Realm of Darkness

Xemnas entered his last phase it seemed to John as he was watching from the sideline until he is forced to block laser beams coming in his direction.

'I think Sora hasn't noticed it yet,' thinks John as he watches the fight between Xemnas and the duo.

John looking only at Sora who sometimes was faintly surrounded by Light and Darkness at the same time. Xemnas was giving them more than they bargain for as it seemed that he was slowly matching Sora and Riku.

John wanted to interfere when suddenly Riku engaged Xemnas only to be blocked by him when he was about to be stricken down a Keyblade came flying out of nowhere blocking Xemnas' attack.

The Keyblade flew back to the direction it came from and Xemnas could see Sora approaching as he grabbed the Keyblade in midair before he engages Xemnas.

Xemnas let go of Riku to block Sora's next attack with his laser swords. Sora and Xemnas interlock their blades as they were face to face. Riku recovered and rushed at Xemnas again holding his Keyblade while John watched that they won't defeat Xemnas if they continue like that.

'Sora, use the power of your Keyblade to defeat Xemnas like when you close or open a Keyhole,' says John using telepathy.

'But I never used it consciously,' says Sora as he never used the power of the Keyblade on his own will but only when the Keyblade wanted to use it.

'That is the only way to defeat Xemnas. I think with Riku's help you should be able to defeat him,' says John as Sora was still in the interlock when Riku attacks Xemnas from behind when Xemnas disappears from his position and appears again behind Riku.

He was ready to strike at Riku when Judgement blocked his attack. He looked in the direction of the handle finding John there.

"I thought you wanted to only watch," says Xemnas as John almost didn't interfere in the fight between them.

"I changed my mind," says John as he looked at Sora who nods and grabbed Riku.

John was buying time for Sora and Riku as Xemnas couldn't go past him or Judgement. Sora and Riku were ready to use the power of the Keyblade when they point their Keyblades at Xemnas and a little beam of light left the tips of the Keyblades.

Xemnas saw the attack coming and wanted to dodge it but John smiles and grabs him while saying, "Where do you think you are going."

Xemnas couldn't escape John's firm grip on him even after hitting his wrist with his swords only to find out that he cut through the skin but the bones seemed to be made out of robust steel as he couldn't cut through it while John maintained his grip.

"You think this will stop me from holding you down," says John as his expression turned serious and only Xemnas could feel the pressure coming from him.

"I have once lost all my limbs just to kill my opponent and she was almost a god. Compared to her you are nothing," says John as the beam of light penetrated Xemnas who slowly fades away afterward.

"This won't be the last time we will meet each other," says Xemnas as he completely faded away.

Everything then turned black for Sora and Riku when John grabs them and says, "You have done well."

He then walks into the darkness and soon arrives at a beach that was made out of black sand and black water or at least it looked like it when John places them down before he looks at his wrist that was already closing itself.

'One of the features of learning the Great Way of the Buddha,' thinks John as the wound healed completely when he looked at both teens while sitting down on a rock.

'I hope Riku didn't see what I saw when Sora was fighting Xemnas,' thinks John as he could hear some moans coming from them as they woke up.

They stood up and Sora was confused about where they are while Riku seemed to know it far too well as he was trapped in this realm before.

"Where are we?" asks Sora as he was scratching his cheek with his index finger.

"We are in the Realm of Darkness," says Riku as he sees John sitting on the rock.

"That we are. The realm you were fighting Xemnas was collapsing and the only way to escape it was to enter the Realm of Darkness," says John as Sora looked at both confused.

"Isn't this the place you were trapped before Riku?" asks Sora as Riku nods when Sora smiles and says, "Then you must know a way out of here."

"You mean to say he knew," says John correcting Sora who looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?" asks Sora as he looked at John when Riku got his attention.

"The last time I was trapped here I escaped using Ansem's Darkness but John helped me to get rid of him which means I am trapped here with you and John," says Riku explaining to Sora why they can't escape how he escaped before.

"As long as you have hope in our hearts a way will open for us," says John looking at the dark horizon as Sora was even more confused because of John's cryptic words.

"So we just wait until a way opens up for us," says Sora as he sat down on the black sand followed by Riku.

"It feels almost like Destiny Islands just with more Night than Day," says Sora as he misses his home for a long time.

"Destiny Islands," says John looking at the horizon when he continues, "It is quite unique but it is nothing compared to the place I first felt I was home."

"You never told us about it," says Sora as he asked many times.

"It is surrounded by trees and there is a lake beside it. Many people couldn't afford to buy such a place but Nesiara insisted on buying a house around there. It was the place we found and raised our first daughter," says John as he remembered the days in Aincrad when a tear began to run down his cheek.

"Why are you feeling sad?" asks Sora worried as Riku was worried as well.

"I just remembered the first time I feed her a meal. It's an experience I will never forget since it was the day I swore to myself to protect her with everything I have," says John as he looked at two teens and smiled.

"Once you are a father you will understand what I mean," says John as he uses his finger to wash the tear away.

They were sitting in the dark talking to each other to pass the time when suddenly a letter in a bottle arrived at the shore and Sora picked it up.

It was one of Kairi's bottled letters which she would release weekly from the shores of Destiny Islands. Sora read the letter with a smile on his face when Riku looked into it as well when they suddenly could see light on the horizon.

"It seems you can finally leave," says John as he stood up from the rock.

"Aren't you coming with us?" asks Sora confused as John shakes his head while summoning Yamato.

"I have to see someone before I leave and I have my own way out of this realm. Tell the others that I will meet them soon," says John as he suddenly grabbed both and threw them into the light before they could say something to him.

On the other side, Nesiara, Kairi, and the others were standing near the shore when Kairi was angry about Nesiara stopping her from helping Sora and Riku as she was hitting Nesiara's chest with tears in her eyes.

"I could have helped them..." says Kairi as she falls to her knees.

"I just got them back and I lost them immediately," says Kairi as Nesiara took her into her arms.

"They will return at any moment," says Nesiara trying to cheer her up as she helped her up.

"Why do all the people close to me get dragged into trouble?" asks Kairi herself when Donald pointed at the ocean.

"Do you all see that?" asks Donald as he didn't trust his eyes when he saw the bright light.

"Yes, do you think it is Sora, Riku, and John," says Goofy walking towards it.

"It must be them," says King Mickey as he followed Goofy with Donald when Kairi looked into that direction when Riku and Sora fall out of the light and land in the water.

The light fades slowly as Sora stretches his hand out towards it while saying, "Wait, he is still inside!"

Sora wanted to jump back in but Riku stopped him while saying, "He said that he needs to do something in the Realm of Darkness."

"But!" says Sora when Nesiara interrupts him.

"No buts!" says Nesiara as she walked with Kairi towards them.

"John has a way to escape from there at any moment. He wanted to see if you two could find a way out of there with your own strength," says Nesiara as Sora didn't even get a chance to say anything.

Nesiara was already leaving when she looked at Kairi who rushed past her towards the duo and hugged both while mumbling something that nobody could understand but the duo just petted her head before Sora pulled out her Wayfinder.

"Right, I almost forgot to give you this back," says Sora handing it over as Kairi was smiling in happiness that they were back when they suddenly heard.

"Let us go home for now and celebrate that everyone is back," says Nesiara as she was holding the piece of paper John gave her.

In the meantime in the Realm of Darkness, John was moving along the coast as shadows followed him close behind him but they didn't attack but just watched what he was doing.

John had his eyes closed as he needed to find a specific energy source between all the sources around him.

"What are we doing here again?" asks Justice as he appears beside him.

"We are searching for one of the thirteen Darknesses to be exact," says John as he didn't believe that his son's student sealed all the Darknesses in the black chest.

He continued walking deeper into the Darkness holding Yamato in his hand ready to use it if it gets too dangerous for him to stay in this Realm.