The Queen Of Hearts (Kingdom Hearts Story)

The Strength of the Heart

She feels two hands cup her face. She opens her eyes for a moment only to see two ghostly figures. The one cupping her cheeks was a woman, a soft and welcoming smile stretched across her lips. The other was a man, opening a corridor of light for Akira and Sora to leave through.

"Do not give up Akira. For you already have the power" the man says.

The sudden flash of light blinds Akira. When she opens her eyes again, she is back on the platform with Sora resting by her side. The ghostly figures no longer remain. She takes the time to think over the handful of events as she regains her breath. Apparently she had the power already, but she had no clue what that power could be.

After her breathing returned to a normal state, she turned to her unconscious friend. Her first thought was to shake him awake, but she doubted that would work in his current state.

She looks down at her slightly charred hands. She closes her eyes and attempts to envision some power, any power that could help her friend. She opens her eyes but feels no change in her. What was she to do now?

"The boy is being consumed by the darkness. You're the only one who can help" the voice explains.

Akira balls her hands into fists. Just what was she expected to do?

As though the voice heard her thoughts, it responded to her question.

"Place your hands just above his heart and close your eyes"
The voice commanded.

She looks down at her hands once again. Did she really have the power to help Sora? Did the voice know?

Either way, she gained nothing from standing there. Sora had the sword the two needed to survive this journey. She hesitantly placer her hands on his chest, just above his heart. She focused all her efforts into finding the power hidden deep inside her. Her will was strong. Her only goal was to bring Sora back.

She closed her eyes and surprisingly, she felt different. She felt energy course through her veins. Her muscles tense as she focuses the energy into her palms. She imagines this energy being shot into Sora.

Her body feels as though it was teleported and she feels the slightest bit disoriented. She opens one eye to look at her surroundings while keeping the other closed just in case she must place more focus on her efforts. It was not necessary as she saw her surroundings were different. Akira opened her other eye to observe the new area.

Her eyes widen at what is displayed before. A large ball of darkness is in front of her, bigger than her entire body. The sphere of darkness pulsates and grows larger with each passing second. There were only a few specks of light to remain.

Within the sphere was a silhouette. The outline was that of a heart. She assumed that it was Sora's heart. It thumped at a quick pace, the light struggling against the darkness at each beat.

"You must exploit the darkness!"
The voice commands.

The voice did not give any instructions this time around. On instinct, she places her palms against the dark sphere. This stung and burned her hands a lot more than before, but she did not relent. She focused all of her energy into her palms.

She felt her heart warm and she wondered what the cause was. She sees a light brightly shine from her own heart. Rainbow marks crawl up her arms until reaching the palms of her hands.

She releases a scream as pain shoots through her body. She continues exerting the energy from her palms ignoring her pain-stricken self. She removes her hands once seeing that the majority of the orb was full of light rather than darkness.