Plein Soleil
The Search for Kairi
Based on Kingdom Hearts
Written by 3NyxEtienne
DISCLAIMER: All
characters mentioned in the fanfic are trademarks of Square Enix and
Part 1
Ready to avenge practically everything!
Riku came back from
his “mini-battles” against the other Destinians. Sora, on the other hand, had
just returned from his gig. Watching the sun set, eight-year-old Sora and
nine-year-old Riku talked as they sat at their usual spot. Never have they seen
a sunset this bright before.
Sora: At
least we found some light over here. This is real plein soleil!
Riku: Are
you kidding? That “mood” in the secret place… that was great!
Sora: You
saw that door along with me, didn’t you?
Riku: Yeah.
Wonder what’s behind it? Think it’s a monster?
Sora: If it
were a monster, I’d chop ‘im down! Arrrrrrrrrrr!
Riku:
Really… that door… it’s just hard to explain…
Both of them went in
the secret place one last time before going home. And much to Sora’s horror,
Riku saw with his own eyes…
… a keyhole emblazoned
in the middle of the door! It must have been a special one, otherwise what
could be the explanation for the gold borders around it? And this was the very
first time Riku and Sora sighted the keyhole in this door. Riku and Sora looked
into the keyhole. It was dark - plain dark inside!
Sora: Wha- ?
It was just a vision. An intuition.
What next? Open it and the darkness would shroud everything?
It was just as he had seen in his
paradise home, the
Sora,
Goofy: Gawrsh, what’s
wrong?
Sora: It’s… just…
He started to break down. After a
tearful ten minutes, Sora explained his vision along with the incident in the
Sora: And as Kairi was swept away, I tried to embrace her. I
just… couldn’t. She was gone. And in a few seconds, I was swept away too. The
next instant, I was there, at the epicenter of the darkness. It all took place
just as I dreamed it. The Heartless, Riku’s disappearance, Kairi’s
disappearance, I had visions of all these.
Sora: Look, guys, I’m bound to find my friends. And you
haven’t found your king yet. I don’t know whether this mission is worth
completing.
Goofy: Come on!
Sora: I don’t know…
As he said these words, Sora started
hallucinating again. The drawings in the secret place crossed his mind, but
only one was noticeable: Sora offering a paopu fruit to Kairi. Sora continued
hallucinating. Pictures of Kairi’s old home, Hollow Bastion, crossed his mind.
Hollow Bastion was vividly familiar to him, even though he had never left his
island before. He even pictured the scene at the library, where Kairi once
listened to the story of a young boy finding the center of all things light.
This time he pictured himself in the ambience of Hollow Bastion as he listened
to the story. Every detail in the story explained what Sora actually was like!
And when the tale ended, he was there, stuck in the air, unable to move. He
tried reaching out to Kairi but he couldn’t.
He just felt insignificant. His
voice could not be heard. That day, when Kairi listened to that story, was one
of the “full sun” days in Hollow Bastion. And he knew, that in the present
time, the
Sora: Wha- ?
He came back into the real world.
Finally. And, as you could guess,
Sora: Can’t… bear… it…
anymore… Kairi, did you call me?
Ever since he saw Kairi in that
pirate ship in Neverland, his hallucinations about Kairi became more frequent.
His heart started palpitating. He felt a certain kind of urge to go in there,
face Riku and avenge Kairi alive, even if that meant risking his own life. That
is usual for any warrior, but for a fourteen-year-old boy? Most
fourteen-year-olds today would continue with school life, hang out, and even do
the stuff we normally do. But this one… he already was entrusted with the
Keyblade, now he had to live with the fact that he was the one person to open
the door- the talk of the whole chain of worlds. As Sora looked back into his
past, he realized he once squabbled with Riku over petty issues, like winning
races or thrashing anyone in mini-battles, just to win Kairi’s trust in them. The
day before the Heartless attacked their island, Riku, Sora and Kairi had
already completed a raft to sight new worlds. All they had left to do was to
name it. Riku, confident that he would always be the winner, challenged Sora to
a race, in proposing that the winner would get to share a paopu fruit with
Kairi. Sora had nothing much to offer, he only said that he would be captain if
he were the winner. And of course, they started to make a mountain out of a
molehill. The petty paopu issue became so serious, that the two boys really ran
as if there was no tomorrow. When Sora won, Riku pulled a long face.
Now, all of it was over. There were
no petty issues between them anymore. Riku would fight; even kill, just to
prove his point that the darkness would do anything for him to be satisfied. That
fifteen-year-old enigmatic dude would just raise a hand - and a dark clone of
yours would appear right before your eyes. Sora could not stand all that
hallucinating anymore, so he rested for a few days.
The feel got worse on the last day
of his rest. After saying his prayers, Sora tried to sleep. Then he felt
uncomfortable and turned. At one point
Sora:
KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Morning came. It was time for them
to depart from
Sora: I wonder what this
baby’s gonna do for us?
Sora: It’s shining here.
I bet when we go to Hollow Bastion it’s gonna be real dark!
Goofy: Provided you don’t
fight. Otherwise, I don’t care if space sucks me out of this ship. I’ll be
outta here if anything unwanted happens.
His words were a blow to Sora and
Sora,
Goofy: I
bet King
Sora: Hang
on. Riku and Kairi might be down there.
Sora: Just
land!
Immediately,
Sora: What
did I tell you, just land!
Sora confirmed the
emergency landing.
Sora: Hang
on tight everyone! We’re gonna crash!
The vessel turned in
mid-air and finally crash-landed in the heart of the Deep Jungles.
Sora and
Attention
! Vous entrez une zone de Sans-cœur très concentrée !
Warning! You are crossing
into a highly concentrated area of Heartless!
What? A highly
concentrated area of Heartless? There was dead
silence all over the ship for a few moments. Sora regained his composure, took
a deep breath, and when he saw the incoming feet of ships he screamed,
Sora: FIRE!! And full speed
ahead, you hear? Full speed ahead!
The Djinnblade fired with all her
power. The entire crew still had a ways to go.
Niveaux
de danger critique ! Tous les AHWS primaire sont détruis !
Danger levels critical!
All primary AHWS androids are destroyed!
Chip: The graph readings
are going up and down like tidal waves!
Chip: And there’s a
warning signal coming from in the ship! All AHWS androids are destroyed!
Goofy: Gawrsh, I sure
hope Sora’s alright…
Goofy: Wish my son
Sora screamed from the deck,
Sora: Help! Au secours !
When the warning levels were
critical, they had to use up every single bit of power left. The sky started
shining for a few moments, and then, bang! Everything was gone. For a
bothersome half-hour of passing Heartless ships, this was good. They slowly
passed the remaining hearts left by the Heartless. Now, anyone could understand
why the stars were disappearing from the sky, one by one. The Heartless were consuming
hearts everywhere they could find them. However, this did not transform them
into proper organisms: they still remained heartless while the heart was left
to be consumed by the darkness in them. This might have been an easy job for
them: ingesting hearts and still remaining heartless. Sora was surprised,
though, to note that his AHWS was the only one that survived the attack after
it was used.
Part 2
Face Off
As much as Sora wanted Kairi to be
saved, he also wanted to save Riku. He knew; Riku was already immersed in the
darkness. He remembered one incidence when Riku took Kairi in his arms and
disappeared in a pool of darkness, leaving Sora to be killed by his own dark
clones. The trio was already approaching Hollow Bastion and was all ready to
land. Sora knew more or less what Riku’s intentions were. When Riku saw Sora’s
Keyblade, he eyed it with jealousy. He let all his negative impressions leave
him when he landed.
Goofy: Gawrsh, what is
this place?
Sora: This place… it
looks so… familiar. I feel this warmth, right inside here.
Sora: Hey! When I express
something from my heart, I mean it!
Little did Sora know that this would
be his last few precious moments with
Riku slashed the Beast’s skin and
the poor Beast bled badly. Sora ran forward to salvage him.
Sora:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Riku: So we meet again.
Riku did not have the enigmatic tone
he used to have. The darkness changed him through and through. He used a snide
voice.
Sora: Where’s Kairi? I
thought she was with you?
Riku: I got her first.
Sora,
Riku: I know what it
takes to save Kairi. By the way, while you were goofing around fighting
Heartless or something like that, I found her.
Sora: Much as you don’t
understand what damage the darkness does to you, you don’t understand Kairi’s
state.
Riku: Maybe, but I have a
way to reveal it. Let the Keyblade reveal for itself… its true master!
With these words, Sora lost the
Keyblade and all the key chains he received. Riku held a brand-new Keyblade in
his right hand.
Sora was bewildered when that
happened.
Sora: But I fought my way
with the Keyblade with the intention of saving Kairi!
Riku: You were just the
delivery boy. Here, go play hero with this.
Riku threw Sora his wooden sword.
Sora felt like breaking down.
Sora really broke down. To think he
had lost three friends and the Keyblade all in one day! At that moment he was
just inconsolable. When the Beast approached him…
Beast: What brings you
here?
Sora: Wait… why were you
regarding him with an angry face?
Beast: I’m trying to find
Belle!
Sora: I… have to search
for someone very important to me.
Beast: Well then, let’s
go.
Sora stared dolefully at the sword.
When Riku did this, he probably had no sense of friendship. He would leave Sora
to die just to get the Keyblade. Hollow Bastion was a castle crawling with
Heartless. How would I survive, Sora
thought to himself, if I don’t have the
Keyblade? He went forward, in putting his friends before his life. God, it’s all in your hands, however you
will it this time, let all be done according to your will. If you wish the
darkness to succeed this time, leave everything as it is and let me die in this
place. If you wish the light to win, please guide my hands, my lips, my mind
and my heart.
As he went forward, the Heartless
surrounded him. He swished the toy sword for the very first time in front of
the swarming Heartless. To his utmost surprise, all the Heartless were
exterminated! There was only one thing missing: he could not summon. Gee, the
battles could have been more fun this way. They came to the main door. It could
not open! They had to go all the way to the underground passages, enter the
waterways, turn a few switches on and voilà! The door would open. They just had
to figure out how. Sora could not use the lift: the door to the lift was
locked.
Sora: Ready? JUMP!!
Night came. Hollow Bastion looked
creepier than ever. The waterways were a cinch to find. The knobs were turned.
There was only one thing left to do: get back up there and come face to face
with Riku. Oh no, Sora lost his way!
When Sora and the Beast finally
found their way, Sora signaled to the Beast. The Beast nodded his head in
reply. The Heartless were around them and there was nothing else to do but
fight them off.
Part 3
Sora le sauveur
revient !
Sora and the Beast cut through the
Heartless for two tireless hours. When they came back up, no words had to be
said. It was all in their minds now: the Beast would avenge Belle and Sora
would avenge everything he needed to save. As they went up the lift, they had a
little chat.
Beast: So who is this
important person anyway?
Sora: Her name is Kairi. She comes from the
Beast: You mean the one who left a painful cut on my back is
your other best friend?
Sora: It’s hard to admit, but, yeah. Ever since he met
Maleficent, Riku engaged himself into the darkness. It seems, when he and I
separated in the
Beast: (fuming) What upright mind would ever think of joining
Maleficent? So much so for HER empty promises, my world got destroyed and I now
have to search for Belle.
Sora: Your friend?
Beast: Better still. It’s deep inside. I love her.
Sora: I understand. Sometimes, the hallucinations I get are
mostly about Kairi. It makes me do anything - even put my very own life behind
me, just to be sure she is safe from all harm.
Beast: Well, you’re on your way. Right. We’re here.
Sora: Does this door even OPEN?
Beast: I’ll take care of this. Hunnnnnnnnnnnnghh!
And with a swing of his fist the
door opened. Sora never imagined how anyone could beat his strength levels.
Yes, he knew, between him,
Beast: Belle?
Or… was it really her? Or was he
just hallucinating? When the Beast saw a Heartless in her place, he bashed it
up. Meanwhile, Sora just took a few steps into the hall when Riku came out of
the front alley and confronted him.
Riku: So the guy who
played hero actually did something worthy. He managed to come all the way here.
Sora: Riku…
Riku: Yes?
Sora: I know now I don’t
need the Keyblade. It’s my heart under God’s great guidance that actually
helped me brave everything just to come here.
Riku: Your heart? What
can that puny little thing do for you?
Riku let out a destructive light
beam. Sora didn’t guard the attack; he was just ready to take it as it came.
But when Goofy saw the beam coming towards Sora he rushed towards him and
deflected the attack.
Goofy: You may be
Keyblade wielder now, but you’re not gonna destroy my friend here.
Sora finally got them back.
Sora: At first I lost all hope. What could I do? Then when
the Heartless were coming towards me, I could not do much but fend myself from
them. But I saw it all with my own eyes. When I just swished the sword, the
Heartless were cut in two!
Riku: What?!
Sora: Admit it Riku, you’re not as strong as you think you
are. I had to fend for myself back there. Added with the effort of my friends
here, our hearts form a light that never dies out! And now, let the One Most
High choose for Himself the one worthy of wielding the Keyblade. Much as you
chose for yourself, let Him choose. He has watched everything that has happened
in your side and mine.
Nothing happened for a few seconds.
And then, when Riku was about to laugh at Sora, the Keyblade tugged itself from
Riku’s hands and disappeared. The Keyblade with Sora’s current key chain was in
Sora’s right hand.
Riku: This… can’t be…
Sora: It is so. He willed
it, and now are you trying to go against His will? Oh yes you are. For this is
what the dark minions do.
Now it was Sora’s turn to bash Riku
left, right, center and proper. He was a total cinch to beat. By the time Riku
was worn out, he had slash marks all over his back and arms. He chickened out.
Sora,
Sora: OK, here we are.
Goofy: Are you sure this
is safe?
Sora: Should be. Let’s
just get prepared for the worst. This is a kind of creepy, dark, “die if the
Heartless get your heart” kind of… chapel? I wouldn’t wanna go in there. But I
have to.
Meanwhile, Riku was talking to the
hooded guy Sora met in the
Riku: He’s surely
stronger than I. So what next? There’s no use anyway.
Ansem: Trust in the power
of darkness. Immerse yourself in it. Your physique and my power shall join and
we shall make a great pair.
Riku: I seriously doubt
that.
Ansem: Learn to trust.
When you’re in the darkness you have to be insecure. And when you immerse
yourself, that’s when all the security comes to you. Understand?
Riku responded like a filial son.
And when Sora took another few steps into the chapel, he was about to have the
shock of his life.
Part 4
Get over it… now
Sora’s heart started pounding.
Maleficent actually knew the “fools” had arrived and were ready to take care of
the trio.
Maleficent: So you have
arrived. You fools don’t know what darkness can do.
Goofy: My lips are
sealed.
Before the confrontation, Sora knew
almost all that was going to happen. It was so predictable. He told Goofy not
to reveal a single bit of the secrets he had learnt. They would use it for
later. As Maleficent yakked away about the darkness and its so-called
“destructive powers”, Sora had it in his mind - Maleficent’s going down. They
were not going to wait for the plein soleil
moment to exterminate the darkness! With everything Sora had been through, he
felt that the plein soleil moment had no
significance. Just shine a little bit of light in front of those who have
really immersed themselves in the darkness, and they would shiver in fear. It
was just impossible to balance the two sides. It was just impossible to have
darkness in one’s heart. He knew, sometimes the dark sides could take over and
spoil their days, but what upright-thinking person would want the darkness to
consume him? The next plein soleil was on
the next day. Sora hardened himself and made up his mind to exterminate
everyone responsible that day itself. It was such an eventful day indeed. On
that same day, he faced Riku, Maleficent, Maleficent’s alter ego, and the
Unknown.
When Maleficent was almost defeated,
Riku came with a Keyblade in his hand, ready to do something. No… this was not
Riku. His body was possessed. This couldn’t be him. And the Keyblade he held
was not the Keyblade which was one in being with itself. This was one created
out of… something. This was the Keyblade which could pierce through one’s heart
and unlock it.
?????: Be ready. Let the
Keyblade unleash the darkness within! Be strengthened!
As Riku - or, whoever it was - mouthed
these words, Sora listened carefully. This was definitely not Riku. He sounded
as though he had a dual voice. Yes, the more audible voice was indeed Riku’s.
But who could explain the dual voice behind Riku’s at this moment? Sora took
his eyes off him and looked up. No, things have just started to get worse than
before. Maleficent’s alter ego was a dragon. It was not just any dragon though…
this one was brimming with pure darkness. The green light coming out from its
tongue had elements of darkness in it. Sora,
Sora: Let
your light shine!
On the other hand, the Unknown could
be compared best with Riku. He was another enigmatic guy. The creepy black robe
he wore made Sora and his friends think of more questions. What did this
Unknown want with a trio like them anyway? Or was he affected by the darkness?
Or not? At that instant, all their questions started. Sora could fight him off,
but it only led him to continue thinking about this creepy guy. Rumor had it
that one of his comrades, also creepily-attired, possessed two Keyblades. Sora
disregarded the matter altogether.
Sora spent sleepless nights keeping
the Heartless at bay. If the Heartless get to his heart, he would be history.
That night, after defeating three people in a row, he sat down in a lonely
corner. Sora was deep in thought. By right, Riku, being the eldest of the three
(Sora, Riku and Kairi), should be the Keyblade wielder. But after having chosen
darkness over light, the Keyblade chose Sora instead. As he thought of all
that, he remembered the Keyblade the possessed Riku was holding earlier. Fine, it unlocks hearts. Does it lock
Keyholes? Or does it reverse its process? Does it unlock the Keyholes only for
the Heartless to take over and ultimately destroy the world they possess?
This time,
Meanwhile…
Still in Riku’s body, Ansem was
manipulating the Heartless. All the pipes in Hollow Bastion led to the grand
hall, where Ansem would regimentally carry out his experiments. Ansem’s mind
and Riku’s mind were apart. Riku, now knowing what he was bound to face, tried
to utter something but he couldn’t.
Riku: Don’t
touch me!