Chapter 14

The Final World

“WHERE AM I?”

Sora stood up and looked around. He had no idea where he was, only that it was somewhere very bright and that he could hear water. It felt like the sky and sea spread out forever around him, but even that was uncertain. He didn’t know if what he saw was really a sea at all or just…water. Water that stretched so far he couldn’t see the shore. There was a sun overhead, too, shining down.

What happened to me? Did I…fall into the darkness?

As Sora started walking, each step created a little splash. The clouds in the sky above were reflected in the water at his feet.

Suddenly, a voice spoke to him from somewhere. The voice was high and unfamiliar.

“Can’t stay away, now, can you?”

“Hello?” Sora called.

A speck of light drifted down from above and released a bright flash as it landed in the water, revealing a little creature that looked like a cat-shaped plush toy.

It looked up at Sora. “The name’s Chirithy, and this is the Final World.”

“I’m Sora. What’s the…‘Final World’?”

“Final”? I’ve thought things were coming to an end plenty of times, but maybe this is the true end…?

Chirithy had the answer. “There’s nothing else beyond this. You’ve wandered here more than once before on your visits to the Station of Awakening, buuut…I let that slide. The edges of sleep and death touch, and one can’t help the occasional crossover.”

But Sora latched on to one of the words Chirithy said. “Wait, ‘death’?”

Am I…dead?

“Yes. The natural end for those whose hearts and bodies perish together. But some persist and arrive here.”

“My heart and body perished? Um, does that mean…?” Sora couldn’t make heads or tails of any of this, so he just said what came first to his mind.

Both my heart and body perished, but I’m persisting? Does that mean I’m not dead, then?

“Something is holding you here—refusing to let you go. You’re hanging by a thread.”

“What about my friends?” Sora asked. It was the most important question on his mind.

“I’m afraid that no one else arrived with you. And if they’re not here, they’re either gone forever, or they’re clinging to the world you came from.”

Sora summoned his Keyblade to his hand. “I’m going back!”

Chirithy called to Sora as he started to run off. “Whoa, whoa! How, exactly? You can’t just wander out like your other visits.”

“What?” Sora stopped and looked back at the little creature.

“I told you. The other times, you came here by your own choice. This time is very different. To become your old self again and return to the real world, you’ll have to piece yourself back together in this world first.”

“Agh! Why am I in pieces?!” Sora checked himself over frantically. Wait, I haven’t really looked at myself since I came to this place. I’ve still got a body…kinda, but it’s transparent. So it’s gone, but not really?

“What? No, not literally, of course. You’re conceptually in pieces. On the inside, who knows? But on the outside, you’re just fine.”

“Oh, okay. You kinda freaked me out there!” Sora sent his Keyblade away, sounding much more like himself.

“Oh, boy…” Chirithy sighed, but Sora didn’t seem to hear. Pulling itself together, the little catlike being looked back up at Sora. “Usually, only a heart can reach the Final World. But since you’ve clearly managed to retain some kind of form, that can only mean your body was cast into this world as well.”

“Okay, so…then if I can find my body, that means I’ll be able to go back?”

“Precisely. But there’s a lot of you to find. You’re going to be busy,” Chirithy said, then disappeared in a bright flash.

None of that really gives me any idea where to start, though…

Sora looked up and saw himself off in the distance—quite a few of himself, in fact.

He chased after one of them, and when he finally caught it, it turned into light and absorbed into his body. After catching several of the other Soras, he spotted a cluster of glowing crystals. They danced together in the nebulous form of a star, but they seemed ready to scatter at any moment. Sora brushed his fingers against one of them.

“That’s strange. I’m running and running, but I can’t get to Papa. Oh! This is hide-and-seek! I love hide-and-seek! I’m going to find Papa. He’ll be so proud.”

“Uh, hello?” Sora said, but the star didn’t seem to realize he was there.

“Hmm…I can’t seem to find him. I give up, Papa! Come out! Come out! …I’ve looked so hard for him. Isn’t he looking for me? Wait, that’s Papa’s voice. I hear his voice! It’s that light! I understand, now. I have to run toward that light!” The star fell silent.

Sora thought back on what Chirithy had told him, that his was a world that normally only hearts could reach.

He decided to try speaking to another of the stars.

“Hello?”

“Oh, good. If you’re speaking to me, I suppose I must exist. I feel a consciousness. Or memories, perhaps. Feelings. They pass through my mind one after the next, but none of it feels real. And that was fine. I’d resigned myself to simply forget. To let it all slip away.”

“What do you mean?” Sora asked.

The star simply glimmered. “But there was one piece I couldn’t let go of—a fragment I couldn’t forget. Maybe that sliver of memory is what’s kept me here this whole time…”

The star went quiet, as if whatever had been holding it here had at last vanished.

Sora kept catching more of his copies, stopping to speak to more stars here and there.

“Did I matter?” asked one. “Was I ever there at all? I thought I’d found my place, surrounded by people I trusted. But look there. I’m gone, yet they go on meeting up just the same. Hmm? The table’s set wrong. There’s too many glasses… Oh. Added a new member, have they? That didn’t take long. That was my seat. That was my place at the table. Their glasses against the newcomer’s, one after the next. No, this is not my place. Maybe it never was.”

“Whoever said love and hate are two sides of the same coin is a liar,” said another. “The second our eyes would meet, we were at each other’s throats, every time. The idea of us as friends is laughable. I’m finally on my own here, and what a relief! Just…not as big a relief as I’d thought. It’s weird. Something’s just…missing. Ugh, is that how this works? Did I keep going back for another fight just so we could spend the time together? Maybe it’s not as simple as ‘like’ or ‘hate.’ The heart’s a complex thing. Wonder if he feels lonely, too… Takes two to have a fight, after all.”

“We spent so many years together. A lifetime. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, of course. We had our share of troubles. Sorrows, too. But all of it is dear to me now, every minute we had. We got to experience so much. I have no regrets. At least, that’s what I thought… Special occasions may stand out, but there’s nothing so precious as the quiet days between them. That’s what life is, really.”

“‘I have nothing left to teach you.’ I thought those words would make him happy, but it was sorrow that clouded his face. I had shared all I know, my every technique. What more did he seek from me? I never heard the answer. Time passed on, and…here we are. But now, since we’ve parted, I think I understand. He wanted the same thing I did. This wasn’t just about passing on knowledge. It was a communion. A connecting of hearts.”

None of the stars interacted with Sora. After they had said their piece, they became completely unresponsive.

Sora also noticed that his body was, bit by bit, beginning to feel more real again. He couldn’t quite see through himself anymore, either.

He tried talking to another of the glittering stars.

“Hello?”

“Good day,” the star replied.

“Oh, cool! You can talk.” Sora was delighted to receive a greeting in return after most of the other stars hadn’t acknowledged him at all.

“You look like a person. How is it that you retain your appearance? Are you special?”

The star had the voice of a girl. Sora didn’t recognize her, but she sounded slightly uneasy.

“Um… I’m a little hazy on the details.”

“As are we all,” the star said, then simply glimmered quietly.

“So whose heart are you?”

If she was just a heart—then where exactly was her body?

“No one’s anymore. They took away my name—everything about me.”

“No way. They couldn’t have taken away your heart,” Sora exclaimed. After all, if she was here speaking with him now, that was proof she still existed.

“Only because it pines for another.”

“Yeah? Someone’s coming for you?” Sora asked.

“I cannot be certain. He’s been changed beyond recognition—his heart replaced with another’s. But were he to regain his old self, he would be distressed by my absence. So I choose to wait here, where he can find me.”

Her strong conviction reminded Sora of someone… But who? Who did she remind him of?

“Good. You have to believe.”

Sora looked closely at the glowing apparition. She really doesn’t give up—it’s a lot like Aqua. But there’s someone else she makes me think of more…

“Believe? Oh, you mean know in my heart that he will return? Without any proof?”

“Exactly, believe. I thought it was all over for me, but a friend of mine looked me in the eye and said, ‘You don’t believe that.’”

The glimmer of star giggled and shimmered at Sora’s words of encouragement.

“So, uh…who did this to you? Heartless steal hearts…so a Nobody?”

“A…somebody.”

“Really? Hmm… Well, I wish I could help…but my situation’s no better.” Sora sat down beside the star and looked skyward.

“You must see to the tasks before you first.”

“The tasks before me? There’s so many.”

The star twinkled in a way that somehow suggested a smile. “All the more reason for you to make an effort.”

“Yeah. You’re right. I just wish I knew what to do,” said Sora anxiously. He had yet to see any other people in this world, and even if he did, they would probably just be stars like his conversation partner here.

The glowing star-girl had more to say. “Here you are on the brink, and yet you hold on to who you are. You possess a strong sense of purpose. And in that purpose you will find direction.”

“Thank you,” replied Sora, taking her words to heart. He got to his feet. “I’m really glad we met. You cheer me up. I hope that your friend finds you soon.”

The star-girl twinkled happily and said, “Thank you. Me too.”

“Oh, hey. If I see him, I’ll tell him that you’re here. What’s his name?” Sora asked. The star drifted a little closer to his ear and told him.

“Our secret,” she then said, and fell silent like the other stars.

Who was she?

Barely a moment passed before a giant platform rose up beneath Sora, like a huge boulder made of solid ice. The mass was followed by more like it in sizes great and small, piling up in what came to resemble some sort of structure.

Inside it were even more Soras than before.

“Okay, time to go catch some more!”

Sora began chasing down his copies with gusto. Some of the Soras flew, some sat upside down, while others dashed about willy-nilly.

And during his pursuit, Sora bumped into another star.

The star addressed him by name. “Sora?”

Hey—I’ve heard this voice before. But I can’t remember where…

“Yes?”

“It’s me, Naminé,” the star said back.

“Naminé?” Sora said in shock.

“I’m so glad that you managed to hold on to who you are.” The star glimmered and did a little spin.

“Why are you here?” Sora asked.

“I was in Kairi’s heart, but then we were struck by a powerful darkness…and I woke up here.”

Naminé’s answer worried him. If Naminé had been inside of Kairi and she was here now, did that mean…?

“And Kairi?” he asked.

“I can feel her heart. She’s fighting with all her strength to keep you from fading away,” the star-shaped Naminé said in a soft, gentle voice.

“So the reason I retained my form in this place—”

“It’s because she’s holding you together. Go to her,” Naminé quickly finished for him.

“I’m trying. But what about you? I can’t just leave you stuck here.”

The star-shaped Naminé released a little sparkle of light. “It’s okay. Really. Kairi is where I came from. So once she’s safe again, Kairi is where I’ll return.”

Sora had more to say. “Naminé, I know that I’m supposed to thank you. The datascape doesn’t count. I need to say the words myself. But…not like this. You and Roxas can’t tell me you’re okay with this. I know how much you’re hurting. I…felt that pain through Roxas.”

He had no idea what expression Naminé would have been wearing if she still had a form.

The star-Naminé shimmered for a moment before speaking. “He’s the one they all miss. It’s…not me.”

Sora quickly disagreed. “Wrong. What about me, Kairi, Donald, Goofy? The king! Roxas, too, he misses you! And someone else special I know won’t let you down.”

I want to see you, too, Naminé.

“Sora. Thank you.”

You’ve done so much more for me than I’ve ever done for you…but I need to thank you properly. I have to bring you back from Kairi. And if I’m going to do that, I need to restore myself.

Sora took a step toward the many other Soras still off in the distance.

“Well then, I’m gonna go save Kairi so at least you’ll be free of this place. Okay?”

He was about to hurry off when Naminé called out to him.

“Oh, wait!”

“Huh?”

“While sifting through memories, I spoke to Terra, the Keyblade wielder you’ve been looking for. He has a strong will, and it keeps him tethered to the realm of light. I’ll try tracing that connection. Maybe that’ll be enough to tip the scales in the other direction.”

Naminé brought up an interesting fact that Sora had completely missed.

“Huh?” he said.

Naminé met Terra…?

“Um… Let’s just say I’ve got your back?” she said to Sora. Her tone suggested she was smiling gently.

“That part of you—it reminds me of Kairi. Thanks, Naminé. Oh! That’s not the official thank-you!”

“Uh-huh.” She twinkled, seemingly pleased by Sora’s words.

“Well, see ya!”

“Be careful,” Naminé called out to him as he got on his way.

Sora continued collecting the fragments of himself.

“Sheesh, why are there so many of me?!” Sora grumbled at the seemingly endless numbers.

He leaped down from where he had been standing—all the giant boulders vanished, leaving only the sky and shallow water from before.

Then, a light drifted down toward him, a light he recognized. When it touched the water, Chirithy appeared in a flash.

“I see that you found them all.”

“Yup!” Sora exclaimed, striking a triumphant pose.

But Chirithy’s reaction wasn’t so cheerful. “Then isn’t it time that you left?”

“Oh, thanks,” Sora said, a bit miffed.

“What? I’m doing you a big favor here, you know. Don’t push it.”

Chirithy was getting grumpy, but Sora didn’t let it get to him. Instead, he asked something that had been on his mind.

“Hey, Chirithy. You still look like you, right? Would you like me to help you find your pieces?”

“Oh, I don’t work like that.”

“So, like…you’re waiting for someone to rescue you?” Sora asked, thinking back to Naminé.

“Mmm…sort of?”

“Well, tell me who! I’ll find ’em.”

Sora cupped a hand behind his ear and leaned toward Chirithy, expecting a whispered answer like the one from the star-girl. But the little catlike creature didn’t seem to want to share the name.

“Uh, no no no no, that’s okay. He doesn’t remember the past. Besides, I’m sure he’s happier with his new friends. But I’ll wait. He’ll arrive here one day.” Chirithy apparently had its own view on the situation.

“Okay… I’ll be back here to visit you,” Sora said, bending down a little bit to get a better look at Chirithy.

“What?!” Chirithy yelped, taking a step back.

“You and me are friends now.”

Friends—Chirithy glanced downward for a second before meeting Sora’s gaze again. It seemed to be remembering something from long ago. “Really? I’ve missed having friends.”

“Well, see ya ’round! And thanks!” Sora turned and was about to leave when he paused for a moment.

Chirithy watched him curiously.

“Um… Could I get a hint how to save the others?”

“Seriously?” Chirithy seemed a tad exasperated. “Are you a Keyblade wielder or aren’t you? Haven’t you already learned how to restore someone’s heart after it’s been lost?”

“Restore their hearts? Is that the same thing as…the ‘power of waking’?” Sora stopped to think.

“I’m not sure, but…give it a shot?”

“No.” He remembered what Hercules had said. “This’ll take all my heart.”

Sora knew what he needed to do now. As long as I want to help my friends with all my heart—the way will open for me!

“Okay.”

With a nod of determination, Sora took his Keyblade in both hands and pointed it at the water.

The light formed a Keyhole that then grew into a kaleidoscopic magic symbol, from which light began flowing upward from it into the sky.

“Look for the light in the darkness!” Chirithy shouted to Sora just as he leaped into the circle. The radiance swallowed Sora up, and then he was gone.

Chirithy gazed up after him and said softly, “May your heart be your guiding key.”

And then, Sora was back in the Keyblade Graveyard.

“Sora, you don’t believe that. I know you don’t.”

Again, Riku strode off to face the Heartless as Sora knelt on the ground. The Demon Tide crashed and split on Riku’s Keyblade, but that didn’t save him. Sora could only watch, reaching out helplessly as his friend was taken from him.

The Demon Tide then engulfed Sora, too, leaving him alone in the darkness.

“Riku!”

That light off in the distance—it has to be Riku. Sora struggled through the darkness to reach it.

“Riku! Answer me!”

Sora fought his way toward the light.

When Sora came to, he was in Olympus—specifically, the home of the gods.

Is Riku here? This place is so empty…

“There’s nobody here…,” Sora muttered softly.

Then someone hopped out of his hood onto the ground and made their presence known. “Gee, I’m here!”

“Jiminy! You’re okay!”

It was Jiminy, his constant companion. Of course he would still be here. Jiminy jumped into Sora’s hands.

“Well, ‘okay’ might be a stretch, but what are we waitin’ for? We need to find the others!”

He’s right. No matter what happens, I’m never alone.

Sora smiled and nodded at the cricket, then started up the steps. Beyond the doors of the temple, Riku floated above a giant brazier.

“Riku!”

His friend’s body was transparent, just as his own had been a short time ago. Sora ran up to Riku, thinking maybe he was going to need to go chase down pieces of Riku, too. But before Sora could reach his friend, a Heartless appeared in his path—the Lich. With a skull for a head, it was the picture of a spirit of death. The Lich drew Riku’s heart out of his body, bound it in chains, drew it into its body, and fled.

To make matters worse, the Lich left lesser Heartless like Shadows behind it to keep Sora occupied. Sora wasn’t about to let that stop him, though. He eventually cornered the Heartless and fought it for Riku’s heart.

The battle began up close and personal before switching to magic, and before long, it seemed that Sora had won. But then a dark corridor opened behind the Lich. It left Riku’s heart behind, but it managed to escape.

Meanwhile, Riku’s heart was flying off in a different direction.

“Hey! Wait!” Sora called after it.

Jiminy hopped onto Sora’s shoulder. “There’s no need to worry, Sora. He’ll return to the place he fell, like you did. We gotta focus on rescuing the others.”

Oh, so Riku’s heart’s just going back home?

“Okay!”

Reassured by his friend’s wisdom, Sora plunged into the Corridors of Darkness after the Lich. It’s going after everyone else’s hearts—which means if I chase it down, I can bring the others back, too.

Sora pursued the Lich through passage after dark passage, each one leading him to a world he’d visited before.

He found Aqua in the Caribbean, Goofy in Arendelle, Donald in Monstropolis, Ventus in Toy Box, and Mickey in the Kingdom of Corona before at last defeating the Lich and reclaiming the heart of Axel in San Fransokyo.

However…Sora merely looked up at the city skyline sadly after his victory.

“Well, Sora, I’d say we’ve been to every world that we can visit,” Jiminy commented from his perch on Sora’s shoulder.

“But we’re one short. Where’s Kairi’s heart?”

“Gee, I wish I knew.”

Both of them were getting worried.

Just then, the Corridors of Darkness opened to reveal Young Xehanort.

“You!”

Sora tensed up instantly, ready for a fight. Young Xehanort regarded Sora calmly, then smiled.

“All that gallivanting through the Sleeping Worlds, and yet you learned nothing. Dream by dream, you nearly buried yourself in the darkness of sleep. And now you’re at it again?”

Sora recalled his experiences in the Sleeping Worlds. It was true; he had crossed the boundaries of slumber many times in his travels.

“The Lich you’ve been fighting—it’s not like other Heartless. It exists to usher hearts down to the depths of darkness. If you chase it, you will condemn your heart to that same abyss.”

Sora gritted his teeth and pressed a hand to his chest. The depths of darkness? No, my heart’s here, with me. “You’re wrong. My heart is strong.”

“What do you think the power of waking is? It’s for traversing hearts to reach worlds. Not for traversing worlds to reach hearts. There’s a high price to pay for wielding such power foolishly.”

His warning delivered, Young Xehanort turned away from Sora.

“So what? You’re worried about me now?”

“No. There’s no saving you.”

“…What?”

Sora had no idea what Young Xehanort was getting at. But the Organization did have a habit of trying to psych him out.

Young Xehanort turned back to deliver one final proclamation: “You’ve paid the price. And it lies at the bottom of the abyss.”

He then opened the Corridors of Darkness and vanished.

“Wait!”

Sora was about to give chase, but then he heard the Gummiphone ringing in his pocket.

“Sora!” Jiminy prodded him from his shoulder. Sora took out the phone and answered.

“Hurry, Sora! The way to the Keyblade Graveyard is open!” Chip squeaked excitedly from the screen.

Dale jostled Chip out of the way and added, “Chipper and I found a new path!”

A grin spread on Sora’s face.

“Of course! That’s the one place we haven’t checked yet!”

“Off we go!” Jiminy cheered.

Sora summoned his Keyblade. As when he journeyed to the Keyblade Graveyard from Chirithy’s world, a Keyhole appeared on the ground, and he dived into the opening.

Sora fell through the darkness toward a distant light below.

And next to that light…was Kairi.

“Sora.”

“Kairi!”

The two of them linked their fingers together.

“I found you!” Sora smiled at her. They released each other’s hands and began to drift through the darkness side by side, moving toward the light.

“You see? I had no doubts that you’d pull through.”

“The light in the darkness. It was you. You’re the one who kept me from fading away.”

As a Princess of Heart, Kairi had a miraculous ability.

“All I did was believe that you wouldn’t,” she replied, gazing ahead into the radiance.

“I feel strong with you, Kairi.” Sora grinned, and Kairi answered with a little smile.

She reached out to her left and took Sora’s hand into her own, and the two of them flew straight into the light.

“The others are ahead. Come on.”

As the radiance swept over them, Sora remembered something.

Rapunzel had revived Flynn, and then Anna had saved Elsa.

They were members of the New Seven Hearts. And as it happened, so was Kairi.

They all possessed a very special power to protect those they cared about.

I want to keep my friends safe, too, but if it weren’t for Kairi, I wouldn’t have been able to make it back at all.

“I told you, Sora. You’re safe with me.”

“Yeah.”

Sora went into the light with Kairi leading the way.