A Reason To Smile

Chapter 26: The World That Never Was

As Sora's blade slashed through the last remaining Heartless, he finally got the chance to breath and look around.

Sora: Where did they go?!

Goofy: Sorry Sora...

Donald: All we saw was Saïx picking up Y/n's body and then disappearing.

Sora looked to the ground and sighed. Slowly, anger filled him and he walked over to the side of the mountain and punched it. Once again, one of his friends were in trouble, and he couldn't save you.

Donald: If it helps, we heard them talking about a castle.

Goofy: Maybe Master Yen Sid knows something about it? We should go ask him.

Sora: Yeah, good idea...

They felt bad for their brown haired friend. They could hear the self disappointment in his voice at his failure to stop Xemnas and Saïx. Slowly, they made their way to the Gummi Ship to go and find Yen Sid's Tower.

After searching for a while, they finally came across the small world with only a single tower. Landing and making their way up to the top, they open the doors to the room and Donald and Goofy shouted out in surprise as they saw another visitor. Not only was there the old wizard and former Keyblade Master Yen Sid, but also their third friend, current ruler of Disney Castle and who  is also a Keyblade master, King Mickey Mouse.

Donald and Goofy: Your Majesty!

Sora: King Mickey? What are you doing here?

Mickey: I'm here to pick up an old item of mine to help me get to my next mission. What are you three doing here?

Yen Sid: I can see that something is troubling you Sora, please, tell us.

Sora explains what just happened at Hollow Bastion.

Yen Sid: I see. Well you seem to be in luck, as Mickey here is about to run his mission there. The castle you speak of is the home of the Nobodies, The Castle That Never Was.

Mickey: It can only be reached by a Corridor of Darkness, or in our case, a powerful artifact, like this!

He holds out a small glowing star.

Mickey: This is a star shard, it will allow us to go anywhere we need to go! Grab on tightly!

They each place a hand on Mickey's shoulder and with a lot of concentration, Mickey activates the shard and the blast off into the cosmos at the speed of light.

After a few moments, they all land in what appeared as an alley, inside of a city. Sora was currently hunched over, gagging as the sudden speed made him sick.

Mickey: Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Now, I'll go create a diversion to let you in the castle.

Sora: But what about your mission?

Mickey: Well, creating a diversion WAS the mission in the first place! Now, I'm letting four people in instead of one.

Sora: Oh, then... good luck?

Mickey: Thanks, good luck to you as well. Now get going!

Confused, Sora and the other two just shake their heads and roll with it. They run through multiple different alleyways, fighting a Nobody or a Heartless every now and then. Moments later, they come to a Square where nothing else was around.

Donald: Sora!

Sora turned around as Donald yelled out in panic. He saw a few Samurai Nobodies surrounding his friends.

Sora: Guys!

He tried to go help them, but he saw the familiar black coat worn by the Organization. He spread out his hands, and two Keyblades appeared. In his shock, Sora blocked the attack at the last minute. The world around Sora distorted and he found himself in his Station of Awakening.

Sora jumped over his next attack and slashed down towards the mysterious opponent. He quickly moved back, faster than Sora could react and then dashed forward, a trail of light being left behind in his advance. Thankfully for Sora, his eyes quickly adjusted to the new speed and countered the next attack, knocking the boy, from what he could tell by the sounds he makes while swinging his blades, into the air.

Quickly catching himself, the boy spins around like a saw back towards Sora. Sora managed to block it and send the attacker back. When he landed, he rose into the air, small Nobody symbols shining under him as he shot a beam of light out of his white Keyblade. The light split apart and exploded outside of the platform, changing the scenery to a more cloudy look. Balls of energy was shot out of the boy as Sora tried to run.

When the attack was finished, the two charged at each other, and clashed once more.

Sora: Wh- who are you?

?: Someone from the dark...

They broke apart and landed on opposite sides.

Sora: You couldn't be... Riku?

?: Riku? I defeated a Riku once.

Sora: You what?!

?: Tell me... Tell me why he picked you!

He ran towards Sora, dragging his Keyblades on the ground. As the two traded blows, Sora jumped over him, but the boy hit him up into the air, then jumped up to meet him, sending him crashing back down. The hooded boy looked down and saw Sora stand next to the smaller portraits of his friends.

?: I see... that's why.

His gaze then turned to a newer portrait. The one that had your face on it. He seemed to hesitate, but went through with his attack. As Sora tried to block the flurry of attacks, it was only a matter of time before his Keyblade was struck out of his hand. He tried to run for it, but the boy blocked his path.

Reaching out to his Keyblade, it vanished before reappearing in Sora's hand.

?: What?!

He couldn't react in time as Sora dealt the final blow. Dropping his blades, the boy walked forward as his hood fell down. The boy was revealed to be...

Sora: Roxas...

Roxas turned around and gently spoke to Sora.

Roxas: You make a good other. Please, take care of Y/n. He's my friend just as much as yours.

Sora nodded as Roxas slowly faded away, all of his memories flowing into Sora. He nodded as a tear slowly went down his face.

When Roxas faded away completely and truly became one with Sora again, the world returned to normal.

Donald: Sora? Are you alright?

Sora: Huh? Oh, yeah... come on, I think I see the castle.

Goofy and Donald looked at each other before looking back to Sora, nodding and making their way to The Castle That Never Was.