Chapter XI: The Mysterious Tower

It was very quiet in Yen Sid's tower. Even though everybody seemed in a bad mood, I was just happy that everyone was back safely. I felt as my body was set against a wall gently.

"Seven lights, thirteen darknesses...Master Xehanort has been busy," said Yen Sid.

Donald and Goofy sighed.

"Aww, Sora. Don't tell me your heart's sleeping, too," said Mickey glumly. I didn't understand. What did he mean by "too?"

"No, Mickey. This affliction is not the same," Yen Sid stated.

"Can we do anything for him?" asked Riku.

"In your Mark of Mastery exam, you were to unlock seven Sleeping Keyholes. By doing so, you would awaken those worlds from their prison of slumber, and also acquire the power to free a heart from its sleep. Riku, you unlocked those Keyholes from within Sora's dreams. Therefore, it stands to reason that you now have the power to awaken Sora's heart."

"You want him to dive back into Sora's sleep?" asked Mickey, "But master, Sora's heart is down in the darkest abyss. If Riku's not careful, he might just get trapped down there with him. No...I'll go instead."

"And perhaps you may even succeed, Mickey. But there is no denying Riku stands the better chance, having dived into Sora's heart as long as he has," explained Yen Sid.

The room became silent. I definitely didn't want Riku to get lost with me. But I had faith in him – he can do anything!

"Mickey... I really appreciate it. But...I'll go wake Sora up," said Riku.

"Riku," Mickey started.

"Look at his face. Sleeping like nothing's wrong- like there's nothing to even worry about." said Riku. I could have sworn a felt myself smile. "He's always been like that. The three of us would agree to work on the raft, and then this guy would go take a nap on the beach. You see, it's my job to keep him on his toes. Besides, what kind of Keyblade Master sleeps through his test? I'm doing it for me, too. Sora saved me once. And...I heard him call my name. He needs me."

"There's something real strong that bonds us to each other. Even in the darkness, you can reach him. All you gotta do is follow that connection!" said Mickey.

"Gee, we're all connected to Sora!" Goofy said.

"You said it!" Donald agreed.

"And if the darkness gets ya, I promise I'll bail you out. 'Dark Rescue' is my middle name." said Lea.

I felt so happy listening to them. I felt like I was there with them. Although, I always knew they were with me.

"Guys, thank you. Sora and I will be back soon." said Riku. I heard him summon his Keyblade. Then I felt an overwhelming warmth consume me.

Although I could hear and know what was going on in the outside world, I was still in the darkness. I felt Riku with me, though.

"This abyss... Am I in Sora's dream?" I heard him ask.

That's when I felt the armor covering me begin to move on its own, rising to meet Riku. And that's when I saw him, he looked confused. I wanted to tell him to run as a Keyblade appeared in my hand.

"What?" he gasped.

My body began to run at him, turning the darkness into a white color as Riku blocked the armor. I then began to fly around the field, running into Riku and knocking him over. I wanted to yell out to him. As I hit the ground, the field became dark again.

Riku swung at me, knocking me back multiple times. I didn't feel it much, though. I was covered in evil armor, after all.

"Fire!" He shouted as a flame headed my way. The armor stumbled. Then the field became white again as my body rocketed around. Riku rolled around, dodging the blows effortlessly.

My body hit the ground again, attacking Riku mercilessly. He then ran back and cured himself. As I felt myself lurch forward, he held up his Keyblade and blocked me. He then swung again, knocking me back onto the ground. The armor instantly got up, ready to strike. When Riku jumped to hit again, it became dark and the armor rolled out of the way. Riku turned around to face me, a look of determination clearly shown on his face.

He leaped off of the ground and slammed the armor down once more. He began to swing repeatedly. He wouldn't stop until the armor backed up. He quickly healed himself as I felt the armor raise my Keyblade above our head. A ball of darkness began to form. Riku started to glow and raised himself into the air at the same time as me.

We instantly began to fly at each other, bouncing off what seemed to be walls. We came at each other repeatedly, refusing to quit.

"Take this!" Riku shouted as the armor fell on the ground. He slammed straight down in a beam of light. Things began to become fuzzy. I felt dizzy.

That's when the armor cracked. It shattered as I felt myself drop. I wanted to thank Riku and go with him, but I couldn't stand. Everything was so blurred. I fell to the ground helplessly.

"Sora!" I heard Riku call to me.

He grabbed at my arms as the darkness began to consume my body. I knew he would find me, though. He would always find me.

I began to float in the darkness once more.

"I'll find you, Sora," I heard Riku's voice echo.

After a while, I heard him speak again. "Roxas?" He asked.

"What is it that you're so afraid of?" asked Roxas.

There was a slight pause.

"Losing something that's important," He said.

He then began to walk around again.

"Roxas?" He asked again. "No, wait..."

"What is the one thing you care about more than anything else?" asked a voice similar to Roxas's.

"My close friends," said Riku. "What is going on?"

He paused for a while and exclaimed "Sora!"

He ran for a bit before asking "Who are you?"

"Riku. What do you wish?" asked a girl's voice.

"More questions...All right..." He paused and leaned back. "I wish...to recover something important that I lost."

When he said that, everything turned white and I felt myself jerk away from sleep.

I instantly sat up to see everybody staring at me. Everybody looked shocked. Was this real? I looked around my surroundings. I was definitely in Yen Sid's tower. Lea, Donald, Goofy, Mickey and Yen Sid were all there. I looked to my side and saw Riku sleeping.

I began to smile at everybody looking at me. "I'm- I'm back!" I shouted, leaping to my feet. Everyone began to smile. It felt great to be back! But still... I looked to Riku again.

"We're glad you're safe!" said Mickey happily.

"Sora!" Shouted Goofy and Donald. They were at a table that had cake and tea.

Lea grinned at me, but Yen Sid's gaze remained the same.

I smiled and ran to the table with Donald and Goofy. There were a pair of goofy glasses laid out on the table.

"Thank you all so much! I just-" I began, but Goofy interrupted.

"We have a lot of cake to share!"

I smiled and put the glasses on. "How do I look?"

Everybody laughed as we dug into some cake. I was so hungry after all that I went through.

I then noticed Donald slowly putting all of the cake onto his plate.

I heard Mickey exclaim something, but I was more focused on Donald.

"Hey, Donald! Come on, you're hogging it all!" I shouted.

"Aw, calm down, Sora, and drink your tea." He said back.

"Gawrsh, it sure is yummy!" said Goofy carelessly.

"Hey!" snapped a familiar voice. I jumped in surprise and turned to see who it was. I quickly tore off my glasses and party hat and smiled. "Riku..." I said slowly. I felt like a bunch of tension had just lifted.

I instantly flung myself at him, wrapping my arms around Riku. "You're safe! Riku!" I shouted, clinging tightly.

I loosened my grip a bit as he began to talk.

"Wait, haven't we got this backwards? And why are you having a tea party?" He asked, looking confused.

I couldn't help but to keep smiling. "You're safe, Riku!" I shouted in joy and hugged him again.

"Ah, never mind. You okay? Feeling all right?" He asked.

I released him from the hug and nodded. "Yeah, I've never been better. I was watching what was going on in my dream. And I could hear your voice the whole time. Thanks, Riku. Thanks, everybody!"

Donald and Goofy looked at each other and laughed. Mickey nodded and smiled and Lea grinned. Yen Sid began to stroke his beard.

That's when I remembered. "Oh yeah! Did we pass the test?" I asked.

"You preformed truly admirably, both of you," he said.

I looked to Riku and smiled. We both got up and ran to the front of Yen Sid's desk, knocking over some chairs in the process.

Yen Sid cleared his throat after sitting down. "More than anything, I am grateful to have you both back from Xehanort's deception unharmed. And I am grateful to Lea, whose spontaneous actions turned the tides. I am also deeply sorry, for failing to perceive the danger and throwing you headlong into a perilous test. This experience has revealed many hidden truths, and we must gird ourselves for the great clash with darkness that lies before us. I believe we need a new Keyblade Master, one with a new kind of power. Sora and Riku, you both deserve the honor. However, one of you braved the realm of sleep again to unlock the final Keyhole and save a friend. Riku, I name you our new true Keyblade Master."

The room was silent. Then it dawned on me, Riku was a Keyblade Master! I instantly smiled and turned to him "Way to go, Riku!" I congratulated, pulling him down closer to me.

"Y-yeah?" he looked unsure.

I lightly bumped him in the chest and said "I knew you were gonna pass with flying colors. This is just so awesome!"

"Gee, Sora, you're kinda acting like it's you that passed." said Goofy.

"I told ya Sora still needed some practice." Donald said casually.

"Hey." I said, looking at Donald.

"Really? I'm a Keyblade Master?" asked Riku in disbelief. He looked to me and I nodded reassuringly.

"Congratulations, Riku!" said Mickey as everyone began to gather.

"Thank you, Mickey." Riku said, kneeling down to shake his hand. "I owe it to my friends." He looked at me and I laughed a bit.

"Ah, I'll catch up with ya in no time flat." said Lea.

"What? You wanna be a Keyblade Master?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah. I mean, I came here to learn how to wield one." Lea said effortlessly.

I felt my mouth gape open as Riku and I simultaneously exclaimed "YOU!?"

"Hey, thanks for the vote of confidence. You know, I was gonna come swooping in, Keyblade in hand! But I just couldn't get mine to materialize. Must be in the snap of the wrist or something." He held out his hand and a fiery Keyblade appeared.

Now I was really impressed! I stepped forward as we all gasped "WHOA!"

I stepped out into the front of the tower, looking into the sky.

"Do ya have to go?" asked Goofy.

"Well...I did doze off... I just have some stuff to take care of," I said.

"Are you gonna be okay?" asked Donald.

"Yeah. I won't be long," I replied.

"Be careful," said Mickey.

"Very careful," added Riku.

I looked back and smiled at them. "Right. See ya soon."

I summoned my Keyblade and aimed at a Keyhole in the sky. With a flick of my wrist a beam shot out and I was engulfed in light once more. This time, with no worries.

I woke up on the hard ground. I quickly looked around, knowing where I was. I was in Traverse Town.

"Good, I was hoping this world was still here." I said out loud to myself. "But where are they?"

I looked around for a bit, but I didn't see anything. I sighed and looked to the ground in defeat.

I heard whimpering. They were here! I gasped and turned around to see Meow-Wow running to me. "There!"

I opened my arms as Meow-Wow leaped into them. I fell backwards onto something soft, laughing in joy as it licked my face. I then looked back to see what I ran into. It was Kuma Panda!

I then saw a musical cat walk to me. I then saw a bat on my other side. Somehow it felt like it belonged to Riku.

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

And before I knew it, I was surrounded by Spirits.

"Thanks. You're the best," I said loud enough for all of them to hear.

Somewhere out there, a boy began to smile.