Kingdom Hearts - The Other Key

Darkness swirled over the Destiny Islands. The deed was done. The world that had only yesterday been so peaceful now shook with thunderstorms and swarmed with black creatures, creatures of darkness. The world was falling apart, and only one person, one boy was to blame for all of it. The boy stood, looking out over the rolling waves of the ocean, uncaring of the state of the island behind him.

"Riku!"

Another boy, this one more panicked, approached. Riku turned around to see him. "Sora," he replied, as if nothing was wrong.

"Where's Kairi?! I thought she was with you!"

Riku's face twisted slightly, into a smile. "The door has opened."

Sora took a step back. "What?"

"The door has opened, Sora! We can finally go to the outside world!"

"What are you talking about? We've gotta find Kairi—"

"Kairi's coming with us!" said Riku, then stopped, shaking his head. "No…actually, she's probably already left. But we'll follow her! Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There’s no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can’t let fear stop us! I’m not afraid of the darkness!" He held out his hand toward Sora.

Sora stepped back. "Riku…"

Before either of them could move, a pool of darkness opened up, threatening to swallow them both as they began to sink. Sora tried to wade through it toward Riku, struggling desperately as Riku simply stood there. Sora wasn't that weak. He could make it. Riku held on to the thought even as they both sank further into the darkness.

And then there was nothing. Riku stood there, standing in the darkness with his hand still outstretched. Sora hadn't made it. He was alone. Alone in the endless darkness. But wait…that wasn't possible…that wasn't supposed to happen! He was supposed to escape the island, not get trapped in darkness! Where was Sora? Where was Kairi? Where were the others? Were they stuck in the darkness, too? Or had they escaped to the outside world without him? Were the islands still there? The questions swirled in Riku's head until they were brought to a grinding halt by the sound of a voice echoing through the darkness.

The Key? What was that? The key to what?

Summon…the Keyblade? What was the Keyblade? How could he summon it? Riku tried to voice his question, but the words were caught in his throat. He couldn't do it. After all, he was the one who opened the door, who allowed the Islands to sink into darkness.

Even as he allowed the darkness to overtake him, images flashed in Riku's mind, images from the day before. His and Sora's sparring matches, their races, their attempts to gather materials for the raft. Kairi, as she struggled to keep them both in check and on task, but smiling all the while. No. They were supposed to explore the outside world together!

Through the pits of the darkness, a light began to show itself, glowing ever brighter until it encompassed everything. When it faded, Riku was standing exactly where he had been only moments before, holding what seemed to be a giant key in his hand. More importantly, though, Sora was nowhere to be found.

More of those creatures encircled Riku, but they no longer seemed uninterested in him. Instead, one of them lunged at him, forcing him to jump back before slashing at it. The monster was destroyed easily, but more of those creatures were appearing, trying to surround Riku.

"I don't have time for you!" he yelled, and rushed past without another word. The creatures attempted to follow him, but they were slow, probably nothing he'd ever have to worry about.

He had run through the Seaside Shack and out to the beach before stopping. "Sora! Sora, where are you?!" No answer.

He was about to try again, but more creatures appeared around him. "They weren't this aggressive before," said Riku, looking down at the key in his hand. "Is it because of this?"

As if to answer him, one of the creatures jumped at him, but he cut it clean out of the air. He…cut it? Then, was this the Keyblade? Another monster attacked, but another quick slash destroyed it.

The monsters wouldn't stop coming, no matter how many Riku killed. They just seemed to melt out of the shadows to attack him. It had only been a few minutes, but Riku already felt like he'd been fighting forever. The shadowy monsters were still swarming all around. Riku looked around, panting. He could run, but that hadn't gotten him anywhere so far.

Just then, a burst of wind blasted out from the cave beside the waterfall, from his and Sora's secret place. The ground cracked under him, and he leapt back. Wrong choice. The black void in the sky grew, the vortex pulling him in. Riku didn't have a chance. He found himself flying toward the hole in the sky, then everything went dark.