The roar of the engine poured into the car’s interior. Wind wooshed over the windshield as the car flew down the country roads. A weary driver looking slightly to the sides for any signs of the ones who were chasing him.
Speed was his main goal. He had to get away from them. Through his wrecklessness, he managed to check himself by coming to a brief halt at the stop signs. It really wouldn’t help the case if he were to crash and really be in their path.
As he hit the interstate, he sped the car up with even slighter motions to look to either side. A main road, there was less chance of an ambush from seemingly nowhere. precations were still a focus as he dimmed the brights for passing cars. Suddenly, a damper in his plans.
The blue lights flashed and the driver muttered a “Damnit.” Pulling slowly to the side, he was very noticably impatient and annoyed.
That long wait for the officer to step out of his car was almost unbearable. The driver, tilting his hat up slightly to get a wider view, began to scan the area more carefully. No sign of them yet. Yet was the dangerous word in his mind.
“Hello, excuse me. Do you know why I pulled you over?” The middle aged looking officer asked politely with a smile.
“Well, if I had to guess, I’d say I was speeding.” The driver answered grumpily.
“Very good,” the officer replied with a slight laugh. “Any reason you’re trying to get somewhere in a hurry?”
The man’s face suddenly got very serious. There was a hint of panic in his gaze that wandered the sides of the road. “Yes,” he started talking in a very ominous tone. “You do not know it yet, but civilization is coming to it’s end. I’ve got to get away from here. I’ve got to get back.”
The officer, now noticably startled began to speak, “Whoa there. What are you talking about? Have you had anything to drink tonight, sir?”
Then he saw it coming. The driver tilted his hat back down casting the shadows over his eyes. He could see it in the rear view mirror. The growing darkness. The shadows consuming everything. “It is upon us. I suggest you leave right away. Get as far away from here as possible.” The man quickly took the car back into drive and sped off as the officer looked baffled and started to run back to his car while yelling “Stop!”
He knew what he was doing. He had seen it before. If he had stuck around any longer they would have gotten him. They would have taken his life and his heart.
A glance to the rear view mirror showed the image of the officer falling to his knees in a puddle of blood growing ever so smaller. The darkness was now consuming the grotesque image. “They’re coming. They’re coming to get me.” He couldn’t afford to look back anymore. He had to concentrate on what to do now and where he was going. First, he had to get home. He had to get away from the madness.
The car sped up as it approached the town, taking a slight turn down a narrow road. His home had to be the first stop. There he would find what it was that would stop the darkness.
After pulling into the driveway, the man quickly jumped from his car and hurried to the front door. The keys, so loud, they took too much time. He had to be faster, he had to be quicker. The door opened and slammed shut quickly behind him. “Where is it? What is it? It has to be here somewhere.”
The man threw his hat off into the floor, next was the hooded sweatshirt throw from his back. Panic swept over him as he reached into the kitchen cabinet. The pills. If anything, the pills could save him from the madness. He quickly swallowed enough of the pain killers to give him a slight high but not enough to make him pass out. He turned now, gaining some sensibility and propped himself against the counter. “What... what is going on? What is happening? What do I do now?”
Then he saw it. The darkness crept under the front door and slowly swarmed towards him. The man fell to his knees in defeat. This was it. He didn’t know what to do. They had caught him. They would destroy him. The darkness poured over his body, into his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. It consumed him. This was the end. This was death.
He shot up from his sleep yelling with his eyes still closed. He didn’t dare open them. The darkness, he could feel it all around him. He couldn’t take the sight of the nothingness he was surely engulfed in.
A few deep breaths and a slow, stready train of thought. “Just a dream,” he muttered for reassurance. “Nothing but a stupid dream.” Hazy eyes tried to adjust to the darkness as the slowly opened.
“No.” A voice boomed so suddenly, it sent a feeling of shock through his body. The man immediately awakened, scanning the dark room. There it was. A shrouded figure standing at the foot of his bed.
“Who... who are you?” The man nearly cried in fear. “What do you want? How did you get here? I will call the police. Get the fuck out of here, now!”
The figure simply sighed and stepped closer. In one quick movement the man’s throat was behind crushed as his body was pinned down. The hood stooped very low and close to the man’s face. This dark being could feel the man’s fear.
“You will listen to me now. I am here... to warn you. These reoccuring dreams you are having are very real. Heed these warnings wisely. The darkness is coming for you. I am just here to prepare you for it. You were the chosen one. You have the gift of heart.” He lightened his grip so the man could breath easily.
“You do not understand? This gift of which I speak... how should I say this? You follow your heart. You do not allow the decay of the world and the one’s around you to judge what you believe in your heart. You must always remember this and you must always value this. If you do not keep your heart pure, you will be engulfed with the darkness. No one can survive it’s malice and treachery. Do you understand?” The cloacked figure backs away from the man slowly. “I mean you no harm, but you must hear this. Do you have any questions?”
The man sat up against the head of the bed gently massaging his throat. “Yes. Who... who are you? What is this darkness? What is this treachery? Who controls this darkness? Who sent you?”
The dark figure laughed. “I see that you do not understand. Forgive me. I cannot tell you these things, you must find the answers on your own. I am not real. I am nobody. I am simply the messenger. The bringer of warning. The treachery in the darkness is simply that. Do not trust those who are truly shrouded in the darkness. They only want your heart.”
“Why do they want my heart?”
“They want into the Kingdom. If they can obtain all those that are pure and impure, they will open the gates to the Kingdom. There they will rule over eternity.”
“What? How can they rule over eternity.”
“Ah. They will control everything. Even existence. It will be their very whim. They will become the God of your universe.”
“Who are they?”
“The darkness.”
“What?”
“They are the darkness.”
“I don’t understand!”
“But you will. Now I must go. I will present you with one last gift.” One cloaked arm raised as if bearing gift. “Remember, the key to your heart is what shall keep you, and your loved ones, safe from harm. Safe from the eternal darkness. Never lose sight of this. If you do, you will fail. And all humanity will fail with you.” With that, the figure started to back slowly into a dark corner in the room.
The man jumped from his bed, pleading. “No wait! Why me? Why have I been chosen? What is the key to my heart?”
In one brief instant before it disappeared, the figure spoke. “You will know when the time comes, Sora.”
An instant of realization swept over the man and he fell to his bed in a sigh. Sora, his name was Sora. Why was this so strange to him now? The questions continuted to flow through his mind as they had while the dark stranger was in his presence. What was this all about? Was it all a dream? Could it have possibly been real?
Sora slowly rose to his feet and stumbled to the kitchen cabinet where he proceeded to get his pain killers. After he got the pills washed down his throat he decided to go back to bed and forget the events that had just taken place. He didn’t know what was real and what had been a dream. Sleep was all that he wanted. He wished to forget the questions so he would never have to learn the answers. Full of fear, Sora slowly fell into the darkness of slumber...
The Keyblade Master
Several months later
“Roxas!” The beautiful blonde girl waved and ran towards he friend. Roxas smiled softly, brushing his bangs from his eyes.
“Namine!” He embraced her, laughing as he picked her up into his arms and spun her around. “It’s been so long! How have things been for you?”
The young man sat her down and she smiled greatly at him. “Oh you know, getting into lots of trouble. Doing the whole bad kid thing.” She laughed and stuck her tongue out.
“Oh I know you.” He gently pushed her shoulder. “Same old cute little girl. Never doing anything wrong. Too busy drawing her silly little comics.”
“Silly, huh?”
“I was hoping you’d focus more on the word cute.” Roxas stuck his tongue out at her and they both laughed again. Roxas put an arm around Namine’s shoulder and she put hers around his waist. Together, they walked down the sidewalk and to the small white car that Roxas had always owned.
There was a thoughtful silence between them as they started to drive away to his house. Softly, Namine began to speak. “Roxas?”
“Yes?” He said, turning his head towards her and giving her a weak smile.
“Do you remember the night I left?” She clasped her hands together and held them to her heart.
Roxas shook his head. “No, I can’t really remember that night. I think I was on one of my binges again. You know how it is. I take these things way too hard.”
She put her hand on his knee. “Roxas... don’t. It’s not your fault. I just... I ask because I can’t really remember what went on that night, either. It terrifies me Roxas. Why can’t remember? Why did any of this have to happen.”
Even though he was now trembling, Roxas turned his head slightly giving her a smile. He had to be strong now. He had to be the protector. “It’s alright. You shouldn’t beat yourself up over it either. How could we have known?”
A strained look swept over Namine’s face. “Known what?”
“Um... I don’t know.”
Silence fell over them once again as Roxas concentrated on his driving and Namine stared at her hands as they fell into her lap. Something was missing in their lives now. Somehow, they had been together, been separated, and then reunited once again but they knew not how or why. Their minds were like a blank slate when it came to their relationship with each other.
The day went by very awkwardly between the two friends. Slowly as night came, they became anxious for some unknown reason. They felt as if their lives were changing, everything was happening to fast now that they were together again. The one thing that neither of them expected was the storm that was fast approaching. Silently, they wondered about the questions brought up earlier when they were first reunited. Sadly, the answers would soon come, but would be too devastating for either of them to bear.
Stormfront
Rain pelted the windows to the dark room. Roxas stirred from his sleep. That nightmare. The same one he had months ago. What was it? He couldn’t remember it now. He knew it was something of dire importance.
“Sora. You must remember. Know that the time has come. Remember your heart, Sora!” The voice. It boomed inside of his head.
Roxas sat up, clutching his temples. “Who are you?”
Again the voice boomed. “Remember, Sora. It is not a dream, but a vague memory. This memory is the most important thing now. Remember!”
A bolt of lightning struck the ground. The thunder sending a chill down his spine and then he remembered all at once. The police officer being murdered, the cloaked figure, his heart being the key. There was something else he wasn’t remember.
Roxas looked towards the window. Rain. The darkness. “Kairi!”
He stopped. Shocked at what he had said. The ominous voice spoke again. “Yes, you are remembering. Your heart is the key Sora.”
“Who is Sora? My name is Roxas!”
“No. Look into your heart. There is no Roxas. Remember Sora, remember!”
“Who is Kairi? Please tell me!”
“She. She is the answer to everything. She is the final piece of the puzzle. With her the darkness will be complete. You must decide now. Will you choose the eternal darkness or will you choose the hazy future that is currently unclear to us all?”
“What are you talking about!”
Suddenly, a scream came from the bedroom in the other side of the room. Something click within him. He was Sora. And that meant...
“Namine is Kairi! What about her? What do I do?”
“Trust your heart Sora, then you will have the key to it all.”
“No, damnit! Just tell me!”
Another scream. “Shit! I don’t have time for this!” Sora jumped to his feet reaching for his door. He couldn’t move his legs. “What the fuck?” The darkness was consuming him now. “No! What is happening?”
“Fight Sora.” The cloak figure appeared again from the same dark corner as the night before. The form held up one hand, again, as if bearing gift. “Your heart is the key. Look into your heart Sora.” With that, he disappeared again.
Sora struggled desperately to free himself from the darkness that crept up his legs. “What the hell do I do!” He heard Kairi’s scream again. “God damnit! I’m coming Kairi! Hang on!”
Squeezing his eyes shut, Sora tried desperately to look into his heart as the voice had said. Then the voice appeared again softly inside his head. “Sora, concentrate. Your heart. It is the key. It is your weapon. Hold out your hand. All you have to do is believe. You are the chosen one.”
Sora relaxed his body. He could still feel his body being devoured but he remained calm. Slowly, he opened his eyes and felt the cold steal in his hand. A key. “This? This is it?”
“Fight Sora! Fight for Kairi. Fight for yourself. Fight for the hearts of all mankind! Do not let the darkness win!”
With a scream, Sora lept up from the ground and slashed at the darkness that had been holding him. In an instant it exploded and disappeared. Upon landing, he stared in awe at his newfound weapon. “This Sora, is your weapon. It is your destiny. Never forget it. This is the only thing you need to defend you from the darkness. Now, go! Defend your heart Sora. You are mankind’s last hope.”
With a nod, Sora grabbed the door handle and through it open. No one would stop him from saving Kairi. He now knew what it all meant, deep inside his heart. This was his destiny. “Kairi!” He called out. “I’m coming for you! Don’t worry!”