Kingdom Hearts: SfE Part 2 - The Final Keyhole and the Mark of Mastery

Valdis was pleased two hearts readily opened themselves for tasting, so she swooped low to the group, wings alight, to try and burn them into submission. Lifting up into the sir with more powerful strokes, she let out a huge gush of flame, encasing them in a fire tornado. Even the sand under their feet was bubbling, melting at the oppressive heat.

 

"Protega!"Riku cast a shield around Irvine and Selphie, hoping it would protect them. "Thunder!"Valerie shot a thunder spell at the large bird. Selphie yelped at the fire tornadow, but was relieve that the protega spell surrounded them before fatal damage was done. Riku winced, trying to keep the barrier stable in the fire tornado. Irvine aimed his rifle, hoping to get a shot of the pheonix through the blaze.

Sora watched the battle from the secret cave, seeing how powerful the bird was. "I have to help them!"he said. "Oh no you don't, mister. You are not fighting in you're condition!"Sora's mother snapped, pulling Sora back.

 

"I'll go," Kairi told Sora. "You're too close to fight now." She turned to Tidus, Wakka, and Lulu. "Lulu, Wakka, you two stay at the entrance and help if we need backup." The goth girl nodded. "Tidus, you'll be a last resort, since you can only fight in close combat." With that, she ran out and cast a protection spell on herself.

Jeffrey went up to Valerie, careful to avoid the Heartless's attacks. "We need some sort of plan. We're not getting anywhere right now."

 

Valdis finished her tornado, landing somewhere high up to look down on the tiny humans. Clicking thoughtfully with only her eyes blazing now, she studied the dirty glass that the melted sand cools down to. What do I do... What do I do... You let them go... she paused, taken aback by this new voice within her head, looking down once more to the puny humans. Just let them go... she sneered, but after a large gust of wind from her wings, in order to blow up sand and the humans, she retreated to the main islands.

 

Riku was catching his breath, shaking his head. "Thats it?"Selphie hopped out of the way of the glassy sand. "It shouldn't have surrendered...."Irvine frowned. "It was Eden! she's still in there!"Valerie smiled. Sora saw the bird fly away.

"Okay, it's safe to come out for now..."he said to everyone, coming out of the cave. Riku caught his breath, looking over to Sora. "Soraaaa!"Selphie grinned. Irvine held the girl back from tackling Sora. Valerie mentioned for the people hiding in the shack to come out of hiding.

 

"So if Eden somehow managed to get her Heartless to retreat, that means there must be some way we can get her to take control," Jeffrey said. "And then we can get her back!"
Kairi searched through the people exiting the shack. At the back of the group, she saw the mayor. He was a short and plump man with thinning brown hair and light brown eyes. The cuffs on his dress shirt were singed from the fire. "Mayor!" Kairi ran up to the man and gave him a hug. "It's good to see that you're safe," the mayor said. He smiled and ruffled her hair.

 

"Thats a great idea!"Valerie said. Sora was with his parents and Riku with his mom. "I'm sorry about father, mom..."Riku said. "I'll be fine... I'm so happy you're alive, hon..."Rikus mom smiled. "We were so worried about you, young man."Sora's mother said. "I would've sent letters and stuff like that if I had the time..."Sora said. "Well you're safe now...and apparently doing well in the pregnancy."Sora's father chuckled. Sora turned a light shade of red.

 

Jeffrey stood watching the others with Valerie. "Everyone's getting such a nice reunion. Hopefully this bit of peace will last for a short while."

 

"Yeah..."Valerie smiled. "So! Who are you two?"Selphie went over to Valerie and Jeffrey. "Thats Valerie and Jeffrey."Sora said. "They're two of the survivors we found on Earth. Definately a mischevious pair."Riku said. "Well, thanks for helping us scare off that giant Heartless."Irvine said. "Your welcome!"Valerie grinned.

"It's nice to meet the both of you. I'm Emyra Centary, Rikus mother." "and we're Sora's parents. I'm Cotarow Jiyataro, and this is my wife Tabina." "I hope our son wasn't a handful." "Oh, is Riku's injury healing okay?" Sora and Riku were both bright red at their parents behavior.

 

"It's nice to meet all of you," Jeffrey told. "There should be a third with us, but..." He trailed off. "Any friend of Sora's is a friend of ours," Tidus said, joining the crowd. Wakka and Lulu both nodded. Lulu picked up the Moogle doll, which had been walking slowly behind them. "Since both of you helped protect us, you're welcome to the Islands any time," the mayor added.

 

"Thats great!"Valerie grinned. "We'll be staying until Sora has the baby..."Riku said. "aaaw!"Selphie whined in protest. "Oh well..."Irvine chuckled. "and we will be gone for a long time again..."Sora frowned. "It's expected for our little adventurer..." "Our sons, Keyblade Masters..." "Not quite sure what a keyblade is exactly yet..." "Well, we're not keyblade masters yet..."Riku said. "Riku say what now?"Valerie looked over to Riku.

"We got our mission to save Earth before we could take it. Didn't we tell you two?"Sora tilted his head.

 

"You seem to have left that bit out," Jeffrey replied. "Well, that means we'll have to go to Twilight Town once we leave, right?" Kairi nodded. "It's the only way to get to Master Yen Sid's tower."

 

"mm-hmm. It's gonna be weird going to Twilight town, huh Riku?"Sora asked. "Yeah..."Riku did NOT want to recall any of those memories. "I don't see why you two gotta take an exam where you fight eachother. Its obvious Riku's gonna win!"Selphie said. "Whoa there, Selph. Don't take Sora out of the ring yet. It's been over 2 years since they've last has a fake spar. Sora's probably been training."Irvine said. "Why not have a bit of a practice spar now? Good practice for when you do take the exam."Valerie said.

"A practice spar? No thanks."Riku said. Sora gave a small smirk. "what, afraid to get your butt whooped by a pregnant person?"he asked. "Oh dear..." "Here they go again..."

 

"Good luck to both of you!" Kairi shouted. "Sora's totally gonna win," Tidus told Wakka. "I dunno, ya? Riku's usually the winner," Wakka replied. "Whoever thinks the quickest will win," Lulu added. The three seemed to be making bets on who would win.
"Well, this'll be fun to watch..." Jeffrey said.

 

"Rikus tottaly going to win!" "I dunno, Sora could probably make a comeback." "This'll be very interesting."Valerie chuckled. "$20 on Riku winning!" "V-chan!"Sora whined that Valerie betted on Riku. "Ready to lose?"Riku asked, summoning Way to Dawn. "Are you?"Sora summoned Oblivion. "Sora, careful of the baby!"

"Alright! Rules! No magic, no items, first one to knock the other on their butt wins!"Valerie explained. She started to go around and gather money from people who bet on Sora or Riku.

 

Gexln had been sitting back, watching the battle. He could have simply made a dark corridor, but felt it was necessary for Valdis to exercise her new completion. "Wouldn't want this little game to end too quickly anyway" he said, thinking aloud.

 

Valdis landed before Gexln, weakly bowing her head in shame. "I am sorry master, I could not kill them, there was something else stopping me instead. I do not know why. A voice, human." She bitterly kept herself low and as small as she possibly could, to not receive any wrath from Gexln.

 

The two keyblade wielders got in position, keyblades at the ready. "So! who's gonna start us off?"Sora asked. "Its not a race Sora. You can start whenever you-hey!"Riku dodged a strike from Oblivion. "I didn't mean now!"he snapped. "Sorry. My bad."Sora smirked. Riku smirked, striking with Way to Dawn. Sora blocked, a feeling of nostalgia overcoming him.

The whole crowd was watching the fight. Strike, block, counter, parry... It was like when the two were younger, before the heartless invaded the islands. Riku managed to land a blow, hitting Sora with the blunt side of Way to Dawn on the shoulders. Sora managed a strike to each of Rikus legs. Riku jumped over a low swipe from Oblivion as an attempt to knock him over.

Sora smiled, having the time of his life. He felt like a kid again, on the small island where they sparred with wooden swords. Riku could tell Sora was distracted, making a low swipe with Way to Dawn. Sora tried to dodge, but his lack of balance called him to fall backwards."Okay... Ow..." Riku chuckled, holding out his hand to Sora. "I think that counted as a victory."he said.

Valerie grinned, glad that she won the bet. She took the money, splitting it up between the people who bet on Riku. Sora let Riku help him up, smiling. "Nice job, Sora."Riku said. "For a pregnant person?"Sora gave a small chuckled. Riku shook his head. "For a kid."he joked.

 

"It's okay, i'm sure the time will come that they will perish" Gexln said with a smirk.

 

"Of course Master. I will make sure they do." Valdis put herself upright, standing by Gexln. She looked off to the burning island, wanting to consume all the hearts there. She would have her chance though, in due time.