A/N: Yeah, its been nearly three years since I've updated this; I just got so lost in the life with Derek category and never found my way back out. But now I plan to work on this story, and finally have direction for it. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3

"Sorrra!!! Kairrri!!!" Donald yelled, rushing around in a panic, searching every nook and cranny of the castle for the duo, "Ah, phooey! We're all gonna be late for the ceremony!" he yelled, throwing his arms in the air for effect, his feathers flying everywhere.

"Gawsh, what do you think happen to 'em, Donald?" Goofy asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"Probably playing kissy face with his new girlfriend!" Donald said sarcastically, mocking a kissing face and wrapping his arms around air. A laugh came from behind the two comrades. They looked back to see Riku striding up beside them, already dressed in the uncomfortable looking suit the Disney castle maids had made him wear.

"Relax Donald, I'm sure Sora is on top of things" he said, making his way over to the balcony, leaning over it. He chuckled for a moment before speaking, "or rather, its more like Kairi's on top of him!" he said with a smirk. Donald and Goofy hurried to his side, seeing Sora and Kairi still fast asleep in the courtyard. Donald's face went red with anger.

"AH! That giant bafoon!" Donald yelled, running off towards the stairs.

"Wait for me Donald" Goofy said, running in the same direction as his friend, leaving Riku standing in the corridor by himself.

"Well, if anything, today is gonna be interesting" he said.

Sora was in paradise. He was laying down in the surprisingly comfortable grass in the courtyard at Disney castle; the sun was shining above him, and the girl of his dreams was peacefully asleep beside him, snuggling her head against his chest. He closed his eyes once again, drinking it all in, when suddenly he felt a shock run through his whole body. Jolting upright, along with Kairi, he was dazed for a moment.

"WAKE UP!" Donald yelled, the conjurer of the thunder, putting away his staff.

"What was that for?" Sora whined, running a hand through his ruffled hair.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Sora! You only have to get ready for your knighting ceremony, which starts in five minutes!" Donald yelled, getting up in Sora's face. Before Sora could respond, Kairi shoved a rough index finger into the duck's chest.

"Yeah, but did you have to shock me too?" she asked, glaring daggers at Donald. The duck shied away under her gaze.

"I, uh……Sorry princess" he said, before shoving Sora towards the stairs, "You havta go get ready!"

"Alright, alright" Sora said, waving the duck off of him and walking towards the stairs. He glanced back to see Kairi standing there, watching them leave. "Aren't you coming?" he asked. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't see why I would. I'm not the one being knighted" she said emotionlessly. When she saw his gaping look, her lips turned in a smile. "I'm kidding. I'll meet you guys up there" she said, motioning with her hand to get moving. He flashed her a cheesy grin before dashing up the stairs after his friends.

" I feel ridiculous. How long is this going to take?" Sora said, glancing over the outfit he had on. He had an identical suit on as Riku, who was standing right beside him in front of the assembly hall door, waiting for the king to announce them. Riku looked a lot more comfortable with his outfit than Sora did.

"The King is telling everybody about your journey now. Don't worry, an hour from now, you'll be back in the same ridiculous outfit you always wear" Riku said jokingly, shooting Sora a smirk.

"And you'll be back to looking like a lemon." Sora shot back, matching wits with Riku.

"Hey, I happen to love that yellow shirt! It brings out my sensitive side" Riku held a hand up to his chest feigning hurt. Sora shot Riku a look before the pair burst out laughing.

"Nice one" Sora managed in between fits.

"So, anything happen between you and Kairi?" Riku asked once he was done laughing. Sora's cheeks went red.

"I don't know what you mean" Sora said, looking at the floor and avoiding the subject.

"Really? You're really gonna pull that card with me?" Riku asked, an incredulous look on your face.

"I don't know what your talking about" Sora said

"You knows what you are?"

"Hmm?"

"You're just a big chicken"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

" Guys, I hate to interrupt, but the king just announced us!" Donald yelled from behind them.

Sora and Riku had forgotten there was anyone else in the hall with them. Before they knew it, they were being whisked through the gigantic doors in front of them. The hall that had been so empty upon Sora's first visit there was now entirely filled with people applauding whom he had met or seen throughout his journey. Towards the back he saw the beast, along with the rest of the cutlery, which each had its own seat. Closer up still he saw Aladdin and the Genie, who was surprisingly sitting still in his seat instead of flying around like he usually was. He saw more and more people he recognized the further he walked towards the king's throne. Along the first row, he saw all his friends from Radiant Garden and a guy with jet black hair he didn't recognize next to Aerith. Once he made it to the front of the hall, he saw the King's throne, which was much too large for the small king, and four smaller thrones to either side of him, where each of the princesses of heart along with Queen Minney where sitting.

To the right of the King, Sora spotted Kairi, which caused him to stop in his tracks. She was wearing make up that lit up her ocean blue eyes, and a amazingly fluffy dress that matched the color she normally wore. She flashed him a smile when she met his gaze, causing him to melt. She was absolutely gorgeous to him, and he couldn't look away, couldn't move from where he was. That is, until Donald smashed right into the back of him, then shoved him forward toward the throne. Once all four of them were in front of the hall, the king motioned for silence.

"Sora, we are all here to thank you for everything you have done for us. Your perseverance throughout your journey and your incredible acts of heroism have impacted everyone and have indeed saved us all. Along with the assistance of Donald, Goofy, and Riku, you have made us believe that even in the darkest of times; there is still a light within all of us. And for that, we would like to thank you with the highest honor in our kingdom. Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy; please get on one knee."

The four of them did as the king asked. He unsheathed a sword that was much too large for him, and tapped each of their shoulders.

"I dub thee, Sir Sora, Sir Riku, Sir Donald, and Sir Goofy, honorary knights of the Disney Kingdom.

Applause erupted as the four stood back up and faced the crowd. The heroes stood there smiling and waving until the applause died down. One person towards the back of the hall kept clapping slowly, standing up and making his way to the center aisle.

"Yes, congratulations indeed Sora! Although I was expecting the hero of the worlds to be much taller!" his booming voice called as he continued his trek toward the front. As he got closer, Sora could see a massive being dressed in armor, with glowing red eyes and long black hair standing before him. Sora instinctively drew his keyblade, followed quickly by Riku beside him.

"I especially liked that bit about light being within all of us. Truly inspiring. But I'm gonna have to disagree with you there, your highness." The man said arrogantly, mocking the king. Mickey presented himself in front of the knights, drawing his own keyblade.

"Who are you?" the king asked.

"I apologize; my name is Zerna, and I am the future ruler of this kingdom!" he said, his voice booming throughout the hall. Sora readied himself to strike the mysterious being.

"Your light cannot overpower the darkness that enshrouds our worlds Sora. Soon you will begin to realize that yourself" the man said, his voice much softer and lower than before. He held out his hand, unleashing a militia of what he thought were heartless. A panic broke out in the crowd, causing most of the people to run for the exit. The warriors in the crowd stood up, immediately attacking the dark enemies. Sora's eyes followed Kairi as she exited the back of the room, making sure she was safe. Once he knew that she was, he moved to slice one of the enemies in half, only to be blown back by a powerful attack from the creature. This was not a normal heartless. Sora took a closer look, noticing several differences between the heartless and his enemy. This creature stood as tall as a human, and carried a dark sword along side of him. The creatures eyes were red, just like Zernas.

"You see Sora, I am the embodiment of darkness. The heartless is only as strong as the conjurer can make them to be." Zerna explained, coming right along side the heartless. Sora looked around him, seeing everybody struggling to even defeat one of the creatures.

"What do you want?" Sora asked darkly.

"I want that keyblade of yours" Zerna replied. He eyed the weapon with envious eyes.

"You couldn't take it even if you wanted to" Sora said, throwing the keyblade at the man's feet for effect, only to have it reappear in his hands moments later.

"That is because you are still alive. But I can guarantee that can be rearranged" Zerna said, drawing a large keyblade of his own. It was larger than any keyblade Sora had ever wielded, and fire surrounded the blade.

Before he knew what had happened, Zerna lunged forward to strike. Sora barely reacted in time, blocking Zerna's attack with his own blade. He stumbled backward at the strength of the attack, causing Zerna to smirk. Sora shot him with a venomous glare.

"After all I've been through, I'm not gonna let someone like you beat me!" he shouted, clashing blades with Zerna again. Sora unleashed a plethora of unrelenting attacks, hoping he could gain the advantage over him with speed. But Zerna parried every blow from Sora's blade. He was a skilled swordsman. As Sora begin to fatigue from the unrelenting battle, Riku joined in on attacking Zerna, much to Sora's relief. Zerna just as easily blocked Riku's attacks, displaying a great show of speed, even faster than Sora.

"That's enough of you!" Zerna shouted, parrying another attack from Riku, then using a spin attack, landing a kick square in Riku's chest. The attack sent Riku soaring backward into a wall, causing him to fall to the ground unconscious.

"Riku!" Sora shouted, distracted by his friend's defeat. Zerna immediately took advantage, using another powerful kick to disarm Sora, and then threw him into the same wall Riku had just collapsed into. The blow caused Sora's vision to blur and a large headache to form. Before Sora even had time to get up, Zerna was standing above him, keyblade ready to deliver the final blow. Sora closed his eyes, bracing for his final defeat; but it never came. Instead, he heard the loud clashing of swords mere inches from him. Sora opened his eyes to find the black haired boy whom had been sitting next to Aerith at the ceremony clashing what looked like Cloud's sword with Zerna. He knocked Zerna back, stepping in front of Sora to face the foe.

"Sora, I got this. You help the others out" the boy said, before clashing blades with Zerna again. He drove Zerna backward again; Sora realized the boy could handle him for a while. He staggered back up off the ground, holding his head to focus his vision. Once it returned to normal, he called the Valor drive to summon a second keyblade. Wielding the blades, one by one he helped his allies defeat the heartless, until Zerna was the only enemy that remained. His comrades circled around Zerna, trapping him within the hall.

"It's over Zerna" Mickey said, motioning for him to drop his blade. Zerna stood there, an unreadable expression on his face.

"The fight with darkness is never over, your highness" he said darkly, before turning to Sora, "Sora, until next we meet" he said, before he dispersed into nothingness. Sora fell backwards onto the hard ground, weary from battle.

"You alright?" the black haired boy stood above him, concern in his voice. He held out a hand, helping Sora back to his feet.

"Who are you?" Sora asked curiously.

"Zack Fair, SOLDIER first class" he said with pride, holding his hand out for Sora to shake.

"Nice to meet you" he shook his hand eagerly. Sora looked back at the spot where the man had disappeared, "Zerna, what is he?"

"I don't know, but I do know I haven't had a fight like that in years. Unless you count all the duels me and Cloud have" Zack replied, holding his sword in Cloud's direction.

"Speaking of Cloud, isn't that his?" Sora asked, motioning to Zack's sword.

"Nah, it's mine. I just let him borrow it every so often" he said, sheathing it away. Zack looked towards the back of the hall, "You should probably tend to your friend there. He looks pretty banged up" he said, before walking away.

Sora made his way toward Riku, bending down to shake him awake. Riku stirred, groaning as he made to sit up. The two looked at the assembly hall, which was now in shambles at every corner.

"Nothings changed, has it?" Riku repeated his words, in a gloomy tone. Sora frowned at the wreckage.

"Nope. Nothing will" he said, sitting down next to his best friend.

To Be Continued

A/N: In case you haven't noticed, I just recently played Crisis Core, and it rocked! So, for the sake of this story, Zack is alive. I know its been a long time, and my writing style has probably changed, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. I have big plans for this story now, and I'm going to work on it a lot from now on. Please review, they make my day!