Kingdom hearts requiem of dawn 

CHAPTER FOUR

In the stillness of Sora's mind, the familiar voice echoed: "I've been having these weird thoughts lately..."

Sora blinked, groggily opening his eyes as the sensation of falling filled his senses. The world around him was dark, but below, a faint glow illuminated a stained-glass platform—his stained-glass portrait. He recognized it immediately. It was his image, surrounded by scenes of his life, moments etched in glass, from his childhood on Destiny Islands to wielding the Keyblade.

But something was wrong. His head felt foggy, like he was trying to recall something important that kept slipping through his fingers.

"Where... am I?" Sora muttered to himself, his voice echoing in the emptiness. He tried to remember how he'd gotten here, but his memories were like a hazy blur. The more he tried to concentrate, the further away they seemed to drift. He looked down at his reflection in the stained glass—his own face staring back, but his heart felt... incomplete. Who am I...?

Suddenly, a portal of light appeared at the edge of the platform, rippling with a gentle hum. Drawn to it, Sora cautiously stepped forward, his heart beating faster with every step. He didn't know why, but he felt compelled to follow this light. Maybe it would lead him to some answers.

He stepped through.

The world around him shifted, and when the light faded, Sora found himself standing on Destiny Islands. The wind blew gently through the trees, the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, and the feel of the sand beneath his feet—it was so real, so vivid, like he had just stepped back into the past. He recognized the scene instantly: it was the day his journey began, the day the Keyblade first came to him.

There he was, watching his younger self run across the beach with Riku and Kairi, laughing, carefree—before the darkness swept over the islands. He watched as the heartless descended, and how he had stood, helpless, before the Keyblade appeared in his hand.

He remembered the weight of it, the strangeness of it, how it felt so right, yet so unfamiliar. The memory played out before him like a scene in a dream—him fending off the shadows, protecting his friends, but in the end, the darkness swallowed everything.

As the scene faded, the ground beneath him shifted again. The islands, once peaceful and warm, disappeared, replaced by the cold steel and flashing lights of Hollow Bastion. The stained-glass platform reformed beneath his feet, and now, the new images on the glass showed his battles—facing Riku, who had been possessed by Ansem; his confrontation with Maleficent; the first time he unlocked the power of the Keyblade's true form.

Sora felt his heart tighten. It all felt so distant now, like a story someone else had told him. But why couldn't he remember it clearly?

His feet moved on their own, taking him through another portal.

This time, he was in the Coliseum, standing beside Donald and Goofy as they took on wave after wave of enemies in the tournaments. He saw Hercules encouraging him, giving him words of wisdom. He felt the thrill of battle, the camaraderie, and how they had all worked together to overcome impossible odds.

The memory of defeating Hades, of fighting through the challenges—it all felt so real, but as soon as it came, it slipped away again, leaving only fragments behind.

The portal opened once more, and he stepped into it, knowing what would come next.

He stood in Hollow Bastion again, this time at the grand, empty hall where he had faced Ansem. He watched himself, Keyblade raised, his heart filled with determination as he stood against the Heartless. The battle played out again, each blow, each struggle, and when he watched himself lock Kingdom Hearts and return the world to light, the sensation of victory washed over him.