KHIII - Crossroads

[dchi]

This is a fanfic I have on another site...some, (most,) chapters are split into two parts...you'll see as it progresses.

KHIII
Light: Chapter I

“Am I…dreaming?” Sora whispered as he fell into the darkness. He saw the stain glass floor below him rise up to meet him, and as he began to right himself to land, he found he couldn’t move. He crashed headfirst into the floor, and all the glass shattered around him, revealing what was behind it…
“FIRE!!!” Sora woke with a start. He scratched his head and looked up to find the tree outside his window on fire.
“MOOGLES!!! NOT AGAIN!!!” he yelled; this was the third time this week he had cast that spell by accident. He’d been having weird dreams for a month, and each week he would cast a different spell. He was worried something would happen to him, like last time he was having dreams, and he began sleeping with his keyblade next to him. Unfortunately, he reflexively cast spells whenever he felt endangered, and for whatever reason, the dream was dangerous to him. He picked up his keyblade and pointed it out the window.
“BLIZZARD!!!” he yelled, and the top of the tree froze over. This spell caused the least problems for him, yet, inconveniently, he never cast it in his sleep. He released his keyblade into the light, and rummaged around his room for some clothes. He never cleaned it, for he was always out fighting with Riku or spending time with Kairi, or on rare occasions, attending the educational academy two islands over.
After checking under his bed, behind his dresser, and even outside his window, he couldn’t find anything to put on, and so turned, with grim resolve, to the closet. He had not checked the closet yet because, like most teenage boys, when told to clean his room, he would stuff everything in his closet with a quick Gravity or Magnet spell.
He turned the handle and braced himself for the avalanche that was soon to follow, casting Reflect as an extra measure. Nothing happened, and he opened his eyes to find his closet completely clean, with a note attached from his mom saying she had thrown out all his old stuff. He looked through and found an outfit he hadn’t worn for nearly a year; it was his black jumpsuit, with the mini-jacket and red packs on yellow straps, with black and yellow shoes neatly at the bottom. He grabbed it and put it on, but found it to be less comfortable than he imagined. It wasn’t the size that was the problem; it seemed as if the clothes had grown to fit him. Instead, it was having all the gear on. He removed the packs and straps, and then took off the jacket.
“Much more comfortable,” he said, glancing at the clock. It was 8:58, and he had agreed to meet Riku on the other side of the island at 9:00, which he knew he couldn’t traverse in two minutes…unless, of course, he cheated…
Sora cast Stop and began running as fast as his legs would carry him to the end of the beach. He cast Stop again and began swimming around to the other side. He got to the other side of the island and sprinted towards the trees, where he saw Riku sitting on top of one.
“Ah, Sora,” Riku started, “you’re –”
“Early?” Sora interrupted.
“– late, actually,” Riku finished. Sora kicked a rock next to him into the sea. Riku hopped down from the tree and put a hand on Sora’s shoulder.
“Sora, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop is a localized spell. Casting it on your alarm clock will do nothing but put it behind actual time.” Sora looked up at him, and then stepped back, pushing Riku’s arm off his shoulder.
“Whatever…so why did you call me here?”
“Well, I got another letter from King Mickey…”
“Like the one from, I don’t know…EIGHTEEN MONTHS AGO!?!?”
“Calm down Sora, this will explain everything,” Riku affirmed, handing Sora a letter. Sora read its contents:

Sora, Riku, and Kairi,

It looks like more trouble’s brewin’. It seems that there’s another darkness out there, and it’s stronger than anything else we’ve faced before. I’ll be traveling to Destiny Islands in a few days to explain everything. Be ready though – this new force may reach you before I do, and he can summon heartless with his mere presence.

Best Wishes,

King Mickey

“When did you get this?” Sora asked nervously. Riku looked at him with a grim expression.
“About two days ago…I guess the king should be here soon,” Riku speculated. Right as he said this, Kairi walked up in time to hear the last part of their conversation.
“Who’s coming?” she inquired.
“The King,” said Sora. Riku looked at him apprehensively, and then nodded his head for Sora to continue.
“You see, there’s something coming…something bad…”
“What is it?” Kairi asked, worry lining her face. Riku opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment, the world began to shake, as if something was jostling it.
“What’s going on?” Sora asked. Riku looked around for a moment before pointing towards the sky. Sora looked up to see darkness spreading from the sun, which had turned a dark shade of red, to the edges of the horizon.
“Look!” Kairi started, pointing out to sea, “the darkness is coming this way!” Just as Kairi said, the darkness continued to spread across the water, coming towards Sora. He summoned his keyblade as the darkness came near the shore, and it stopped abruptly, only a few yards away from his keyblade. Riku summoned his keyblade, too, and it backed away, although not quite as much as Sora’s.
“What’s going on here?!?!” Sora shouted to the heavens.
A voice from behind him answered, “This is what I wanted to warn you about…he’s close.” Sora turned around to find Mickey, standing in the darkness, completely unaffected by it. Seeing that it did him no harm, he made to step out of his protective area, but Mickey halted him.
“No, Sora, you can’t handle this darkness,” he said, and then turned to Riku and continued, “not even you, Riku…this can only be handled by the keyblade of darkness.”
At this, he summoned his keyblade and pointed it towards the ground, and it began to absorb some of the darkness around him. He contained enough to clear out the entire beach, and then passed out, his keyblade fading back to the ether.
“King Mickey, are you okay?!” Sora said, running towards him. Suddenly, a wall of darkness appeared before him, and a voice from the darkness spoke to him.
“If he is, he won’t be soon…” the voice spoke. Its tone disturbed him; it was colder than ice, yet at the same time, filled with burning hatred. He pointed his keyblade towards the dark figure and uttered a challenge:
“I don’t know what you are, but if you plan to hurt the King, then I will fight you for him!” He stood there, waiting, and then a figure emerged.
He was about Sora’s height, but he had stone-gray hair that was arranged in long spikes in the front and sides, but short in the back. His eyes were black, with red pupils, his teeth were sharpened like a feral beast, and yet, despite these features, he was somewhat handsome, in his own dark way.
“Fine, I accept. But know this: this duel shall be to the death!!!”