sight: everything around him was covered by the dark, purple sky. Sticks, rocks, wood, and other miscellaneous objects flew by him in rapid succession.

To his left were a few trees; some had the misfortune of being decapitated by the storm. On his right he noticed a plank of wood. What he saw in front of him was most alarming: the edge of the land; there was nothing underneath it but a purple fog. It became appeared as he looked over – he was floating on a piece of the island.

Where was the rest of it? No, don’t even attempt an answer. You won’t like what you hear, he thought. He didn’t want to believe something horrible happened to it; he didn’t want to believe that Riku and Kairi disappeared; and he most certainly didn’t want to believe this was real.

But it was real. The rough wind slapped him in his face, the sand scratched at his eyes, and the feeling of loneliness served as a brutal, bleak reminder.

He couldn’t wake up from this nightmare, and was forced to live with it forever.

Sora looked up to see the giant sphere from earlier; it was looming over him, and was even closer than before. Another chill – this one stronger and far more menacing – started creeping up on him. He stood up, turned around, and came face to face with one last familiar figure from his nightmares: the giant creature with tentacles for hair.

The creature stared down Sora with the same lifeless yellow eyes that protruded from the smaller ones; it too was craving every cell swimming through his body.

But he wasn’t afraid anymore. What point was there? He had lost everything. His friends had vanished, along with their aspirations to visit other worlds. Would he ever see them again? Was his island even still intact? Nothing mattered now. All he could feel now was an intense anger escape through his body, which flew into the wind and spun around the island with the stones, sticks, and debris.

These creatures had to be responsible for everything. He could almost see a pretentious flicker of content in their eyes, as if they were proud of their abhorrent accomplishments. Sora held out his hand; a beautiful light appeared between his fingers, which unveiled the majestic Keyblade – the only personal belonging he now possessed. He felt a comforting warmth spread from his palm to his fingers. In a strange way, he felt as though – through that warmth – it was telling him to fight.

And that’s what he was going to do. Should he let himself wither away in pity along with the rest of the island? No! He refused to let the notion that he lost everything drag at his feet. More importantly, he refused to let this creature have the satisfaction of winning; in believing it took everything away from him. Well, it didn’t. His spirit stood firm in the stand, shouting with pride through the monstrous wind.

Sora’s eyes flashed with determination as he stared right into the dead expression of his adversary. The monster sensed his unwavering confidence; it was nauseating. Raising a giant first into the air, the creature slammed it straight down at Sora. He leaped to avoid the attack and landed on one of the trees. The creature got onto its knees, bent its back, and released purple spheres of energy from its heart shaped stomach.

As the spheres grew closer, Sora pushed off the tree, just avoiding them. He flew straight for the creature, and brought the blade over his head. Before he could land a hit, the creature put its arm out to block, letting the wrist take the damage instead. It roared from the sharp pain, but was quick to recover. The creature pushed its wrist upward, which knocked Sora in the air. It threw a punch using its other fist.

Sora threw the Keyblade at the fist, which stopped it from progressing any further. The creature howled again from the stinging pain. Unfortunately, reclaiming the Keyblade would be difficult, as it was right below the creature. But, then, a strange sensation tickled his fingers; it was like he felt an invisible string wrapped around them. Focusing on that string, he imagined himself pulling it right towards him. To his surprise, the Keyblade dematerialized into a glittering light – and it reappeared right in his hand.

If his grin could widen any further, it would’ve pushed his cheeks outward.

He looked up to see an incoming sphere. Sora held his blade in a vertical position, just adjacent to his face, and caught the incoming attack. It refused to disperse. Instead, it pushed against his blade with incredible force. Sora used every ounce of strength in his limbs to keep the sphere from getting any closer. The creature fired another sphere straight at him.

At the last moment, Sora pushed the sphere right back, which collided with the incoming one. A giant purple explosion covered the sky. Not wasting a minute, he went on the offense. The creature slammed the palm of its hand straight into the ground. A pool of darkness emerged from below, and the creature stuck its hand inside. Sora leaped onto its arm, then ran straight up to strike its face.

Sora saw its free hand swing right at him. He stopped just as it smacked the arm. Sora hopped over the hand and continued running. A low, disturbing, rumbling noise filled his ears. He looked over his shoulder see the hand sliding after him. Sora dashed for the shoulder and hopped on to it, just avoiding the hand. It then brought its hand straight down on the shoulder. Sora leaped back onto the arm before the hand hit the shoulder.

Unbeknownst to him, little creatures spawned from within the pool of darkness; they started ascending the bigger creature’s arm. For something so huge, Sora thought, it was efficient at keeping up with him. He threw the Keyblade right at the creature’s face, but it brought its hand up from its shoulder, formed a fist and blocked the attack. Before Sora could summon the Keyblade again, he felt one of the smaller creatures latched onto his back.

He contorted his body in every which direction in hopes of knocking it away. No avail. Another creature swooped in and slashed at the back of Sora’s leg. He hissed from sharp pain. The creature on his back crawled around to his torso and rammed its head into his. Sora felt himself lose balance. Struggle as he could, he found himself tumbling down the giant creature’s arm, and landed in the sand.

He scrambled to his feet, summoned the Keyblade, and watched as the little creatures slid down their older kin’s arm.

“No fair!’ Sora shouted.

With a few, quick slashes, Sora disposed to the smaller creatures. Turning his attention back to the main target, he saw it throwing another fist at him. Sora rolled to his right to avoid it. When he came to a stop, he saw it bring its opposite hand straight down like a karate chop. Sora spread his legs wide to let the strike miss. He then counted with a fierce stab. The creature reeled back from the pain.

Somehow, despite its minimal expressions, Sora could tell he had enraged it for the last time. The cold temperature dropped even further like a nigh unstoppable bomb. Every hair on Sora’s skin was standing so tall he thought they would fly away into the night’s sky. The creature held out its hand. Purple electricity crackled in its palms with a vicious snarl. A miniature version of the giant sphere in the sky manifested in its hand. Dark energy swirled around it, growing faster with each rotation.

Cold sweat poured down Sora’s face. What was it planning to do? Was it going to shove the sphere straight into the island, disengaging it into nothing? He had to stop it before he plummeted into an endless purple void. The creature stood up tall, preventing Sora from even reaching it. Time was running out. He felt the island’s vibrations grow stronger. Remembering the tree from earlier, he leaped onto it again. This time he landed on top. He had to pray he could reach the creature from this distance.

The sphere started turning into a bright orange color, festering with dark energy. Sora was about to take a huge risk with this next attack. Who knows what chain reaction it would cause? But he had to take the risk, by putting his faith in his judgement. Sora squeezed the hilt for comfort. Everything came down to this moment.

Visions of Riku and Kairi flashed through his mind. If he were to perish because of his actions, he wanted the final images to be of them. They meant the world to him. Riku was like his older brother. He’ll miss their inseparable time together.

And Kairi – he’ll never confess his feelings to her. Sora hoped that she could be happy. Taking a deep breath, Sora leaped into the air and threw his Keyblade right into the sphere, which erupted into a massive explosion, knocking him onto the ground. The loudness punched a fist right into Sora’s ear canal, filling it with excessive ringing. His vision went blurry, showing nothing but a smorgasbord of loud colors.

Sora’s body trembled. The explosion was damaging. Everything ached. But he could sense that the creature was still alive. Despite the excessive ringing, he heard a roar of pain chime in at odd intervals. The fight wasn’t finished. Sitting up, he shook his head, regaining focus in his vision. To his relief, he saw the explosion had paralyzed the creature into a withering mess. It was clutching its head in agony.

Sora searched deep inside himself for a spare cup of strength to finish the job. And found it. Standing up, he ran right for the creature, leaped into the air, and struck straight across its head. Its uncontrollable screams of pain made Sora’s ears ring even louder. A bright light burst from the creature’s forehead; its body contorted from the unbearable pain. Soon, its entire body vanished right before his eyes.

He formed a weak smile. Regardless of what happens now, he was glad to have taken a stand against those creatures. To make them pay for harming everyone he loved. No one was above consequence; he was going to make that as clear as the water that once graced his island

The world around him was growing quiet. Exhaustion was squeezing his out his consciousness like a fist. He felt himself falling onto the ground. Strangely content. Despite the ambiguity of his fate, he wanted to sleep. Maybe in hopes that he would wake up from this nightmare. Or maybe just to dream of spending a few minutes with Riku and Kairi, as they sat on the warm sand, gazing out at the beautiful pink horizon, and listen to the comforting waves croon in their ears.

His mind drifted into a deep slumber.